Staff Report

A partnership of Rockford-area workforce development and education-related organizations is announcing plans for an event designed to encourage individuals to complete their GED high school equivalency diploma.

The GED Fair will be from 1 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 18, at Rockford Career College, at the Heartland Church complex, 1130 S. Alpine Road, Rockford.

Numerous organizations will be on hand to speak with individuals about the GED programs and support services they offer. Rock Valley College will be conducting an assessment session for individuals interested in enrolling in GED preparation classes. More about the GED Fair is available at www.rockfordgedfair.org ^[1] or www.rockfordgedfair.com ^[2].

A Southern Illinois University study updated in October 2010 identified 46,916 individuals in Boone and Winnebago counties ages 16 and older not enrolled in school and without a high school diploma or a GED. The report referred to these individuals as a “population at risk.”

According to the organizers of the event, a high school diploma or GED is necessary to meet the qualifications for many of the available jobs and job training in the Rockford area; and to improve workforce readiness for 21st-century jobs.

A recent study from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce suggests the national economy will create nearly 47-million new jobs openings by 2018, and nearly two-thirds of those jobs will require workers with at least some college education.

A group of about 60 business and community leaders from the Rockford-Belvidere area attended a “Business/Education/Workforce” roundtable last summer to address the need for increased GED attainment in the region. The meeting, called by the Boone & Winnebago Counties Workforce Investment Board (WIB), also considered available community resources to address the educational attainment needs. The WIB already funds a number of programs for both in-school youth and dropouts designed to help them graduate from high school or achieve their GED.

Among the organizations participating in the GED Fair are Rock Valley College, the Boone and Winnebago Counties Regional Office of Education, Rockford Career College, The Literacy Council and the Workforce Investment Board.

The GED Fair is part of an ongoing initiative to encourage greater GED attainment in the region, organized as a result of last year’s roundtable.

From the Jan. 11-17, 2012, issue