News

In episode 44 of Ready for Work, LeeSa Page, a senior advisor with the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council, discusses the importance of Manufacturing Day and Manufacturing Month in October. She highlights the role of manufacturing in the American economy and the need to inspire various groups to pursue careers in the industry. From the stage of the recent ACT Workforce Summit in Nashville, LeeSa emphasizes the need for partnerships and initiatives to tap into untapped talent pools for a diverse manufacturing workforce. The episode concludes by acknowledging successful programs that have positively impacted manufacturing employment.

Shelby County today announced that it has met all criteria to become a certified ACT® Work Ready Community. This achievement caps an ACT Work Ready Community Boot Camp process and begins a two-year growth and maintenance phase to retain certification. Shelby joins other counties in Southwest Tennessee and explosive growth anticipated for the region.

Change management enables working learners to acquire skills and adopt behaviors that maximize workforce and learning outcomes. On episode 43 of Ready for Work, guest Robert Feeney shares his personal journey that led him to develop Ringorang. Driven by overcoming severe mental health challenges in his family, Robert emphasizes the importance of behavior change in education and career development.

CompTIA and ACT teamed up to align CompTIA A+ Core 1 and Core 2 certifications with ACT's WorkKeys Assessments and the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), as a foundation for CompTIA's A+ program. The study also included WorkKeys Applied Technology and Workplace Observation skills due to their program relevance. WorkKeys' curriculum profiling identifies skills and levels required for training. Combined with other WorkKeys components (assessments, support, reporting), it informs educators about readiness and guides individuals on areas to improve in their education and career pursuits.

Two incredible champions in the field of competency-based education and the skills-first movement: Julian Alssid and Kaitlin Lemoine, join the conversation on Episode 42 of Ready for Work.  Through their pioneering work at College for America, the duo emphasizes the importance of transparently naming and communicating skills to learners, bridging the gap between academic and workplace skills.  Learn more about the challenges posed by legacy systems and the importance of breaking down silos.  They also share insights from their new consultancy work, giving us a preview of What’s Next for the Skills-First Movement.

Rochester and Monroe County leaders continue to build the leadership team and assets for a future WRC effort.  Golisano Institute is a new two-year business and entrepreneurship school and President Ian Mortimer joined the ‘Mornings with Maria’ program to discuss their goals to reduce the time and costs required to prepare for successful startups.  

The current education system relies heavily on traditional degrees, limiting adult learners and disproportionately affecting people of color. Employers value 21st-century skills, but confusion persists due to the proliferation of diverse credentials. Guest Melissa Goldberg joins Episode 41 of Ready for Work to showcase Credentials As You Go. This framework provides the redesign needed for economic realities, equity, and clarification, with implications for politics and workforce preparation. 

ACT's Ready for Work podcast migrated to Spotify to enable additional features for the future. Any podcast app works great as well with our revised podcast feed.

The Monadnock Shopper News reported recently on the success of Work Ready New Hampshire and Whelen Engineering in Charleston, NH.  In addition to the certificate from Work Ready New Hampshire, trainees also earned the WorkKeys NCRC.

Early this month, Mike Smith, Executive Director of Crossett Economic Development Foundation and ACT Work Ready Communities Team Leader for Ashley County, received notification from ACT that Ashley County has achieved the goal of “Maintaining” ACT Work Ready Community (WRC) status.