Workforce Development Board of
SUNY Oswego-118 Rich Hall
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:
Connie Smith Dave Vickery
Chris Nelson Eric Behling
Frances Lanigan Edward Mervine
Dennis Donahue Wagner Dotto
Daniel Carman Mike Treadwell
Dave Lloyd Don Unger
Bruce Phelps Diane Cooper-Currier
Don Morgan
EXCUSED: Phil Church Paul Kurtzman
Earnie Pietrykowski Kris Smith
Ellen French Nicole Capilli
Rajesh Modi Eileen Ensworth
Joseph Fiumara Evelyn LiVoti
John Henry Dr. Joseph Camerino Patrick Carroll
OTHERS: Dawn Holynski Nick Della Penna
Jeff Grimshaw Chris Weaver
Nancy Bellow Nancy Holden
Tom Simmonds Joseph Sorbello
1. Welcome: Dave Vickery called the meeting to order. Dave welcomed new board member, Chris Nelson.
A quorum was established with 17 present out of 30.
2. Approval of the March 24, 2010 minutes. A motion was made by Bruce Phelps and seconded by Ed Mervine to approve the minutes as presented. The motion was carried.
3. Executive Committee Report: Dave Vickery reported that the committee met on
June 9, 2010. The committee approved the proposed budget for 2010-2011, the program year ’10 training plan and associated policy modification. Also, there was discussion on an individual board assessment tool that is being designed. The survey will be sent out to each board member in early July and the results and recommendations will be presented at the meeting in September.
Financial Report: Connie Smith reported on the actual versus budget statement through
May 31, 2010. Income is on track, expenses have been picking up. It is expected that there will be no large variances for year-end.
A motion was made by Dan Carmen and seconded by Fran Lanigan to accept the report. The motion was carried.
2010-11 Budget Proposal: Connie Smith presented the proposed budget for July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. There are no major changes for next year. Expenses for board administration are unchanged.
A motion was made by Bruce Phelps and seconded by Mike Treadwell to
accept the proposed budget. The motion
was carried.
Performance Review: Performance/Spending
– Performance: Fran Lanigan reported that all nine Common Measures are being
met for the period of July 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010 and expect that to
continue to year end. The three system
improvement measures are not currently being met.
Spending: Fran Lanigan reported on
the program funding for period 7/1/09 through 6/30/10 that includes real time
data as of 5/24/10 versus quarterly data.
All goals have either been met or money obligated except for the
administration category. It is expected
that all will be met by the end of the program year.
PY’10 Allocation/Training Plan: Fran Lanigan explained that with the exhaustion of
Stimulus money and a reduced allocation for PY’10, funding available for
training will be far less than in the previous two years. There is also a greater emphasis at the State
and Federal level on supporting OJT’s with Adult & Dislocated Worker
monies.
Based on the
current funding climate, Fran presented our proposed funding levels and
estimated customers served for each type of training:
-
ITA’s -
$120,000- 60 served
-
OJT’s-
$85,000- 35 served
-
Customized-
$10,000- 3-4 served
-
Center-based-
$25,000- 150-200 served
Fran went on to
present a proposed policy change that would support the above- mentioned
funding levels, including:
The Workforce Board of
Oswego County establishes the following limits on training services during when
funding is declared to be “limited”:
A motion was made by Dave Lloyd and seconded by Don Unger to accept the policy change as presented. The motion was carried.
4. Committee Chair Reports: Partners Roundtable – Fran Lanigan reported the committee met on April 28, 2010. The MOU for year 8 is lacking the signature from VESID for completion. Year 9 has been sent out for signatures.
Chris Weaver reviewed the Elevate America and HIRE NOW programs. The Elevate America program is a partnership between Microsoft and NYSODL. The program provides vouchers for individuals and businesses to train people in Microsoft Business and IT products. Vouchers are also available to cover the testing fees for individuals to receive certification in the business products (e.g. Word, Access, Excel).
HIRE NOW is a federal program that has been launched to offer tax incentives to businesses who hire the long-term unemployed individuals (defined as those unemployed at least 60 days). Hiring must occur between February 3, 2010 and January 31, 2011.
