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Morris County proclaims National Disability Employment Awareness Month; workforce board highlights apprenticeship, literacy grants
Summary
The Morris County Board of Commissioners proclaimed October 2025 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month and heard a presentation from Beth Rogers of the Workforce Development Board of Northwest New Jersey on new apprenticeship, adult literacy and digital-literacy grants and employer partnerships.
Morris County Commissioners on Oct. 8 proclaimed October 2025 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month and recognized the 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 while hearing a presentation from the Workforce Development Board of Northwest New Jersey.
Beth Rogers, executive director of the tri-county workforce board, told commissioners the board supports employers and job seekers across Morris, Sussex and Warren counties and has won recent recognition from the New Jersey Department of Labor. Rogers described two competitive grants awarded to the board: an adult literacy grant that places newly hired workers into a nine-week English-language and foundational-skills cohort in partnership with Atlantic Health, and a digital-literacy grant aimed at TANF and SNAP recipients to improve job-readiness.
Rogers said the board partners with County College of Morris and local high schools on apprenticeship and 'boot camp' programs so students and new hires can earn industry credentials. She described work with a training provider (identified in the presentation as Zuifall Health) to convert its dental- and medical-assistant training into apprenticeship pathways and said the board helped arrange on‑site hiring events and rapid-response support following layoffs. Rogers noted the board served 38 businesses and 136 individuals last year and reported early-quarter numbers of about 11 businesses and 47 individuals this year.
The board also highlighted a 'skills, careers and apprenticeship' day planned at Mount Olive High School with roughly 275 students registered and 30 employer or trade vendors on site. Rogers said the workforce board has supported roughly $500,000 in apprenticeship program support to date and described the agency's career-services work: more than 1,100 orientations, 1,700 one-on-one counseling sessions and over 4,000 assessments in the prior year.
Commissioners presented Rogers with the proclamation and posed no formal questions during the presentation. The next procedural item on the agenda was commissioner reports.
