NoRTEC
MINUTES
WIB AND GOVERNING BOARD
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008
MT. SHASTA, CA

1. CALL TO ORDER

   The meeting was called to order by J. Madden, WIB Chair, and W. Reiss, Governing Board Chair, at 9:06 a.m.

2. ROLL CALL

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

3. WIB APPROVAL OF MINUTES, JULY 24, 2008

   A motion by T. Cochran, seconded by B. Hamby, for WIB approval of the July 24, 2008, minutes as posted, passed the WIB unanimously.
   
   A motion by P. Huebner, seconded by G. Russell, for Governing Board approval of the July 24, 2008, minutes as posted, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

   B. Maffett made a motion, seconded by D. Beeson to approve the agenda with a correction noting the next WIB/Governing Board meeting will be January 22, 2009. This motion passed the WIB unanimously.
   
   G. Russell made a motion, seconded by P. Huebner to approve the agenda with a correction noting the next WIB/Governing Board meeting will be January 22 2009. This motion passed the Governing Board unanimously.

5. WIB APPOINTMENTS

   Patricia Hall, a Wells Fargo Branch Manager in Downieville was nominated by the Sierra County Chamber of Commerce to fill a Private Industry seat in Sierra County.

   A motion by P. Huebner, seconded by J. Cook, to appoint the Patrica Hall to the NoRTEC WIB, representing Private Industry passed the Governing Board unanimously.

6. PUBLIC COMMENT

   There was no public comment.

7. PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT

   M. Piller presented the Program Committee Report.

   1. NoRTEC Monitoring

      The members noted there were no monitoring visits by NoRTEC to the program since the July 2008 meeting.

   2. State Monitoring

      M. Piller reported a programmatic review of NoRTEC had been scheduled by the State to take place the week of November 17, 2008. Piller said an update would be given at the January 2009 meeting.

   3. 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

   4. Contract Performance

      The members reviewed contract performance. There were no areas of concern.

   5. Plant Closure Update

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

   6. "Headline" Program Reports

      The members reviewed the Community Coordinator reports as presented in the agenda (see agenda for summaries and links to full reports).

      A representative from each program gave a brief report to the WIB/Governing Board.

      T. Brown said Butte had enrolled 18 people in an A.S.P. net computer programming class developed to meet a need identified by local (Butte County) employers. Brown also stated the new program in Nevada County was busy, with 800-900 visits to the new facility, per month.

      T. Hoone reported on activities in Del Norte County. Hoone reported RHS had just completed working with the newly opened Walgreens in Crescent City by organizing a hiring fair. Hoone also reported on activities under RHS' Hospitality Grant, stating 250 participants in Curry and Del Norte County had received hospitality training.

      T. Holt reported on activities in Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, and Sierra Counties. She reported the opening date for the One Stop, which had to move from its office on Main Street in August, was scheduled for November 3. Holt said AFWD was working on renewable energy issues in all four counties, and they were excited at the prospects. Holt said AFWD partnered with Brent Smith (EDC) to put on an Entrepreneurial Boot Camp, and planning was underway to provide Customized Training to Western Sierra Medical Center, and training to Modoc Medical Center staff. Holt also said AFWD was working with the Plumas County and Sierra Pacific (in Plumas County) to assist workers who were laid-off.

      A. Bengtsson reported on the Venture Island event for the north state in Redding. Bengtsson said it started in September and there were two more events in the contest scheduled. The next event (Meet the Entrepreneurs) was scheduled for October 30, and the Grand Finale would be held on November 6. She said the top three contestants would compete for $25,000 in cash and prizes. Bengtsson also said Venture Island in Redding had began with 38 applicants, all of whom had received lots of assistance with their business ideas.

      J. Hough reported on events in Siskiyou County. Hough said STEP partnered with College of the Siskiyous, SBDC, and the EDC to bring speakers to the area as part of their WIRED activities. In addition, an entrepreneurial boot camp would be run in the county.

      K. Schmitz reported on Tehama County's 5th Annual Customer Service Week event, organized by the Job Training Center and sponsored by several local business and community members. Schmitz said over 200 people accessed customer service training provided by Job Training Center's Brian Boyer and Kathy Garcia.

   7. One Stop Business Services

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

8. WIRED Update

   S. Knox reported on WIRED (Workforce Innovations and Regional Economic Development) activities.

   Knox said he would not spend a lot of time talking about the Venture Island event in Redding, as A. Bengtsson had already done so in her Headline Program report for Shasta and Trinity Counties.

   Knox informed the members of the upcoming "Accelerating Renewable Energy" event scheduled at the Sierra Nevada Brewery Big Room on December 4. Knox said AB32 (California legislation) requires that at least 20% of energy usage in the State come from "renewable" sources by 2017. Knox said only 13% of California's current energy usage came from renewable sources, so this symposium was timely and of interest to the north state. He said NoRTEC and other partners were hoping to get local colleges involved in the actual training, while workforce development would oversee "talent development."

9. Staff Training

   B. Austin reported on staff training as outlined in the agenda.

10. Youth Council Report

    K. Schmitz reported on Youth Council activities. She said the Council's focus is on youth and entrepreneurship. She said last quarter the ROP Director introduced a two week entrepreneurial module that can be used in all the ROP classes. If adopted, Schmitz said it would reach more than 1,000 youth enrolled in ROP courses annually. Schmitz also reported they had held their summer entrepreneurial boot camp, and were working on getting "E-Clubs" started on high school campuses.

    T. Brown reported the WIB and Governing Board were required to official approve the Youth Council Roster, and that staff had overlooked this requirement at the previous meeting. The roster was presented to the members.

