Heartland Workforce Solutions, Inc.
Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
November 21, 2013 7:30am
Heartland Workforce Solutions Center
5752 Ames Ave, Omaha NE 68104
Meeting Called to Order
Wendy Boyer, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 7:33 a.m.
Roll Call
Roll was called by Amy Christensen and a quorum was established.
Members Present:
Rod Anderson
Wendy Boyer
Amy Christensen
Liz Cook
Connie Eichhorn
Jim Hanson, Jr.
Members Absent:
Deb Dinsmoor
Jessica McCormick
Othello Meadows
Terry McMullen
Angela Jones
Staff & Guests Present:
Justin Dougherty, Randy Parks, and Christine Aguilar – Goodwill Industries
Sarah Johnson – Chamber of Commerce
Erin Porterfield, Shirley Carlson, Michael Phillips, Donna Knerr -HWS, Inc.
Notice of Publication
Adequate legal notice of this meeting was posted in the Omaha World Herald. Let the record reflect that
the notice was published in accordance with the open meeting law requirements and published in the Greater
Omaha area. A copy of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act is available at this meeting and can also be obtained
from the Board staff.
Public Comment
There were no public comments.
Approval of the Consent Agenda*
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Approval Minutes of the October 2013 Executive Committee and Board Meetings
Approval of the Financial Reports for September and October 2013
Approval to go in to Closed Session – HWS Personnel Discussion
Plan Modification – Changing EO from Shirley Carlson to Erin Porterfield
Approval of Eligible Training Provider Requests
 Wright Career College
 Western Nebraska Community College
 Metropolitan Community College
Motion was made by Amy Christensen and seconded by Jim Hanson, Jr., to approve the Consent Agenda as
presented. The motion carried by roll call vote of those present and eligible to vote.
Approved:
Rod Anderson
Amy Christensen
Jim Hanson, Jr.
Angela Jones
Wendy Boyer
Liz Cook
Terry McMullen
Connie Eichhorn
*Connie Eichhorn abstained from voting on the MCC Training Provider Request.
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Strategic Planning
Discussion was had regarding updates to the Local Plan and the HWS Strategic Plan (SP). Some of the
topics/suggestions discussed were:
o Recommendation on branching out beyond WIA.
o Outside of WIA, HWS would have other potential funding,
o Formal guidance will be coming from the State on whether the Local Plan is to be revised or
totally re-done. The current Plan expires on 6-30-2014.
o The best Strategic Plans have an outside moderator/facilitator (Mary Warren, former Regional
Director for Iowa WORKS and now a private consultant, has offered to work with the Board.
Quotes for services from multiple sources would be sought.)
o Integrating the local plan with HWS Strategic Plan.
o Process and Time frame for the meeting?
o Do an education refresher prior to the meeting so the focus can be on planning.
Recommendation also made to have an education component at each Board meeting.
o Give the Board members “Pre-Work” to have with them at the SP session.
o Choose specific ideas/goals so there is time to focus and prioritize.
o Use data to make decisions. Establish metrics and then decide actions to meet them.
o Review goals from previous sessions as a starting point to drill down.
o Do we need a Steering Committee? The Executive Committee will be the Steering Committee.
Board Committees
Finance-The Finance Committee met on Tuesday, November 19th. It was suggested that an email be
sent out to Board members as a reminder on their commitments for the year’s contributions. With the lease for
the Nicholas Street office expiring in May 2014, Michael Phillips is taking a look at if it would be beneficial to
move over to the American Job Center. Finance Committee had discussions on adding extra members to the
committee. Cash flow is going well and the Goodwill invoice received on November 7th was paid on November
20th (within the two week goal). Michael also reported that there is talk about a rescission in January, but it
could go as far back as July. Michael went over the FY 14 Rescission Analysis handout showing what a
rescission from 5% to 22.5% will look like. It will be a big hit to the Adult and Youth Programs. Congress
should come out with draft figures in mid-December. Michael recommended requesting a plan modification of
$150,000 of DLW funds to the Adult to help with the shortfalls this will cause in the Adult programs. Carry in
is important to help sustain the next year. Rod Anderson and Michael Phillips will create a Financial Dashboard
as a new tool to present the financials to the Board for review, but the back-up reports will still be available to
those who want to see them. The auditors, Hamilton & Associates are currently in- house and will be through
the first couple of weeks in December. An unused portion ($19,617) of the PY11 General Purpose advance was
paid back to the State this week.
