Calhoun Community College issued the following announcement on March 8.
Today, Calhoun Community College and the Morgan County Economic Development Association (MCEDA) announced it has partnered to help Morgan County meet all criteria to become a recertified ACT Work Ready Community (WRC) for the next three years.
Along with over 521 communities across the nation, Morgan County joined this initiative in 2019 and partnered with Calhoun to become a certified Work Ready Community through ACT. The program’s sole initiative is to empower states, regions, and counties with data, processes, and tools that drive economic growth by identifying skills gaps and quantifying the skill level of their workforce. Participants leverage the ACT® WorkKeys® National Career Readiness Certificate® (ACT® WorkKeys® NCRC®) to measure and close skills gaps and build common frameworks that link, align and match their workforce development efforts.
“Calhoun Community College is extremely excited and honored to have been selected to have a hand in such a milestone for the Morgan County community,” commented Dr. Jimmy Hodges, Calhoun Community College Interim President. “Calhoun’s Director of Testing and Assessment, Dr. Denny Smith, played a major role in leading the ACT Work Ready Communities recertification effort along with MCEDA and the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce. The college appreciates all of the hard work that went into gaining this certification, which ultimately helps recruit and retain industry in Morgan County,” added Hodges.
To achieve recertification, Morgan County was required to meet targeted goals regarding the workforce availability with the emerging, current, and transitioning workforce. “Achieving recertification with unemployment at record lows is a huge accomplishment for Morgan County,” says Jeremy Nails, CEO for Morgan County Economic Development Association. “As one of 17 counties in the state who has achieved certification status, we feel this demonstrates Morgan County’s commitment to building a skilled and qualified workforce,” Nails added.
A team led by local employers, policymakers, educators, and economic developers works closely to sustain the rigorous WRC model to fit local community needs.
When asked what the three-year recertification means for Morgan County, State Senator Arthur Orr said, “This recertification confirms that Morgan County has a robust and qualified workforce for the diverse jobs in our community. I’m thankful for the various partners that came together to earn this credential and look forward to sharing this news with our current and future businesses.”
ACT Regional Manager of Workforce Initiatives, Tony Garife offered comments stating, “Congratulations to Morgan County on achieving recertification status as an ACT Work Ready Community. This recertification demonstrates the commitment of the county’s leadership to maintain WRC certification that will provide the community with a tremendous economic development advantage, as well as make it stand out for its workforce development efforts.”
Morgan County Commission Chairman Ray Long said, “Achieving Work Ready Recertification status is the result of a collaboration across the county and we are proud to showcase the quality of our local workforce.”
Calhoun Community College is a certified national test center and also provides testing associated with ACT WorkKeys for individuals. To learn more about testing services, visit www.calhoun.edu/testing. You may also call 256-306-2522 for the Decatur campus or 256-890-4792 for the Huntsville campus.
For more information on this initiative, go tohttp://www.workreadycommunities.org/AL/103http://www.workreadycommunities.org/AL/103 or to view all of ACT’s workforce solutions, visit www.act.org/workforce.
Original source can be found here.
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