Catherine Frugé Starghill recalled the task at hand in launching the New Jersey Pathways to Career Opportunities initiative three years ago.
She said there was one bold goal.
“To transform how we prepare learners for meaningful careers and how we connect employers to skilled talent,” said Starghill, vice president of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges.
But there was also one big problem.
“We saw a fractured system, one that didn’t serve adult learners as best as we thought it could,” she recalled. “One that didn’t speak the language of the industry and one that left too many New Jersey residents behind.
“So, what did we do? We decided we were going to build a new one.”
And by many accounts from the 1,800 partners now engaged in the New Jersey Pathways programs, that new model is working – and with a lot of momentum.
Hundreds of those partners attended the first of the three-day New Jersey Pathways to Career Opportunities Summit in Atlantic City on Wednesday and were able to see the progress first-hand.
The “bold,” but unanimous goal of New Jersey Pathways, under the partnership of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, led by President and CEO Aaron Fichtner, and NJBIA, under the tutelage of President and CEO Michele Siekerka, was to formally and effectively align education and training to address the rapidly changing needs of employers to create a highly -skilled workforce.
Said NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs Elissa Frank: “Time and time again, we hear the same thing: ‘We need talent. We need skilled workers. We need partners who understand the changing landscape of the workforce.’
“And every single time, we point to our county colleges as our partners. Now, the work being done in the career pathways program is transformational. It is responsive. And most importantly, it is inclusive –- lifting up students of all backgrounds and showing them there is a path for them right here in New Jersey,” Frank said.
Consider in just the first hour of the first day of this summit what the audience heard about what has been established through New Jersey Pathways, with great forward motion for each:
NJBioFutures: A strategic workforce solution for the life sciences and biomanufacturing sector, led by Raritan Valley Community College, Mercer County Community College and Middlesex College, to strengthen the cell and gene therapy industries with education and training.
NJ Film Academy: The training of the television and film workforce of tomorrow in New Jersey – particularly with the arrival of Netflix Studios in Monmouth County – involving Brookdale Community College.
Digital Health: A program through the HIMSS Institute and Essex County College to connect education and training at New Jersey’s community colleges with the needs of the digital health workforce.
And those achievements were just scratching the surface when you consider all that is involved in the four main areas of focus:
- Health Services (Patient Care; Healthcare Technology and Administration)
- Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management (Manufacturing Production & Engineering, Supply Chain Logistics)
- Technology & Innovation: (Data Science; Cybersecurity; Research & Development; Programming and Software Development)
- Infrastructure & Energy: (Renewable Energy; Construction)
“We’ve empowered pathway project teams that have brought together colleges, employers and associations to design education that leads directly to good jobs,” Starghill added.
“And we removed barriers between credit and non-credit, between classroom and career, and between community and opportunity.”
If the momentum of New Jersey Pathways wasn’t enough, there is also a bill moving through the Legislature that would actually codify the initiative into law.
Bill A-5211 (Miller, D-4) has already passed the full Assembly. The Senate version, S-4023 (Cryan, D-20), is on its second reading.
“This bill is not just a bill,” said Petra Gaskins, Chief of Staff for Sen. Joe Cryan. “It is a commitment to building a smarter, fairer, and more connected workforce system.
“The modern economy no longer rewards isolated efforts. And the truth is, we live in different times post- pandemic. Success now depends on the state’s ability to build a talent ecosystem, priorities, and respond rapidly to labor market changes.
“Talent is absolutely everywhere, but opportunity has not always been,” added Gaskins, a councilwoman in New Brunswick. “And when this bill is codified, we know that opportunity will be in all parts of our state. This is how we move from a workforce training that’s theoretical to one that’s in practice.”
