News

Pottawattamie County and the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce are working toward implementing a program designed to benefit local job-seekers and employers.  Through a news release, the Chamber announced the county’s goal of becoming an ACT Work Ready Community. This practice demonstrates commitment to developing a strong workforce pipeline desirable to employers, economic developers and current and future county residents, according to Alicia Frieze, the Chamber’s workforce development director.

The Greater Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Department has been awarded a $2,640.00 grant thru the Certified Work Ready Communities (CWRC) Program. The grant award will reimburse the testing administration costs for up to 80 seniors from Clinton Technical School. The Workkeys tests included the following core areas: Applied Math, Graphic Literacy, and Workplace documents. This is a key component for the Recertification efforts for the Henry County Certified Work Ready Community (CWRC). Henry County was originally awarded the CWRC designation in July, 2014.

ACT's Ready for Work podcast published a three-part series, Disaster Recovery and Economic Resiliency Using Skills-Based Hiring. The series shares voices and ideas on deployment of the five-part ALEDA framework of Adapt, Lead, Engage, Deploy, and Analyze. WRC's podcast page has a handy podcast player with links to show notes and resources for episodes 22, 23, and 24. The Ready for Work podcast expanded to Amazon Music and the Tune-In app in additon to regular podcast networks.

The Omaha World-Herald newspaper highlighted workforce issues and solutions.  Heartland Work Ready Communities remains one of the most successful endeavors through Metropolitan Community College. The article describes positive outcomes and capabilities to grow the region's workforce.

The podcast, We Are Jobs, interviewed Cheri Tune on Work Ready Communities for episode 73.  Hosted by Chad Chancellor with Next Move Group, the podcast focuses on creating economic growth for small-to-mid-sized companies, communities, and non-profit organizations. 

Six workforce development professionals from Workforce Connections, the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance and the Vegas Chamber were certified by the national organization ACT as job profilers, including Jake McClelland, LVGEA; Celia Rouse, Stavan Corbett, Robbie DeBuffand Carol Polke, Workforce Connections; and George Hempe, Vegas Chamber. This specialized and data-driven training will allow these professionals to help local employers hire the right person the first time. The new job profilers are part of Nevada’s Work Ready Community initiative aimed at connecting employers to a ready workforce.

Heartisan’s Marketplace, a non-profit organization centered around preparing unemployed women for the workforce or continued education path, is moving from their Downtown Location to a much larger space. Their program, the ACT Career Ready Site, incorporates the ACT Workkeys curriculum, centered around measuring foundational skills required for success in the workplace. Working alongside Kilgore College, their program also acts as a testing site.

The Elkins-Randolph County Chamber of Commerce Workforce Development Collaborative announced they have engaged in the process for Randolph County to become a certified ACT Work Ready Community.  Jack Tribble, Monongahela National Forest Greenbrier District Ranger explains, “Hiring is one of the most important things we do. We review the resume, interview, and do a reference check. Sometimes with a candidate we feel like we are taking a chance. The ACT WorkKeys Assessment would give us another view of the candidate and could showcase the skills he/she possesses through a simple process.”

After pauses mandated by COVID, The Missouri Apprenticeship Manufacturing Program in Callaway is ready to resume training. Interested participants should bring the desired NCRC-level with either a high school diploma or equivalency.

Huntville, Alabama's public housing community of Northwoods has a new Adult Ed Center in partnership with the housing authority and Drake College.  The center offers digital literacy, GED classes, Ready to Work training, and WorkKeys assessments.