Call to Order, Welcome and Introductions:

Mr. Hale welcomed the members and guests present. He recognized Governor Ventura who was also present at today's Council meeting. Mr. Hale introduced himself and thanked the Governor for the opportunity to serve as the new Council Chair. At the Chair's request, Council members introduced themselves, provided biographical information, and reflected on their role on the Council. Linda Baer (Vice Chancellor-Minnesota State Colleges and Universities) distributed a handout entitled "Minnesota Workforce Development in 2005: A Vision of MnSCU's Role" which Mr. Hale urged members to read.

Call to Order, Welcome and Introductions:

Governor Ventura's Vision for Minnesota Workforce Development and the GWDC:

• Thank you for volunteering to serve on this Council. We received well over 100 applications from Minnesota's top leaders who were interested in joining the Council, and it was tough to make selections.
• I am extremely pleased that Roger Hale has accepted the position of Chair. His leadership and background on workforce development issues are outstanding.
• The work you are doing here is critical for Minnesota's economic development. Every where you look, you see help wanted signs for jobs of every type. In fact, we have had 99 straight months of economic expansion.
• Yet, there are pockets of high unemployment, especially in the inner cities and on Indian Reservations. Every Minnesotan is needed in the workforce to ensure our continued economic vitality.
• Currently, there are approximately 60 federal and state employment and training-related programs administered by 12 different state agencies that spend just under 200 million in federal dollars and just under 100 million state dollars. The spending of these dollars is currently under review.
• I have put together a "mini-cabinet" made up of the Commissioners and staff from the Department of Economic Security (MDES), the Department of Trade and Economic Development (MDES), Minnesota Planning and the Chancellor of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) that is formulating a strategy for workforce development reform. I will have this report in September of this year. It will be a "work in progress."
• The challenge before you will be to help with the implementation of the "mini-cabinet" report and monitor its effectiveness. You will be asked to assist me and my cabinet members to improve and strengthen the recommendations of this report.
• I think you need to bring your community's feedback on this strategy as well.
• My commissioners will not protect turf. They are going to work together with you and other state leaders so that we will have the best possible workforce in the state in the next millennium.
• The work you are doing here is key to our success. I look forward to working with you. Thank you again for your leadership.

Chair's Vision and Discussion of Tentative Committees:

Mr. Hale offered a brief insight into the State's economy and the workforce shortage. He offered that we should view the present economy as rich in "challenges and opportunities" rather than laden with problems. Collectively the Council must deal with the job skill shortage, and needs of the incumbent workforce as well as address the pockets of unemployment that exist. He cited the opportunity to develop meaningful partnerships in local communities, and the opportunity to develop workforce skills to assist workers in navigating their way through the workforce.

Mr. Hale said he "has a strong bias to work" and that good work leads to good jobs and personal growth, and better jobs. We need to help those that have jobs, and to find ways to help hard working, motivated people, move into jobs. And through this process we will have business prosper.

The task then for the GWDC is to "focus on the big issues" and to develop a comprehensive five-year strategy (state plan) to redirect/redeploy our resources and efforts as needed.

He expects the Council to be an "activist council" and to that end he has asked Don Gerdesmeier to be the Vice Chair, and called upon specific members to head the following committee structure:

• Education to Employment Committee - Tracy Beckman
• Life-long Learning Committee - LaDonna Boyd
• Business Development Committee - Dick McFarland
• Workforce Development Committee - Wayne DeBruin
• Self-Sufficiency Committee - Mary Haug
• Executive Committee - Council Chair, Vice Chair and Committee Chairs

Mr. Hale referred the Council members to the yellow handout included in their GWDC notebooks that were distributed at today's meeting. The handout described the above committees and included a sign-up form each Council member was asked to complete indicating their choice(s) for the committee(s) they wish to serve on. The sign-up forms were to be turned in to Kathy Sweeney at the close of today's Council meeting or faxed to Kathy as soon as possible. The membership of the committees needs to be determined very soon so that the work of the committees can begin shortly. Kathy Sweeney, the MDES Liaison to the Council, will be working on getting the committees organized and up and running. The committee chairs will be working with assigned committee staff members and scheduling meetings within the next few weeks.

