State receives funds for fort employees
Program aimed to help workers at the fort find new jobs
BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer

EATONTOWN — The United States Department of Labor has stepped up its efforts to help employees at Fort Monmouth find new job opportunities through a major grant extension.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine announced last week that the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development will receive an additional $3 million in funding from the Labor Department's National Emergency Grant fund.

First provided to the state in 2006, the grant will be used to fund the retraining of Fort Monmouth employees who are expected to lose their jobs when the fort closes its doors in September 2011.

With the addition of the $3 million, the state will have approximately $3.8 million to fund the program. The grant extension allows the state to continue receiving funds through June 2010.

"In the midst of a national recession, this is good news for New Jersey, employees and business owners in the communities in the Fort Monmouth regions," Corzine said in a press release last week.

"Today it is even more important that states can draw on the resources of the federal government to support economic development efforts," Corzine said.

He continued, "As a result of this extension, New Jersey will be able to maintain and retrain its high-tech and highly skilled workforce to maintain the talent and the earnings of these workers during a critical time in this economic slowdown."

The grant extension will provide funding for training and the continued services of up to 1,100 Fort Monmouth employees through June 2010, according to the press release from Corzine's office.

This is the second extension to the National Emergency Grant that the state has received through the Labor Department. Provided in 2006, the initial grant was valued at $600,000. A subsequent extension to the grant in 2007 was valued at $203,000.

The state has used the funds provided through the grants to establish an employee training and career exploration services center known as the One Stop Career Center in Eatontown.

Located on Wyckoff Road, the career center is one of several employment services provided by the state's Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Patrons of the center are offered several services, including counseling and career service training, educational training programs at vocational and trade schools, on-site training and on-the-job training with local employers, and apprenticeships.

The career center also reaches out to small businesses in the vicinity of the fort, which are faced with the prospect of losing clientele and seeing profits plunge when civilian workers stop coming to the base for work and patronizing their establishments.

Roughly 10,000 fort and contracted workers are expected to be affected by the fort's closure in 2011.

Officials expect some fort employees to follow the mission when it relocates to its new location at the Army Proving Grounds in Aberdeen, Md.; however, scores of other workers are expected to face unemployment.

Contact Daniel Howley at

dhowley@yahoo.com