MP?s IWD office may be reduced to two days monthly

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Mt. Pleasant is in danger of losing some of its coverage provided by Iowa Works, an arm of Iowa Workforce Development (IWD), reported Gary See, chairman of the Henry County Board of Supervisors during Thursday?s board meeting.

Formerly, Mt. Pleasant had a full-time office, staffed five days a week by IWD employees. However, the full-time office was closed several years ago in a budget-cutting move by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad.

Earlier this year, an IWD part-time office was established at the Mt. Pleasant Southeast Community College satellite campus at 200 N. Main St. (former city library building). An IWD staffer is at the office each Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Traffic at the Mt. Pleasant office, however, has not been strong, and Iowa Works of Southeast Iowa is considering reducing its visits to Mt. Pleasant to two Wednesdays per month.

?People aren?t coming in to justify a person each week,? explained Carolyn Farley of Iowa Works of Southeast Iowa. ?There just isn?t enough demand. The employee is a traveling worker and even if it were cut to two days a month if the demand increases, we can change it back to four times a month.?

Farley said no final decision has been made. If IWD?s presence in Mt. Pleasant were reduced to two days per month, it is likely the worker would spend the other two Wednesdays in Louisa County, See said.

Lack of marketing the office, See stated, could be a key factor in the low traffic at the office.

See also gave a brief report on the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) examination results in the region. The certificate was developed through the American College Testing (ACT) program.

The certificate examination assesses an individual?s skill level in three areas deemed critical for employability. The three areas include: reading for information, applied mathematics and locating information.

Just as the ACT score indicates the college readiness of all students, the NCRC assesses the career readiness of all students and serves as a reliable predictor for workplace success of any applicant, student or adult. Thousands of private and public employers now ask for or require NCRC scores as part of the application process.

In Henry County, 102 certificates have been awarded this year. Depending on their score, those taking the test have the opportunity to earn a bronze, silver, gold or platinum certificate. Low scores on the test are not rewarded with a certificate.

Supervisors spent nearly two hours during Thursday?s meeting in closed session with the courthouse security committee. The closed session fell under Iowa Code 21.5G. The code section states that a closed session is warranted ?to avoid disclosure of specific law enforcement matters, such as current or proposed investigations, inspection or auditing techniques or schedules, which if disclosed would enable law violators to avoid detection.?

The board will meet again in regular session Tuesday, July 5, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse.