Workforce Network of Kansas

KANSAS WORKFORCE INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP (KWIP) COUNCIL
March 23, 2001
Sudermann Room
Hughes Metropolitan Complex
5015 E. 29th, Wichita, Kansas

Council Members in Attendance: Ken Bell, Ed Berger, Gerald Cook, Val DeFever, Eddie Estes, Sandra Hazlett (for Candace Shively), Jerry Hiatt, Steve Jack, Dannette Jackson, Jim Keele, Jim Kessler, Bob Knight, Marie Mareda, Shirley Martin-Smith, Dwayne Peaslee, Arwayne Peters, Lynn Peterson, Jack Wempe, Rhonda Williams and staff member Barb Reavis

Guests: Dick Allison, Allen County CC; Pat Anderson, Regents; Mark Ayres, Local Area IV; Gary Baker; Steve Baru, Local Area III; Sue Choens, Butler County CC; Beverly Davis, Butler County CC; Mike Elder; Malika Enlow, Local Area IV; Cindy Estes, Western Kansas Mfg.; Randy Fisher, KDHR; Glenn Fondable, Local Area I; Sarah Gilbert, Local Area IV; Dianne Glass, Regents; Susan Graham, Neosho County CC; Nancy Guthrie, Local Area I; Merlyne Hines-Starr, KSDE; Paul Hobbleman, Wichita Indo-Chinese Center; Connie Hubbell, KDOA; Robert Hull, Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation; Kathy Ketchum, KDHR; Keith Lawing, Local Area IV; Bob Lininger; Shellie McDonald, School to Careers; John McLoughlin, KDHR; Mike O'Hara, KDHR; Paul Osborn, Regents; Abel Perez, Wichita Workforce Center; Vicki Romig, KDHR; Al Rolls, KDHR; Sheree Rueb; Deb Schneider; Shirley Spittles; Jim Stowell, Local Area V; Maureen Toll, Saline Workforce Center; Linda Weaver, KDHR; John Wilson, USDOL

Chairman Bell called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. and requested self-introductions by all attendees. Bell led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance and thanked Keith Lawing, Malika Enlow and Nick Gregory for setting up this meeting and helping with registration.

Minutes of January 26, 2001 meeting were approved after a Peters/Keele motion.

Bell mentioned that Cindy Estes' mother passed away in February. In addition, Rick Beyer would not be in attendance as his father had just passed away in Missouri. Bell also announced Ryan Scott and Dave Thomas had resigned from KWIP due to changed job responsibilities.

During the Chair's Report, Bell showed a few pictures from the Seattle earthquake since he was there on Boeing business when it occurred. He shared a conceptual supply and demand model (slide attached) and stated that in 2006 it is predicted there will be 10,000 less people than jobs in Kansas. It is important to make sure education + training = workforce development = economic development.

Connie Hubbell described the Senior Employment Services Coordination, Title V of the Older Americans Act, which requires coordination with WIA. The goal of the plan is to make certain Kansas meets the needs of seniors in the employment arena. The Plan Group has members from local areas, partner agencies and other interested parties. Hubbell walked through the requirements and the plan components. Although the plan is due by June 1, the final regulations have not been issued so further adjustments will be made in the first year of implementation. A draft was distributed to KWIP members with a request for feedback by April 20. The next draft will be available for review and comment at http://www.hr.state.ks.us and http://www.k4s.org/kdoa. Members should give comments to their representative on the KWIP Leadership Team by May 4. That group will give final feedback to the Plan Group on May 11.

Reavis reported on the information she and George McAtee had gathered from Local Areas about training needs in terms of planning KWIP Conference 2001. Even though several regional conferences may cover a majority of the topics suggested, it is apparent there is a need to organize an additional learning opportunity. The following five recommendations were approved following a Martin-Smith/Berger motion:

