Work Ready Community effort launched | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Beaufort County Community College and local economic development interests recently announced the launch of an effort to certify the county to those seeking to locate their businesses here or expand an existing business.

    The effort to add Beaufort County to the list of Work Ready communities tells employers that "Beaufort County has a workforce that has been trained and ready to work," said Lou Stout, director of Workforce Initiatives at BCCC.

    The initiative is a collaborative effort among BCCC, the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce, Beaufort County Economic Development Commission, Beaufort County Commissioners, Beaufort County Schools, Region Q Workforce Development Board and the Beaufort County Committee of 100.

    The local effort is part of a statewide initiative to certify communities and counties as Work Ready communities. In order to be certified as Work Ready, a community must obtain a letter of commitment to workforce excellence from county leaders, achieve a high school graduation rate of 94 percent, obtain a specified number of workers who hold Career Readiness Certificates and gain commitment from employers to recognize the CRC in their hiring practices.

    Beaufort County has achieved all of the goals towards Work Ready certification except the number of employers recognizing the CRC.

    To that end, BCCC is ramping up its efforts to convince employers to participate in the Career Readiness Certification Program, Stout said.

    Career Readiness Certification is a nationally-recognized credential that requires students to take a three-part test that includes applied mathematics, reading for information and locating information. Based on their scores, students receive either bronze, silver, gold or platinum certificates that attest to their abilities to do specific jobs.

    Career Readiness Certification also benefits job seekers because they can show potential employers that they are capable of doing the job, Stout said.

    In order to qualify, businesses and industries do not have to require potential employees obtain a CRC but simply complete a form signaling that they recognize the importance of the certification, she said.

    To date, about a dozen businesses and industries have agreed to participate - including PotashCorp Aurora, the county's largest employer, National Spinning, Spinrite, BCCC and the Beaufort County Schools - but 61 are needed in order for Beaufort County to be certified as Work Ready.

    BCCC, along with the other organizations in the effort, will be working over the next few months to educate employers about the program and seek their agreement to participate.

    "We hope that as more employers become familiar with this effort and recognize its value as an economic development tool, that they will be willing to sign on as those who recognize and/or are willing to use the CRC as an evaluation for potential employees," Stout said.

    Employers wishing to show their support of this initiative can complete an employer sign-up form at http://tinyurl.com/empsignup and email and fax to Lou Stout. Completing this form will place their business/industry name on the ACT and NCEast Alliance website as a participating CRC Employer.

    For more information, individuals can also visit the new Work Ready Communities webpage at https://sites.google.com/site/conedbccc/nc-work-ready-community.

    For more information about Work Ready communities and the Career Readiness Certification, contact Stout at 252-940-6307 or by email at lou.stout@beaufortccc.edu.

     Betty Gray

      Public Relations Coordinator
    Beaufort County Community College
    (252) 940-6387