Board Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2007
Amsterdam Workforce Solutions Center
Meeting 4:30

Opening and Attendance 

            Terri Montanye, Vice-Chairperson opened the meeting for Chairman, Howard Samuels, who was going to be late.  The meeting was called to order at 4:35 p.m.  Board Members present were: Beth Case, Roger Cohn, Andrea Fettinger, Charles Finin, Elaine Mongin, Terri Montanye, Bob Palmatier, Kristine Pennick, Barbara Rivenburgh, Frank Ruggiero, Barbara Schaffer, Terry Suits, Dustin Swanger, John Tracy and Angelika Verderber.  

            Howard Samuels arrived late.  

            Board Members excused were:  Kerry Brunner, Gary Donadio, Bob Hoefs, Terry Hughes, Leo McAllister, Tom Pasquarelli, Ramon Rodriguez and Jody Zakrevsky. 

            Board Members absent were Paul Brady, Pat Baia and Art Graulich. 

   Also attending were:  Mary Hill, Program Director of the Private Industry Council, Gail Breen, Regina Papa, Becky Canuteson, Connie Glover and Sandy Teetz, staff to the Board.                       

Welcome  

Terri Montanye welcomed and thanked everyone for attending our October meeting.   There was not a quorum therefore the following Resolution will be presented at the November meeting.  

q     Resolution BY—2007-10  Approval of Minutes from the September 5, 2007 Board Meeting

I.                  Committee Updates 

§         Accountability   

A.  Fiscal Update 

Terry Suits said the Accountability Committee met on September 25^th and the minutes have been posted to our website.   Our Accountant, CPA Phil Beckett attended the meeting. Phil had recently completed a single audit and reported that everything is in order and we are up-to-date on every audit.  There were no questionable costs.  We went over the monthly financial report presented by Becky and we are on target with our spending.  The only thing we may have to look at in the future is the youth dollar spending.  If we continue spending at the current rate, we may be under spent at the end of the year. We are discussing with the youth additional services that we may be able to provide for youth.  

It appears that we will get up to a 16% decrease in funding for 2008. We will be looking at next year’s operating expenses very closely and may be recalling the ad hoc infrastructure committee later this year or in January. 

The Accountability Committee also discussed the Employed Worker and Customized Training Policies and is now waiting for other committees to review it before making a recommendation.   Terry stated that Dustin Swanger’s remarks from the September Board Meeting was the impetus for the Committee’s revisiting this.  We had chosen to make an increase a local requirement because, under the old measures, anyone we worked with needed to have an increase in wages after they were finished working with us.  As of July 1, 2007, that measure no longer exists - it has been changed to just an average salary of all the people we work with.  We could stop requiring an increase in wages for the customized training and allow short-term (even 1- day trainings for a large number of trainees) and really increase our training numbers (one of the new performance measures).   

Frank Ruggiero reminded us that we also need to discuss having off-premise storage for backup files.  Gail stated that she was looking into this as our auditor had requested it.  We also need a back-up plan to serve customers on a short-term basis if something should happen at one of our Centers that would result in their being inaccessible to customers. Examples might be water damage or fire.  

Because there was not a quorum, the following resolution will also be presented to the board at the November meeting.   

q    Resolution BY-2007-11 – Approval of the Audit Report for year ending June 30, 2007  

§         One-Stop Oversight Committee 

Roger Cohn reported that due to prior commitments of committee members, the One Stop Oversight Committee did not meet in September.   They will be meeting on October 31.                                               

§         Business Services Committee 

Bob Palmatier reported for the Business Services Committee.  He stated that the committee tried to meet twice during the month of September, but due to an apparently very busy month for the committee members and prior commitments, the committee was not able to meet in September.  The Business Services Committee will be October 18^th at 8 a.m.  at the Amsterdam Workforce Solutions Center. 

§         Emerging Worker Council  

Gina reported that Ramon Rodriguez was absent due to a death in the family.   Gina stated that the Emerging Worker Committee did meet in September.   Gina stated that the committee looked at the goals various members of the committee had identified.  The committee came up with a calendar of all the meetings that are scheduled for next year.  The calendar includes the date and place and also set an agenda for each of those meetings.    We are hoping to have a few guest speakers and we plan to do some presentations to the high schools.   We are hoping that the calendar will give others a better idea as to what topics the Emerging Worker Council will be focusing on throughout the year.   The minutes have been posted to our website along with the calendar.  

§         Board Orientation and Membership Committee 

Barbara Rivenburgh reported that the Board Orientation and Membership Committee did not meet in September.  The committee will meeting on October 17, 2007.  It hasn’t been determined where the meeting will be held. 

§         Executive Committee 

      The Executive Committee did not meet.

II.               Executive Director’s Report 

Becky:  Becky reiterated that we recently had the single audit.  If anyone would like to review a copy, please contact Becky.  Becky also stated that she has been monitoring the programs to ensure that we are using the funds from the Incentive Grant and the Supplemental Dislocated Worker funds in a timely manner, as training should be charged to these funds before charging to our regular formula funds. 

Connie:  Connie reported that last week she attended the 3rd Annual United States Business Leadership Network Conference in Orlando.  Their focus has been on getting businesses throughout the nation to do mentoring type projects and looking towards employing people with disabilities.   They had a huge career fair with colleges across the nation as well as a local high school from Orlando.  It was really phenomenal; there were huge companies i.e.:  Met Life, Nike.   It was very interesting, and they are working on opening more chapters throughout the nation.    

Gina:   Gina reported that New York State Department of Labor has come up with a new system of rewarding us for meeting our performance measures.   In the past, we had 17 measures and we had to meet each one of them in order to receive incentive dollars; which is some of what we are now trying to spend.  That made it difficult, because if you miss one out of 17, you get nothing.   Now, they have changed it, there are not quite as many performance measures, they are different than they use to be and they are looked at independently.   Therefore, you could do well in one measure and get incentive money for that even if you didn’t do so well in another measure.  There have been a lot of changes and each measure rewards a different amount of money based on how much money we got in the first place.  Gina stated she feels we are in good shape as far as being able to meet several of the measures.  There is one that is not looking very good for us, but we may try to re-negotiate the goal.  The incentive money is not as much as it use to be, but it always helps.    

Gina stated that this policy is an incentive and a sanction policy.    The sanction policy is that if we are to fail a measure two years in a row they can take out up to 3% for a funding stream, 1% within it for each activity.  For example, if it were Dislocated Worker – there are three measures in that and if we fail one of those measures within it – we lose 1% each.   We did have one measure that we failed last year and that was the Dislocated Worker average earnings.  When they sent out the draft of this new policy, they stated they were going to lower the limit, which was good for us because many of the jobs around here just don’t pay enough for us to meet this measure.  This was in the draft and when the final policy came out; suddenly that number has gone sky high again.   If that number stays high, we probably will miss that measure again this year.   However, we have had some preliminary discussions with the State about renegotiating that number, therefore we are hopeful.    

Sandy:  Sandy reported that she will be meeting with Kelly from Empire Web Pages Inc. tomorrow.  Hopefully the site will be up and running by tomorrow or by the beginning of next week.   Sandy said that we would be ordering fleece zip-up sweaters with our FMS logo, and showed the board the samples we have received.   If any of the board members were interested in getting a fleece sweater, to please email or call Sandy with their size.   

            Howard Samuels entered the meeting at this point, however, we still did not have a quorum. 

Mary Hill:  Mary Hill reported that the PIC staff has been very busy working with customers to utilize the additional training funds available through the supplemental dislocated worker dollars and the training funds in the incentive grant.  Staff is very busy with classroom training and OJT’s.   Mary also stated that she will be interviewing this week for two positions that are open at this time.  We have created a new WAT position (which was included in this year’s contract).  Our Resource Room Coordinator was going to take that position.  However, she as since accepted a position with DOL working out of the Utica office.  Therefore, we have two positions open at this time.  Mary stated that she has received some excellent resumes for the WAT position and is hoping to fill both positions by the end of the month.

Gail: Gail reported that we did receive the new technology grant that we put applied for.   Originally, NYSDOL gave us a very broad list of the types of technology that were eligible for purchase, therefore we put in for $118,000 worth of technology:  i.e.: 35 new computers; 30 wireless laptops, wireless internet connections, 2007 Microsoft software, a couple of printers, fax machines, and two wide screen TV’s as replacements in Amsterdam and Cobleskill where the TV’s in the Resource Rooms are now 7 years old.  NYSDOL then changed what we could request.  They decided that we could only request  computers, laptops and fax machines, therefore, reducing our request from $118,000 to $78,000.   We will still be able to get all the computers we requested, a fax machine and a printer.  We will have all new computers in all of our resource rooms and the youth resource rooms.   The computers in the youth resources room were purchased in 2002 -2003.  We’ve been working with Reid Smalley from FMCC to provide some computer training on-site.   This would not have been an option with our current older computers.   We haven’t received the official “notice of obligational authority” as yet, but we’ve been told we should have it by next week.   The funds will need to be spent by November 30.   Becky has our list put together, and we are ready to order.   We will also be able to order new Microsoft 2007 software through the Incentive Grant. 

Gail sent all board members an email on Tuesday regarding the Regional Economical Transformational Strategies Proposal which we applied for.   We applied for both Tier I and Tier II for a total of $550,000.  The proposal is a regional partnership of four WIB’s: Fulton, Montgomery, Schoharie; Saratoga, Warren, Washington; Capital Region; and Columbia-Greene.  FMS is the applicant because we are the only one with a 501c3 in the group.  They preferred to have the grant recipient be a WIB and a 501 c 3 as there are fewer levels to move funding through.  The money is not to build up our centers or our staff; however, we will hope to receive some dollars to supplement Becky’s salary as she will be doing some fiscal work.   We will have requested dollars to supplement WIB Director’s salaries and their travel.  Primarily, the $550,000 is going to develop a technology platform for  K-12, BOCES and Community Colleges so that we can move people into the fields of advanced manufacturing, bio-technology, energy, nano-technology and construction.  All of our partners from education, industry, economic development, and other organizations submitted a letter of interest and a Memorandum of Agreement stating the level of funds that they would leverage (in-kind dollars) as well as how much funding they were requesting from the grant.  In addition to assisting some organizations with funding, we put money in the grant to provide actual training for people. One of the innovative things in this grant is that we will be developing regional training policies to cover the training funds in this grant. Currently, each LWIA has different training policies.  It won’t matter which of the 11 counties you are from or which of the 11 counties the training provider is in or the company is in, we can work with them all.   

NYSDOL will handle all initial press releases regarding this grant.  However, at some point we will be putting out a news release. We will have to get it cleared by NYSDOL    Gail feels that it is very exciting and if it goes well this year, there is funding for two additional years.   If our first year is successful, we are talking about a total of up to 1.5 million dollars to help the region in high tech training initiatives.    

Terri Montanye asked if we were getting a little more money because we are lead with the 501c3.  Gail said we would a little more because Becky was going to do the fiscal end of it; but not much more.   

Gail said she attended the Tech Valley Benchmarking Conference in Albany.   Tech Valley originally started out with 11 counties, but has grown well beyond that - perhaps 18 counties.  It is basically a Chamber initiative that stretches from Plattsburgh to Columbia-Greene out to FMS and Oneida County.    They developed, through the Center for Economic Growth, which is a not-for-profit economic development organization in Albany, and Union College in Schenectady a benchmarking process.  Our Tech Valley was benchmarked against Madison, Wisconsin and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina because when they did a search of all the areas of the country, they were most similar to us in life style and demographics. Guests from both cities made presentations and talked about their experiences in bringing high technology firms to their areas. Their point was that if you’re going to benchmark, you should benchmark against those who had similar situations.   Gail felt it was very interesting and said she learned a lot. 

Gail also attended the Empire State Development Mohawk Valley Blue Print meeting in Utica last week. She, and a number of representatives of other local economic development and chamber organizations have been trying to make the point that we are really more closely aligned with the Capital Region rather than with Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison Counties. The strongest data is the commutation patterns that show very little travel west for employment. Most of the commuters that leave our counties daily, commute either within the three county FMS area, or commute east to the Capital Region. As a result, we have also been invited to attend the Capital District Blue Print meeting on October 4^th.

III.           Old Business

There was no old business.             

IV.             New Business

o        Member Sharing 

·         Dusty Swanger stated that FMCC has decided to expand their Workforce & Continuing Education Office and is taking applications for a newly created position, Workforce Development Specialist.   This position in the non-credit Office of Continuing Education and is a full-time, non-teaching faculty position.   

·         Elaine Mongin reported that there will be an Open House at BOCES 6 pm – 8 pm on Wednesday, October 17, 2007.   

·         Gail thanked Beth Stevens for agreeing to send one of St. Mary’s staff to speak at our last Business Connection.   Our next Business Connection is scheduled for the end of October and Kerry Brunner, Board Member, representing Wal-Mart will be the speaker.   

V.                 Adjournment 

  Terri Montanye made a motion to adjourn Howard Samuels seconded the motion.    The meeting adjourned at 5:20 pm.         

--------------End of October 2007 Board Meeting Minutes--------------

 Board Meeting Minutes
September 5, 2007
Amsterdam Workforce Solutions Center
Amsterdam NY 12010
Meeting 4:30

  I.            Call the Meeting to Order

            Howard Samuels, Chairman, welcomed everyone and called the Board Meeting to order at 4:40 p.m.  Board Members present were: Pat Baia, Paul Brady, Kerry Brunner, Roger Cohn, Gary Donadio, Andrea Fettinger, Charles Finin, Art Graulich, Terry Hughes, Elaine Mongin, Terri Montanye, Robert Palmatier, Tom Pasquarelli, Barbara Rivenburgh, Ramon Rodriguez, Frank Ruggiero, Howard Samuels, Terry Suits, Dustin Swanger, John Tracy, Angelika Verderber and Jody Zakrevsky.   

