NoRTEC
AGENDA
WIB AND GOVERNING BOARD
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2002
10:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M
OROVILLE TEEN CENTER
109 TABLE MOUNTAIN BLVD
OROVILLE, CA 95965
Last Update 04/18/02 @7:05 p.m.

1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
3. WIB APPROVAL OF MINUTES, JANUARY 31, 2002 (ACTION)

   The minutes from the January 31, 2002, meeting are attached: Minutes

   RECOMMENDED ACTION:

   WIB approval of the January 31, 2002, minutes, with revisions if needed, as mailed.

   Governing Board approval of the January 31, 2002, minutes, with revisions if needed, as mailed.

4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA (ACTION)

   RECOMMENDED ACTION:

   WIB approval of the agenda, with revisions if needed, as mailed.

   Governing Board approval of the agenda, with revisions if needed, as mailed.

5. PUBLIC COMMENT (INFORMATION)

   Members of the public will be invited to make brief comments regarding any aspect of NoRTEC business.

6. WIB APPOINTMENT (ACTION)

   There are currently two vacant seats on the NoRTEC WIB, with nominations for one of these vacancies:

   1. Private Sector - Shasta County - Hiram Oilar, General Manager, Fall River Wild Rice, nominated by the Fall River Valley Chamber of Commerce
   2. Private Sector - Butte County

   If an appropriate nomination is received in time for the remaining private sector seat in Butte County, it will be presented at the meeting.

   RECOMMENDED ACTION:

   Governing Board appointment of the above nominated individuals to serve on the NoRTEC WIB in the capacity indicated .

7. PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT (ACTION)

   Michele Piller, Program Committee Chair, will present the Program Committee Report.

   1. Program Monitoring

      Programmatic monitoring visits have been scheduled/conducted as follows:

      Job Training Center of Tehama County - March 25-26, 2002
      Butte PIC - March 27-28, 2002
      Shasta PIC - April 16-17, 2002
      Trinity Occupational Training - April 18-19, 2002
      Rural Human Services - April 22-23, 2002
      Siskiyou Training & Employment Program - May 14-15, 2002
      Alliance for Workforce Development (Alturas Office) - June 10-11, 2002
      Alliance for Workforce Development (Susanville Office) - June 11-12, 2002
      Alliance for Workforce Development (Quincy Office) - June 13-14, 2002

      An update will be given at the meeting.

   2. State Monitoring

      There are currently no official scheduled State programmatic monitoring visits on the horizon.

   3. Client Numbers
      1. One-Stop Centers - Job Seekers Accessing One-Stop Centers
      2. WIA Enrollments - Job Seekers Enrolled in the WIA Program
   4. Caregiver Training Initiative (CTI)

      NoRTEC was funded for a total of $2,690,210 under the Caregiver Training Initiative to develop and provide training opportunities to WIA and WtW eligible clients in a sixteen county region (Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, and Yuba Counties.) Approximately $1,200,000 is for NoRTEC County projects. The remaining $1,400,000 is for the other NCEN partners.

      The original time frame for the project was March 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002. An extension will be requested (with no additional funding) through December 31, 2002. Please see the attached for summary information: CTI Summary

      Three other LWIAs have a contract with NoRTEC to spend CTI funding. Of the three, Humboldt and Mendocino seem to be on track. North Central Counties (NCC) are underspent and underenrolled. NoRTEC is awaiting the March 31 expenditures to compare to enrollments (which are low), and the corrective action plan submitted in January. Funding may need to be redistributed if local area plans are not working out. An update will be given at the meeting.

   5. Plant Closure Update

      There have been several plant closures in the nine county area of NoRTEC over the past 18 months. The following web site address is being updated as additional closures occur.

      Plant Closure Update

   6. Featured Community Coordinator Report

      Each meeting the Program Committee will select one of the quarterly Community Coordinator reports to feature. Following are direct links to the reports received for the quarter ending March 31, 2002 (Note: If the link does not take you directly to the report for the January-March quarter, look for a menu selection on the web page entitled Community Coordinator or Community Coordinator Reports.) :

      Butte PIC
      Rural Human Services (Del Norte)
      Alliance for Workforce Development (Lassen)
      Alliance for Workforce Development (Modoc)
      Alliance for Workforce Development (Plumas)
      Shasta PIC
      STEP (Siskiyou)
      Job Training Center of Tehama County
      Trinity Occupational Training (Trinity)

      It is becoming more and more difficult to choose a winner each quarter.

