NoRTEC
MINUTES
WIB AND GOVERNING BOARD
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2001
KELSEYVILLE, CA

1. CALL TO ORDER

   The meeting was called to order by J. Madden, WIB Chair, and J. Reese, Governing Board Chair, at 2:00 PM.

2. ROLL CALL

   There was a quorum of the WIB and Governing Board. Roster

3. WIB APPROVAL OF MINUTES, JULY 26, 2001

   A motion by T. Cochran, seconded by D. Beeson, for WIB approval of the July 26, 2001, minutes as mailed, passed the WIB unanimously.

   A motion by B. Reiss, seconded by J. Smith, for Governing Board approval of the July 26, 2001, minutes as mailed, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

   A motion by B. Maffett, seconded by T. Cochran, for WIB approval of the Agenda, as mailed, passed the WIB unanimously.

   A motion by J. Smith, seconded by B. Reiss, for Governing Board approval of the Agenda, as mailed, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

5. PUBLIC COMMENT

   There was no public comment.

6. WIB APPOINTMENT

   A motion by B. Reiss, seconded by P. Cantrall, to table the nomination of Jorge Lozano to represent migrant and seasonal farmworkers, until the regularly scheduled January 31, 2002 meeting, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

   C. Brown said staff would proceed with seeking an "Economic Development" nomination from Modoc and a "Business" nomination from Shasta, in time for the January meeting.

7. PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT

   Michele Piller, Program Committee Chair, presented the Program Committee Report.

   1. Program Monitoring

      There has been no programmatic monitoring since the last meeting in July 2001.

   2. State Monitoring

      There are currently no official scheduled State monitoring visits.

   3. Caregiver Training Initiative (CTI)

      A representative from each of the NoRTEC subcontractors provided a brief update on the implementation of the CTI program in their area. T. Brown said the NoRTEC counties were on schedule, as was Humboldt. She said both North Central and Modoc were off to a slow start, but would likely be on target by the beginning of the year (January, 2002).

      The time frame for the project is March 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002.

   4. Plant Closure Update

      The members discussed the numerous plant closures in the nine county NoRTEC area. P. Cantrall and J. Smith provided an update on the Klamath Basin/Tulelake drought response, including the $1.6 million in State funding for 150 six month public service employment jobs. J. Trueblood said Collins Pine is installing a small log mill and hopes to reopen in the late Spring. B. Smith said the Shasta Paper closure would result in 200 - 400 laid off workers seeking re-employment services at the Shasta PIC (with some going to the Job Training Center in Tehama County). She said they were also working with Lumberjack, Sun Air Express and Chatsworth. J. Hough said the Phoenix Micro Brewery in Siskiyou closed, laying off 10 - 12 people. B. Reiss and L. Wright spoke to the need to free up the down and fire damaged timber for logging, to help the forest, provide jobs , and provide lumber. P. Cantrall said they had some luck in getting salvage logging approved, using the Blue Lake Forest as an example.

   5. Featured Community Coordinator Report

      The members congratulated Janis Trueblood for winning the competition for the "best" Community Coordinator report for this quarter. (Links to the reports are provided on the Agenda to this meeting.)

   6. Tehama County One Stop Report

      C. Parrish from the Job Training Center of Tehama County showed a film of some of their annual awards presentation for employers and job seekers.

      A motion by B. Maffett, seconded by T. Cochran, for the approval of the First Quarter Program Committee Report, passed the WIB unanimously.

      A motion by B. Reiss, seconded by P. Cantrall, for the approval of the First Quarter Program Committee Report, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

8. FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

   B. Hamby, Finance Committee Chair, presented the Finance Committee report.

   1. PY 2001/2002 Funding

      Currently, NoRTEC has $17,622,012 in available funds for the PY 2001/2002 Program Year. If we get the additional $903,750 we have requested, NoRTEC will have $18,525,762 available for the 2001/2002 program year. This represents a $1,340,465 decrease in total funding from the PY 2000/2001 program year, due primarily to the reduction in NoRTEC's allocated funds (Adult, Youth and Dislocated Worker) for the 2001/2002 program year. NoRTEC received less allocated funds in the 2000/2001 program year because of a drop in California's unemployment rate relative to the rest of the country, and in a drop in NoRTEC's unemployment rate relative to the rest of California.

   2. Approval of Final PY 2000/2001 Financial Reports

      Preliminary Fourth Quarter Financial Reports for PY 2000/2001 were presented at the July, 2001 WIB/GB meeting. B. Hamby said the final reports presented for approval at this meeting included some minor changes, but the were not substantively different than the preliminary reports.

      Final Reports:

      PY 2000/2001 Contracts Summary
      PY 2000/2001 Service Provider Contract Modifications
      PY 2000/2001 Program Expenditure Report
      PY 2000/2001 NoRTEC Administrative Entity Expenditure Report
      PY 2000/2001 NoRTEC WIB and Governing Board Expenditure Report

      A motion by B. Hamby, seconded by T. Cochran, for the approval of the Program Year 2000/2001 final Finance Reports, passed the WIB unanimously.

