TRENTON, September 25, 2008 – New Jersey Labor Commissioner David J. Socolow, today, announced a workforce and economic development initiative by the State of New Jersey in partnership with the United States Army.  The Department of Labor and Workforce Development has issued a request for letters of intent from non-profit organizations interested in competing for a Workforce Development Planning Grant.

The funds will be granted for the planning and implementation of a Technology Center located in the Fort Monmouth region that will make productive use of the expertise of a team of highly-skilled former Fort Monmouth workers and other recruited experts.

Commissioner Socolow said, “It is important to maintain the Fort Monmouth region’s concentrated high-technology knowledge base.  This partnership offers an opportunity to spur workforce and economic development in the Fort Monmouth region both in the near term and also would focus on success in the longer term.  The Technology Center, staffed with skilled high-tech communication workers, would pursue the development of new lines of business in commercial markets; federal, state and local government contracts as well as fulfilling an anticipated contract to support the U.S. Army’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) mission.

This initiative offers a ‘win-win’ approach for workers and the Fort Monmouth area. It will develop a public-private partnership that can maintain a core group of highly skilled workers in the region and if the Fort remains open this partnership would provide a model for future high-tech development the region,” Socolow added.

The request for letters of intent is available on the Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Website at www.nj.gov/labor 

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