      For this quarter, most improved goes to Rural Human Services. This is a nice looking report. With a couple of links, it would probably have won the grand prize. The coveted honor of best Community Coordinator report for this quarter goes to the Job Training Center of Tehama County. This report has it all. It is colorful, it is fun, the articles are easy to read and short, with links to more information, and it has nice pictures and graphics which load quickly. Congratulations on another fine report!

      The Coordinators in each of our counties are really working hard to impress us with their local activities and presentation skills. The best part is, we're impressed!

   7. NoRTEC Youth Programs Conference

      Our first annual meeting of the NoRTEC Youth Council will be held as a mini conference at the Red Lion Inn in Redding, June 18-19, 2002. The general plan is all day on the 18th and 1/2 day on the 19th. The 18th will cover the role of the Youth Council, local, regional, state, federal issues, and then most of the day for presentations by NoRTEC Youth Program operators on the WIA Youth Program and Youth Services in their county (with success stories, failures, future plans, and other relevant issues). For the second half day, there will be a brief summation of the NoRTEC Youth programs and an identification of future goals.

      Jeff Lucas, President, Community Development Services, is facilitating this event for us, and will provide a quick overview.

   8. Department of Rehabilitation Offers Free Assistance to One Stops

      Sandra Frey is the representative for the One Stops assigned to helping us with technical assistance in serving clients with disabilities. This includes information about assistive technology such as software (Dragon Naturally Speaking), track balls, ergonomic equipment and workstations, reading programs for the blind, orthopedic chairs, Ergo Arms, talking organizers, etc.

      Sandra will be contacting all the NoRTEC One Stops to offer her services. She can be reached at (916) 263-3034. This is a PSA. Our very own Terri Winstead will be happy to answer any questions.

   9. Regional Community Coordinator Activities

      Community Coordinator March Agenda

      The "NCEN" Community Coordinators (from the 14 counties in the NoRTEC and NCCC consortiums) are routinely meeting every other month for a combination of in-service training and planning for activities that are of a regional interest. (Their meeting agendas are posted on the NoRTEC "meetings" page. Jeff Lucas is the facilitator.) At their March 14 meeting in Colusa, they discussed regional marketing and the Golden State Capital Network's Economic Acceleration Program. Janis Trueblood, Community Coordinator, Alliance for Workforce Development, will provide a brief report.

      NOTE: The Humboldt County LWIA just requested to participate in the Community Coordinator meetings, which will make this a 15 county meeting.

   10. Business First Report

       The WIB and Governing Board adopted program policies and endorsed a program perspective that encourages the NoRTEC One Stops to assist local business as their primary customer. Local and NoRTEC wide efforts to achieve this goal will be presented as a regular agenda item.

       1. Butte PIC

          Bill Finley, Director of the Butte PIC, will provide some examples of successful employee recruitment efforts for new business start ups. Bill's guests will Greg Duncan, manager of the Butte Community Employment Center, Chico, and Lee Porter, Manager, Orchard Supply.

       2. Shasta Builder's Exchange

          Kent Dagg, Executive Director, Shasta Builder's Exchange, and Chris Pelletier, Shasta County Employer Relations Coordinator, will present an overview of "Career Ladders for Construction Trades." The presentation will include:

          • Construction Boot Camp
          • School to Career
          • Evening training for Employed Workers
          • Remote Construction Boot Camp
          • Incumbent Worker Training
          • Trade Apprenticeships
       3. Website Technology Initiative (Put Your Business On The Internet Today)

          During May and June, NoRTEC and the One Stop Operators will offer 1/2 day workshops to local businesses in each NoRTEC County that will put every business in attendance on the internet, that day, with a Web site, one or more e-mail addresses, and the opportunity for a "lite" storefront for up to 12 products. Some of the topics will include Introduction To Internet Technology, E-Commerce Opportunities, Internet Marketing, and Expanding Your Customer Base. NoRTEC will cover the cost of web site hosting for up to three months. Those that want to continue after that will be offered assistance with the transition to a private vendor. Example Announcement

          Where feasible, some number of local youth will receive training and certification in basic web site development and maintenance, including the use of digital images. They will then form a service support group for local business, to assist with the maintenance and digital image enhancement of the local business web sites. Some areas will be able to offer the youth and local businesses higher levels of assistance. All will be able to help local businesses transition to private vendors, as needed.

          Any other local entity that wants can be identified as a co-sponsor; i.e., Chambers of Commerce, Economic Development, Community College, ROP, etc. So far, at the NoRTEC level we have Butte-Glenn Community College District, Butte County Economic Development Corporation, and Superior California Economic Development Corporation.

