WDB Executive Committee
March 12, 2008
103 Rich Hall
Minutes

‘The Executive Committee shall review, approve and take action as appropriate with regard to the WIA program; review, approve and take action as appropriate with regards to its finances, recommend designation of One Stop System Operator, foster communication and coordination between committees, revise the by-laws, as required, evaluate committee and CEO performance, oversee public relations for the Board, and other responsibilities as designated by the Board.’

Present: Fran Lanigan, Connie Smith, Mike Treadwell, Don Unger, Dave Vickery, Dennis McDermott and Kathy Fenlon

Also Present: Nick Della Penna

Dave Vickery called the meeting to order for John Mosher and Mike Russell, who were unable to attend.

1. Approval of the December 5, 2007 minutes.

A motion was made by Don Unger and seconded by Kathy Fenlon to approve the minutes of the December 5, 2007 meeting. The motion was carried.

2. Financial Report: Connie Smith reported the actual expenses vs. budget for July 2007 through February 2008. Everything is on track.

A motion was made by Fran Lanigan and seconded by Dennis McDermott to approve the financial reports as presented. The motion was carried.

3. Committee Issues:

Performance/Spending – Fran reported the figures for the second quarter (July - December 2007). We are meeting 8 out of 9 performance measures. We are missing the Average Earnings for Dislocated Workers measurement by a small margin. We tried to negotiate this measure with NYSDOL, but were unsuccessful. We anticipate having a problem meeting this particular measurement for the balance of the year.

Spending is on track for the year. We are still planning on losing a significant amount of funding in this program year due to a rescission from the feds.

Fran reviewed the transfer of funds, previously approved in January via email in January. The request was to transfer $100,000 from the Dislocated Worker program to Adult. This move provides us more flexibility in serving customers and assured us sufficient funds to provide continuous service to business customers. Mike Treadwell made a motion to approve the transfer. Connie Smith seconded. The motion was passed.

4. Director’s Report:

Strategic Plan – We have gone live with the website for the Career Ladder Maps. The site is: http://oswegocareerladders.com/ We have DET looking at the site and using it with customers. We continue to add videos and job profiles. We will begin to publicize the site after the Full Board meeting on March 26.

We continue to work with CNY Works and others on a grant that was received to support workforce development in Energy and Environmental Sciences. We will be receiving $10,000 from this grant to support the revitalization of SUNY Oswego’s Energy Institute.

We are working with the Center of Excellence and a consortium of CNY partners on 2 grant applications. The first is a High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGJTI) grant from USDOL. It is targeted to address worker shortfalls in the energy and construction industries. The second, also offered by USDOL, is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) grant targeted to support careers and training in these areas, or the teaching of these subjects. Applications for both grants are due in March.

One-Year Plan Extension- We have been directed by the State to submit a one-year extension to our local 3-year plan which expires June 2008. Some highlights from our plan in the Strategies section include:

• Over the past three years, the Oswego County workforce area has received drastic cuts exceeding $412,000 (or 22%) from PY'05-07.
• We are targeted to receive a further cut of another 19% for PY'08.
• Staffing has been reduced over this same period by eight positions, or 40%.
• Board staffing has also been reduced over this same period. For the current program year, we are operating with a total of 1.35 Full Time Equivalents (FTE's).
• The Board costs could be eliminated by consolidating with another workforce area, but the savings will be minimal.
• SUNY Oswego already contributes approximately $200,000-$250,000 annually in salaries, benefits, office space and other in-kind contributions to support the Board.

Our plan of action is as follows:

1) Our Board's Executive Committee will form a special sub-committee that will be charged with identifying and assessing our options for dealing with these limited resources, including the option of consolidating with another workforce area.

2) After consultation between the County Administrator, the Chief Local Elected Official, the Commissioner of Social Services and the WIB Director, this sub-committee will bring forth its recommendation to the Full Board by June 2009.

3) The execution of our action plan will be completed by June 2010.

4) The One-Stop Operator will utilize the PY'07 incentive money to cover our short-term financial shortfall. The Operator will continue to explore other sources of revenue and potential cost-savings opportunities.

Dave Vickery suggested that if we approach the County for funding, we should have the WIB chair and other private sector members of the board involved. The entire plan (draft) is available online at http://www.oswego.edu/about/centers/cbcd/wdb/index.html

5. Associate Director’s Report – Nick

Balanced Scorecard – Nick reviewed the latest Balanced Scorecard. We are doing fairly well in most areas. The report shows zero dollars being spent in the Energy industry cluster. We are in the process of finalizing contract with Northeast Biofuels, so will achieve this goal. Several healthcare programs start in the spring, so we will be seeing an increase in that area as well. Market penetration in the Energy cluster will be a focus on the new job developer position.

Monitoring

1) On December 6, 2007 a NYSDOL monitor filed a report on his data element validation review. Overall, the report was favorable although his did note a few minor deficiencies, which are being addressed.

2) On January 2, 2008 John Wilson, our Workforce Board Monitor filed his report his monitoring of the Adult & Dislocated Worker programs. He concluded that Eligibility and Data Elements validation was being performed in accordance with the appropriate federal and state guidelines.

3) On January 18, 2008 a NYSDOL monitor filed a report on is monitoring of the Adult & Dislocated Worker programs at the One-Stop Center and his review of the local WIB self-monitoring. There were no major findings.

4) On February 20, 2008 John Wilson, our Workforce Board Monitor filed his report his monitoring of the Youth Services RFP process. There were no major findings.

Feedback Report – Nick went over the survey results from the last Full Board meeting held December 12, 2007.

Nominating Committee - John Mosher will be leaving the board upon completion of his term in June 2008. Dave Vickery, Mike Treadwell, and Fran Lanigan volunteered to serve on the committee.

6. The next meeting is scheduled for June 11, 2008.