Workforce Development Board of Oswego County
Business Commons
8:00 a.m.
The mission of the Workforce Development Board of Oswego
County is to attract, develop and maintain a qualified workforce for the Oswego
County community, to assist in economic development by convening community
leaders to engage in strategic planning and facilitating dialogue to educate
and train the workforce needed by today’s and tomorrow’s businesses.
PRESENT: Dr. Cathleen McColgin Kathleen Fenlon
John Mosher Don Unger
Bruce Phelps Connie Smith
Frances Lanigan Dennis McDermott
Dave Vickery Dr. Joseph Camerino
Paul Kurtzman Mike Treadwell
Donald Watson Joseph Fiumara
Chuck Rinoldo Wagner Dotto
Phil Church Eileen Ensworth
EXCUSED: Nicole Capilli Mike Russell
RoseAnn Parsons Diane Cooper-Currier
Rita Tickle Rajesh Modi
Ellen French Earnie Pietrykowski
Colleen McBride
OTHERS: Dawn Holynski Walt Freyer
Jeff Grimshaw Donna Donabella
Chris Weaver Joseph Sorbello
Donna Donabella Tom Hadlick
1. Welcome: John Mosher called the meeting to order and a quorum was established with 18 present out of 30.
2. Approval of the December 12, 2007 minutes. A motion was made by Bruce Phelps and seconded by Don Unger to approve the minutes as presented. The motion was carried.
3. Executive Committee Report:
The committee met on March 12, 2008. The committee reviewed the performance and spending report for the first and second quarters of the program year. Fran Lanigan reviewed the transfer of funds request from the Dislocated Worker program to Adult.
The committee reviewed the One-Year Local plan and the balance scorecard, which the committee is using to track performance in areas not required by the State or US Department of Labor.
The NYS Department of Labor filed two monitoring reports as did our local Board monitor. No major issues were noted. They did make a few recommendations for improvement, which are being assessed.
The committee also formed a Nominating Committee which will be putting together nominations for new officers to be voted on at our next meeting.
Financial Report:
Connie Smith reviewed the income and expenditures from July 2007 through February 2008.
A motion was made by Dr. Cathleen McColgin and seconded by Dave Vickery to approve the report. The motion was carried.
Performance Review: Fran Lanigan reported the figures for the first quarter period, July 1 through December 31, 2007. The WIA system now has two kinds of measures: System Improvement Indicators and Common Measures for Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth.
The Reemployment Services shows two areas of not meeting the measures; however, we are meeting those standards locally. The figures shown are regional rates. We are meeting all goals except the Dislocated Worker average earnings.
A question was asked of which companies in Oswego County are eligible for Trade Act Assistance. Chris Weaver reported:
Syroco and B.G. Suszle are the only companies that are Trade
Act eligible that we've been working with. We're still seeing people from
Syroco - we do not currently have any customers from B.G. Suszle.
There is a rumor that Magna will be filing - we haven't seen anything yet.
Fran also reported that spending for the second quarter through December 31, 2007 is on target and expected to meet the obligated amount.
Fran asked the Board to transfer $100,000 from the Adult to the Dislocated Worker program.
A motion was made by Bruce Phelps and seconded by Eileen Ensworth to
allow the transfer of funds. The motion
was carried.
4. Committee Chair Reports:
Partners Roundtable - The committee met on January 30, 2008. The committee reviewed the progress made on the system objectives:
- The system-wide workshop calendar continues to be issued
- A draft cost allocation plan for the year 7 MOU has been completed
- The third Employer Forum was held at BOCES on November 1. Approximately 25 people attended
- A “training fair” was held at the One-Stop Center in December. About 20 people attended.
- The winter edition of the Partner Newsletter was issued.
The NYS Department of Labor has approved our plan to spend the $800,000 in incentive money. The money has to be spent by the end of 2008. There will be an upgrade in technology at the One-Stop Center, including wireless capability. We also updated the Career Center library materials. Over $500,000 has been allocated to serve WIA/TANF customers, including the staff time required.
Evaluation & Franchise – The committee was scheduled to meet on February 13 but was postponed due to inclement weather. We summarized the reports that were to be presented at the meeting and issued them as meeting notes for the committee to review.
Performance results for the first two quarters of Program Year ’07 were sent out.
The Job Seeker Customer Satisfaction Summary Report for October-December was very positive. There were five responses for the 8 surveys mailed out for the Classroom Training feedback. Responses were favorable.
Surveys were mailed to 31 businesses with nine responses. Responses were very positive.
DET has devised a One-Stop Center Activity Report to replace the information formerly provided by the Swipe Card system, which is no longer functional. We will be reviewing at our next meeting.
