Work Ready meeting held in Schley County

Local News

Related Photos

(Left to Right) SGTC Vice President for Economic Development, Wally Summers, Schley County Family Connection Coordinator John T. Greene, Ashley Lambert and Mickey Holloway are seen here with one of the new Georgia Work Ready signs that will be placed at county entryways on U.S. Highways 19 and 26. Keven Gilbert

October 28, 2010

Keven Gilbert The Americus Times-Recorder The Times-Recorder Thu Oct 28, 2010, 09:35 PM EDT

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.”

Text Only

Local News

Standing together
Chief Deputy Eric D. Bryant delivered an enthusiastic message of “unity and self determination” Tuesday at a program celebrating African-American History Month held at the John M. Pope Industrial Technology Center on the campus of South Georgia Technical College (SGTC).

February 22, 2012 2 Photos
BOE member responds to newspaper
Willa Fitzpatrick, a member of the Sumter County Board of Education, called Times-Recorder publisher, Dan Sutton Wednesday morning to explain why she was unable to attend the meeting called by a group of concerned citizens on the evening of Jan. 30.

February 22, 2012
Chamber holds 92nd annual meeting
February 22, 2012 2 Photos
Stripling’s announces plans for fourth location
February 22, 2012
Today's weather
February 22, 2012
Reminder: BOE meets tonight
February 21, 2012
Breaking bread
By now many Americus residents have spent a lunch hour or two intoxicated by the aroma of freshly baked bread, and have treated themselves to other culinary concoctions from Lee Harris’ Sweet Georgia Baking Co., located on the corner of Church and South Lee streets.

February 20, 2012 1 Photo
2 Presidents meet in Plains
The Jimmy Carter National Historic Site’s Presidents’ Day Celebration began in the warm hallways of the Old Plains High School on a chilly, rainy South Georgia Saturday. Dr. Laurence Cook exhibited items from his private collection of presidential memorabilia before puzzling the audience with some of the less well-known anecdotes of presidential lives.

February 20, 2012 4 Photos
City Council ‘undoes’ last week’s trash vote
The Americus Mayor and City Council passed a motion at Monday’s agenda setting meeting that reversed a decision last week to notify Advanced Disposal that it would bring its management of municipal solid waste “in-house.”

February 20, 2012
Analysis: Ga. scholarship program has narrow reach
The state’s newest public scholarship was intended to benefit all of Georgia’s high-achieving students, but a newspaper’s analysis published Sunday shows that it tends to favor those who live in affluent Atlanta suburbs who are more likely to afford college without the state’s financial help.

February 20, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Related Photos

Work Ready meeting held in Schley County

Site Map

Contact Us