WCEA’s executive director recognized as ACT Workforce Champion
Aug 14, 2018
In January 2016, the Washington County Economic Alliance embarked on a mission to implement the ACT Work Ready program and get the county certified as a Work Ready Community.
After a year of hard work, the WCEA achieved that goal, and in January 2017, Washington County became one of five certified counties in Mississippi by testing 571 residents with the ACT Work Keys exam.
Recently, Cary Karlson, executive director of the county’s economic alliance, was honored for the hard work he and his team have put in to the Work Ready program by being named an ACT Workforce Champion.
“Will (Coppage) actually applied for it,” Karlson said, noting Coppage is the economic alliances’s project manager. “ACT looks for different folks in each state that have been workforce champions, and I won one of the slots for Mississippi. I feel honored that Will took the time, A, to do it for me and, B, the ACT recognized me.”
Since being certified as a Work Ready Community, Karlson said the WCEA has continued testing more and more people. The Work Ready program, he said, has been a great success for Washington County with over 1,800 people having taken the ACT Work Keys exam. Of those, 1,020 have been awarded a silver certificate, which is recognized as the level needed to attract new businesses to the area.
“Next to DeSoto County, which is up near Memphis, we had the second highest number of silvers in the Delta,” Karlson said, adding he hasn’t checked the data in a few weeks, so that 1,020 might be even higher.
The ACT Work Keys exam is a grueling three-hour test that covers applied mathematics, graphics and workplace documents, Karlson previously said.
Based on how well a person performs, he or she can be awarded a bronze-, silver-, gold- or platinum-level certification, or no certification at all.
“Less than 1 percent of the population is able to get a platinum score on the test,” Karlson previously said. “Washington County has had one platinum. It was a junior at Washington School.”
Getting people tested on the Work Keys exam isn’t easy, Karlson explained. While the Mississippi Community College Board and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act allows those 18 years of age and older to take the test for free, students younger than 18 must pay $34 to cover the cost of the exam.
Karlson previously said without high school students, a map of Washington County’s workforce would be incomplete. The WCEA has worked hard to find grants, such as the $31,000 awarded to WCEA through the Foundation for the Mid South in December, to cover the cost of those testing sessions to keep the expense to residents at a minimum, he said.
However, as commencement activities loom in the minds of seniors throughout the county, Karlson said he encourages all students to take the Work Keys test and see where their skills measure up.
“We’re trying more and more to educate people that this test has value to take,” he said.
“The more we can show we’ve got people with the talent out there to do the jobs in the 21st century, we’ll be better off.”
Those who are interested in taking the Work Ready test can do so every Monday at the WIN Job Center, 800 Mississippi 1.
Karlson said seating is limited, so people should call 662-332-8101 to check availability and reserve a seat.
Sunday, May 6, 2018 12:00 am
Thomas Howard thoward@ddtonline.com