REB Executive Committee Meeting Wednesday, November 18, 2016 REB Office EDC Conference Room Members Present: REB Staff: Others Present: H. Abrashkin D. Fadus D. Cruise R. D Agostino C. Brown G. Golash-Kos C. Abramowitz D. Gadaire C. Burton J. Peters D. Carr K. Lynn E. Cassidy T.J. Plante J. Lyons H. Caulton-Harris J. Sullivan S. Trueman Mailed Out: Handed Out: Meeting Materials November 18, 2016 Agenda, Minutes of the August 17, 2016 meeting, Governance Committee Report, Officer Nominations and Signature Authorization Memo, Strategic Planning Committee Report FY16 Audit Report, Finance Committee Report of 1 st QTR Financials, Assessment of progress against the comments made in the 2015 Board survey, and a summary of the comments made in the 2016 Board Survey Minutes of Meeting I. Approval of Minutes Chair Craig Brown called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. Craig welcomed the committee and then called for a motion to accept the minutes from the August 17, 2016 meeting. Action Taken: A motion to accept the minutes from the August 17, 2016 Executive Committee meeting was seconded and approved. II. President & CEO Report Craig turned the meeting over to David Cruise who first referenced the completed Strategic Plans for our Healthcare Partnership and for the Connected Learning in Afterschool and Summer Partnership (CLASP); copies of which were on the table to peruse. He next focused on the comments made as part of the Board Survey and first referred to staff management s assessment of what progress we have made against the recommendations for improvement from the 2015 survey in the following categories: Board Development/Engagement, Strategic Thinking and Planning, Operational Issues/Capacity Building and Promoting REB Accomplishments. He noted that within these we had substantive progress in 8 areas, some progress in 5 and just one no clear progress (NCP) assessment related to using board members to promote our accomplishments and assets on a broader regional and statewide basis. A summary of the comments made in the 2016 survey were then handed out which are all in the same major four buckets as the 2015 comments. David plans to focus on the suggestion to discuss influencers and mega-trends that impact our work at future Board meetings. Craig added that in his experience, no other boards acts on the board survey comments to the extent that this REB does and he thanked David and the staff for consciously addressing them. 1
III. FY16 Audit Report Craig turned the meeting over to Rudy D Agostino of Meyers Brothers Kalicka who gave an overview on the results of the REB FY 16 Audit; which resulted in 3 clean, unmodified opinions of the financial statements which indicates that appropriate accounting policies were in place. He noted no disagreements with management and no audit adjustments were needed and that there were no internal control weaknesses and no compliance findings. He then provided financial report highlights reviewing assets and liabilities showing net assets on 6/30/16 of $1,217,224 which is a net decrease of $24,235 from the prior year. This was the result of $58,000 released from the Temporarily Restricted net assets. Rudy noted that there was sufficient testing of financial transactions of pass-through funds for vendors and subrecipients. It was also pointed out that there is periodic monitoring of program and financial records in compliance with state and federal requirements. In reviewing the 5-year comparison of revenue sources the decrease in formula federal WIA funding was noted but that has been offset by increased in other federal grants. (Note: Full details of the financial statements are posted on the member-only section of rebhc.org). He thanked Diana Carr and her staff for making the audit process go smoothly. Action Taken: A motion to accept and approve the FY 16 Audit Report was seconded and unanimously approved. IV. Finance Committee Report / 1 st QTR Financials Craig turned the meeting over to Finance Committee Chair, Eugene Cassidy and REB VP & Comptroller Diana Carr, who asked members to turn to a handout on the REB s FY 1 st Quarter Financial Report. Diana advised that overall, the REB is relatively in line with federal funding for this time of our fiscal year. Federal drawdown of funds is a function of activity of vendor, career center, and billed services. However, at the beginning of a fiscal year a large portion of our federal contracts with the state are not signed and therefore funds are not available to access. State funding is higher due to our Summer Youth Works program that crossed fiscal years and the majority of the activity took place in July and August accounting for more than half of our initial budget of state funds. Private funding is well above target due to the amount that was deferred into FY17 from FY16 being more than we anticipate to utilize overall in the fiscal year as well as funds being received for the HealthCare Partnership. She also reported on the following: Salaries and fringe are on target for the first quarter of the fiscal year. Operating expenses are slightly under at this time but are expected to catch up as we move through the year. Training Materials and Support Services are below budget spending and we anticipate these to catch up in the second and third quarters now that contracts have been signed. Support Services is based on client usage. Vendors and Consultants are over budget because most of these expenses are for the Summer Youth Works program which occurred during the first quarter. Career Center funding is on target. Action Taken: A motion to accept the Finance Committee Report 1st QTR Financials was seconded and approved. 2
