a. A skilled workforce is one of the most critical issues facing New Jersey employers and the availability of appropriately trained workers directly impacts the State‘s ability to compete nationally and internationally;

b. While the State of New Jersey, through the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, has initiated many programs to link business and industry with employees, there remain areas of the State that are the home to particular industries that lack the skilled workforce necessary to fill available employment positions;

c. It has become increasingly apparent that an increased focus is needed on training individuals for the “right” jobs as opposed to training individuals for “a” job;

d. Increased attention needs to be paid and efforts made to connect individual employers and groups of employers to appropriate educational institutions so that curriculum may be developed that is exactly in line with the needs of these employers and directed to individuals who may have the greatest chance of program and employment success; and

e. County colleges already have a long history of partnering with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and local Workforce Investment Boards to design training programs for dislocated workers, but these efforts can be further refined and more explicitly targeted to develop certificate programs in which regional employers have a vested interest through their role in program development and program candidate review that will allow them to grow their business by immediately hiring appropriately trained individuals.

L.2019, c.228, s.1.