Bergen Community College: Construction Management Pipeline Runs Through Bergen

Press release from Bergen Community College:

November 4, 2024

Bergen Assistant Director of Continuing Education and Workforce Development Jhonatan Garcia and construction management program certificate earner IyaSokoya Karade.

“NJBUILD is meant to empower underrepresented communities by providing comprehensive training and support,” she said.

State officials launched NJBUILD as a workforce development initiative to increase the small number of women and minorities who seek jobs in the construction industry. With 151,600 construction employees in the state, women (9.2 percent) and minorities (Black, 4.8 percent and Asian 2.7 percent) account for disproportionately low numbers compared with their overall population, according to the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development and Office of Research and Development.

NJBUILD covered more than $3,000 in tuition, books and associated costs for each student in the 135-hour program, while also providing access to transportation, childcare and career placement assistance. Students complete courses in areas such as blueprint reading and project management before earning a certificate in construction management. Jhonatan Garcia, Bergen’s assistant director of continuing education and workforce development, said the program gives students the opportunity to increase their social and economic mobility by eliminating many of the barriers that prevent them from pursuing higher education. He also said the program has changed perceptions about the type of construction jobs available in the Garden State.

“A lot of people, when they think about construction, they think about manual labor or physical labor,” he said. “But our program is geared more toward the management or administrative capacity of the construction field.”

Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.

This press release was produced by Bergen Community College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.