Meeting Minutes from April 5, 2011
Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board
Executive Committee
Minutes
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
3:30 p.m.
Liberty Place, Room 112
Present:
James Black, Steve Fries, Donald F. Johnson, Jr., Sharon Leese, Craig Lehman, Jean Martin
Not Present:
Thomas Baldrige, Eric Horn, Linda Kreider (Ex-Officio)
Staff:
Joyce Lenox, Andrew Garner, Scott Sheely, Kim Sullenberger, Lori Rank, Rod Kopp
Operators Representative:
Trish Link
Guests:
Gary Grube, William Moulfair, Anna Ramos
Call to Order
Sharon Leese called the meeting to order at 3:37 p.m., welcomed everyone, and asked everyone to introduce themselves.
Consent Agenda
Approval of Minutes from March 1, 2011 meeting
Minutes approved unanimously on motion from Jim Black and second from Don Johnson.
Discussion Items
What is the right Size for the Workforce Investment Board?
Scott Sheely reminded everyone the State has revised the Workforce Investment Board composition requirements which would allow for a change in the size of the Board and who needs to be represented. Previously, it was decided to make the changes as term renewals came up for Board members. Renewals for next year are now due.
Kim Sullenberger mentioned about a year ago there was discussion on changes in requirements of the Board membership. In the past, all PA CareerLink Partners had to be represented on the Board but the new requirements mandate only two Partners. The By-Laws were rewritten to reflect the possible change in size of the Board. The consensus at that time was to shrink the Board size. There still has to be 51% private sector representation.
There are a number of contractors on the board poses a possible conflict of interest. Having a quorum present at the Board meetings is a problem that could be made easier by reducing the size of the Board. With the required representation, the number of Board members could drop to 21 from the now 37 membership.
Discussion was opened on how the size should be reduced. The Executive Committee decided the whole Board should have input on this issue and a document should be released and a poll vote done for the size of the Board and how to make the change. Discussion was tabled until the May 3, 2011 Executive Committee meeting.
Progress of Procurement Process for Title I WIA and EARN Contracts
Kim Sullenberger reported the review forms are back and the review committees will be meeting this week to look at the results. Additional information will be collected and meeting held if questions arise. The week of April 18, 2011 the Performance Committee and LMC will meet to finalize their recommendation of a contractor(s) to the Executive Committee on May 3, 2011. The Commissioners will then vote on the recommended contractor(s) on May 11, 2011.
Advocacy for Industry Partnership Funding
Scott Sheely reported concerning the implications of losing funding for Industry Partnerships.
The 2011-2012 budget has cut the funding from $6 million to $1.6 million for training this year. Senator Brubaker is going to reintroduce the legislation in the Senate to codify Partnerships as proposed last fall. It is expected to pass and then go to the House for consideration.
White Papers on Unemployment Insurance and Coordination of Funding Streams
Scott Sheely handed out white papers on Unemployment Insurance and Coordination of Funding Streams that were written on request from legislative committees of the PA General Assembly. Changes to the Unemployment Compensation (UC) law will happen for sure in PA since PA is the only state that does not have a work search component. Sharing of information between workforce and UC and servicing UC recipients at the One Stops can be done more efficiently. It should also shorten the time to get the UC recipients into the One Stops to start their job search.
The Coordination of Funding Streams paper addresses issues of multiple employee and training programs. The Adult and Weyer-Peyser funding does work closer than the TANF funding as ½ of the TANF providers are not even located in the One Stops.
Locally, the PA CareerLink is preparing for a significant influx of people when the UC law changes.
Action Items
Approval of the February ARRA Expenditures
Rod Kopp reviewed the February ARRA Expenditures report for July 1, 2010 through February 28, 2011. The Green Energy Grant has expended $26, 137 which also included a correction to take $3,000 out of the Green Energy Grant and move it to the IPT Renewable Energy Grant. This grant is for Lancaster and Berks Counties. The Green Energy grant goes through 2012 for expending. The Youth Dropout Recovery grant has expended $17, 670 through February 28, 2011. The majority of this grant is for Lancaster Career and Technology Center to do training. Another $52,000 has been expended for this grant but has not been invoiced by LCCTC yet.
The February ARRA Expenditures was approved unanimously on motion from Steve Fries and second from Don Johnson.
Staff Reports
Youth Coordinator
Andrew Garner reported the annual job shadowing event will be held the week of April 25-20, 2011. There were two workshops held in February and March for placement training and for sharing previous best practices. Nine districts attended. Many employers were connected through the Career Connect website that the Chamber maintains. There are a few difficult placements that are going to be covered by workshops again this year. Job shadowing is part of the Career Standards for the State required in high schools.
Andrew Garner handed out the Summer of STEM paperwork which has scholarship application and a list of camps available. Recruitment is on for eligible youth with the heavy push in the four middle schools in the School District of Lancaster. In the next week, the push will go out around the County with CTC doing a heavy recruitment this week. Even if they don't qualify for a scholarship, they can still register by May 18, 2011. Once again, there will be Summer Camps for 3rd through 10th grades and all STEM programs
PA CareerLink Administrator
Lori Rank reported that the rollout of Metrix, the online training program, is progressing with orientation and training of staff and customers in the Arbor, EARN, R2W and Job Club. The full rollout is expected May 2, 2011 to all PA CareerLink customers. Staff has been trained by Metrix and is now training other staff on the program. An orientation for employers was held in March with many interested in using the program for their employees. Metrix will be coming back in two weeks to troubleshoot the program before rolling it out.
The Leadership Team is working on customer flow in the PA CareerLink. They are trying to streamline the process as much as possible as the volume has already increased. On May 3, the Resource Sharing Agreement for the new fiscal year 7/1/11-6/30/12 will be presented to the Executive Committee. Lori Rank reported Sabrina Durand is leaving for other employment. Her position will be filled with a temp person until they look at the position and structure to see what is needed
Executive Director
Scott Sheely reported ......
- With the funding cuts and volume of people being seen in the PA CareerLink, changes are necessary. However, until staff can explain Metrix to people and understand it, the rollout will be held off.
- The Manufacturing Skills Factory has graduated the first class with the Business Service Team helping them to pursue job placement.
- As federal budget talks progress, Congressman and other legislators must be invited to the PA CareerLink to hear the stories. This will get them out there and hopefully help when it comes time to decide the budget. Many do not accept the invites. Now is the time to be aggressive and not become victims through all the budget cuts.
Kim Sullenberger reported Joe Shiffer's last day is April 8th. Anna Ramos will be the interim LETA director.
Adjournment
The Executive Committee adjourned at 5:05 p.m.
