Minutes

• Chair Jane Clark presided over the meeting. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 and a membership quorum was present.

• There was no public comment.

Chair Clark introduced new member, Patti Romanowicz. Patti is the People and Culture Manager with Aqueity.

Chair Clark informed the group that she attended a call with Andrew Warrington, the new Illinois Workforce Innovation Board Chair and members of the Illinois Workforce Partnership who represent the local areas across the State. Chair Clark noted that the call was very positive, and she looks forward to more communication between the State board and the local areas.

• Motion to approve by Mary Keating
• Seconded by Member Giles
• All ayes, MOTION APPROVED

Member Einfalt presented the Member Minute. Member Einfalt is the Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Endeavor Health, formerly known as Edward Elmhurst Health. Member Einfalt indicated one of their current challenges is finding enough talent for their openings. In response to this, Endeavor is growing their own talent, and looking at ways to increase the talent pool with existing employees. Member Einfalt stated that Endeavor Health will continue look for creative ways to source new talent and build upon their existing talent.

Member Szczepaniak shared a client success story with the group. Member Szczepaniak was speaking to a neighbor who was very frustrated with the job search process. Member Szczepaniak suggested she contact workNet DuPage for job search assistance. She contacted workNet DuPage and attended workshops geared towards individuals who have been out of the workforce for an extended period of time. They were able to make connections and she is now employed full-time at a law firm.

Miriam presented the OSO report. workNet continues to receive referrals from a wide variety of organizations in the County; outreach has been extremely effective. Regarding referrals, they are down from a year ago for the months of October, November and December. Miriam explained that due to Federal budget issues, the application for services was taken off the workNet website from October-November. The application is back on the website and referrals are returning to normal levels. Miriam shared a service integration success story highlighting how a customer was assisted by multiple partners.

Jamie presented the fiscal report. Expenditures are on pace to meet the 80% obligation requirement. The 50% Direct Training minimum requirement is being met as well. Jamie also reviewed the balances of the additional grants (Apprenticeship Expansion, Supplemental Funds and the 1E grant) Jamie explained that the supplemental are monies that DECO received from the General Fund, these are not WIOA dollars. This money will be geared to individuals that participated in the Back to School, Back to Work initiative.

Jamie reviewed the training provider approvals; all programs are at the College of DuPage. The programs for approval are Accounting Specialist Certificate, CNC Job Readiness Certificate, Entry level HVCAR Certificate and Web Development AAS Degree.

• Motion to approve College of DuPage programs by Member Giles
• Second by Member Szczepaniak
• Abstention by Member Deasy
• All ayes, MOTION APPROVED

Jamie presented the WARN report. There are two layoff events: Walgreens (24 employees impacted in DuPage), Party City (67 employees) A Rapid Response workshop was held in English and Spanish for the Party City employees. Information has been sent to Walgreens for them to disseminate to their employees. Jamie noted that the Center has not seen many applications from the affected employees.

Member Deasy and Sarah Taylor from World Relief presented information on their programming for immigrants and refugees.

Jamie presented the workNet update. She informed the group that there is currently a great deal of compliance at this time. The Local and Regional Plans will be posted for Public Comment on 2/14 for a 30-day period. The Board will vote on the plans at the March meeting. The MOU is due on May 31st, the Partners will convene to negotiate the budget.

There was no old business.

There was no new business.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45am.