            Board Members excused were:  Beth Case, Robert Hoefs, Leo McAllister and Kristine Pennick. 

Board Members absent were Barbara Schaffer. 

Also present were Jennifer Swart, Youth Services Coordinator, Private Industry Council; Bob Gaessar, Program Representative from New York State Department of Labor; and Gail Breen, Becky Canuteson, Regina Papa, Connie Glover and Sandy Teetz, staff to the Board.   

·         Resolution BY—2007-06  Approval of Minutes from the July 11, 2007  Board Meeting 

Dusty Swanger made a motion to accept Resolution BY-2007-06 Approval of the minutes from the July 11, 2007 Board Meeting; Andrea Fettinger seconded the motion.  

Discussion: There was no discussion
Vote:  All were in favor
 Motion Carried 

Presentation

Jennifer Swart, Youth Services Coordinator from the Summer Youth Employment Program gave a wrap-up report on the Summer Youth Program.   Jennifer reported that youth in all three counties, Montgomery, Fulton and Schoharie, started on July 9 with a one week Employee Success Program (ESP).    ESP is a job readiness and soft skills training program that our youth are required to attend before they are allowed to start on their worksites.  The program teaches them skills such as the importance of time and attendance (including proper steps to take if they will be late or unable to go to work), how to deal with difficult customers and difficult employees, communication, and customer satisfaction.  A total of 165 youth from Fulton, Montgomery and Schoharie Counties were served through this TANF program.   

Sixty-two youth were employed in Montgomery County. Of these, 8 youth were offered jobs after the summer was over.Six not-for-profit and 14 for-profit organizations provided worksites in Montgomery County.  

Worksites that hired youth after the summer program ended were Goodwill, Fonda DPW, Goodfellas, Amsterdam Recorder, River Ridge Adult Home, and Handy Ups and Downs.  Other worksites included Amsterdam Police Department, Canajoharie High School, Centro Civico, City Of Amsterdam DPW, RCIL and Happy Daze.  

Forty-eight youth were employed in Fulton County.  Twelve youth worked at not-for-profit organizations and 6 worked at for-profit organizations in Fulton County.   

Worksites included: Handy ups and Downs, Johnstown Animal Clinic, All Breeds Grooming, Fremont Church, Fashion Bug, Gloversville High School, and Nathan Littauer Extended Care. 

Fifty-five youth were employed in Schoharie County. One youth was hired permanently by Minekill State Park.  Because there was such a big response by youth to the summer program, instead of turning kids away, 14-15 year olds worked 20 hours a week and those age 16 and over worked 25 hours a week.  There were twelve not-for-profit organizations and 10 for-profit organizations that participated in Schoharie County.   

Worksites included:  Action for Personal Choice, Bassett Hospital, Jefferson High School, Red Maple Rescue Farm and Lark Street Child Care. 

The Final Ceremony was held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on August 15 at Fulton-Montgomery Community College. The youth could choose from a variety of workshops in the morning.  Some of the workshops were:  Montgomery County Sheriffs Department DWI Awareness Program, the Heart Saver Program by Eastern Medical Support (all youth that participated became certified in CPR for two years) personal safety, web page design, painting, and budgeting skills.  Staff from FMCC was also on hand to speak to youth on requirements for college entrance.   A local artist painted names on T-shirts, and each one of the youth left with a T-shirt with their name painted on it.   After a great lunch of pizza and salad, the “518 Positive Reinforcement” group from Troy performed for the youth. “518” is made up of a group of youth that teach positive reinforcement through dance, music, and singing.  Songs performed were about staying in school, bullying, having respect for one another, and being kind to each other.  The youth in “518” range from age 13 and up.   

The program officially ended on August 17: however, some of the youth’s employment was extended to August 31 to take advantage of all funding available.  Overall, it was a very successful summer program.  All Board Members thanked Jennifer and gave her a round of applause. 

     II.          Committee Updates 

          Accountability  

Terry Suits reported that the minutes from the August meeting have been posted to our website.  The Committee has reviewed the budget, and Becky reported that we are in complete compliance.  Two of the highlights from the Accountability Meeting are the Technology Grant and the Regional Economic Transformation Grant that FMS is applying for.  Gail will talk more about these later in the meeting.   

·          Resolution BY-2007-07 – Definition of Self-Sufficiency for WIA Adult and Dislocated Workers -
           Revision

Terry Suits made a motion to accept Resolution BY-2007-07 of Self-Sufficiency for WIA Adult and Dislocated Workers – Revision; Ramon Rodriguez seconded the motion

Discussion: There was no discussion
Vote:  All were in favor
Motion Carried
  

·          Resolution BY-2007-08 – Employed Worker Training - Revision 

                      Terry Suits made a motion to accept Resolution BY-2007-08 Employed Worker Training –
                       Revision   Roger Cohn seconded the motion.

Discussion: Gina stated that she did some research by looking back at previous contracts, as well as speaking with a couple members of the Business Services Team.  Gina stated that from what she gathered, raising the proposed post-training wage increase beyond $1.00 an hour would be a lot.  Some of the employers are reluctant to give the $1.00 but when they see that we require $1.00 they will do that.  Rarely will they give a raise that is more than $1.00.  Gina also said that the Business Services Representatives were a little bit concerned about the 5% increase because throwing in percentages can be a bit confusing when explaining the program.   When Gina looked at previous contracts, she found that the majority of them gave a $1.00 an hour increase.   She stated that we did have 10 or so that did pay over $1.00 an hour.  She reviewed what the individual was doing prior to the raise and what they would be doing with the upgraded position.  It appeared that people who were working at entry level positions and were being upgraded to a supervisory or lead position tended to receive about a $1.00 an hour raise.  It wasn’t until someone jumped into a management position that the employee was paid over $1.00 an hour raise.  Percentage wise, we did not see very many of those types of situations compared to the other.  Gina stated that overall; the average came out to be between $1.20 to $1.31 an hour raise for all the contacts we’ve written in the past.   Gina felt that the $1.00 is sufficient. By raising the self-sufficiency standard to $25.00 an hour we open it up to a lot more businesses, but Gina felt that asking businesses to give more than $1.00 an hour raise might actually rule out some potential contracts.  

Howard stated that if you are paying someone $20.00 an hour and you are training them for a promotion, a $1.00 raise is not enough.  He felt that was equal to a cost of living raise, if anything.   

Dusty Swanger asked if he understood the resolution to be as follows:  if someone is going through a training program, businesses will not be eligible for our assistance unless they provide those employees with a raise.  Howard said that the employers do the training themselves, and we are subsidizing training for people to move ahead.   Dusty then gave a scenario that if he were going to hire five people for a struggling business and pay them $10.00 an hour and ask for assistance – that after the training he has to pay these employees $1.00 an hour raise? Howard stated that this is not about new employees, this program is for people who have already been working for the employer for at least six months and the employer would like to provide training to increase their skills.  We then can help with wage assistance while the business is training them.  Therefore, if we are going to pay for the training, we want this person to be moving up to make more money.  Howard stated that this is the concept of this.  Chuck Finin stated that, as an employer, he has personal experience with the program. He finds it is a great benefit for the employer because it does help off-set costs when you have an employee with potential.   He stated that the additional raise of $1.00 per hour or 5% is worth what you get at the end of the program.  Ramon agreed with both Chuck and Howard.  Gail said that we say an increase of $1.00 per hour or 5% over the previous wage, which ever is higher, because it doesn’t become meaningful as 5% until you get the $20.00 an hour therefore that is why we keep the $1.00 per hour.   Ramon asked if Gail would have the option to make an exception.  Gail stated, yes she could always authorize an exception.   

Angelika stated that from her point of view, if she is moving someone ahead, she better be paying them an increase of at least $1.00 an hour.  She stated that we are truly talking about promotion which would be well-worth the money.   Terri Montanye stated that most supervisory positions promotions are a minimum of $2.00 per hour.  Gail stated that raising the $18.00 to $25.00 so that employers who have someone who makes more than $18.00 per hour can still be served by us.  One of the reasons that we may not have more exceptions to sign may be that once employers learn what the policies are they may feel that are not qualified and it may not occur to them that could be exceptions.  One (the $1/hr increase) is a floor and one (an increased self-sufficiency rate to $25) is a ceiling. The key is how you utilize both those of these to make it fair to the employer as well as the employee.   

Jody said we’ve talked about this before and that the employer needs to offer some type of benefit and we need to factor in exactly what type of benefits.  Gail stated that the committee was reluctant to put in a specific example of benefits because they didn’t want to exclude anything.   We are looking for benefits such as sick time, vacation time and health insurance.   Chuck Finin stated that when his company applied they needed to outline what the fringe benefits were.  Jody stated that you need to do that with Empire State Development.   Gail asked if Empire State Development has a list of acceptable fringe benefits.  Jody said he could look into it.  Barbara Rivenburgh felt that it really wasn’t the board’s position to tell an employer what to do regarding fringe benefits that they offer.   

Dusty Swanger asked if any employer ever filled out the paper work for this program but didn’t really offer acceptable fringe benefits.   Gail and Gina felt that there was always some type of acceptable benefit offered.   

Howard asked what committees should look further into this.  Gail stated it would be Business Services and Accountability Committees.  Howard felt we should bring this to a vote tonight, and look further into it at a later date. 

It was agreed that we should vote on the resolution at this time.  
Vote:  All were in favor
Motion Carried
 

 ·         Resolution BY-2007-09 – Customized Training for Employed Workers, Revision

      Frank Ruggiero made a motion to accept Resolution BY-2007-09 – Customized Training for Employed  

      Workers – Revision; Chuck Finin seconded the motion

Discussion:  Dusty Swanger gave a scenario that he is employer and a new technology comes into his industry. If he then asked for customized training and he receives it and put 20 people through this new technology training – now he has to give every one of them a raise?   Howard stated, yes, if you want us to pay for the customized training.  Dusty stated he is very opposed to this.  He said that he has had a lot of experience with running training programs for employers and he does not see any economic benefit to requiring a raise. Terry Hughes clarified that, if he reads this correctly, an employee that was making only $7.50 an hour at the start of the training, could still engage in this because it says the starting wage after the training must be at least $10.00/hr.  Gail and Howard said this was correct.  

One Board member left at this point

Vote:    -  Yes – 20
               Opposed – 1
Motion Carried   

      One Stop Oversight  Committee 

      Roger Cohn reported that the committee met in August and that the minutes have been posted to our website.  Roger stated that Gina brought the committee up-to-date on the year-end numbers for front door traffic, numbers of customers served (including OJT and classroom training), youth enrolled, and the number of businesses served. Roger asked Gina if this chart appears on the website.  Gina stated that at this moment it is not on the website but once our website is up-dated it will be on our site.   

      Business Services Committee

Bob Hoefs was out of town and not able to attend the meeting. Bob Palmatier reported that the committee did not meet in August but will be meeting on September 20, 2007.   Gail stated that we have gotten back to hosting Business Connection Workshops.   Businesses are invited to participate in workshops that give tips to job seekers on what Human Resource people look for in potential employees and how they should be presenting themselves in interviews.  When we promote the Business Connection, we state that applications for employment are not taken by the company at that time.  Over the summer there were two Business Connections Workshops. Target was the guest employer at one and St. Mary’s Hospital of Amsterdam was the guest employer at the second.   The turn out has been great and everyone felt it was a very helpful experience. Wal-Mart Distribution will be the guest employer for the first fall Business Connection.        

     Emerging Worker Council  

Ramon stated that the minutes have been posted to the FMS website and that the next meeting will be September 20^th.  The Emerging Worker Council meets on the third Thursday of every month.    Ramon said that they had planned on setting some goals at the last meeting, however, there wasn’t enough information brought to the meeting.  Ramon stated that the Emerging Worker Council could use a little more participation from the Board.  He asked that if anyone is interested to please attend and join the committee.   

     Board Orientation and Membership Committee 

Barbara Rivenburgh reported that the minutes from the last meeting have been posted on the website.  Barbara presented the newest Board brochure that the staff developed to encourage new members.  There was an error on the brochure which inadvertently left off two board members.  The brochure will be corrected and given back to the Board Orientation/Membership committee for distribution.  The next meeting will be September 26 at the Amsterdam Workforce Solutions Center at 3:30.     Board members from Fulton and Montgomery County particularly are invited to attend the meeting to brain storm and identify some names of possible prospective Board members.     Barbara stated that she has four names at this time for possible new board members.   Barbara also said that our next Board meeting which will be October 3rd, will be  a dinner meeting with the place yet to be determined.   

     Executive Committee  

           The executive committee did not meet. 

   III.      Executive Director’s Report 

Connie:  Connie reported that she has been working for several months on developing the Transition Team in Schoharie County and was pleased to announce the first meeting is scheduled for this month.   Connie said they are looking at trying to model this after one that is already established in Hamilton, Fulton & Montgomery Counties.  They will be looking at all the school districts in the county.  Right now they just have the service agencies on board, but the TEAM is planning on developing an intensive list of school districts throughout the county.  The Transition Team meets monthly and talks about transition issues.  Primarily the focus is students with disabilities, but their focus has also been working with guidance counselors which hit the entire population.   The biggest impact recently was a transitional grant that was awarded to Fulton County.   They are looking at ways to make the transition into the workplace smoother and how to take advantage of some of the programs and identify some of the service gaps.   

