Governor Perdue Announces Launch of Work Ready Web Site

Georgia communities are hanging up the ‘Main Entrance' sign for business and industry

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce announced today the launch of the Georgia Work Ready web site, where Georgia communities can demonstrate that their workforces have the education levels and job skills necessary to compete in today's global economy.

"We know that the internet is the first place companies, consultants and site-selectors go for information on a community," Governor Sonny Perdue said. "This web site will be a gateway to information about a community's ability to help a companies succeed."

The new web site, www.gaworkready.org, will be rolled out in two phases.

The first phase available today connects a job seeker to information on earning a Georgia Work Ready Certificate, verifying to employers that they have the skills and knowledge level needed for specific occupations and profiled jobs. Individuals desiring a certificate can take an assessment at Work Ready Centers located throughout the state. These centers can be found at each of the 33 participating colleges of the Technical College System of Georgia and two Board of Regents community colleges with technical divisions. College locations and assessment schedules are available on the new Georgia Work Ready web site.

Communities that meet established criteria will be designated as a Certified Work Ready Community by Governor Perdue and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Criteria include increasing their public high school graduation rate and ensuring residents within specific labor market groups have successfully obtained a Georgia Work Ready Certificate. Counties that can validate a 70 percent high school graduation rate in addition to meeting the other benchmarks may earn a Work Ready Community of Excellence designation.

Counties can begin the process now of signing on to become a Certified Work Ready Community by visiting the new website and selecting the Certified Work Ready Community link to obtain information and forms. Counties with populations of less than 100,000 are eligible to participate in the CWRC program as a demonstration location.

"It is good news today for Georgia's business and industry that the Technical College System of Georgia will be able to give Work Ready assessments to all Georgians at no charge. This will put our young people and Georgia communities on a level playing field," said George Israel, President and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

A second phase will help Georgia communities attract new or expanding business and industry by incorporating the number of certificates attained in each county along with progress of participating counties in meeting their goals to become Certified Work Ready Communities.

The requirements and benefits of the Certified Work Ready Community program will be presented around the state in a series of 12 Southern Growth Policy Board forums. These discussions on building the new Georgia workforce will be sponsored by the Governor's Office of Workforce Development, the State Workforce Investment Board, the Georgia Department of Labor, the UGA Fanning Leadership Institute and the Georgia Tech Economic Innovation Institute.