Upper Savannah’s Ready to Roll Wins SC COGs Regional Project of the Year
Upper Savannah Council of Governments Board of Directors members and USCOG staff celebrate the SC COGs Regional Project of the Year presented at the SC COGs Annual Training Conference in November. USCOG Board Chairman Faye Thomas is holding the plaque.
The Upper Savannah COG’s national award-winning workforce development project Ready to Roll has been recognized again, this time receiving the prestigious SC COGs Regional Project of the Year honors for 2019.
The award was announced at the SC COGs Annual Training Conference held Nov. 24-26 in Myrtle Beach. The state’s COGs were eligible to submit Regional Project of the Year nominations, and six were submitted.
Earlier in the fall, Ready to Roll, which so far has helped train 76 truck drivers in the Upper Savannah Region over the past year, received a 2019 Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Award from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO).
In April 2018, the SC Workforce Development Board issued a grant announcement for innovative projects. An application was entered for the proposed Ready to Roll project and Piedmont Technical College (PTC) was selected to be the lead applicant.
In June 2018, the grant award of more than $300,000 was announced. USCOG then organized a focus group meeting and surveyed local construction industry leaders, who identified the need for commercial truck drivers.
Ready to Roll is a joint project between SC Works and other partners, spearheaded by PTC. The program began Oct. 1, 2018. Since then, several drivers have not only been trained but have been put to work.
Students have also received online certification from the S.C. Asphalt Paver’s Association during their time not spent inside a truck and have also learned basic employment skills such as resume writing, interviewing skills and other workplace skills.
For more information about Ready to Roll, contact Upper Savannah Workforce Development Administrator Ann Skinner at 864-941-8074.
