NEMO WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD 111 E. Monroe Paris, Missouri 65275 (660) 327-5125 Fax (660) 327-5128
NEMO WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
March 16, 2015
PRESENT:
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NEMO WIB Members
Jeff Anderson
Joyce Carroll
Mark Chambers
Carolyn Chrisman
Doug Drake
Clinton Flowers
Dennis Gill
Gordon Ipson
Jim Kolve
Jo Moncrief
Diane Noah
Dan Putrah
Pat Poepping
Janice Robinson
Lynn Wehmeier
WIB Members
Not Present
Judy Dimmitt
Sheryl Ferguson
Stephen Garner
Steve Hines
Shane Mayes
Corey Mehaffy
Penny Miles
Chris Miller
Steve Sellenriek
Diane Simbro
Annette Sweet
Mac Wilt
CLEOs
Lyndon Bode
Dan Colbert
Glenn Eagan
Buddy Kattelmann
Roger Mauzy
Ryan Poston
Glenn Turner
Stephen Whitaker
Wayne Wilcox
CLEOs
Not Present
John Campen
Rodney Cooper
Duane Ebeling
Evan Glasgow
Jim Luebrecht
Stanley Pickens
Alan Wyatt
Guests
Cynthia Higgins, MERS/Goodwill, Inc.
Leanna Holdren, Gamm, Inc.
Judith Holly-Ward, MHC Certified Public Accountants, LLC (by phone)
Larry Markway, MERS/Goodwill, Inc.
Patti Meldrum, Gamm, Inc.
Shari Schenewerk, DWD
JoAnn Toerper, Boonslick RPC
WIB Staff
Brandi Glover
Casie Baumann
Sharon Hillard
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ROLL CALL OF THE CLEO CONSORTIUM
Roll call of the CLEO Consortium was taken by Secretary/Treasurer Jo Moncrief. Nine CLEO’s were present and a quorum was established.
NOMINATION OF NEW BOARD MEMBER
CLEO Chair Dan Colbert said the Consortium received a letter from the Division of Employment Security (DES) nominating Chris Miller to serve as the DES representative, replacing Lauren Schad on the Northeast Region Workforce Investment Board.
Commissioner Glenn Turner moved that the nomination of Chris Miller to the NEMO Workforce Investment Board be approved. Commissioner Glenn Eagan seconded the motion, and motion was unanimously approved.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
Chairperson Gordon Ipson called the March 16, 2015 NEMO Workforce Investment Board (WIB) meeting to order at approximately 7:00 p.m. at the M.W. Boudreaux Visitor’s Center in Perry, Missouri.
ROLL CALL AND SIGNATURE SHEET
Jo Moncrief took roll call. Fifteen Board members were present, and a quorum was established.
APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA
Dan Putrah moved to approve the consent agenda. Jeff Anderson seconded the motion, and the motion was unanimously approved.
AUDIT AND AUDITIOR’S REPORT
Board members and CLEOs were provided copies of the NEMO WIB’s audited financial statements for year ending June 30, 2014. Judith Holley Ward, CPA for MHC Certified Public Accountants, LLC reviewed the report. MHC’s tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that were required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards and in their opinion, the NEMO WIB complied, in all material respects, with compliance requirements that could have a direct effect on its major federal programs for year end June 30, 2014. In the summary of the auditors’ results, no matters were reported regarding the Financial Statements and Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs. The NEMO WIB was not qualified as a low-risk auditee. The Management Letter addressed a finding of excess cash. It was explained that cash exceeded the allowable excess cash on hand for 2 of 12 months. Management agreed to implement procedures to ensure that cash balances remain within the acceptable limits as noted by the MO Division of Workforce Development.
Jeff Anderson moved to accept the audit as presented. Jo Moncrief seconded the motion, and the motion was unanimously approved.
Commissioner Ryan Poston moved to accept the audit as presented. Commissioner Glenn Turner seconded the motion, and the motion was unanimously approved.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
· Youth Council Update
Committee Chair Mark Chambers said that at the last Youth Council meeting the members reviewed the Request for Proposal (RFP) that was soon to be released for the Title 1-B Youth Services. He said the RFP would consider both the Workforce Investment Act and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
· Call for Nominations of Officers
Jo Moncrief, member of the Nominations Committee, announced that it was time for the WIB to begin thinking about who they would like to nominate as officers of the Board for Program Year 2015. Members who would like to nominate someone or themselves should contact a member of the Nominations Committee (Diane Simbro, Chairperson) or the WIB office. Officer positions are Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary Treasurer.
· Video Task Force – Update
Pat Poepping said the Corps was negotiating a national, 5-year contract with a vendor to buy equipment. Currently, they were on hold and couldn’t buy IT equipment for any location. They expect to have the negotiations done in April. Then a contract will need to be signed. This would be a lengthy process, but once completed, they would get the technicians in the Boudreaux building and order the equipment. He felt it would be this summer before the building would be ready for video conferencing.
Carolyn Chrisman asked if the Task Force had another plan if video conferencing was not available by this summer. She felt the WIB had been working on this for years. She asked why the WIB was meeting in Perry and why the room at the Boudreaux Center was so special. Gordon said the WIB had been working on the video conferencing for about a year. Pat said the Task Force didn’t have another plan, but this was a good plan. He said the Boudreaux Center worked well because its size accommodated the number of members well. Carolyn said once we had teleconferencing at four locations, a meeting room the size of the Boudreaux Center wouldn’t be needed. Gordon said based on his experience, we would probably have four to five individuals participate in the meetings at the remote locations and the remainder would attend the meeting at the Boudreaux Center. Carolyn suggested the WIB use Google Hangout and said all the members would need was a Gmail account.
