American business leaders understand the importance of qualified talent. Yet, too many of our students graduate high school academically unprepared to succeed in the real world, not reaching the critical college- and career-ready bar. Graduating "college-ready" means being prepared for postsecondary academic experience, and "career-ready" signifies possessing the knowledge and skills most valued - and most urgently needed - by employers. In today's increasingly knowledge-based economy, a career is not just a job. A career provides a family-sustaining wage and pathways to advancement and, more than ever, requires postsecondary training or education.

With this in mind, the GE Foundation and AT&T, along with Chevron and the Prudential and Travelers foundations, collaborated with Achieve to create the Business Center for a College- and Career-Ready America to help businesses think more strategically about how best to support college and career readiness for all students. The Business Center's unique value for business leaders is rooted in Achieve's deep understanding of implementation of college- and career-ready standards - and what will help states ensure success going forward. To strengthen the bridge between awareness and engagement, the Business Center provides a range of practical and customizable tools and examples of how business leaders can and do support standards-based education reform within and across states. Deeply aware of the importance of talented individuals to our nation's competitiveness, American business leaders strongly support the college- and career-ready agenda. They also understand the Business Center's important role in furthering that goal:

"Since 2008, AT&T has helped youth at risk of dropping out of high school prepare for college and careers in the 21st century. Achieve's new initiative helps reach that goal by preparing business representatives to learn from best practices and fully support communities to prepare all youth for college and careers."

- Beth Shiroishi
Vice President, Sustainability and Philanthropy, AT&T and President, AT&T Foundation

"The goal of GE's Developing Futures™ is to reach a national and state audience and build support for the college- and career-ready agenda among the public and private sectors. Achieve's Business Center fills a real need to make this a reality. As a 'one-stop-shop,' the website provides the business community with up-to-date resources and tools that build support to help students meet rigorous college- and career-ready standards."

- Kelli Wells
Director, U.S. Education Programs, GE Foundation

On behalf of Achieve, President Michael Cohen states:

"The support of the business community is critical to the success of education reform over the long haul, and Achieve is proud to support this community through the Business Center for a College- and Career-Ready America. The new website equips business and industry leaders with the strategic tools and resources they need to help states, communities and students reach their college- and career-ready goals. Achieve looks forward to continuing its work with corporate and foundation leaders and strengthening education achievement nationwide."

About Achieve
Achieve is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit education reform organization dedicated to working with states to raise academic standards and graduation requirements, improve assessments, and strengthen accountability. Created in 1996 by a bipartisan group of governors and business leaders, Achieve is leading the effort to make college and career readiness a priority across the country so that students graduating from high school are academically prepared for postsecondary success. When states want to collaborate on education policy or practice, they come to Achieve. At the direction of 48 states, and partnering with the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, Achieve helped develop the Common Core State Standards. Twenty-six states and the National Research Council asked Achieve to manage the process to write the Next Generation Science Standards. Achieve has also served as the project manager for states in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, which are developing next generation assessments. And since 2005, Achieve has worked with state teams, governors, state education officials, postsecondary leaders and business executives to improve postsecondary preparation by aligning key policies with the demands of the real world so that all students graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills they need to fully reach their promise in college, careers and life. For more information, see www.achieve.org.