Mr. Hale indicated that the next meeting of the full Council is scheduled for Friday, October 1, 1999, at 9 AM. Future Council meeting dates are February 11, 2000 and June 9, 2000 (FYI: This date was corrected from the original document that reported the meeting as June 2, 2000). Committee meetings will be held in the interim.

Roger Hale then outlined the process for developing the five-year strategic plan (state plan). The "mini-cabinet" develops the draft strategy to meet the Governor's early September deadline. This draft strategy will then go to the GWDC Executive Committee for advisement, and then the entire Council will review the plan in October. As soon as a draft of the plan is available, copies will be made available to the Council, followed up by a conference call being scheduled for sometime in September with the Executive Committee to obtain comments and feedback.

Hale reiterated the sense of urgency necessitated by the seemingly out of sync deadlines for developing the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) implementation plan, the Governor's strategy, and the fact that the first meeting of this Council is August 6, 1999.

(At this point in the meeting, at 9:45 AM, Mr. Hale called for a break in the meeting. The meeting reconvened at 10 AM.)

Overview by Cabinet Members of the Ventura Vision and Their Part in It:

Mr. Hale called upon Commissioner Earl Wilson (Minnesota Department of Economic Security) to present an overview of his part in the Governor's vision and the workforce shortage issue.

Commissioner Wilson spoke of the existing mismatch of skills to jobs, and the challenges presented by workforce demographic issues. He outlined the 1.5% annual growth in jobs and the challenges relative to a 1.1% annual growth of the workforce; the shortage of skilled workers for high-end information technology and machine fabrication jobs; and the need for low-end entry level workers. Commissioner Wilson spoke to the challenges for skills alignment through "just-in-time" and customized training as well as the role and challenge for business and industry to increase the productivity of the workforce. He also described the churn in the workforce, and the continued incidence of unemployment compensation claims even though the economy is doing well. He reflected on the shortened period of compensation as a result of the strong job market as well as the characteristics of contemporary workers, who will likely have 7 to 9 "careers" in their lifetime. Commissioner Wilson also talked to the need to upgrade workforce skills to enable us to expeditiously move workers into new jobs in the event of a downturn in the economy; this is critical if we are to remain competitive in the global market.

Mr. Hale called for questions and comments from the Council:

Richard McFarland - The Council needs the labor market and demographic data relating to the issues Commissioner Wilson outlined in his recent letter to Council members. (Commissioner Wilson will furnish this information to the Council.)

Jim Rostberg - In addition to housing, child care and transportation, employers have stated they need employees with "soft skills". We need to meet the challenge of providing potential employees in high pocket unemployment areas with soft skills, and therein meet the challenges faced by employers who can potentially hire these people.

Rod Haworth - We have a high rate of turnover, and this is not necessarily good or desirable. He recently spoke with an employers who has hired 360 workers and has 60 of them left. The basic needs of workers today are much the same as they were yesterday. Workers want more from their jobs than they are getting. Today's workers need more job satisfaction, and the way to this is through properly trained workers. We need to know why people change jobs as frequently as they do.

Earl Wilson - It is important we do find out why people react the way they do. Why does a worker in a $70,000 a year job leave to open a Caribou coffee shop (for example), or why does an athlete with a $1.5 million signing bonus not show up. This would be unheard of years ago.

Gordon Aanerud - How will we reflect the needs of local councils in our deliberations?

Earl Wilson/Jim Korkki - Commissioner Wilson and Jim Korkki explained the development process for the WIA Implementation Plan, the large planning body (over 100 members), and the inclusivity built-in to the membership of the planning groups. In addition, this is a rolling plan, which the Council will be updating during the October-April time frame and which must take into consideration the needs and strategies of the Local Workforce Councils.

Roger Hale - Reiterated the criticality of involvement with local plans.

Linda Baer - We need to look at the long-term solutions we well as the short-term view, i.e, alternatives to four-year curricula, and changing the mind-set we have toward aligning training requirements with career choices.

Roger Hale - With reference to a downturn in the economy, this will no doubt happen at some time, but will be cyclical and relatively brief. He recommended the Citizen League report, "Help Wanted" which addresses the short-term impacts of economic downturns.

