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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 25th 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 18th 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
4th.
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
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 20th. 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
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.
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 24th
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
19th 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
18th.
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
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
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.
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 28th 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 24th. 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 20th 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
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.
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
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 27th.
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.
“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 13th 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 3rd
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.
Frank Ruggiero made a motion to adjourn. Elaine Mongin seconded the
motion. All were in favor. The meeting adjourned at 5:50.
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 3rd 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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