SUMMER JOBS PROGRAM AND STATE PARK YOUTH COPRS (SPYC)
Brandi said the Northeast Region was being awarded $220,089.97 for a Youth Summer Jobs program that would run from March 1 through November 30, 2015. The funds would be coming through the Temporary Assistance for Needed Families (TANF) program. We didn’t have a contract yet, but we did have a letter of intent. If anyone would like to have youth work at their business or if they knew of other businesses that may wish to do so, they should contact our subcontractors. She didn’t have the final Scope of Work for the program yet, but the approximate age of the youth would be 17 to 21. Income eligibility would be based on the TANF guidelines. When flyers were available she would send them to everyone.
Carolyn asked if there was anything in the program directing the youth toward STEM related jobs or if this could be added. Brandi said she wasn’t aware of anything in the Scope of Work addressing STEM related jobs. She said the program was mostly directed toward youth who had never had employment and it would be an opportunity for them to get that work experience.
Additionally, Brandi said the State Park Youth Corps (SPYC) program, which allows youth to work at some of our region’s State Parks, would be available again this summer. The program would run from March 1 to January 21, 2016. At this time, she was unsure of the amount of funds and the number of slots for the region. A conference call to discuss the program was scheduled for Friday, March 20 and we should learn more. To apply, youth would need to sign up online at the state park website at www.thinkoutside.mo.gov.
WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (WIOA)
Brandi said the federal government still hadn’t released the rules and regulations regarding WIOA. They were supposed to be released January 18. We were then told to expect them to be released in the spring. She was now hoping to see them by summer. At this time, we were moving forward with our planning. A meeting of the Executive Committee was scheduled to begin some organizing, and other committees would be moving forward as well. She said WIOA places a huge focus on our partnerships and that we partner with Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) and Vocational Rehabilitation. WIB member Jo Moncrief currently represented Vocational Rehabilitation and AEL was also represented on the Board. However, AEL wants to be represented by someone who is more involved with their program and they plan to nominate an individual for Board approval. Members would be hearing more as we move forward with making sure our programs were in line with the law by July 1.
Clinton said they had done some pretty significant things at the State level. Their meetings with Vocational Rehabilitation and AEL had moved from discussions to work groups. Brandi would be attending the TEAM meeting on Thursday and she should hear some significant announcements. He said one of their work groups was a communication strategy which was assigned the task of communicating what the State is doing to the WIBs. Clinton said he was on a work group that was working on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the State level on how they were going to work together. He said this could be emulated at the local level and the WIB could be having discussions about how it was going to refer clients etc.
Clinton also announced that Julie Gibson had accepted a Director’s position at the Department of Social Services Family Support Division and Amy Sublett had been named the new Director of the Division of Workforce Development.
PERFORMANCE UPDATE
A performance report was provided to the Board and CLEOs. Brandi reviewed the report and said the region was either meeting or exceeding all of its measures. The report showed the services by county and included all services, staff assisted and training services. The number of individuals being served in the region and by career center was also included in the report. It was asked that Wagner Peyser be explained. Clinton explained that Wagner Peyser was a program area that was sometimes called labor exchange services and included pre-employment types of services for employers and job seekers including job search. After other discussion, it was requested that Brandi include some of the surrounding counties that are served by our region and vice versa in future performance reports.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Brandi said she had been re-reading the 200 pages of the WIOA law for interpretation and planning, as well as, attending related webinars and training. Staff was trying to capture all information being released regarding the new law. As of now, 7 of our 16 counties had either been certified, were counties in progress or were in the process of applying. She announced that Adair County had been certified and WIB member Carolyn Chrisman who had led that initiative was in attendance.
Carolyn said Adair County was very proud to be a Certified Work Ready Community. She said the Northeast Missouri Workforce Investment Board was instrumental in that process by signing a letter of support and by providing some funding to help get individuals tested. Carolyn then presented the WIB with a proclamation from the Governor for its support.
Brandi said Lincoln and Pike Counties would also be applying to become Certified Work Ready Communities at the May deadline. She said Randolph County tested 106 individuals March 12 and it was a real team effort. Proctors from DWD, Gamm, MERS\Goodwill and MACC all assisted. She said our goal was to move toward our whole region being certified, and we were excited for the progress in each of our counties and all the hard work that was taking place to make that happen. Brandi said Casie and she had been working closely with the auditors throughout the audit process, and she was pleased with the report. We will soon be meeting with the Monitoring and Continuous Improvement Committee to finalize the monitoring for the year.
Shari Schenewerk provided a layoff status update. Shari said Kraft still plans to move the bacon lines to Ohio. The process is still delayed and there have been no changes. Officials state they plan to comply with the WARN law, but until there is a final decision, they are unsure how many workers will be affected. She and Jim Kolve with AFL-CIO held another presentation for 38 workers on March 5th at Quincy Compressor. Attendees were pleased with the services and information provided. Blink of an Eye, a retail store in Kirksville, will close March 31. The three part-time workers have all secured other employment and the owner is considering a different line of business. Hunter’s Haven in Macon closed March 14. All the owners have other sources of income and don’t want services. Factory Connection will close March 21. The two part-time employees have other jobs, but the manager has requested assistance and her information has been forwarded for services. Radio Shack in Hannibal has downsized. Everyone has found employment except the manager who may be interested in services. Although Wireco World Group has had a significant reduction in its workforce in St. Joseph and Chillicothe, its Kirksville plant produces different products and is planning no staffing changes.
CAREER CENTER UPDATES