From left, Mary Underwood, Jenkins County Family Enrichment Center director, accepts $10,000 grant check from Fred McConnel of the Governor's Office of Workforce Development during the Oct. 1 town meeting. (Staff photo by Deborah Bennett) Governor Sonny Perdue announced 24 Work Ready Golden Opportunity grants have been awarded to state agencies and organizations providing Work Ready skills gap training to help citizens improve their core job skills and earn goldlevel Work Ready Certificates. Jenkins County Family Enrichment Center (JCFEC) was among the recipients of the grants.

"The Work Ready Certificate shows that an individual is skilled and ready to succeed at jobs throughout our state," said Gov. Perdue. "By helping our citizens reach the gold level we are showing that Georgia is an ideal place to do grow or locate a business."

Each agency or organization will receive a reimbursement grant of $200 for each Georgian who successfully improves their Work Ready Certificate level through skills gap training, for up to $10,000.

"These grants will help Georgians reach their career goals," said Debra Lyons, director, Governor's Office of Workforce Development. "By helping more people improve their core job skills, we can help them get to work and achieve job success."

Georgia's Work Ready initiative is based on a skills assessment and certification for job seekers and a job profiling system for businesses. By identifying both the needs of business and the available skills of Georgia s workforce, the state can more effectively generate the right talent for the right jobs.

For more information on the Work Ready initiative please visit the Web site at www.gaworkready.org