Minutes

• Chair Jane Clark presided over the meeting. The meeting was called to order at 7:35am and a membership quorum was present.

• There was no public comment.

Chair Clark informed the group that she participated on a call with the other WIB Chairs across the State with the CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB), Brad Turner-Little. Brad discussed WIOA reauthorization and the pros and cons of the bill that is currently in the Senate. The current bill does not have a training mandate which is positive but there are still concerns about redesignation and the Governor’s set aside. Member Ryan inquired about reaching out to elected officials, Jamie will send a summary to the group.

Chair Clark introduced new member Louise Hrubecky. Louise is a Rehabilitation Counselor for the Illinois Department of Human Services – Division of Rehabilitation Service. Louise has been with the Department since 1993, just after graduating from college. She has served in a supervisory capacity at a variety of times over the last 15 years.

• Motion to approve by Member Allen
• Seconded by Member Wendorf
• All ayes, MOTION APPROVED

Member Meyer presented the Member Minute. Member Meyer works for RJW Logistics Group, a retail logistics provider. Member Meyer works on the IT side of the business. He has been utilizing AI in various aspects of the business and he considers this a best practice as it has increased productivity. RJW is currently experiencing tremendous growth, which is positive but also presents staffing challenges.

Jamie reported the One Stop Certification is complete. The Certification team consisted of Chair Clark, Member Hardie and Adela Meitz from College of DuPage. The team came to the Center and went through the application and had a tour of the Center. The Certification team identified the referral system as a best practice and also noted the huddle rooms available to clients for virtual interviews in the Center as a best practice. The Team recommends a provisional certification pending the selection of a One Stop Operator.

• Motion to approve One Stop Certification recommendation by Member Wollensak
• Seconded by Member Giles
• All ayes, MOTION APPROVED

Jamie informed the Members that there is one program up for certification, the Professional in Human Resources Exam Preparation course at College of DuPage. This course is one of three offered to human resources professionals and the other two exam prep courses are already on the ETPL.

• Motion to approve PHR exam course by Member Wendorf
• Second by Member Clark
• All ayes, MOTION APPROVED

Jamie informed the group that the Request for Proposals has been released and all responses are due by July 10th. There is a review team in place comprised of the Partners in the Center as well as Chair Clark. Jamie also presented the One Stop Operator report. Application volume was steady March – May with a slight uptick in applications in May of 2024. College of DuPage and IDES continue to have the most referrals and Jamie reminded the members that the partners now have the ability to refer to each other which improves service integration efforts in the Center. Jamie also shared a service integration success story about an individual who worked with workNet and College of DuPage to secure needed funding for textbooks.

Lisa Schvach presented the fiscal report. At least 80% of the monies are required to be spent by the end of the program year (6/30/2024). The report indicates that this benchmark has been achieved across all three funding streams. Additionally, the direct training minimum of 50% has also been exceeded across all funding streams. Lisa also reviewed the additional grants, with the most money remaining in the grant serving immigrants and refugees.

Lisa presented the workNet update.

Amanda Waldrup, Deputy Regional Administrator for the Health Resources and Services and Services Administration (HRSA) presented information on their programming.

There was no old business.

There was no new business.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:53am.