WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD (WDB)
Of Genesee and Shiawassee Counties
Meeting
Minutes
Sylvester Broome Jr. Center
4119
N. Saginaw Street
Flint, MI 48505
Friday, August 22, 2003
8:00 a.m.
PRESENT: Michael Zelley, Harry Blecker,
Barry Bomier, Denise Chambers, Lewis Driskell, Larry
Ford, Cheryl Gifford, Jimmy King, Ivan Love, David Miller, Edith Prunty-Spencer, Barb VanTol and
Katie Wolf
STAFF PRESENT: Pamela Loving, Alicia Booker,
QB Pittman, Sharon Bowen, Craig Coney, John Rhymes, Tanesha
Malone, Nichole Abdul-Aziz, Niki
Theeuwes, Lila Lipscomb, Margaret Broden, Peggy
Kendrick, Debbie Rose, Kim Etheridge, Helen Brown, Melody Relerford,
Lou Lethbridge, Sherry Goble, Koya
Clemons and John Meloy
OTHERS PRESENT: Peter Goodstein, Andre Hatter
and Jamie White
I.
Meeting
called to order at 8:10 a.m.
II.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Brian Pyles
from Shiawassee RESD presented a power point presentation on their Summer Youth
Program. There were 88 students who
attended the program and there were 32 with perfect attendance. The program was very successful. Mr. Pyles presented
clocks to Mr. Michael Zelley, Ms. Pamela Loving, Ms. Alicia Booker, Ms. Sharon
Bowen and Ms. Margaret Broden to show their
appreciation.
III.
ACTION ITEM:
A.
Approval of WDB minutes of May 30, 2003: A quorum
was not present so there was no motion to accept the minutes of May 30, 2003.
IV.
INFORMATIONAL UPDATES:
A.
Contract & Compliance Status: Mr.
Harry Blecker asked Ms. Alicia Booker to give an
update. Ms. Booker stated that the
Budget and Finance and Contract and Compliance meeting was postponed due to the
power outage at Career Alliance, Inc. headquarters on Monday, August 18, 2003. There
were no action items. Career Alliance
Inc. either exceeded or met all 17 of the performance measures set by the State
of Michigan for WIA Youth, Adult and Dislocated Worker
programs. The WIA programs for the
contracted year 2003/2004 started on July 1, 2003. The Workfirst program continues until September 30, 2003.
Allocations for the Workfirst programs are
still in draft form and it seems likely there will be 9.5 million dollars
available which should be enough money to fund each of the service
providers. She stated that she might not
receive the available funding by the next board meeting. Mr. Ivan Love asked Ms. Booker if Reed Act
money was going to be an ongoing funding source. Ms. Booker stated that it would be available
through contract year 2004/2005.
B.
Budget and Finance: Mr. Jimmy
King stated that the meeting was canceled due to the power outage in which a
substation took out the entire area. Mr.
QB Pittman reported that when receiving a grant, a closeout report is done at
the end of the fiscal year to the State of Michigan showing where the money was spent. He stated that at June 30, 2003, a preliminary closeout was performed and Career
Alliance Inc. has until August 20, 2003 to give a final closeout. He stated that the closeout was completed
zeroing out WIA and Employment Services grants.
He stated that Career Alliance Inc. served at least 20% of the people
receiving these services in the state of Michigan. Mr.
Pittman reported that the Accounts Receivable/Accounts Payable ratio was 2 to 1
which means that the bills can be paid on time.
Mr. Zelley asked which categories was Career Alliance
Inc. serving 20% of the State.
Ms. Booker answered WIA Adult, Youth and Dislocated Worker.
Mr. Zelley acknowledged Ms. Dedra Pitts representing
the Mayor’s office.
V.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS – UPDATES:
A.
Shiawassee Subcommittee: Ms.
Sharon Bowen reported for Mr. Gary Gosaynie. She stated that they met last Friday and Ms.
Booker gave an update on all of the programs.
The major item was the presentation by Shiawassee RESD, which was
presented this morning.
B.
Economic & Community Development Initiative: A short
video was shown on the Northpointe Village
Project. Mr. Barry Bomier recognized Mr.
Dave Feller for preparing the presentation.
Mr. Bomier stated that he is looking forward to seeing the Dayton, Ohio pictures fade away and the Northpointe Village focused on. He explained the Northpointe Mission advantages. He stated that Mr. Cal Wright and Ms. Nichole
Abdul-Aziz are really moving the project along. The Horticulture group, AARP, employees and
garden clubs at Dewey Park did a cleanup project, and as a result more kids are
utilizing the park. Work is being done
to secure money for this project. He
gave an update on the gas station/Laundromat project. Mr. King asked if the streets were closed off
during the cleanup. Ms. Pamela Loving
answered yes that there were signs to close off blocks and neighbors signed
petition. Mr. King asked about lead
paint. Ms. Loving answered that it would
be replaced. Mr. Ford stated that this
project has a positive ripple effect and that it is getting good press.
C.
Education Advisory Group: Mr. Zelley
reported that the Education Advisory Group is down for the summer. He stated that last year there was over 20
million dollars in the PAL program, which was cut significantly to 1 million
dollars. It is not a lost program and
the same is true for Career Prep.
D.
Family Independence Agency: Ms.
Chambers stated that FIA served 10% of the State of Michigan. She
stated that FIA is facing a possible 700 layoffs due to the budget. Genesee County could receive 10% of the layoffs, which would mean 70
employees. She discussed the different
services that are being put in schools.
She stated that they already have service workers in several schools. She stated that she and her husband donated
$1,000 and her staff donated $1,000 to give two scholarships to foster kids
with no means of support at the Celebration of Success Partners in Community
function. Mr. Zelley stated that the
cuts are not just an FIA problem but also a community problem. Mr. Love stated that it was worse that you
think. He said that a number of things
are coming together with a one time only influx of money. There is not enough revenue based upon
current tax cuts.
E.
Michigan
Rehabilitation Services Update: Ms. Suzanne Howell not present. Mr. Zelley reported on the collaboration with
people with disabilities. He stated that
if a person does not get a job from the classified ads they get a job from
relationships. He stated that the
mentoring program is successful. He
stated that Mr. King and Mr. Ford offered to mentor some people.
VI.
PRESIDENT’S UPDATE: Ms. Pamela Loving discussed the posters from
the Horticulture Program. She stated
that there were eight high school interns.
VII.
CHAIR’S UPDATE: Mr. Zelley discussed the Northpointe Village video. He stated that ISUS is
a wonderful project and also the mentoring project. He stated that about a month ago from the
United States Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy, the
Director of Policy and Research, Susan Parker and Supervisory Policy Advisor,
Chris Button visited Career Alliance Inc.
The visit resulted from Dr. Roy Grizzard’s
visit here six months ago. He stated
that this One Stop is innovative. He
thanked the board members, Career Alliance Inc. staff and the Broome Center staff for their attendance during the luncheon.
VIII.
Ms. Katie
Wolf followed-up for Shiawassee
County. She
stated that she has been serving on the Shiawassee Regional Chamber of
Commerce’s Economic Development Partnership, which is heading up a countywide campaign. She stated that the whole initiative is very
strong and has already met its initial fundraising goals.
IX.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at
9:30
a.m.
Signed
_________________________________
Ms.
Katie Wolf
Secretary,
Workforce Development Board
10-24-03
Date: __________________