NoRTEC
MINUTES
WIB AND GOVERNING BOARD
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2007
CHICO, CA

1. CALL TO ORDER

   The meeting was called to order by J. Madden, WIB Chair, and W. Reiss, Governing Board Chair, at 10:00 a.m.

2. ROLL CALL

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

   J. Madden requested that everyone introduce themselves.

3. WIB APPROVAL OF MINUTES, OCTOBER 27, 2006

   A motion by T. Cochran, seconded by B. Maffett, for WIB approval of the October 27, 2006, minutes as posted, passed the WIB unanimously.
   
   A motion by P. Huebner, seconded by G. Russell, for Governing Board approval of the October 27, 2006, minutes as posted, passed the Governing Board, with J. Cook, J. Chapman, M. Cibula, and M. Dunn abstaining.

4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

   A motion by T. Cochran, seconded by T. Sloan, for WIB approval of the April 26, 2007, agenda as posted, passed unanimously.
   
   A motion by G. Russell, seconded by P. Huebner, for Governing Board approval of the April 26, 2007, agenda as posted, passed unanimously.

5. WIB APPOINTMENTS

   Jim Jungwirth and William Hagge were nominated to fill private industry seats on the NoRTEC WIB, representing Trinity and Modoc Counties, respectively.

   A motion by L. McNamer, seconded by J. Cook, to appoint Jim Jungwirth to fill a Private Industry seat in Trinity County, and William Hagge to fill a Private Industry seat in Modoc County on the NoRTEC WIB, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

6. PUBLIC COMMENT

   K. Schmitz introduced seven individuals from an LWIA in Snohomish County, Washington, who were visiting NoRTEC One-Stops as part of a DOL Business Services Mentoring Program. The Director from the Snohomish LWIA spoke for a few minutes about the differences and similarities between NoRTEC and their organization, and thanked NoRTEC for mentoring them.

7. PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT

   M. Piller presented the Program Committee Report.

   1. NoRTEC Monitoring

      M. Piller noted B. Austin, the NoRTEC Program Services Director had completed a program monitoring of the Shasta SMART One-Stop on March 13-14, and the Butte PIC on April 24-25, 2007. She reported there were no findings, and Austin would provide a full report at the July 2007 meeting when the other One-Stops in NoRTEC had been visited.

   • State Monitoring

     M. Piller noted the State had conducted a data validation review on NoRTEC's reported participant outcomes for PY 2005/2006. She said that no official letter had been received, but staff had indicated the review went well and there were no expectations of any problems or findings.

   • Client Numbers

     The following reports were reviewed and discussed. No problems were noted. (See agenda for links to reports.)
     
     - Job Seekers Accessing One-Stop Centers
     - Job Seekers Enrolled in the WIA Program
     - Outcome Information On Customers Leaving The Programs
     - One Stop Center Utilization Information
     - One Stop Center Employer Service Information

   • Contract Performance

     The members reviewed contract performance. There were no concerns.

   • National Emergency Grant (NEG) - Storm Project 2005/2006

     M. Piller reported the $2,004,441 of project funding awarded by DOL to employ Dislocated workers to help clean up damage from the winter storms of 2005/2006 was almost spent. She noted the number of enrollments per county as mentioned in the agenda, and stated staff had requested an additional $2.4 million to continue clean-up.

   • Plant Closure Update

     The members reviewed the business closures that had taken place since the last meeting (see agenda for link to report).

   • "Headline" Program Reports

     J. Reese asked why there were no Community Coordinator reports from Butte or Del Norte Counties. T. Brown said Del Norte had posted a report, but it was posted too late to be included in the agenda. Reese asked about a report from Butte County, noting that it had been quite some time since Butte had submitted any kind of a Community Coordinator Report. Terri said she asked the programs for a report, and so far had made it voluntary.

     M. Piller noted the regular quarterly report of "What's Happening" in each program within NoRTEC would be skipped this meeting because of time constraints.

   • One Stop Business Services

     The members noted the websites addressing business services throughout the program. (See agenda for links.)

     There was one business services presentation:

     Debbie DeCoito and Karen Lee from Shasta SMART gave a presentation on their April 24 event "Best Companies to Work for in Shasta County."

   • Staff Training

     B. Austin reported on the youth program training in March 2007, attended by the NoRTEC programs. This training focused on youth program design, implementation of the youth program common measures, and youth program performance.

     Austin also reported on the training and review session she conducted for RHS program staff in November 2006. The purpose of the training/review session was to remediate deficiencies in participant file documentation with respect to receipt of services and progress through the WIA system. Austin said the sessions went well, and she believed RHS staff were now "on the right track" with respect to the WIA program.

   • Youth Council Report

     M. Piller reported there was no Youth Council meeting this quarter to report on.

A motion made by B. Maffett, and seconded by H. Oilar, for WIB approval of the Third Quarter Program Committee Report, passed unanimously.

A motion made by G. Russell, and seconded by P. Huebner, for Governing Board approval of the Third Quarter Program Committee Report, passed unanimously.

• FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

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

  1. PY 2006/2007 Funding

     B. Hamby reported NoRTEC currently has $15,614,676 in available funds for the PY 2006/2007 Program Year. Hamby also noted that $5,651,349 of additional funding had been requested.

     M. Cibula asked in NoRTEC's budget was dependent upon receiving the additional $5 million. Hamby said no, the administrative and WIB/Governing Board budget was already covered by the $15 million NoRTEC had already received.

