Efforts to improve the workforce readiness of Troup County residents are being tweaked in hopes of boosting their employability.

The Troup County Center for Strategic Planning has seen an increase in the number of visitors and members of www.TroupCountyWorks.com, the county’s Web site that provides job-hunting tips and information for county residents.

For it to be as successful as officials want, however, the information needs to reach all job seekers, officials said.

“I wish we could just say to (employers), ‘hire more Troup County residents,’ but because they want to build the finest products with the best value and the most reliability, they want the best people in their buildings,” LaGrange Mayor Jeff Lukken said. “We have to find out ways to upgrade our citizens’ skills and get them more prepared for these jobs, so we can have a stronger advantage with our citizens to be hired.”

An employer told Lukken it had to move its drug testing up front in the hiring process after being disappointed with the number of potential employees passing their interviews but then failing drug tests.

“Used to be you did the interviews and checked backgrounds,” he said.

To provide more assistance to those looking for jobs, planning center director Kay Durand is working to provide computers in various locations, including Troup Cares and churches, forthose who want to visit the Web site or find job information.

The center also plans on hosting Workforce Wednesday, where half-day employability workshops will be held one day of the month. Durand also is looking for more assessments to be given after Troup County was announced as a Certified Work Ready Community in February.

“The more that we can get this information into the hands of individuals to pass on to people, the better off we’re going to be,” Durand said.

Although more fliers are being passed out, more pamphlets being distributed and more information is traveling by word of mouth, Durand said, “I sincerely believe that the issue is communication.”

Durand’s devotion to her work was noted by LaGrange City Council.

Councilman Willie Edmondson hopes the effort pays off.

“There’s too many people out there hurting, and I just think that if we do what we can do in the city, it’d be good,” he said.

“I’m just very concerned because not a week passes by that I’ll get two or three people going to ask me, ‘Do you know where anybody’s hiring? Do you know where any jobs are?’ ”

For now, interested job seekers should continue to keep their ears alert, whether through print material, television or the Internet.

“We’ve got to do whatever we can to help people better themselves,” Durand said.