Texas County will mark its designation as a Missouri Certified Work Ready Community on Friday during a ceremony in Houston.
The initiative is a voluntary effort to align workforce and education to meet the economic needs of the state and local communities.
The event is 10 a.m. at the offices of the Texas County Commission at the Texas County Administrative Center on Grand Avenue. Light refreshments will follow.
Missouri’s vision for Certified Work Ready Communities is to attract, retain and develop a workforce with education and fundamental skills, including working documents, applied math and graphic literacy to succeed in the 21st century.
In July 2016, Texas County’s effort was spearheaded by Presiding Commissioner Fred Stenger, then Houston economic developer Ron Reed, business owner Gayla Bratton, Intercounty Electric’s Tony Floyd, Houston School District superintendent, Dr. Allen Moss; representatives from regional colleges and the South Central Workforce Investment Board.
The program certifies the workforce readiness skills of emerging, transitioning and current workers via ACT’s WorkKeys assessment. Successful completion of the test results in earning a National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC).
At the same time, businesses and employers across Texas County signed on in support of the program, confirming that they will recognize — even recommend — the NCRC as solid documentation of an applicant’s reading comprehension, applied math and graphic literacy skills.
Firms that would like to sign on as a supporting employer can go to www.workreadycommunities.org/MO/215.