Community colleges offer WorkKeys workshops
By Staff Reports
Published in News on January 24, 2010 1:50 AM
Wayne Community College is among four eastern North Carolina community college that have teamed up with North Carolina's Eastern Region and ACT, Inc. to offer businesses in their service area informational workshops about WorkKeys and Career Readiness Certificates.
Employers will learn the benefits of using WorkKeys and Career Readiness Certificate as a tool in the selection and hiring of new job applicants and in the promotion of existing workers.
Along with WCC, the colleges are Craven Community College, Lenoir Community College and Pitt Community College. The colleges are part of an alliance of community colleges that received $225,626 in grant funding from NCER to promote the use of CRC and WorkKeys in an eight-county area.
Speaking from will be Matt Bulman, regional director of human resources with Curtiss-Wright Corporation in Charlotte, will speak on the employer perspective of the benefits of CRC. David Sweaney, ACT regional representative, will give an overview of the CRC and WorkKeys.
"These workshops will provide an opportunity for employers and community partners to learn more about the Career Readiness Initiative and the WorkKeys Assessments that are part of that Initiative," said Diane Ivey, WCC Workforce Development coordinator. "The WorkKeys System is a nationally recognized tool for assessing a person's foundational skills for work readiness. We're very excited for our workforce development partners and eastern North Carolina employers to learn more about the benefits of hiring folks who are work ready."
Bill Pate, manager of the Wayne County Employment Security Commission and JobLink Career Center, encourages local businesses to take advantage of the free workshops.
"These workshops are great opportunities for local businesses not only to learn more about WorkKeys and CRC, but to help businesses put the program to work for them," Pate said. "Business owners can learn how they can save time and effort, and maybe even some money, when recruiting and hiring workers."
Seating is limited. Employers should call the contacts below for more information and to register for the event in their area:
* Wayne County, Feb. 3, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wayne Community College, Walnut Building, Room 101, Goldsboro. Contact Diane Ivey at 919-739-7003 (dtivey@waynecc.edu), to register by Jan. 26.
* Pitt County, Feb. 3, from 8:15 a.m. until 10 a.m. at Rep Express, 805 Red Banks Road, Greenville. Contact Steven Pearce at (252) 493-7549 (steven_pearce @webmail.pittcc.edu) to register by Jan. 25.
* Craven County, Feb. 4, from 10 a.m. until 11:15 a.m., Bosch-Siemens Home Appliances, 100 Bosch Boulevard and Neuse Blvd., New Bern. Contact George Kramer at 252-638-7289 (kramerg@cravencc.edu) to register by Jan. 26.
* Lenoir County, Feb. 4, from noon until 1:30 p.m. at Culinary Arts Department, Waller Building, Lenoir Community College, Kinston. Contact Susan Gale at 252-527-6223, ext. 706 (sgale@lenoircc.edu) to register by Jan. 25.