Site Selection magazine, a key publication for the economic development industry, ranked Arkansas No. 1 in its region for workforce development.

Arkansas moved from second to first regionally in the South Central Region, which includes Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.

The rankings recognize states’ performance on a set of measures applied to all 50 state. Those variables can include programs and resources for job seekers, as well as:

• CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business, 2023 Workforce and Education;
• U.S. News’s 2023 Best States for Education ranking;
• ACT National Career Readiness Certificates for 2023;
• Workforce preparation and development component of the Council for Community and Economic Research’s state economic development program expenditures database; and
• Whether or not a state has at least one financial incentive program for work-based learning.

Beyond Arkansas’ first place ranking the following states ranked from No. 2 to No. 8 are: Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Read more here.