      A motion by G. Russell, seconded by J. Smith, for the approval of the Program Year 2000/2001 final Finance Reports, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

   3. Approval of PY 2001/2002 First Quarter Financial Reports

      B. Hamby asked if there were any questions about the first quarter finance committee reports.

      First Quarter Finance Reports:

      PY 2000/2001 Contracts Summary
      PY 2000/2001 Service Provider Contract Modifications
      PY 2000/2001 Program Expenditure Report
      PY 2000/2001 NoRTEC Administrative Entity Expenditure Report
      PY 2000/2001 NoRTEC WIB and Governing Board Expenditure Report

      K. Humberston asked how the lag time in determining UI rates affected the NoRTEC allocations. C. Brown said the prior year average UI rates were used to calculate the current years allocations.

      R. Sandler asked if the September 11 events would affect the NoRTEC allocations. C. Brown said he was hopeful that the apparent confusion and eagerness of Congress and the Bush administration to throw money at fixing the problems related to September 11 attacks would result in increased funding for their job training programs. He said the current discussion was whether to make the local areas apply for increased funding, or to distribute it through the allocation formulas. The application process would target the funds to the areas with the greatest demonstrated need (most documented lay offs), but would be cumbersome and slow to respond. Allocating the funds would be better for NoRTEC, since our numbers are noncompetitive with large urban areas.

      S. Acebo asked if the requested additional $900,000 in rapid response funding was for a special project. C. Brown said no, it was the remainder of their "normal" annual amount of funding, which the State withheld (from all the LWIAs in the State) pending their approval of a formal application.

      J. Giessner said there was a 20% increase in UI claims in the State, and EDDs response is to take local workers out of Job Service and put them into the UI office to help process claims. She said this will negatively affect service in the One Stops.

      G. Russell said he appreciated the work of the Finance Committee and their Chair in reviewing the NoRTEC financial information on behalf of the rest of the WIB and Governing Board.

      A motion by B. Maffett, seconded by R. Sandler, for the approval of the 2001/2002 first quarter Finance Reports, passed the WIB unanimously.

      A motion by B. Reiss, seconded by J. Smith, for the approval of the 2001/2002 first quarter Finance Reports, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

9. LOCAL MOU AND ONE STOP STATUS

   The current status of the NoRTEC MOU agreements is full designation for the One Stops in each of the nine NoRTEC counties.

10. STATUS OF FUNDING APPLICATIONS

    C. Brown said the $1,000,000 NCEN application for Dislocated Worker funding for Core and Intensive services was approved ($400,000 for NCCC and $600,000 for NoRTEC), and the inside information was that the remaining $900,000 in Rapid Response funding was also approved.

    C. Brown said they had not heard yet about their $978,000 NCEN application for Governor's 15% funds to provide internet connectivity and upgrades as well as staff development. He said it was a long shot, as the State focus for these funds was on client services, and their application was for infrastructure.

11. NORTEC PROGRAM POLICY

    C. Brown provided an overview of NoRTEC program policy (see links to policy overview and details provided on the agenda to this meeting). Most of the discussion was around the "Business First" principle that guided the development of the program policies. C. Brown said NoRTEC staff and their subcontractor staff had worked together to try and maximize their ability to respond to local employer needs, and to facilitate the operation of quality youth programs. He said the shift in emphasis from the job seeker to the employer may not seem like much, but he believed it would result in a radical change in program design. If the focus is on the job seeker, the local employer becomes a "placement opportunity. " If the focus is on the employer, the One Stop job seeker client becomes part of a larger labor pool from which successful candidates are selected.

    J. Allred thanked staff for their thoughtful work on the program policies. He said he had experience putting policies together and knew it was not an easy task.

    A motion by T. Cochran, seconded by D. Beeson, for the approval of the NoRTEC Program Policy, passed the WIB unanimously.

    A motion by J. Smith, seconded by G. Russell, for the approval of the NoRTEC Program Policy, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

12. RHORC PRESENTATION

    Linda L. Zorn, Director, Regional Health Occupations Resource Center-Butte College, provide an overview of the Regional Health Occupations Resource Center (RHORC) and its role in the community college economic development program. Of particular interest to NoRTEC is that there is a need for medical workers in many fields, with excellent salary and benefits and great opportunities for advancement.

    S. Acebo said she appreciated NoRTEC putting this item on the agenda. She said she thought it important for the WIB and Governing Board members to be aware of the various training opportunities in our area.

13. NoRTEC STATUS REPORT

    There was no discussion, due to lack of time.

14. OLD BUSINESS

    There was no Old business.

15. NEW BUSINESS

    Next WIB and Governing Board - Thursday, January 31, 2002, in Redding.

16. ADJOURNMENT

    There being no further Old or New Business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:00 PM.