Front Line Worker Essential Skills	Dealing with angry customers Time management Communications Case management Diversity EEO	Recommendation 1: Reavis recruit services of trainer to offer series. Perhaps use trainers from state agency, private industry or Fred Pryor-type company
Management Skills	Grant opportunities Law updates--all mandated partners Best practices--Fee for services EEO Marketing the new labor pool to employers Assessment tools for the hard-to-employ	Recommendation 2: KWIP communicate to US DOL desire for these topics to be addressed during 2001 Heartland Conference
Technical	Legal staff orientation to WIA, other laws
Board Level and Kansas-Specific	CEO/LWIB certification One-stop partner responsibilities MOU development Cross-training of staff Training for customers to perform own electronic job search	Recommendation 3: With team consisting of LWIA staff, KWIP members, McAtee and Reavis, develop day-long sessions at KWIP conference for these topics
Employers	Solicit topic ideas from businesses for a KDHR Employer Institute to run concurrently	Recommendation 4: Team develop day-long session, shared keynote luncheon
Specific Course	Success in the Workplace (Teel Institute)	Recommendation 5: Partners increase promotion of available offerings

KWIP members Berger, Estes, Jackson and Peterson agreed to assist with the conference effort--targeted to be offered in September in conjunction with the KWIP meeting. Local Area staff Fondable and Lawing volunteered to assist as well. Other Local Areas will be invited to participate in the conference planning.

Hines-Starr described the Breaking Tradition Award. This is the second annual presentation of this award to students who are pursuing careers traditionally dominated by one gender. State winners receive a $1,000 scholarship. This year's winners were Wendi Billionis, for her strong determination to excel in automotive technology (Wendi's instructor at Pittsburg High, Mike Elder, represented her); Darchelle Ferguson, a student at Cloud County Community College, who owns and manages her own 21-head herd of cattle in addition to maintaining a 3.8 grade average; and Gary Baker, a Colby Community College student, for his pursuit of a career as a Registered Nurse. KWIP members recognized the students with applause. Hines-Starr invited members to join the students for a reception that was to begin at 11:00 a.m.

Ketchum reported briefly for the Marketing Task Force and its current activities.

At its March 8 meeting, members participated in a card sorting exercise to guide the development of a KWIP web site. The web site is envisioned to be a resource for KWIP and Local Board members, partner agencies and other interested parties. It is expected to be up and running by September.
The Task Force, through KDHR, has issued an RFP for an ad agency to be able to use the $50,000 grant KDHR has for marketing. Those funds must be committed by June 30. The RFP covers logo design, development of a style guide, a marketing plan and an encompassing brochure about Workforce Network of Kansas. The ad agency will be presenting ideas and the plan to KWIP at a future meeting.
Concerns were expressed at the last meeting about kansasjoblink.com not being available in Hispanic language.
Kansas Job Link is now registered with the State but final confirmation from the federal office has not yet been received. The Task Force also plans to register the name "Workforce Network of Kansas" to protect it from use by others.
US DOL provided $15,000 to market 1-800-US-2JOBS to unemployed and displaced workers. Postcards are going out and TV spots have been purchased that Kansans should begin to see the first week of April.
US DOL is hoping for "voluntary enthusiasm" to include America's Workforce Network (AWN) logo on all future printed materials for programs that receive federal funds for workforce development.

Osborn reported the Quality Task Force met on March 8 and heard a presentation by the organization, Kansas Award for Excellence (KAE). Task Force members present discussed KAE and developed recommendations to bring to KWIP. The Task Force believes that by Local Area representatives participating as Examiners this year, the award application process will go more smoothly for each area in future years. Following a Kessler/Cook motion, it was approved that KWIP:

endorse the Kansas Award for Excellence as the tool to assist the Workforce Network of Kansas in continuous process improvement,
provide incentives to Local Areas to send two people from each area to participate in the KAE Examiner training and process this year (share 50:50 with Local Area the travel, lodging and meal costs associated with the examiner training), and look for funds to help Local Areas with technical assistance.

Reavis will contact KAE with addresses for the Local Areas so they can be invited to apply as KAE Examiners and communicate the KWIP decision to the Local Area Administrators. Second tier certification of Local Boards was mentioned along with the desire to find funds to use as incentives and rewards. WIA State Set Aside funds might be one possibilities and should be considered by KWIP.

Bell reported the Leadership Team heard from Lt. Governor Gary Sherrer at its February 23 meeting. He focused on technical education. He has talked with the Governor about forming a Commission to study all aspects of technical education including the structure and the funding. Reavis explained two documents for which the Leadership Team had gathered information. One was a spreadsheet that showed funding that flows through state agencies for employment and training programs. This spreadsheet identified that instead of the oft quoted $400M annually in Kansas for workforce development, there is $119.7M within state agencies for employment and training. Another document explained was a table that lists those programs, their respective 2001 funding, a short description and the outcome measures they seek. Both documents have been shared with the Commerce Committees and House and Senate Leadership.

