Menendez Proposes Tax Credit for Job Training

Sen. Bob Menendez hopes to reward businesses willing to give training to long-term unemployed workers.

Menendez plans to introduce a pair of programs in the Senate that aim to help workers who have been out of work for more than a year, he announced Monday at in Paramus.

The first program is a competitive tax credit for businesses that enter workforce partnerships with community colleges. Bergen Community College was part of such a partnership with Rockleigh-based Crestron Electronics, the Bergen County Workforce Investment Board, the state Department of Labor and the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.

These groups helped create a training program at Bergen Community College that trained job seekers for positions at Crestron. Martin Devaney, senior director of human resources for Crestron, said the company found that there weren't qualified candidates for the technical positions available.

Crestron, together with Bergen Community College, introduced a 224-hour class for unemployed workers to help fill the open jobs. Oscar De Los Reyes took advantage of the program in December 2010, after being unemployed nearly two years.

De Los Reyes trained to become a service technician for Crestron, after working as a field analysis technician before losing his job. De Los Reyes said there was some overlap between his old job and his current work, but he learned most of the skills he needed through the training program.

"My career is restarted," he said. "I have a career now again."

Menendez's program would create a $1 billion competitive tax credit program to encourage similar partnerships between businesses and community colleges. The federal Department of Labor would pick the winning applications.

The senator's other proposal was to award businesses willing to provide training long-term unemployed workers with a tax credit of up to $3,000. The credit would cover the cost of training workers for open jobs that require a specific certificate or training credential.

"Let's help workers get the skills they need to compete when a help wanted sign goes up," Menendez said.