Becky:  Becky reported that the auditors were here to do the annual audit.  A draft report has been submitted, and Gail and Becky are reviewing it.  It will then be sent to the Accountability Committee. Everything went well with no findings in the report this year.  Becky also has been working on getting prices for some new technology for the technology grant. 

Gina:  Gina said that she has had a good summer and worked with the summer youth program.   Gina had the opportunity to visit some of the youth program worksites.   She visited the Rescue Farm, Fashion Bug, Cobleskill Regional Hospital and the Johnstown Animal Hospital.  Gina felt that this year the hosts she spoke to really seemed to understand their role and that they were mentoring these kids through a great experience.   Gina stated that she has been at her computer running numbers for end of the year reports.  Hopefully, within the next month or so, we will have it complied into an annual report to share with the board and others who are invested in what we do. 

Sandy:  Sandy is hoping to get our new website up and running.   We have to meet with Kelly as soon as possible regarding some specific issues. 

Gail:  Gail reported that the state has made two different grants available for Regional Economic Transformation Strategies.  The state has requested that local LWIAs work together as a region to attract, retain and train talent.  There is a concern that there is a brain drain out of the area.  They are concerned that they want high tech to move in, but if there is no workforce for the high tech industries, it doesn’t really make any sense for those industries to locate here.   They also say that while there are 33 workforce investment areas, there are obviously not 33 different economies. This is why they are suggesting that we look at regional efforts with other LWIAs that have some similarities.    We looked at our usual partners – Capital Region, Saratoga Washington Warren, Columbia Greene and ourselves, because many of our residents commute throughout the region to go to work as opposed to working just in the county of their residence. Additionally, our BOCES’ and community colleges are also working together on collaborative efforts.   We applied for both Tier I and Tier II grants. Tier I is a planning grant for $50,000. Tier II is an implementation grant and requires a highly developed partnership. Although the 4 WIB Directors are very confident about the Tier I grant, we may not yet have achieved the level of partnership needed to quality for the Tier II grant. The Tier I planning grant would allow us to continue to develop the partnerships needed for Tier II. 

Gail said the federal government is talking about a rescission again. The rescission bill has only passed the House, and the Senate does not appear to be in favor of it. However, there are simply not enough dollars available to fund all domestic programs as well as our foreign obligations. This will have to be resolved in committee before it goes to the executive branch. If the rescissions becomes law, all WIBs will be subject to having funded reduced during the year. The rescission is based on previous years’ funds, but if an area has spent all those funds, the money can be taken out of the current year’s funding. This did happen to us a few years ago, and it can happen again. On the other hand, next year we are definitely getting a 16% decrease in our funding.  Becky will be running numbers after we know more about a possible rescission. At that point we would ask for volunteers to come together on an ad hoc infrastructure committee like we had before to discuss options.    

Gail said the state has WIA dollars which must be spent by October 31, 2007 or they will be recaptured by the federal government.   They have put out two grant opportunities – one for marketing and one for technology.   Gail, Becky and Denise Stafford have been working on the technology grant and have submitted a request for $118,000 worth of new technology.   With the incentive grant, we have purchased 30 new computers.  With this technology grant, we could, if we get it, replace all the computers that were not replaced previously.  We put in for new laptops and a new big screen TV for the customers in the Resource Room.    There is a marketing concern called “Imagine That” who will be contracting with the state to provide marketing materials for us.     We indicated that we are interested in a host of things, from TV ads to newspaper ads to Billboards and radio ads.  We have an ad going into a Spanish newspaper next month. 

   IV.      Old Business
There was no old business. 

      V.      New Business
There was no new business.  

o        Member Sharing
Everyone wished Terri Montanye a Happy Birthday.  

VI. Adjournment 

 Frank Ruggiero made a motion to adjourn, John Tracy seconded the motion - All were in favor, the meeting was adjourned at 5:50 PM.   The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 at a place to be determined.

 --------- End of September 2007  Board Meeting Minutes -----------------

Annual Board Meeting Minutes
July 11, 2007
Raindancer Restaurant
Amsterdam NY 12010
Meeting 4:30 - Dinner 6:00

  I.            Call the Meeting to Order

            Howard Samuels, Chairman, welcomed everyone and called the Board Meeting to order at 4:40 p.m.  Board Members present were Pat Baia, Beth Case, Gary Donadio, Andrea Fettinger, Chuck Finin, Art Graulich, Bob Hoefs, Terry Hughes, Leo McAllister, Elaine Mongin, Terri Montanye, Bob Palmatier, Kristine Pennick, Tom Pasquarelli, Barbara Rivenburgh, Ramon Rodriguez, Frank Ruggiero, Howard Samuels, Terry Suits and Jody Zakrevsky.  

            Board Members excused were:  Paul Brady, Roger Cohn, Barbara Schafffer, Dustin Swanger, John Tracy and Angelika Verderber 

            Board Members absent were: Kerry Brunner 

Also present were Sean Jordan, guest from Schoharie County Planning and Development; Mary Hill, Program Director for the Private Industry Council and Gail Breen, Becky Canuteson, Regina Papa and Sandy Teetz, staff to the Board.  Connie Glover was excused. 

II.            Report of Officers:
 

III.            Report of Committees:  

o        Accountability 

Terry Suits reported that the minutes from the June Accountability meeting have been posted to our website.   Terry then brought to the floor the resolutions that the Accountability Committee have recommended.  Terry stated the Accountability Committee met several times regarding the budget and other financial matters and that all Board Members had received e-mail invitations to those meetings.   

·         Resolution BY-2007-01 Approval of FMS WDB Budget for BY 07-08 

Terry Suits made a motion to accept Resolution BY-2007-01 Approval of FMS WDB Budget; Bob Hoefs seconded the motion.

Discussion: There was no discussion
Vote:  All were in favor
Motion Carried 

·           Resolution BY-2007-02 Individual Training Account Policy

              Terry Suits made a motion to accept Resolution BY-2007-02 Individual Training Account Policy; Andrea Fettinger seconded the motion.

Discussion:  Terry stated that it is the recommendation of the Accountability Committee to increase the amount for individual training from $3,000 to $5,000.  Terry said that we were having a hard time finding customers who were eligible and interested in our classroom training programs, because the $3,000 did not cover the necessary training costs.   The committee reviewed it and discussed this with staff and it was decided that we should raise the training funds to $5,000.  Leo asked if we were decreasing the number of people being trained with the increase in funds.   Terry said “no”, that in fact we have almost doubled the number of slots for people for training for this program year.  He also stated that this is in part because we have allocated some of our incentive funds for training.  Gail stated that we have $93,000 extra from incentive funds and because we reached the benchmark for our Dislocated Worker dollars, we are getting $101,000 in additional Dislocated Worker money.  Because of that, we have added a significant amount of money to the budget for training.  Gail said that our training policy funds were $5,000 at one time, but when our funding decreased we reduced it to $3,000.  We were approving a lot of waivers for additional money for training, because people were just not able to attend the programs otherwise.  Therefore, it made sense to raise the funding back to $5,000. 

Vote:  All were in favor
Motion Carried 

·         Resolution BY-2007-03 Approval of the RFP for Cleaning Services for the Gloversville Center

           Terry Suits made a motion to accept Resolution BY-2007-03 Approval of the RFP for Cleaning Services for the Gloversville Center;   Chuck Finin seconded the motion.

Discussion:  Terry reported that we put out an RFP for cleaning services for the Gloversville Center, and we received two proposals.   We are recommending that we accept the proposal from Employment Resources for $210.00 per week.   Employment Resources has been cleaning the Gloversville Center. We are very pleased with quality of their work and recommend that they continue.  Howard asked if for some reason we needed to get out of the contract if that would be possible.  Gail stated that the contract we signed has a clause that stated we have a certain number of days to end the contract for extenuating circumstances. This applies to both parties.

Vote:  All were in favor  
  Motion Carried

 Due to the fact that a certain number of Board Members had other commitments, the agenda was rearranged to have the resolutions that needed to be voted on moved to the beginning of the meeting. 

    IV.      Election of Officers and Executive Committee 

o        Resolution BY 2007-04 Election of Board Officers and Executive Committee 

The Nominating Committee of Barbara Rivenburgh, Terri Montanye and Angelika Verderber recommended the slate of officers as posted below. Each officer would be voted on separately. Howard stated there could be nominations from the floor.

      Officers of the Board: 

·         Howard Samuels, Chairman

·         Terri Montanye, Vice Chairman

·         Barbara Rivenburgh, Secretary

The Executive Committee Members at Large: 

·         Angelika Verderber, Schoharie County

·         Terry Suits, Montgomery County

·         Andrea Fettinger, Fulton County

·         Roger Cohn, Past Chairman

              On behalf of the nominating committee, Terry Suits made the motion to accept Howard Samuels as  
              Chairman of the Board; Bob Hoefs seconded the motion.

               Discussion: There was no discussion.  There were no nominations from the floor.

               Vote:    Yes – 19
                           Abstained - 1
              Motion Carried

     On behalf of the nominating committee, Howard Samuels made the motion to accept Terri Montanye as Vice Chairman of the Board; Barbara Rivenburgh seconded the motion.

               Discussion: There was no discussion.  There were no nominations from the floor.

               Vote:    Yes – 19
                           Abstained – 1
                Motion Carried

      On behalf of the nominating committee, Terri Montanye made the motion to accept Barbara Rivenburgh as Secretary of the Board; Terry Suits seconded the motion.

               Discussion: There was no discussion.  There were no nominations from the floor.

               Vote:    Yes – 19
                           Abstained - 1
              Motion Carried

     On behalf of the nominating committee, Frank Ruggiero made the motion to accept the Executive Committee Members at Large; Leo McAllister seconded the motion.  There were no nominations from the floor.  

             Executive Committee Members at Large:

·         Angelika Verderber, Schoharie County

·         Terry Suits, Montgomery County

·         Andrea Fettinger, Fulton County

·         Roger Cohn, Past Chairman

               Discussion: There was no discussion. 
               Vote:    All were in favor
               Motion Carried  

o        Resolution BY 2007-05  Approval of Minutes of April 4, 2007 Board Meeting  

Leo McAllister made a motion to accept Resolution BY-2007-03 Approval of the April 4, 2007 Board Meeting Minutes; Frank Ruggiero seconded the motion.

             Discussion: There was no discussion. 
             Vote:    All were in favor
              Motion Carried  

●   Report of other Committees  

o        Business Services Committee

Bob Hoefs reported that the Business Services Committee June meeting minutes have been posted to our website.   Bob reported that we held a Business Connection Workshop in June, which was very successful.   Kristen Pasquarelli, from Target, presented an overview of what employers are looking for in employees to 15 job seekers.   We are planning other Business Connection Workshops in the future. 

Gail asked everyone to check out the Chamber newsletter this month (all three county Chamber newsletters).   She said that there will be a front page article soliciting applications for membership to our Board. There is also an “ad” for businesses who would like to be a part of our Business Connection. The Business Connection is a limited offer, as we can only do one company each month. Right now they are in Amsterdam but we hope to expand to include Gloversville and Cobleskill as well.   If anyone is interested in presenting they can contact Christie Crawford or Nancy Reccio.  Bob Hoefs said that we have an excellent working relationship with JSEC from all three counties and that has helped us to bring ideas like the Business Connection to the table.   

o        Emerging Worker Council

Ramon Rodriguez reported that the Emerging Worker Council met in June. The minutes have been posted to our website.   Ramon said that the Emerging Worker Council will not meeting in July. The next meeting will be August 16, 2007 at the Amsterdam Center at 3:00 pm.      We will be discussing the different programs that the various agencies within the council have to offer and bringing in ideas and setting goals for the upcoming year. 

 o        Executive Committee

The Executive Committee did not meet.

 o        One Stop Oversight Committee

Roger was absent from the meeting.  Gail reported that the One Stop Oversight Committee did meet and the minutes were posted to our website.  Gail said that the committee discussed the progress of functional alignment and also looked at the number of people we have been serving throughout the three centers this year. 

                 o        Board Orientation and Membership Committee

Barbara Rivenburgh reported that she and her committee met in June.  Barbara said that she felt we had a very successful Board Retreat in June.   Barbara stated that we are continuing to recruit, and the article in the Chamber letters should prove to be helpful. 

      V.       Report of Executive Director 

Becky:   Becky said that she spent much time working on the budget this past month.   Becky said one of the highlights for the year was the incentive money we received as a result of exceeding all of our performance measures.  This enabled us to purchase new computers for all three Resource Rooms.  Howard stated that Becky was able to collect desk rent from additional partners and lower the phone bill by switching to a different long distance carrier.  

Sandy:  Sandy stated that she has been working very closely with Empire Webpage Inc., who has been revamping our website.  We are hoping that the new site will be up and running within the month.   It has a new look and will be extremely user friendly.   As stated above, our incentive money has given us opportunity to purchase some needed items, one of which were greatly needed new tables and chairs for our conference room.  Sandy said she was in the process of ordering new pens for all three centers.   Gail asked that if anyone who didn’t get a polo shirt, but wants one, to please contact Sandy.   

