michigan works! west central wdb/leo joint meeting big rapids

MICHIGAN WORKS! WEST CENTRAL
WDB/LEO JOINT MEETING
BIG RAPIDS WORKFORCE SERVICE CENTER
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014
MINUTES
LEO Members Present
Andersen, Janet
Castonia, Gary
Emig, Larry
Ortwein, Chris
Sloan, Dan
Trapp, Chuck
Warba, Mark
LEO Members Absent
Howard, Linda
WDB Members Present
Bonga, Roger
Cooper, David
Massy, Dan
Nash, Roger
Nolan, Don
Smith-Olson, Debbie
Thompson, Sheri
WDB Members Absent
Ferguson, Tim
Fettig, Grant
Griffin, Nancy
Hallenbeck, Chris
Jensen, Jim
Nash, Allen
Pasley, Julia
Roberts, Carla
Roubal, Lew
Sims, Steve
Stanek, Bill
Trucks, Mary
Michigan Works! West Central Staff
Griffith, Paul
Rasmussen, Michelle
Shoemaker, Connie
Wyman, Mike
Others Present
Albright, Linda – Hope Network
Ewing, Margaret – Telamon Corp
Frendo, Joe – NCRESA
Miller, Allison – Sister of Participant
Miller, Kasey – Youth Participant
Miller, Linda – Mother of Participant
Robinson, Felisha – FBR
Sandy, Jim – Mecosta Co Dev Corp
Sweigart, Lynda – Hope Network
Vyce, Janet – DHS
Wood, Janet – Hope Network
Wyers, Kirk – NCRESA
Call to Order
WDB Vice Chairperson Roger Bonga brought the meeting to order at 12:38 p.m. at the Big Rapids
Workforce Service Center. A quorum is present of the LEO but not the WDB.
Roger welcomed the new Board members and guests.
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Welcome New LEO & WDB Members
◊ Gary Castonia, City of Ludington Councilor
Gary explained he was born and raised in Ludington, after serving in the US Army he came home
and got a job at the Police Department. After retiring he worked for Dial-a-Ride and then worked
his way into politics by serving on the Planning Commission and now the City Commission.
◊ Dan Sloan, Lake County Commissioner
Dan worked as legislative assistant to Governor Blanchard; worked in both the House and State
Senate in a variety of positions including being a policy analyst covering agriculture, DNR and
telecommunications. He has a consulting business which involves public relations, marketing and
political consulting. He also has a photography business and is a poet.
◊ Don Nolan, Area Manager, Michigan Department of Corrections
As Area Manager for Field Operations, Don manages parole and probation officers across 21
counties. Prior to this he was Field Supervisor and has had a variety of experience with the
Department of Corrections.
Introduction of Guests
Guests were introduced and welcomed.
Showcase: Hope Network WIA Youth Participant Kasey Miller, Linda Albright, Case Manager
Linda Albright, Youth Case Manager for Mecosta and Osceola counties, introduced participant, Kasey
Miller who brought her mother, Linda, and her sister, Allison, with her who have been her supporters.
Linda explained that Kasey’s mother had sent her an email after Kasey completed her training and she
shared it with the Board members to reinforce the fact that this program is working: “Thank you so
much for taking care of Kasey, it means the world to me. She has really changed since someone
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besides my self believed in her. She has a big heart and I know she will do well at this job. Thanks
again, Linda Miller”
Kasey explained that after graduation she worked at a convenience store part time – three or four
days a week at minimum wage as a cashier. She heard she could take classes to become a Certified
Nurse Aide (CNA). She went to Michigan Works! and met with Linda and brought all the paperwork
to her that she needed. She completed training which took three or four weeks. One week after she
completed the training she obtained a job at Altercare in Big Rapids, a nursing home. While working
at Altercare she passed the State test and then was hired at Spectrum Health in Reed City. She works
midnights now and has gone from minimum wage to $12.96. She said, “I wouldn’t have been here
without Linda. I appreciate it very much. It means a lot, a lot!”
Roger thanked Kasey, on behalf of the Boards, for her testimony.
NOTE: Linda Albright, Kasey Miller, Linda Miller and Allison Miller left at 12:47 p.m.
Did You Know? 2013 Video
Paul explained that he and Mayor Warba were invited to be a part of Ferris’ “Commission on The
Future” last week.
A clip was shown at the beginning, which was pretty thought provoking. (Go to “youtube.com”
and in the search bar type “did you know 2013?”)
Consent Agenda (Action Item)
Minutes of December 4, 2013 WDB/LEO Joint Meeting – Mailed Prior
December Financial Report – Mailed Prior/Handout (Goldenrod)
Sheri Thompson moved to accept the consent agenda as presented; supported by Larry
Emig; motion accepted unanimously by the LEO and those present of the WDB. 12:57 p.m.
