Home - SEMCA



SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN GOVERNMENTAL ALLIANCE, INC.MEETING MINUTES OF MARCH 16, 2018 – 9:30 A.M.A MEETING OF THE MEMBERS of Southeast Michigan Governmental Alliance, Inc. was held on Friday, March 16, 2018. Members in Attendance: Commissioner Al Haidous, Michael Bosanac, Mayor Jack O’Reilly and Dale Krajniak - Absent: Khalil RahalGuests in Attendance: Charlie Mahoney, WDB ChairStaff in Attendance: Gregory Pitoniak and Tamara Lamper-Norrix The meeting was called to order at 9:45 a.m. Roll call was taken and a quorum was present.Public CommentNo public comment was made upon request. Approval of AgendaMOTION by O’Reilly to approve the Agenda of March 16, 2018, supported by Bosanac. All voted aye, motion carried.Approval of Minutes of December 15, 2017MOTION by Bosanac to approve the Minutes of December 15, 2017 as presented, supported by O’Reilly. All voted aye, motion carried.Approval of Workforce Development Board AppointmentsPatrick Lambrix, Regional HR Manager of TWB was appointed to the Career and Educational Advisory Council (CEAC) for the Workforce Development Board (WDB). During his meeting with Mahoney and Pitoniak he also expressed an interest to serve on the WDB to fill the Private Sector Representative vacancy created as a result of the resignation of Nicole McLaughlin of the SYMGA Network in Monroe. A formal appointment letter is expected soon from the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce with the approval by the Monroe County Commission.SEMCA also received notification from Operating Engineers 324 requesting a switch of their board representation to have current alternate Lee Graham as the WDB Labor Representative and current member Donald O’Connell as the alternate to Mr. Graham.MOTION by O’Reilly to approve the appointment of Patrick Lambrix of TWB Company, LLC as the replacement for Nicole McLaughlin of the SYGMA Network to the Workforce Development Board for a term ending June 30, 2020, subject to the receipt of the letter from the Monroe Chamber of Commerce and approval of appointment by the Monroe County Commission; and further approves the request of Operating Engineers 324 to switch Lee Graham to WDB representative and Donald O’Connell to alternate, supported by Krajniak. All voting aye, motion carried.Receive and File Revised FY 2017-2018 Corporate BudgetPitoniak reviewed the updated corporate budget. Additions to the SEMCA budget since October 1, 2018 are $100,000 from the Michigan College Access Network, $163,000 Going Pro Apprenticeship Grant, a Youth Build Grant for $73,000, a WIOA grant tied to assisting Amazon for $368,000, and miscellaneous items for about $54,000.WIN has recently been awarded a $1.5 million grant for an IT Apprentice program from the Wilson Foundation, $425,000 for an Entrepreneurship Social Network Analysis program, and a $1 million state appropriation for the expansion of MIBright Future statewide. Roger Curtis of TIA recently sent a compliment that WIN’s data team responded within hours and provided needed data that was useful to the Governor’s Marshall Plan for Talent. The Department of Defense has been very pleased with WIN’s work on a current grant and has encouraged them to apply for an additional $125,000 grant. O’Reilly inquired if the governor recognizes the importance and value of the system, especially with all of these highlights. Pitoniak noted that Roger Curtis does recognize it but the governor has referred to Michigan Works as “the workforce partners for the state.” He has never acknowledged us as Michigan Works. O’Reilly noted the importance of watching the upcoming election and the need to bolster the Michigan Works! System to show the candidates our value. Pitoniak noted that the MW Directors and the state association Board are preparing policy documents and the Association lobbyist, Peter Ruddell, is reaching out to all of the candidates. Most of the major candidates are aware of the system, but we are not taking that for granted. O’Reilly noted that mayors from major cities around the state have come together to re-form the Association of Mayors group that was really active back when he first became mayor, and will be able to advocate and support the system.Mahoney discussed a current issue with the State of Maine where the governor refused to utilize the WIOA funding if he could not determine how it was to be used. He has asked for a waiver from the federal government to do just that and the fear is the Governor’s Association will piggy back on this concept to try and change it to a block grant system. NAWB and other associations have voiced their concerns, and may turn to the US Conference of Mayors to help us fight this in Washington to assure local control of the funding.MOTION by Bosanac to receive and file the FY 17-18 Revised Corporate Budget as presented, supported by O’Reilly. All voted aye, motion carried.MI Works Association State & Federal Budget PrioritiesPitoniak referred the board to the documents prepared by the state