Gina: Gina gave an end of the program year report.   She stated that across our three centers this past year we had 21,354 visits to the centers, with 6,440 individual customers being served. Of the customers served, 109 people were enrolled in training.  Gina stated that it has been a busy year, a lot of traffic and a lot of people served.   Gina will have more data on last year over the next few weeks.   

Gail:  Gail reported that Connie Glover, our DPN was on vacation.  Gail reported that we have received DPN funding again for next year. It is a federal initiative with some supplement from the state.  For those of you who do not know what Connie does, she, as the Disability Program Navigator, does not provide direct services to our job seekers.   We do have some great agencies, like RCIL and VESID and a number of other agencies who provide those services.  Connie brings those organizations together; she acts a resource for them.   Connie also goes out and speaks to businesses about some of the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. She is being invited to the Business Services Consortium and perhaps the Business Services Committee to talk about labor laws.   A lot of people do not understand what questions are legal or illegal to ask on job applications.    

Gail said that as mentioned earlier we will be able to enroll more people in training this year because we have the additional incentive and supplemental dollars.   

Gail brought the Board up to date on our Functional Alignment and Integrated Services. She said that a year ago there was a whole new initiative across the state to bring the NYS DOL, Division of Employment Services together with the WIA folks to have teams of people serving customers based on their job function rather than their funding stream.  In the past, a customer might come into a center and one staff person would perform one service and if that customer needed additional services, he or she would be referred to another staff person.  With functional alignment and our functional teams, this has been worked out where our teams can provide pretty much all the services a customer needs.  We had our annual monitoring visit from NYS Department of Labor a month ago, and they were thrilled with our functional alignment and integrated services.   Bob Hoefs stated that he attends many statewide meetings; and at every one he attends, there is some mention of how great Fulton, Montgomery & Schoharie Workforce Solutions Centers are and what great services we provide.   He is always asked how we do it, and Bob stated that what it boils down to is the staff that is willing to take the extra effort to provide the services that our customers need.    

Howard recognized Mary Hill, Program Director of the Private Industry Council, and said that her staff have been doing an excellent job.  He asked Mary if she wanted to say a few words.   Mary stated that it has been a very long year, but a very rewarding year.   She said that functional alignment took a lot of effort and a lot changes for the staff but they pulled together and come through it with flying colors.   Mary also said that the Summer Youth Program is underway and that there were a total of approximately 140 youth involved in the program this year from the three counties.  This week the youth are attending their ESP (Employee Success Program) Training.  They will be going to their worksites starting Monday.   Mary said that we look forward to another great year.   Howard stated that the presentations that the PIC staff has provided for the board in the past have been very informative and asked Mary to convey to her staff how pleased the board is with their performances.    The entire board gave Mary a round of applause.   

   VI.      Transaction of other business 

Howard asked Jody Zakrevsky to introduce Sean Jordan and invited Sean to tell us a little about what he does.  Sean said that he has been with Schoharie County Economic Development for one month.   He stated that in that short time he is amazed how much the County does.  Sean said that he has mainly been working on what is called the Foreign Trade Zone.   Sean said that on the second day of his job they were approached by a representative of the Regional Foreign Trade Zone about possibly getting Schoharie County and the surrounding counties designated, in the future, as a Foreign Trade Zone.  At that point, not many people knew much about Foreign Trade Zones, and for the past month it has been Sean’s job to research everything he can about Foreign Trade Zones.   It is still to be determined whether Schoharie is going to join. 

Gail asked what exactly a Foreign Trade Zone is.  Sean said that it is a designated area (zone), and if a business is located in that zone and imports a product from another country from which it would normally have to pay a duty tariff on that product, it does not have to pay that duty tariff until it leaves the property and “enters” the United States.  Since the business in the Foreign Trade Zone, it is technically not in the United States so you pay on the way out.    In addition, if they were to export it back to where they got it – it never “enters” the United States and they are not required to pay any duty tariff.  It is totally tariff free.  Gail asked if there were other zones like that in New York State now, and Sean said that Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga and Rennsaelear County are currently involved.   Sean said that from what he understands, almost every county in the surrounding area has been approached by Capital District Trade Strategies, which is the company that was subcontracted by Capital District Regional Planning Commission to orchestrate the major manipulation.  The major manipulation, which is what they are calling it, is going to try to get our county and the surrounding counties involved in redistribution of the actual zones where this might take place.  They are trying to pick out certain companies within the counties that might benefit the most from this and they will be meeting in the next few weeks.  

Frank Ruggiero asked if this encourages U.S. manufacturers or does this encourage more imports?  Sean stated that it does encourage manufacturers because you import raw materials duty free and the actual products are being manufactured here and then they are being exported. It is different from importing finished products that have already been manufactured; you are importing raw materials that will be used in manufacturing a product in the United States.   

Jody Zakrevsky reported on the huge Sharon Springs project.   He stated that they are working with another investment group that is considering joining the original investment group.  This investment group is one of the largest touring companies in the world.   They met together last month.    

Ramon Rodriguez stated that that their annual dinner will be held on July 26, 2007.  This year’s award recipients are FMCC and Paul Tonko.  If anyone would like to attend, you can call RCIL.   

    Chuck Finin made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Tom Pasquarelli seconded the motion.  The meeting was adjourned at 5:22 pm.   

There will be no meeting in August.  The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 5, 2007.

---------------- End of July 2007 Board Minutes-----------------

Board Meeting Minutes
May 2, 2007
HFM BOCES, Johnstown, NY
8:00 AM

Opening and Attendance

           Howard Samuels, Chairman, called the Board Meeting to order at 8:08 a.m.   Board Members present were Roger Cohn, Andrea Fettinger, Robert Hoefs, Terry Hughes, Elaine Mongin, Robert Palmatier, Kristine Pennick, Ramon Rodriguez, Frank Ruggiero, Howard Samuels, Terry Suits, John Tracy, Angelika Verderber and Jody Zakrevsky.

             Board Members excused were Paul Brady, Beth Case, Gary Donadio, Charles Finin, Art Graulich, Leo McAllister, Terri Montanye, Tom Pasquarelli, Barbara Rivenburgh, Barbara Schaffer, and Dustin Swanger. 

            Board Members absent were Pat Baia and Kerry Brunner.   

   Also present was Bob Gaessar, Program Representative from New York State Department of Labor; Mary Hill, Program Director for the Private Industry Council and Gail Breen, Becky Canuteson, Connie Glover and Sandy Teetz, staff to the Board.  Regina Papa was absent.

Welcome  

Howard welcomed and thanked everyone for attending our May meeting.  Howard also thanked Elaine Mongin for hosting our meeting and giving us an opportunity to see the new HFM BOCES.  We will be touring the site directly after the business portion of our meeting.    

      Resolution BY-2006-31 Approval of Minutes from the April 4, 2007 Board Meeting.  Because there was not a quorum, this Resolution will be presented to the Board at the next scheduled Board Meeting.                 

I.                    Committee Updates 

          Accountability 

         Terry Suits stated that the Accountability Committee met on April 24^th and the minutes have been posted to our website.  Terry reported that the Accountability Committee has reviewed a preliminary Budget for PY’07.  We have already had a couple budget meetings as well as the Accountability Committee Meeting.  Everyone is invited to attend our meetings so that everyone is up-to-date on our budget.  Gail sent out an email yesterday with a link to our website where two budget pages were attached.  Terry felt it would be a good idea for everyone to take a look at the budget pages.  If anyone has any questions or comments, please speak to Gail about them. She will bring these back to the Accountability Committee. We will have two more Accountability Committee meetings before we vote on the budget at our Annual meeting in July. Terry again stressed that it would be great if more Board Members could attend these meetings and offer their feedback.  We have looked over the line item figures for the WIB and proposed funding for the PIC/WIA subcontract, and everything looks good.    

       Business Services Committee 

      Bob Hoefs reported that the Business Services Committee met on April 19^th and the minutes are posted to our website.  One of the major outcomes of the meeting is that we are going to reintroduce our Business Connections Workshops.  Employers will be invited to come in and speak to our job-seekers and tell them what they are looking for in job applicants/employees.  Gail stated that Kristin Pasquarelli, a former PIC Staff, who now works in Human Resources for Target has volunteered to be the first employer/business to come into a Business Connections.  Kristin stated that soft skills seem to be the biggest problem.  Kristin knows we have the Employee Success Program, and she would like promote the workshops to jobseekers.  Hopefully, Kristin will be available in early April.  If this combination of Business Connections and ESP works, we would like to extend it to Cobleskill and Gloversville.                            

     One Stop Oversight Committee                       

 Roger Cohn reported that the minutes from the April meeting have been posted to our website.   Roger stated that the One-Stop Committee talked a little about a proposed Schoharie County job fair that will be held in September.  Roger said that Gina gave the committee a report on the enrollment activities.  They also reviewed the proposed budget.   

There was also a lot of conversation about the closing of Eden Park Nursing Home.   We have received official notification that Eden Park in Cobleskill will be closing its doors before the end of July, laying off 180 employees.  The layoffs are expected to happen in phases.  Workforce Solutions Center staff will be conducting several Rapid Response sessions over 2 days at Eden Park to inform employees of the available services at the center and explain Unemployment Insurance benefits.  Bob Hoefs said that staff will be onsite at the Eden Park facility conducting Rapid Response Sessions which will be at different time slots during the day and evening in order to assist all shifts.  Bob Hoefs gave an explanation on what a rapid is response is.  He stated that it usually takes approximately a little over an hour.   Bob said that we provide information about our One-Stop and what services we can provide.   We explain how we can assist them in writing a resume and job searching at our One-Stop.  We give an overview on how to access all job search websites on the internet.   We provide information about training opportunities for affected workers who wish to modify their career path.   We present an overview concerning Re-employment assistance, ensure that job seeker registrations are entered into the One-Stop Operating System (OSOS), receive employment transition and assistance surveys, and provide information on how to file for Unemployment Insurance.  These sessions are conducted with the employer’s permission and are scheduled with the consideration of work shift compatibility.   

 With the assistance of the employer, they also developed an on-site recruitment job fair for those who are being laid off. This job fair will be held May 17 as things seem to be moving more quickly than originally expected.  

Gail stated we do have Dislocated Worker money available to assist dislocated workers who need training, and we may be eligible to receive more supplemental funding for next year for Dislocated Workers.   

     Emerging Worker Council  

Ramon Rodriguez reported that the Emerging Worker Council had cancelled their April meeting.  They are hoping to meet in May at one of the schools.   Connie reported that she is leaving this meeting early to go to Fonda-Fultonville School for the Job-Shadowing Day.  Most of the Job Shadowing will be within the Montgomery County offices.   Tom DiMezza, Chairman of the Board, has taken the day off to spend time with a student.   Supervisor Thomas will also have a student with him today.  Six of the students are interested in health care, and they will be going to St. Mary’s Hospital.   There are twenty five students scheduled to participate in job-shadowing today, which is fantastic.   

Ramon also reported that the Youth Transitional grant was approved for Fulton County. There will be transitional program for youth with disabilities, which will include a summer program.   This will allow a staff person to be in the High Schools throughout the county working with youth who are potentially eligible for VESID services.  Services will include partnering with FMS PIC to provide assistance in job searching and retention as well as utilization of the summer youth program.  Other participants and supporters of this project include the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce.  The goal is to have more youth aware of the resources and employment opportunities that are available to them.  

Howard congratulated Ramon on the ribbon cutting ceremony that was recently held at RCIL’s Open House at their new facility.  

      Board Orientation and Membership Committee 

Barbara was absent; however, Angelika reported that the committee met on April 18^th. Gail reported that Dave Groff has resigned.   Gail also reported that Dusty Swanger, President of FMCC, has been appointed by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors to replace Phil Hubbard on the Board. Unfortunately, he was unable to attend today.  There are currently two Montgomery County business sector openings.  Gail has spoken to Richard Frank of Canajo Manufacturing and he may be interested. Canajo Mfg. was our Business Partner of the Year last year.  There is a transition going on at Canajo Manufacturing, and Richard asked Gail if he could hold off on making a decision until June.  Barbara and Angelika referred Donna Stoliker of BTS staffing in Fulton County.  Gail emailed Donna with information on Board bylaws and membership job description and duties but hasn’t heard from her as yet.   BTS staffing works with businesses in all three counties to help them fill their temporary and permanent staffing needs. If Donna agrees to join our board, she will represent Montgomery County.   We have scheduled a Board retreat for Thursday, June 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Perthshire, on Route 30 north of Amsterdam.  The purpose of the retreat is “Benchmarking for Success” and we will explore 16 critical success factors that will be used as a self assessment tool of our Board.  

Angelika said that the committee discussed making our board meetings more attractive and we have a tentative schedule: 

The tentative list of Board Meetings through December, 2007 is as follows:

1.       May 2, 8 – 9:30 a.m., HFM BOCES, Route 67, Johnstown

2.       June 14, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Board Retreat at Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam.

3.       July 14, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m., Annual Meeting at the Raindancer on Route 30 north of Amsterdam.

4.       August – no meeting

5.       September 5, 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. Amsterdam Workforce Solutions Center

6.       October 3, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. location to be determined

7.       November 7, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. Amsterdam Workforce Solutions Center

8.       December 5, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. Amsterdam Workforce Solutions Center 

         Executive Committee  

     The executive committee did not meet.

