NoRTEC
AGENDA
WIB AND GOVERNING BOARD
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2003
10:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M
HOLIDAY INN
685 MANZANITA COURT
CHICO, CA
Last Updated January 22, 2003, @ 2:00 p.m.

1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
3. WIB APPROVAL OF MINUTES, OCTOBER 24, 2002 (ACTION)

   The minutes from the October 24, 2002, meeting are attached: Minutes

   RECOMMENDED ACTION:

   WIB approval of the October 24, 2002, minutes, with revisions if needed, as mailed.

   Governing Board approval of the October 24, 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 APPOINTMENTS (INFORMATION)

   The NoRTEC WIB, after the last meeting, had all vacancies filled.

   Unfortunately, a member appointed at the October meeting, Alejandro Salazar, who was representing Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers, resigned from his position at the California Human Development Corporation, which also means he must resign his position on the WIB. Currently, no new nominations have been received for this vacant position.

7. PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT (ACTION)

   M. Piller will present the Program Committee Report.

   1. Program Monitoring

      No on-site program monitoring visits have been conducted since the last meeting. The annual programmatic monitoring will not be scheduled until Spring 2003.

   2. State Monitoring

      There was one state monitoring visit tentatively scheduled in January 2003 for one of NoRTEC's Dislocated Worker special projects. After reviewing the massive geographic area of NoRTEC, and the limited amount of time available to the State reviewers for travel, the visit was canceled before it was formally confirmed. NoRTEC and the programs were initially disappointed, but have gotten over it.

   3. Client Numbers
      1. One Stop Centers - Job Seekers Accessing One-Stop Centers
      2. WIA Enrollments - Job Seekers Enrolled in the WIA Program
      3. Client Exits* - Outcome Information On Customers Leaving The Programs
      4. Core Service* - One Stop Center Utilization Information

         * New reports open to the public. Click on "Reports" on the NoRTEC client tracking site.

   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 time frame for the project was March 1, 2001, through December 31, 2002. Client data is in the process of being cleaned up by all the programs, and if is complete by the time of the meeting, a final report will be given. CTI Participants

   5. NWI (Nurse Workforce Initiative)

      The sixteen county region of NCEN (NoRTEC's nine counties, plus Colusa, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Sutter, and Yuba Counties) was awarded $2.1 million dollars to provide Registered Nurse (RN) and Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) training to northern California residents.

      NoRTEC, on behalf of NCEN, submitted a proposal for $3 million. Our proposal was funded, but for a reduced $2.1 million. Contract negotiation is still underway between NoRTEC and the State to firm up details (mostly performance related issues) for the reduced amount of funding. When completed, the contract will be effective from October 1, 2002, through December 31, 2005.

      An update will be given at the next meeting outlining participant services and funding levels to the sixteen counties throughout the NCEN region.

   6. Plant Closure Update

      There have been several plant closures in the nine county area of NoRTEC over the past three years. The following web site address is being updated as additional closures occur. The MCLAUS (Multiple Closures, Layoffs, and Unemployment Services) application was submitted to help us respond to these closures.

      Plant Closure Update

   7. 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 December 31, 2002:
      
      (Note: If the link does not take you directly to the report for the April-June 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)
      
      The "featured" Community Coordinator report this month belongs to Rural Human Services, Del Norte County. The members liked the new look of the report and liked the large pictures (they were easy to see). Congratulations, Rene Quintana, on a job well done.
      
      A close second was Jim Jansen's report from Shasta County. A couple of members expressed their interest in the statistics that were given towards the end of the report.
      
      Take few minutes to read the reports from all nine counties. They are informative and fun. Our Community Coordinators are putting a lot of work into keeping you informed.

   8. 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. Web site Technology Initiative (Update)

         The first round of the four hour "Put Your Business on the Internet Today" workshops were held in eight of the nine NoRTEC counties this past year. They appear to have been very well received. We are concerned with the relatively small portion of published sites compared to the number attending the workshops, and are taking steps to help assure a higher publishing rate for this second round. Check out the new website for NoRTEC's Website Initiative 2003: http://www.websiteinitiative.org/

         Here are some web sites from the first time:
         http://sevenagesstudio.bizland.com
         http://inspirationunlimited.bizland.com
         http://mtshastaballoon.bizland.com
         http://shastavalleyrcd.bizland.com
         http://mountainmorning.bizland.com
         http://trinitycountyrealty.bizland.com
         http://velocitytechnology.bizland.com
         http://lakeblvdcleaners.bizland.com
         http://whiskeytownbrewingco.bizland.com
         http://tbsmobileservices.com
         http://modocmedicalcenter.org
         http://rlvanorden@monkeynet.net
         http://www.classicdetours.com http://www.kindercrossing.com http://www.lrdha.com
         http://www.taxidermyservices.com/
         http://www.friendlycomputing.com/
         http://www.nileshotel.com

         Mr. Tim Smith, owner of T.B.S. Mobile Services and the http://tbsmobileservices.com web site, has agreed to come to the meeting and tell us the benefits of his web site.

