Meeting Minutes from December 2, 2008
Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board
Executive Committee
Minutes
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
3 p.m.
CareerLink, Room 3
Present:
James Black, Thomas Baldrige, Linda Kreider, Eric Horn, Jean Martin, Maureen Lewandowski, Steve Fries (Ex-officio)
Not Present:
Donald F. Johnson, Jr., Sharon Leese, Craig Lehman
Staff:
Joyce Lenox, Scott Sheely, Andrew Garner, Kim Sullenberger
Operators Representative:
Guests:
Mark Sprunger, Tom Showalter
Call to Order
Jim Black called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m. and thanked everyone for coming.
Consent Agenda
Approval of Minutes from November 4, 2008
Minutes approved unanimously on motion from Eric Horn and second from Maureen Lewandowski.
Action Items
Approval of sublease for additional space for Welfare programming
Mark Sprunger presented the sublease from Lake Roeder for additional space for the EARN Corporate Center. The lease is for Room # 3 of Lake Roeder‘s space on the ground floor and would run from December 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. It would be a basic lease with no cleaning. Annual rental would be $11,088 but it would be prorated for 7 months on the basis of 1,050 square feet. This rate is in range with all the rest of the leases and would be funded out of Welfare money.
Motion approved for the sublease for additional space for Welfare programming on motion from Jean Martin and second from Linda Kreider.
Discussion Items
Staff Reports
Youth Coordinator
Andrew Garner reported that:
- The countywide Pathways to Gold Collar Career nights held over 3 nights in November had a total of 747 parents and students attending. Sponsorships were good but recruitment of employers continues to be a problem.
- For next year, Youth Council recommended having an employer or LCCTC campus or Stevens host the event.
- Other suggestions were to expand the event to adults, cut back on number of nights, or only have it on alternate years. A survey will be done of employers past and present and non-participants to get more feedback on the program. It was also recommended that the Council do a study to see what impact on students the Pathways events has on picking careers.
- The Annual Youth Summit will be held on January 29, 2009 with focus on the Top 100 Jobs in Lancaster County, mentoring for middle school students, the PA Youth in Transition project results, and a job shadowing kick-off training.
Executive Director
Scott Sheely reported:
- The Workforce Summit with a focus on STEM is being held on December 4, 2008. Sue Mukherjee from the PA Department of Labor and Industry and Carol Adukaitus from the State System of Higher Education will be presenting with Brenda Becker, Hempfield School Superintendent, and Andrew Garner joining them on a panel for questions. Scott will be presenting the Central PA Regional STEM Pact for the consideration of participants while Beth Ann Haas will introduce the Lancaster County STEM Unit Challenge for teachers.
- PA STEM Initiative has broken the Central PA STEM Region into five sub-regions. Our local region includes the South Central and Lancaster WIA areas. Scott Sheely and Rob McIlvaine form MANTEC are co-chairing the sub-region planning process.
- A Lancaster County STEM Council has been formed with IPT's, CTC and Tech Schools as part of it.
- PA Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolfe along with Senator Mike Brubaker and acting director of the LCCTC Dr. Jon Rednak will be present on December 8, 2008 at the dedication for the Lancaster Edibles Venture Kitchen at the Mt. Joy CTC. This is a project of the Center of Excellence in Production Agriculture.
- Mechantronics is getting national attention from the US Department of Labor. Keith Campbell, John Devere and Scott have been asked to participate in a national webinar along with a dedicated workshop at this summer's Workforce Innovations Conference. The Packaging Machinery Manufacturers' Institute is working with Keith Campbell on create skill standards for the industry and occupation.
- Scott reported that five local teachers, counselors, and administrators attended Pack Expo in Chicago in early November to familiarize them with the technology involved in the packaging industry.
CareerLink Report
Tom Showalter from the CareerLink Job Club reported on how the economy is impacting the PA CareerLink. Numbers of people coming into the CareerLink are up as are people participating in Job Club. Mature workers 40 and above seem to be the most common client coming in. Looking at the information all fields of employment is being affected. The perception is that the job market is shrinking. The Unemployment Compensation system has been very slow and frustrating to work with. The PA CareerLink has been listed as the backup place for people to go to who are having problems filing claims online or getting through the phone system. It was recommended that the PA CareerLink offer free space to U/C in the PA CareerLink to handle clients as they are being referred to the CareerLink for services.
Scott also recommended that now is the time to maybe get the people into the Ready2Work program along with offering pre-employment skill training in different areas while people are off work. Overall, the CareerLink is expected to become much busier over time as the economy worsens.
Adjournment
The Executive Committee Meeting was adjourned at 4:24 p.m.
