New Jersey’s community colleges and the New Jersey Business & Industry Association are collaborating on an initiative to help the state’s higher education system to build the workforce of the future.
The New Jersey Pathways to Career Opportunities program announced Dec. 21 will align employers, industry associations, labor unions, educational institutions and workforce development partners to build structured pathways to career opportunities, thus ensuring that employers have access to talent that meets their needs.
“This is a new day for New Jersey’s economy,” said Aaron Fichtner, president of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges. “With business and education working together in new and innovative ways, we will ensure New Jersey has the most skilled, innovative, and well-educated workforce in the country.”
“We ask that educational institutions, businesses, community, and workforce organizations, and others join with us in this important work,” Fichtner said.
NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka called the partnership “unprecedented.”
“By coordinating and expanding the collaboration of so many critical stakeholders in such a comprehensive fashion, we truly believe this program will be a game-changer for New Jersey in terms of starting and advancing careers and filling critical employment needs,” she said.
Aaron Fichtner –
This Pathways initiative is led by “Collaboratives” which focus on four big industries in New Jersey: health services, technology and innovation, infrastructure and energy, and manufacturing and supply chain management.
“These Collaboratives are designed to obtain high-quality and timely labor market information about the changing needs of employers, and to build an ecosystem of education and training partners to encourage collaboration and information sharing,” Fichtner said.
Supporting the initiative will be 10 Centers of Workforce Innovation, all of New Jersey’s 18 Community College partners, high schools, four-year colleges and universities, and community-based training providers across the state.
Goals of Pathways include the development of a state strategic workforce plan for each of the four aforementioned industries; the identification of labor market demand and industry-valued credentials for each industry; the development of detailed career pathway maps to guide the work; and the dissemination of those career pathway maps to students and workers at all levels.
“The timeliness of the New Jersey Pathways to Career Opportunities program cannot be understated,” said NJBIA Chief Government Affairs Officer Chrissy Buteas in a statement. “As we respond to the needs of a changing economy and labor market, the collaborative work to develop new curriculum and enhance partnerships is mission critical.”
Catherine Frugé Starghill, senior director of strategy and workforce partnerships at New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development, said that the Pathways initiative will position New Jersey to recover from the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis “by building strong industry-driven education and training pathways that will be the foundation of the state’s economy for years to come; developing a skilled workforce that can adapt to the changing economy; and providing adults the opportunity to obtain new skills and careers.”
The New Jersey Pathways to Career Opportunities initiative received an appropriation in the fiscal year 2022 state budget. It officially launched last week with a video featuring education, business and legislative leaders presented to a group of more than 100 partners.
Pathways partners will convene on Jan. 19, 2022 at Middlesex College in Edison, and interested parties can join virtually or in-person.
