North Central Workforce Investment Board

NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA REGIONAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

QUARTERLY REPORT

January – March 2010

MISSION/PROGRAM CHARGE

The North Central Workforce Investment Board (NCWIB) is one of twenty-two Boards across Pennsylvania. The mission of the NCWIB is to provide the leadership necessary to ensure we have an educated and skilled workforce that exceeds the workforce needs of local employers.

ORGANIZATIONAL/DEPARTMENT GOAL:

Goals: 1)The established One-Stop Pennsylvania CareerLink® Centers will be improved continuously resulting in reduced bureaucracy and increased cost efficiency; 2) Employer and job seeker customers and the community at large will know about and use the Workforce Investment System and will understand its strong ties to economic development; 3) The customer and market-driven Workforce Investment System and the Pennsylvania CareerLink® Centers will have high and improving customer satisfaction rates from employer and job seeker customers; 4) A proactive and comprehensive portion of the workforce System will be developed that will identify and meet the emerging needs of employer organizations facing company survival and / or expansion; 5) the North Central Workforce Investment System will meet and exceed the federally mandated performance measures, and will ensure that this does not negatively impact achievement of the other goals.

PROGRAMS/ACTIVITIES

Planning  Outreach to area training providers regarding the High Priority Occupation List.  Promotion of the PA STEM initiative (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and the Youth Council RCEP (Regional Career Education Partnership) within the Industry Partnership to promote integration.

Youth Council / Regional Career Education Partnership (RCEP)  Implementation of the goals of the RCEP Award of $65,000 including mini grant awards, Junior Achievement, Career Awareness in area schools, Youth Career Camps, and Professional Development Courses for educators including Educator in the Workplace experiences.  Meeting with all area schools and Intermediate Units to continue outreach of the services that the NCWIB can provide including the Business and Industry Connection to Schools Program.  Compilation and submittal of the Adult and Youth Subsidized Employment Program (Way to Work) to apply for TANF Emergency Contingency Funds to provide subsidized employment for TANF recipients and other low-income individuals. Quality Assurance/Continuous Improvement

 Began a classroom training (CRT) Customer Survey Process in February enabling WIA customers to rate the quality of service received at their local Pennsylvania CareerLink®, and by the training provider. Also requested information regarding their current employment status. A 59% response rate was realized and upon the completion of the process in April a final report will be shared with appropriate staff.  Analysis of the local WIB Compliance / Oversight Monitoring for Program Year 2008 was conducts by Mr. Harvey S. Bartash, Pennsylvania CareerLink® Coordination Services and the final report was received in January 2010. The report issued by the Bureau of Workforce Development Partnership (BWDP) noted no deficient findings or areas of concern.

Industry Partnerships

 Award of a contract to Eric Conrad and Associates, LLC for the management of the North Central WIB’s Gas and Oil Extraction Industry Partnership which covers a 17 county area to include the counties of the North Central, Northwest, West Central and Tri County Workforce Investment Areas.  Industry Partnerships are meeting on a regular basis with several trainings conducted for members of each partnership based on the identification of common training needs for the Manufacturing, Health Care, Wood Lumber & Paper, and Oil and Gas Extraction Industry Partnerships.

WIB Board

 Developed an assessment process for our PA CareerLink for referrals to the Weatherization Training Program. We held a very successful Regional Meeting in January and the process was implemented throughout our region with much success.  Held a successful WIB Retreat in March with Keith Chase from Avant IMC, LLC as the facilitator. Discussion included what has changed around us since our strategic plan was developed over two years ago; how do these changes impact our workforce development system; and what changes need to be made to move forward. A draft plan will be available for the WIB to review prior to our meeting in May.

KEY ACTIVITIES/OUTCOMES FOR THIS QUARTER

 The Youth Council / RCEP received 8 proposals for Career Education Programs throughout the NCWIA. Six of the proposals were awarded at some level for programs such as a Marcellus Shale Education Research Project, Career Club, Life After School Conference, Middle School Career Exploration Project, Gardening Project and a field trip to an area college. All projects include a STEM and Green Technology focus.

 Collaboration with the Community Education Council for Elk and Cameron Counties for the implementation of Professional Development Workshops throughout the North Central Area. The first was held in Smethport in March and provided training on the Fundamentals of the

2 Standards Aligned System and the Career Education and Work Curriculum Framework and putting the Standards in action.

 The Oil & Gas Partnership sponsored an Oil & Gas Expo on March 17th and 18th in Coudersport that was well attended by both the public and various companies throughout Pennsylvania and New York.

 The Workforce Economic Development Networking (WEDNET) program supported many companies throughout the North Central Region to defray the cost of training incumbent workers.

 Two new Equal Opportunity Liaisons were appointed. Ms. Margaret P. Grieggs for Pennsylvania CareerLink® Elk County and Mr. Stephen W. Pifer for Pennsylvania CareerLink® McKean County.

 Hosted Tierney Communications for a two day visit capturing success stories from our workforce development efforts. Employers, employees and job seekers that we have worked with participated in the event. Tierney will be putting together a statewide piece from all of their visits.

 Presented to the Society for Human Resource Managers in DuBois regarding an update on workforce development and the labor force. The information was well received and the feedback from the group was very positive.

 Presented to Leadership McKean regarding the WIB and our relationship with CareerLink, Industry Partnerships, and our youth efforts. It was a lively discussion with great questions.

 Organized an Industry Partnership Panel/Labor Market Information day for our Business Service Teams. The intent was to provide a forum for our IP’s to provide an update regarding the state of their industry and where they see potential growth occurring. The second part of the discussion was regarding our CareerLink System and how we can better serve industry. Feedback from both the Business Service Teams and the employers was that it was a great event with valuable dialogue. The next step is to take the information that was discussed and come up with an action plan in order to move this discussion forward.