II.         Executive Director’s Report 

Gail:  Gail reported that Connie Glover, our Disability Program Navigator, has requested that she flex her hours for one semester and then reduce her hours for two semesters in order to complete her Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. Connie is now at the point in her program where she needs to do her internship.   Gail said that our By-Laws and Personnel Policies support and encourages staff developing and life-long learning.  Gail was in contact with the Executive Committee and everyone was in favor of Connie’s request.  Board member John Tracy will be her mentor at VESID, her host agency.   She will continue working full time for this semester by putting in longer days.  Gail thanked the Executive Committee for supporting Connie’s request.   

Gail stated that we came in third on the WIRED grant.  Congresswoman Gillibrand had suggested that some of the individual pieces of the grant could be written up as smaller grants. She has had them included in the Appropriations Bill.  Whether or not they survive is something else entirely.   John Tracy asked if we received any feedback on what might have made our application stronger.  Gail said that we have had no formal feedback although that has been promised. Gail said that informally, they had heard that there was a concern by the screening committee about the size of our area.   Geographically, we stretched from Oneida, Herkimer and Madison through the Capital Region and up to the North Country. The concern was whether we could manage a project that included 18 counties.  

Gail said that after discussions with the WIA subcontractor and members of the Emerging Worker Council, we have determined that there really is a need for GED teacher, not just a tutor.  Therefore, starting the beginning of the next contract year, July 1, we expect to offer a GED program in Amsterdam 4 days a week in the morning and probably 4 afternoons a week in Gloversville.  We also have funds in the budget in case we identify a need in Schoharie County.   Gail reported that she will be leaving for Ireland tomorrow for her spring vacation for a week and two days.   She has left emergency numbers with Sandy. 

Connie:  Connie had left to attend the Fulton County Job Shadowing event. 

Sandy:   Sandy stated we are ordering new FMS Polo shirts. She asked anyone interested to please give her their size as she was placing the order the next day.  She also asked if anyone was interested in the Schoharie County Golf Tournament, which will be held June 1 in Cobleskill. 

Becky:  Becky stated she has been working on the budget, which includes both the new allocations and the projected carry-in funds.  Becky has also been working closely with Mary Hill and her staff to balance their training expenditures between the proper funding sources.

III.               Old Business

       Jody Zakrevsky gave a short recap of his meeting in Sharon Springs regarding the proposal by several Korean investors to build a multi-million dollar international spa resort.   Jody stated that they changed their plan somewhat.  Instead of proposing to start construction of two state-of-the art hotels, they presented a new plan to the community. In this new plan, they proposed to first renovate the Adler Hotel and the Imperial Bath House.  They went to traditional historic preservation mode and the community loved it.  

     IV.               New Business

   Elaine Mongin explained that our tour will begin immediately after our meeting ends.   Elaine also thanked the Workforce Development Board for the donation of computers to their computer tech support class.   Also, Elaine explained that FMS Workforce has provided tuition assistance to their Practical Nursing second year students.  Elaine stated this has been wonderful, and that they are very appreciative of this.    

o        Member Sharing

     V.      Adjournment 

     At 8:45 the meeting ended and we began our tour of HFM BOCES.

  ---------------------------

Board Meeting Minutes
April 4, 2007
Amsterdam Workforce Solutions Center
Meeting 4:30

Opening and Attendance

           Howard Samuels, Chairman, called the Board Meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.  Board Members present were Pat Baia, Paul Brady, Beth Case, Gary Donadio, Andrea Fettinger, Robert Hoefs, Terry Hughes, Leo McAllister, Terri Montanye, Robert Palmatier, Kristine Pennick, Tom Pasquarelli, Barbara Rivenburgh, Ramon Rodriguez, Frank Ruggiero, Howard Samuels, Barbara Schaffer, Terry Suits, Angelika Verderber and Jody Zakrevsky.  

         Board Members excused were Roger Cohn, Charles Finin, Art Graulich, Elaine Mongin, and John Tracy.      

         Board Members absent were Kerry Brunner and Dave Groff.

         Also present was Lisa McCoy, Marketing Director/Zone Coordinator from Fulton County Economic Development, who would be giving a presentation on Economic Development.  Also giving a presentation was one of our Board Members, Jody Zakrevsky, Economic Developer from Schoharie County Planning & Development Agency.   

 Also attending was:  Gail Breen, Regina Papa, Becky Canuteson, Connie Glover and Sandy Teetz, staff to the Board. 

 Welcome  

Howard welcomed and thanked everyone for attending our April meeting   

      Resolution BY-2006-30   Approval of Minutes from the March 7, 2007 Board Meeting.  Bob Hoefs made a motion to accept the minutes from the March 7, 2007, Terry Suits seconded the motion.
DISCUSSION:   There was no discussion
VOTE:  All in Favor
Motion Carried

•   Howard introduced Lisa McCoy, Director/Zone Coordinator from Fulton County Economic Development.

 Lisa McCoy stated that Fulton County was one of the first zone programs in the state in 1987.  Originally, they were zones for depressed communities and offered incentives for businesses to come into the community and boost economic development.  At that time, there was only a handful in the state.  Now every community in the state has a zone.   Over the years, the program has changed considerably.   As we change Governors the program will undoubtedly be changed once again.   In some communities like ours, the zones program is a small part of what economic development companies do; in other communities is a very big part.  The zones program has done some really great things for Fulton County.  When things first kicked off back in the 80’s it helped us to get Spaulding.  This helped us to win the next project and it has had a snowball affect on us. This year, regionally significant projects have been added to the Zone mix.  A regionally significant project that we are working with is the old Uni “Universal” plant.  This building is not a building that would normally be used by manufacturers today because it does not have the high ceilings required for stacking.  Uni could have gone vacant for a very long time, but the water bottling operation does not require high ceilings.  They will be putting significant investment into the project.   Hopefully, they will be hiring up to 50 people within the next five years. 

 Lisa stated they also had to do a new development plan this year.  The plan talks about what we wanted to do with our zones, what we were looking to target, who we wanted to attract.  When we certify a business we have to show how this business fits into our plan.   Copies of this plan are available to anyone who would like to see it.  We have three significantly different areas:  one is the business park, which is completely underdeveloped; downtown Gloversville; and the Johnstown and Gloversville industrial parks.  Each of those is targeted for different kinds of business.  One of the things that we are doing now is food processing.   We are looking at businesses that can use the resources of the wastewater treatment and the water that we have.  The new yogurt manufacturing facility that is coming in is going to be a great asset to the area.  They started with a 27 million investment and they are going to a 70 million dollar investment. That increased before they ever broke ground.   They expect to be employing upwards of 60 people.   They will also have a huge impact on the dairy industry because of the amount of milk they will buy through regional cooperatives in Montgomery and Fulton Counties and beyond.   The company is already talking about an expansion on that plant even before they have opened.   A ripple effect occurs with new businesses, as new people will move into the area.   Real estate will prosper, our schools will grow, and this is all good for our community.   

• Howard introduced Jody Zakrevsky, Economic Developer from Schoharie County Planning & Developing. 

Jody stated that the main focus at Schoharie County Economic Development is looking at existing businesses first, looking at start up businesses second, and trying to attract new businesses.   They also do a lot of work with municipalities on infrastructure.   For example Kintz Plastics, one of their first projects, needed access to natural gas.  They were able to secure $640,000 in grants to extend natural gas down to that company.  They have received grants for a variety of projects for the villages of Cobleskill, Middleburg, Richmondville, Schoharie, and Sharon Springs.   They are working on a project with Sharon Springs to improve their infrastructure with water and sewer and to bring natural gas into the village.  Jody said they do a lot of work on infrastructure projects and people don’t realize that. 

 One of the problems in Schoharie County has been the empty buildings at the old Guilford Mills.  Guilford Mills has remained vacant for three years even though it has been sold to a developer who originally had plans for the building.

A huge project that Sharon Springs is working on is the proposal by several Korean investors to put up a multi-million dollar international spa resort.   

What is unique about Sharon Springs is their mineral water.  The content of the minerals in Sharon Springs mineral water is far superior to anything else in any other mineral springs resort.    They are promoting it as a health benefit.  Phase 1 will cost approximately 56 million dollars, which will include replacing the Washington Hotel, the Columbia Hotel, redo the Imperial Bathhouse and add a new bathhouse.  It is expected that Phase 1 will bring in approximately 200,000 people a year into Sharon.  The principle owner of the project owns a bus tour company in the Northeast, California, Japan and Korea.  He currently has 100,000 traveling on his tours, which go to Toronto, Montreal, Niagara Falls and other areas.  Sharon Springs will be added to his tours.  He has also worked deals with Turning Stone and Saratoga Springs and will be working with Howe Caverns.  Phase 2 involves either renovating the current Adler hotel or the building of a new hotel and a new spa on that site.  The other part of their plan is the possibility of selling the mineral water to other spas.  They continue to meet with all those involved regarding this project.

I.                    Committee Updates 

       Accountability   

                      Terry Suits reported that the Accountability Committee met in March and the minutes are on the website.  Out of our total budget we are on target with our spending.  Becky has added a new section on our report. It is a roll-up report, which includes the Private Industry Council and the Workforce Investment Board.  The other highlight is that we added three new OJT contracts this month, and two of the companies increased their minimum wage for the job to $8.40 per hour to meet our requirements of $8.40 per hour. 

                      Business Services Committee 

      Bob Hoefs reported that the Business Services Committee did not meet as a committee, instead they attended a seminar on Boosting Employee Retention, which was presented by Jodie Sue Kelly and Sandi  Scannelli from Cygnet Associates.  The event was sponsored by the FMS WDB and co-sponsored by area  JSECs. There were 34 participants who attended this very informative training. Evaluations were excellent.   

                    One Stop Oversight Committee

                  Roger Cohn was absent because of a scheduling conflict; Gail reported that the One Stop/Oversight Committee did not meet in March. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 25th at 8:00 am at the Cobleskill Center. 

      Emerging Worker Council

                  Ramon Rodriguez reported that the last meeting was held at the Amsterdam High School.  As a result of the meeting, Jen Swart told Ramon that we received 25 referrals to the Youth Program.  We are hoping to hold our next meeting at the Fonda-Fultonville School.  Connie gave an update on the Job Shadowing.  Connie said that Schoharie County held their Job Shadowing on the 28^th of March and that 35 students participated and it was a very positive experience.   In Montgomery County they are working with Fonda/Fultonville School. They have decided to do something a little bit different by working with the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and the county departments.  However, we do not have details or the date of the event yet.   Fulton County’ has held a few events with some of the school districts but Connie hasn’t heard an update on that. 

               Ramon stated that another thing that was touched on at the meeting was Youth Services and the importance of reaching the youth in our area regarding GED services.  A meeting is planned in April with local school superintendents and Gail, Ramon and Gina will attend this meeting.   Gail stated that this meeting is also an excellent opportunity to talk about the school superintendent vacancy on our Board.

     Board Orientation and Membership Committee 

        Barbara reported that the committee met in March and the minutes have been posted on the website.  Barbara said they discussed future board meetings and each Board Member has a schedule of future board meetings in their packets.  Our May board meeting will be held at HFM BOCES beginning with a business meeting and light breakfast at 8 a.m. followed with a tour after the meeting.  In June we will be having a board retreat at the Perthshire.   Gail stated that Phil Hubbard, FMCC will no longer be representing Fulton-Montgomery Community College.  The new president of FMCC, Dusty Swanger, will be representing FMCC on the board.   A resolution will be put in front of the Board of Supervisors on April 24^th.   Also, Richard Frank from Canjo Manufacturing, our business partner of the year for Montgomery County, has indicated that he is interested in sitting on our board.  Ramon said that he spoke with someone from Target who may also be interested in becoming a board member.    

                        Executive Committee

      The executive committee did not meet.

II.       Executive Director’s Report

 Gina:   Gina reported that she and Connie recently attended an event that the Montgomery County Chamber put on where superintendents from across Montgomery County talked about their need for a relationship with the business community to find out how they can better prepare their students to meet the needs of local businesses.  It was very informative and the six superintendents that were there were very interested in hearing from folks like us and from the business community and starting that communication to find out what they can do to prepare their students.  Gina also stated that the last meeting of the Emerging Worker Council at the Amsterdam High School was a huge success with the 25 referrals, as Ramon stated.  Gina also said that Kristine Pennick assisted in getting 7 or 8 referrals to the WIA Youth Program from Centro Civico.  Gina also mentioned that we partnered with FMCC and the local chambers and held a job fair at the college.  It was a huge success with 51 businesses and agencies and approximately 375 job seekers.  We will get more information in the future as to how many applications were taken and other final numbers.   Many of the businesses stated that they were pleased with the caliber of the job seekers and they were dressed appropriately.  

 Becky:  Becky stated that she is working on the budget and has some preliminary numbers in for funding for next year.   Becky also stated that they have located a storage area within the Riverfront Center.  We had movers come in this week to move extra tables, chairs and file cabinets into storage.  This gives us more room and one extra pod. 

 Connie:  Connie reported that, included in the board packet. was an invitation for the Worker’s Compensation Breakfast, which will be held Friday, April 20^th at the Winner’s Circle in Fonda.  She stated this will be a very informative breakfast meeting and if anyone is interested, to please contact Sandy to make your reservations.  This is a really good opportunity to obtain additional information regarding Workers’ Compensation, how rates are determined, how to decrease rates, and programs that are available to return injured workers to work.  This is a great chance to get some of your questions answered and learn what the new reform is about. 

Sandy:   Sandy stated that the May board meeting will be held at HFM BOCES with a breakfast meeting at 8:00 am and a tour at 9:00 am.   A reminder will be going out prior to the meeting. 

