Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward MageeNews.com a small commission – at no extra cost to you.
After almost two years of effort, work and promoting, Simpson County has become a Certified ACT Work Ready Community. By achieving certified ACT’s Work Ready Community status, we can begin to demonstrate that we have a robust workforce development effort aligned to our economic development needs resulting in making our county more competitive and closing the skills gap that is threatening our economy.
This has been a team effort between our county and Copiah Lincoln Community College which has invested time, money and man hours in work force development in its region. We couldn’t have had better folks working with us than Jackie Martin, Associate Vice President of Instructional Services; Angela Berch, Workforce Center Director; and Kenny Goza, Program Coordinator. Co-Lin has become a major player in developing career technical training for students on the Wesson and Simpson County campuses. Also, our high school administrators and counselors have been ready to help.
You may be asking yourselves, “What is a work ready community”? Most of us have heard of or taken the ACT college admission exam which is designed to assess high school student’s general knowledge and readiness for college. The ACT Work Ready Communities offer the National Career Readiness Certificate which quickly pinpoints individuals with essential, verifiable workplace skills. We expect that all of the employers in the county and surrounding areas will require that their employees take the NCRC exam. Once you do, you will be on your way to finding qualified applicants for your job openings.
The ACT NCRC is a portable, evidence based credential that documents essential skills needed for workplace sectors of the economy and verifies the following cognitive skills: Problem solving, critical thinking, reading and using work related text, and applying information from workplace documents to solve problems. Simply put, Work Ready Communities help match employees to jobs based on verified skill levels.
There are four certificate levels requiring minimum demonstrated scores associated with skill levels required for specific jobs and groups of jobs, they are: Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Once you’ve measured your workplace skills, it’s much easier to see where you can improve.
This is an effort of supply and demand. The Simpson County Development Foundation has stepped out to try something different and measurable to assist the business people in our county. Employers must help us and our communities build a stronger workforce with the right foundational skills set by supporting our efforts, and learning how the ACT Work Keys NCRC can help them find the right employee with the right skill set for the right job.
As part of our ACT® Work Ready Communities initiative we are making sure all our area employers are aware of the tools available to help them hire qualified employees. Contact us at 601-847-2375 to learn more about how our community is strengthening our workforce and growing our economy.
We are proud to lead the way in the development and improvement of Simpson County.
Congratulations!!!
