News

A steel facility engineered to bring together the most advanced technology is coming soon to the Work Ready Community of Mississippi County, AR and Osceloa.  This first use of endless casting and rolling technology in the United States brings significant energy, efficiency, and capability enhancements to the company’s operations.

The economic development office for Preble County — the Preble County Development Partnership — celebrated 10 years of collaboration during a special investor event. some of the things that make Preble County attractive to developers is that it is a Certified ACT Work Ready Community, provides quick access to Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis, is located near the crossroads of America and is a single day’s drive to 60 percent of the USA and Canadian populations.

The Work Ready Community of Butler County landed 175 new jobs for True Manufacturing with a new $21 facility in Poplar Bluff, MO. With more than 3.7 million square feet across its Missouri manufacturing facilities, True Manufacturing is committed to products that are designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States. The company’s new facility will enable expanded production of its current line of products and occupy all 54 acres of Poplar Bluff’s newest industrial park.

Scott County, Virginia, a Work Ready Community in progress, netted 30 new jobs with an expansion of VFP, Inc. The Southwest Virginia region competed against Missouri and Oklahoma to win the expansion. Company leaders and elected officials cited workforce quality as a key factor in a press release from Gov. Northam.

With increased investment in apprenticeship comes increased expectations. ACT joined forces with local apprenticeships successful in skills-based hiring and national thought leaders on what’s needed to boost quality and completions in apprenticeship. Coming out of this collaboration is a new toolkit from ACT. We packed the toolkit with resources and scalable options of good, better, and best to provide apprenticeship coordinators flexibility in how to organize their efforts. The toolkit is organized into nine elements to boost quality and apprenticeship, across the domains of learning, working, and thriving.

Cleco announced applications are being accepted for its Power of a Promise Scholarship which  includes full tuition, books, a stipend for incidentals and a paid internship at the company's  Brame Energy Center near Boyce, La. A combination of skill attributes includes WorkKeys as a qualification option.

The National Association of Workforce Boards showcased the West Michigan Works region for promosing practices in meeting needs of employers. The article includes tips on building strong partnerships, devoting resources, incentives, support, and cohorts. 

On Monday, President Biden signed into law a historic, bipartisan infrastructure bill signaling the potential for an economic revitalization, focused on creating workforce opportunities for all Americans in the face of ongoing economic and societal transformation. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act aims to provide resources that can increase sustainable and equitable economic growth for Americans for years to come.

Pottawattamie County officials are celebrating certification as Iowa's newest Work Ready Community.

“We now have a lot of resources available to us because we are certified through ACT,” said Alicia Frieze, Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce workforce development director at a celebration held Tuesday at Iowa Western Community College.