A Workforce to be Reckoned With

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A Workforce to be Reckoned With
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• Horry County is serious about providing a
  workforce thats prepped and ready for the job at
  hand. For the past five years, weve exceeded
  goals of linking a robust workforce development
  initiative with education, economic development
  and job placement. And Horry County now has the
  certification to prove it.

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• As of April, Horry County officially received
  certification through the South Carolina Work
  Ready Communities (SCWRC) initiative. We join 41
  other counties in the state that have met the
  workforce and education goals required by SCWRC.
  South Carolina, in fact, leads the entire nation
  in the most certified work ready communities.
  Only four counties to go to being the first state
  in the nation to be fully certified!

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• So what does being qualified as a Work Ready
  community actually mean? For Horry County, it all
  began in December 2011, when South Carolina was
  selected as one of four pilot states by the ACT
  Work Ready Communities to participate in the
  Certified Work Ready Community Program.

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• Its a demanding process, according to WIOA
  business manager Rusty Gaskins, consisting of
  many facets working together, which, for Horry
  County includes Horry County Schools, Horry
  Georgetown Technical College, SC Department of
  Employment and Workforce, and Waccamaw Regional
  Council of Governments.

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• To become Work Ready, each county then needs to
  provide WorkKeys assessment testing for three
  workforce populations

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• emerging, or high school juniors and seniors,
  college students and recent graduates
• transitioning, which means currently unemployed
  or currently participating in adult education or
  a GED program
• and current, consisting of the workforce
  currently employed in the private or public
  sector.

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• Horry County exceeded the goals set for
  graduation rate averages, improvement percentage,
  and the goals set for each workforces scores on
  the WorkKeys that tests for real world skills in
  the areas of math, reading for information and
  locating information.

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• Horry County was also responsible for overall
  business support, which included identifying 191
  local employers who were willing to recognize
  WorkKeys as a tool for workforce development.
  Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development is
  proud to have led in this support. Horry County
  boasts 257 employers actively involved in this
  initiative.

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• I think being an ACT Work Ready County and
  State will show prospective companies that we are
  serious about developing a pipeline of well
  qualified employees and are committed to showing
  other states that we have a viable workforce that
  is educated, well trained, and ready to work,
  says Gaskins.

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• Overall, the countys latest Work Ready
  achievement only strengthens our workforce
  development by creating a credible inventory of
  area workforce assets and targeted skills that
  our community can showcase to new businesses and
  investment groups moving into our area. Its just
  one more enticing attraction for Horry County.