Triangle South Workforce Development Board

Meeting Minutes

April 20th, 2017

Board Members Present:

Chairman Russell Hieb, Carolyn Blue, Ronald Hewett, Robert (Bob) Kain, Bruce Ledford, Meg Moss, Jim Roberts, Angie Stewart, Edward Timmons, and Eugene Pearsall (via telephone)

Absent:Blake Arnett, Amanda Bryan, Gary Mac Herring Jr., Deanna Jones, John Lowery, Vicki Newell,Gordon Springle, Donna Williams

Others in Attendance: Dr. Pamela Senegal, Sherwood Southerland, Paul Maynor, Ken Chambers, Taylor Kirks, April Gale, Leon Jackson, Rosalind M. Cross, Angela Nicholson, Mike Peluso, Tiffany Swenson, Jackie McMillian, and Dottie Cieciorka

Meeting was called to order at 4:34pm, by Chairman Russell Hieb, quorum was established.

Approval of 2-16-17 Minutes:The minutes were approved with no discussion or opposition. The motion for approval was given by Jim Roberts, and was seconded by Bob Kain.

Approval of Financial Report: Fiscal Coordinator, Dottie Cieciorka, gave a brief explanation of the budget allotments for Program Year 2017 (please see reports and spreadsheets in board packet). Bob Kain indicated that the program year was ending, but a lot funds remained under formula funded programs and under the Hurricane Matthews Specialty Grant. Director Cross explained funding for formula programs are provided for a two year period for the local area. The funds are distributed to contractors for a one year period, and funds not expended during year one are recaptured and reallocated during year two. It is the expectation of the local board that all funds will be expended as allocated each program year.

Director Cross then stated that multiple efforts were made to acquire participants under the Hurricane Matthew Grant; however, those identified did not desire to commute to the worksite locations. Although counties neighboring Sampson County (i.e. Robeson County) had worksite availability, the distance to the worksite was over the60 mile threshold, even when bordering town locations were used as the starting points. Director Cross stated that recommendations concerning the grant will be made later on in the meeting.

The motion to approve the Financial Report was made by Bob Kain and was seconded by Edward Timmons. The Financial Report was approved with no opposition.

Board Development:Board Development was provided by Meg Moss and Ronald Hewett of the Communications Committee. Meg Moss announced that Lee County had recently been certified as a Work Ready Community, and SAGA is glad to assist other counties within the local area on obtaining the same certification. Lee County is number 22 out of the 100 counties in North Carolina to become a certified Work Ready Community.

Ron Hewett stated that the four areas the Communication Committee wishes to address are as follows:

  1. Utilizing CCCC’s Outreach Team,
  2. Identifying champions of industries to assist with outreach
  3. Reduce Bureaucracy and reduce the time from interest to implementation of the program
  4. Visibility of WIOA and NCWorks to Employees

Dr. Pamela Senegal stated that the CCCC Outreach team, the Business Retention and Acquisition Team (BRAT), continues to partner with employers. The team has been crossed-trained in various areas such as the provision of customized training, work-based learning, and work experience to offer an array of services to employers. Examples include:

  • Chatham County,BRAT is working with Chatham Industry Tours.
  • Harnett County,BRAT is participating in discussions with local businesses and industries to continue fostering existing relationships.
  • Lee County, BRAT is working with SAGA and the Chamber of Commerce.
  • Sampson County, BRAT continues to reach out to Sampson Community College to develop regional collaboration to provide economic, community, and workforce development to Sampson County employers.

Ron Hewett suggested that we ask the social and civic organizations, that TSWDB members are affiliated with, if they are willing to allow board members and staff to speak about Title I WIOA Programs at their meetings and events. Dr. Senegal suggested that TSWDB members contact these organizations and schedule fifteen minute presentations. As an action item, the Communications Committee will work with the Performance and Communications Coordinator, Adena Mitchell, to come up with a fifteen minute presentation that provides an overview of Board programs and services.

Ron Hewett also suggested that a survey be issued to jobseekers in an effort to determine what jobseekers already know about reaching out to employers. Dr. Senegal indicated that the primary focus has been placed on employers; however, there is the need to transition outreach efforts to focus on jobseekers, specifically, those who are unemployed or underemployed.

