Viewing all News for: Ashley County, Arkansas

Site Selection Magazine's November edition includes a dozen location spotlights that include WorkKeys NCRC growth trends to demonstrate workforce quality. Features include Kansas, the Dakotas, Virginia, Nebraska, New York, Mississippi, Washington, and Wyoming.

The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) recently awarded approximately $7 million toward 25 workforce development projects supporting economic development and prosperity throughout the lower Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt regions. Together, the grants impact 62 participating Work Ready Communities. WRC locations funded include 1 from Alabama, 8 from Arkansas, 4 from Louisiana, 12 from Mississippi, 7 from Missouri, and 5 from Tennessee.

Site Selection magazine, a key publication for the economic development industry, ranked Arkansas No. 1 in its region for workforce development. Arkansas moved from second to first regionally in the South Central Region, which includes AL, KY, OK, LA, MS, TN, and TX. The Natural State has 51 counties participating in Work Ready Communities with more than 12 hundred supporting employers.

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. 

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the No. 1 question he gets in recruiting private industry to Arkansas is how is industry going to get a workforce. The 10 counties in the Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District have become certified as ACT Work Ready Communities, state and district officials announced Wednesday.

"What you have done has allowed us to make the case that we have the workforce that is trained [and] ready to go," the Republican governor told more than 50 officials from southeast Arkansas at the state Capitol. "We know exactly their levels of expertise. They are certified, and we can make the case that southeast Arkansas is ready to do business and ready to receive a new investment of industry."