(D R A F T)
LOCAL WORKFORCE INVESTMENT AREA TEN
SOUTH CENTRAL TENNESSEE WORKFORCE BOARD
TENNESSEE CAREER CENTER – LAWRENCEBURG OFFICE
LAWRENCEBURG , TENNESSEE
APRIL 8 , 2009
MINUTES
A meeting of the South Central Tennessee Workforce Board was held on April 8, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. at the Tennessee Career Center – Lawrenceburg Office, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Members present were as follows:
Rick Alexander Sandy Calvert Eddie Cook Gayle Cook
Glenn Gordon Beth Keaton Sam Kennedy Victor Lay
Sue MacArthur Robby Moore Pame Moore-Morrow Pamela Morris
Sam Outlaw John Rawe Jim Sloan Dr. Janet Smith
Joe Max Williams T.R. Williams
Tony Beyer, James Copley, Bruce Cotton, Guy Derryberry, Tamara James, and Don Reeves, Jr., submitted proxies.
Guests in attendance were:
Ron Beck Vicki Beckman Tony Creecy Kay Dodson
Hardin Franklin Leigh Gobble Micha Gobble Michael Gobble
Patrick Hite Jack Irby Dr. Paul Jennings Sharon Johnson
Francis Jones Roberta Kornelson Irwin Kornelson Christy Newton
Trudy Parham Randall Peppers Roma Powis Roy Snyder
Jerry Sterling Phillip White
Staff in attendance were:
Tia Anderson Brian Balinger Joe Beard Vivian Cathey
Suzanne Croft Vicki Forsythe Renona Harney Emily Hill
Chuck Huckaby Melanie Gladden Wendi Jones Sheryl Jordan
Jamie Ledford Donna Luna Patricia Lymon Jan McKeel
Rob Mitchell Rick Molder Elaine Newcomb Ken Powis
Brenda Sewell Stan Smith Johnny Staggs
Charlotte Tamberrino Stephen Webb
Joe Max Williams, Vice Chairman, conducted the meeting and welcomed everyone. Lawrence County Executive Paul Rosson welcomed everyone to Lawrence County.
Mr. Williams deferred to Jan McKeel, Executive Director, to recognize the following Employer, Partner and Youth of the Quarter recipients:
Precision Laser, Inc. was recognized as the Employer of the Quarter. Irwin Kornelsen, CEO, and Roberta Kornelsen, HR Manager, accepted the award. Precision Laser, Inc. of Manitoba, Canada chose Lawrenceburg for its U.S. headquarters, with the plan to create 153 new jobs in Lawrence County. It is a manufacturer of heat furnaces and other heat transfer equipment and is also performing custom laser cutting operations. Precision Laser does work for the heat, oil, farming, and mass transit industries. The company is receiving FastTrack OJT funds in a partnership between the Tennessee Department of Labor and Tennessee Department of Economic Development. It was awarded 13 training positions and has completed the training of 9 employees. Precision Laser, Inc. currently has 15 employees.
Loretto High School in partnership with Tennessee Technology Center at Pulaski for its implementation of the welding program at Loretto High School was recognized as Partner of the Quarter. Tony Creecy, Assistant Director of TTC at Pulaski , Francis Jones and Randall Peppers, program instructors, Phillip White, and Micha Gobble, welding student accepted the award. The welding program was started with special funding from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development in 2007 in response to the announcement that Alabama National would open a rail car production facility in nearby, Sheffield, AL. Special recognition was given to Micha Gobble, a former Loretto High School graduated and dual enrollment student in the Loretto High School Welding Program, who has continued his training at the TTC-Pulaski. Mr. Gobble took first place in Welding State Skills USA Competition and will represent Tennessee at the national competition in June in Kansas City, MO.
Tina Luna was recognized as the Youth of the Quarter. Ms. Luna is a senior at Lawrence County High School. She was summer intern at Safe and Smart, a place where children come and spend time in a drug free and safe environment and learn valuable lessons about life.
