Sustained success for any team comes from a culture of buy-in and commitment from executives, personnel, staff, and players. When values, visions, and goals align internally, performance on the field improves to create a winning culture.

We witnessed this buy-in from the Buffalo Bills when general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott stepped in and completely shifted the Bills from an organization comfortable with losing into a franchise that continues to produce winning records, all-pros, and productive draft classes.

My goal is to rally our families, schools, businesses, and workforce communities in order for us to create a better future for our youth.

Our workforce advocates have created a culture that is leading our local students to careers that will set them up for lifetime success. We are adding another piece of the puzzle to create the community buy-in we aim for.

With the official announcement of ACT Work Ready Communities coming to Genesee County, we are deploying another resource to connect our students to local in-demand careers.

ACT Work Ready Communities provides the tools to connect our graduates to the in-demand career opportunities available in their backyards, aligning the region’s economic development needs with the skills required to create an economic blueprint that benefits our local businesses and our communities.

I’m excited that many of our schools are engaging to have select groups of students complete the ACT WorkKey Assessments in 2025. These students will graduate into a winning culture our businesses are already growing.

To be designated a Work Ready Community requires participation from our local workforce and businesses. Once registered, there will be access to search and vet job requirements and skills sought by local businesses, allowing them to efficiently recruit from a pool of qualified candidates.

We only need three more companies to sign up to reach our goal of 92 supporting businesses and 11 more will get Genesee County to 100 certified businesses!

The list of certified businesses ranges from companies in manufacturing, food processing, healthcare, education, professional services, hospitality, and more.

Like Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane, our winning culture doesn’t stop with one goal achieved. In order for us to receive certified work ready status we will need the participation of our local workforce candidates; there are no limitations on who can sign up for the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) administered by ACT.

Students, incumbent workers, and job seekers can complete the NCRC which features criteria in applied math, graphic literacy, and workplace documents.

Once completed, prospective job candidates will be recommended and matched with companies that align with their skills based on NCRC results.

Companies looking to relocate or expand value this accreditation and provide them with workforce information and data, bringing more jobs to Genesee County.

I am pleased by the progress we’ve had in working with school representatives, workforce institutions, and other stakeholders to recruit workforce candidates and local companies to be a part of the workforce development ecosystem that will allow our community to continue its sustained success.

To learn more or sign up for a National Career Readiness Certificate contact me at 585-343-4866 or [email protected].

- Chris Suozzi is the Executive Vice President, Business & Workforce Development of the Genesee County Economic Development Center