State labor office to set up shop in Eatontown
Walk-in center to help fort workers impacted by base closing
BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer

EATONTOWN - Though Fort Monmouth's gates are still open, the state's labor agency hopes to prevent its civilian workers from getting locked out of a new job.

With retraining and re-employment of fort workers the goal, the New Jersey Department of Labor is getting ready to open its doors to serve those employees at a site less than a mile south of the west gate of the 88-year-old U.S. Army base.

Courtesy of a $600,000 federal grant provided to the state, the One Stop Career Center is expected to open for business tomorrow at Broad and Main streets in Eatontown, according to David J. Socolow, the department's commissioner.

The two-year award, known as a National Emergency Grant, comes from the U.S. Department of Labor to help the state fund its efforts to transition workers who have been or could be impacted by the fort's shutdown, scheduled for September 2011.

In delivering the news of the new career center at the Nov. 16 public meeting of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority (FMERPA), Socolow promised to work closely with the 10-member state-sanctioned panel.

Local and state elected officials, business leaders and nearby higher education institutions are also invited to participate in the retraining process, he added.

"This is a walk-in service to help individuals and businesses to know the range of services available to them," Socolow said.

Fort workers whose jobs cease to exist as a result of the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process can be trained or re-trained for new jobs, Socolow explained.

The career center will also reach out to small businesses in the vicinity of the fort, which could lose their clientele and see profits plunge when civilian workers stop coming to the base for work and patronizing their establishments.

"We will try to help small businesses in the area to grow," Socolow said.

Going forward, the labor department will be studying the fort's personnel to identify employees who will need to be retrained for new jobs and to determine the types of skills they will need to move on, the commissioner said.

"We will be working with our business partners to find out their needs," Socolow said.

In early February, the department expects to host seminars and information sessions geared to individuals and businesses adversely affected by the forthcoming fort closure, he continued.

FMERPA Chairperson Robert Lucky praised the labor department's decision to settle in Eatontown and pointed out the growing need for its services.

"A lot of people are going to lose their jobs," Lucky said.

Eatontown Mayor Gerald J. Tarantolo, an authority member, welcomed the career center to town as well.

"I applaud your efforts," Tarantolo said. "You're right on."

More than 4,000 civilians are employed at Fort Monmouth, which is spread between Eatontown, Oceanport and Tinton Falls.

Under the BRAC plan approved by the federal government in fall 2005, most of those civilian workers will see their jobs relocated to the Aberdeen (Md.) Proving Ground when the fort closes.

Socolow thanked New Jersey Commerce Secretary Virginia Bauer, who is FMERPA's co-chairperson, and New Jersey's congressional delegation, for helping to secure the federal grant to create the career center.