Newark/Essex Construction Careers Consortium (N/ECCC)

(formerly known as ECCCP)

"The construction industry needs talented, local residents as much as local residents need access to the quality training, jobs and benefits that union membership offers."

- Gus Heningburg, President
Gustav Heningburg Associates, Inc.

N/ECCC illustrates the Institute’s commitment to the development of new and experimental programs to ensure that urban residents benefit from the state’s massive school construction program. In 1999 the New Jersey Supreme Court issued its decision as part of the landmark Abbott v. Burke case requiring the state to fund the renovation or replacement of public schools in the state's poorest school districts, an expenditure expected to approach $12 billion in aggregate costs over time.

"In the past we may have been viewed as less than open to urban residents."

- Bill Mullen, President

New Jersey State Building Trades Council

Launched in 2001, N/ECCC is a collaboration between the Institute, the public school districts, the Essex County Building Trades Council, and community based organizations designed to ensure that local urban residents benefit from this massive public expenditure. The 6-10 week training program assists local residents in obtaining quality jobs and careers in the construction industry. The program provides exposure to the trades and coaching and classroom instruction to prepare graduates to apply for entrance into the 18 construction trades represented in Essex County.

As of March 2006, program accomplishments include:

• Over 170 graduates placed in 17 different trades and over 40 others placed in employment with independent contractors.

• Various efforts developed to assist program participants in purchasing automobiles, and obtaining or restoring their driver’s license, a requirement for entry into the building trades.

• Contributed to development of larger scale apprenticeship program modeled similarly to N/ECCC and funded by the New Jersey Department of Labor and the New Jersey School Construction Corporation.

Click here for an early evaluation of N/ECCC.

For more information about the program contact:

Albert Williams , Project Director

awilliams@njisj.org