  2. Approval of the PY 2006/2007 Third Quarter Financial Reports

     Third quarter financial reports for PY 2006/2007 were presented to the members for approval. Hamby reported there were no areas of concern from the Finance Committee (see agenda for link to reports):

     - PY 2006/2007 Contracts Summary
     - PY 2006/2007 Service Provider Contract Modifications
     - PY 2006/2007 Program Expenditure Report
     - PY 2006/2007 Administrative Entity Expenditure Report
     - PY 2006/2007 NoRTEC WIB and Governing Board Expenditure Report
     
     The members engaged in a brief discussion of each of the reports.

     A motion made by T. Cochran, and seconded by G. Mistal, for WIB approval of the PY 2006/2007 Third Quarter expenditure reports passed unanimously.

     A motion made by P. Huebner, and seconded by J. Cook, for Governing Board approval of the PY 2005/2006 Third Quarter expenditure reports passed unanimously.

  3. PY 2007/2008 NoRTEC Administrative Budget

     B. Hamby noted for the members that the budget amount requested for 2007/2008 was the same as the 2006/2007 budget. G. Mistal asked why there were no increases in staff salaries. C. Brown replied that administrative staff did not generally ask for a raise each year, waiting instead to ask every two to three years. T. Cochran said tht he would rather see a smaller percentage increase each year, rather than waiting for two to three years between requests. Cochran said the Executive Committee would be meeting to evaluate C. Brown before the next meeting, and would also discuss the issue of annual staff cost of living increases. B. Hamby clarified for the members that if the Executive Committee recommended salary increases to the WIB and Governing Board at the next meeting, and they concurred, then the budget amount for staff compensation would need to be increased.

     A motion made by T. Cochran, and seconded by D. Withrow, for WIB approval of the PY 2007/2008 NoRTEC Administrative Entity operating budget at $812,864, the Special Projects budget at $100,000, and the Capacity Building budget at $50,000, and the WIRED Budget at $1,725,000, subject to availability of funding, passed with all members, except one, voting yes. J. Reese voted no.

     A motion made by J. Cook, and seconded by P. Huebner, for Governing Board approval of the PY 2007/2008 NoRTEC Administrative Entity operating budget at $812,864, the Special Projects budget at $100,000, and the Capacity Building budget at $50,000, and the WIRED Budget at $1,725,000, subject to availability of funding, passed unanimously.

  4. PY 2007/2008 NoRTEC WIB/Governing Board Budget

     The members discussed the proposed WIB/Governing Board budget as presented in the agenda, noting there were no changes from the 2006/2007 budget.

     A motion made by T. Cochran, and seconded by R. Sandler, for WIB approval of the PY 2007/2008 WIB/Governing Board budget at $75,000, subject to availability of funding, passed unanimously.

     A motion made by G. Russell, and seconded by P. Huebner, for Governing Board approval of the PY 2007/2008 WIB/Governing Board budget at $75,000, subject to availability of funding, passed unanimously.

  5. NoRTEC Fiscal Monitoring

     M. Cross reported that fiscal monitoring of the service providers had begun, and would be completed by June 30, 2007. Cross said he communicate the results at the July 2007 meeting.

  6. State Fiscal and Procurement Monitoring of NoRTEC

     M Cross reported that the State would be conducting the current year's fiscal and procurement monitoring of NoRTEC during the week of May 14, 2007. Cross said he would communicate the results of the monitoring at the July 2007 meeting.

  A motion made by G. Mistal, and seconded by T. Cochran, for WIB approval of the Third Quarter Finance Committee Report passed unanimously.
  
  A motion made by J. Chapman, and seconded by J. Cook, for Governing Board approval of the Third Quarter Finance Committee Report passed unanimously.

• STATUS OF FUNDING APPLICATIONS
  1. Prior Approval
     1. WIRED - Traci Holt gave an update on AFWD's participation in the WIRED project planning. She reported the planning team meets about every six weeks, and all four counties are working on public and private partnerships. Holt reported the planning team was also trying to network with local banks to secure potential seed money for small business loans.
     2. C. Brown reported the $45,000 application to the State to serve disadvantaged youth was funded and that the project would be run through the Job Training Center in Tehama County.
     3. T. Brown reported the "LVN to RN Step-Up" program had been funded by the State, and the bulk of the funding would go to the program in Siskiyou County (STEP) to assist College of the Siskiyous with getting their new program up and running.
     4. C. Brown noted that NoRTEC received $250,000 of the $500,000 from the Governor's 15% funds to start implementing the WIRED Project.
     5. C. Brown noted that the Regional Small Business Partnership project to assist with the implmentation of the WIRED project was funded by the Governor's 25% funds for $225,000.
  2. New Applications

     C. Brown reported there were no outstanding applications for additional funding.

• REPORT OF THE EDUCATION/LEGISLATIVE COMMITEE

  G. Mistal gave a brief report, stating about 3,000 bills were introduced this year, and several of them apply to small business (health care, workers compensation, lunch hours/breaks for employees, etc.). She recommended checking with the Small Business California webiste for more information.

  Mistal also reported that Scott Hauge was the recipient of the "Small Business Advocate of the Year" award, and she thanked Charles Brown and Anna Bengtsson for writing letters supporting Scott's nomination. Mistal concluded her report by encouraging members of the WIB and Governing Board to join Small Business California.

  Other members expressed concern over school funding in northern California, primarily because Forest Reserve funds, an important funding source for rural areas, was ending.

• OLD BUSINESS

  No Old Business items were discussed.

• NEW BUSINESS

  The members noted the next WIB and Governing Board meeting would be held on Thursday, July 26, 2007, in Redding, and the Executive Committee would meet prior (time and place to be determined).

• ADJOURNMENT

  There being no further Old or New Business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:50 a.m.