       4. The North State Economic Accelerator Program and the North State Technology Alliance

          This is a regional training, mentoring and investor showcase program designed to prepare fast growth entrepreneurs to raise early stage equity financing from angel, seed stage and venture capital investors. This program is also designed to educate and present relevant information for workforce development professionals, economic developers and local government officials on key issues and indicators involved with identifying and assisting "entrepreneurial ventures" in North State communities. This project is intended as an "interim demonstration" project until potential long term grant funding (from the federal Technology Opportunity Program) becomes available to sustain the project.

          The "interim demonstration" project will include the following activities, offered in May and June:

          • Two "Kick-Off" Orientation/2-Minute Drill Events (one in Redding and one in Chico) - You get two minutes to pitch your emerging enterprise.
          • Two "Train the Trainer" workshops (one in Redding and one in Chico) targeted toward educating locally based prospective mentors for early stage companies.
          • One Accelerate It! Entrepreneur and Executive Management Boot Camp (two day event in Chico)

          Jon Gregory, CEO of the Chico based Golden State Capital Network, and Jeff Lucas, President, Community Development Services, will be at the meeting to present an overview and answer easy questions.

       5. Klamath Lake Employment Training Institute

          Sheila Crawford, Klamath Lake Employment Training Institute (KLETI), accepted our invitation to drive down from Oregon and share some of their experiences and current thinking about the "Business First" approach NoRTEC is taking. They have been at it a year or so longer than we have, and are helping shape the future of our (NoRTEC) programs.

   11. One Stop Report

       Each meeting a One Stop program is asked to make a 10 - 15 minute presentation on some aspect of their program. As our agenda is very full this quarter, we will postpone our next One Stop Report until our July 2002 meeting.

       RECOMMENDED ACTION:

       WIB approval of the Third Quarter Program Committee Report.

       Governing Board approval of the Third Quarter Program Committee Report.

8. FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT (ACTION)

   B. Hamby, Finance Committee Chair, will present the Finance Committee report.

   1. PY 2001/2002 Funding (INFORMATION)

      Currently, NoRTEC has $19,848,928 in available funds for the program year July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002.

      This represents a $17,299 decrease in total funding from the 2000/2001 program year. The
      receipt of additional special project funding, combined with a reduction in NoRTEC's allocated funds (Adult, Youth and Dislocated Worker), has put NoRTEC's total funding for the 2001/2002 program year at virtually the same level as the prior year.

      Project	Funds Available From July 1, 2001	Additional Funds Requested	Total
      Adult	$3,958,592	$0	$3,958,592
      Youth	$5,051,040	$0	$5,051,040
      Dislocated Worker	$3,210,146	$0	$3,210,146
      Rapid Response	$1,325,000	$0	$1,325,000
      Welfare-To-Work	$297,355	$0	$297,355
      Core & Intensive Project	$2,096,255	$0	$2,096,682
      Capacity Building	$16,720	$0	$16,720
      Incentive Funds	$107,322	$0	$107,322
      Youth Development	$282,541	$0	$282,541
      Plant Closure	$1,000,000	$0	$1,000,000
      Caregiver Training	$2,503,957	$0	$2,503,957
      Total	$19,848,928	$0	$19,848,928

   2. Approval of PY 2001/2002 Third Quarter Financial Reports (ACTION)
      1. PY 2001/2002 Contracts Summary

         This report shows the total amount of funding in contracts with the State, the source of that funding and its allocation within NoRTEC for the 01/02 program year. As of March 31, 2002, NoRTEC had a total of $19,848,928 available in State contracts for the 2001/2002 program year. This report includes only amounts available in the current year. Amounts expended in prior years are not included.

      2. PY 2001/2002 Service Provider Contract Modifications

         This report shows the changes between December 31, 2001, and March 31, 2002, in the service provider contract amounts available for expenditure in the current program year. This report shows only contract amounts available in the current year. Contract amounts expended in prior years are not included.

         Service provider contract changes during the second quarter involved the award of
         additional funding based upon service provider application, demonstrated need and
         available funding. Butte, Del Norte, Tehama, and Trinity received an additional $33,355, $30,840, $35,435, and $3,860 in Youth funds, respectively. Butte, Del Norte, Siskiyou, and Tehama received an additional $65,000, $15,000, $18,000, and $2,500 of Rapid Response funds, respectively. Butte, Lassen, Modoc and Plumas, Shasta, and Tehama received an additional $100,000, $100,000, $138,482, and $107,000 of Core and Intensive funding, respectively. Shasta received $262,000 of Plant Closure funds. Finally, Del NoRTEC received an additional $31,000 of Caregiver Training funds.
      3. PY 2001/2002 Program Expenditure Report

         This report shows each subcontractor's total available balance for the program year (July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002), the cumulative expenditures for the nine months ended March 31, 2002, and the remaining balance at March 31, 2002 for each specific funding title and program type. This report shows only contract amounts available in the current year. Contract amounts expended in a prior year are not included.

