 |
Central Coast Career Readiness Consortium (CCCRC)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Samantha Johnson
Program Manager
Central Coast Career Readiness Consortium
c/o Monterey County Business Council
P.O. Box 2746
Monterey, CA 93942-2746
Tel: (831) 262-1347
E-mail: sjohnson@mcbc.biz
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Monterey County Business Council (MCBC) has identified and initiated a job skills program that profiles, tests and trains participants to provide employers, both public and private, with a qualified workforce. MCBC is now striving to add skills to the knowledge provided by the education community.
The mismatch between the skills required for most jobs and
the skills of the U.S. workforce is having a significant impact on productivity and revenue across all businesses and industries. Employers need reliable ways to measure foundational skills to ensure they are hiring the most qualified, trainable candidates. Workers may have traditional educational credentials, like a high school diploma or college degree, but these credentials are only part of the picture and may not give a clear indication of workers' job skills.
We have contracted with WorkKeys, a division of ACT, Inc., to address the job profiling and testing skills of employees, current and future, and contracted an exclusive license agreement with the Worldwide Interactive Network (WIN) to provide computer based training courseware. Both programs are active in all 50 states and are recognized nationwide for providing a portable National Career Readiness Certificate. The three core skills in Applied Mathematics, Locating Information and Reading for Information are required for 85 percent of all jobs.
In a matter of months, MCBC has created the Central Coast Career Readiness Consortium with the potential and licensing rights to expand beyond the borders of Monterey County to Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. The first
comprehensive sites have been developed with the Monterey County Workforce Investment Board and Office of Employment Training and, initially, will be located at its One-Stop Centers in Salinas and Seaside. The first WorkKeys
assessment tests have already been executed with business.
The following partners have already signed or in the process of committing for license agreements with WorkKeys: Hartnell College, Monterey County Office of Education, Salinas High School District (ROP & Adult Education), Soledad School District (ROP & Adult Education), California State University Monterey Bay, and Monterey Unified School District (ROP & Adult Education). Funding is being sought to add WIN courseware.
MCBC is currently coordinating training seminars for both service providers and employers, via internet webinars and face-to-face instruction.
Employee skills are only as valuable as the business community's willingness to recognize them, through the Career Readiness Certificate. At the same time that we strive to add more service providers, over a dozen employers, representing nearly 15,000 employees in Monterey County, have not only received presentations, but responded with unanimous enthusiasm. Though the current economic climate makes it difficult for service providers to commit to fund the program, it is actually the ideal time to strengthen employee skills at all levels of employment.
MCBC invites additional service providers and employers to contact us to more rapidly spread the word to implement this skills development effort with all speed. Contact Samantha Johnson at (831) 262-1347 or sjohnson@mcbc.biz.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CSU Monterey Bay
Hartnell College
Monterey County Office of Education
(Alternative Education Program)
Monterey Peninsula School District
(Adult Education / ROP)
Office of Employment Training /
Workforce Investment Board
(One Stop Career Center in Salinas & Seaside)
Salinas Union High School District (ROP)
Soledad Adult School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
