Certified Work Ready Community

Interested employers can find additional information here and take a look at the employee handbook here(PDF, 1008KB).

JOIN US in this initiative by utilizing the link and completing an Employer Partnership Letter (Click Here).

The Cass County Corporation for Economic Development (CCCED) has collaborated with other Cass County stakeholders—elected officials, school districts & institutions of higher education, Chambers of Commerce, employers and other civic organizations to launch a workforce development focused effort called the Cass County Certified Work Ready Community(CWRC) Initiative.

The local CWRC is part of a national effort centered on identifying and demonstrating the number of qualified workers available in a community and their relative skill levels based upon the National Career Ready Certificate (NCRC) developed by ACT. In Missouri, it is a state-wide program that is in place in more than 8x of the state’s 114 counties. For additional information about the CWRC visit their website.

The NCRC is a portable, industry-recognized credential that clearly identifies and documents an individual’s essential work skills in three key areas—1) reading for information, 2) applied math and 3) locating information – skills required in the vast majority of jobs in the nation.

The NCRC is predicated upon a score after an individual takes a test or assessment called WorkKeys. Supported by data from more than 20,000 job skills profiles and rooted in decades of workplace research, WorkKeys assessments are based on situations in the everyday working world.

When individuals earn the NCRC, they become part of a robust workforce that helps their community’s economy thrive-which benefits everyone. More than 3 million NCRCs have been issued across the United States. The NCRC helps:

• Job seekers and current employees improve their career outcomes;
• Students prepare to success in a variety of career pathways;
• Educators gain confidence that their students are ready for life after high school;
• Employers and human resources professionals improve their hiring, training, and promotion decisions;
• Workforce developers better assist those they serve, including displaced workers, in entering or re-entering the job market;
• Economic developers provide evidence of a skilled workforce that helps attract business and industry;
• Industry associations have a foundation for building systems of stackable credentials;
• Policymakers and legislators gain a resource to create policy and legislative solutions to the nation’s economic and educational challenges.

Additional information on the NCRC may be found here.

The NCRC WorkKeys Assessment is offered at the Missouri Job Center in Belton at 109 Congress, Belton, MO 64012.  Hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.  The telephone number is 816.318.3922

One of the goals of the initiative is to develop a network of businesses and other employers that will utilize the NCRC in their hiring and promotional activities. To that end, we have established a goal of having a minimum of 100 area employers participating in the CWRC and utilize the NCRC. The current Cass County employers participating in the program are: