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.
National non-profit Credential Engine will help map the credential landscape in Kansas City and move the region toward credential transparency in support of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s vision for Real World Learning — a Kansas City community initiative to help prepare the region, students, and employers for the future.
Leaders from across Jackson County today took a moment to celebrate what they consider to be a milestone in helping people develop workplace skills and connect them to good jobs.
“This says Jackson County is open for business and people matter,” said Mardy Leathers, Missouri’s director of workforce development. He added that Gov. Mike Parson has said his two highest priorities are fixing the state’s roads and bridges and developing a workforce able to meet the ever-changing demands of the modern economy.
Local business leaders are still pushing to get Jackson County registered as a “Certified Work Ready Community.” About 200 businesses need to sign up for that to happen.
“It’s important to do this, even if you’re not hiring right now,” Lara Vermillion, president of the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce, told business owners and others at a recent chamber gathering
Lara Vermillion, president of the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce, was giving her members an update on the Certified Work Ready Community program. Workers take a test akin to the ACT most of us took in high school. It measures skill areas such as graphic literacy, applied math and workplace documents
