New ACT Work Ready Communities Boot Camp!

November 7-8, 2018 and January 9-10, 2019 | Both sessions in Little Rock, AR

States with State- or County-Led
ACT® Work Ready Communities

Hover over a state to learn more about ACT® WorkKeys® NCRC® activity there.

States with State or County Led ACT Work Ready Communities

About the data on this site

Wyoming

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 9,437

Certified Counties0/23

Participating Counties2/23

Jobs Profiled7

Platinum55

Gold2,161

Silver5,424

Bronze1,797

ACT WorkKeys NCRC EARNED STATE RANKINGS

This map shows which states have the highest number of people per capita who have earned the ACT WorkKeys NCRC.
States with the greatest percentage of earners are in dark red.

ACT WorkKeys NCRC Earned State Rankings

Top
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50

View Heat Map

What is an ACT^® Work Ready Community?

ACT Work Ready Communities (WRC) empowers states, regions and counties with data, processes and tools that drive economic growth. Participants are leveraging the ACT^® WorkKeys^® National Career Readiness Certificate^® (NCRC^®) to measure and close the skills gap — and building common frameworks that link, align and match their workforce development efforts.

ACT^® WorkKeys^® National Career Readiness Certificate^® Total

4,412,310

ACT WorkKeys NCRC Levels:

Platinum:58,169
Gold:912,846
Silver:2,424,033
Bronze:1,017,262

Participating Counties: 425

Employers Supporting: 22,084

Jobs Profiled: 21,912

Work Ready Communities Boot Camp

ACT offers a performance-driven program WRC leadership teams use to initiate, deploy and drive carefully-tailored efforts that grow the number of counties certified as work ready communities.

Learn More

Counties

Counties may engage in the ACT Work Ready Communities program. Any municipality may be accepted into the Boot Camp to build and launch their Work Ready Communities initiative.

Get the latest news

Employers

Employers can be the fuel to drive successful state and county Work Ready Communities initiatives simply by recognizing the ACT® WorkKeys® National Career Readiness Certificate®. And in doing so, they will have a more qualified workforce ready to fill their jobs. Learn more about why employers should engage.

Certify Your Workforce
Hire the Best Applicants
Validate a Job Seeker's WorkKeys NCRC
Workforce Toolkit

Employers recognize the ACT^® WorkKeys^® NCRC^®

View Employer Directory

Verify A Certificate

Employers, to check whether a job seeker's National Career Readiness Certificate^® is valid, enter the certificate number here.

Enter Certificate ID

Recently Certified Counties

Webster (MO) October, 2018
Alcorn (MS) October, 2018
Nash (NC) October, 2018
Lawrence (AR) September, 2018
Lucas (OH) September, 2018
Cass (MO) September, 2018
Ozark (MO) August, 2018
Rockingham (NC) August, 2018
Lorain (OH) August, 2018
Hinds (MS) August, 2018

View Full List

Economic Development

By achieving certified ACT's Work Ready Communities status, counties are demonstrating they have a robust workforce development effort aligned to their economic development needs resulting in:

Business and Industry

know exactly what foundational skills they need for a productive workforce - and to easily communicate their needs

Individuals

understand what skills are required by employers - and how to prepare themselves for success

Policy makers

consistently measure the skills gap in a timely manner at the national, state and local levels

Educators

close the skills gap, via tools integrated into career pathways with stackable industry-recognized credentials

Economic Developers

developers use an on-demand reporting tool to market the quality of their workforce

What Others Are Saying

"Having been in site selection for many years, it has always been difficult to ensure my clients that there is available, stable and reliable workforce in a community. However, in the last few years when I see that a county is ACT Work Ready I know that they are following the steps in planning for the current and future workforce. Therefore, our tendency at FCG is to look strongly at ACT Work Ready Communities for new site locations. I would encourage all communities to seek that status."

Mr. Deane C. Foote, CEcD
President & CEO
Foote Consulting Group, LLC

"As a national site selector, one of the few factors that are critical to almost every company and project is workforce. It is imperative for communities to focus on knowing and improving their existing workforce as well as retaining and attracting high quality talent. ACT Work Ready Communities are setting themselves apart by intentionally developing their local workforce in support of their existing companies while positioning themselves to attract new companies."

Robby Burgan
Manager, Location Strategies
Evergreen Advisors

"ACT Work Ready is truly the best workforce development marketing tool I have seen."

Chad Chancellor
Co-Founder/CEO
The Next Move Group
New Orleans, Louisiana

"Outstanding program that helps business recruit and retain qualified workers. Congrats on the milestone. As a corrorlary would recommend that all counties become work ready certified.

Dennis Donovan
Director Global Site Selection
Wadley, Donovan, Gutshaw Consulting

"Jonesboro and Craighead County are a great example of what’s right with Arkansas. Becoming an ACT Work Ready Community will make Jonesboro and Craighead County even stronger."

Governor Asa Hutchinson
Arkansas

How Work Ready Communities are Winning the Growth Game

Download the PDF

Videos

What is an ACT Work Ready Community?

ACT Work Readiness System

See more ACT WorkKeys testimonials on YouTube

States with State- or County-LedACT® Work Ready Communities

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 162,262

Certified Counties4/67

Participating Counties18/67

Jobs Profiled262

Platinum3,523

Gold29,395

Silver83,557

Bronze45,787

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 46,925

Certified Counties0/27

Participating Counties0/27

Jobs Profiled44

Platinum304

Gold8,836

Silver25,978

Bronze11,807

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 8,022

Certified Counties0/15

Participating Counties0/15

Jobs Profiled0

Platinum77

Gold1,614

Silver4,781

Bronze1,550

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 74,777

Certified Counties3/75

Participating Counties22/75

Jobs Profiled123

Platinum802

Gold17,055

Silver43,958

Bronze12,962

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 13,046

Certified Counties0/58

Participating Counties1/58

Jobs Profiled68

Platinum195

Gold2,401

Silver7,114

Bronze3,336

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 9,207

Certified Counties1/64

Participating Counties3/64

Jobs Profiled28

Platinum192

Gold1,305

Silver5,400

Bronze2,310

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 2,807

Certified Counties0/8

Participating Counties0/8

Jobs Profiled9

Platinum15

Gold387

Silver1,616

Bronze789

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 420

Certified Counties0/3

Participating Counties0/3

Jobs Profiled1

Platinum3

Gold113

Silver249

Bronze55

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 114,721

Certified Counties0/67

Participating Counties0/67

Jobs Profiled498

Platinum268

Gold21,226

Silver64,573

Bronze28,654

ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate Total 340,239

Certified Counties0/159

Participating Counties0/159

Jobs Profiled1,023

Platinum2,256

Gold62,781

Silver187,101

States with State- or County-Led
ACT® Work Ready Communities