NATCHEZ — A coalition of economic development leaders and business owners announced Wednesday their plan to have at least 550 members of the Miss-Lou workforce receive a National Career Ready Certificate.

The goals unveiled Wednesday also call for at least 65 employers to get behind the effort to have the area certified as Work Ready.

“Five years ago, you would have never heard of Work Ready communities,” Natchez Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ said. “Today, probably half of our requests for information are asking, ‘Are you a Work Ready community?’”

The certification is issued through ACT Inc. As of Wednesday morning, 23 employers had signed on to participate.

While the goal of 550 workers and 65 employers was set by ACT for the certification, Alcorn State University Vice President for Educational and Community Partnerships Ruth Nichols said the community’s goals are for much more participation.

“We have set our local goals much higher than what ACT set for us,” she said. “We are not going to accept the status quo — we are going to excel.”

For workers — who would take ACT WorkKeys assessments in applied mathematics, locating information and reading for information — completion results in a portable credential. Those who successfully complete the assessment are given a gold, silver or bronze rating.

For employers, having employees vetted with the WorkKeys assessment can help not only identify employees best suited for a job but also current employees who might be better suited for a better job, Nichols said.

“We want individuals who are workers to stand out from the crowd,” Nichols said.

“We want investors to feel like here is where they want to be.”

The key to future improvement of the workforce is taking the knowledge of what the area has now — that’s done through the assessments — and making three-, five-, and 10-year plans to improve and meet the projected needs of employers, Russ said.

“If we look at the labor force now and determine 60 percent of it is going to be bronze, you start matching employer needs at three, five and 10 years, we can have a roadmap to say in five years we need 60 percent of our workforce at silver to meet our needs. It is making sure we take the data and do something with it.”

One way the coalition will do that is to test high school seniors — the assessments at all local schools will be in February — and to get participating employers who are interested in participation to schedule their employees to go to community and technical colleges for assessment, Concordia Economic Development Director Heather Malone said.

“We will identify what our gaps are and set up programs with our technical colleges to bridge those gaps,” Malone said.

The key to making the plan work is getting the educational component right for everybody, Federal co-chair of the Delta Regional Authority Christopher Masingill said.

“We have spent the last 20 years doing a great job demonizing career and technical training in this country, but the reality is the majority of new jobs through 2025 are middle skills,” he said.

“The majority of those jobs do not require a four-year degree. I am an advocate for higher education, for career training, for our community and to your schools. Here is the point — we need more career and technical training and we need it to be integrated and a part of the entire career pathway, from start to finish. We need to make a way when you graduate high school, you are career ready and work ready.”

Funding for the initiative comes from a $73,000 grant through the Delta Regional Authority.

The partnering organizations in the work ready certification effort include Natchez Inc., Concordia Economic Development, Alcorn State University, the local school systems and community and technical colleges, Central Louisiana Economic Development Alliance, the local workforce investment offices, Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce, Concordia Parish Chamber of Commerce and local businesses.