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Cole County, Missouri

The Show Me State Excels in Work Ready Communities October 30, 2024

The Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development (MDHEWD) was recently recognized at the ACT Workforce Summit in Atlanta, Georgia for having 13 counties maintaining or achieving their Certified Work Ready Community status in the past year.

Missouri currently leads the nation with a total of 99 Certified Work Ready Communities and 112 communities that are participating and working towards certification.

Residents will earn $11 an hour while participating in Rolla Job Center's new virtual program August 17, 2021

Rolla job seekers between the ages of 14-24 now have the opportunity to gain virtual work experience through The Career Club. Individuals will earn $11 an hour while participating in the virtual training and transition to a minimum wage of $12 an hour following work experience placement. 

DoC reentry programs prepare inmates for return to workforce February 25, 2019

Video on re-entry program in MO

Innovative re-entry programs show signs of success February 25, 2019

Employer-led ex-offender programs have already seen signs of success.

One such program began in 2015 when Jacobs piloted an idea that Missouri corrections officials had never tried before: offering a standardized employment readiness test to a group of 18 inmates who would soon be released from the Algoa Correctional Center in Jefferson City. The test was ACT’s WorkKeys assessment, which is used by thousands of companies around the world and measures skills like applied math, graphic literacy, locating information and critical thinking.

Innovative re-entry programs show signs of success February 22, 2019

Having a WorkKeys credential helps put ex-offender on a path to success and assures employers that the skills a candidate brings to a role outweigh perceived risks. When paired with the training and professional development opportunities available during incarceration, inmates can upskill and gain industry certifications that help them land good jobs when they return to the workforce

This website reports the ACT® WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificates earned at the county and state level and the progress being made by those participating states and counties in the ACT Work Ready Community initiative. This site only represents data stored in the ACT RegiSTAR™ system, a web-based reporting and management tool for ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificates.

State and national ACT WorkKeys NCRC data runs from January 2006 through October 31, 2024 , while county-level data is starting from January 2012. State job profile data runs from January 2007 through October 31, 2024 , while national job profile data reaches back to 1993. Again, please note that county-level ACT WorkKeys NCRC data collection began in January 2012 for WorkKeys Internet Version, and in July 2012 for pencil and paper assessments. State and national certificate totals include historical data prior to 2012.

WorkKeys® assessments are used across the nation, and many states have built their own Career Readiness Certificates based upon WorkKeys assessment results. You will find an asterisk denoting those states. This website will continue to evolve as the first two rounds of participating states give us feedback on what they would like to see -- and based on your feedback, as well.

Please contact us if you have comments, questions or would like to receive more information.