Business Development –The committee met on January 16, 2008. The committee reviewed the training activities supported by the system. There were no customized training programs the second quarter of the Program Year, which started July 1, 2007. We have invested $143,408 in On-the-Job Training (OJT) contracts. The largest contracts are Birds Eye Foods, Novelis and Interface Solutions. OJT’s are planned with Northeast Biofuels when operations begin in June.
Sharon Chevrolet has applied for an Advance NY grant for $15,000. They will use the funding for a variety of training programs for more than half of their employees.
The Fulton One-Stop Center hosted a major on-site recruitment for Novelis in December. Applications were taken for 189 people, with 117 interviewed.
Job Placement Network Disability Mentoring Day was held on October 24. Ten individuals participated with nine area employers.
One-Stop staff, CNYAHEC and 1199 union representatives met with 130 employees of A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital on Jan. 4 to explain the services available to them.
The One-stop Center is handling applications for the Super Wal-Mart in Granby. Thus far, 270 people have been hired out of 330 anticipated openings. The Center is also working with laid-off Syroco employees who reside in the County. Center staff will be working with NYSDOL on Rapid Response for New Process Gear and met on January 15 with employees of Penny Curtis.
Youth Council – The committee met on January 9, 2008. The committee reviewed the performance results for the first quarter of Program Year ’07 (July 1 – September 30, 2007). We are meeting all three performance standards for Youth.
The planning committee for next year’s Youth Employment Summit will begin meeting in May. No date has been set as yet for the event.
The Youth Bureau received an Advancing Youth Partnership WIA Grant for $105,000. The purpose is to serve kids at risk that normally would not get served. The plan is to serve nine out-of-school and five in-school youth. Partners on this program include: The Youth Bureau, DET, OCO, OI and the Youth Advocacy Program (YAP).
We have begun the process for Request for Proposals for Year-Round Youth Services. The new contracts that result from this process will go into effect July 1, 2008 and run through June 30, 2010. Proposals were due March 3 and will be reviewed at our next Youth Council meeting on April 9. The Full Board will take action on the Youth Council’s recommendations at the June 25 meeting.
Skills and Training – The committee was scheduled to meet on March 5 but was postponed due to inclement weather. We summarized the reports that were to be presented at the meeting and issued them as meeting notes for the committee to review.
The committee reviewed the WIA performance report for the first two quarters of Program Year ’07.
For the second quarter of PY ’07, 104 Adults and 50 Dislocated Workers were active, with 53 Adults and 32 Dislocated Workers completing their training. There were 64 On-the-Job trainees (OJT), and 18 Adults and Dislocated Workers participated in Customized training. The majority (50) of the OJT’s were in the manufacturing sector. The majority of the Customized trainees continue to be in the Technical Trades (14). Individual Training Accounts (ITA’s) were utilized to support vocational training for 68 people.
The response rate for feedback for classroom training for the second quarter was five responses out of 8 mailed out. All five responses were for Oswego County BOCES and responses were positive.
The committee also reviewed the latest additions to the local Eligible Training Provider List.
A motion was made by Connie Smith and seconded by Paul Kurtzman to
accept the committee reports. The
motion was carried.
5. Director’s Report – Nick reported to the Board :
1) Strategic Planning
- The web site for the four career ladder maps is up and running.
- A press release will be issued in a few days.
- A presentation will be given to school superintendents on May 7, 2008.
- A community forum is being planned in the coming months.
- SUNY Oswego Art students are nearly finished with the poster design.
2) Rescission update – Nick reported that Congress took back WIA funds- approximately $80,000.
3) One-year plan extension – We have directed by the State to submit a one-year extension to our local 3-year plan which expires June 2008. We sent the Board a link to the draft copy a few weeks ago. Some highlights from our plan include:
- Over the past three years, the Oswego County workforce area has received drastic cuts exceeding $412,000 (22%) from Program Year ’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.
The full plan is available on our website and the One-Stop Center’s.
Chris Weaver discussed the operational portion of this plan.
6. Workforce Spotlight – Dr. Camerino discussed the existing BOCES campus and the conceptual design of the proposed capital project and timeline of the project. Existing classroom buildings are about 30 years old. Most of the buildings are of wood construction, which poses a safety issue. Other safety issues that will be remedied is the flow of traffic and the inability of students leaving the building unsupervised.
7. Career Ladder Map Update – Nick Della Penna and Jeff Grimshaw updated the Board of what the website looks like and the easy access to the various career ladders and job descriptions within those areas.
7. Next meeting will be held Wednesday, June 25, 2008 – 8 a.m., Rich Hall.