New Jersey’s unemployment rate may be on the cusp of double digits. However, there are jobs available in the state manufacturing industry. They just need to find some entry-level candidates willing to join their ranks.

Long gone are the days of large factories across the Garden State made up of assembly lines. Meredith Aronson from the Advance Manufacturing Talent of New Jersey says today more than 90 percent of state manufacturers are small businesses in need of entry-level workers.

“For every manufacturing job, there are four to six jobs in the national supply chain. This is really a leveraged incentive for growing the economy.”

 The first ManufactureNJ Week is gathering industry experts under one roof and introducing students like Bloomfield Tech’s Desiree to potential employees. She hopes her skills as a welder will help break the glass ceiling in a male dominated field.

“They expect this from guys, but we got a lot of skills. We go to competitions for this and everything. So, we can make it somewhere.”  

 Dennis Nelson of B& M Machine Company in Belleville says part of the problem is gearing students towards four-year colleges that just prepare them for white-collar jobs.

“We look for people who have an interest in mechanics, have a good set of hands and like to get their hands dirty.”

More than 80 percent of manufacturers report that they are unable to fill production jobs according to the Manufacturing Institute.