MINUTES

Friday, August 14, 2015

Mesa County Workforce Center

Business Center Room C

August Workforce Development Board Meeting7:30 am Community Services BuildingAugust Advisory Committee Meeting5:00 p.m.

  1. Call to Order
  1. Buzz Moore, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:32 a.m.
  2. Introductions around the table. Attendance satisfies quorum.
  1. Approve Minutes
  1. Only March and May require approval as there was not a quorum in June so no official business was conducted.
  2. Buzz Moore motioned for approval of March and May 2015 minutes. Diane Schwenke moved; Will Hays seconded; none opposed. Motion approved.
  1. Review and Approve Bylaws
  1. Tracey made changes to the draft document as they were recommended.
  2. Direction and guidance to the Workforce Center instead of to the LWDB on the third bullet.
  3. Article Six: Officers- in section one "continue their WIA WIB elected positions" was added to the end of the first sentence.
  4. The wording currently makes it sound as if they only hold position for the first meeting.
  5. Need to specify when the annual meeting takes place.
  6. Tim Fry, Buzz Moore, Brigitte Sunderman, Bill Byers, Jon Maraschin and Chris Thomas make up the executive committee. The chair appoints the executive committee. Need to add wording that the board will ratify the executive committee.
  7. Buzz motioned to approve bylaws as amended. Rose moved, Dianne seconded. None opposed.
  8. Nina moved for Buzz as Chair and Tim as vice chair for 2016 fiscal year. Diane seconded. None opposed.
  9. Diane moved to approve the executive committee as appointed. None opposed.
  1. Review and Approve Conflict of Interest
  1. The expectation is for members to bring up their conflicts of interest. We do seek robust discussion and want all perspectives to be able to participate when possible.
  2. Some of the member requirements seem limiting and there is some concern about whether or not all of our members fit the requirements. Sole proprietors are not allowable to serve as chair.
  3. Bill, CDLE, on the phone has experienced other boards who have had people who do not meet the requirements. In those cases the individuals were able to serve on a sub-committee instead of being on the board. Board members need to have decision making power and make hiring decisions for their agency.
  4. Need to review our member list to see if each person is a true representative of business as defined in PGL 15-07.
  5. There is no wording describing the board having authority over making discretionary decisions on who can be a board member.
  6. Bill, CDLE, recommends making a list of those members in question. Give background information on why they have been chosen as a board member, how long they have served, etc. and send that to Lee Wheeler for guidance.
  7. Diane requests that the executive committee review the roster and seek guidance from Lee.
  8. Back to the topic of conflict of interest: under procedures #2 remove "or discussion" so members can participate in discussion, but are not allowed to vote.
  9. Buzz moved to approve policy as amended. Linda Spencer seconded. None opposed.
  10. All members will get a copy of the final bylaws.
  1. Review and Approve Attestation Statement
  1. Review New Member Nomination Process
  1. We need to track who nominates members with what sector they come from as well as tracking what sector the nominee represents.
  2. Mesa County is looking at considering a GJEP staff as a business sector member even though they are an economic development sector business. Bill recommended getting a letter of support from the organization the member is coming from.
  3. From what was just explained is sounds as if Kristi Pollard, DianeSchwenke and Jon Maraschinwould need a support letter from their organizations.
  4. The labor representatives additionally have to be involved in their apprenticeship programs.
  5. You can get a support letter after nominating someone. Supervisor approval is necessary, not board approval. If someone is a CEO, we do not need approval from anyone.
  6. Nominators have to be from the same sector as those they are nominating.
  7. Kristi's appointment will need to be put on the Board of County Commissioners public hearing agenda along with the bylaws. This board has already been appointed, but if changes in membership are made those appointments will have to go to the BoCC as well.
  8. Diane asked about our purpose and if we will be having round tables or similar venues to get community inputthat would help the board in strategic planning. Tracey responded that is the plan. There will be standing committees and we can create as many of those as we want. Diane suggests coming up with a feedback mechanism to make sure we stay connected with the industry representatives.
  1. Consider New Member Nomination
  1. Diane moved to nominate Kristi Pollard. Nina seconded. None opposed.
  1. WFC Director Update
  1. The posting was open for 2 months and posted nationally. We only found 3 candidates that had WFC/economic development experience in a high level position, all of which were from out of state. The process was started with phone interviews. One withdrew after that. The 2 left were given a presentation assignment and then a second person withdrew. The only person left was John Flanagan.
  2. John Flanagan currently runs WIA programs in Erie Pennsylvania. Buzz and Tim were part of the hiring panel. Buzz feels John is highly skilled, knows WIOA and how to implement it; impressed with his skill set. Tracey was most impressed with John in how much work he has done in emerging workforce with youth and businesses. He also has experience working with manufacturing industry. John has also spent time working with the elderly population and getting them employment. John expressed he feels Mesa County has a huge opportunity here because we have a growing population, which is the opposite of the situation where he comes from.
  3. John has been conditionally offered the position. If all background checks come back without issue, he is able to begin October 5th.
  4. We will find opportunities to get John out into the community so everyone can get to know one another.
  5. Kelly Flennikensuggested we also look for things we can do to welcome his entire family.
  1. Adjourn
  1. Buzz Moore, chair, called the meeting to close and adjourned at 8:36 a.m.
  1. Next Meeting September 11th 7:30-9:00

Minutes

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June 12, 2015