         NoRTEC service providers are generally required to spend 90% of each year's allocation by the end of the program year. For the convenience of monitoring, NoRTEC uses a 25% per quarter expenditure rate as a guide for assessing expenditures throughout the fiscal year (25% first quarter, 50% second quarter, 75% third quarter and 100% final quarter). A corrective action plan (an explanation from the service provider of how they intend to utilize the funds by the end of the funding period) is automatically required from a service provider if quarterly expenditures vary by more than 10% from the quarterly target rate. The required expenditure rates apply to regular funding titles only and do not apply to special projects.

         "Excess" funds may be voluntarily returned by a service provider or recaptured by NoRTEC if it appears that a service provider will not be able to effectively utilize them by the end of the funding period. These funds are then redistributed to other NoRTEC service providers demonstrating a greater need, or returned to the State if they cannot be effectively utilized within the consortium. Early detection and correction of expenditure problems is important because it allows time for the funds to be put to good use by service providers in other consortium counties. In addition, the effective use of funds directly affects NoRTEC's ability to secure additional funding in future years.

         The funding titles in bold italics are those titles in which a service provider is not within a 10% variance of the quarterly target rate (75% at March 31, 2002). For each of these titles, a corrective action plan has been requested.

         At March 31, 2002, overall service provider expenditures are still lower than we would like, but have improved considerably since last quarter. Staff will review corrective action plans and work with service providers to make sure that expenditure rates reach the required levels by June 30, 2002. If a service provider's plan seems unlikely to result in satisfactory expenditure levels, staff will work with the service provider to either improve the plan or deobligate funding. There are no items of concern at this time.

      4. PY 2001/2002 NoRTEC Administrative Entity Expenditure Report

         This report shows the Administrative Entity (AE) expenditures against the annual line item budget for the nine months ended March 31, 2002. At March 31, 2002, the NoRTEC Administrative Entity had expended 66% of its operating budget, 67% of its special projects budget, and 39% of its capacity building budget.

         The primary budget expenditures are detailed in the attached line-item report. There are no items of concern at this time.

      5. PY 2001/2002 NoRTEC WIB and Governing Board Expenditure Report

         This report shows the WIB and Governing Board expenditures against the annual line item budget for the nine months ended March 31, 2002. At March 31, 2002, the WIB/GB had expended 42% of its total budget. There are no items of concern at this time.

   3. PY 2002/2003 NoRTEC ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGET (ACTION)

      The WIB Finance Committee is recommending that the PY 2002/2003 Administrative Entity budget be approved at $772,700. This is the same amount budgeted in PY 2001/2002, with some minor changes to individual line-items. Please see the attached budget and narrative for details. Sufficient funding to cover this budget is anticipated.

      1. Proposed PY 2002/2003 AE Budget.
      2. Narrative for the Proposed PY 2002/2003 AE Budget.

      RECOMMENDED ACTION: The WIB Finance Committee is recommending that the PY 2002/2003 NoRTEC Administrative Entity budget be approved at $772,700, subject to the availability of funding.

   4. PY 2002/2003 NoRTEC WIB/GB BUDGET (ACTION)
      
      

      The WIB Finance Committee is recommending that the PY 2002/2003 WIB/GB Budget be approved at $75,000. This is the same amount budgeted in PY 2001/2002, with no changes to individual line-items. Please refer to the Budget Narrative for more details. Sufficient funding to cover this budget is anticipated.

      1. Proposed PY 2002/2003 WIB/GB Budget.
      2. Narrative for the Proposed PY 2002/2003 WIB/GB Budget.

      RECOMMENDED ACTION: The WIB Finance Committee is recommending that the PY 2002/2003 WIB/GB budget be approved at $75,000, subject to the availability of funding.

   5. NoRTEC MONITORING OF SERVICE PROVIDERS (INFORMATION)

      Fiscal and procurement monitoring of service providers is being conducted by staff during April and May in preparation for the upcoming State monitoring in June (see below). Results of the reviews will be reported at the next board meeting.

   6. STATE MONITORING OF NoRTEC (INFORMATION)

      NoRTEC is expecting a State monitor from EDD to review NoRTEC's fiscal and procurement systems during the week on June 8, 2002.