      2. Entrepreneur Training (Update)

         At the last meeting, J. Lucas reported that a number of local entrepreneurs/businesses from the North State had been identified as promising and will be moving into the next phase of preparing for venture capital. Mr. Lucas will provide an update at this meeting.

      3. Business Services (Information)
         
         
         1. Josephine Wyatt, Siskiyou Training and Employment Program, will present an overview of their Workforce Connection's Business Services program.
         2. Anna Brassart, Shasta PIC, will present "testimonials" from a number of local businesses regarding services received from the Shasta PIC. In order to minimize the time required by local business to participate, they decided to videotape their comments. This may start a whole new trend, especially if they serve popcorn.
      4. Internet Classroom (Information)

         We got a good package deal on hundreds of internet classes which will be available for our One Stop staff, job seekers and local business. We think this may be a particularly helpful approach to assisting local business with short term, focused training needs. The classes range from most office productivity programs, like Microsoft Office Suite, Lotus, Corel, Wordperfect, Netscape, Quicken and Quick Books, etc., to computer professional networks and operating systems for hardware, operating systems, networks, Linux, Unix, etc., to computer professional programming and web development for Cold Fusion, Crystal Reports, Java and JavaScript, HTML, C++, SQL Server, Oracle, Visual Basic, XML, etc., to computer professional design and media for Acrobat, Adobe, Corel, Dream Weaver, Flash, Front Page, Photo Shop, etc., to 450 courses for the Business Professional, ranging from management and leadership skills and mentoring and coaching to business law to interpersonal communications and relationships, business writing to making presentations, customer relations to accounting, budgeting to human resource management to marketing, operations management, time management, project management and lots more.

   9. Policy Update

      NoRTEC Administration frequently updates it program policies to provide guidance to our local programs and to reflect changes made at the State and Federal levels.
      
      Currently, the following changes should be reviewed by the Program Committee and recommended to the WIB and Governing Board for approval:

      • The definition of "employed" has been changed to read:

        An employed individual is one who is currently working as a paid employee or who works An employed individual is one who, during the seven consecutive days prior to completing an application, did any work at all as a paid employee, in his or her own business, profession or farm, or works 15 hours or more as an unpaid worker on a farm or in an enterprise operated by a member of the family, or is one who is not working, but has a job or business from which he or she was temporarily absent because of illness, bad weather, vacation, labor-management dispute, or personal reasons, whether or not paid by the employer for time off, and whether or not seeking another job.

      • Programs used to utilize a definition of "unemployed," which was supposed to describe anyone who was not "employed." Unfortunately, the definitions of each of these terms did not cover all the bases, and there were WIA applicants who did not fit into either category. To correct this, the term "unemployed" was tossed, and substituted with "not employed," which is defined as:

        An individual who does not meet the definition of employed or who, although employed, has received notice of termination of employment.

      • The definition of "underemployed" has been changed per State direction:

        An individual who is:

        • Employed but working part-time and desire full time employment; or
        • Is working in employment not commensurate with the individual's demonstrated level of educational and/or skill achievement; or
        • Is employed full-time but the individual's per hour earned wages, including regular overtime, is below the self-sufficiency threshold of $15.00 per hour.
        • Working part-time but desire full-time employment; or
        • Working in employment not commensurate with the individual's demonstrated level of educational attainment.
      • NoRTEC is required to have a policy that addresses the provision of supportive service payments to participants. We have been operating under the "old" policy created under the JTPA program. Following is a direct link to the proposed policy: /tb/policies/supportive_services.html

        The only major change in the new policy is to update the legislative references from the Job Training Partnership Act to the Workforce Investment Act.

      RECOMMENDED ACTION:

      The Program Committee recommends WIB approval of the above noted changes to the NoRTEC Program Policy.

      The Program Commitee recommends Governing Board approval of the above noted changes to the NoRTEC Program Policy.

   10. NoRTEC Youth Council Meeting, December 11, 2002, Redding (Information)

       The NoRTEC Youth Council met in Redding at the Red Lion Inn on December 11, 2002. Minutes
       
       Most of the meeting was spent on presentations and discussing approaches to local resource mapping and better coordination of effort among youth service provider agencies.

       1. Cindy Salatny, Rural Human Services, will provide a summary of the youth resource mapping efforts in Del Norte County.
       2. Janet Blacketter, Job Training Center of Tehama County, will provide a summary of the youth resource mapping efforts in Tehama County.

       RECOMMENDED ACTION:

       The Program Committee recommends WIB approval of the Second Quarter Program Committee Report.

       The Program Committee recommends Governing Board approval of the Second Quarter Program Committee Report.

8. FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT (ACTION)

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

   1. PY 2002/2003 Funding (INFORMATION)

      Currently, NoRTEC has $13,448,592 in available funds for the program year July 1, 2002, to June 30, 2003. An additional $4,686,967 has been requested. If all the requested funding is received, NoRTEC will have $18,135,559 in available funding for the 2002/2003 program year, a $1,714,869 decrease from the amount of funding available in PY 2001/2002. The decrease in funding is primarily due to congressional reductions in WIA funding (we received a 20% reduction in our Dislocated Worker allocation from last year) and reduced availability of special project funding from the State.