 Gail:  Gail said we received a really nice letter from Elaine Mongin, thanking us for the computers that we donated to HFM BOCES.    With our Incentive Grant, we were able to purchase very much-needed new computers for the three resources rooms and in turn, we donated the old computers to a computer learning program associated with the ACCESS Center and the Schoharie County Community Action Program and to HFM BOCES.   Denise, our technical support person, cleaned them up and most of them are being used for tutorials and others are being used in the BOCES computer technical A+ certification program.  This program offers students training in computer repair and computer rebuilding.   

Gail stated that as she mentioned at our last board meeting, we are involved in applying to NYS for the privilege of being one of two consortiums eligible to compete for a 5 million dollar grant from US Department of Labor.  It is 5 million dollars over three years.  The name of the grant is Workforce Innovation and Regional Economic Development (WIRED).   It requires that Workforce Investment Boards work together regionally.  We are involved with five other Workforce Investment Areas.     We have been working with Saratoga, Washington, Warren, the Capital District and Columbia-Greene for a long time on Workforce Summits and State of the Workforce Reports.  We have added into the mix the North Country and Herkimer, Oneida and Madison.  The proposal that we are developing and will be presenting tomorrow revolves around Nano-technology, Bio-technology and the Aero Space industry.  The region is anchored by aero space up in Plattsburgh, the Israeli aero space out in Oneida County, Eclipse aero space which is in Albany, plus AMD which is the Chip Fab Plant going into Saratoga County, the Albany Nano tech center at the University at Albany and perhaps a second Chip Fab factory in Oneida.  This is going require a lot of collateral kinds of industry that support that, for example the trucking industry and real estate.   They are giving 13 awards nationally and each state can only forward two applications to the Federal Government.   The state decides which two shall be submitted and the Governor applies on your behalf.   There are seven areas competing.  We are hoping we are one of the two areas to go forward.  We are in competition with Long Island, New York City, the Hudson Valley, the Finger Lakes, Syracuse and up to Erie.   We are the only one that is looking at what we are calling advanced manufacturing which includes bio-technology, nano-tech, aero-space industry and programs within the schools on what we call the STEM skills (science, technology, engineering and math).  One of our primary goals is not just to create the high tech jobs, but to educate our children in STEM skills so that they will be qualified for these jobs.

III.               Old Business
           There was no old business.             

        IV.               New Business
          There was no new business

 o        Member Sharing

          None

     V.      Adjournment

     Frank Ruggiero made a motion to adjourn.   Bob Palmatier seconded the motion.  All were in favor.  The meeting adjourned at 5:50.       

   ---------------End of April 2007 ------------------

Board Meeting Minutes
March 7, 2007
Partner’s Pub
Meeting 4:30

Opening and Attendance

              Howard Samuels, Chairman, called the Board Meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.  Board Members present were: Pat Baia, Paul Brady, Kerry Brunner, Roger Cohn, Gary Donadio, Beth Case, Andrea Fettinger, Charles Finin, Art Graulich, Dave Groff, Robert Hoefs, Terry Hughes, Leo McAllister, Elaine Mongin, Terri Montanye, Bob Palmatier, Kristine Pennick, Barbara Rivenburgh, Ramon Rodriguez, Frank Ruggiero, Howard Samuels, Barbara Schaffer, John Tracy, Jody Zakrevsky and Angelika Verderber.

             Board Members excused were Philip Hubbard, Leo McAllister, Tom Pasquarelli and Terry Suits.

    Also attending were:  Kelli Owens, NYSDOL Division of Employment Services, Regional Administrator of Central/Mohawk Valley Region; Mary Hill, Program Director of the Private Industry Council,  Don McHenry and Gwen Eastland, members of the Workforce Advising Team; Gail Breen, Regina Papa, Becky Canuteson, Connie Glover and Sandy Teetz, staff to the Board.                            

Welcome  

Howard welcomed and thanked everyone for attending our March meeting, which is traditionally held at Partner’s Pub. Howard welcomed our two new board members, Barbara Schaffer, CSEA Local 848 and Chuck Finin, Mesa Technical Associates.  Everyone welcomed our new board members and introduced themselves.

•      Resolution BY-2006-27   Approval of Minutes from the December 6, 2006 Board Meeting 

Paul Brady made a motion to accept the minutes from the December 6, 2006 board meeting, John Tracy seconded the motion. 

DISCUSSION:  There was no discussion.
                        VOTE:  All were in favor
                          Motion Passed
 

•     Resolutions BY-2006-29   Approval of Minutes from the February 7, 2007 Board Meeting

Paul Brady made a motion to accept the minutes from the December 6, 2006 board meeting, Ramon Rodriguez seconded the motion. 

DISCUSSION:  There was no discussion.
                       VOTE:  All were in favor
                       Motion Passed

 Howard introduced Don McHenry, Division of Employment Services, Supervising Labor Services Rep/Workforce Advising Team and Gwen Eastland, Private Industry Council/Workforce Advising Team, who gave a brief presentation of the duties and responsibilities of the WAT Team (Workforce Advising Team).  Following is a synopsis of the presentation given by Gwen Eastland. 

WAT (Workforce Advising Team) Presentation

Below are the duties/responsibility of the Workforce Advising Team

Completing assessments of customers regarding job skills, abilities, interest, and barriers to employment and academic ability. Determine if additional assessment is needed;

 Determining eligibility in compliance and program requirements;

 Maintaining caseload assigned by Functional Supervisors;

Completing and maintaining customer files including OSOS;

 Making appropriate job referrals, matching customer skills and abilities to employer requirements;

 Facilitating Center workshops;

 Conducting advising sessions regarding job attitude, job seeking and keeping skills, self esteem activities, career exploration and labor market information;

 Assisting customers in creating and organizing job search materials;

Meeting with service agencies to promote program activities;

Attending and participating in case management meetings;

 Making appropriate referrals for additional services;

 Participating in Center and Functional team meetings;

 Participating in staff development activities.

Gwen said that with the Functional Alignment initiative, all DOL staff and WIA staff have been cross trained so that each Workforce Advisor has the ability to provide all services rather than having services segregated by funding streams (such as DOL or WIA) into silos.   Gwen listed some of the highlights of the past few months. The Workforce Advisors Team has: 

·         Obtained access to REOS (Re-employment Services), a database that was previously available only to NYSDOL DoES staff. 

·         Attended an Unemployment Insurance Webinar on 1/25: This gave staff an overview of UI and its procedures.

·         Begun providing follow up services to RSO (UI) participants.

·         Begun conducting “live” intakes of new customers, seeing customers and collecting necessary information individually rather than have customers fill out paper forms which were later entered into the One Stop Operating System database

·         Participated in a Rapid Response for employees affected by layoffs and closings at WARD Products and Montgomery Meadows.

·         Received electronic copies of the Center Policies and Procedures Manual, so it’s a quick reference for staff.

·         Received examples of OJT and Classroom Training files to follow, which is another quick reference for staff who aren’t as familiar with OJT and Classroom Training as others.

·         Begun providing Center and Services Orientations in Spanish on Mondays and Wednesday. The Amsterdam Center is fortunate to have a Workforce Advisor and a Youth staff person who are fluent in English and Spanish.

·         Started putting daily appointments into a common appointment book, which is located at the front desk.   This way all staff can see what appointments have been scheduled and with whom.

·         The ability to fill in for each other when someone is sick or on vacation, as everyone is able to do each job function.   Gwen is normally the person who does the Center Orientation.  When she was sick earlier in the month, another Workforce Advisor filled in and delivered the Center Orientation.   This is really an asset because we don’t have to cancel appointments or turn people away.

·         A DOL Vets Rep who works specifically with veterans and their families.

Additionally, Gwen reported that:

·         Our goal is to assist each person who comes into the Center by having that person see a Center staff person that day. 

·         We have classroom training, which is a grant up to $3,000 that can help people that meet certain eligibility criteria obtain marketable skills by attending school.   This $3,000 can be used toward anything school related i.e.:  tuition, reimbursement for mileage and childcare and needs based payments.  We have a list of trainings that are approved and a list of schools that are approved also.

·         We also have OJT (On-the-Job training), which provides actual training while a person is working.   We will reimburse the employer for up to 50% of the new employee’s wages during their training period.  This is a great incentive for employers to hire people who have some but not all of the skills required for the position.

·         We also have a Wage Subsidy program, which is very similar to OJT but we reimburse the employer 100% of the employee’s wages during the training period.

·         The best way for other agencies to make referrals to our Center is to tell the person to come into the Center and request to see a Workforce Advisor.  

·         The WAT Team has monthly staff meetings.

I.                    Committee Updates 

 Accountability   

John Tracy reported that the Accountability Committee met on February 27^th.  The minutes are posted on the website.   John highlighted some of the meetings discussions. 

Performance Measures Incentive Dollars - $184,114:  We have already received the 30 new computers, the printers, and the copiers. The 30 new computers are replacing older computers in the Resource Rooms. Some of these older computers have been reconditioned and will replace even older computers in our computer training rooms. A few will be kept for parts. The remaining older computers have been donated to HFM BOCES and SUNY Cobleskill/SCAAP programs that serve people wishing to learn or increase their basic computer skills.  

Planning Estimates for WIA PY ‘07: We have received our planning estimates for the coming year. Although these are not official figures, NYSDOL has developed a formula which allows us to get some advance notice on what to expect. We are expecting an 8% increase in Dislocated Worker Funding, a 5.7 % increase in Adult Funding, and a 13.2% increase in Youth Funding.  

Monthly Financial Reports:  We reviewed the monthly financial reports.  WIB spending is right on target as projected. PIC Youth Work Experience expenditures continue to be very low.  We are putting together a plan to try and remedy this.  PIC expenditures for Classroom Training (CRT) are also low. We are not sure if this is because more people want to go directly to work or because we have lowered our cap on training to a level that there is no longer an incentive for people to consider Classroom Training.  

Enrollment and Activity Report:  Other than Youth, our enrollment and activity has been pretty solid.   John stated that the traffic numbers for Amsterdam for the month of January are probably higher than actually reflected in the report. The Front Desk staff person has been on sick leave and there has been a backlog of new cards needing to be made. Some of January’s customers will actually show up next month in the February count. 

The next meeting of the Accountability Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, March 27, 2007, 4:30pm
            at the Amsterdam Workforce Solutions Center.   
 

•   Resolution BY-2006-28   Approval for line item change in PIC/WIA Sub-Contract 

“On the recommendation of the Accountability Committee, be it resolved that the WDB decrease the “Youth Work Experience Line item by $7,000 and increase the “Youth Basic Skills and GED tutoring” by $7,000.  The “Youth Work Experience” line is currently under spent, perhaps due to a lack of need or interest of WIA youth enrollees.  Increasing the “Youth Basic Skills and GED tutoring” line by $7,000 will allow the contractor to increase tutoring services in Fulton and Montgomery Counties and expand into Schoharie County as needed.”

   John Tracy made a motion to approve the line item change in PIC/WIA sub-contract, Ramon Rodriguez seconded the motion.

 DISCUSSION:  Kristine Pennick asked why the money has not been spent.  Gina said that the Work Experience money that has been set-aside for the past several years has not been utilized as planned, as it seems the youth are finding their own jobs. Frequently these are jobs that pay significantly more than the minimum wage, which is what we would pay. Also one of the new requirements under the Workforce Investment Act is that we are required to test every youth that comes into our program to measure the level of their basic math and reading skills.    We are responsible for assisting those youth with low basic skill levels and providing them services so that they will improve those skills.  WIA Youth Programs and Performance has been changing from a work experience focus to an education and basic literacy and numberacy skills focus.  Therefore, we feel we should put more money into GED tutoring and help our youth increase their basic literacy and numeracy skills.    This money is for youth in our system year round; it is not limited to summer programs.  

VOTE:  23  Yes Votes
             1   Opposed
              Motion Passed

  Business Services Committee

       Bob Hoefs reported that the Business Services Committee did not meet in February because of the weather.  Bob said that instead of having a Business Services Committee meeting in March, the committee will attend the “Boost Employee Retention” training which will be held at the Best Western.  This training will be presented by Jodie Sue Kelly and Sandi Scannelli from Cygnet Associates.  The training will be held on Thursday, March 15 from 8:00 to noon.  This is a joint effort by the FMS Board and local JSEC’s.  Gail stated that if any Board Member wanted to attend, they were welcome. The board will pay for their breakfast.                        

 One Stop Oversight Committee                      

Roger Cohn reported that the One Stop/Oversight Committee met on February 28.  The minutes have been posted to the website.   Roger stated that the One Stop Oversight Committee looks at many of the same things that the Accountability Committee looks at.   The preliminary look for PY ‘07 shows an increase in Youth Funding. This is the funding stream where we are having the most difficulty spending.  Shifting our focus from youth work experience to tutoring for increased numeracy and literacy skills will help us put our dollars where they will be most effective.   Roger reported that the One Stop Oversight Committee is also responsible for oversight of the system and services to customers. The committee reviews the Customer Comment and Suggestions Cards each month. They are mostly positive, which is terrific.  The Committee also discusses any negative comments to see if they can be addressed so that we don’t have those comments in the future.

Emerging Worker Council

          Ramon Rodriguez reported that the Emerging Worker Council did not meet in February.   Ramon asked Connie to give a recap on the Job Shadowing Project.   Connie stated that all three counties are involved in planning, and if any employer is interested in being a host to give Connie a call.   Fulton County was scheduled to have its first event on March 2, but school was closed because of inclement weather. Fulton County includes more than one school district, so there will be several dates. The March 2 event will be rescheduled.  Cobleskill’s event is planned for March 28 with a snow date of March 29.  Montgomery County has not officially set a date yet as the planning meeting was postponed due to weather.  

