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WRC Adds Value to North Carolina Economic Development March 13, 2022

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

Toward an Era of Equity Without Stigma March 09, 2022

In February, hundreds of ACT team members across the organization learned from BMe Community CEO Trabian Shorters about Asset-Framing. This cognitive frame holds that by defining people by their aspirations rather than their challenges, we can prime the public to fix the systemic problems that block the achievement of those aspirations. Here, Shorters expands on his presentation and Q&A session with additional thoughts on how organizations and individuals alike can put this equity-focused framing into practice.

Local WRCs honored with Site Selectors Guild awards March 03, 2022

Congratulations to the local Work Ready Communities in Bourbon County, Kansas, recipient of the Projects with a Purpose award, and the St. Louis, Missouri region, for the award on Community Innovation.

School district hosts state CTE showcase March 03, 2022

State officials, local officials, and business and industry partners gathered Feb. 22 at South East Arkansas Community-Based Education Center (SEACBEC) to celebrate the career and technical educational accomplishments of Warren High School and the district during the CTE event

Juvenile Justice Re-Entry in SW TN with MSSC and ACT March 01, 2022

As featured in Episode 31 of ACT's Ready for Work podcast.

Incarceration to Employment: Re-Entry Essential Element of Workforce March 01, 2022

As featured in Episode 31 of ACT's Ready for Work podcast

Mississippi Examines TABE-WorkKeys Data Relationships February 25, 2022

As featured in Episode 30 of the Ready for Work podcast

University of Nevada Offers Tips with WRC to Engage Employers February 24, 2022

"Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match…" Maybe it's because I just saw Fiddler on the Roof or because Valentine's Day has just passed, but I wanted to take a moment to bring together two very special audiences – entrepreneurs and workforce development – to make the case for why this marriage should be a no-brainer and provide ideas for how to make a move.

Ceremony recognizes 54 NCRC earners in Northern New York February 23, 2022

Recently 54 G. Ray Bodley High School students received their ACT WorkKeys career readiness certificates at the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum levels on Thursday morning in front of family, faculty, and student peers. Principal Donna Parkhurst spoke alongside business teacher Angela Ferlito to kick off the morning ceremony. 

“What WorkKeys does is it takes a look at not only the soft skills, but also the hard skills that occupations at any level are looking at in terms of qualifications. There’s also additional curriculum offered to obtain micro-credentials in certain areas: teamwork, business communication, discipline in the workplace, problem solving, and customer service, critical thinking and financial awareness. Those skills really help build one’s resume,” Ferlito said. “These students had curriculum that they could work through, and then they took all three parts of the assessment, which was a grueling three hours that they sat. It was a lot of work for them and stressful at times, but they did a great job and persevered through that.”

Podcast: WorkKeys Alignment with Adult Standards Spurs Innovation February 21, 2022

A group of nine subject matter experts in Adult Education formed a panel to align the CCRSAE to the benchmarks of WorkKeys. The panelists represent four states across the South, Midwest, and Northeast regions of the U.S. Results of the study help demonstrate a crosswalk with the Educational Functional Levels to help ABE programs optimize performance as working learns meet both career and education goals.

Enhancing the detail of the crosswalk are best practices from the Mississippi Community College Board, Hagerstown Community College in Maryland, and Metropolitan Community College of Omaha, Nebraska. Each guest contributes their perspectives on the importance of the alignment work and how it helps improve ABE programming. The panelists share what they gained in unique insights from the research that also helps demystify Strength of Link. Episode 30 concludes with tips to read and interpret the crosswalk along with a briefing on the new Move Ahead with Adult Ed campaign.