Upstate Partners Kick Off SC Work Ready Communities Initiative

On January 29, Upstate partners hosted a luncheon to kick off the SC WORK READY COMMUNITIES initiative in Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties. Upstate partners including Anderson County Economic Development, Clemson Center for Workforce Development, Oconee County Economic Development Commission, Pendleton Regional Education Center, Alliance Pickens and Tri‐County Technical College have joined forces to raise awareness and build support for each county’s efforts to link education and work force development and align with the needs of the emerging global community.

The SC Work Ready Communities initiative seeks to promote economic growth in South Carolina communities by fostering an environment conducive to business and workforce development.

“This is a chance to provide training opportunities, not only for those fresh out of high school, but for all citizens who are seeking to better their employment situation,” said Anderson County Economic Development Director Burriss Nelson. “Each county’s momentum and success will be a force multiplier in the Upstate, enhancing our appeal to the global market and attracting industry to our tri‐county region.”

Richard Blackwell, Executive Director of Oconee Economic Development Commission said, “This program is a tool that will help our community on both the economic development recruitment front as well as with business retention efforts. It also demonstrates to the world that our State is serious about business as we are willing to work in partnerships amongst the various education providers, workforce development entities and economic development arms to advance the needs of our business community.”

“At a time when the processes used in the workplace are becoming more technically advanced each day, it is vital that communities be proactive in their efforts to train and strengthen their workforce,” said Ray Farley, Executive Director of Alliance Pickens. “By participating in this initiative, our communities will now be able to quantify the skills of their workforce in key areas, offer skill remediation when necessary and ultimately provide current and prospective companies with more complete employees.”

South Carolina is one of the initial four states accepted into the pilot project, which is overseen by ACT, a national not‐for‐profit organization, best known for its college readiness assessment test. The project’s goals are to support communities in assessing their current workforce and industry needs, identifying

and strategizing to close skill gaps, as well as training and implementing successful economic development initiatives based on WorkKeys® tools, including the National Career Readiness Certificate. Each county has selected leaders to serve on their respective SC Work Ready Communities Steering Committees and will complete their applications to be designated as SC Certified Work Ready Communities in early February.

For more information about the SC Work Ready Community Initiative, please visit:

http://scworkready.org
For the national plan, visit the ACT site: http://www.workreadycommunities.org.