WIRED Initiative
The North Jersey Partners Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant developed regional partnerships between industry, education, economic development and workforce development entities to create jobs in the regional economy through coordinated planning. The Newark Alliance led this three-year $5.1 million U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration grant, in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and myriad of stakeholders from the eight counties of northern New Jersey (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union and Warren). WIRED created innovations in workforce development, trained more than 3,000 incumbent and unemployed workers, and developed 22 training and education products, many of which are sustained in the region.

Innovations:

  • WIRED workforce partners created the North Jersey Partners Workforce Investment Board/One Stop Career Centers Consortium to respond to economic development and workforce needs through co-partnerships, multi-year grants, single-point-of-contact strategies, and dedicated talent coordinators who serve as the liaisons to growth industry businesses. The Consortium continues to execute its strategic 5-year business plan.
  • Representatives from education, industry, workforce development and economic development formed Industry Advisory Boards to identify skills needs of employers and focus training on employer requirements. These Boards help to ensure that employer needs drive the workforce system.
  • The sector-specific Talent Networks represent a new model for workforce transactions in New Jersey. A sector specialist or talent coordinator develops the Talent Network by continuously engaging the Industry Advisory Boards, workforce development partners and educational institutions to proactively address workforce issues.
  • The Creative Community Collaborative (CCC) market research project was a catalyst for informing the statewide organization of Destination Marketing Organizations and the Greater Newark Conventions and Visitors Bureau (GNCVB) on funding and operational strategies to better leverage regional assets for economic and job growth in the Entertainment, Arts and Retail Sector.


Training:

The North Jersey Partners WIRED Initiative, based on intensive demographic and labor data analysis, focused on four key industry clusters that had the potential to make the greatest positive economic impact in the region. Training was delivered to more than 3,000 individuals in the following targeted market sectors.
  • Transportation, Logistics, and Distribution (TLD)
  • Healthcare and Life Sciences
  • Entertainment, Arts, and Retail (EAR)
  • Entrepreneurship and Small Business


Training and Education Products:

The educational partners provided leadership in developing training and educational products to address skill gaps in the following areas:
  • Lifelong Learning Toolkit
  • Online Project Management Training Courses
  • Retail Training Curriculum
  • Entrepreneurship Programs & Brochures Series
  • TLD Certificate Training Courses
  • Stem Resource Database
  • Access to Higher Education Resources
  • Micro site - NJ Career Door
  • Micro site - TLD


Regional Communication:

A Website remains active as the key communication tool for North Jersey Partners WIRED with links to Micro Sites: NJ Career Doors - to promote careers and related skill requirements to high school students; and TLD - to promote the TLD Talent Network and related activities of the Industry Advisory Boards. For more detailed information go to: http://www.northjerseypartners.org/ BACK