Representatives from the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development were on hand yesterday to present Chattooga County with a $10,000 grant check to continue the "Work Ready" program in the county and recognize the county as being certified by the Work Ready program.  The presentation was made at the meeting of the Chattooga County Chamber of Commerce.

Al Hutcheson of Georgia Northwestern Technical College said that Chattooga County had the distinction of being one of only 11 other counties in the state to receive the certificaiton. 

Certified Work Ready Communities have the skilled workforce that business demands and the educational infrastructure to drive economic growth and prosperity. To earn the designation, counties must:

• Demonstrate a commitment to improving public high school graduation rates through a measurable increase
• Show a specified percentage of the available and current workforce have earned Work Ready Certificates

Fred McConnel from the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development said that potential employers from all over the country look at communities that are certified as "work ready" to make decisions on new manufacturing facility location.  McConnell stated that Georgia’s goal is to be the first state to be certified "work ready" in the nation.