Brookdale offering free job training to local businesses MIDDLETOWN - As a participating partner of the Basic-Skills Workforce Training Program, Brookdale Community College is offering basic skills training to employees of Monmouth County businesses at no charge, thanks to a $1.88 million grant from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Recently, the Labor Department partnered with the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) and the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce & Economic Development to provide basic skills training for employees of businesses throughout the state who are members of NJBIA or any New Jerseybased chamber of commerce. Employees can get basic skills training in English as a second language, written and verbal communications, computer applications (Windows, Microsoft Office), and mathematics and measurement from Brookdale at no charge. However, employees who participate must be paid at their usual hourly rate during the training sessions. "The Basic-Skills Workforce Training Program will help New Jersey's employers upgrade their employees' basic skills, thus helping to improve productivity and the bottom line," Labor Department Commissioner David Socolow said in a press release. This new training project has reduced the paperwork and enrollment restrictions. "Brookdale will organize classes for employees either at our campus or at a business' location, whichever is most convenient to meet the employees' training needs," Brookdale President Peter Burnham said. "The Basic-Skills Workforce Training Program is useful to companies in a variety of situations: a manufacturer that employs non-English-speaking workers, a retailer with employees that need to improve their mathematics skills, a company that needs its employees to develop their communications skills with customers, or a small health care provider that is trying to upgrade its employees' computer skills," said Philip Kirschner, NJBIA president. "Classes are available on a first-come, first-serve basis, so businesses are encouraged to take advantage of this service quickly," Kirschner said. Businesses in Monmouth County can get more information or sign their businesses and employees up for training by calling James McCarthy at (732) 224-2186.