Marque Medley, graduate of the Work Ready Foundations^© work readiness-training program offered by Workforce Services at the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center, recently earned his Manufacturing Specialist (MS) certification. The certification is part of Virginia Manufacturers Association (VMA)’s Manufacturing Technology training program. This program is a highly specialized course based on the techniques and interrelationships found in high performance manufacturing and production.

To obtain the Manufacturing Specialist certification, Medley had to demonstrate skills attainment in 12 critical technical skills, and obtain passing scores on the Math and Measurement, and Spatial Reasoning and Manufacturing Technology assessment modules. Medley passed with a near perfect score, only missing two questions on the entire test. The MT1 assessment is offered as part of the Work Ready Foundations^©program.

“By obtaining the Manufacturing Specialist Certificate, Marque now has a nationally recognized portable and stackable industry credential.  It shows employers anywhere in the region that he has attained a certain level of industry-wide technical skills in Math and Measurement, and Spatial Reasoning and Manufacturing Technology.  These core manufacturing skills are essential to all production-related occupations in modern manufacturing,” said Katherine DeRosear, VMA Director of Workforce Development.

The Manufacturing Specialist certification is an industry-wide technical skill certification that “stacks” upon the National Career Readiness Certificate (a credential Medley also holds). Together, the certifications give Medley an advantage in a competitive job market. “Having these credentials, especially the Manufacturing Specialist certification, has already given me the opportunity to interview for positions I otherwise would have been turned down for,” Medley stated.

Since completing the Work Ready Foundations^© program summer 2013, Medley has been taking welding courses at Virginia Technical Institute, and is hoping to find a job that will allow him to stay close to home and complete his welding courses. “I don’t have experience in manufacturing, but this certification will help me get into that field,” he continued.

According to Dr. Nettie Simon-Owens, “Marque is a very hardworking determined young man who excelled in all aspects of the Work Ready Foundations^© training program. He will be an exceptional employee because he is a fast learner, he readily assists others as needed, enjoys learning, and strives to be a high-performer. We are very proud of Marque and his accomplishments and consider him a good representative of the Work Ready Foundations program^©.”

For more information about Work Ready Foundations^© visit www.svhec.org , email workforce@svhec.org, or call 434-572-5593 and toll free 1-800-283-0098 ext 5593.

For more information about the Manufacturing Specialist certification visitwww.vamanufacturers.com.