ELLAVILLE — Vice President for Economic Development at South Georgia Technical College (SGTC), Wally Summers was on hand at the Schley County Family Connection collaborative meeting Thursday to present information about Schley County’s designation as a Certified Work Ready Community (CWRC).

Summers explained the origin of the program as being established by Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2008. He said that Perdue realized that Georgia’s work force was made up of many skilled workers, but there was no protocol for assessing their skill level. “And he assigned that responsibility to technical colleges,” Summers said.

He said that the program as a hiring resource for companies has made it all but impossible to submit an application for employment at many businesses without having a work ready certificate.

He also said that the assessments, which take about three hours, are given in Ellaville at the Adult Education Department and the Stein Center in Americus. Each assessment is given a grade of bronze, silver, gold or platinum. The assessments required to earn a certificate are 1) Applied Mathematics, 2) Reading for Information and 3) Locating Information, and a score of at least a level three on each must be earned to receive a certificate. “This is a great tool to have in your chest,” Summers said.

He said similar programs in the neighboring states of Alabama, Tennessee and Florida that began before Georgia’s Work Ready initiative have proven to be valuable for businesses in assessing skill levels of workers and, in turn, is a positive for communities who are trying to recruit industry to their area.  

Summers explained that the CWRC initiative is reaching out to unemployed workers who are willing to take the assessment and improve their employability. He said the state will give $100 to an unemployed worker who takes the assessment and $200 to individuals who improve upon their original assessment. “This is encouraging people to go out and get a job,” Summers said.

Schley County will now be eligible to receive a $10,000 grant to continue certified CWRC efforts and a $1,500 annual outreach budget that may be used to purchase outreach materials. A “post-certification plan” is in place to strengthen ties with local organizations and businesses and to set goals to solidify the initiative’s efforts in the community.

In addition, the Georgia Department of Transportation will place four signs on U.S. Highway 19 and Georgia Highway 26 to highlight the program in Schley County. Summers commended the efforts of the Schley County volunteers who went door to door calling on people to take the assessment.

Of the six counties served by SGTC, three (Schley, Sumter and Crisp) have been certified work ready. Summers said Tuesday that it was now SGTC’s initiative to continue the work and improve the designation in Schley County to a Certified Work Ready Community of  “excellence.”