Bernard Brommer - We need to do a better job of funding out what the jobs/skills of the future will be. The challenge to workforce development includes addressing the future needs of employers as well as those of workers. We have the challenge of managers and supervisors to help people grow in the workforce to meet future needs.

Earl Wilson - There is a responsibility on both sides of the ledger.

Bernard Brommer - The job changes(s) that Commissioner Wilson referred to may not be good or desirable. Both labor and management are looking for stability.

Ginny Karbowski - What are the needs of the workforce? What are the needs for two-year and four-year education? We need to get the word out as to where the needs are, and what the skill requirements are. The precision machine industry does a good job of this and we should look at that.

Tracy Beckman - Picking up on Linda Baer's comments, we need to focus on a systemic change in the way we prepare people to work. This is a huge problem, and we may be losing a huge segment of appropriately skilled workers by forcing the wrong academic paths, and not changing the mind-set of how we prep people for the workplace.

Rep. Karen Clark - The Council needs to define terms, i.e., "living wage." Also, the Council needs to identify supportive services for workers. For instance, if the Workforce Development Committee identifies a need for "entry-level" jobs, then what is the cost in "human resources" necessary to support those entry level workers. The Business Development Committee also needs to add "return on investment" to their charge.

Sen. Arlene Lesewski - The Council must address "rural Minnesota" in its deliberations. "We need to look at the whole state." The work of the Council is important to all of Minnesota not just the population corridor that runs from St. Cloud to Rochester. "What can we do to bring rural areas into focus?"

Ernest Owens - It would be helpful to the Council if we can put the results of the various committees' efforts and works-in-progress on a Web page. (Commissioner Wilson responded that there would be a GWDC Web page established.) Mr. Owens also commented that the relationship between employer and worker is lacking--there is an absence of loyalty on the part of employers in America; there is a high potential that the worker will be done by workers from Sri Lanka or elsewhere. The Council also needs to look at the diversity of potential workers in the workplace and the probability that there will be a great difference among workers--some workers may even be from the prison population--and how this effects workforce development.

Jenny Lightfoot - There are serious employment and unemployment issues for American Indians, both on the reservations and in the communities. We need to keep the specific concerns of Native Americans in mind.

Sandra Peterson - We need teachers. There are fewer and fewer qualified people to teach, especially in the critical areas of math and science. When we look to the future we need to ask who is going to teach. This is a crucial issue, not just at the K-12 level, but in pre-school as well. There is a high turnover of pre-school teachers.

Roger Hale then made the comment, "It strikes me we are not lacking for challenges, and that he appreciated hearing the healthy, strong viewpoints of the Council members."

Mr. Hale called upon Commissioner Michael O'Keefe (Department of Human Services) to address the "other side of the issue."

Commissioner O'Keefe stated that what the Council is about--what the challenge is--is "How do we create a long-term, quality, stable society in Minnesota."

He said that what we have is two goals: One, the economic goal--how we create a strong skilled workforce; and two, how do we ensure families can provide the adequate means and resources to support themselves so they can succeed. Both of these, he said, overlap.

Commissioner O'Keefe then provided an overview of the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) which originated as a pilot program in Minnesota prior to federally mandated welfare form.

The "welfare community" is generally not ready for the workforce, lacks skills, training and education and may need child care, transportation or affordable housing. This group needs support or training in both the "hard" and "soft" skills. We are having success with this segment of the welfare community as we have developed several ongoing initiatives. The good economy is helping both the individuals and the employers participating in these programs.

The final third has significant barriers, which includes chemical dependency, significant health problems, and family histories or even a culture of non-employment. Some may even be unemployed children of parents who have never been employed. The federal government recognizes that 20% of the welfare community may be these "hard core" disadvantaged. We are working and partnering on how we can deal with this population. Partnerships, even across state boundaries, are needed to address these issues.

Mr. Hale called for comments and questions from the Council:

Ernest Owens - What percentage of the bottom third of the welfare population is struggling like this? Observation: We may be taking credit for successful "terminations," people who are working two or three jobs, and leaving kids at home to raise themselves.

