Warren County is now workforce ready certified.

The Vicksburg Warren Economic Development Partnership, comprised of the Vicksburg Warren Chamber of Commerce, the Warren County Port Commission and the Warren County Economic Development Foundation, made the announcement Tuesday.

“Obtaining the ACT Workforce Ready Certification is the result of the hard work of many people in our community and our region,” Pablo Diaz, president and CEO of The Partnership, said. “The data obtained through this certification offers a unique opportunity to understand the skill level of our sample workforce and to plan for any changes in the education and training systems that we deem necessary in order to have a more prepared, more skilled workforce.”

Becoming an ACT Certified Workforce Ready Community was obtained after more than 650 members of the Warren County workforce were tested to determine their level of knowledge and skill in accordance with the ACT Workkeys National Career Readiness Certificate.

Diaz said this designation is also the result of the strong partnership that The Partnership has developed with both Hinds Community College and the Vicksburg Warren School District. The Partnership, through its education and economic development committees, worked with HCC and the VWSD over the last several months to accomplish this certification.

“Today, education and economic development are more in sync in Warren County than ever before and this certification is one of the early results of that very important alignment,” Diaz said.

Diaz said employers can use the data from the NCRC testing to optimize their employee search and hiring processes.

“We highly encourage all employers in Warren County to reach out to the Vicksburg Warren Chamber of Commerce or to Hinds Community College if they want to test their prospective employees before they interview them,” Diaz said. “A very good number of both large and small businesses are already doing so and we have receiving nothing but positive feedback about how helpful the tool has been in reducing turnover and helping narrow their search to those applicants that are most likely to be a good fit for the job.”