New ShopRite to Train 200 Job Seekers in Essex County

New Community Workforce Development Center is partnering with ShopRite and the City of Newark to train up to 200 job seekers for store associate positions as a new ShopRite supermarket is slated to open in early 2015 on Springfield Avenue.

ShopRite’s Partners in Training Program, which is funded by the City of Newark, will offer job seekers a six-week course where they will receive both classroom instruction and hands-on lessons at New Community’s “mini-ShopRite” training facility, which is outfitted to simulate an actual ShopRite store. ShopRite will fully outfit the mini-store and provide the curriculum for store associate positions, which include cashier, food service and customer service. New Community Workforce Development Center staff will train the future store associates.

The supermarket chain expects that the 67,000-square-foot grocery store will create 200 to 300 full- and part-time jobs. Associates who successfully complete the Partners in Training Program will have the opportunity to work at an area ShopRite, including the highly anticipated Newark store.

“Being trained and ready to work is a crucial step in helping residents to secure jobs and become self-sufficient,” said Richard Rohrman, CEO of New Community Corporation. “New Community is pleased to again work side by side with ShopRite and forge a new partnership with the Baraka administration and the City of Newark as our indispensable partners in this initiative,” Rohrman said.

Rodney Brutton, Director of Workforce Development at New Community, described the partnership with ShopRite and the City of Newark as an exemplary model of collaboration.

“Bringing together the public workforce system (Newark Workforce Investment Board/One-Stop Career Center), a local training provider, like NCC, and a major employer is the ideal model in developing workforce partnerships,” Brutton said. “It does not get any better than this.”

“We are determined to bring jobs, career opportunities, and prosperity to our neighborhoods, and are proud that ShopRite is making this massive investment in our Bergen Street corridor and both the residents and future of Newark,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. “Hundreds of our residents will benefit from this intensive, hands-on training, which will empower them with the tools we need to make Newark a city we can all believe in.”

Neil Greenstein, owner of the future ShopRite of Newark, said the training program with New Community Workforce Development Center is a way to give back to the community.

“At ShopRite, we are committed to our customers and to making a positive impact on the communities where we do business,” Greenstein said. “Partners in Training is a great way to give back to our new neighbors and is a natural extension of our mission to be the city’s supermarket with a heart.”

New Community Workforce Development Center is slated to kick off the Partners in Training Program on November 10, 2014. Interested applicants must be at least 18 years old, pass a drug test, have a high school diploma or GED or be currently working towards obtaining a GED, and pass an entrance exam. Applicants are being recruited, screened and selected through Newark Works, the city’s one-stop operator.

New Community has proudly partnered with ShopRite since 2000, when the Partners in Training Program launched with just two ShopRite stores—Hillside and Clark. The program has since grown to include a total 13 stores throughout northern New Jersey, including the ShopRite of Newark. More than 800 graduates have been placed in jobs like cashiers, food service and customer service after completing the Partners in Training Program.

About New Community Corporation (NCC)

New Community Corporation ( www.newcommunity.org) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1968 in Newark, New Jersey, by Monsignor William J. Linder and a small group of community residents during a time of civil unrest that was spreading throughout urban communities across the United States. It has grown to become one of the largest and most comprehensive community development organizations in the country, providing services ranging from housing and healthcare to education and banking services. New Community Corporation’s mission is to “help residents of inner cities improve the quality of their lives to reflect individual God-given dignity and personal achievement.” Included in the network is more than 2,000 units of housing for families and seniors, a Workforce Development Center, a 180-bed nursing home called The Extended Care Center; a One Stop Family Resources Success Center; a transitional housing facility for the homeless called Harmony House, Adult Learning Center, a federally-insured Federal Credit Union, two early learning centers, and after school, recreational and summer camp programs for youth.

Information and photos courtesy of Eunice Lee