SEMCA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD Wednesday, April 20, 2016 SEMCA, 25363 Eureka Rd., Taylor, MI MINUTES Members Present Alternates Present Members Absent Charlie Mahoney Gina Coleman Molly Luempert-Coy Naheed Huq Rory Gamble Marie Hocker James Van Buren/Kandi Wood Connie Carroll Jeffrey Gisstennar Frank Lopez Jason Evers Chris LaJoy Julie Soderberg Tracy Pierner Sean Sims Donald O Connell Aline Lafferty Malin Wagner Nicole McLaughlin Gerald Hesson Sheryll Rodgers Staff Present Gregory Pitoniak Tamara Lamper-Norrix Bill Hellar Patricia LeBlanc Rana Al-Igoe Sonya Grant Daniel Martinez Margie LeNoir Alex Mihalis Guests Terrie Hylton, MRS Cherie Reed, Bedford Public Schools Christine Ouellette, MRS Tupac Hunter, Wayne County Economic Development Gwen McNeal, BSBP Bayyinah Burton, MRS (Also Alternate for Sheryll Rodgers) Call to Order Chair Mahoney called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. Meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call Board, staff and guests introduced themselves and a quorum was present. Public Comment No public comment was made upon request. Approval of Agenda MOVED by Hesson to approve the Agenda of April 20, 2016, supported by Wagner. All voting aye, motion carried.
Approval of Minutes MOVED by O Connell to approve the Minutes of January 20, 2016 as presented, supported by Coleman. All voting aye, motion carried. Strategic Planning (SP) Consultant Approval Pitoniak explained that SEMCA has historically conducted a strategic planning process with the SEMCA boards and staff every five years, last done in 2011. To assist in the process, a consultant is retained via a formal RFP process. Six proposals were submitted in response to this year s RFP. SEMCA is required by our funders to do a cost-price analysis for any service or product we were purchasing. Three of the six proposals were scored and the other three were outside the SEMCA cost-price analysis for this service and therefore, not scored. The three proposals were very close in scoring. SEMCA management is recommending approval of Rehmann Consulting of Troy, Michigan as the Facilitator for the SEMCA 2016 Strategic Planning Process. Huq inquired if for some reason Rehmann Consulting chose not to take the job would we then move to the second place consulting firm. Pitoniak stated that yes, but he does not anticipate Rehmann turning down this opportunity. Hesson inquired as to Rehmann s knowledge of what we do. Pitoniak stated that familiarity with us and our system and experience with strategic planning was taken into consideration. One person on the scoring team noted their relationship with one of the southeast Michigan MWA s; the scoring team had no concerns on this point. MOVED by Lopez to approve Rehmann Consulting as the Facilitator for the 2016 SEMCA Strategic Planning process in an amount not to exceed $24,696, as recommended by the RFP Evaluation Team, supported by Carroll. All voting aye, motion carried. Board Retreat Strategic Planning Schedule SEMCA is recommending two Board strategic planning sessions to coincide with our regularly scheduled Workforce Development Board Meetings. SEMCA proposes to start the WDB meeting at 11:00 a.m., and provide a catered lunch, with strategic planning to follow in the afternoon. Pitoniak noted that the meetings would take place on May 18, 2016 and July 20, 2016. Pitoniak understands that this is a volunteer board and that your daily employment responsibilities make it challenging to devote several hours in one day to SEMCA. It is critical to have a quorum for the Board meeting at 11:00 a.m. on May 18, because we will be approving contractors for PY 2016-2017. Therefore, we are requesting that, even if you cannot commit to the entire session, to please come for whatever time you have available. If you can only commit to one planning session, that is fine also. MOVED by Lopez to approve the scheduled WDB dates of May 18, 2016 and July 20, 2016 to begin at 11:00 a.m. for purposes of Workforce Development Board business, with lunch and a facilitated strategic planning session to follow, supported by Wagner. All voting aye, motion carried.