V. Governance Committee Report Craig then turned the meeting over to Governance Committee Chair, Helen Caulton-Harris, who asked everyone to turn to pages 5 & 6 in the agenda packet and presented The Governance Committee Report noting that the committee met on November 10 th and took the following actions below. The nomination of Officer Positions was also discussed which will be presented in the Board Clerk s report. A) Members with Terms Expiring December 2016 The Governance Committee reviewed attendance for those members whose terms expire this December against the REB s by-law policy and discussed their re-election. Those members are: Name Title Company / City 1. William Abrashkin Executive Director Springfield Housing Authority, Springfield 2. Michael Ashe Sheriff Hampden County House of Corrections, Regional 3. Cleveland Burton Asst. Center Westover Job Corp, Regional Standards & Incentive Officer 4. Doreen Fadus Dir. Of Community Mercy Hospital, Springfield Health 5. Ed Leyden President Ben Franklin Design, Agawam 6. John Mitchell President Mitchell Machine, Springfield 7. Fiore Grassetti President Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, Regional 8. Joseph Peters President Universal Plastics, Holyoke 9. Mike Galat VP of Employee Big Y Foods, Inc., Regional Services 10. Michelle Van President Van Schouwen Associates, LLC, Longmeadow Schouwen 11. Jamie Williamson Commissioner MA Commission Against Discrimination, Regional Action Taken: A motion that the Executive Committee consider recommending re-election of the above members at the Board December Annual meeting, for terms ending December 2019, with the exception of Sheriff Michael Ashe, who has retired, was seconded and approved. B) New Member Nominations: The following individuals new member questionnaires were reviewed for recommendation: Dr. John B. Cooke, STCC President Nancy Rivera, Senior Vice President, HAP Housing, Inc. Rohit Singh, Senior Director, Talent Management, MassMutual Financial Group William Trudeau, President & CEO, Insurance Center of New England Action Taken: A motion that the Executive Committee recommend the election of the above members to the Board at the December Annual meeting for terms ending December 2019; with Rohit Singh s recommendation pending a satisfactory meeting with the President & CEO on November 22, 2016 was seconded and unanimously approved. 3
She added that an orientation of all recently elected new members will be scheduled for some time in January 2017 and we will again open that up to all other interested members as well. C) Review Board Survey Results She then outlined that the Committee reviewed the results of the on-line Self-Evaluation of the Board which had a 54% response rate (down from 69%). Most factors were reviewed favorably and saw increases in ratings of 4 or higher and higher median scores in all but 4 of the 17 areas of Board Effectiveness (and those were close). Members evaluation of their own contribution to the REB increased in all indicators, although cultivating new member candidates and offering to serve in a leadership role are still areas to improve on. Details of the scoring are posted on our website on http://www.rebhc.org/reb-boardmember-page/. D) New Committee Members She lastly noted that we are short at least two Governance Committee members with recent board departures and the committee discussed possible new members for David to approach for possible interest. VI. Officer Nominations & Signature Authorizations Craig turned the meeting over to Clerk, Hank Abrashkin who reviewed the Officer nominations (on page 7 in the agenda packet) as follows: E) Election of Officers: A slate of Officers needs to be voted on at the December meeting and the Governance Committee approved the following as proposed candidates: Chair: J. Jeffrey Sullivan (1 st year of 3-year term) Vice-Chair: TBA (1 st year of 3-year term) Treasurer: Eugene Cassidy (1-year term) Clerk: Judge William (Hank) Abrashkin (1-year term) President and Chief Executive Officer (non-voting): David M. Cruise Action Taken: A motion was made that the terms of Officers be nominated for election at the December Annual Board meeting was seconded and approved, with Jeff Sullivan abstaining. Craig was thanked for his service as Chair for the past three years. F) Signature Authorizations The Executive Committee annually votes to authorize the President & CEO of the REB 501(c)(3) corporation to sign contracts and other legal business documents on its behalf. The Vice-President of Director of Planning and Workforce Systems was added as a secondary signatory on REB sub-contractual agreements only (not legal documents) when the President & CEO is unavailable. Further the Vice-President of Workforce Development Operations is the primary signatory on Individual Training Accounts (ITAs), On-the-Job Training (OJT) contracts and various related checks. 4
