KANE COUNTY JOBS COMMITTEE May 22, 2013

KANE COUNTY JOBS COMMITTEE

May 22, 2013

The Kane County Jobs Committee met on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in the Kane County Board Room, Bldg. A, Kane

County Government Center, Geneva, Illinois.

Present: Co-Chairman Taylor, Co-Chairman Pollock, Members Ford, Gillam, Kojzarek, Laesch (arrives 11:43 a.m.),

Lewis. Also present: Co. Bd. Chairman Lauzen; Auditor Hunt; Development Dir. VanKerkhoff & staff Hanlon; KCDEE

staff Thompson; Finance Mgr. Beltran; Office of Comm. Reinvestmt. Dir. Scott Berger; IT Dir. Fahnestock & staff

Strike; Ronald Bullock and Sylvia Wetzel with Bison Gear & Engineering Corp.; and members of the press and public.

Co-Chairman Taylor called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m. A quorum was established.

APPROVAL OF APRIL 17, 2013 MINUTES ¨C were approved on motion by Kojzarek, seconded by Gilliam. Motion

carried unanimously by voice vote.

FINANCIAL REPORTS (attachment) - were placed on file on motion by Ford, seconded by Gillam. Beltran reported

that the budget was currently at 50% of expended funds. The Accounts Payable report was also included, as

requested from last month. No questions followed. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT - None

PRESENTATIONS

Business/EDC - Mr. Ronald Bullock, Chairman with Bison Gear & Engineering Corp., St. Charles, Illinois, reviewed a

PowerPoint presentation discussing his manufacturing company¡¯s beginnings, the importance of the trades to

manufacturing, the challenges of retiring boomers and the challenges of hiring replacement employees with the

correct skills sets and credentials for manufacturing. He recommended that high school students visit

manufacturers to shift their mind set to vocational skills, reform taxes placed on companies, and commit to policies

that will grow manufacturing. Mr. Bullock stated that he will be promoting manufacturing in October and would like

to obtain a proclamation from Kane County regarding this. Announced was that the Gail Borden Library, in Elgin,

was holding a Manufacturing Week inviting various manufacturers to attend and speak. Ms. Wetzel suggested that

board members contact their libraries to invite and promote various manufacturers in the area and to reach out tp

the educators. Co-chairman Taylor commented on all the areas that engineering/manufacturing touches. Per a

question, Mr. Bullock stated he was working with the State and was in the process of working to get military

occupations specialties translated into civilian position descriptions, which process started about a year ago.

Further dialog followed on how Mr. Bullock and Ms. Wetzel address the challenges of placing the experienced but

dislocated manufacturing worker, age 40 to 55, back into the job market, such as working with the Council for Adult

Learning, which does assessments, but also working with the unemployment offices and letting them know where

job opportunities exist and working with the industry associations. Dialog then followed regarding the training and

tuition reimbursement programs offered by manufacturing companies, the challenges of reorienting and educating

students (and parents) to consider technical careers for their children, and that all the resources in the county

should come together to encourage job development. Mr. Bullock agreed there had to be a better job in matching

up people with the job opportunities as they become available. However, a comment was made that the county

needed to incentivize manufactures to bring back the jobs from other countries and/or make them technologically

more efficient. Also discussed was the importance of educating and outreaching by these companies, especially

during the month of October. Co. Bd. Chairman Lauzen commented that he hoped to compile a ¡°to do¡± list from

what was learned today, showcasing the county¡¯s manufacturers at the libraries during Manufacturing Month

(October), creating a ¡°manufacturing renaissance¡± in Kane County, and creating alliances with the high schools, etc.

and to work with the Workforce Investment Board.

KANE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION (KCDEE)

Dislocated Workers Update - Staff Thompson reported her office is working to be more responsive to the employer

community in Kane County by connecting the dislocated workers with manufacturers. Per Co-chair Taylor¡¯s

question, KCDEE collaborates with the Valley Industrial Association and The Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing who

will package the skill sets for dislocated workers and the associations will send an email blast to their members

informing them of the talent that is available. Thompson offered to contact the two associations to speak to this

committee about their efforts regarding employment opportunities. (Laesch arrives.)

CHAIRMAN¡¯S REPORT - Co-chairman Taylor stated she has asked the veterans superintendent to pull together for

next month a list of its job resources and to explain how he outreaches to the returning vets. Taylor stated she

County Jobs Committee

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May 22, 2013

attended the annual Du Page County Business Economic Summit which was very informative, well attended, and

included a very diverse group of individuals with much shared collaboration and networking. She noted that Kane

County does not have such an organization and invited members to forward her any information if they knew of a

similar organization in the county.

OLD BUSINESS

Business Survey - Co-Chairs Taylor and Pollock distributed a draft business survey asking the members to provide

their input about the survey in order for the co-chairs to finalize it within the next two weeks. Eventually the survey

will be used as a template to outreach to businesses. Dialog followed that each member can be assigned 10

businesses to contact within their district.

NEW BUSINESS - None

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m. on motion by Kojzarek, seconded by Ford. Motion carried unanimously by

voice vote.

Celeste Weilandt

Recording Secretary

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