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Workforce development has to come to the forefront of the Asbury Park City Council’s agenda.

On Thursday, the governing body announced its quest to find a consultant capable of growing the city’s potential for employment.

The city’s unemployment rate is 5.70%, with a job growth rate of 0.39%, according to Sperling’s Best Places data. Future job growth over the next ten years is predicted to be 35.10%.

“We’re getting someone who has expertise in this, to come in and coordinate all these efforts, bring all the pieces together,” said Councilwoman Yvonne Clayton. “This deserves a specialized talent or experience.”

Prospective candidates are being asked to put together a four-year plan that identifies sectors of the population to target, barriers to employment, and needs within the local business economy.

The plan must include community input, consideration of the job market, data collection, and previous workforce development programs and efforts attempted in the city. It must also match up with State and County plans for the years ascribed, City Manager Michael Capabianco said.

“The last plan was done approximately 15 years ago and sat on a shelf,” City Manager Michael Capabianco said. “This will be a living document to guide the City towards the reduction of unemployment and the elimination of barriers to employment.”

Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn said employing a consultant is the first step in possibly creating a workforce development office with a department head.

“With not only the construction happening in Asbury but also the types of businesses we’re building, like hotels, there’s an opportunity to employ and train Asbury Park residents,” Quinn said. “The consultant we envision is someone who’s going to help connect the redevelopment and businesses coming online with local residents who need jobs.”

Last year the City Council voted to eliminate its Department of Commerce, headed by Tom Gilmour, who got his start as the city’s Urban Enterprise Zone czar. The program was created by the state in 1983 as a way to foster economic growth in blighted urban communities by helping to fund everything from micro loans to workforce development. The program shuttered in May after a 21 year run.

The program brought in more than $5 million over 10-year period and went from producing $43,000 a year to $962,000 in its final year, Gilmour has said.

In its decision to do away with the Commerce Department, the governing body cited the need for better municipal communication with the public and its business owners. At the time they said they were choosing to go another way, with the potential to create not only a Director of Communications [now held by Hannah Walker] but a second position to help aggregate business development.

Councilwoman Yvonne Clayton said everything from helping residents obtain driver’s licenses to getting them apprenticeships and getting acclimated into the community will be part of the consultant’s duties.

The workforce development consultant must also work closely with developers in order to measure what jobs or services could be filled by residents.

“There are so many programs and so many people doing so many things, and there’s some duplication of services,” Clayton said. “The city is going to develop a plan that works for the city with input from everybody, and there will be community meetings once the position is filled, to talk about what the issues are and what the concerns are, and what needs to be addressed.”

Proposals are due 2 p.m. March 2 and must also include a cover letter, synopsis of the firm and similar work it has undertaken, a description of methodology and strategy, project timeline, resumes for every individual involved, and a bid amount and budget. The full request for proposal can be viewed and downloaded via the city’s website.

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