Evaluation & Franchise – Don Unger reported the committee met on May 12, 2010. The committee reviewed and approved the CES renewal application as an associate site, which was presented by Gary McIllvain.
The review team for the One-Stop Center renewal application performed a site visit on May 4, 2010. The team has since reviewed this meeting and approved their application.
The Mexico Department of Social Services renewal application is due in August. The committee will review it in November.
Business Development – Mike Treadwell reported the committee met on April 14, 2010. There has been only one customized training program in the third quarter of program year ’09 with Huhtamaki (32 participants). A total of 20 people were trained via On-the-Job Training (OJT) contracts thus far this year. Huhtamaki (7) and Pathfinder Bank (4 participants) were the largest contracts.
New York State Dept. of Labor (NYSDOL) is not offering any grant programs to businesses at this time. They are currently offering a state-wide OJT program.
Fourteen individuals have been enrolled in OJT through the Wage Subsidy Program. Trade Act orientations were held on site at the One-Stop Center for employees laid off from Crucible Steel, CWR Manufacturing and Parker-Hannifan (located in Lyons, NY).
Youth Council – Kathy Fenlon reported that the committee met on April 7, 2010. The committee reviewed the recommendations from Department of Education and Training Request for Proposals (RFP) that was sent out earlier this year. The RFP solicits proposals from vendors to supply services for the ten elements of youth activities that can be funded under the Workforce Investment Act. Chris Weaver explained what the ten elements were.
Contracts that
result from this process will go into effect July 1, 2010, and go through June
30, 2012. Each recommendation was
reviewed and voted on separately with agency representatives abstaining where
conflicts existed. Multiple vendors for
a program are permitted. The Youth
Council committee recommends the following:
· Follow-up Services – Recommend DET
A motion was made by Dave Lloyd and seconded by Don Morgan to accept the recommendation. Dave Vickery, Bruce Phelps and Diane Cooper-Currier abstained. The motion was carried.
The committee reviewed the plans for this year’s summer program. Due to the lack of a state budget and reduced federal funding, it is anticipated that only 110-120 youth would be served this summer. Last year 475 youths were served.
Next year’s Youth Summit is scheduled to be held on October 21, 2010 in Sheldon Hall. The planning committee has met and is researching plenary speakers and workshop topics. There will be a keynote speaker again this year.
Skills and Training – Ed Mervine gave an overview of what the Skills and Training committee entails. He reported that the committee met on May 19, 2010.
The committee reviewed the training program for the first three quarters of program year ’09. Thus far, 429 adults and 249 dislocated workers were active, with 337 adults and 171 dislocated workers completing their training. On-the-job training activity has begun to pick up. There have been 53 OJT’s this year. There were no new customized training participants this quarter, 86 year-to-date. Individual training accounts (ITA’s) have been utilized to support vocational training for 305 people. Two hundred thirty people upgraded their computer skills through the One-Stop Center offerings.
With WIA dollars running low, DET has begun to offer financial aid classes to assist customers who need financial assistance. We have contracted with 25 different training providers this year.
The committee reviewed the program year ’10 allocation/training plan and training limits policy.
The committee received an update on the Literacy Coalition from Donna Donabella. The Employer Workforce Literacy Summit was held on April 26. It was not well attended by businesses. Literacy Powerline conducted training for providers on May 18. The RFA for the next round for Literacy Zone applications is expected to be open in the fall of 2010.
A motion was made by Don Morgan and seconded by Bruce Phelps to accept
the committee reports. The motion was
carried.
5. Director’s Report: Nancy explained that it has been a number of years since the Workforce Board had done a self-assessment. She feels it is now time to do another one. A survey will be sent to each board member in July. Confidential results will be tallied and the executive board will form an action plan to address issues from the surveys. The results will be presented to the full board at the September meeting.
Nancy announced her retirement. No definite date has been set, but she does expect that it will be late summer. Nick Della Penna will remain in his position as associate director and his duties with the Workforce Development Board will remain the same. Jeff Grimshaw will act as interim executive director.
6. Workforce Spotlight – Tom Simmonds, associate vice president for facilities, gave a presentation of SUNY Oswego’s East Campus Renovation Project.
7. Next meeting will be held Wednesday, September 15, 2010 – 8 a.m., 118A Rich Hall.