A number of business leaders and public officials from throughout Warren County gathered recently to celebrate a status they say will attract employers and develop a talented workforce.Warren County’s designation as a Certified Work Ready Community means the workforce here has the knowledge and skills to be successful, said JoAnn Toerper, the business outreach coordinator for Booneslick Regional Planning Commission.“To date, we have already successfully tested 673 individuals in Warren County,” Toerper said. The goal for this point in time had been to have around 300 successful tests, she added.The process of organizing local employers along with state and local workforce agencies to earn this designation began four years ago, Toerper said.The Work Ready designation is assessed through ACT, the same organization that administers one of the nation’s leading college admissions tests. Employees at every stage of their working career can take an assessment to earn a career readiness certificate.A number of Warren County employers have agreed to recognize the career readiness certificates as a factor for hiring, which Toerper explained is part of the Work Ready Community requirement. Warren County employees and businesses will be periodically reassessed in order to keep the Work Ready designation.“We’re very proud to become certified,” said Warren County Presiding Commissioner Roger Mauzy. “There were a lot of people who went through a lot of trouble and did a lot of work to make this happen.”Warren County is the 56th Missouri county certified through the Work Ready program, said Division of Workforce Development Director Mardy Leathers.“The premise of this whole program is to create a marketable and developed skill set within our labor market, but it goes much more beyond that,” Leathers said. “We’re really creating resiliency in our communities. Our communities are learning how to work together. Our communities are learning how to tackle some of the complex market issues that face all of us. ... and ensuring that education and employment and training are actually linked together.”

Business owners and government officials were thanked for helping earn a Work Ready Community certification for Warren County, during a gathering April 26 at the Warren County Administration Building. The designation aims to attract and retain business with an educated workforce. 

Record photo/Adam Rollins