Governor Perdue Announces Four New Certified Work Ready Communities

ATLANTA – Today Governor Sonny Perdue announced four new Certified Work Ready Communities, a designation affirming the abilities of the counties to produce the skilled workforce needed to fill current business demands and drive economic growth, as well as the educational standards to ensure future workers have the skills necessary to succeed.

“These communities are giving their workforce an avenue for continuing education and competitive advantage,” said Governor Perdue. “By further developing the skills of their workforce, these communities have not only equipped themselves to attract new industry and encourage economic growth, but also given their residents hope for better career opportunities and success.”

The four new Certified Work Ready Communities are Crisp, Emanuel, Pulaski and Schley Counties. Emanuel, Pulaski and Schley Counties have also earned the distinction of Certified Work Ready Communities of Excellence. These counties represent the sixth group to complete their Work Ready Certificate goals and successfully meet at least the required minimum increase in their county’s public high school graduation rate.

The new Certified Work Ready Communities achieved the following:

• Crisp County: 545 Work Ready Certificates earned (47 percent more than goal); increased public high school graduation rate from 60.5 to 69.2 percent
• Emanuel County: 818 Work Ready Certificates earned (163 percent more than goal); increased public high school graduation rate from 67.2 to 74.2 percent
• Pulaski County: 280 Work Ready Certificates earned (49 percent more than goal); increased public high school graduation rate from 72.2 to 77.7 percent
• Schley County: 213 Work Ready Certificates earned (149 percent more than goal); increased public high school graduation rate from 82.4 to 90 percent

To earn the Certified Work Ready Community designation, counties must demonstrate a commitment to improving public high school graduation rates through a measurable increase, and show a specified percentage of the available and current workforce have obtained Work Ready Certificates.

Each community created a team of economic development, government and education partners to meet the certification criteria. Counties are given three years to reach the goals necessary to earn the designation.

Additionally, Sumter County has reached its Work Ready Certification goal by earning 1,158 Work Ready Certificates and is now focusing on attaining its public high school graduation rate increase goals to become a Certified Work Ready Community.

Once counties attain their Certified Work Ready Community goals, they are able to maintain their status by ensuring a small percent of their available workforce continue to earn Work Ready Certificates, engage local businesses to recognize and use Work Ready, and continue to increase their public high school graduation rate until they reach a threshold of 75 percent.

To continue their work, each county will receive a $10,000 grant. Their Work Ready Community teams will also receive a two-year membership to their local chamber of commerce and a budget for additional Work Ready outreach materials. Counties that are fully certified receive road signs and a seal denoting the year they achieved certification.

Georgia’s Work Ready initiative is based on a skills assessment and certification for job seekers and a job profiling system for businesses. By identifying both the needs of business and the available skills of Georgia’s workforce, the state can more effectively generate the right talent for the right jobs. The Certified Work Ready Community initiative builds on the assessments and job profiling system to create opportunities for greater economic development.

For more information on the Work Ready initiative please visit the Web site at www.gaworkready.org

# # #