   7. PY 2002/2003 FUNDING ALLOCATIONS (INFORMATION)

      NoRTEC has been notified of its PY 2002/2003 funding level for the allocated funding titles. The Adult allocation will be $3,139,430, which is a 3% decrease from the 2001/2002 allocation. The Youth allocation will be $3,562,274, which is a 1% increase from the 2001/2002 allocation. The Dislocated Worker allocation will be $2,476,797, which is an 18% decrease from the 2001/2002 allocation.

      The State is painfully slow in giving individual county allocations, so we do not know how these allocations will be split among the nine individual counties. We hope to have that information available soon to facilitate local planning.

   RECOMMENDED ACTION:

   NoRTEC WIB approval of the PY 2001/2002 Third Quarter Finance Report.

   Governing Board approval of the PY 2001/2002 Third Quarter Finance Report.

9. STATUS OF FUNDING APPLICATIONS (UPDATE/ACTION)

   Prior Approval:

   1. The application for $1,000,000 - now known as the Northern STARRS grant - to provide training and related services to workers laid off from the numerous plant closures in the NoRTEC workforce investment area was funded.
   2. The application for a technology grant to provide internet training to local employers in the NCEN area has not been submitted. A mini project - Put Your Business On The Internet Today - is currently underway to "test the waters" for demand and feasiblilty. The application will be developed with a foundation of experience, and will include a request for funding for the accompanying youth program for web site maintenance.

   New Applications:

   1. Additional funding is needed for One Stop Core and Intensive services, and for additional plant closures. This funding comes from the Governor's 25% funds. Staff believe the Northern STARRS grant should form the basis for the application, as it has already has name recognition. At $200,000 per county, and 10% for administration, the total request will be $1,980,000. Submitting the application as an NCEN project may also help with the name recognition, and would have the added salability of increasing the number of counties benefiting. Adding the five North Central counties brings the total to $3,080,000.

      RECOMMENDED ACTION:

      NoRTEC WIB approval of staff submitting an application in the name of NCEN, to be shared equitably with North Central Counties Consortium, for $3,080,000, to provide service to dislocated workers in the fourteen county NCEN geographic area.

      NoRTEC Governing Board approval of staff submitting an application in the name of NCEN, to be shared equitably with North Central Counties Consortium, for $3,080,000, to provide service to dislocated workers in the fourteen county NCEN geographic area.

   2. State "incentive" funding if finally available from the Governor's 15% funds. Unfortunately, it is not being offered as a reward for a job well done. It is just another competitive grant application. There is not even a dollar amount available, as that has not been determined yet. Oh well. NoRTEC staff received requests from our neighboring LWIAs to try and get the Caregiver Training Initiative refunded, and North Central Counties Consortium was interested in regional funding for the North State Economic Accelerator Program.

      RECOMMENDED ACTION:
      
      NoRTEC WIB approval of staff submitting an "incentive" application in the name of NCEN, to be shared equitably with North Central Counties Consortium, for the North State Accelerator Program, and another NCEN application for the Caregiver Training Initiative, to be shared equitably with North Central Counties, Mendocino County and Humboldt County.
      
      NoRTEC Governing Board approval of staff submitting an "incentive" application in the name of NCEN, to be shared equitably with North Central Counties Consortium, for the North State Accelerator Program, and another NCEN application for the Caregiver Training Initiative, to be shared equitably with North Central Counties, Mendocino County and Humboldt County.

10. NoRTEC COUNTIES--ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES (INFORMATION)

    Dan Ripke, Director of the Center for Economic Development, California State University, Chico, will provide a brief look at the "Economic And Demographic Profile 2002" reports the Center recently completed for the NoRTEC counties. These reports contain projections to 2010 for Population, Employment, and Income, and Income by Industry, New Construction, School Enrollment, Business by Industry Size and Class, Per Capita Income, Retail Sales, Poverty, and much more. As an added feature, local one stop information and local services have been added to a limited edition of the report. The Governing Board and WIB members will receive a copy of their county's profile at the meeting.

11. WHAT'S HAPPENING? (DISCUSSION)

    This item will be left open. Time permitting, there will be a discussion of legislation and funding and related items.

12. OLD BUSINESS (INFORMATION)

    Old Business Items may be brought up for discussion, at the pleasure of the NoRTEC WIB/Governing Board members.

13. NEW BUSINESS (DISCUSSION)
    1. WIB and Governing Board - Thursday, July 25, 2002, in Redding
    2. Additional New Business Items may be brought up for discussion, at the pleasure of the NoRTEC WIB/GB members.
14. ADJOURNMENT