News

Four Missouri counties have earned Certified Work Ready Community status. This ACT designation program that recognizes successful efforts by community, education and business leaders to strengthen workforce training and development in order to meet the economic development needs of their communities. Laclede, Morgan, Howard, and Pemiscot counties each recently earned the designation.

Gov. Asa Hutchison certified Texarkana as an Arkansas Competitive Community. Located in the participating Work Ready Community of Miller County, Texarkana is the first in Southwest Arkansas to earn the distinction, and one of only a few statewide.

Ohio's variety of options to encourage high school equivalency now includes WorkKeys for adults age 20 and over. The option calls for a composite score totaling 14 or higher across the three tests along with pursuit of an industry-recognized credential.

Imagine being asked to secure housing, transportation, forms of identification, clothing, food, and employment all within a short period of time. What would be considered an arduous task for most is even more difficult for incarcerated individuals being released. Cleveland Community College in the Work Ready Community of Cleveland, NC hosted a prison-to-community initaitive, a simulation highlighting the challenges incarcerated individuals face on release. The March 30th event included participants from community colleges, resource agencies, local industries, community corrections, judicial districts, and chambers of commerce.

The Green Hills Education Association in Iowa shared the success of WorkKeys for two students in the Council Bluffs school district. 

I have a Transition Alliance Program student who took the NCRC this semester and he earned a platinum.  Being in a therapeutic environment throughout high school, this young man has been setting his sights at entry level jobs with little opportunity for advancement such as a fast food worker or grocery store clerk.  The platinum score on the NCRC has motivated him to consider careers that require more skills as well as exploring post-secondary educational opportunities. The NCRC has been instrumental in showing him that he can perform academically at a significantly higher level than he has estimated. Because he doesn't have practice with rigorous coursework, he is concerned about taking 12-15 college credits, but trying one or two classes is a possibility.  He is participating in the Reverse Job Fair in May and is including the NCRC on his resume. 

I had a student who took the NCRC before she graduated. She earned a silver rating which qualifies her to be a paraprofessional with CBCSD.  Unfortunately, she moved to Kansas City, Kansas in January and we were exploring Kansas Community Colleges for her to earn an associate's degree to become a para.  However, I recently learned that Kansas recognizes the NCRC as an approved assessment for paraprofessionals and I am assisting her in getting her NCRC certificate number so that she can apply for paraprofessional positions in Kansas. 

Governor Mike Parson, Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe, Senator Jason Bean, Representative Don Rone, Representative Andrew McDaniel, city and county officials, business leaders and the community at large gathered at an event in Caruthersville, MO, yesterday in which Governor Parson declared Pemiscot County a Certified Work Ready Community.

Meridian High School students at Ross Collins Career and Technical Center were recognized Thursday for their success on the ACT Work Keys Assessment, a nationally recognized career readiness certificate. Ross Collins director Rob Smith said the students had a reason to hold their heads high. Their success on the assessment is proof to both future employers and themselves that they are prepared for their future careers. Meridian Community Development Director Craig Hitt said the students’ success would not only benefit them in their careers but would benefit the city as well. One of the biggest draws for industries looking to relocate or expand is an educated, skilled workforce, he said, and the ACT WorkKeys program is part of that. Currently, Hitt said, Meridian is working toward becoming an ACT Work Ready community, and having certified workers is the foundation of that effort.

Unprecedented skill shortages in labor markets across the U.S. often intersect with a desire for Justice System reform that provides pathways for Returning Citizens to thrive. When optimized in a regional workforce ecosystem, Returning Citizens are a high-performing group of working learners to boost a regional talent pipeline. In a two-part series, ACT's Ready for Work podcast examines a Five P's framework for re-entry success in Episode 32.  Life-Changing Asset and Skill-Based Solutions iAlternative Sentencing for Episode 31 showcases the success drug court approach in Morgan County, AL.

WRC Synergies with Talent Pipeline Management from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, workforce readiness was the signature challenge facing economic developers across the U.S. If anything, the fast but uneven post-pandemic recovery will bring even greater challenges on the talent availability front.  This new reality illustrates the value of the ACT Work-Ready Communities initiative and the underlying data that Work-Ready Communities provide to prospective employers.  By furnishing business decision-makers with an apples-to-apples comparison across different labor markets that relies on fundamental, measurable workplace skills, ACT Work-Ready Communities is something every local economic development organization should look at adopting in their area.

Christopher Chung, CEO
Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina