ROGERSVILLE — Hawkins County is one of the first counties in Northeast Tennessee to be certified as a Work Ready Community. The Work Ready Community certification is a nationally recognized designation that provides evidence that a county, region or state has developed strong partnerships among education, industry and economic development; and that these groups are working together to strengthen the local workforce. Work Ready Communities utilize the Work-Keys/National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) to verify the quality and skill sets of workers and to determine their levels of work readiness. Hawkins County’s certification effort was spearheaded by Cooper Standard Human Resources Manager Gabrielle Buchanan and Hawkins County Industrial Development Board Coordinator Rebecca Baker. “This is really exciting for us,” Baker told the IDB Thursday.