WDB Board Member Nominees for Appointment by SEGA Board SEMCA has received notification from the County of Wayne that Tupac Hunter, will be taking the place of Jeffrey Gisstennar as the Economic Development Representative. Also Gina Coleman and Wanra Pearson have requested that their positions be switched making Coleman the board member and Pearson the alternate. SEMCA is hereby requesting that the WDB approve these nominations to be presented to the SEGA Board for approval. MOVED by Wagner to approve the nomination of Tupac Hunter and the switch in roles for Gina Coleman and Wanra Pearson to be presented to the SEGA Board for approval at their next meeting on April 29, 2016, supported by LaJoy. All voting aye, motion carried. TDCC Board Member Appointment Pitoniak announced that Aline Lafferty of ProMedica in Monroe has retired. Lafferty sat on the Region 9 Talent District Career Council (TDCC) as the Workforce Development Board Representative. Pitoniak sent an email to the Monroe members of the TDCC to see who would be interested in filling her seat. Connie Carroll of United Way of Monroe County offered to fill the vacancy if no one else accepted; no one else volunteered. SEMCA is requesting approval of Connie Carroll to fill the Workforce Development Board vacancy on the Region 9 TDCC. MOVED by Pierner to appoint Connie Carroll as Workforce Development Board Representative to the Region 9 Talent District Career Council, supported by Hocker. All voting aye, Carroll abstains, motion carried. Apprenticeship Presentation O Connell presented on the building trades apprenticeship programs for Operating Engineers Local 324. Apprenticeship programs are an entry way to enter the construction industry and a way to receive formal training. They earn as they learn and graduate from these programs debt free. Many apprenticeship participants now own their own companies. The apprenticeship program is jointly managed by the labor leaders and business owners. The standards are created and approved by the Office of Apprenticeship through the Department of Labor. A participant must be 18 years of age, a GED or diploma is required, reliable transportation, must be a citizen or able to work in the United States, and must have a strong work ethic. A participant needs to be strong in Math, mechanical reasoning and aptitude, spatial relationships and must be able to read. They must absolutely be drug free and random testing is done. Three things that contractors must have are safety, productivity and quality. He discussed the application process. O Connell believes that every student that graduates from high school should have a CTE experience. All options should be provided to students to open more doors of opportunity. He discussed the Access for All program for urban areas, which in our region is Detroit, providing knowledge and opportunities through a nine week program to urban participants. HRDI in Highland Park and DESC in Detroit participate in this program. Two short videos were shown. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation and materials that were distributed at the meeting are part of the agenda packet. O Connell fielded questions. Wagner advised that the state is changing CTE to include 9-12 grades, moving preprogramming to the middle schools and will be talking about CTE in the elementary
schools. Apprenticeship programs in the K-12 system from the past should be reevaluated. O Connell stated they are looking to partner with community colleges and create middle college opportunities. Coleman commented that PNC Bank through their foundation is looking to provide grants to organizations that are creating career opportunities that do not require a college degree. He was asked about the student feedback. Right now they are working with six schools but do not have the people to do individual programs. They have Construction Career Days where they pool all of the schools together to discuss these opportunities. Grant asked if they are considering expanding into other communities besides Detroit. Right now they feel that out-wayne is better prepared than in Detroit. They are also looking at Kalamazoo and Flint at this time. Rodgers noted her concerns that students with disabilities are still missing out on these great opportunities and is hoping that it is something that we can discuss further during the strategic plan process to bridge that gap. Hesson noted that unionized apprenticeship programs are the oldest educational system for workers in America. They do not ask for government funding. Employers and workers fund the programs. Huq noted the increased interest in CTE with students and the increased funding for next year. WIOA Plans Approval Process Board received an early draft SEMCA region local WIOA Plan. GTIB approved the State WIOA Plan in February. Each MWA will have to approve a Local Plan. WIOA Manager Al-Igoe has put together the Plan before you. WIN is assisting on the individual Prosperity Region Plans for Regions 9 and 10, as well as Region 6. The final Plan, which will also include the Regional Plans for Prosperity Regions 9 and 10, will be brought before the board for approval at the May 18, 2016 meeting. It is important to have a quorum at that meeting. Al-Igoe noted that a lot of the data in the local regional plan talks about the labor shed data and swot analysis with core partners. It is looking at how the region works together and what the labor market looks like in each region. As we get the data and analysis, we will incorporate some of that into our local plan and how we addressing the needs that are identified during that process. Michigan Rehabilitation Services and Adult Education are core partners in the local plans, and we have representation from MRS and Bedford Adult Education present at this meeting. SEMCA needs from all of our core partners and board feedback on what we are lacking in our plan. Is there anything missing? Is there something we need more of? The Prosperity Regional Plan will be sent in our advanced packet or before, so unfortunately our time to review is limited to approve the document before the June 25, 2016 deadline. There is, however, a 30 day public comment period so we need to post the Plans for public comment by May 25, 2016. Mahoney advised that if you feel something is missing, please put it in writing and get it to Pitoniak and/or Al-Igoe as soon as possible. Dan Martinez and Patricia LeBlanc were acknowledged for working on this plan as well.
