A last-minute plea for people to take a four-hour test before the end of the year worked, enabling Screven County to earn status as a “Work Ready” community.
Screven is among 36 counties to earn the designation, part of a state program meant to help workers market themselves and to show an area has an able workforce.
More than 300 workers earned certification in Screven County by taking the test that measures math skills, reading for information and locating information.
Some communities took three years to earn certification, but the process took 18 months in Screven County, said Gayle Boykin, executive director of the Industrial Development Authority. She said teachers at the high school were instrumental in getting the county certified so quickly.
The IDA sponsored the effort, working with the high school and Ogeechee Tech.
“It is exciting,” Boykin said. “It’s a device for us to use when someone comes to our community and wants to hire our workforce.”
Next will be a campaign to get businesses to take part in the “Hire Work Ready” part of the program. Companies with 50 or fewer employees can receive $250 for each certified Work Ready person they hire, up to $1,250 total, to help with hiring and training costs. The funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The Governor’s Office of Workforce Development, which oversees Georgia Work Ready, estimates Hire Work Ready will encourage the hiring of 2,000 certified Work Ready people by more than 400 small businesses throughout the state.
More information can be found at www.gaworkready.org.
“Georgia Work Ready is one of our state’s strongest economic development tools because it ensures we have the best possible workforce,” said George M. Israel III, president of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. “By hiring Work Ready certified individuals, our state’s small businesses can enjoy all the benefits larger employers enjoy -- greater productivity, lower training costs and higher morale.”
Boykin announced the county’s Work Ready status at the IDA’s board meeting Tuesday morning.
In other action, the IDA agreed to support an effort to bring state economic development leaders to the county in April to see what the county has to offer, including the industrial park, the airport and Sylvania Yarn Systems building. Gary Crews, who is the new liaison from the county commission to the IDA, said commissioners support the effort as long as it doesn’t cost any tax dollars and promotes the whole county, not just the airport.
Tripp Sheppard, the city’s liaison to the IDA and a chamber leader, said invitations already have gone out for the April visit and unanimous support of the effort is essential. “Ya’ll have got to work closely together or you don’t have much hope of attracting anything,” Sheppard said.
IDA member Jimmy Griner said the authority’s purpose is to promote the county. “I don’t see how anybody could oppose” the effort, he said.
Also Tuesday, Boykin told IDA board members that representatives of an asphalt emulsion plant that has sites in North Florida and New Jersey have visited Screven County several times and are interested in opening a site here. The plant would employ about 35 people, mostly local hires, she said.
The company is interested in a specific site, but details regarding zoning and rail traffic must be worked out first, Boykin said. “It’s a good prospect,” she said. “We’ve been working with them for a while.”
Boykin also said the owner of Pallet Kraft has signed a personal guarantee to pay back rent. She said he also reports that efforts are on schedule to hold an initial public offering of stock that would pay overdue rent as well as fund a major expansion.