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December Program Reports – Handout
Enrollment/Expenditures Reports
Felisha stated that the programs are on point even though they are not able to enroll as many as
they would like due to a freeze on enrollments. Other than that they are working with employers to
do a couple OJTs and are enrolling people into direct placement, meaning they are not coming in
to training, they are going directly to work and FBR is doing supportive services for them. The
PATH program Work Participation Rate is still above 60%. Among other things being done is
working with United Way of Mason County with the new Employer Resource Network to assist
individuals seeking entry level employment.
Joe Frendo explained that the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC)
expired December 31, 2013 and has not been renewed by Congress. There have been a couple of
glitches with the paperwork and with Michelle’s help they are working through this with their
customers. On the report given to the Board he wanted to point out that since Jennifer Daly has
been with NCRESA she has gotten her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree. She is one that is leading
by example and they are very proud of her.
PY’13 Proposed Revised Budget – Emailed Prior/Handout (Action Item)
Paul explained that due to the two major funding cycles (July through June and October through
September) it is important for the Board to see the Budget more than once a year.
Paul explained that Brigette is not present due to a family emergency requiring her to fly to
Nevada to be with her mother.
Chris Ortwein questioned the rent – he was under the impression that the rent went down but
according to line item 940 it appears to go up. Paul will check on this when Brigette returns and email
Board members the result.
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Chris Ortwein moved to accept the PY’13 Proposed Revised Budget pending verification of
the rent; supported by Dan Massy; motion accepted unanimously by the LEO and those
present of the WDB. 1:07 p.m.
Plans/Modifications Summary – Handout Blue (Action Item)
1. WIA Program Budget Modification 11-36 Change 2
The Modification accepts $32,418 of Dislocated Worker (DW) funding from Appropriation Year
2011 Rapid Response funding.
2. WIA Program Budget Modification 12-01
The Modification accepts $48,000 in Dislocated Worker Rapid Response funding from a State
Adjustment Grant (SAG) application that was approved to assist the workers from Liberty Dairy,
Mosaic Potash, Harrington Tool, Creative Co-packing and Applebee’s in Ludington. The rules for
SAG have changed so that only workers from these companies may be served with this funding8.9579(o)-
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West Central did not have any funding de-obligated. Agencies that did not have any funding deobligated, will receive their fair share from the amount de-obligated from other MWAs.
Sheri Thompson moved to accept the Workforce Investment Act Program Budget Modification
11-36 Change 2; Workforce Investment Act Program Budget Modification 12-01; Workforce
Investment Act Program Budget Modification 13-01 Continued Authorization; and the Systems
Plan 14-00 as presented by Mike Wyman; supported by Debbie Smith-Olson; motion accepted
unanimously by the LEO and those present of the WDB. 1:14 p.m.
Roger Nash moved to adopt the resolution to designate the Workforce Development Board as
the One Stop Operator for the West Central Michigan Works! Area, with the concurrence of the
LEO and the functions of the One Stop Operator provided via Michigan Works! West Central
administration and staff; supported by Larry Emig; motion accepted unanimously by the LEO
and those present of the WDB. 1:17 p.m.
David Cooper moved for the WDB to approve the WDB Vice Chair to sign on behalf of the
WDB, in the absence of the WDB Chair; supported by Dan Massy; motion accepted by those
present of the WDB. 1:18 p.m.
Chris Ortwein moved for the LEO to approve the LEO Vice Chair to sign on behalf of the LEO
in the absence of the LEO Chair; supported by Janet Anderson; motion accepted unanimously
by the LEO. 1:19 p.m.
Chris Ortwein moved for the LEO with concurrence of the WDB to authorize the Michigan
Works! West Central Executive Director as the alternate Fiscal Agent of Michigan Works! West
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Central. This includes signatory authority and receipt of Contracts, Grants and Grant Action
Notices; supported by Dan Massy; motion accepted unanimously by the LEO and those present
of the WDB. 1:21 p.m.
Federal Budget
Paul noted that in recent weeks the Federal Budget was approved. As usual, this will be a two-step
process. The US Department of Labor will grant allocations to each state and in turn, each state uses
the established Federal formula to allocate the funds to the local regions of their state. We have not
seen any federal or state allocations yet and expect it to be at least a month.
Michigan Prosperity Regions – Handout
Paul explained that both he and Jim Sandy are on the Steering Committee for Prosperity Region 4
which consists of 13 counties. The first meeting was held in Muskegon in mid-January.
