UNION — An initiative to establish an “ecosystem” that will link education with workforce development has the support of the Union County School District.
During Monday night’s meeting of the Union County Board of School Trustees, Superintendent Dr. Kristi Woodall explained that the district was asked to look over information from the Workforce Investment Board regarding a workforce readiness initiative by ACT, the organization which administers the Workkeys testing currently given at Adult Education. Woodall said South Carolina is one of four states to participate, and the initiative is for each of the 46 counties to get involved.
The initiative would involve testing to provide data, tools and processes to create an ecosystem to link education to workforce development, aligned for economic development at the local and state level. The job skills of the emerging, transitioning and current workforce would be assessed and rated at various levels such as “gold” or “silver.” Jobs in the area would also be profiled on those levels. The object would be to establish Union County as an area which is “workforce ready.”
Board members voted unanimously to endorse the initiative, and a letter expressing this endorsement will be sent to the Union County Council. Information about the initiative will also be presented at today’s county council meeting, which will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the Grand Jury Room of the Union County Courthouse. The meeting is open to the public.
Staff Writer Derik Vanderford can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 29, or by email at dvanderford@heartlandpublications.com.
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