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MINUTES WORKFORCE NETWORK OF KANSAS BOARD Board Members in attendance: Ken Bell, Ed Berger, Richard Beyer, Karin Brownlee, Gerald Cook, Valorie DeFever, Eddie Estes, Lew Ferguson, Mike Fleming, Sandra Hazlett for Candace Shively, Dannette Jackson, James Keele, James Kessler, Al Lane, Lloyd Lavin, Larissa Long, Otto Maynard, Dwayne Peaslee, Lynn Peterson, Alicia Salisbury, Jack Strukel and staff Barb Reavis and Konnie Leffler. Guests: Pat Anderson, Board of Regents; David Brennan, Local Area II; Mary Ellen Conlee, Local Area IV; Jim Decoursey, Local Area II; Randy Fisher, KDHR; Glenn Fondoble, Local Area I; Dick Gabriel, Local Area IV; Linda Ramirez Gonzalez, KDHR; Nancy Guthrie, Bob Hull, CPRF; Steve Jack, KDHR; Clark Jacobs, Kathy Ketchum, KDHR; Bill Layes, KDHR; Richard Lopez, Chris Matson, David McGee, John McLoughlin, KDHR; Sharon Neria, Independence Community College; Paul Osborn, Board of Regents; Jon Pettus, KDHR; Kathy Petz ; Angie Reid, John Shipley, U. S. Department of Labor; Bill Swinney, Allen County Community College; Maureen Toll, Local Area I; Linda Weaver, KDHR; Juan Yanez. Chair Ken Bell called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. Bell introduced Lew Ferguson, new member attending his first meeting, to the WNK Board. Self-introductions were offered from the balance of the attendees. Bell led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Strukel requested future meetings be held only in facilities which will furnish full-size flags. Keele volunteered to provide full-size flags at future meetings. Minutes from the September 20, 2002 meeting were approved following a Lane/Keele motion. Bell made the Chair's Report. He reviewed the Workforce Network of Kansas vision, mission, guiding principles, and core initiatives. He talked about workforce development, economic development, and education and training, as well as the importance of acting to eliminate the supposed disconnect between these areas. Twelve recipients of the Kansas Award for Excellence were recognized, and Bell showed the award that the WNK Board received. He urged everyone to use the feedback from the KAE process to aid his or her improvement and hopes that all areas will participate in the future. Bell then altered the meeting agenda to allow Bill Layes, Chief of Labor Market Information and David McGee, analyst, both of KDHR, to speak about Kansas' involvement in the Longitudinal Employer Household Dynamics (LEHD) project, which links Census Department records with Bureau of Labor Statistics information. In introducing Layes and McGee, he briefly described the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics project, explaining that Chairs of State workforce boards had asked the U. S. Departments of Labor and Census to expand the project to include all states, and that Kansas had been accepted as a new entrant. Layes gave an overview of the LEHD program and of the kinds of data that would be available through the State partnership with LEHD. This program, which links census files with Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics information, is a Web-based, user-friendly system that will provide a tremendous amount of information. KDHR will look to the WNK Board for uses of the information. Examples of the types of information available are overlays between where wage earners live and where jobs exist and the location of public transportation relative to where jobs are. Bell commended Layes and his staff for getting Kansas involved in this program. The MOU between Census and KDHR will be signed early in December and the service should be available for initial output early next summer. Reavis reported on the Marketing Task Force and presented examples of the information available from the newly developed Program/Service Grid. This document was developed with the help of a subcommittee of Kansas Interagency Resource Network for Workforce Development (KIRNWD) in response to the general confusion that exists among legislators and other stakeholders with regard to where services are provided, what services are available and how much money is spent on these services. The Board endorsed this set of documents as a valuable tool for educating policymakers and cross-training service providers. Ketchum reported on the materials that are being developed under the marketing plan. The Labor Market Information Services brochure was made available within the last week, and agency brochures on Kansas Job Link have been updated to look like the rest of the materials. The Employee Guide to Internet Recruiting is in its final draft stages and will be circulated to the Marketing Task Force for review next week. The Employer Services Brochure is nearing completion and discussion of inserting photos will be discussed at the next Marketing Task Force meeting. There was some discussion about making these documents available in alternate formats. Reporting on the Quality Task Force, Kessler, as the only board member on the task force, asked for other board members to get involved. The Quality Task Force is a work in progress and is just now at the point of trying to define outcomes and goals. The group has developed five outcomes based on the State of Washington's model and, according to Paul Osborn, the goal is to have outcomes that are measurable. Bell added that to really have a Workforce Development System, you have to have measures that effectively represent the system and that many states (not just Kansas) have the problem of not taking the systemic view of workforce development. Georgia and Alabama, both, have been touted as leaders, but are still fragmented and disconnected. A discussion followed about the availability of information on the effect workforce development has on economic development, and it was agreed that one measure to be considered under customer satisfaction would be the number of decisions by employers to come to Kansas or stay away. Bell than turned the discussion to the Governor's letter to employers about KansasJobLink, and spoke briefly about the concerns that have been expressed about KansasJobLink ads. Ketchum explained the circumstances surrounding the ads and