We are pleased to announce that Holtec International has been selected to receive the 2017 Garden State Employment & Training Association (GSETA) Corporate Partnership Award. The award will be presented at the 35th Annual GSETA Workforce Development Conference this October.
Founded in 1975, GSETA has functioned as a forum for New Jersey’s workforce development professionals to share their expertise and to promote professional development. The mission of the Association is “to provide leadership, and promote quality and excellence for the advancement of New Jersey’s workforce and its customers and professionals.”
The GSETA Corporate Partnership Award recognizes a company within the State of New Jersey that has had the most impact on the region’s workforce through economic activity and workforce development. The Camden County Workforce Development Board, who submitted the winning nomination, lauded Holtec’s achievements in creating sustainable employment opportunities for Camden residents.
Holtec began tapping the local workforce in 2014 for the construction of the Holtec Technology Campus on Camden’s waterfront. Hundreds of construction jobs were created to build the technology campus located at the foot of the Walt Whitman Bridge at the site of the former New York Shipyard.
In parallel with the construction of the factory, Holtec began working on recruiting its workforce to eventually fill those manufacturing positions within the factory. After placing job postings on the internet, Holtec discovered there was lack of qualified candidates to perform the high-end machining and welding jobs that Holtec required.
To solve this problem, Holtec worked with Camden County College to develop custom training programs in order to provide a continual pipeline of qualified candidates. Through this partnership, Holtec has helped develop a custom welder training program that converts semi-skilled individuals into highly-skilled craftsmen and craftswomen. This training program has been an outstanding success in supplying eager recruits for Holtec’s Advanced Manufacturing Division plant in Camden. In addition, the program has provided a pathway for the people of Camden and surrounding region to obtain well-paying jobs.
Congressman Mark Pocan and Congressman Mark DeSaulnier from the U.S. House of Representatives visited the Campus on August 10th with our local Congressman Donald Norcross and heard from Camden’s newly employed residents how their lives have been transformed by Holtec. Holtec’s workforce development efforts exemplify how positive change takes place when business, education and government work together.
Jeffrey S. Swartz from the Camden County Workforce Development Board stated that “the Holtec program represents a great model for how employers can work in partnership with local colleges to design curriculum that meets their needs and builds career paths for local residents.”
Holtec’s Corporate Human Resources Manager, Jack Johnston, responsible for the Camden recruitment and training drive, says, “It is profoundly satisfying to bring the prospect of a secure and well-paying job to a young person who otherwise may fall prey to the deprivations of the inner city. We are helping dig one soul yearning for a better life out of poverty at a time.”
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