association on federal and state priorities. He began with the federal priorities. Michigan Works has a new liaison in Washington DC, Chris Andreason, who assisted with the list. Pitoniak discussed the bi-partisan agreement for workforce development except for in the area of the budget; changes to the TANF program to support training opportunities; and increased funding for apprenticeships. SEMCA will be heading to the Hill in Washington DC next week after the NAWB Conference and will advocate for these priorities. Pitoniak also noted the sample letter in the handouts from Mahoney, Haidous and Pitoniak that were sent to Michigan’s senate and congressional legislators regarding the federal appropriation process. This is a nice precursor for the one-on-one meetings in Washington DC next week. The state priorities include continuation of the Skilled Trades Training Fund, PATH funding to train customers, and continued funding the Jobs for Michigan Graduates program. O’Reilly would like information on the JMG program for Dearborn Schools. Peter Ruddell has been scheduling several meetings with State Appropriations members, Representative Laura Cox of Livonia heading that committee, to advocate for these objectives.Krajniak questioned the number of families receiving cash assistance has gone down by 70 percent and how? Three years ago, 90,000 families were receiving cash assistance and today it is 19,000. There are three reasons: the economy has improved; the 48 month time limit on cash assistance; and cash assistance is no longer automatically turned on. There is now a 21-day wait period and you must go through Michigan Works to create a plan before the assistance begins, which has discouraged some from utilizing the program.Strategic Plan Update/DashboardAfter the completion of one year, we need to review the document and determine where changes need to be made. Some of these items will never be completed because they are ongoing. O’Reilly suggested a metric for those on-going elements that simply states meeting threshold versus complete. Bosanac noted that maybe a rating scale for those on-going goals like staff engagement, staff understanding and staff focus with a rating 1-5 for your day-to-day activity. We will bring this back to the table after it has been revisited and revised.Policy/Funding/SEMCA UpdatesPitoniak noted that much of this has been covered. The Michigan Works! Association has hired a consultant that is field-testing two orientation products for new board members and staff, one being virtual and done online and the other a classroom style program to learn about the workforce development system. We are hoping it will be in place in the next couple of months.Program UpdatesCollin Mays has been working with the local chambers to set up apprenticeship sessions with its employer membership. The number of employers participating has been encouraging.Patricia LeBlanc, the Youth Program Manager has left SEMCA. DTE hired her to run their Youth Internship Program. Deborah Taylor has been hired to replace her and comes from Oakland County where she has worked with the ISD and education system. She is very familiar with the Michigan Works! system. Pitoniak noted the MiCareer Quest program that was started in Grand Rapids three years ago to great success. It is not a job fair or college fair. It is simply hands-on exposure to the occupations of various industries. Southeast Michigan will be holding an event in Novi at the Suburban Collection in the fall and will focus on occupations in IT, healthcare, construction and advance manufacturing. Oakland County is the lead for the first one in southeast Michigan. We are doing outreach through the ISD’s to the school districts to get student participation from Wayne and Monroe County schools. There is an element of first-come first-served although initially there will be allocations to each county. If they don’t fill their allocation then those spots will open up. We are in the process of obtaining sponsorships and participation and employers, colleges and universities will sponsor the event. Normally Michigan Works! would be a sponsor but we are hosting the event and our name will be advertised anyway. MWA’s are looking to help sponsor those schools that say they would like to participate but cannot afford the transportation, and fund the event in that way. Please share the information with businesses you think that may be interest and your schools.Dave Schreiber from Wayne County Economic Development has a business roundtable that we are presenting the information to and 400 businesses are expected to attend. He had 200 attendees at his last event. New/Old BusinessNo new business was reported.AdjournmentMOTION by O’Reilly to adjourn the meeting, supported by Krajniak. All voted aye, motion carried.Meeting adjourned at 10:39 a.m. The next scheduled meeting is for Friday, June 15, 2018 at 9:30 a.m.Respectfully submitted,Tamara Lamper-NorrixExecutive Assistant - SEMCA ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download