Workforce Network of Kansas

Kansas Workforce Investment Partnership Council
Leadership Team
October 26, 2001

Members present for this conference call meeting Ed Berger, Rick Beyer, Gerald Cook, Dave Foster, Marie Mareda, Dwayne Peaslee, and Chair Ken Bell. Staff Barb Reavis was present.

Guests participating were Steve Jack, KDHR; Kris Kitchen, Heartland Works; Bill Layes, KDHR; Sarah Gilbert, City of Wichita

Bell called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. following a role call by the conference operator.

Minutes for the August 10 meeting were approved following at Beyer/Cook motion.

Bell asked meeting participants to consider whether Kansas has any workshop proposals to submit to the National Association of Workforce Boards for its NAWB Forum, March 3-5, 2002. Gilbert suggested that Local Area IV could offer a workshop on board development or the concept of regional workforce. Cook said his office could present on the Workforce 2020 process in which they have been involved as a pilot. Beyer suggested topics about one-stops, Kansas Job Link or the Alliance, or marketing as a best practice. The deadline for submission is November 30. This topics could be good presentations for the Workforce Network of Kansas Board meetings. At the November meeting, it would be good to have Local Area IV talk about the impacts of the lay offs and their activities to respond.

The issue of quorum was discussed. The September 28 meeting in Great Bend contained four votes and a quorum of members was not present. Reavis proposed those items be re-introduced at the November 30 meeting on a consent agenda to finalize those but that doesn't solve how future meetings will be handled. Several ideas were considered: explain to the members the importance of participation; target Local Area Chairs for WNK Board membership as business slots become available; establish a rule about members missing X meetings. Other ideas were discussed about how to get legitimate votes when quorums are not present. Those included taking a phone vote while at the meeting or taking a mail vote after the meeting. Cook's motion to recommend the Board set a quorum at 14 died for lack of a second. It was agreed to try other tactics for participation first.

Bell introduced the topic of the white paper, Kansas: The State with 2020 Vision, and how to proceed with the key components which seemed to be supported by the members. Several members had volunteered to serve on a task force to review and fine tune the proposal. That group will be rounded out and given a specific charge.

Beyer talked about the proposal for what the cost would be to perform a Job Vacancy Survey developed by KDHR's Labor Market Information Services Division. They project about $300,000 annually to perform the survey in house. They view this as the first step in developing a statewide employment plan. This fledgling idea has not been put out for bid. Some concerns were expressed about the expenditure of these funds when local areas should have some of this information and are the ones who could use it once gathered. Bell suggested this topic be included in the work of the task force working on the white paper mentioned earlier.

Agenda items to be included on November 30 at the regularly scheduled Workforce Network of Kansas Board meeting:
· Consent agenda from September 28
· Quorum issue
· Task force reports
· Local Area IV to report on lay off activities

Having no other business, the meeting adjourned at approximately 10:00 a.m.