Ramon stated that there is currently an RFP out for serving youth with disabilities for programs for students with disabilities to transition into the community.   BOCES has taken the lead with several other agencies participating, including RCIL and other members of the Emerging Worker Council.  The next Emerging Worker Council meeting is scheduled for March 13^th at the Amsterdam High School.   At 2:30 members of the Emerging Worker Council will be doing a presentation to the faculty.  This is an opportunity for Council members to present their programs to the schools, and let them know what the individual programs do.  At 3:00 we will have our Emerging Worker Council Meeting at the school.    

 Board Orientation and Membership Committee 

Barbara Rivenburgh reported that the Committee met on February 21. The minutes have been posted to our website.    Barbara introduced and welcomed our new board members, Barbara Schaffer, CSEA Local 848 and Charles Finin, Mesa Tech Associates.   Barbara stated that at the last Board Meeting we left index cards for board members to fill out names of prospective board members, and that they have received a few suggestions.  Barbara asked board members to keep them coming.  Barbara stated that we are hoping to have a board retreat sometime in May or early June.  She thanked the board members who responded to the e-mail survey email regarding interest and availability.  We are waiting to hear from two possible presenters.  Barbara had a list of Workforce-related Acronyms and passed them out to anyone who wanted them.  The Board Orientation Meetings are held the 3^rd Wednesday of the month in Cobleskill at 3:30 in the afternoon.  

 Executive Committee  

The Executive Committee did not meet.  Howard stated that he, Terri Montanye, and Gail attended the NAWB (National Associations for Workforce Boards) Conference in Washington.   It is conference for Workforce Board Members and Executive Directors from all over the country.   It is an interesting conference as it covers federal legislation and direction, and gives us an opportunity to learn what other Workforce Boards are doing and where they are looking to move in the future.   They are still pushing the fee-for-services activities to help Boards diversify and rely less on federal funding such as WIA.   Moving in this direction will help to multiply our money.  They spoke a lot about regional initiatives where different workforce boards work cooperatively on projects. We have already had a number of successful regional workforce summits and related activities.  

II.                 Executive Director’s Report

Gina:   Gina stated that if we had Gwen and Don come and speak a year ago, they would have given a presentation stating that each one had separate job responsibilities and duties.  Because of Functional Alignment, they now learned each other’s job.   We have talked about functional alignment for many, many months.  Last week, two state representatives actually came to see if we were doing what we were suppose to do with functional alignment. They were quite impressed with all we’ve accomplished and it was a nice pat on the back for us. 

At this point in the year, we still have some money left for training and in addition we have quite a bit of incentive money that is dedicated to training.  Gina has been talking with local community colleges and BOCES and looking at targeting some folks that are in school right now to help them finish their education.  It is an exciting project and a big project because we are going to be able to help a lot of people. 

            Gail stated that with functional alignment Bob Hoefs, who use to only supervisor DOL staff and Mary Hill who use to only supervise WIA staff, are now co-functional team leaders.  This is unheard of in a lot of places across the state.  We are very fortunate that they have been interested enough and flexible enough because it makes us work better in all areas.  Compared to seven years ago, our total staff in our three centers has gone down to half of what we had back then.  We serve the same number of customers, and we think we are serving them better because of functional alignment and having Mary and Bob supervising them. 

            Jodie Zakrevsky asked if we are making any progress in straightening out the salary discrepancies between WIA staff and DOL staff.  Gail stated that this would take time as we are taking two groups of employees that have two different salary structures.  The state has a much higher pay scale than a public not for profit program.   We gave all WIA staff a $1,000 bonus last year.  Hopefully, next year will be able to give the PIC staff a raise so we can keep them.   Also, with folks retiring from the state, new state employees are starting a lower salary.  This will take time, but we are definitely working on it.

 Becky: Becky reported that she has been monitoring the spending of the incentive grant dollars, as described in our Incentive Plan.  We have new computers, two new copiers and new tables and chairs for the conference room.  We gave BOCES our old computers and Elaine stated they appreciated it very much.   We received our incentive money as a result of exceeding all of our performance standards.  Gail said that the incentive funds should be spent on activities and items that will help our jobseeker and business customers.  We like to have employers use our conference room, but the tables and chairs were worn and some were not safe.    Also, 50% of the money has been set aside for additional training that we couldn’t afford to do with just our current Workforce Investment Act funding.  All the funds, including the training dollars, must be spent by November 2007. 

Connie:  Connie said that recently she was invited to speak to a group of organizations that are headed up by Cornell and their transition sites across the state.  They work with schools and organizations on transition services for youth and she provided them an opportunity to really look at what we do at FMS in our programs where we work with youth, schools, our councils and businesses.  They were very interested and she was recently asked to speak to at a Capital Region meeting talk to them a little bit more about what we do and how to reach out to some of the other local area agencies regarding individuals with disabilities. 

Sandy:  Sandy stated she has been busy making the final arrangements for the training to be held on March 15, 2007 “Boost Employee Retention” at the Best Western in Amsterdam.   She stated there is room so if anyone is interested in attending to call or email her. 

Gail: Gail stated that the cost for the presenters for the upcoming “Boost Employee Retention” training was built into our Incentive Plan, but funding for breakfast was not included. There is a registration fee of $15 for each person (other than Board Members) which will cover the cost of the breakfast.  This is an example of how we are trying to incorporate fee-for-service projects so that we are enhancing the services provided to businesses. 

            Howard mentioned that at the NAWB conference they spoke of “Regionalization” and Gail wanted to explain our current involvement with other WIB areas.  Gail said that she is working with a consortium of WIB Directors from six Workforce Investment areas, which includes 18 counties.  The five WIB areas involved besides FMS are: Saratoga-Washington-Warren, Capital Region, Herkimer-Oneida-Madison, Columbia-Greene, and North Country WIBs. While the WIBs are the lead organization in the grant proposals, we are working in collaboration with education, economic development, and business partners on an application for a WIRED (Workforce Innovation and Regional Economic Development) Grant from USDOL.  Generation 1 was released two years ago. Generation 2 was a second stage of Generation 1.This is Generation 3. These are 5 million dollars grants over three years.  There will only be 13 of them given out across the United States. The goal of the grant is to implement activities to coordinate regional economic development/educational efforts, develop additional training/educational programs, and establish a planning and policy agenda that will maximize the economic and human capital resources necessary to compete in a high-tech environment.  Gail also said that the six-WIB Consortium was looking to FMS to be the Fiscal Agent if we were awarded the grant.  The Fiscal Agent must be a 501 (c) 3. If the Consortium did receive a grant, FMS would hire a fiscal person specifically to manage the grant.  The person would be paid through the grant money.  The Accountability Committee felt that it would have to be a full time position in order to attract a quality person. Gail said that there would be more than enough work for a full time position.  The Committee felt that we should go ahead with FMS agreeing to be the Fiscal Agent in the grant application.      

 The Governor applies on behalf of the WIBs.  Right now, we have good competition in New York State with six or more other areas vying for the Governor’s attention.   Only two will be submitted from New York State. After presentations to the State WIB meeting in April, two will be selected and forwarded from the Governor’s office.  New York State already has one Generation 1 grant out in the Finger Lakes. 

Gail reported that there is currently a new Manufacturing Grant.  This grant was posted on the Workforce New York website today.  This is a $50,000 grant to train currently employed workers.  It’s a little different from previous manufacturer grants, including a cap of $2,000 on each employee trained.  More details are available at www.workforcenewyork.org or NYS Department of Labor website.  The grant is called “Advance New York”. 

Gail gave some additional information on this year’s projected funding. We currently have about 56% of the funding that we had back when WIA was implemented in NYS in July 2000.  We are fortunate in that it does not appear that we will have further reductions this year. NYSDOL’s   Division of Research and Statistics has been making projections each year regarding new allocations. Although these are not official numbers, they are usually very close to the official notification we receive in April. It appears that some areas will be losing 20 – 30% of their funds.  We are going to get an 8% increase in Dislocated Worker money, a 5.7% increase in Adult Funding and a 13.2% increase in Youth Funding.  This is good news for us, and this will help assist us in continuing to offer classroom and employer-based training to customers while retaining our WIA staff necessary to provide those services to customers.             

III.               Old Business

There was no old business.             

IV.               New Business

Job Fair at FMCC

   Fulton-Montgomery Community College, the FMS Workforce Solutions System, and the Fulton and Montgomery Counties Regional Chambers of Commerce are partnering to host their Spring Job Fair.  This event will be held in the Student Union Building at Fulton-Montgomery Community College, Rt. 67, Johnstown on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 from 2:00—5:00 p.m.

Member Sharing

Howard asked our new board members to tell us a little bit about themselves and what they do. 

Barbara Schaffer is the President of CSEA Local 848 and works for the Schoharie County Department of Social Services as an Employment Coordinator.   

Chuck Finin is the President of Mesa Tech Associates, which is located in Schoharie County.  Chuck stated that he loves his business which he built from scratch.  Mesa Tech Associates imports industrial batteries from Europe and uses them in applications for tele-communications and utility back-up systems There is a lot of engineering that goes into the front end to figure out how big the systems need to be and what components are necessary.  After components are assembled, they ship the system to the end user.  The second side of the business is installation service work.  They are not always necessarily related; it can be just one or the other.   Chuck said that they are trying to train Cobleskill youth to install batteries and design systems and put them together.   Mesa Tech is currently working with the Schoharie County IDA to put up a new facility in one of the new Empire Zones in Schoharie. 

Ramon Rodriguez reported that RCIL will have an Open House/Ribbon Cutting on April 26 at noon at the RCIL’s new location on West Main Street in Amsterdam. 

 V.                  Adjournment

                  Frank Ruggiero made a motion to adjourn. Elaine Mongin seconded the motion.  All were in favor.  The meeting adjourned at 5:50.       

---------- End of march 7, 2007 Board Meeting Minutes -----------------

Board Meeting Minutes
February 7, 2007
Amsterdam Workforce Solutions Center 
Amsterdam NY 12010
Meeting 4:30

Opening and Attendance

              Howard Samuels, Chairman, called the Board Meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.  Board Members present were: Pat Baia, Roger Cohn, Gary Donadio, Art Graulich, Dave Groff, Robert Hoefs, Terry Hughes, Leo McAllister, Elaine Mongin, Bob Palmatier, Tom Pasquarelli, Barbara Rivenburgh, Ramon Rodriguez, Howard Samuels, Jody Zakrevsky, and Angelika Verderber. 

            Board Members absent were Paul Brady, Kerry Brunner, Beth Case, Andrea Fettinger, Phil Hubbard, Terri Montanye, Kristine Pennick, Frank Ruggiero, Terry Suits, and John Tracy. 

   Also attending were Greg Mastracco and Christie Crawford, Business Services Representatives and Gail Breen, Regina Papa, Becky Canuteson, Connie Glover and Sandy Teetz, staff to the Board.                          

Welcome  

Howard welcomed and thanked everyone for attending the meeting.  Howard introduced Greg Mastracco and Christie Crawford, Business Services Representatives who gave a presentation on the responsibilities of the Business Services Team.  Below is an outline of the presentation:  

Business Services Team

Fulton-Montgomery-Schoharie Counties

I.                    General overview of the variety of services provided by the Business Services Team  (see below).

II.                  Industry Clusters (Business Services Champions) based on high demand occupations.  High demand clusters include:

A.      Manufacturing

B.       Distribution Centers

C.      Hospitality/Services

D.      Health Care Facilities

III.                Current job bank information, new fast fax forms and phase out of AJB.

IV.                Emphasis of On-Site Recruitments, promoting and matching of our talent bank to potential employers.

V.                  On-The-Job Training

A.      Overview of various training services to local employers, reimbursement information/eligibility criteria.

B.       Current OJT’s in progress within the high demand industry clusters.

Overview 

            The purpose of the Business Services team is to respond to the specific and varied needs of the business community.  We develop and provide these services by our specific industry clusters, which help our local employers to develop a single point of contact (us) and follow through.  Each team member will promote and market our system information, recognizing that if a business does not retain further services from us, we may not be meeting their needs, compromising our own measures and goals.   

Responsibilities of the Business Services Team

      ·         Marketing and promoting of business services.

·         Obtaining of job listings, job bank maintenance, following up on job orders.

·         Tax Credit information and screenings for employers.

·         Website promotion of Labor Market information, apprenticeship programs, training opportunities, etc.

·         On-The-Job Training programs, determining eligibility of trainees, developing of training outlines, determining needs, monitoring monthly trainings in progress, and follow up services after training completion.

·         Participation with and assistance with job fairs.

·         Rapid Response services for mass layoffs.

·         Promotion of On-Site Recruitments at the One-Stop Centers.

 On-Site Recruitments: 

Since the implementation of Functional Alignment, we’ve been really promoting these On-Site Recruitments in our three offices.  In the last few months, employers such as Washington Inventory Services, Attentive Care Staffing and Quad Graphics have held these recruitments and continue to work with us.  

Industry Clusters: 

We are each a “champion” of one of the industry clusters: 

(Manufacturing, distribution centers, hospitality/services and health care)

We try to bring in employers for these on-site recruitments that fall into one of these high demand clusters.   