The theme of the meeting was “Trends in Advanced Manufacturing and Occupations” with guest speaker Ronnie Boles, President of General and Automotive Machine Shop, who gave a presentation on “Dream It”, Do It”.
The minutes from the January 14, 2009 meeting were approved by consent.
Brenda Sewell, Technology and Training Services Coordinator, reviewed and discussed the request for new training programs be added to the Tennessee Eligible Training Providers list submitted by Columbia State Community College. She stated staff’s recommendation to add the Pharmacy Technician, Webmaster, Microsoft Office Specialist, and Help Desk Analyst programs to the Tennessee Eligible Training Providers list. Ms. Sewell noted these are online short-term programs. Discussion followed. Mr. Williams asked for a motion to approved staff’s recommendation for these programs. John Rawe made a motion to approve staff’s recommendation on the programs presented. Glen Gordon seconded the motion. Dr. Janet Smith abstained. The motion was passed.
Ms. Sewell reviewed and discussed the request by Superior Drivers Institute to add Commercial Driver License-Upgrade/Refresher program to the Tennessee Eligible Training Provider list. The program is for two weeks at a cost of $3,200 with a certificate of completion. She stated staff recommended not to add this program to the Tennessee Eligible Training Providers list because the cost exceeds the regular three weeks training course that is already in place: the staff feels an On-the-Job training contract with the employer will better serve our customers, will guarantee employment and allow individuals to obtain the extra skills needed to perform the job. Mr. Williams asked for a motion to approve staff’s recommendation. Mr. Rawe made the motion to accept staff’s recommendation. Victor Lay seconded the motion. The motion was passed.
Ms. Sewell asked for request for approval of special Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Practical Nursing Classes for dislocated workers. First, she stated the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) class would be offered in Perry County and taught by staff from Columbia State Community College tentatively set to start May 15th. There are currently six students for the class with the possibility of more students being added. At this point the cost is $9,394.67 per participant for a total of $59,368.00. Discussion followed. Staff recommends approval of this EMT class. Secondly, Ms. Sewell asked for request of approval for special Practical Nursing Training program provided by the Tennessee Technology Center at Pulaski. This program will be located in Lawrenceburg is tentatively scheduled to start May 18th. There are 24 slots at a cost of $7,217.00 per participant for a total cost of $173,210.00. Discussion followed. Mr. Williams asked for a motion to approve staff’s recommendations for the special Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Practical Nursing Classes for dislocated workers. Jim Sloan made the motion to approve staff’s recommendations. Beth Keaton seconded the motion.
Dr. Janet Smith abstained. The motion was passed.
Ms. McKeel briefly reviewed the 2009-10 plan presentation for the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act on stimulus spending that she presented on April 3rd to the State. Discussion followed.
Trudy Parham, Tennessee Partnership Specialist with the United State Census Bureau, gave a brief presentation on data collection for the upcoming 2010 Census. Discussion followed. Ms. Parham distributed information about the 2010 Census and encouraged those in attendance to become a 2010 Census partner in an effort to promote the Census Bureau’s effort to achieving a complete and accurate data collection in their community.
Suzanne Croft, Director of Fiscal and Administrative Services, briefly reviewed and discussed the Fiscal Report ending in February 2009. She mentioned that Mr. Joe Osterfield, Certified Public Accountant of Joe Osterfield, CPA , presented the 2007-08 Audit Report. There were no findings. The South Central Tennessee Workforce Alliance Board of Directors approved the audit report.
Sue MacArthur, Chairwoman of the Healthcare Task Force, talked about the upcoming Healthcare Task force meeting to be held on April 15th. The purpose of the meeting is to gather healthcare partners to identify and discuss ways to better prepare individuals and strengthen workforce development in the healthcare industry.
The remaining information items were deferred to members to review at their convenience.
The meeting adjourned at 1:45 p.m.