Oversight Committee Meeting
Paul will consult with both Bill and Larry to establish a committee of both the LEO and WDB to meet
with the three current Service Providers (FBR, Hope Network and NCRESA) to consider the possible
extension of these contracts.
Prisoner Reentry Services Report – Handout
Paul noted that November and December new enrollments were one of the lowest couple of months
and now it appears the numbers may be on their way up. The numbers really have been “all over the
board.” It may be in direct correlation to when parolees are released from prison.
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◊ Update on New Request for Proposals (RFP)
The phrase being heard in Lansing is “slow and methodical.” At this point West Central has not
had any indication when a new revised RFP will be released.
Business Activity – Handouts
Roger welcomed Michelle back.
4 North Lake Correctional Facility, Baldwin
Michelle reported that not much has changed since the last Board meeting. She has set up Google
alerts to notify her when news comes across the Web that involves Gov. Jerry Brown and the
California prison overcrowding situation the state has. Basically the latest article states that as of
January 23, Gov. Jerry Brown again asked the special three judge panel for a two-year extension to
get the prison overcrowding situation under control. He is not in favor of sending more inmates out
of state and would rather see new reform measures put into place and estimates it will take two
years for those new reform measures to “responsibly draw down the prison population.” The
special three-judge panel handling this had ordered Gov. Brown’s administration and attorneys
representing the inmates to propose separate plans by January 23 after they failed to reach
agreement on how best to reduce crowding. According to the article the judges said they would
issue a final order by mid-February.
4 Mosaic Potash, Hersey
On October 30, 2013 Michelle received a phone call from Mosaic’s employee leasing company, CoStaff
Services, and was informed that their client would be permanently laying off 12 individuals on
November 5, 2013. CoStaff Services, along with Mosaic (who would be ending employment for two of
their direct employees), wanted Michigan Works! staff there on November 5 to talk one-on-one with
employees after they were informed of their layoff to make them aware of our services. Normally this is
done in a group setting so everyone has the benefit of hearing the same information, but that sometimes is
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not possible due to the circumstances of the layoff and security issues, etc. Employment Services Specialist
Stacie Dvonch and Michelle went to Mosaic Potash to meet with the 12 employees who were being
permanently laid that off.
That afternoon, after speaking with Karl, the Plant Manager, and the Human Resource staff, it was
determined that the company may want to file for a Trade Adjustment Assistance petition, which is done
when a company loses work to foreign competition and/or trade. If companies are awarded TAA
certification, this gives the employees much more in terms of unemployment and training opportunities.
If the company chooses NOT to file a petition (which in this case Mosaic did not want to pursue it),
other people can do so on the company’s behalf – three Mosaic employees can come together and file a
petition; our Michigan Works! Agency can; or the State Workforce Development Agency can. It is a very
simple two page application that goes directly to USDOL in Washington, D.C., where they have a 45
calendar day window to approve or deny the application. If approved, it is effective back one year from the
filing date (in other words anyone laid-off in the last year would be eligible for TAA benefits) and forward
two years from the approval date. We worked on putting together the petition and on December 12 the
Workforce Development Agency submitted the TAA petition to USDOL.
News was received February 4th that the certification was approved. This certification covers both
Mosaic and the leased employees from CoStaff Services. In the next few days, we will establish a
meeting that will be held at our Reed City Service Center to provide the affected employees with
all of the information they need relative to possible training and enhanced support services under
the Trade Act. They will be notified via a letter from us, and we will most likely publish a quarter
page display ad in the Big Rapids Pioneer in the days ahead to make sure all eligible employees
are notified.
4 Harrington Tool, Ludington
On December 12, 2013 it was reported in the Ludington Daily News that Harrington Tool would be closing.
Michelle contacted Paul Cooper, Plant Manager, to see if Michigan Works! could come in and talk to the
employees who would be laid off on December 31. Mr. Cooper was very appreciative of our inquiry and
invited us to come in on December 23 to speak to the 13 employees affected by the closure to inform them
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of the services Michigan Works! could offer. It was determined with Paul’s conversation with Mr. Cooper
that their closure could be due to foreign trade/competition and encouraged him to apply. They in fact did
apply, and working with us and the Workforce Development Agency, the petition was sent in on the
company’s behalf on January 27. There should be a determination on their TAA petition in early March.
4 Applebee’s, Ludington
Applebees is in the process of rebuilding due to a fire that completely destroyed the restaurant in
early January. Applee’s will be keeping their employees on the payroll during the reconstruction of
a new building and are having their employees take part in a variety of community service
activities.
Skilled Trades Training Fund – Handout
Paul explained that FloraCraft has been added to the list of awards. On December 20th the funding ran
out with only $1,300 left. It just happened that FloraCraft’s application was for about this amount, so
it was funded.
