The city of Newark is completing its first class of trainees in web coding.
WASHINGTON -- When President Barack Obama visited Newark in November to discuss criminal justice issues, he brought along the announcement that a technology training program would be expanded to Newark.
The first class in Newark's TechHire program, which involves the New Jersey Institute of Technology and local employers, including Amazon.com's Audible Inc., Prudential Financial and Panasonic Corp. is about to graduate, and the city is readying some new classes.
"The designation does not expire," Jacob Leibenluft, deputy director of the National Economic Council, said Tuesday on a conference call with reporters. "We're continuing to work with the communities."
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Newark's program to teach coding for the web brings in unemployed youths and adults, as well as individuals with criminal records, according to the White House. Of the 15 students who enrolled in January, 13 are on track to complete the program and the city plans to try to find them jobs or internships.
About half of the existing class is comprised of women and/or persons of color, the White House said.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a former Newark mayor, said program is "creating pathways to lift residents up and diversify the faces working in this vital industry."
Wainer said the program is part of the mayor's effort to establish Newark as a high-tech hub, and it provides a "pipeline for people who do not have the traditional resume of a technology worker in Silicon Valley," said Seth Wainer, head of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka's Office of Information Technology. "We're very excited about this being a pathway to success."
The city plans to use existing funds from the U.S. Labor Department to continue the training and is seeking a federal grant under a new program to expand it.
"We can ultimately drive entrepreneurial job creation in the city," Wainer said. "We can get them the skills they need to be successful."
The city is providing free wifi, and its location near a major airport, port and train line could help drive the growth of a high-tech industry, he said.
"This is how Newark emerges as a dynamic force," Wainer said. "The city has had a lot of challenges. This has been a long time coming."
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.