Lunenburg County has a lot to celebrate.

The county recently became one of only a select few in the region to achieve Work Ready Community status, meaning that it has received enough support from students gaining the WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) and enough employers considering the certificate as a marker for employment to allow Lunenburg, along with Danville in 2018, to receive the status.

The county is celebrating its achievement Tuesday, April 30, 2 p.m. at Benchmark Community Bank in the Town of Kenbridge in which a guest from the Governor’s office is set to appear.

The NCRC, an assessment made by the organization that creates the ACT standardized tests, tests students’ knowledge on the skills needed to excel in the workforce. This includes testing on soft skills, such as punctuality and decorum in a professional setting.

It’s not a small feat for students to receive this certification, and it benefits them and the community to do so.

Receiving the certification means that students and young adults understand and demonstrated that they have the skills employers search for, such as applied mathematics and graphic literacy.

“The whole purpose is to increase the skill force,” Lee Ann Mahan with the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research said in a previous Dispatch report. “At the end of the day, you’re going to have a skilled workforce, and enough skilled workforce to promote industry growth in your community.”

During a time where economic opportunities and jobs can be difficult for young people to find in the region without the necessary skill set, this certification can provide a needed advantage, as well as insight into qualities prospective employers search for.

Lunenburg’s celebration is well deserved, and I’m excited to see how this program could benefit both employees and employers.

Emily Hollingsworth is a staff reporter for The Kenbridge-Victoria Dispatch and Farmville Newsmedia LLC. Her email address is Emily.Hollingsworth@KVDispatch. com.