KENTUCKY LAUNCHES UPGRADED ‘WORK READY’ COMMUNITIES DASHBOARD

ADDED FEATURES INCLUDE COUNTY PROFILES

FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 25, 2019) – The Kentucky Center for Statistics (KYSTATS) within the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet (EWDC) launched a newly updated Kentucky Work Ready Communities Dashboard to provide a comprehensive view of education, workforce and economic information for all 120 Kentucky counties.

The Kentucky Work Ready Communities Dashboard consolidates data into a single online resource to give applicants easy access to local workforce information. It also tracks where counties are in the Work Ready Communities certification process by showing which of the five criteria have been met. The interactive map gives criteria completion information when the user hovers over a respective county.

“We are very excited about the updated dashboard because it ensures that communities are armed to truly review where they stand as related to balancing and projecting supply and demand for their workforce,” said Kentucky Workforce Innovation Board Executive Director Melissa A. Aguilar.

“I personally have traveled to many counties in the past six months to work with Work Ready Community groups to review their metrics and assist them in thinking about how to futuristically plan for additional community partnerships, producing a talent pipeline supply, and in general, working with them to support their needs in moving forward. Being able to understand how to connect the dots by using data and resources already available in their own communities is key to progress,” Aguilar said.

KYSTATS worked with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development (CED) to refresh the dashboard and add new features including a “County Profile” that provides various economic and community health metrics such as workforce participation rate and overall health score for each of Kentucky county. In addition, the high school graduation rate metric now aligns with the five-year cohort graduation rate that is published by the Kentucky Department of Education.

“The Work Ready Communities program has been successful in bringing local stakeholders and industry leaders together to identify talent gaps and put a strategic plan in place to address them,” said Executive Director Kristina Slattery, CED Office of Workforce, Community Development and Research. “This new dashboard will only enhance that work by providing communities more detailed data to dig into. This is the exact type of data that employers are analyzing as they evaluate if a community can respond to their workforce needs, and ultimately decide if growth opportunities are possible.”

The Kentucky Work Ready Communities certification program assures employers that a local workforce area has the talent and skills necessary to meet employer demand and master the innovative technologies new jobs require. About 70 percent of counties have been certified as either Work Ready or Work Ready in Progress Communities.

To become certified, a county must gather local support and apply for the Work Ready Community designation. Counties have to meet criteria including high school graduation rates, career readiness certificates, demonstrate community commitment, educational attainment, life-skills development, broadband availability, and matching workforce supply and demand.

Former LAWRENCE COUNTY Economic Development director Catrina Vargo did extensive work on the data project but the county has not yet achieved “Work Ready” status and neither has Martin. 

Counties leaders can request Work Ready Communities presentations and technical assistance by contacting Melissa Aguilar at Melissa.Aguilar@ky.gov.

UPDATED NOTARY LAW GRIMES CHAMPIONED BECOMES LAW

FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 26, 2019) – A bill backed by Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes and sponsored by Senator Morgan McGarvey (D-Louisville), updating Kentucky’s antiquated notary laws, was signed into law this week. The bill is based upon work by the Secretary of State’s Notary Task Force which began over four years ago.

“Improving access to notary services through online and remote notarization not only brings Kentucky into the 21st century but it’s yet another layer in building a solid foundation to help Kentucky businesses succeed and our economy grow,” said Grimes.

Kentucky’s notary law will now provide for notarial acts to be executed electronically online and remotely. This legislation modernizes Kentucky’s notary laws and brings them into conformity with the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (“RULONA”) as set forth by the Uniform Law Commission.

Grimes, who led National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) in updating their standards last year said, “I’m proud to have led the discussion nationally on this issue and to see such necessary legislation become law in Kentucky.”

Six other states are currently considering updating their notarization laws. Five states, including Kentucky, have led the way in adopting remote notarization.

During Grimes’ tenure the Secretary of State’s office has processed 161,884 notary applications. In 2018 alone, the office processed 21,333 applications for Notary-State At Large.

Senator McGarvey, who sponsored the bill, noted “Secretary Grimes’ exhaustive work on this policy both nationally and in the Commonwealth yielded a bipartisan, comprehensive bill which supports transactional security, the privacy of document signers, and the centuries-old assurances of the notarial act.”

Most of the nation’s Secretaries of State are responsible for commissioning and regulating 4.5 million notaries public. Grimes, as Kentucky’s Chief Business Official, has worked to make it easier to do business in the Commonwealth. Kentucky has approximately 82,000 notaries commissioned by the Secretary of State.

To see the bill in its entirety, click here.