State Awards $300,000 to HCVSD for NJBUILD Program

FLEMINGTON, N.J. – Hunterdon County Vocational School District will continue its successful program to train incarcerated women for work in construction with new funding from the state. HCVSD received a $300,000 grant through the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development to continue and expand its NJBUILD program at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility.

In June 2016, the state granted the district $100,000 to begin preparing women incarcerated at Edna Mahan for work in the construction field. Impressed by first-year results, the state renewed the funding, which allowed HCVSD to continue the program for the 2017-18 academic year. While the latest grant, effective June 1, will allow new participants to enroll in training for the 2018-19 academic year, with the first course beginning Aug. 20, the bulk of the funding will support more advanced construction-related training for the 45 women who have already completed the introductory programming. The first session of this advanced option begins Oct. 29.

“The women who previously completed 160 hours of training in one of the program’s first two years can now spend more time acquiring skills in areas that interest them, whether that is carpentry or plumbing or something else,” said Christina Shockley, who oversees the NJBUILD program as coordinator of Adult and Continuing Education at HCVSD. “This next step will help them better explore their career options and acquire the skills they will need to succeed in the workforce.”

The 2018-19 NJBUILD program will offer not only advanced training, but also a new training in forklift operation taught through high-tech simulation. Using joysticks and video monitors, trainees can get a true feel for the work and train as if they were on a job site.

With the addition of the forklift training and the advanced options, NJBUILD participants now have the opportunity for 580 total hours of construction training. The beginner-level training prepares participants to receive an OSHA 10 general certification, and the additional offerings give participants the opportunity to add both OSHA 30 and forklift certifications.

“This program has been a true team effort, with the help of guest speakers who have shared their professional wisdom with participants, passionate instructors who have taken an interest in the success of each participant, and dedicated staff who have worked to secure funding, determine program logistics and track participants’ progress,” said HCVSD Superintendent Kimberly Metz, Ed.D.

Participants in the first two years of the NJBUILD program have covered a range of topics, including carpentry, masonry, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, sheetrock and spackle, roofing and painting. They used the skills they learned to construct a shed throughout the course of the program. In addition to training in construction-specific skills and gaining OSHA-10 general certification, participants also received workforce readiness instruction, including resume writing, interviewing advice and more.

“I am thrilled that the state has recognized that we have a program in place that is producing real results. We have program participants who have been released from Edna Mahan and are on their way to becoming carpenters and welders. One former participant is taking two classes at Rutgers University now, with a job waiting for her as an OSHA instructor upon completion,” said Tanya Nalesnik, assistant business administrator for HCVSD and coordinator of the grant.

Hunterdon County Vocational School District operates Hunterdon County Polytech Career and Technical School, an Adult and Continuing Education school, and three science-based high school academies. Learn more at www.hcvsd.org.

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