For example, last month, Attentive Care (a health care staffing agency) held an open recruitment and about 25 customers attended.  Deanna from Attentive Care gave an hour-long informational session and an employment test. About 1/3 of those who attended have been enrolled in their Personal Care Aide training program to begin next week.  Attentive Care is actually coming back here again on the 15th of this month, to begin recruiting for their April Personal Care Aide training program.   Personal Care Aides earn around $10/hour to start, and it can open up doors to further training in health care.  Also, just last week, DOL and the Workforce Advisor Team gave a Rapid Response Orientation to the former staff of the Montgomery Meadows health care facility.  There were about 15 Dislocated Workers in attendance, and we were able to promote our upcoming On-Site Recruitment with Attentive Care.  So hopefully, at least some of those workers laid off from Montgomery Meadows will find gainful employment with Attentive Care, since they already have the experience working in health care and may already be certified or licensed in some areas.   

To promote the on-site recruitments, we develop flyers, which are posted throughout our resource room, faxed to local agencies for display, and handed out during UI and DSS orientations.  We also list them on our job bank as well.

 Training Programs: 

On-The-Job Training, Employed Worker Training, Customized Training.

HAND OUTS for most popular programs…

Each is a reimbursement of wages back to an employer for hiring/training eligible customers.  They are incentives for local employers to hire our customers or to promote employees from within their company, increasing their salary and training them in demand occupations. 

Examples of On-The-Job Training Programs in progress: 

*We focus on the high demand clusters.  Currently we have about 10 On-The-Job Trainings in progress within the three counties.  Nancy’s high demand cluster is manufacturing and has nearly half of the current OJT’s. Christie just started an OJT with St. Mary’s Hospital. The trainee was laid off from WARD Products about a year ago, through TRADE she went to FMCC, the COCAL Program in health care, and now through WIA we were able to help her get a job as a Phlebotomist at St. Mary’s.  She loves it, she’s earning what she was at WARD products after working there for over a decade, the benefits are very good, great healthcare/dental, matching 401K. And, because we were able to offer OJT to St. Mary’s, they were willing to hire and train her, when she really lacked the experience that they normally require in that position. 

On-The-Job Training details:

For newly hired workers, a minimum of $8.40/hour, minimum 8 weeks of training, must be full-time and permanent position with at least one benefit (such as health insurance, vacation, sick leave).  Wage reimbursement of 50% total salary for duration of specified training period.  Length of training and total amount of reimbursement will be determined based on both the type of position, and the individual’s skills and qualifications.  To be determined with their workforce advisor prior to starting working. 

For Employed Worker Training, a minimum increase in hourly wage by $1.00 (minimum $8.40/hour), must be promoted to a higher position or be trained in new areas, new skills must be a position/field in demand.  Employee must be employed with company for a minimum of 6 months before start of training and make less than $18.00 per hour.  Training can last 8 weeks minimum, depending on training/position.   

We also have training programs for temporary to permanent positions, and from Part-Time to Fulltime positions.  Call anyone on the Business Services Team for more information on these services:  Nancy Reccio at 725-6473 Ext. 206 Greg at 842-3676 Ext 3032 or Christie at 842-3676 Ext 3031. 

-------------------------------------------

Board Meeting Continues

 We did not have a quorum; therefore, the following resolutions will be presented to the Board at the March meeting.

Resolution BY-2006-27   Approval of Minutes from the December 6, 2006 Board Meeting

Resolution BY-2006-28   Approval for line item change in PIC/WIA Sub-Contract 

I.                    Committee Updates 

     Accountability 

A.  Fiscal Update 

We are on target for our Board Budget.  However, our subcontractor’s expenditures continue to be low in the Youth Category.  We had put a lot of money into the WIA subcontract for work experience for youth.  We are finding that a lot of the youth we serve already have a job and are getting paid more than we could pay them through our work experience program.  On the other hand, we are more and more responsible now under the common measure for literacy and numeracy gains with our GED program and older youth.   The resolution we will be proposing at the next meeting is to move  $7,000 out of work experience and shift it over to our tutoring and our GED Program.   Gina explained that basically DOL has changed the focus of the WIA Youth Programs.  The emphasis in the past has been getting youth a job.  If we have youth in the program with very low basic skills in reading and math they really won’t do well out in the workforce unless they get some basic skills.   A big part of what we are measured on now is whether our youth gain in basic skills. Therefore, we are changing our focus to more education. The Tutoring/GED component of the program gives youth the opportunity to increase their reading and math skills and perhaps attain their GED.  Our resolution would state that we would be moving $7,000 from Work Experience to the tutoring line.   This would mean we would have a tutor four days a week in both Fulton and Montgomery counties and a tutor in Schoharie counties, where we do not have one at this time. 

   Gail reported for John Tracy.  Gail stated the minutes from the January meeting have been posted.  Gail reported that the because we receive rent from all partners who leased spaced within our centers, we are at the point right now where we can continue to keep all three of our Centers open.   We will be having an Infrastructure meeting in April.   We may be asking if there are any Board Members who would be willing to serve on this committee as we lost Tom Wind as a Board Member and committee member.    

Gail reported that when we got our first quarter report on our Performance Measures we weren’t doing well in five of the categories and now it looks like we are fine in four out of the five.  One was a data error that Gina and staff fixed, the other three are being worked out and we won’t have problems with them.  It appears that we will have problems with the final performance standard, Average Earnings for Dislocated Workers.  In the past, performance measures were negotiated with each different Workforce Investment Area.   Now, the performance measures (percentages) are the same for all the Workforce Investment Areas across the state.  Average earnings for Dislocated Workers is $14,900 in two quarters  (six months), which comes out to almost $30,000 per year.   Most of our Dislocated Workers will not earn $30,000 per year when they first re-enter the workforce.  We may never be able to pass this standard.   We are accustomed to passing all of our performance measures; we received $184,000 extra last year for passing all our performance measures.    In the fall we discussed joining a non-binding pilot project with other areas to explore a regional pollution tax credit type of model, and we’re hoping this will help us in the future.   

 Business Services Committee                         

Bob Hoefs reported that the Business Services Committee met on February 15, and the minutes have been posted to the website.   We invited our local JSEC (Job Service Employer Committee) steering committee to meet with us to discuss individuals joining our Committee.  This would give us the advantage of their expertise and experience in the labor market while assisting them by promoting cooperative workshops and other endeavors.  The Department of Labor is not longer providing staffing for JSEC. In the past, NYSDOL employees organized and coordinated meetings, developed and sent announcements, paid for postage, and coordinated the registration process. Since our local DOL staff are no longer able to do this, we are trying a model that encourages a collaboration of the WIB and the local JSECs through the Business Services Committee. 

We are offering a workshop for employers on “Boosting Employee Retention”.  This workshop will be held at the Best Western in Amsterdam on March 15, 2007 from 8 am to noon.   The presenters are Jodie Sue Kelly and Sandi Scannelli from Cygnet Associates.  We will be sending out flyers within the next week and hope for a great turnout.   This workshop is partially funded by the incentive grant we received for passing all of our performance measures for PY2005.   It is also being co-sponsored by area JSEC’s.   We are charging a minimal fee of $15.00 to attend this workshop to help defray the cost of breakfast and printing of brochures.  Gail stated we would like to support our Board Members if any of them would like to attend.                      

           One Stop Oversight Committee                       

Roger Cohn reported that the One Stop/Oversight Committee met on January 24, and the minutes have been posted to our website.  Roger stated that some of the things that are consistent at our meetings are to review the activities at the various centers in terms of enrollment.  We have redesigned that report many times, and in turn report this information to the board.   We also reviewed the plan and timeline for our incentive award.   We meet the fourth Wednesday of the month at the Cobleskill Center.   

           Emerging Worker Council

Ramon Rodriguez reported that the Emerging Worker Council met on January 18, and the minutes have been posted to our website. Attendance is stable and our membership is growing.  We have seen some interest in membership from local schools. Ramon asked Connie to give a report on the upcoming Job Shadowing event.    

Connie reported that each of the counties have been meeting independently to plan their job shadowing events.  Each county is doing things a little differently, and each has their own contact person.  Fulton County is in its 3^rd year.  Montgomery and Schoharie are doing it for the first time and thus their projects have been deemed “pilots”.   

Fulton County hopes to include Mayfield, Johnstown, Gloversville, Broadalbin, Northville, and Oppenhiem-Ephratah Schools.  Most of the schools are doing the job-shadowing as part of an existing curriculum in the business classes. 

Montgomery County is targeting Fonda-Fultonville School and Schoharie County is targeting the Cobleskill-Richmondville School.   

If any business is interested in participating they can contact Connie.   

Ramon said that the Emerging Worker Council is doing some outreach through presentations at the schools.  The first presentation will be at the Amsterdam School District in March. The Emerging Worker Council will hold its meeting at the school after the presentation.  

Ramon spoke about a grant opportunity that became available for $200,000 for a transitional program for students with disabilities to transition into the community.   BOCES has taken the lead and several members of the council will be part of the grant.    

                       Board Orientation and Membership Committee 

Barbara Rivenburgh reported that the Committee met on January 30, and minutes have also been posted to our website.   Barbara stated that each Board Member has an index card in front of them and asked that if they knew of anyone who they felt might be interested in joining our board to fill out the index card and hand it to Sandy before leaving the meeting.   They must reside in the county that they will represent and be a member of their local Chamber of Commerce. Barbara listed the following openings:

Fulton County - 2 Business and 1 School Superintendent vacancies; Montgomery County – 2 Business Vacancies; and Schoharie had two vacancies and both will be filled this month.   We are hoping that Chuck Finin from Mesa Tech will be coming aboard.   He was our business partner of the year in 2005. We expect Barbara Shaffer to succeed Caroline Pangburn as union representative.  

Barbara stated that we reviewed board attendance, and letters will be going to those who have not had a good attendance record asking them if they would like to continue serving on the board.   

Barbara stated that the committee had reviewed the Board Orientation binder that board members received a few years ago.  The Committee members will continue to review the notebook with the intent of posting an online version on our website.    

Barbara said the committee discussed the possibility of a board retreat in late May or June.   We will be conducting a poll asking board members what dates might be the best.   We were looking at Board Assessment as our topic for the retreat.   

            Executive Committee  

The Executive Committee did not meet.

II.                 Executive Director’s Report

Connie:  Connie reported that she and Gina had just returned from the Youth Academy conference in Syracuse.  She felt it was one of the best conferences she attended in a long time.   She attended a group today on Marketing and PR that offered a lot of resources.   Connie also reported on our Universal Access Toolkit and the Access Team that has been utilizing it.  On Friday, Connie will be presenting training to other Disability Program Navigators on the use of the toolkit.   

Gina:  Gina said that this past month there have been a lot of things going on with youth, including attending the Youth Academy Conference.  She reported that there were a lot of great presenters.    But, what was especially helpful was being around people who are doing the same things as you are.   They are experiencing the same issues and struggles with youth in program and performance standards.   It is also helpful to hear stories from other areas when they talk about some of the struggles they have and realize we don’t have those struggles.   For example, one area emphasized how important it is for the Youth Program to have a good relationship with your One Stop Center.  We have our Youth Program right in our One Stop, which shows us again that we a doing some really great stuff.   

Becky: Becky has been ordering equipment that made possible through our Incentive Grant.  We have purchased 30 new computers that will be used in our resource rooms, two new photocopiers and some printers for our resource rooms.   Becky is also in the process of updating inventory for an upcoming Procurement Review by NYSDOL.  Older computers will be cleaned up and donated to programs at HFM BOCES and similar programs in Schoharie County. 

Sandy:  Sandy said she was working on the brochure for the upcoming workshop “Boost Employee Retention” and setting up arrangements with the Best Western.   

Gail:  Gail reported that Bob Hoefs was on a conference call today with the other areas of the State, and they were talking about what are local areas are doing differently under Functional Alignment with regard to operational innovations and cutting out paperwork for customers and businesses.  The Director of the Division of Employment Services was so impressed with some of the things we’ve been doing here, she asked for Bob’s list and has sent it to every other area in the state.   Gail stated a lot of it revolves around the success of our Functional Alignment Plan. Staff has come together, and we are working as a team as opposed to a collection of agencies.  Some of the board members requested this report from Bob.  Bob said he would email this report to whoever was interested.  Bob will email it to all Board Members.   

Gail updated the Board on the regional performance standards pilot that we are part of.   NYSDOL took last year’s numbers and put them into an excel spreadsheet with this years performance standards so that we can see what we may have passed or failed under the new standards.  Using a “pollution tax credit” idea where we can trade according to our strengths and weaknesses, may allow all local areas to pass their performance stands.  This is a one-year, hold-harmless pilot, and no one will be penalized by it.    Hopefully, this will help us to negotiate in areas that are difficult for each of us to reach our performance standards. 

III.               Old Business

There was no old business.        

IV.               New Business

o        Member Sharing

Elaine Mongin wanted to thank FMS WDB for donating 10 computers to BOCES.  They are about to start a new Tech Support A+ Program and some of these computers will be perfect for this project; while some of them will go to the GED program.   

Gail reminded the board that our March Meeting, which is coming up soon, is usually held at Jim Callery’s Partner’s Pub. Jim Callery no longer owns Partner’s, and Gail asked if everyone still wanted to have our March meeting there.   All members were in agreement to continue our tradition and have our March meeting at Partner’s Pub.  Sandy will look into it.  

V.                  Adjournment

            Barbara Rivenbugh made a motion to adjourn the meeting.   Tom Pasquarelli seconded the motion.  All were in favor. 

The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 pm. 

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