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Governor's Workforce Development Council

Governor's Workforce Development Council
Chair's Report by Roger Hale

Activity from January through March 2001

March 23, 2001

Activity in Support of Developing Workforce Development Vision and Direction
1. GWDC leadership (Hale and Commissioners) and staff active participants in discussions with Governor's Office and legislative leaders on proposed reorganization of state agencies including participation in the Governor's Press Conference on March 1st.

2. Visited with staff and leadership in Washington State during February to learn first hand about workforce efforts in that area. Staff have had individual follow-up discussions with peers in Iowa and Michigan about work in those states. Staff continue to compile a "best practices" document as a reference.

3. Participated in national meetings with fellow State Board Chairs and Staff (National Governor's Association) and also workforce board members from around the country (National Association of Workforce Boards). Many good ideas from those meetings and discussions and great exposure for Minnesota from Governor Ventura's speech at NAWB.

4. Provided testimony to Senate Jobs Committee (Sen. Ellen Anderson) on vision and structure of state workforce efforts in March 2001.

5. Using the Executive and Systems Excellence Committees to develop "Getting to Pre-Eminence" document for discussion among stakeholders statewide toward developing system vision, goals, measures.

Support of Local Workforce Councils
1. Followed lead of Stearns Benton Employment and Training Council to support consulting work by John Metcalf and partners from the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce with Local Workforce Councils in Minnesota.

2. Continued GWDC support of efforts led by the MWCA and several local Workforce Council staff to prepare for a systematic approach to submitting H1-B Skill Grant Training program proposals to the USDOL over the coming year. This is an important source of skill training money that is available from the USDOL to Local Workforce Councils.

3. Planning continues for Spring Leadership Institute to be held April 17th and 18th in Brooklyn Center. Strong participation from Local Workforce Councils to showcase good ideas, approaches, and local talent including Minnesota's awardees from the national Workforce Excellence Network.

Housekeeping

  1. With the new committee structure finalized in December, committees are now active and gathering additional members to participate.
  2. GWDC web site has been redesigned and is being kept up to date with meeting information and materials.

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