      Project	Funds Available from July 1, 2002	Additional Funds Requested	Total
      Adult	$3,500,803	$0	$3,500,803
      Youth	$4,030,041	$0	$4,030,041
      Dislocated Worker	$2,740,562	$0	$2,740,562
      Rapid Response	$512,033	$961,967	$1,474,000
      Core & Intensive Project	$50,285	$0	$50,285
      STARRS	$455,226	$0	$455,226
      North STARRS	$1,375,000	$625,000	$2,000,000
      MCLAUS	$0	$1,000,000	$1,000,000
      Caregiver Training	$721,933	$0	$721,933
      Local Board Travel	$1,500	$0	$1,500
      Universal Access	$13,209	$0	$13,209
      Nurse's Workforce Initiative	$0	$2,100,000	$2,100,000
      Youth Development Grant	$0	$282,541	$282,541
      Groundfish	$48,000	$0	$48,000
      TOTAL	$13,448,592	$4,969,508	$18,418,100

   2. Approval of PY 2002/2003 Second Quarter Financial Reports (ACTION)
      
      
      1. PY 2002/2003 Second Quarter 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 at the end of the Second Quarter of the 2002/2003 program year. As of December 31, 2002, NoRTEC had a total of $13,448,592 available in State contracts for PY 2002/2003. This report includes only amounts available in PY 2002/2003. Amounts expended in prior years and amounts carried forward from prior years are not included. There are no items of concern.
      2. PY 2002/2003 Service Provider Second Quarter Contract Modifications

         This report shows the changes between September 30, 2002, and December 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.

         The primary type of contract change was the addition of $137,500 per county of "North STARRS" funding. Del Norte also received $48,000 in funding to serve those affected by the extinction of groundfish stocks. In addition, $200,000 and $36,893 of STARRS funding was added to Shasta and Tehama, respectively, and $7,301 of Dislocated Worker funding was added to Tehama. There are no items of concern.

      3. PY 2002/2003 Second Quarter Program Expenditure Report

         This report shows each subcontractor's total available balance for the program year (July 1, 2002, to June 30, 2003), the cumulative expenditures for the six months ended December 31, 2002, and the remaining balance at December 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.
         
         At December 31, 2002, the overall level of Service Provider expenditure is satisfactory. There are no items of concern at this time.
         
         Background:
         
         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.

      4. PY 2002/2003 NoRTEC Administrative Entity Second Quarter Expenditure Report

         This report shows the Administrative Entity (AE) expenditures against the annual line item budget for the six months ended December 31, 2002. AtDecember 31, 2002, the NoRTEC Administrative Entity had expended 46% of its operating budget, 61% of its special projects budget, and 40% of its capacity building budget. There are no items of concern.

      5. PY 2002/2003 NoRTEC WIB and Governing Board Second Quarter Expenditure Report

         This report shows the WIB and Governing Board expenditures against the annual line item budget for the quarter endedDecember 31, 2002. AtDecember 31, 2002, the WIB/GB had expended 24% of its total budget. There are no items of concern.

   3. State Monitoring of NoRTEC (INFORMATION)

      There have been no state monitoring visits scheduled since the last meeting.

   RECOMMENDED ACTION

   The WIB Finance Committee is recommending WIB approval of the PY 2002/2003 Second Quarter Finance Reports.

   The WIB Finance Committee is recommending Governing Board approval of the PY 2002/2003 Second Quarter Finance Reports.

9. STATUS OF FUNDING APPLICATIONS (UPDATE)
   1. Prior Approval:
      1. The two NCEN regional applications for "Incentive Funding" (Caregiver Training and Entrepreneurial Training) have not been funded. It appears no money was set aside in the State's Incentive Funds Budget, and no projects will be funded, although this is cynical speculation.
      2. The application for a technology grant to provide internet training to local employers in the NCEN area has not been submitted. Staff are still thinking through program design and how best to approach the decision makers. The primary concern is not competing with other NoRTEC Program/Participant related applications for limited funds.
   2. New Applications:

      Staff submitted an application for $1,000,000 to serve individuals laid off from numerous plant closures in the NoRTEC area, and other eligible dislocated and unemployed workers. The application is called MCLAUS, which stands for Multiple Closures, Layoffs, and Unemployment Services.

      RECOMMENDED ACTION

      WIB approval of staff submitting an application for $1,000,000 to serve eligible job seekers in the NoRTEC area.

      Governing Board approval of staff submitting an application for $1,000,000 to serve eligible job seekers in the NoRTEC area.

10. OLD BUSINESS (INFORMATION)

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

11. NEW BUSINESS (DISCUSSION)
    1. WIB and Governing Board - Thursday, April 24, 2003, in Redding.
    2. Additional New Business items may be brought up for discussion, at the pleasure of the NoRTEC WIB/GB members.
12. ADJOURNMENT