MINUTES OF THE LINCOLN TRAIL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD
December 18, 2018

The Lincoln Trail Workforce Development Board met on Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 11:30 am EST, at the Lincoln Trail Area Development District (LTADD) office in Elizabethtown.

The meeting began with the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Vice-Chairman, Mo Miller, serving in the absence of Chairman Dean Schamore, called the meeting to order after determining quorum requirements had been met.

Mr. Miller introduced the following guests: Frank Anglin, Central Kentucky Reentry Coalition;  Kevin Smith, Beam Suntory; Laura Arnold and Amber Gootee, Nelson County Schools; Jennifer Carman, Office of Employment and Training; Ray Leathers, Commissioner for the Department of Workforce Investment and Darlene Bussell, WIOA Liaison for the Office of Employment and Training;  Mr. Miller also introduced new board member Ron Eppes, with United Way of Central Kentucky.

ACTION ITEMS

Minutes

Vice-Chairman Miller presented minutes from the September 18, 2018 LTWDB meeting for consideration. Anna Larson made a motion to approve the minutes as presented, Greg Gribbins seconded; motion carried.

SNAP Contract – Executive Committee – October 25, 2018

Sherry Johnson stated the Board agreed at the September meeting to let the Executive committee take action on the SNAP contract and report back at the December Board meeting for approval of that action. Ms. Johnson indicated the State made all of the requested revisions to the contract and the Executive committee reviewed and approved it at the October meeting. The Board agreed, by unanimous consent, to accept the Executive Committee’s action regarding the SNAP contract.

Recommendations – Recertification of KCC Centers

This item was removed for consideration.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

Update - Heartland Communications

Beth Avey, with Heartland Communications Consultants (HCC), provided an update on communications goals for workforce outreach services. Ms. Avey shared information on several initiatives including the Work Matters column, e-newsletter for the Workforce Crisis Taskforce, “Your Career is Here” campaign and Work Based Learning Opportunities (WBLO) through the Workforce Crisis Taskforce. Ms. Avey also shared career videos highlighting WBLO’s which were placed on the Kentucky Career Center-Lincoln Trail website. Ms. Avey stated they would be launching an integrated paid advertising campaign in January using radio, newspaper, TV and Facebook.

Update - Workforce Crisis Task Force

Jim Rachlin provided a brief overview of Strategy Matters’ support of the Workforce Crisis Taskforce in the implementation of the strategic plan and introduced Liz O’Connor, with Strategy Matters, to provide more detailed information.

Update - Strategy Matters

Liz O’Connor, along with Strategy Matters staff Brittney Nichols and Katie Dorfman, provided detailed updates on the activities of the three subcommittees. Ms. O’Connor shared a dashboard outlining progress on leading indicators as well as a scoreboard on the labor force participation rate by county.   Ms. O’Connor indicated there would be a second annual Workforce Crisis Taskforce summit on June 4, 2019.

Update - ECTC Statewide Reserve Funding Request

Megan Stith provided information on Elizabethtown Community and Technical College’s (ECTC) request for Statewide Reserve funding to assist in the restructuring of the Workforce Solutions Division. Ms. Stith indicated they received feedback from a study of local employers identifying over three-hundred unmet training needs. Ms. Stith stated ECTC recognized they could be more competitive in offering high quality, cost effective training to help employers reduce turnover and training costs. Ms. Stith indicated a plan was developed to split the Workforce Solutions division into technical training and essential soft skills training to offer more flexible and customized training for their business partners. Ms. Stith shared that part of the strategy included a mobile training unit, which would have sixteen workstations with laptops and allow ECTC to offer a variety of in-demand training. According to Ms. Stith, this was the foundation of the request for Statewide Reserve funding and should be in operation the second half of 2019.

Update - KY Chamber TPM Project

Carter Dyson, One Stop Director, provided information about the Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) initiative. Mr. Dyson indicated the project began three months ago and he was selected as a representative from the Lincoln Trail Region along with Samantha Brady, Bardstown-Nelson County Chamber of Commerce and Daniel Carney, Springfield Washington County Economic Development Agency. Mr. Dyson stated that the project’s focus was on the collaboration of like businesses regarding issues they faced in their industry such as recruitment, onboarding and retention, etc. Mr. Dyson indicated he was in the process of getting businesses together to begin the discussion and to determine what could be done to assist them. Mr. Dyson informed the Board that the initiative was funded for three years and Josh Williams, with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, was the project manager for the Northwest region.

Update - American Greetings Closure

Jackie Masterson provided an update on Rapid Response activities being provided to American Greetings employees. Ms. Masterson indicated that Rapid Response sessions had occurred on November 1^st and another on November 29^th impacting sixty and eighty employees respectively. Kentucky Career Center staff returned to the company the week following each layoff and helped with unemployment insurance filing as well as one-on-one assistance with partner programs and services. The final layoff will occur on February 28, 2019 affecting ten to fifteen employees. Rapid Response sessions will be scheduled closer to the layoff date. Ms. Masterson informed the Board that many of the employees had reentered or had plans to reenter the workforce with very few enrolled in training. Some also indicated they were planning to retire.

Update - KY Health

Sherry Johnson provided the Board with the latest information regarding the status of the KY Health program. Ms. Johnson stated the Medicaid Waiver was recently reapproved with a new start date of April 1, 2019. Ms. Johnson shared that a conference call was held on December 17^th between the local Workforce Directors and Education and Workforce Development Cabinet (EWDC) representatives Deputy Secretary Josh Benton, Commissioner Ray Leathers and other State staff and attorneys. Deputy Secretary Benton informed the group that, after discussions between EWDC, Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) and the Governor’s office, the decision was made to terminate existing contracts with local workforce boards and issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for one vendor to operate the program statewide. Deputy Secretary Benton indicated the reasons behind the decision included EWDC’s responsibility for the rollout and the desire to be more engaged as well as the possibility of more starts and stops due to lawsuits. Ms. Johnson indicated the Deputy Secretary stated that he wanted the KY Health program to be a partner in the Kentucky Career Centers as well as operate under the guise of the One Stop Operator. Ms. Johnson informed the Board that the Deputy Secretary stated their preference was to have one provider for both the SNAP and KY Health programs. Secretary Benton indicated a draft RFP would be issued within the next month and a provider in place by February 1, 2019. Ms. Johnson indicated that local workforce boards would be receiving a thirty-day notice to terminate the contract within the next couple of days.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

None

NEW BUSINESS

None

ADJOURNMENT

With no further items to discuss the meeting was adjourned.

LINCOLN TRAIL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD

ATTENDANCE SHEET

December 18, 2018