Motion was made by Jim Hanson, Jr. and seconded by Connie Eichhorn to approve the Plan modification as
presented. The motion carried by roll call vote of those present and eligible to vote.
Approved:
Rod Anderson
Amy Christensen
Jim Hanson, Jr.
Angela Jones
Wendy Boyer
Liz Cook
Terry McMullen
Connie Eichhorn
Performance-Angela Jones reported that the Performance Committee is doing a lot of work on
“reporting” right now. They are looking to streamline the information shared with the Board, and in addition,
looking to come up with a “unified measure.” They are working with the Sherwood Foundation on this. Angela
feels that there is value in the current monthly Board Report, and recommends that the report be done quarterly
to allow for better data compilation. In the interim, the new report shows how many are served, risk areas, and
accomplishments. Partners will be asked to fill out a One-Stop Partner Report – Telling Our Story - on a
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monthly basis. This will help the Performance Committee see where they need to place their focus. Since there
were no objections from the Executive Committee, they will try it for a month to see how it works and make
changes as needed in the future. Shirley Carlson reported on the Performance Dashboard. Entered employment
is showing at 58% for Adults. The expectation is that wage hits should help this to go higher to meet at least
90%. The Average Earnings data is not yet available for PY13. The State received an extension on federal
reporting until December 5th.
Youth Council- Connie Eichhorn reported that things are going well for the Youth program. There was
no impact from the government shutdown. Goodwill is on target with enrollments, performance, and
expenditures. Justin Dougherty added that two days ago the State released an updated Youth Program Design
policy with a lot added to it. The Youth Council will review and then, training and review will be done with
staff.
Internal Processes Perspective
Justin Dougherty reported that the American Job Center operations are going well. Regina Bell has been
doing a great job putting together Hiring Events and working with different businesses inviting them to the
Center. Justin has put together a survey using Survey Monkey to gather information from the Center’s clientele.
This will give insight for future workshop classes, employers holding job fairs, and the businesses that we still
need to reach out to, in order to better serve our clientele. Justin also reported that our Partners are getting better
at referring clients to other agencies, and Impact One is happy to be located at the Center and happy for the
referrals. The Cheesecake Factory held open interviews for permanent careers both full and part-time positions,
on November 19, 2013.
Shirley Carlson gave an update on the State monitor reviews. EO review has started, but the monitor
has informed us that she probably won’t complete it until the end of December-January time frame. The
monitor has finished the Data Validation review looking at almost 300 files for Greater Omaha. The report is
pending. The monitor has also been doing a “Special Procurement” review on the process for the selection of a
site for the American Job Center, and purchases for the Center. This will be the third time this review has been
done, and the report should be complete in the next couple of weeks. The monitor also told us that the State
Auditor from Mike Foley’s office will come to visit us as well. Shirley reported that the State has completed
their WIA Annual Report for PY 2012. Instead of printed copies, the State has provided a link to their website.
This will be sent out to the Board members, so they can read the narratives and the accomplishments of all three
local areas.
Customer Perspective
The last Business Supervisory training class graduated on October 28th with 10 participants. Shirley
reported that HWS funding for the classes is now depleted. She will try to reconvene the Healthcare Sector
Partnership to see what else can be done. HWS does own the curriculum. The Offender Employment Specialist
(OES) program review will be November 22nd at the Douglas County Center. David Pollock has been receiving
more referrals from Douglas County.
There was discussion on how companies that are new to Omaha know about the Center. The Chamber
and others make referrals. If someone knows of a business, please refer them to Justin Dougherty or Regina
Bell. Making the workforce connection is very important.
Erin Porterfield reported that she met with the Goodwill Industries’ public relations representative.
They are working on promoting the Center through customer success stories.
Meeting Times
Discussion was had on the time of the Board and Executive Committee meetings and it was decided that
the meetings will now start at 8:00 a.m.
Closed Session began 8:37am.
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The meeting adjourned at 9:00am.
Next Board & Executive Committee Meetings
HWS Board Meeting
Thursday, December 19, 2013, 8:00 a.m.
AJC- Heartland Workforce Solutions
Community Room
5752 Ames Ave. Omaha, NE 68104
HWS Executive Committee Meeting
Tuesday, January 21, 2013, 8:00 a.m.
AJC- Heartland Workforce Solutions
Sarpy Room
5752 Ames Ave. Omaha, NE 68104
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