    A motion made by T. Cochran, and seconded by G. Mistal, for WIB approval of the Youth Council Roster passed unanimously.

    A motion made by G. Russell, and seconded by P. Huebner, for Governing Board approval fo the Youth Council Roster passed unanimously.

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

A motion made by L. McNamer , and seconded by P. Huebner, for Governing Board approval of the First Quarter Program Committee Report, passed unanimously.

• FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

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

  1. PY 2008/2009 Funding

     B. Hamby reported NoRTEC has $14,664,745 in available funds for the PY 2008/2009 Program Year, with an additional $3,893,000 of funding requested. iIfthis funding is received, Hamby noted NoRTEC will have $18,557,745 in available funding for the 2008/2009 Program Year. This would be an increase of $110,683 over PY 2007/2008 Program Year funding. (See agenda for breakout of available funding by title.)

  2. Approval of PY 2007/2008 Fourth Quarter Financial Reports

     Final fourth quarter financial reports for PY 2007/2008 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 2007/2008 Contracts Summary
     - PY 2007/2008 Service Provider Contract Modifications
     - PY 2007/2008 Program Expenditure Report
     - PY 2007/2008 Administrative Entity Expenditure Report
     - PY 2007/2008 NoRTEC WIB and Governing Board Expenditure Report
     
     The members engaged in a brief discussion of each of the reports.

     A motion made by J. Smith Freeman, and seconded by C. Barton, for WIB approval of the PY 2007/2008 Fourth Quarter preliminary expenditure reports passed unanimously.

     A motion made by P. Huebner, and seconded by J. Cook, for Governing Board approval of the PY 2007/2008 Fourth Quarter preliminary expenditure reports passed unanimously.

  3. Approval of PY 2008/2009 First Quarter Financial Reports

     Preliminary fourth quarter financial reports for PY 2008/2009 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 2007/2008 Contracts Summary
     - PY 2007/2008 Service Provider Contract Modifications
     - PY 2007/2008 Program Expenditure Report
     - PY 2007/2008 Administrative Entity Expenditure Report
     - PY 2007/2008 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 D. Beeson, for WIB approval of the PY 2007/2008 Fourth Quarter final expenditure reports passed unanimously.

     A motion made by P. Huebner, and seconded by L. McNamer, for Governing Board approval of the PY 2007/2008 Fourth Quarter final expenditure reports passed unanimously.

  4. NoRTEC Fiscal Monitoring

     M. Cross reported that fiscal monitoring of the service providers by NoRTEC was completed for all Service Providers except for AFWD. Cross reported that road closures in June due to forest fires had prevented him from completing his monitoring by June 30. He said he visited AFWD in September, and there were no findings.

  5. State Fiscal and Procurement Monitoring of NoRTEC

     M. Cross reported the State conducted the current year's Fiscal and Procurement monitoring of NoRTEC during the week of April 7, 2008, but a final report had not been issued. He said he would update the members at the January 2009 meeting.

  A motion made by B. Maffett, and seconded by J. Smith Freeman, for WIB approval of the First Quarter Finance Committee Report passed unanimously.

  A motion made by P. Huebner, and seconded by M. Dunn, for Governing Board approval of the First Quarter Finance Committee Report passed unanimously.

• STATUS OF FUNDING APPLICATIONS
  1. Prior Approval

     C. Brown reported staff had not received word on the STEM application, but staff were still hopeful. Brown also noted the National Emergency Grant application to clean up damage due to the wildfires in our area was not funded.

  2. New Applications

     C. Brown requested approval for staff to submit applications for the following grants:

     1. Young Parents Demonstration Program (details in the agenda)
     2. YouthBuild Grant (details in the agenda)
     3. Community-Based Job Training Grant (details in the agenda)
     4. California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) (details in the agenda)
     5. MCLAUS VII (details in the agenda)

     A motion made by L. Wright, and seconded by G. Mistal, for WIB approval for NoRTEC to submit applications for all five programs detailed in the agenda, passed unanimously.

     A motion made by P. Huebner, and seconded by G. Russell, for Governing Board approval for NoRTEC to submit applications for all five programs detailed in the agenda, passed unanimously.

• PLAN MODIFICATION

  Staff requested WIB and Governing Board approval of the plan modication for PY 2008/2009, as posted in the agenda.

  A motion by M. Piller, seconded by T. Cochran, for WIB approval of the Plan Modification for PY 2008/2009, passed unanimously.

  A motion by L. McNamer, seconded by J. Cook, for Governing Board approval of the Plan Modification for PY 2008/2009, passed unanimously.

• FURTHER NORTEC EXPANSION

  The members discussed the pros and cons of further NoRTEC expansion as presented in the agenda. Several of the members wanted staff to begin thinking about developing a formal procedure to share with counties who might want to join the consortium in the future.

  C. Brown said the State already had a formal procedure in place for counties to leave one area and join another. He said it would be difficult to develop a procedure to address such action, as the four counties that have joined NoRTEC since WIA's inception all came under different circumstances. Brown said if a county approached NoRTEC about joining, staff would discuss general ground rules and if the county was amenable, it would be brought to the WIB and Governing Board for discussion and approval.

  Many of the members were also concerned about the current size of the Workforce Investment Board. W. Reiss directed staff to prepare a report on the impact of reducing the size of the WIB at the January meeting.

• SMALL BUSINESS UPDATE

  G. Mistal presented provided an update on pending legislation affecting small business.

• OLD BUSINESS

  No Old Business items were discussed.

• NEW BUSINESS

  The members noted the next WIB and Governing Board meeting would be held in Chico on January 22, 2009.

• ADJOURNMENT

  There being no further Old or New Business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:52 a.m.