NATCHEZ — Four Natchez students received the highest rating possible from a nationwide work-readiness testing program this month.

After three years of testing, the Miss-Lou Work Ready Program received its first platinum ratings from the ACT WorkKeys Assessments, a program that tests aptitude in existing and emerging workforces across the nation.

“This is really wonderful for us,” said Ruth Nichols, Alcorn State University’s Special Assistant to the President for Community and Economic Development and coordinator of the Miss-Lou Work Ready region. “All of our data will show that we really have something special.”

Four students — one from Natchez High School and three from Adams County’s Copiah-Lincoln Community College branch — scored platinum on the test this year, the first in the history of the program to do so.

“I’m not going to lie, platinum is really hard,” Nichols said. “If you score platinum, you have the skills to work in 99 percent of the jobs in America.”

The work-readiness testing certifies the skills an employee, giving employers verifiable evidence of their capability.

Certifications come in four levels: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Each level denotes a different level of skill the test-taker possesses.

The four platinum certificates earned this year, Nichols said, are the first in both Adams County and Concordia Parish.

“Employers are seeing a gap in who walks in the door and what they need to be able to do,” Nichols said. “This certifies that an employee is qualified for the job.”

Nichols helped implement the testing initiative in Adams County and Concordia Parish in 2015.

Forming one program for both sides of the river seemed natural, Nichols said.

“When you think about it, it really is just one workforce,” Nichols said. “None of us really think about the 1-mile bridge in between.”

The Miss-Lou division was also the first ACT work ready program in Mississippi.

In the past three years, however, Nichols said the number of Mississippi counties involved has grown drastically.

“I’ve been to 18 counties to talk to them about this,” Nichols said. “It’s really such a wonderful opportunity.”

Whenever a community begins the program, Nichols said ACT sets a series of goals for test-takers in order to make the area a certified ACT Work Ready Community.

The Miss-Lou reached that certification just less than a year ago, becoming the first multi-state region to do so.

Though the region has reached its goal, Nichols said the work is not finished.

A strong workforce, Nichols said, draws industry, sustains families and improves the economy.

“You never stop improving your workforce,” Nichols said. “When workforce improves, everything improves.”