The HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) on July 29 said it presented NJMEP’s Pro-Action Education Network with the ‘Excellence in STEM Education Award’, recognizing the outstanding work by the NJMEP workforce development team over the past 18 months. The team is being honored for preparing students and upskilling the current workforce to meet the needs of today’s modern manufacturers.
Through training programs, apprenticeships, and numerous professional development initiatives, NJMEP’s Pro-Action Education Network is working to ensure has the workforce has the right skills to sustain New Jersey’s standing as a global innovation leader.
NJMEP will be accepting this award at State-of-the-State of Manufacturing PART 3, registration is open now.
“Manufacturers have been struggling for years with a dwindling workforce. Without people, there is no manufacturing. The industry continues to struggle with an outdated stigma and our Pro-Action Education Network team has done a tremendous job of breaking down those misconceptions. Between the training and certification programs, as well as our student outreach, we are gaining ground to bridge the skills gap,” stated John Kennedy, CEO, NJMEP in a prepared statement. “I’m incredibly thankful HINJ is recognizing the efforts of the team. There’s plenty of work left to do, but it’s always nice being honored by such an important organization.”
The Pro-Action Education Network™ is a statewide program that creates a collaborative network with the goal of identifying and filling open job positions by providing critical skills to students and workers. It accomplishes its mission by offering training and upskilling opportunities to incumbent workers, assessing the demand for education and training across geographic and institutional boundaries, and creating a collaborative relationship between education providers and workforce development stakeholders.
Past recipients of the HINJ Excellence in STEM Award are:
2020 N.J. Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools, accepted by Scott Moffitt, council president, superintendent, Morris Co. Vocational School District;
2019 N.J. STEM Education Network, accepted by Executive Director Kim Case and Elaine Zundle, a member of the Network’s Steering Committee;
2018 New Brunswick Health Sciences Technology High School, accepted by Assistant Superintendent Keira Scussa and Principal Michael Fanelli;
2017 Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences, accepted by Superintendent Dianne Veilleux, Principal Terri Ann Sullivan and student Owais Aftab;
2014 Students 2 Science Inc., accepted by Paul Winslow, Ph.D., president, co-founder;
2013 Biotechnology High School, Monmouth County Vocational School District, accepted by Principal Linda Eno.
