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May 4, 2007

NRF Foundation Opens New Retail Skills Center in New Jersey

For Immediate Release
NRF Contact: Scott Krugman or Ellen Davis (202) 783-7971
krugmans@nrf.com or davise@nrf.com
ISE Contact: Sherwood LaValle Taylor (609) 343-5689
Email: staylor@atlantic.edu

NRF Foundation Opens New Retail Skills Center in New Jersey

Mays Landing, NJ, May 4, 2007 –The Institute for Service Excellence (ISE), the twenty-third center of its kind and the third NRF Foundation affiliated Retail Skills Center in New Jersey, celebrated its grand opening today. In response to the needs of local retailers, the placement facility will serve as a “one-stop” shop for prospective employees and employers, helping place qualified candidates in the Atlantic City area with careers at local retailers. Opening remarks at today’s event were made by Dr. Peter Mora, President of Atlantic Cape Community College.

Additional remarks were offered by:

Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo, 2nd District of New Jersey
Senator Sonny McCullough, Second Legislative District State Senate
Dennis Levinson, Atlantic County Executive
Dan Beyel, Cape May County Freeholder Director
David J. Socolow, Commissioner, NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Thomas D. Carver, Executive Director, Casino Reinvestment Development Authority Clint Cochran, Vice President - Kravco-Simon Representative
Bill Schu, General Manager, Hamilton Mall
Mark Wampler, Assistant General Manager, Hamilton Mall
Mary Moorhouse, NRF Foundation
Steven Romeo, Sr., Scorpio Construction Incorporated
Alan Metcalfe, Principal, Metcalfe Architecture & Design

"We are continuing to see an increased demand for qualified employees in the retail and customer service sectors,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “The Skills Centers help provide a solid foundation for the growth and development of both the retail industry and those individuals who seek employment within it.”

Dedicated specifically to addressing growth within the service sectors, the Institute for Service Excellence will allow businesses to find unsurpassed service training and professionally certified job candidates, as well as help job seekers discover rewarding careers in retail. The state-of-the art facility offers basic and customized service skills training, skills assessments, staff certifications, English as a second language, and a host of customer service training. The Institute also delivers National Professional Certification assessments, dove-tailed with industry standards and curriculum set by the NRF Foundation. Additional training can be accessed at NRF University wired – www.nrfuniversitywired.com - an on-line learning environment created to disseminate quality education and training specifically for retail professionals at all levels across all retail formats.

"I am pleased to see the fruits of business and workforce professionals’ efforts to partner with Atlantic Cape Community College in opening the Skills Center in Mays Landing,” said U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. “Their efforts, sustaining U.S. Department of Labor investments through the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, will prepare our workforce for careers in the 21st century global economy.”

Skills Centers are highly visible recruitment, training and placement facilities that operate in large shopping centers or as part of public employment services. The centers offer the National Professional Certification in Customer Service, Sales, and Retail Management assessments offered by NRF Foundation and endorsed by retailers, as well as classes on computers, English as a second language, career counseling, and workshops on customer service.

The first NRF Foundation Skills Center opened a decade ago at the Mall & Court at King of Prussia near Philadelphia. To date more than 55,000 people have been served and more than 15,000 potential retail employees have found jobs through the Skills Centers. With momentum growing among developers and businesses, the NRF Foundation expects the number of people served to double over the next three years.

The NRF Foundation (NRFF) is the research and education arm of the National Retail Federation. A non-profit foundation created in 1981, the Foundation conducts industry research, develops education and workforce development programs, and promotes retailing as a career destination. The NRF Foundation benefits retailers, their associates and business partners and allies, and consumers in many ways. Research provides the basis for education about the industry and its importance to the economy, and provides industry and government leaders with an analysis of public policy decisions on consumers, retailers, and the economy. The Foundation's education and career development efforts, including NRF University wired, encourage professional development and excellence in performance of retailing for associates and executives at all levels.

The National Retail Federation is the world's largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2006 sales of $4.7 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com.###

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