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Governor's Workforce Development Council

October 12, 2001

Chair’s Report

Highlights from June through September 2001

Activity in support of developing workforce development vision and direction

1.      Preeminence Minnesota is moving forward with our Getting To Preeminence” document having been delivered to the Governor with a cover letter signed by all five cabinet commissioners who serve on the GWDC plus MnSCU Chancellor James McCormick.  The document has been mailed to all GWDC members, key legislators, all Local Workforce Council Chairs and members, to all Local WorkForce Center partners, MnSCU Campus Presidents, and other stakeholders in the workforce system.

2.      Roger Hale is serving with Earl Wilson, Rebecca Yanisch, other Cabinet Commissioners, and Transition Manager Morrie Anderson on the Transition Team Executive Leadership Group.  Their role is to provide Executive Branch leadership through the agency transition process.  Additionally, GWDC members Commissioner Rebecca Yanisch, Senators Arlene Lesewski and Dave Johnson, and Willie Negaard are all members of the Transition Team.  GWDC staff Luke Weisberg and MDES staff Libby Starling are lead staff to Morrie Anderson on the staff working group for the Transition Team.  GWDC staff Kathy Sweeney is also working as a member of the same staff working group.  Transition staffing has become a major work area for both Luke and Kathy.

3.      The GWDC received a $250,000 grant from the McKnight Foundation to serve as their intermediary with 10 of their grantees as well as with future interested parties in an initiative known as Families Forward.  Families Forward is a $1.9 million dollar effort aimed at assisting low-income working families with customized skill training in key high-wage, high-skill occupations.  The National Governors Association has a great deal of interest in assisting low-income working families with this kind of skill training and has invited Kathy, McKnight Foundation staff, and one of the local grantees to attend a one-day national meeting on these efforts.  Four of the ten grantees are led by Local Workforce Councils including: Anoka, Dakota, Southeast  and Ramsey.  In August, Roger did a presentation to the McKnight Foundation board on workforce issues.

4.      Roger Hale and GWDC member Peter Michalowski both provided testimony in August at a local forum sponsored by Senator Paul Wellstone on workforce issues.

In support of Local Workforce Councils as strategic community leaders

5.      The GWDC sponsored two training sessions in August for local workforce partners interested in joining the Workforce Excellence Network (WEN) as Associate or Select Level members.  Training materials developed in Minnesota for these sessions have been shared with the Regional Office and are also being used in the national office to assist in the WEN membership process.  All sixteen of Minnesota’s Local Workforce Councils have joined the WEN as either Associate or Select Members.  Membership in WEN provides support for delivering excellent results by using Baldrige and other continuous improvement tools.

6.      Two local areas have received funding from the GWDC to move forward on regional scans.  The scans are a vehicle to analyze the local labor market, labor force issues, and demographics and to use that information to support improved regional economic and workforce development outcomes.  The two areas funded are the metro area  (including the 6 workforce areas of Minneapolis, Hennepin/Scott/Carver, Anoka, Dakota, Washington and Ramsey Counties) and the Stearns-Benton local workforce service area.

7.      Roger Hale, Earl Wilson, Rebecca Yanisch, Morrie Anderson, GWDC staff and key staff from the Dept of Economic Security were involved in a series of five community meetings around the state in late July / early August highlighting Preeminence Minnesota and tools for customer satisfaction and performance measurement.

8.      Plans are underway to support further accreditation efforts for the WorkForce Center system through a consultation with the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW). As part of the GWDC Executive Committee legislative request to develop a state strategic plan for WorkForce Centers, CSW will help us look at local center accreditation work that has been developed through state and local partnership efforts in the states of Pennsylvania and Indiana.  When completed, Local WorkForce Councils should get guidelines and a “template” for accrediting their own Local WorkForce Centers in a Baldrige-based environment. 

9.      GWDC staff were invited to work with the Southwest Local Workforce Council as follow-up to the organizational development training completed with John Metcalf of the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce.

Other items

10.  Roger, in consultation with Commissioners Earl Wilson and Rebecca Yanisch, has reviewed applications submitted by potential GWDC members to the Governor’s Office.  We are now waiting for the Governor to choose replacements for those GWDC members whose terms expired in June 2001.