New Ark Farms aims to support the reestablishment of the “maker” economy that once drove Newark and the surrounding region. As a business, our fundamental purpose is to help rekindle the once powerful Newark economy by providing the tools to build a talented workforce, a healthy environment, and a stronger community. And, it is our firm belief that this transformative work must be led by members of the community most underserved by the current system. We have, therefore, focused the majority of our workforce development efforts on the formerly incarcerated.

Our commitment to this segment of the community goes beyond providing living wages and basic job training. In partnership with entities such as Rutgers University, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, and The Prodigal Sons & Daughters Redirectional Services, we are creating a workforce development curriculum designed to educate our employees in areas such as character development, fiscal literacy, conflict resolution, and communication skills. We believe that this “soft-skills” training will not only help build a stronger workforce, but it will also arm these individuals with the tools they need to better serve their own communities. Our business model provides for a self-sustaining revenue stream that continually funds the two critical components of workforce development: soft-skills education and living wages. We have found that one without the other rarely has the desired impact.