Section 9.

General Information

© Profile on John J. Heldrich

© Profile on Henry A. Plotkin

© SETC Staff Directory and Contact Information

© Glossary of Acronyms and Terms

JOHN J. HELDRICH

Chair, State Employment and Training Commission

John J. Heldrich has combined a career as a top executive with the world’s leading health care products company with a record of leadership and commitment to public, community, and civic service. Mr. Heldrich retired from Johnson & Johnson in 1991, after nearly 41 years with the company. At the time of his retirement, he was Corporate Vice President of Administration and a member of the Executive Committee Board of Directors.

In the city of New Brunswick, Mr. Heldrich is known as the “heart and driving force” behind the city’s acclaimed revitalization, which is regarded as a model of a true public/private partnership throughout the State and Country. He was the founding Chairman and served two decades at the head of New Brunswick Tomorrow, the private, non-profit community organization that has spearheaded New Brunswick’s economic, social, and cultural renaissance. Mr. Heldrich also serves on the Board of Trustees of the New Brunswick Cultural Center. The upper lobby of the beautifully renovated State Theater in the Cultural Center is named in honor of Mr. Heldrich and his wife, Regina.

On the state level, Mr. Heldrich is Chairman of the New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission (SETC). Under Mr. Heldrich’s leadership, the SETC developed the first Unified State Plan for New Jersey’s Workforce Readiness System. The Commission has addressed such critical issues as gender equity, literacy, disability issues, welfare-to-work, school-to-work, workforce quality, One-Stop Career Centers, education in correctional institutions, and a host of other initiatives that have earned New Jersey a national reputation in employment and training.

The governing board of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, has founded and Mr. Heldrich has endowed, the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. The Center is dedicated to identifying ways of making the American workplace more responsive, relevant, and productive, and to sharing that knowledge widely.

He is a graduate of University College of Rutgers. Among his many other activities, Mr. Heldrich is a charter member of the Board of Trustees of Rutgers. He is a retired member of the Board of Trustees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest foundation in the nation dealing with health care issues.

Henry A. Plotkin

Executive Director, State Employment and Training Commission

Mr. Plotkin has been serving as the Executive Director of the State Employment and Training Commission (SETC) since March 1997. Prior to assuming the duties of the Executive Director, he served as the Acting Executive Director, Senior Policy Analyst and Senior Staff Person for all State Employment and Training Commission initiatives.

Accomplishments of his include:

© Developed policy for the formation of Workforce Investment Boards in the State.

© Principal author of first and second editions of A Unified State Plan for New Jersey’s Workforce Readiness System.

© Established the At-Risk Youth Task Force and was responsible for major policy statements in Youth At Risk: Making it in the Global Economy.

© Principal coordinator for the Literacy Enhancement Center.

© Assisted in the establishment of the Council on Gender Parity in Labor.

© Assisted in the establishment of the State Council for Adult Literacy Education Services.

© Principal author of New Jersey in Transition: The Crisis of the Workforce, a White Paper regarding the critical issue of New Jersey’s workforce needs, which has resulted in the consolidation and reorganization of the State’s Workforce Development System into the Department of Labor and Workforce Development

He was the first Administrator of the New Jersey Youth Corps Program in the Department of Community Affairs, and was also Assistant Professor of Political Science at Livingston College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

The New Jersey American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) honored him with the Public Administrator of the Year Award in 1999. The Garden State Employment and Training Association (GSETA) honored him with the GSETA Public Service Award in 2004.

He received his PhD and MA from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and his BA from Queens College.

SETC Staff Directory

State Employment and Training Commission

Department of Labor and Workforce Development Building

John Fitch Plaza, 4^th Floor

P.O. Box 940
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0940
(T) 609.633.0605
(F) 609.633.1359

Executive Director

Henry A. Plotkin

609-633-0605

Henry.Plotkin@dol.state.nj.us

Lansing Davis	609-292-1093	Lansing.Davis@dol.state.nj.us
Diane Evans	609-633-0605	Diane.Evans@dol.state.nj.us
Judy Formalarie	609-633-0605	Judith.Formalarie@dol.state.nj.us
Lilah Gumbas	609-633-0605	Lilah.Gumbas@dol.state.nj.us
Nancy Kopp	609-633-0605	Nancy.Kopp@dol.state.nj.us
David Novak	609-292-8900	David.Novak@dol.state.nj.us
Deborah O'Kane	609-633-0605	Deborah.Okane@dol.state.nj.us
Diane Zompa	609-777-2196	Diane.Zompa@dol.state.nj.us