Rodgers inquired if the survey results are included in the document. Al-Igoe noted that the information from the surveys will be included in the Prosperity Region Plans. SEGA Board Update Pitoniak noted that the next SEGA meeting is scheduled for Friday April 29, 2016. The WDB member nominations will be brought before the SEGA Board for approval. Plante Moran will be presenting the Annual Audit, of which SEMCA has received a clean audit for 2015. Long Term Unemployed (LTU) Outreach Campaign Pitoniak provided the background over the last year to reach out to the Long-Term Unemployed or Underemployed. Several MWA s pooled resources with Tanner Friedman. There have been some radio spots for Michigan Works. The radio stations where chosen based upon their market reach. Over 400,000 past MI Works customers were surveyed and over 11,000 responded. Three radio spots were developed as well as a social media video. Yoursuccess.work is a microsite created for the campaign with a link to the state s website if a customer chooses to go to an MWA nonparticipant of the campaign. The radio and social media campaign will continue for six to eight weeks. We are measuring results of the campaign by asking customers what brought them to the centers. The video is YouTube pre-roll so it will be the ad that pops up before you watch your favorite YouTube video. Facebook media is out there, and we are excited to see which avenue has the highest success. The State Association received a grant for ad words media with Google and were underspending their allocation. We approached them and they allowed us to utilize a portion of their Google Ad Words funds for our social media strategy. Pitoniak, Grant and Herron from Washtenaw have participated in or will participate in several free interview opportunities for radio and TV. We will keep you apprised of the success. Carroll stated that if she can get the PSA in print, she has connections in Monroe that can run the information for local radio and TV. Pitoniak asked Al-Igoe to get the information to Carroll and Julie Montri of our Monroe Service Center. Hesson noted that each community has public access time available with their cable company, which can be another avenue for advertising to the LTU. Talent District Career Council Update Neither Regions 9 or 10 have met since our last meeting. Region 9 is scheduled to meet on April 29, 2016. There are only three required meetings per year. COA Update Grant advised that we have begun the process for a four-year reaccreditation. The site visit is scheduled for December 12, 2016. Policy/Funding Updates The State has received their allocations of federal funds for WIOA Adult, WIOA Dislocated Worker, WIOA Youth and Wagner Peyser to begin July 1, 2016. Youth is down nearly 5%, Adult is down 5.5%, Dislocated Workers is down 9.5% and Employment Services about the same. SEMCA has not
received its specific allocation at this time. Monroe and Out-Wayne economic condition is not as bad as other MWA s so we could receive higher cuts for our region. SEMCA has an employment services only satellite Service Center in Grosse Pointe, primarily to serve the residents of the Pointes and Harper Woods. WIOA regulations now require all service centers to be comprehensive One Stops, so SEMCA is evaluating the possibility of closing the satellite center and to, instead, establish an Access Point. Pitoniak is in conversation with Dale Krajniak from our SEGA Board, who suggested that one or two of the City Halls in Eastern Wayne County could have computer work stations and staff trained to help customers with general search information. There are five full-service MWA s within a 15 mile radius of the Pointes and Harper Woods so they do have access to full service centers. Data also shows that 50% of the customers served at the Grosse Pointe Service Center do not reside in the Pointes or Harper Woods. SEMCA is in the process of reviewing contractor RFPs. It has been three years since we bid out these services. At the May 18 th board meeting, you will be provided with the contractor recommendations for approval. This is for all contractors except for PATH. SEMCA has been chosen to provide fiduciary and human resources services for the new Southeast Michigan Consortium. This new consortium merges the three MWA s that covered Washtenaw, Livingston, Hillsdale, Jackson and Lenawee Counties. We are currently in contract negotiations. William Sleight has been selected as their Executive Director. They intend to transition many of the current MWA employees into the new entity. It is an ongoing process of discussion, and we will keep you updated. Program Updates PATH, Earn & Learn, Prisoner Reentry, MLB Martinez reviewed the WPR numbers. The QG-163 is customers that SEMCA works with directly