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Taney County Partnership gives year-end report February 20, 2020

Taney County Partnership is also focusing on Taney County Career Days on March 3-5, (re)certified work ready communities (CWRC), Imagine Branson (newsletter) stories, J1 Visa work  programs, H-2B visa non-immigrant program, Puerto Rico worker recruitment and the Community Workforce Summit on Jan. 28

County Earns Its Third Recertification As Work Ready Community February 19, 2020

Wayne County was named the first Certified Work Ready Community in North Carolina by North Carolina’s Eastern Region in 2013. Since then, Wayne County has just been certified as an ACT Work Ready Community, recently recertified for the third time.

Gilligan sets fuse on Ignite Emporia February 18, 2020

While the housing study is underway, Gilligan said conversations with businesses and industries along with local schools will start identifying ways to better connect area students with careers that keep them in Emporia long after they graduate. Part of that process includes becoming a certified ACT Work Ready Community — a two-year process involving the ACT WorkKeys skills curriculum.

Calling All Innovators! 2020 ACT Workforce Summit Now Accepting Proposals February 10, 2020

The ACT Workforce Summit Planning Committee invites you to submit proposals for the 2020 ACT Workforce Summit, slated for October 26-28 in Memphis, TN. Educators, workforce and economic developers, Work Ready Community leaders, employers, and industry partners will convene during our fourth annual Workforce Summit. Set at the famous Peabody Hotel, the summit will showcase collaborative and innovative practices to help students and job seekers succeed and communities thrive and prosper. We expect diverse attendance at the Summit, representative of secondary education, including career and technical education, post-secondary education, community and technical colleges (credit and non-credit), adult education and literacy programs, state and local workforce development, youth program specialists, vocational rehabilitation, re-entry programs, chambers of commerce, industry associations, employers, and human resource specialists.

School system honored for workforce development achievements February 10, 2020

The Pittsylvania County School system was recognized for its workforce development achievements over the past year at the ACT Workforce Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina, along with 48 other participating ACT Work Ready Communities. The annual summit in October, which brings together experts in business, education, workforce and economic development, including the ACT Work Ready Communities Awards Ceremony and Recognition. During the ceremony, representatives from participating ACT Work Ready Community counties and parishes received awards for becoming certified or completing a new set of goals to maintain their certification. Accepting the awards are Michael Minter, of Henry County; Angela Rigney, of Pittsylvania County; Virginia Byrd and Meagan Owen, of Halifax County; Michelle McDonald and Roger Scott, of Amelia County; and Lee Ann Mahan, of Patrick, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg counties.

Area school districts emphasize WorkKeys February 06, 2020

Columbus Municipal School District Superintendent Cherie Labat said emphasizing workforce readiness skills is becoming as important, if not more important, than pushing the ACT in a district where many students will not attend a four-year college after graduation.

Felon turns life around with Career Readiness Certificate, Crawford County jail program offers chance for detainees to find work February 04, 2020

The CRC program has served over 800 inmates in Crawford County. The county spends roughly $52 per day for every inmate that is housed in the Crawford County Justice Center. The Alternative Sentencing Program has saved Crawford County almost $1 million.

Winning the Growth Game with Work Ready Communities February 03, 2020

Work Ready Communities (WRC) from ACT is a framework for community-based workforce development to drive economic growth.  Regions improve their workforce and compete on quality for location consultants, investors, and other decision-makers using data powered by the WorkKeys® National Career Readiness Certificate. Check out this article with Episode 18 of the Ready for Work podcast on economic development strategies.

Fulton, NY High Schoolers Earn Essential Workplace Credential January 27, 2020

Students at the Fulton City School District are the latest high schoolers in Oswego County to earn a national work readiness credential through Cayuga Community College’s Work Ready Oswego NY initiative.

A total of 17 students from the Fulton district’s G. Ray Bodley High School earned the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), a portable credential certifying essential skills required for workplace success. Led by the school’s Work-based Learning Coordinator, Angela Ferlito, and housed in their Career Exploration Center, G. Ray Bodley is the first high school in Oswego County to become an ACT WorkKeys Satellite Site under Work Ready Oswego NY. The school offers a comprehensive program of on-site preparation and testing for the ACT WorkKeys NCRC credential.

FORT SCOTT CHAMBER: ENCOURAGING BUSINESSES January 22, 2020

A group of 10 people from Bourbon County, USD 234, USD235, Fort Scott Community College, the City of Uniontown and local employers attended a Work Ready Community Workshop in August 2019.

Kansas initiated an initiative for high school juniors to take the Work Keys test and earn certification. The certification is to improve hiring and employee retention, help provide employees who have the skills needed and help students attain success in landing a career.

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 , while county-level data is starting from January 2012. State job profile data runs from January 2007 through , 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.