Southern Virginia was the first region in the Commonwealth to commit to earning the Certified Work Ready Community (CWRC) designation, and it continues to lead the way. In collaboration with the Dan River Region Collaborative (DRRC) and other partners, IALR is seeking to expand the effort. The Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission recently awarded a grant of $260,674 to transition the CWRC effort into Phase II. The funds will support 12 certified localities as they maintain their CWRC status and assist five localities in achieving their initial CWRC goals.
The CWRC effort has proven to benefit businesses throughout the region. “As a union shop, we must recruit candidates with the potential to learn, grow and advance into more complex skilled jobs,” said Stephanie McGuire, HR Manager at Owens-Illinois (O-I) in Danville. Dr. Julie Brown, Director of Advanced Learning at IALR conducted several job profiles for O-I which provided threshold scores on the WorkKeys and National Career Readiness Certificate testing as a predictor of ability and success in these crucial positions. “The implementation of this process has improved the efficiency of our interviewing and provided us with a valid and well documented screening tool,” said McGuire.
Since the launch of the original six localities in July 2013, including the cities of Danville and Martinsville and the counties of Halifax, Henry, Patrick and Pittsylvania, the expansion across the GO Virginia Region 3 has led to the addition of 11 other localities for the Commonwealth of Virginia including: Amelia, Brunswick, Buckingham, Cumberland, Charlotte, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Prince Edward, Greensville and the City of Emporia.
