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Residents of Barnwell County will have the opportunity to participate in a five-week training program aimed at preparing trainees as potential employees for manufacturing jobs in the region. A full scholarship will be awarded to all participants of the program. To qualify for the program, students must have a high school diploma or equivalency and Bronze WorkKeys job readiness status.

Workforce development is most successful when local grassroots initiatives are supported at the state level as well. Watch the video to hear ACT Director of State Services, Rose Babington, share how these efforts can go hand-in-hand.

Cold Springs High School has been named Cullman County's School of Excellence for the 2019-2020 school year. Out of all the of high schools in the county, Cold Springs High School had the highest senior ACT scores, the highest student attendance rate, was tied for the highest graduation rate, had the second highest percentage of students passing the ACT WorkKeys test and the faculty and staff had the second highest attendance rate.

USD 252 in Southern Lyon County, Kansas outperformed state averages. Local leaders set the bar even higher with improved connections to post-secondary and workforce opportunities.

Eighteen boot camp students studying ship repair graduated from the Guam Community College pre-apprenticeship program Friday. As part of the boot camp, graduates were certified in CPR/basic life support, general safety and health hazards for entry-level workers, as well as WorkKeys, a national career readiness certificate. GCC also announced its second boot camp on truck driving will complete in seven weeks.

Teachers and administrators in the Columbus, Lowndes County, and the Starkville-Oktibbeha school districts shared their passion for student success through WorkKeys with The Dispatch newspaper.

Last Friday, Governor Mike Parson, AIM President and CEO Ray McCarty, joined several other state and local officials in Lebanon, Missouri, to celebrate Laclede County becoming a Certified Work Ready Community.  This designation means Laclede County joins other Work Ready Communities in being able to advertise they have a workforce ready to be employed by existing or new employers in the County. The designation is available when a certain number of potential employees have taken a test and earned a National Career Readiness Certificate and a certain number of employers have agreed to participate in the program. The number required depends on the population of the county.

Site Selection magazine recently profiled Work Ready initiatives in South Carolina.All 46 counties in the state have signed on to become Certified Work Ready Communities. Clarendon County, S.C., is the second county in the nation that has met 100 percent of ACT’s National Certified Work Ready goals. 

The gap for skilled technicians in supply chain automation sector has a worthy challenger.  The Manufacturing Skills Standards Council (MSSC) announced the Certified Technican - Supply Chain Automation credential in order to prepare technicians who install, operate, support, upgrade, and maintain the automated material handling equipment and systems which support the supply chain.  MSSC is an ally with ACT WorkKeys as a gateway to a successful career pathway.

The Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) and ACT recognize the benefits to relative stake-holders of “stacking” MSSC certification credentials upon ACT’s WorkKeys Assessments, specifically the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), as the “foundation” for MSSC’s Certified Forklift Technician (CFT), Certified Production Technician (CPT), Certified Logistics Associate (CLA), and Certified Logistics Technician (CLT) credentialing programs. The results of this project and review of its findings can help guide the selection of students into the Certified Forklift Technician program and encourage skill development for those applicants whose skills currently do not match the recommendations for entry.