Rep. Jim Rostberg - Comments on what a "living wage" for his area might be, and how this may differ from a "living wage" in other markets. He underscored the skill/soft skill challenge faced by employers. Small employers make a significant investment in training employees who tend to use that experience as a "stepping stone" or "feeder" for other employment. This places an economic burden on the small employer. Prediction: The future will be with those employers who invest in benefits for their employees, such as on-site child care and health benefits.

Roger Hale - What are the trends? Are small businesses feeding large businesses, or does it work both ways? (MDES will supply data on this.) There is no doubt that employers who treat employees well have lower turnover.

Ginny Karbowski - (To Commissioner O'Keefe) As a member of the Hennepin County Workforce Council, I would like to know what is being done about transportation and mass transit issues.

Michael O'Keefe - (In response to Ms. Karbowski's above comment.) This is a huge issue. The Governor has created a task force group which includes the Metropolitan Council to look into and address transportation needs. The McKnight Foundation is also involved in the transportation issue.

Roger Hale - Transportation is a major issue. We are looking at the reverse commute option as well.

Mary Haug - Transportation is a huge issue. I have been working with the Council for over nine years, and we are looking at the same major barriers. Tele-commuting could do wonders in solving the transportation issue in rural Minnesota.

Wayne DeBruin - We need to take the time today, before the Council adjourns, to look at what the Council is going to be doing down stream.

Gordon Aanerud - Regarding the transportation issue, instead of the Minnesota state government selling state vehicles at auction each year, why don't we give them to the local councils for local use.

Wendy Brower - As a reminder, most of the disability community is unemployed (more than 70%). People with disabilities are willing and ready to work. May not have the bodies....but have the minds.

Earl Wilson - (In response to Wendy Brower's above comment.) This is a huge untapped market which we need to find ways to bring into the workforce.

Rep. Karen Clark - It would be helpful to the Council if we could have some quantification of the various communities, i.e.,--MFIP, Dislocated Workers, or whatever. And we need to quantify the needs of these communities, i.e.,--how many are waiting for health care, transportation, etc. "What are the numbers?"

Michael O'Keefe - (In response to Rep. Karen Clark's question.) We'll (Department of Human Services) pull together and provide a briefing on what the needs and requirements are for those on public assistance, and make it available to the Council as an information packet or a presentation at a future Council meeting.

Roger Hale - Going back to Wayne DeBruin's question, the immediate task at hand is to respond to Plans being put together and to assist the Governor in the development of the State's strategy.

The Chairs of the Council's five committees need to get organized and clear on what their mission is. "We need to focus on a few "key" issues, recognizing that there are many, many other issues that need to be addressed."

Joyce Haskins (CFL) - Commented about the "silos of knowledge" and that they ought to be kept in mind in Council discussions.

Earl Wilson - I think the Chair has "hit it right on the head in framing the committees that he did." For the Council members--give serious consideration to what committee(s) you should be on. The task of the departments is to staff the committees. At some time we need to define a process for budgeting the activities and needs of the Council; the departments can absorb the staffing time, but we need discussion on how we get a budget for other requirements.

Roger Hale - Agreed with Commissioner Wilson's above remarks, thanked the members for volunteering to be part of this worthy effort, and reiterated the importance of choosing an appropriate committee on which to participate.

Mr. Hale closed out today's Council discussion by indicating that obviously there are many, many challenges that the Governor's Workforce Development Council could work on. He emphasized that the GWDC is an advisory group to advise the Governor. The Council's first task is to react and respond to the WIA State Plan being put together at the present time, to offer comments to the plan, etc. He reminded the Council that copies of the draft state plan will be distributed to the Council members for their review and comment, and that a conference call of the Executive Committee will be scheduled for sometime in September to put together comments from groups. Mr. Hale instructed the newly-appointed committee chairs to start getting their committees organized, with the help of Kathy Sweeney, and to schedule committee meetings as soon as possible. Council members need to keep in mind that the Council needs to focus on a few key issues, recognizing there are many other issues, i.e., transportation, child care, etc.

Next Meeting & Adjournment:

Mr. Hale stated that the Council's next meeting is scheduled for Friday, October 1, 1999. The meeting was adjourned by Mr. Hale at 11:32 AM.