On behalf of our 20,000 member companies, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA) would like to express our SUPPORT for A-1460 (Lampitt, Schaer) which strengthens the metrics of the New Jersey Basic Skills Training Program for Economic Growth.
Since its inception in 2007, the Basic Skills Training Program has offered hundreds of classes to help employers provide basic skills training for their employees. Through our public-private partnership with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJLWD) and the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development (Consortium), community colleges around the state have supported New Jersey companies and their workforce, regardless of size and at no cost.
Our members have expressed a high level of satisfaction from the program and due to its unique flexibility; the program is able to reach more workers and employers than any other state training program. To date, the Basic Skills Program has served over 92,000 employees from over 6,000 private sector employers. It has also served New Jersey’s most crucial populations for economic growth, as 88 percent of the classes delivered last year were targeted to small businesses and 45 percent of workers reported wages of $20 per hour or less.
Additionally, the Consortium’s ability to provide the administrative support for the program is key to its success. The Consortium is able to handle the paperwork when working with employers as well as provide annual reporting of the program’s ongoing success. The annual report currently includes the total number of workers trained, employer size, the wage ranges of the workers and the results on the pre-training and post- training assessments.
A-1460 adds additional metrics for the program to strengthen the Consortium’s annual reporting without it becoming a greater burden on the Consortium or New Jersey’s employers. Among other things, the amended legislation will enable the Consortium to better analyze an employee’s wages after their training, as well as the long term impact of the training on an employee.
NJBIA thanks the sponsors for their interest in supporting the Basic Skills Program, looking to improve the metrics of one of New Jersey’s best workforce training programs. For these reasons, NJBIA SUPPORTS A-1460, and we encourage you to vote “YES” on this bill.
TO: Members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee
FR: Tyler Seville, Associate Director of Education & Workforce Development
DATE: April 4, 2016