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South Carolina is replacing its high school exit exam with tests considered more useful to students' future success, with scores that could go on work resumes or college admissions applications. A new law signed by Gov. Nikki Haley deletes South Carolina's 3-decade-old requirement that high school students pass an exit exam...

Local magazine Inside Columbia's CEO recently highlighted the Missouri Department of Economic Developments new leader, director Mike Downing. Downing, who was sworn in as Department director in February. The article also highlights several economic development efforts that mean big business for Missouri, including Certified Work Ready Communities.

Cathy Wenning, Chair of the Rush County Economic and Community Development Corporation and Government and Community Relations Manager for DUKE Energy opened the program No Foolin Were Going for the Gold at the April 1st Rotary meeting. Click on the header to learn more......

IOWA CITY, Iowa—ACT today will welcome seven new members and nine continuing members to its National Workforce Solutions Advisory Board, which guides its national ACT Work Ready Communities initiative. The new board members will be announced today at a meeting in Atlanta.

McCormick County has become the second county in South Carolina to meet all state and national requirements to earn the Certified Work Ready Community designation through national testing organization ACT and S.C. Work Ready Communities initiative. McCormick also is only the sixth county in the United States to receive the designation.

A key component for any business wishing to locate in the Klamath Basin is the availability of a trained workforce. Usually those numbers are hard to quantify or may simply be soft. Now theres a definitive test that will give current and prospective employers hard numbers on the workforce and its skill level.

The Cenla Work Ready Network has been a resounding success in identifying thousands of local people as possessing qualities that make a good employee. The next step is to spread the program to local businesses.

PBS NewsHour writes, “For American industry, finding employees who have all the requisite skills is a big challenge, and hiring people who dont stack up can cost businesses a great deal of money. Click on headline to view their full report highlighting ACT WorkKeys.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jan. 16, 2014 Gov. Nixon recognizes workforce development efforts of businesses and community leaders in Franklin County in announcing proposal for increased funding for Missouri Works Training.

January 2013: Site Selection magazine is an internationally circulated business publication covering corporate real estate and economic development. This year, they published the State of the States information which includes state ACT National Career Readiness Certificate data. Please see page 74 for the full story.