We also learned that Magna Mirrors received $50,000 of funding for training at the Newaygo
Plant.
◊ Yoplait Project
Kudos to Mike Wyman – he did an awesome job with the Yoplait application.
General Mills had some changes in corporate priorities after the Agreement was signed by the
state, Yoplait, West Central and Ferris State University. Training was to begin in
December/January and Yoplait came to Mike and asked to have the training moved to June. Mike
actually got an email from Yoplait stating that they were not going to be able to do the training;
leaving “$81,000 on the table” because WDA wanted the training to start by May 1st. Mike
communicated with Yoplait and talked extensively with WDA staff and Ferris and was able to
close the one month gap and as a result Yoplait must start the training by June 1st.
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“2012 Education Pays” Chart – Handout
New updated information for 2012. This will be doubled in size, put on poster board, laminated and
handed out to the schools, career centers, DHS lobbies, libraries, etc. throughout the region.
Applicant Eligibility Period (AEP) Chart – Handout
Paul explained that this is the “one year old” PATH program – from a year ago to now, West Central
has gone from 52% to 59% for the five county area. Lake County is the lowest at 53% and Mason
County is at the highest at 65%.
252 participants out of the 424 have successfully completed “three weeks of engagement” that
went from “one day” to “21 days,” a year ago.
Connect Michigan – Osceola County – Handout
Dan Massy explained that Marion lost their DSL service. He made some contacts and explained this
may be an opportunity to take advantage of. Osceola County having completed a “Connect Michigan”
assessment, one of the Broadband providers asked for a meeting and the final result is they put up two
towers and it serves not only the village but maybe eventually the whole northeast part of the county.
Economic Impact of Michigan’s Universities – Handout
Paul explained that the economic impact of universities is explained in this article, with Big Rapids
being home to one of the 15 public universities in Michigan. The total economic impact for Lake
County is $478,547; Mason County is $3,211,215; Mecosta County is $59,823,812; Newaygo County
is $5,672,194; and Osceola County is $7,555,168.
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“Unemployment Rates – How Are These Calculated?” – Handouts
The unemployment rate is derived by several calculations. It is quite an involved formula to derive the
federal, state and county unemployment rates.
◊ December 2013 Unemployment Rate
LEO Officer Election Results
Larry Emig was reelected LEO Chair and Mark Warba was reelected LEO Vice Chair.
◊ Updated membership List – Handout
Appointment of New WDB Member
Larry Emig noted that Ron Marek Reed City Tool was appointed to the WDB to fill one of the
Osceola County Private Sector vacancies.
Mailing Packet Items
PY’13 Proposed Revised Budget
Michigan’s Population Increases in 2012/2013
Revised 2014 meeting Dates – Handout (Blue)
The WDB/LEO will be switching the April and June meeting locations – April’s meeting will be in
Reed City and the June meeting will be at Nestle Nutrition/Gerber in Fremont.
Next Meeting April 2, 2014 – Reed City Workforce Service Center
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 2, 2014 at the Reed City Workforce Service
Center.
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Round-the-Table
»
Warba, Mark, Mayor Big Rapids – $120,000 engineering fees to assist in grant opportunities was
recently approved by the City Commission. The City may get grant money to improve Maple
Street. There are a number of opportunities out there and would need engineers to move the
projects ahead.
»
Cooper, Dave, Whitehall Industries – Whitehall Industries is doing good and has been awarded
new programs. The Skilled Trades Training funds used to update employee skills are appreciated
and working well.
»
Nash, Roger, Harsco Rail – projecting a good year this year; last year was good even though it had
a rough start.
NOTE: David Cooper and Roger Nash left at 2:24 p.m.
»
Ortwein, Chris, Newaygo County Commissioner – a 60 unit housing development is being built on
a lake front; Newaygo County is working on a 30 mile pedestrian pathway.
»
Trapp, Chuck, Newaygo County Commissioner – working on enhancing parks to work with the
trails and working with NCRESA on these projects has been a win-win.
»
Andersen, Janet, Mason County Commissioner – recently appointed to the Finance Committee.
The Mason County Planning Commission ruled that The Lakewinds Energy Park was
noncompliant with county zoning ordinances regarding sound. That decision was upheld by the
Zoning Board of Appeals and was further affirmed by Circuit Judge Richard Cooper.
»
Bonga, Roger, Magna Mirrors – good year last year and expecting a better year this year.
»
Ortwein, Chris, Newaygo County Commissioner – The Michigan Association of Counties
announced that Governor Snyder has recommended 100% full funding for county revenue sharing.
Other Business
Reserved for the Public
Adjournment
Meeting stands adjourned at 2:35 p.m.
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