Henry County was recognized for its workforce development achievements over the past year at the recent ACT Workforce Summit in Charlotte, N.C., along with six other partners of the Dan River Region Collaborative and others.
Henry County received an award for completing a new set of goals to maintain their certification as an ACT Work Ready Community. The ACT® Work Ready Communities (ACT® WRC) initiative empowers 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.
Henry County worked with the Dan River Region Collaborative and ACT to achieve their certification/maintenance. They were one of seven localities recognized who all partnered with the Dan River Region Collaborative and ACT. The others include: Amelia, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Patrick and Pittsylvania counties. Thanks to funding from both the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission (TRRC) and the Danville Regional Foundation (DRF), the Dan River Region Collaborative has partnered with regional economic development agencies, school divisions, Workforce Development Boards and employers to expand the successful WRC effort. TRRC funding is supporting NCRC testing for thousands of individuals, job profiles for employers, ACT Academy Training for interested localities, online portal access for NCRC registration and dedicated personnel to work with partner agencies and employers. DRF funding is supporting project management, expansion of the CWRC effort across Go Virginia Region 3, a coordinated system for work-based learning experiences, continuation of strategic state and national relationships, and aggregation of workforce data to assess supply and demand. As fiscal agent for the DRRC, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research serves as grantee for both the DRF and TRRC funding.
Henry County accepted their award along with 48 other participating ACT Work Ready Communities at the annual ACT Workforce Summit, which brings together experts in business, education, workforce and economic development. The luncheon included welcome remarks from North Carolina Chamber President and CEO Gary Salamido. Tennessee Department of Labor Commissioner Jeff McCord shared advice during a keynote presentation.
“We are so happy to recognize and award our Work Ready Communities at our annual convening of workforce experts,” said ACT President of Measurement, Suzana Delanghe. “These participating communities have demonstrated a commitment to developing a strong workforce pipeline, which is paramount to building stronger communities and fostering business and economic growth.”
The ACT Work Ready Community initiative includes 486 participating counties and parishes in 29 states. For more information on ACT Work Ready Communities, go to www.workreadycommunities.org and view all of ACT’s workforce solutions at www.act.org/workforce
ACT is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people achieve education and workplace success. Grounded in 60 years of research, ACT is a trusted leader in college and career readiness solutions. Each year, ACT serves millions of students, job seekers, schools, government agencies and employers in the US and around the world with learning resources, assessments, research and credentials designed to help them succeed from elementary school through career. Visit act.org to learn more.
