Cumberland County has traditionally been the center for glass manufacturing in New Jersey. Almost 60 percent of the local economy was directly and indirectly related to the glass industry. In recent years a variety of factors, including high energy costs, foreign competition, consumer acceptance of plastic, have contributed to a sharp decline in this sector of the county's economy. Plant closings and large scale layoffs raised the local unemployment rate in 1984-85 to 18 percent. Cumberland County is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 unemployment areas in the country. Plastics manufacturing has begun to become an important aspect of the regional manufacturing base. Since a 1983 report on the industry was prepared by the New Jersey Department of Commerce and Economic Development, the number of plastic manufacturers in Cumberland County has doubled and the work force has increased by 53 percent. As the number of plastics manufacturers increase, the need for a skilled work force also increases. To meet this need the college has established a laboratory facility to support the offering of a new course, Processing of Plastics. This course is a core requirement in a new program for a Plastics Processing Technician Certificate Program which is serving both undergraduate students who will transfer and those who are working in the local area. The laboratory facility is giving the students hands-on experience in understanding the principles of processing plastics on machinery and test apparatus; in the melt flow characteristics of typical resins in extrusion, injection molding, and compression molding; and in the testing of melt flow and physical properties of plastics in accord with commercial methods of characterization and assurance for the use in production. The grantee is matching the award from non-Federal sources.
