Gordon County is becoming a work ready community.
Pete McDonald, Vice President of Economic Development for Northwest Georgia Technical College spoke at the Gordon County Chamber of Commerce Booster Breakfast Friday where he laid out the plan to help make Gordon County a “Georgia Work Ready Community.”
The Work Ready program was founded in 2007 by Gov. Sonny Perdue in an effort to improve the educational levels of Georgia’s workers.
“We are competing globally for jobs now, and that boils down to education,” said McDonald. “The work ready program is an opportunity for individuals to improve educational retainment.”
The Certified Work Ready program is financed through state and federal grant funding set aside to improve the state vocational standing. The program provides Georgia citizens with free educational assessments and measure a person’s skill and educational levels as well as their ability to learn or progress over time. The program also helps potential employees learn new skills that will benefit them through free online training programs.
“This is cross training. Cross training gives organizations and employers more flexibility in who they hire,” said McDonald.
Work Ready participants will be given a series of tests that include basic skills like math and reading, along with job skills.
The program also provides Gap Education, testing and online courses that improve education levels.
Participants have five years to complete all tests and programs once they have begun the testing process.
“We are working to monitor how well participants are doing,” said McDonald.
McDonald said that the tests could be taken at any technical college in the area, including Northwest Georgia Technical College.
The program is already available in more than 100 counties, and according to the Certified Work Ready Web site, those counties have seen an improvement in graduation rates
Each participating community must first become certified as a Work Ready community. Part of the certification profess is creating a team of economic development, government and education partners. Each county is given three years to reach the goals necessary to become certified. This includes an 18-month waiting period before becoming eligible for state-funded grants.
McDonald is encouraging employers to become work ready as well, saying employers get employees with above average skills and education levels.
“This is opening doors to opportunities we didn’t think of,” said McDonald.
For more information on the Georgia Work Ready program visit http://www.gaworkready.org.
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