Contractors and Career Center staff in attendance were asked to inform the board of their outreach efforts to jobseekers. Sherwood Southerland expressed that while continuous outreach is needed, that programs need individuals who are willing to participate. Financial support to support mass media would also be beneficial as this would continue to drive jobseekers to the NCWorks Career Centers. Taylor Kirks stated, for youth participants, that word of mouth advertising is most common, and once people hear program success stories, then both the programs and career centers gain traction. Director Crossstated that the North Carolina Division of Workforce Solutions has partnered with Winnow Creative to provide some outreach materials. Additional cost has been incurred by the local area to customize the material to each county within our region. As an action item, funding availability for additional outreach will be determined.

As a conclusion to the discussion, Ron Hewett expressed that the Communications Committeewill readily accept any ideas that board members may have regarding outreach and other efforts.

Contractor Updates:Board Members did not solicit comments from contractors regarding the contractor reports as distributed.

Career Center Updates: The grand re-opening of the NCWorks Career Center – Chatham County will launch the one-stop as a certified NCWorks Career Center. The Ribbon Cutting will take place on Tuesday, April 25th at 11am. Light refreshments will be served.

CCCC Updates: Dr. Pamela Senegalinformed the Board on the following Central Carolina Community College updates:

  1. Governor Roy Cooper paid a visit to the college;
  2. A “two-plus-two” agreement is in place with Campbell University for an Applied Engineering Degree;
  3. Work continues with Veterans Representatives in the area to work with USO’s to provide opportunities for veterans and spouses of veterans;
  4. Twenty individuals completed the Income Maintenance Worker certification. As a follow-up, it will be determined how many of these individuals acquire and retain employment for a six month period or longer;
  5. CCCC’s EMT Program has received national certification.

*no representative from Sampson Community College was in attendance to provide updates.

Old Business

Updates to Contractor Reports:Director Rosalind Cross stated that items have been added to the contractor’s report based upon the board’s request. Updates to the contractor reports include the addition of performance indicator outcomes and a line to reflect the percentage of the total budget spent. The report shows PY2015 performance data under WIA Common Measures. Once the WIOA Performance Indicator Outcomes for PY2016 begin to populate, those measures will be reflected on future reports.

Hurricane Matthew Relief Information (NDWG): Director Cross informed the TSWDB that Hurricane Matthew funds have not been expended in our local area based upon the reasons stated earlier in this meeting. Other local areas have both expended and exhausted Hurricane Matthew funds and are requesting additional funds; however the State cannot meet these additional funding requests until all current Hurricane Matthew funds are used. It is therefore recommended that the board de-obligate the funds from our local area, and send them back to the State so that other workforce development boards may utilize them. The amount of remaining Hurricane Matthew program funds ranges between seventy and seventy-five thousand dollars. If de-obligated, a portion of the balance will be used to close-out the program, as no additional liabilities exist. The motion to de-obligate and send the Hurricane Matthew funds back to the State, with the consideration of funds needed for program close out, was made by Meg Moss. The motion was seconded by Carolyn Blue. The motion was approved with no opposition.

New Business

Career Pathways: The TSWDB received grant funds to assist in the certification of two certified career pathways. One of these grants was specifically for the purpose of Planning. A portion of the Planning Grant Funds will be used to provide training on Career PathwaysLeadership. There will be thirty-five class training slots. The training will be offered sometime in late May of 2017. It is encouraged that board members who work directly with career pathways attend the training.

Summary of RFP: The RFP timeline provided to Board Members was followed as documented with the exception of the Program and Planning Committee meeting date which was modified to accommodate a schedule conflict. Proposals were received in both written and electronic format as required. There was no competition for Youth Programs, and the Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs only received competition in Lee County. There was also no competition for One Stop Service Delivery. This means that with the exception of Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs in Lee County, all programs failed procurement and the TSWDB will have to go through the competitive bidding process next program year. Staff developed proposal review criterion based upon failed procurement. The criterion is provided in the board packet.

Recommendations for 2017 Service Providers & One Stop Center Operators:Jim Roberts reported that the Program and Planning Committee is looking at what needs to be done in the Fall of PY2017 to ensure competiveness for the bidding process. One step is to expand the bidder’s list. Another step is to look into measures that would allow bidder’s to gain background knowledge about WIOA Title I Programs, thus providing ample time for those bidder’s to prepare for proposal submission.