agreed with Bell that all parts of the Workforce Network are necessary. Jack mentioned that these ads had spiked interest in KansasJobLink initially, but that the interest had leveled off. Following a brief break, Bell reconvened the group and gave a report on Tim McNally's condition, which has recently been upgraded. Berger then gave the Leadership Team report, beginning by reporting on the meeting with Governor-Elect Sebelius's Transition Team. Berger believed the group got a good response from the Transition Team. Lt. Governor-elect John Moore and Kathy Greenlee asked what has given the Board the most satisfaction from working together and Berger said the Board responded that less duplication of services and a system more ready to respond were very satisfying. The Transition Team requested that WNK reevaluate the status of the 1999 Blueprint and report back with recommendations of work yet to do. The Board agreed that better coordination of programs and services were needed, as well as working toward dissolving the disconnect between economic development, education, and workforce development. Members feel that in Lt. Governor-Elect John Moore, we have a champion of Workforce Development. Bell then reported on the situation with the Request for Information that was issued November 7 and how it is proceeding. There was some discussion concerning what sort of information is needed and how it will be gathered. Reavis agreed to send copies of the RFI to the Board and Paul Osborn. Bell then began a discussion of WIA State Set-Aside funds and
handed out a sheet listing the suggested disbursement amounts as determined
by the Leadership team. Those amounts are: In introducing the 2003 meeting schedule, Bell commented that previously the Board had agreed to have meetings around the state for a number of reasons including equalizing the driving time for all members, and allowing all members the opportunity to see other areas. He suggested that if continuing to do this was a problem, it needed to be brought before the board and discussed rather than just disregarded. The proposed 2003 meeting schedule with the locations assigned was approved, with a meeting date change from January 31, 2003 to January 30, 2003 to coincide with the Kansas Workforce Summit to be held in Topeka, following a Berger/Peterson motion. Estes then briefly discussed the circumstances surrounding federal funding reauthorizations, and reminded the group that it is essential that each member get actively involved in supporting these reauthorizations. He also passed out information about the Kansas Workforce Summit to be held January 29-30, 2003 in Topeka and urged everyone to attend and to try to get his or her legislator to at least visit this meeting. Bell encouraged all Board members to attend this meeting. Board funds will pay for Board members' registration. Estes concluded by informing the group that he had booked the same week at the same location in Topeka for the next five years. Bell and Estes then discussed the National Association of Workforce Boards conference in Washington, D.C. the first week in March. Decoursey began the Local Areas' reports with the report for Local Area II and acknowledged congratulations on the KAE awards. Local Area II has been working on expanding the Career Center in Lawrence and expanding the non-custodial project in Lawrence and two new counties. The adult basic education program in Manhattan is moving to the One-Stop and an advisory board is being developed in Manhattan. They have partnered with Goodyear and Kaw Area Tech. The Local Board meeting will be held at the Kansas Workforce Summit in January. Fondoble of Local Area I reported that in this area the board and WESTCO Management went through the KAE process and received KAE Level 1 award. One Stop operators received training at a financial workshop. The area has applied to the regional DOL for MOU mediation. They are still doing Rapid Response, and gave money to their five certified One-Stops for continuous improvements. The Gibson's Distribution Center in Dodge is closing, putting about 200 employees out of work, plus another couple of companies, putting additional 60 employees out of work. According to information he has heard from the Federal government, he expects "cost measures" to be a new WIA performance measure. Osborn questioned Item 6 on the LAI materials and Fondoble explained that they had had a Federal Review and that the MOUs do not address all of the issues. They are trying to standardize MOUs for compliance, and answer the questions "Who is going to deliver those services?" and "How are partners going to work together?" Pettus of Local Area V spoke on how his area is marketing workforce development locally and in the area. He discussed problems they have had with board turnover and that they are on their fourth chair in approximately two years. They have hired an independent consultant to redo their mission statement, goals, and help formulate a long-term strategic plan. Their new chair is Renee Cavaness. Conlee gave the report for Local Area IV She reported that she and Wayne Isaacs had responded to an RFP to take over management areas for the board. They would like to see MOUs revised and are trying to develop a bigger picture of workforce development. They have used the ERISS survey of employer data and their own job match employer system. On December 12, they should have a report on the strengths of the data collected by ERISS. They are also trying to address the disconnect between Economic development and workforce development via a joint meeting. They are trying to keep the Workforce Alliance issue out front. Local Area III was not represented at the meeting and no report was given. In wrapping up the meeting, Reavis and Jack solicited suggestions for improving state government processes on behalf of the Governor-Elect's Transition Team and shared the hot line number and the web site. Latecomers were introduced and members were reminded that if they wanted more Kansas Workforce Summit brochures, they could request them from Fondoble. With no further business to attend to, Bell adjourned the meeting
at 12:50 p.m. |
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