every day, and the QG-160 are customers working with the DHHS offices only. The goal is 50% and SEMCA is well above that mark. The rest of his update is in his report unless there are any questions. WIOA, ES, TAA, OJT, STTF, IWT Al-Igoe referred the Board to her report. Most of the important items were already covered but noted that SEMCA continues to work on the Governor s Rising Tide Initiative in River Rouge. Southgate Michigan Works! Service Center hosted a job fair for River Rouge residents. They were bused over to the center and met with employers. There were 55 candidates in attendance and 61 interviews took place; nine being hired on the spot and 11 receiving an offer depending on prescreening (drug testing and physical). The Governor is expected to visit all of the Rising Tide communities in the near future. Mahoney suggested that the Board be notified when the Governor s visit date is established. Further updates can be found in the report in the packet. WIOA Youth Update LeBlanc highlighted a couple of items. SEMCA has hired a Youth Programs Coordinator, Mihaela Fodor. She is already out-and-about at Woodhaven High School representing the Wayne County College Access Network, so she could not attend today s meeting. She will also be working with the Jobs for Michigan s Graduates Program (JMG). SEMCA applied for an
AmeriCorps Vista representative, and we have been approved. This person will also be working with the JMG Program. JMG has 77 youth enrolled in the program. They are taking a group of 10 to Lansing to compete in the Career Development Conference with youth across the state in the areas of financial literacy, work readiness, public speaking, etc. The day prior to the competition, the youth will visit the capitol and meet with a state representative. They will dine together and will be spending the night. This is a new venture for WIOA youth and everyone is looking forward to it. The Health Care Talent Tour took place at Henry Ford College and was a huge success. LeBlanc showed one picture of the group. Pitoniak thanked Pat for energizing the youth program and bringing so many partners to the table to grow the programs. October 7, 2016 is the Wayne County Manufacturing Day. Wagner is on the committee with LeBlanc, and they are targeting 2000 students for this event. There are 36 businesses on board and all of the community colleges and Baker College will participate as hubs and show-off there manufacturing programs. SEMCA will be the fiduciary for the program. MiBrightFuture is the extension of Career Cruising that connects employers to students for workbased learning opportunities. It is coming to Wayne County as a pilot. They will be working with four schools for the remainder of this year and in the fall, extend it to more schools. Pitoniak encouraged the Board to go to the website and sign up as an employer. You would designate an employee that is available to answer questions for students interested in your business and careers in your business. SEMCA has signed up as an employer. They are looking for as many employers as possible. WIN Update WIN has made MiBrightFuture their No. 1 public policy objective and is trying to get the state to endorse it. Wayne County Economic Development is utilizing WIN to enhance the economic development strategy. Pitoniak advised to the board to review the labor market reports that he sends out to the Board for our regions. There is real-time data available regarding your industry or geography. New/Old Business Mahoney reported on the NAWB conference. She and Connie Carroll attended on behalf of SEMCA. It was an extremely good conference with good speakers. The theme was on the future of employment and the technology as it is addressing employment, and how that will change the business we are in today. NAWB is watching the budget and how it will impact the continued development of the WIOA system. Boards throughout the country are in more turmoil then Michigan, because Michigan was a model for the WIOA system. NAWB is providing support to those boards in need. Perkins Grant funding and the WIOA system are being watched closely. Mahoney asked that the meeting calendar change for the next two board meetings and strategic planning sessions get out the Board as soon as possible so the board can lock down their calendars.
Pitoniak apologized for cancelling the WDB meeting last month, but circumstances would not allow it to happen, and thanked the board for accommodating the April meeting. MOTION by Hesson to adjourn the meeting, supported by Lopez. Meeting adjourned at 4:05 p.m. The next full board meeting and Strategic Planning Session is scheduled for May 18, 2016 beginning at 11:00 a.m., lunch provided. Respectfully submitted, Tamara Lamper-Norrix Executive Assistant - SEMCA