Meeting Minutes from September 7, 2010
Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board
Executive Committee
Minutes
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
3:30 p.m.
Liberty Place, Room 112
Present:
Thomas Baldrige, James Black, Steve Fries, Eric Horn, Sharon Leese, Maureen Lewandowski, Jean Martin, Linda Kreider (Ex-Officio)
Not Present:
Donald F. Johnson, Jr., Craig Lehman
Staff:
Joyce Lenox, Andrew Garner, Rod Kopp, Lori Rank, Scott Sheely, Kim Sullenberger
Operators Representative:
Trish Link
Guests:
Doug Schmidt, William Moulfair, Joe Shiffer
Call to Order
Sharon Leese called the meeting to order at 3:33 p.m. and thanked everyone for coming and had everyone introduce themselves.
Consent Agenda
Approval of Minutes from August 3, 2010 meeting
Minutes approved unanimously on motion from Jim Black and second from Jean Martin with a change suggested by Steve Fries to list himself as part of the Executive Committee and Linda Kreider as Ex-Officio.
Action Items
Approval of 2010-2011 Budget
Rod Kopp reported approval of the 2010-2011 Budget has been moved to the Board Meeting on September 16, 2010 for action.
Approval of July Report for ARRA Funding
Rod Kopp reported there are no new starts for ITA funding as there was very little training offered over the summer semester. There is very little change in numbers from last month.
Motion approved unanimously for Approval of July Report for ARRA Funding on motion from Eric Horn and second from Jim Black.
Approval of Determination of Insufficient Eligible Providers in Local Area
Scott Sheely opened a lengthy discussion of the effectiveness of training with people who have been dislocated with an article from The New York Times entitled "After Training, Still Scrambling for Employment". Experience using stimulus funding suggests that there may be better ways to do training that moves beyond traditional Individual Training Accounts (ITA).
There is a fairly broad definition of training in the Workforce Investment Act regulations that would allow for alternative forms. However, government data systems currently only recognized ITAs as valid training. It appears possible to move to other forms of training but the local Board must certify that there are not enough providers available to do the kind of training that is needed. Staff request that the Board certify that this is so.
Motion approved unanimously for Approval of Determination of Insufficient Eligible Providers on motion from Tom Baldrige and second from Jim Black.
Approval of Process for Selection of Providers
In certifying that there are insufficient eligible providers in the local area, the Board needs to establish a process for selecting providers to fill that need. Kim Sullenberger suggested using the Procurement Policy that is in place for other training as the policy that would be used to govern the process for the selection of vendors for this additional training.
Motion approved unanimously for Approval of Process for Selection of Providers on motion from James Black and second from Eric Horn.
Approval of Local Workforce Investment Plan Modification
With a determination of insufficient eligible providers in the local area and an established Procurement Policy, those actions are added to the Local Workforce Investment Plan requiring a modification that must be publicly advertised and submitted to the PA Department of Labor and Industry for approval. The recently changed policy on Individual Training Accounts also needs to be added to the Plan modification. Staff requests those changes and authorization to move the Plan modification process ahead.
Motion approved unanimously for Approval of Local Workforce Investment Plan Modification on motion from Thomas Baldrige and second from James Black.
Discussion Items
Person to Nominate Board Members in the Absence of County Administrator
In the absence of a County Administrator, there needs to be someone who nominates members from Community-Based Organizations to the Board. The Committee suggested that the County Human Services Lead be the person. Staff will explore this as a possibility.
PA CareerLink Performance Indicators
Scott Sheely reported this is going to be tabled for now until other issues are settled.
Recruit Two Board Members
Scott Sheely mentioned that Mike Newman from the renewable energy sector has been added to the Board. We are also looking for someone from communications, media, or information technology. Options discussed included Bosch, Fox, Herley Industries, Clipper Magazine, or a radio station. Scott mentioned Michael Shoemaker from Bindery Associates as a possibly and will pursue this with him.
Briefing on Progress of TANF Emergency Program
Joe Shiffer reported as of August 13, 2010 enrollment has stopped. There are 149 participants placed. These people will be moved on to Job Club, ITAs, and pre-employment at the end of September. Participants who were placed could also be involved with on-the-job training as it opens up. As of August there has been about $180,000 in expenditures.
Contacts with over 500 people resulted in about 300-375 eligible with many not completing the required standards for placement. In following up with employers, some have reported absenteeism and attitudes of employees as problems. Scott felt this could have been part of waiving the workforce readiness part of training.
Progress Report on New Lease
Scott Sheely reported this will be discussed at a short executive session at the end of the Executive Committee meeting along with other issues.
Staff Reports
Youth Coordinator
Andrew Garner referred to the Youth Council handout. There is a big need for employers for school classroom presentations on industry to students. A Health Careers Expo is being held on November 5th at McCaskey East with LGH doing demos on stage and interactive simulation of burn victims, respiratory care, and the lungs. Pathways to Gold Collar Careers night are being held in November at Ephrata Middle School and December at Penn Manor High School.
PA CareerLink Administrator
Lori Rank reported the CareerLink annual report will be given at the September 16, 2010 Board meeting. The Leadership Team has implemented its improvement plan, looking at the way the CareerLink does business with the resources we have now. A Job Fair is being held on October 6, 2010 with a Ready2Work graduation at 8:30 am and the job fair open to graduates, Way2Work and veterans from 8:30 – 10:00 am. Lori reported she had five Way2Work participants in the PACareerLink with all doing a good job
Executive Director
Scott Sheely reported ......
- With more people ending their unemployment benefits, with continuing high unemployment, and with more veterans coming back to the workforce, there is the potential for the PA CareerLink to get much busier in the next 3-12 months. We'll need to deal with any increases with the same resources that we currently have.
- Leadership Team has been mapping the process of PA CareerLink operations and identifying the weakest parts of the system. More training may be needed for continuous improvement.
- As a result of the SACA Tech Centro article, the WIB has been contacted about a building being available for a manufacturing business or assembly work. The group is willing to lease to the WIB at next to nothing. Course work for assembly with various companies providing work for training and prep to being hired is being looked at.
The Executive Committee went into an Executive Session at 4:49 pm to discuss lease and personnel matters with the following motion after returning to the regular meeting.
On motion from Jim Black and second from Tom Baldrige...that the staff of the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board convey through its attorney and broker that "it is the intention of the Board of Directors of the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board to have a signed lease no later than Friday, September 17 and to have an approval from the lessor's bank for the lease no later than September 24. In the event that this does not happen, the Board will pursue other options."
Adjournment
The Executive Committee returned from Executive Session and adjourned at 5:31 p.m.
