Gov. Phil Murphy has laid out a clear agenda to establish New Jersey as an innovation destination for companies to call home. His administration’s plan is to leverage the second-to-none education infrastructure in New Jersey to provide businesses a workforce that is prepared with 21st-century skills. There are already signs that this message is resonating with multinational companies, as evidenced by recent relocations by Mars Wrigley, expansions by Lockheed Martin and Home Depot, and the fact that Newark is a finalist for Amazon’s HQ2.

One of the key components of this workforce development plan is to introduce an apprenticeship model that expands the traditional view that apprenticeships are only relevant for trade occupations. Gov. Murphy is looking to Germany — a country that has one of the most well-respected apprenticeship models in the world and a country with which he is very familiar as a former banker and ambassador — to inspire higher education to radically expand apprenticeships into a variety of new industries. These include high-growth areas such as advanced manufacturing, clean energy and utilities, financial services, IT and software, and health care.

Montclair State is apprenticeship ready.

Montclair State University is looking forward to working directly with industry and business leaders, local municipalities and government entities, trade organizations and the school districts that make up the K-12 feeder system to design and build apprenticeship programs to support innovation in a variety of areas. Some of the reasons to consider working with Montclair State University:

To learn how Montclair State University can work with your organization to establish a career-oriented apprenticeship program, contact Dr. Peter McAliney, executive director of Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE), at mcalineyp@montclair.edu or 973-655-6824.

Learn more

Graduates of New Jersey’s public community and senior colleges will receive a 5 percent discount on all noncredit-bearing certificate programs. To learn more, or to register for a Continuing and Professional Education course or any of the online degree programs, visit montclair.edu/cape.