John Kennedy is the CEO of the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program, which claims credit for more than $1 billion in products and services sold.

Their family business is the biggest Hispanic-owned food company in the country. The brothers run Goya, a company started by their grandfather Prudencio Unanue Ortiz, out of the Jersey City headquarters it settled into in 2015.

As head of the state’s Economic Development Authority, Tim Sullivan is one of biggest cheerleaders for Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed “State of Innovation” – an effort to attract businesses small and large to New Jersey.

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development plays a significant role in trying to attract manufacturers to the state. Toward that end the agency – which Rob Asaro-Angelo leads as commissioner – will administer much of a $500 million bond issue that includes $275 million to help expand vo-tech programs providing career and technical education manufacturing jobs.

In the latter half of the 20 century, as U.S. manufacturing declined, so too did the industry in New Jersey. But the plants and assembly lines are still here, and the demand for new products and the productivity gains afforded by modern equipment are fueling a revitalization of the industry. The men and women listed in here have been and will continue to be responsible for maintaining and expanding the skilled workforce necessary for a strong manufacturing sector.

Program participants will earn money while performing paid, on-the-job training and taking part in classroom training hours.

Paul Cunningham spent 15 years as a photo editor for Major League Baseball and lived a fan’s dream life. Today, he is honing his skills as a leather craftsman and the founder of Leather Head Sports in Glen Rock, making baseball gloves, balls of various sorts and other athletic equipment.

The investment will allow the company to more efficiently make glazes at its Pennsauken location.

Awards can be used for 4-year or county colleges, industrial schools and for other approved industry-credentialed training.

Fabian Garcia joins the Englewood Cliffs-based company as Amanda Sourry retires following two years at its helm, and more than 30 years with the company.

Apprentices in the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program's industrial manufacturing production technician program will be eligible to earn up to eight credits during their time in the course, and then offered direct access to continue learning at Essex County Community College upon completion.