Jack gave an update on the TARGET Initiative. Two bills that would keep Unemployment Insurance funds in Kansas have been introduced in Legislative Committees this year. Currently funds go to a federal pool and less than fifty percent comes back to Kansas. Both SB 307 and HB 2568 would build a pool of about $400M over four years; the interest would be used for activities that address workforce issues. TARGET stands for Training, Assessment, Recruitment, electronic Gateway to services, Employment and Transition. Jack explained that neither of the bills are likely to be voted on this year so that allows several months to work with employers and Chambers to resolve some of the differences about whether this tax revenue should be used in this fashion. KDHR is encouraged that KCCI indicated a willingness to talk about the initiative after the Legislative session is over.

Under Announcements, Reavis pointed out the conferences listed on the KWIP agenda. There are several opportunities coming up to catch some of the topics Local Areas have said they need. They include the 3I Show, April 26-28, in Garden City; 2001 Heartland Conference, May 15-17, in KCMO; the Mid-America Labor/Management Conference, June 24-28, in Osage Beach, MO; and the School and Main Training Institute, October 2-4, in Topeka. Reavis will communicate with the organizers of these conferences and share KWIP mailing addresses so members can receive notices.

The group broke for lunch and traveled by trolley across the street to the Pioneer Balloon Company for a tour of the facility. While they were eating, Bell asked Local Area representatives to report about how things are in their Areas and share ideas they picked up at the National Association of Workforce Boards conference in February.

Local Area III, Steve Baru

Wanting to take the WIB to the next level and do WIA the best it can be done
Hoping to hold a strategic retreat and may use John Metcalf
Hope to become committee driven and use consent agendas
Started an internal marketing committee
Still organizing but the board is all in place now
In Leavenworth, Exide Battery employees have qualified for NAFTA-TAA funds and have started some computer classes; WIA is helping to fund this six-week course
At the NAWB conference, he heard predictions that 2 years of college and those degrees will be important in the future
Many states are going over and beyond WIA in their view of workforce issues
Local WIBs are forming associations to assist each other

Local Area II, Mike O'Hara

Goodwill has now moved into the Topeka Workforce Center
Manhattan and Lawrence Workforce Centers will be open soon

Local Area IV, Mark Ayres

Distributed materials that outline the Board's vision and charges to its committees
Are considering a second language for materials; it will probably be Hispanic
Are seeking funding for a labor market survey
Have approved certification standards which include LEO, provisional and full certification, partners
Are encouraging consortiums as opposed to bids
Have a logo now for the Workforce Alliance
Youth Council is implementing programs to promote manufacturing jobs such as a Job Shadow continuous program, exploration camp and creating a speaker's group for youth.

The group moved back to the Hughes Metropolitan Complex via the trolleys to continue the meeting.

Local Area V, Jerry Hiatt

Attended the NAWB meeting; it helped him realize the importance of creating a future
Tony Perez in acting as the LWIB Chair; a permanent chair will be selected at the quarterly meeting next week

Local Area I, Glenn Fondable

Had a team that presented at NAWB to show how rural needs are being addressed
Have five certified one-stop locations
Lots of excitement in that Area about getting started

Cook reported on his perception from the NAWB conference

Kansas is in about the same place for implementation as most states. Michigan and Texas are far in advance. Those that are farther along tend to have a strong commitment from the Governor's office and control the workforce funds.
Many states decided the PIC's could not be providers nor roll over into LWIB's; may want to look closer at that.
Northern Illinois University is designing the next generation of Baldrige, using a supply chain measure.
All are concerned about how to sustain the one-stop efforts; some are getting help from business, local government, and fee for service.
Turf issues are a problem everywhere; the advice is to build MOU's and have strong relationship with the Governor.
For the future, it is expected to see more co-location, with even more movement toward a virtual system and electronic connections.
What we are talking about in Kansas is common all around--accreditation; incentives to achieve; workforce = economic development.

Reavis presented the current financial status of the KWIP Council; with two-thirds of the year gone, expenditures are at less than 50 percent of the amount budgeted.

Having neither Unfinished Business nor New Business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Barb Reavis