Glossary of Acronyms and Terms

ABE	Adult Basic Education
ADA	Americans with Disabilities Act
AOSOS	America’s One-Stop Operating System
AFDC	Aid to Families with Dependent Children—replaced in 1996 by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
AWEP	Alternative Work Experience Program
Business Resource Centers (BRC)	Located within One-Stop Career Centers throughout New Jersey, BRCs provide business solutions to small and medium companies, addressing workforce development requirements associated with recruitment and training. A secondary role is to help companies navigate government agencies and non-profit organizations to find information about new business development, loan programs, child labor laws, general wage and hour information, labor market data, and permitting issues.
CBO	Community Based Organization
CBSS	County Board of Social Services
CCDBG	Child Care and Development Block Grant
CEI	Calculated Earned Income
Chief Elected Official (CEO)	Highest ranking local elected official
Consumer Report Card (CRC)	Searchable database of in-State and out-of-State training providers who are included on New Jersey’s Eligible Training Provider list and have been approved by the State Department of Labor and Workforce Development. It allows individuals to compare training providers and programs by employment outcomes and other criteria to identify an appropriate program.
Core Services	Employment-related services available to any adult, regardless of income or job status. Some of the services include assessment of skill levels, aptitudes, and abilities, supportive service needs, job search and placement assistance, career counseling, labor market information, information on training providers, and filing of unemployment insurance claims, and retention/follow up services.
CWEP	Community Work Experience Program
DHS	Department of Human Services
DOL	Department of Labor—changed in 2004 to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (LWD).
DVRS	Division of Vocational and Rehabilitation Services
E&T	Employment and Training
EA	Emergency Assistance
EEI	Early Employment Initiative
EFF	Equipped for the Future Content and Standards for Adults Literacy and Lifelong Learning
EITC	Earned Income Tax Credit
Eligible Training Providers List (ETPL)	List of programs and vendors eligible to receive adult or dislocated worker funds to provide skills training to job-seekers. Any post-secondary education institution certified under the Higher Education Act that provides a program leading to a two or four-year degree or certificate is automatically eligible. Organizations that offer an apprenticeship program registered under the National Apprenticeship act are also eligible. The State of New Jersey will establish procedures to certify other entities.
Employment Service (ES)	Otherwise known as Job Service, federally funded and created under the Employment Security Act, ES provides employment services to individuals and business.
English as a Second Language (ESL)	Educational training for individuals designed to increase their proficiency in the English language.
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)	Educational training for individuals designed to increase their proficiency in the English language.
GA	General Assistance
FBO	Faith Based Organization
FSE&T	Food Stamp Employment and Training
GA	General Assistance
HUD	(Department of) Housing and Urban Development
IM	Income Maintenance
INA	Immigration and Naturalization Service
Individual Training Accounts (ITAs)	Payments made on behalf of eligible adults and dislocated workers to cover the costs of training programs offered by an eligible provider. Youth 19-21 may be enrolled in adult programs and receive an ITA.
Intensive Services	Intensive Services are comprehensive and specialized assessments of the skill levels and service needs of adults and dislocate workers which may include testing, in-depth interviewing, individualized employment plans, individualized counseling and career planning, group counseling, case management and short term pre-vocational services.
IRP	Individual Responsibility Plan
IRS	Internal Revenue Service
Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)	The Job Training Partnership Act; the predecessor to WIA, was a federally funded job training program. The JTPA legislation ended on June 30, 2000.
JOBS	Job Opportunities and Basic Skills
LWD	New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
MOU	Memorandum of Understanding
NJSES	New Jersey State Employment Service
OJT	On-the-job-training
One-Stop Partners	One-Stop Partners provide services that are linked, physically or technologically with the One-Stop System. Individuals are provided information on the availability of core services in the local area. Required partners include programs authorized under Title I of WIA; the Wagner-Peyser Act; the Adult Education and Literacy title of this Act; the Vocational Rehabilitation Act; the Welfare-to-Work grants; title V of the Older Americans Act; postsecondary vocational education under the Perkins Act; Trade Adjustment Assistance; veterans employment services; unemployment compensation; Community Service Block Grants; and employment and training activities carried out by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The partners and local boards enter into a written Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
One-Stop System	The One-Stop delivery system is a seamless system of service delivery that will enhance access to the programs’ services and improve long-term employment outcomes for individuals receiving assistance. Each WIB must operate at least one physical one-stop center, but may set up multiple satellite sites. Individuals can access a continuum of services, which are organized into three levels: core intensive, and training.
One-Stop Career Centers	The One-Stop Career Centers are a partnership among state and local government to provide job seekers with the support they need to transition to work or, programs, services and activities at each site. Each local area must have at least one comprehensive center with an array of programs offered on site.
Project STEP UP (Students, Teachers and Employers Poised to Unleash Potential)	Series of partnerships between midsize and larger businesses and public high schools across New Jersey that encourage students to explore careers and the real world.
RFP	Request for Proposal
SSI	Supplemental Security Income
SSN	Social Security Number
Training Services	Training Services are provided to adults and dislocated workers who are unable to obtain or retain employment through core or intensive services.
“To Work”	A term used for TANF customers referring to the movement from “Welfare-to-Work.” Customers who are “To-Work” are required to be searching for employment in order to maintain their benefits.
UC	Unemployment Compensation
UI or UIB	Unemployment Insurance Benefits
USDA	United States Department of Agriculture
VA	Veterans Affairs
VISTA	Volunteers of Service to America
VOA	Volunteers of America
VR	Vocational Rehabilitation
WFNJ	Work First New Jersey
WIC	Women, Infants, and Children
WLL	Workforce Learning Links
WNJ	Workforce New Jersey
Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998	The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 creates a new, comprehensive Workforce Investment System. It is intended to consolidate, coordinate, and improve employment, training, literacy, and vocational rehabilitation programs in the U.S.
Workforce Investment Board (WIB)	Workforce Investment Boards are local partnerships of private and public sector participants that provide coordinated planning, policy guidance and oversight for all workforce investment programs in their designated area.
Workforce New Jersey Public Information Network (WNJPIN)	The Workforce New Jersey Public Information Network (WNJPIN) is the technological component of New Jersey’s One-Stop Career Center System, offering self service to government services and information. WNJPIN is designed for four types of customers—job seekers, students, counselors, and employers.
WRC	Workforce Readiness Credential
WTW	Welfare-to-Work
Youth Investment Council (YIC)	The Youth Investment Council (YIC) is responsible for setting policy direction in creating employment opportunities and career pathways for all youth, whether in or out of school.