Mr. Robert’s reported the Program and Planning Committee recommendations as follows-

  1. Youth Programs
  2. Contract renewal not be offered to Central Piedmont Community Action for Chatham County;
  3. Contract renewal will be offered to the County of Harnett for Harnett County;
  4. Contract renewal not be offered to Johnston County Industries for Lee County;
  5. And contract renewal will not be offered to Johnston County Industries for Sampson County.
  6. The committee voted to enter into negotiations for Chatham, Lee, and Sampson Counties with the County of Harnett and Two Hawk Workforce Services.
  7. Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs
  8. Contract renewal will not be offered to Central Piedmont Community Action for Chatham County;
  9. Contract renewal will be offered to the County of Harnett for Harnett County;
  10. Contract renewal will not be offered to Central Piedmont Community Action for Lee County;
  11. Contract will be offered to Two Hawk Workforce Development Services for Lee County;
  12. And contract renewal will be offered to Two Hawk Workforce Development Services for Sampson County.
  13. The committee voted to enter negotiations for Chatham County with the County of Harnett or Two Hawk Workforce Services.
  14. One Stop Center Operators/Career Centers
  15. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be entered with Central Carolina Community College for Chatham County;
  16. A MOU will be entered with the County of Harnett for Harnett County;
  17. A MOU will be entered with the North Carolina Division of Workforce Solutions for Lee County;
  18. And a MOU will be entered with the North Carolina Division of Workforce Solutions for Sampson County.

A motion to accept the committee’s recommendation was entertained. Jim Roberts made the motion to accept the committee recommendations, including the committee’s vote to allow special negotiations. The motion was seconded by Edward Timmons. Meg Moss expressed her concerns regarding the committee’s recommendations in Lee County. Meg Moss indicated that she understands that the youth program has had a slow start over the course of the last two years, but during the last quarter, the Lee County Youth Contractor (Johnston County Industries (JCI) enrolled new participants. Meg Moss requested that the JCI representative in attendance, Taylor Kirks, share any comments he had regarding the recommendations.

Taylor Kirks expressed that efforts were made to improve the Lee County Youth program within the last two quarters, including making a change in staff. Taylor Kirksalso indicated that he would be glad to address any consumer complaints rendered during the two year period that JCI has served Lee County Youth. Taylor Kirks then commended the Sampson County Youth Case Manager, Ken Chambers, for his work within Sampson County. Ms. Moss expressed that Mr. Ken Chambers was awarded Youth Case Manager of the Year, and requested Sampson County Board Member Edward Timmons give comments regarding the recommendation for the Sampson County Youth Program. Edward Timmons expressed the difficulties that may exist when serving young adult and youth populations, and indicated that ongoing evaluation of effectiveness in serving youth must be conducted to ensure quality service provision. Edward Timmons then stated that he recommended that the board accept the Program and Planning Committees recommendations as stated. No further discussion was made. The motionto accept the Service Provider Operators as recommended by the Program and Planning committee was carried with one opposing vote.

Extension of Board Member Terms: Three TSWDB Members terms will end at the expiration of the current program year (PY2016). Chairman Russell Hieb made the recommendation to extend the expiring terms of these three Board members until the end of PY2017. Eugene Pearsall made the motion to extend the membership terms of these three members, and not apply term limits during PY2017 to allow for research regarding term use within board by-laws. The motion was seconded by Carolyn Blue and was approved with no opposition.

Board Membership Vacancy: Three TSWDB members (Scott Daniel, Alyce Kendrick, and John Ruffin) have resigned from the board. Under WIOA law, only nineteen board members are required to serve on the local workforce development boards, so the board is now only one member short of meeting WIOA compliance.

Committee Updates

Standing Youth Committee: Angela Nicholson provided TSWDB members in attendance with a draft brochure of the upcoming Young Adult and Youth Rally. Board members were encouraged to participate in the Community Service project by donating gently used or new books for individuals ages 0 to 18.

Staff Updates: Rosalind Cross stated that the TSWDB E-newsletter was issued on April 19th, 2017. Members are encouraged to provide feedback.

The meeting adjourned at 6:02pm

Minutes respectfully submitted byAngela Nicholson

Next Board Meeting:

April 15th, 2017

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