Madison County recognized at annual ACT Summit

Madison County was recognized for its workforce development achievements over the past year at the ACT Workforce Summit in Charlotte, N.C. last month, along with 48 other participating ACT Work Ready Communities.

The annual summit, which brings together experts in business, education, workforce and economic development, included the ACT Work Ready Communities Awards Ceremony and Recognition. During the ceremony, representatives from participating ACT Work Ready Community counties and parishes received awards for becoming certified or completing a new set of goals to maintain their certification.

"We are so happy to recognize and award our Work Ready Communities at our annual convening of workforce experts," said ACT President of Measurement, Suzana Delanghe. "These participating communities have demonstrated a commitment to developing a strong workforce pipeline, which is paramount to building stronger communities and fostering business and economic growth."

The ACT Work Ready Communities initiative empowers states, regions and counties with data, processes and tools that drive economic growth by identifying skills gaps and quantifying the skill level of their workforce.

"We are proud of Madison County's designation as a Work Ready Community, which has strengthened our workforce partnerships throughout Madison County and the State of Mississippi," said Danielle Winningham, Chief Operating Officer of the Madison County Economic Development Authority. "This designation was achieved as result of the successful efforts by community, education and business leaders working together to strengthen workforce development in order to meet the economic development needs of our community."



"The Madison County Business League and Foundation was extremely proud to participate and support the efforts required to achieve ACT Work Ready status for Madison County through its members' participation," said Jan Collins, Executive Director of the Madison County Business League and Foundation. "MCBL&F awarded grants to local schools to facilitate ACT Work Keys assessments which led to National Career Readiness Certificates for our Career Technical students."

The ACT Work Ready Communities Luncheon included welcome remarks from North Carolina Chamber President and CEO Gary Salamido. Tennessee Department of Labor Commissioner Jeff McCord shared advice with the Work Ready Communities awardees during a keynote presentation. The ACT Work Ready Community initiative includes 486 participating counties and parishes in 29 states.

For more information on ACT Work Ready Communities, go to www.workreadycommunities.org and view all of ACT's workforce solutions at www.act.org/workforce