Work Ready Counts

It has become a nationally recognized measure of local workforce skills for site selectors

By Robin Roenker

When business and industry site selection consultants come to Kentucky seeking potential locations to launch or expand operations, invariably they ask one question first: Is a skilled workforce available?

But the answer previously would be subjective at best – precisely quantifying a labor force’s skill level was difficult, if not impossible, for Kentucky’s economic development agencies, chambers of commerce and industrial foundations.

Local officials open the Joseph U. Meyer Center for Workforce Development on Madison Avenue in Covington on Nov. 7, 2014, one week before Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties were jointly certified as a Kentucky Work Ready Community. Operating previously at a different location as the Kentucky Career Center, in 2013-14 it made 5,300 outreach contacts to businesses, posted 5,766 jobs for employers, provided career training to more than 500 people, and helped 21,133 job-seekers obtain 12,452 jobs with an average wage increase of $16,929.

Not anymore, though.

A program first developed nearly a decade ago by a college entrance exam company to assess fundamental work skills has gained acceptance among site selectors, and the commonwealth was one of the first to incorporate it into its economic development communications strategy.

Kentucky’s Work Ready Communitiesinitiative, launched in 2012, gives city and county officials a tool to inform potential employers about talent levels and preparedness of local workforces in a nationally recognized and quantifiable way.

Work Ready certification “gives us a lot more validity when we’re talking to site selectors and potential employers,” said Roxann Fry, an economic development consultant with theTennessee Valley Authorityand chair of the state Work Ready Communities panel charged with reviewing community proposals for certification.

Read more ...

Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department

Members of the Corbin JROTC raise the American flag above the new Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department base building on KY 26 last week.

Volunteerism was the theme on most speakers’ minds during a dedication ceremony Thursday morning for the Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department.

“We’re here to celebrate a great accomplishment, this new building and facility for the fire department that is a significant accomplishment and a significant step forward for our area,” noted Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr.

“We certainly appreciate all the efforts of all the volunteer firemen for all the work that they do in our communities. I think what is most important to celebrate is what led to this accomplishment, a small group of volunteers. Volunteerism, I think, is very important.”

White said he is sure that each firefighter has their own story about why they do more than what is required of them.

“It is through these efforts that we improve our community, make our families safer, improve ourselves and our kids futures. Thank God for volunteers like the ones of Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department,” White said. “We are all better off because of volunteers like you all.”

Andy Meadors, vice-chairman of the Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department Board of Directors, noted that when he was asked to serve on the fire department’s board, he had no idea everything volunteer firefighters did just to help others.

“No one can imagine what volunteerism is,” Meadors noted. “These people have another life. They’re not retired like me. They all work. Any time you see a volunteer fireman out there doing the things that they do, it is because they want to do it and do it for nothing. It’s an extreme commitment on their part to do what they do.”

Goldbug has 32 volunteer firefighters, who range in age from 20 to 40 years old, including four female firefighters.

The department averages responding to 15 to 20 calls per month.

The Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department was formed in late 2011 to replace Three-Point Volunteer Fire Department, which lost its certification.

Meadors noted it was started by an enthusiastic group of young people, who just wanted to help serve their community.
For quite some time, the fire department had fire trucks and equipment spread out over different buildings throughout its 75-square mile territory that includes over 3,500 people.

About two years after it formed, the department started searching for a permanent home but various offers of land all fell through. In August 2013, the fire department began renting the building it now calls home, which is located off Highway 26 near Brown’s Creek.

Meadors said that during this time he started talking to some former colleagues at the Cumberland Valley Area Development District about some possible funding through the United State’s Department of Agriculture that could be used to buy an existing structure for the department.

Thomas G. Fern, State Director for USDA Rural Development, said the agency provided the department with $67,000 through its Community Facilities direct loan and grant program to purchase the facility.

"The Community Facilities Program helps rural communities like Whitley County and Williamsburg upgrade public safety equipment and improve security while at the same time providing the services needed to attract business and create economic opportunities," Fern said.

“I want to congratulate you and thank you for the great service you provide to this surrounding area.”

$50,000 of the money was through a grant and the remaining $17,000 was through a low-interest loan.

In January, the department officially purchased the building, which had been a truck garage, for $65,000.

Since that time, firefighters have renovated and expanded both the office and restroom in addition to updating the plumbing and electrical.

Chief Brandon Woods said it means a lot to have a permanent home.

“We have had fire trucks and a station here and a station there but to be able to come to a central location in our district and to keep all of our trucks there and have all our meetings there, it is the main thing we have been working towards,” Woods noted.
During the ceremony, Woodman of the World representative Reggie Stringer noted that his company was happy to provide the fire department with a flag pole and an America flag.

Members of the Corbin High School JROTC officially raised the new American flag up the flagpole towards the end of Thursday’s ceremony.

“We appreciate everyone involved, who has gotten us to the point we are today,” Meadors told the crowd. “We really appreciate the volunteer firefighters because without them we would never be where we are today.”
 

New Perry County Treatment Plant

CHAIVES, Ky (WYMT) - There is a new waste water treatment plant in Perry County.

There was a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday morning in Chavies.

The plant serves about 70 customers right now but has the capacity toservice many more.

District Chairman Bobby Brown the two and a half million dollar project will soon expand down Highway 28 toward Chavies Elementary School.

"The number one purpose of this project is to not put sewer into the North Fork. That is my purpose of being on this board and that is the purpose of this plant. We are putting clean water back into the river," said Brown.

This project was funded thanks to grants and loans.

McConnell Helps Kentucky Habitat for Humanity

McConnell Helps Kentucky Habitat for Humanity Secure Federal Assistance
Kentucky Habitat for Humanity: “Whenever KyHFH has reached out to Senator McConnell for his support, he has always been there.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved a request to provide $54,400 in funding to help Kentucky Habitat for Humanity (KyHFH) continue its important work in the Commonwealth. Senator McConnell contacted the USDA on behalf of Kentucky Habitat for Humanity in support of its application.  According to the Kentucky Habitat for Humanity, the competitive federal grant will be used to support 38 of its 51 affiliates in Kentucky, several of which serve counties in the

Read more ...