Sam Okparaeke started the November 17, 2006 meeting of the ...



Essex County

Workforce Development Board

Zoom 9AM

Minutes from Meeting: September 24, 2020

Attendees: Mary Alexander, Michael Andreas*, Allyson Carvajal, Art Cifelli*, Apryl Caldwell, Mitra Choudhury, Evanthia Corrado, Tom D. Constanzo, David DelVecchio*, Robert Diehl*, Keisha Flemming, Valentina Green, Maya Lordo, Jackie LueRaia*, Hilary McCarron, Elizabeth A. McLilly*, Wendy Melendez*, Betty Mirda, Jobi Odeneye, Sam Okparaeke, Janine Schaeffer, Rebecca Shulman, Lynn Sternstein, Margaret Tyson*, Bhavna Tailor*, Edwin Vallejo, Amy Vazquez*, Sharlene Vichness*, David Weiner*, Howard Weiss, Chike Uzoka*

*WDB members

Welcome and Introduction

Howard Weiss started the meeting and made introductions.

Minutes from the last meeting in June were approved.

Community Health Dept. Update

Mayo Lordo, county health officer stated that since March Essex County has tested over twenty-five thousand (25,000) people for Covid. The test is being offered free of charge and there is no need to present an insurance card just proof of Essex County residency. The County Health office has been assisting county employees with the pandemic, with questions especially with schools opening up. They are also involved with contact tracing. They assist with any positive test results from employees by reaching out and doing a proper investigation and then contacting those employees that might have had contact with that individual. They have also been working with the county schools by developing safety protocols as well as working with school nurses to develop a line of communication to the county health department. There is a lot of information available but she emphasized to go to the local municipal or county health office for information. There is a call center at the county that is available to answer questions regarding Covid. The number for the call center is 973-877-8456 and the website is .

PA/ NYNJ

Hilary McCarron, oversees workforce development at the Port Authority of NY and NJ. She leads the workforce development team, of which Jobi Odeneye is a member. This organization is made up of businesses that are stakeholders and they volunteer their time to try and promote the port as a viable career pathway. This is the largest port on the east coast, the third largest in the nation. The port industry supports over five hundred thousand (500,000) jobs and one hundred forty billion dollars in economic activity, including federal and state tax revenue. The port moves a tremendous amount of cargo and was open through the Covid shut down as it plays a critical role for the region. In the industry only two (2) out of every ten (10) employees is female. People of color are also underrepresented in the industry. There is a LinkedIn group (groups/8610391) that is dedicated to maritime in NY and NJ. They are also offering a virtual port tour on October 8th and again December 10 for people that are interested in a port job. For schools that offer Supply Chain Management on October 22nd they are offering a mini-conference for guidance counselors and they have a career panel. NJMEP will talk about the logistics technician apprenticeship program. Hilary McCarron hmccarro@. The latest impact study for the port can be found at . Also Jason Grove, Sr. Policy Analyst on Intergovernmental Affairs can be reached at 212-435-6913 or 646-740-4901 and jgrove@ .

NJDOL

Edwin Vallejo, labor market analyst with the NJ LWD, provided a substantial amount of labor market data that was emailed out to everyone. In Essex County this past March there were seventeen thousand two hundred (17,200) unemployed with a four point six (4.6) percent unemployment rate and the next month it jumped to sixty-one thousand nine hundred (61,900) and a sixteen percent unemployment rate.

He added that he can do customized reports if anyone is interested to contact him at Edwin.vallejo@dol. .

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It was noted that the unemployment rate for Newark was 22.3% in June. The numbers don’t include those that couldn’t get through the system.

Director’s Report

Sam Okparaeke thanked the new members for coming and participating on our Board. The committees have been meeting regularly. There have been food distributions every Thursday in order to help the community and those are ongoing.

There is a 10 million dollar grant to assist small businesses that is being administered by the NJEDA. As of yesterday one thousand twenty-one applications have been approved, several hundred were declined, five hundred forty were deemed non-responsive, four hundred sixty-seven under review, and eleven were withdrawn. So far just under four (4) million has been distributed. There was a call with NJRA (NJ Redevelopment Authority) with the intent to repurpose that money to be able to help small business with rental assistance. The original money dies on December 31st and due to the structure of EDAs programs the amount that can be distributed per business is not that much.

Also, Essex County has not received any funding for WFNJ which started July first so they had a meeting the LWD. Allyson Carvajal stated that they held a series of meetings with the local areas. This year the meetings were held very late because of the pandemic. The goal is to get the funding out by the end of October so that the local areas can have more discretion as to where to use that funding. Each local area can decide how much to use on work activities, need based work support, CAPP on TANF, as well as for GA, SNAP. They are also looking to use the SAGE system for the funding.

WIOA Credentials

Howard Weiss stated that one way that we are measured by the Department of Labor is the percentage of customers that have obtained a “credential”. A number of training programs lead to receiving a recognized credential and some do not. One of the things we are considering is if we should establish a percentage of training that we pay for that lead to a credential. Right now this is just up for consideration but it is something we are having discussion on and looking carefully at it. Apryl Caldwell added that this is a particular area that we have not been passing with our performance measures.

Committee Reports:

Business & Economic Development Committee Report

Bob Diehl stated that Jonathan Kobzo and Amy Vazquez have been working on a video series that they would like to upload to the county website. It will essentially be an question and answer session approximately seven (7) minutes long focusing on a specific profession. Amy has volunteered to be the first interviewee, who will be focusing on the challenges of Covid. Bob doesn’t anticipate there being a cost involved but he is looking for a more professional camera and someone to do editing. The idea is to have a number of these and focus on Essex County Businesses that can provide information an put a plug in for their business at the end. Also, he is looking for a place with an “official looking background” in order to film the spots. Sam offered to set up the location at the Hall of Records and asked that he send an email with what exactly he needs when he is ready. Valentina Green also offered a room in the new building.

Disability Committee Report

Rebecca Shulman stated that the committee has been meeting virtually. Right now the plan is to have an in-person Employer Recognition Awards Breakfast with lots of spacing in a large room at Mayfair Farms. October 28th is the date we are working with. The number of people will be limited and it will be a plated breakfast. On September 30th from 10-11:30am there will be another virtual training by George Washington University on “Trauma Informed Care.” If anyone who has an interest in attending who did not get an invitation let her know. There are fifty (50) people registered so far.

Literacy Committee

Lynn Sternstein stated that the committee last met this past Monday. The Essex County Literacy Consortium are all running classes remotely using various combinations of Zoom, Google Classroom and some others. JVS will be starting their fall classes on October 12th and are currently registering students. The pre and post testing for ESL has been smooth however CASAS poses more of a challenge for the ABE and HSE programs. It is slow because of the limited numbers that you can test at once. Some agencies are testing in-person but not all are capable. LWD announced that they were going to start doing remote observations of all Title II programs. GED and HiSet are offering a test at home version directly to individuals without having to go through a testing center. TASC test is not available remotely but there are some centers that have opened for in-person testing.

Betty added that the county is doing in-person testing for CASAS.

Welfare to Work Committee

David Weiner stated that there was no additional information to provide.

Youth Investment Council (YIC)

Apryl Caldwell stated that the committee met last week and was resource sharing. Apryl asked Sam to be present when they asked the state for mental health assistance for youth during this pandemic. The next YIC meeting is scheduled for November 19th.

One Stop Committee

Howard stated that the next meeting is scheduled for October 9th.

Adjournment

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted by

Janine Schaeffer

NEXT MEETING DATE: December 10 , 2020

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