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Minutes

WORKFORCE NETWORK OF KANSAS BOARD
August 19, 2005
Salina Chamber of Commerce
Salina, Kansas

Workforce Network of Kansas (WNK) Board members in attendance were Edward Berger, Rod Blackburn, David Cleveland, C.B. (Doc) Conder, Gerald Cook, Tim Cotter, Valorie DeFever, Eddie Estes, Jim Garner, Robert Giesen, Hoyt Hillman, Vern Varboe, Marty Kennedy for Pamela Johnson-Betts, Criss Mayfield, Lynn Peterson, Alicia Salisbury, Candy Shively, James Thompson. Karin Brownlee assigned her proxy to Alicia Salisbury. Tim McNally assigned his proxy to Eddie Estes. Currently the WNK Board has 32 members; seventeen were in attendance and two had WNKB member proxies.

Guests present for the WNK Board meeting were Scott Anglemyer, Local Area III; Don Nelson, Local Area III; Bob Dalke, Local Area I; Dennis Cooper, KDOC; Armand Corpolongo, KDOC; Bonnie Duden, KDOC Apprenticeship; J. Kent Eckles, Regional Director LA III; Randy Fisher, KDOC; Steve Jack, KDOC; Ron Donner, KDOC; Dave McGee, KDOC; and Dorothy Stites, KDOL.

The meeting was called to order by WNKB Acting Chair Gerald Cook at 9:00 am.

Members offered the Pledge of Allegiance. Board meeting attendees gave self-introductions.

Gerald Cook welcomed everyone to Salina and to the Salina Chamber of Commerce.

Doc Conder stated the date of October 22, 2005 reflected in the minutes of the May 27, 2005 meeting should be changed to 2004. The minutes of the last meeting were approved following a Salisbury/Cleveland motion.

Dorothy Stites, Director of the Labor Market Information Services with the Kansas Department of Labor, spoke about the 2005 Workforce Information Grant Plan. Dave McGee also with KDOL assisted in the presentation and questions. KDOL is requesting an amount of $495,209 for the next program year. The funding is essential for continuing to provide employment data used by a number of professionals including educators, careers counselors and workforce officials. Types of information that will be provided are wages, commuting patterns, labor demand/supply, employee benefits and skills.

Doc Conder moved to approve the request for $495,209. Ed Berger seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.

Eddie Estes, WNK Board Member, presented information regarding the 2006 Kansas Workforce Summit to be held at the Capital Plaza Hotel on January 25 and 26, 2006. A tentative itinerary was distributed. He also handed out copies of a Key Committee Issue relating to WIA and the National Governors Association position along with a letter from Governor Sebelius sent to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee with recommendations into any legislation to reauthorize WIA.

The Summit will take on a new format with emphasis being on the State Board and Kansas lst. The Summit will bring everyone to the table who is concerned about workforce development. There will be pre-meetings with those groups listed in Session 1 prior to the Summit. Governor Sebelius will kick-off the meeting which will start with a luncheon. NGA and the U.S. Department and the National Association of Workforce Boards will be invited.

There will be a formal banquet in the evening. Kansas lst will recognize outstanding activity in our state, i.e. clients, LWIB’s, members, etc. Legislators will be invited to the banquet.

On the second day there will be a presentation entitled Workforce Essentials – Solutions that Work. There will be breakout sessions so everyone will have the opportunity to make recommendations. A “Hit the Hill” will be set up so everyone will have the chance to meet with their legislators.

Gerald Cook presented an item to the agenda that related to funding need by a Salina company for a major expansion which may create 50 new jobs for the Salina area. The company is unable to qualify for KIT. Armand Corpolongo pointed out other projects may arise in the future which have similar circumstances. It is a statutory requirement that WIA funded projects come before the WNK Board. Mr. Corpolongo recommended setting up a process for the WNKB to expedite comments and approval of these projects in the future. Kansas 1st looked into using Adult and Dislocated Worker WIA funds currently available at the State level and found it would be possible to allocate funding to the Salina project from these funds. Because the WNK Board meets infrequently, it may be difficult for a company to request and/or access funding in a well-timed manner. Mr. Corpolongo asked for the Board’s blessing to proceed with the initiative in Salina and, secondly, asked the Board to consider establishing a more expedient process to present future projects to the Board.

Board Members discussed the best way to expedite the process in the future. Suggestions included involvement of the Executive Committee for review of requests with assistance from staff. Discussion concluded with a decision to resolve the issue at the next Board meeting. Staff would research acceptable and timely procedure possibilities and make a recommendation to the Board for approval.

Hoyt Hillman moved to authorize expenditure of up to $75,000 from the Adult and Dislocated Worker funding, subject to Executive Committee approval, for the Salina based project. Motion seconded by Val DeFever. David Cleveland abstained from the vote. The motion passed by a majority vote.

Lunch was served and the meeting was reconvened.

David Cleveland discussed the Kansas 1st Vision, Mission, Core Activities and Customer Service Creed. David presented a Team Charter recommended by Secretary Howard Fricke. The Team would be comprised of the State Workforce Board, Chairs of the Local Workforce Investment Boards and the Chairs of the Local Chief Elected Officials Boards who would look at the entire WIA system across the State and suggest specific strategies that would make the system more efficient and serve our customers better. The Team’s purpose would be to identify and resolve key issues that prevent WIA and related workforce development programs from achieving superior results serving the business and job seeker customers within the Kansas 1st system. Secretary Fricke requested a summary report with specific recommendations about how the Dept. of Commerce along with other Team members can help the WIA system, statewide, perform at it’s highest level. Start date for the Team would be mid-October with a projected conclusion date of mid-June. Resources would be Commerce personnel as required, national WIA experts and professional facilitators. This committee would be chaired by the Chair of the State WNK Board and called the Workforce Development Team.

Eddie Estes moved to approve the mission as a partner with Secretary Fricke and start the implementation of the process as outlined for the Workforce Development Team. Ed Berger seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Eddie Estes asked for volunteers for an Awards Committee to work with David Cleveland on the Kansas Workforce Summit in January of 2006. Hoyt Hillman, Lynn Peterson, and Ed Berger volunteered. The Awards Committee will meet and report back at the next meeting.

Ed Berger moved to adjourn. Motion seconded by David Cleveland. The meeting was adjourned at 2:10 p.m.

DRAFT