Actions Taken: A motion to authorize the President & CEO to sign REB contracts and legal documents and for the Vice-President of Director of Planning and Workforce Systems to be a back-up signatory on REB sub-contracts and The Vice-President of Workforce Development Operations as the primary signatory on all Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Umbrella Contracts for Individual Training Account (ITA) contracts, On-the-Job Training (OJT) contracts, all checks for ITAs, OJTs and WIOA customer support service payments, and in the President & CEO s absence, all other checks was seconded and unanimously approved. VII. Strategic Planning Committee Report Craig turned the meeting over to Strategic Planning Committee Chair, Jeff Sullivan who advised the Strategic Planning Committee met on November 10, 2016 and provided highlights of the discussions as follows: 1. The committee reviewed a Year 3, 1st QTR Progress Report of the REB Strategic Plan Scoreboard & Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as completed by staff and agreed with their assessment of progress made from July 1, 2016 through September 30, 2016. The report is available on the REB website at http://www.rebhc.org/about-reb/strategic-plan/. Two new KPIs have been added to the Year 3 tracking in line with new WIOA related work we are implementing. 2. The committee reviewed a summary of the Strategic Planning roundtable discussions from the September 13, 2016 Board meeting to be included in the minutes for the Board s review at the December meeting. They asked that staff meet to discuss the suggestions that were made and to identify the top 3-4 items as actionable priorities that we could have an impact on. 3. The committee was apprised that for December Board Meeting, the topic of Partnering for Solutions: Demand Driven Workforce Development Interventions would be highlighted and that David had already reached out to some private sector Board members to engage the Board in a discussion on how supervisors and managers could be dealing with new workers. Also, the partnership between CareerPoint and US Tsubaki would be showcased as an example of a new employee recruitment process which has yielded positive results in its early stages and a 7-8 minute video will be shown that captured what this pilot initiative looks like. Relatedly to that was the topic of Demand-driven Business Services in the context of the state s process as they have outlined in the WIOA State plan and what impact that has on employer outreach strategies by the Career Centers and various other partners. It was recommended that as the REB enters into new charters with the selected One-Stop Operators that strategies and approaches to shift to a demand-driven system be a key part of that discussion and be included in the new charter agreements. 5
VIII. Strategic Thinking Discussion: Demand vs. Supply: Organizational Adjustments: REB Interventions In the interest of time, this item was deferred until the next meeting. IX. OSCC Procurement Craig turned the meeting over to Christine Abramowitz who gave an in-depth presentation on the One-Stop Operator procurement process. In doing so, she outlined the following: The RFP Purpose to select Operators of One-Stop Career Centers with one to operate in Springfield and one in Holyoke, Conflict of Interest Disclosure requirements for any member of the Executive Committee to refrain from commenting and to abstain from voting, The names of organizations that submitted proposals, The review process timeline; The Review Team Make-up in terms of composition of Board members (e.g., what committees they serve on, public and private representation, geographic and demographic diversity, and comment role of non-board member WIOA core partners); The Review Criteria as outlined in the RFP; The process followed at the Review Team meeting; and The ranked results of the review. Action Taken: The Review Team recommendations were reviewed and unanimously approved, with one conflicted abstention by Joe Peters, as follows: 1. To vote to recommend the following as Operators of our One-Stop Career Centers to both the Mayor of Springfield (as CEO) and to the Board of Directors on December 13, 2016, for the 4-year Charter period, subject to an annual re-chartering and recontracting renewal process: FutureWorks, Inc. for Springfield Hampden County Career Center, Inc. dba CareerPoint for Holyoke 2. To maintain the current 55% allocation of core funding to Springfield and 45% to Holyoke. Christine lastly noted that the results will need to receive final approval by the full Board and be agreed upon by Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, as required by WIOA as the Chief Elected Official for Hampden County and which will be sought prior to the Board meeting. X. President & CEO Performance Evaluation Craig reported out on the process for conducting the President and CEO s performance for FY16 and the overall favorable results and ratings he received. The Committee accepted the performance evaluation as reported. With no further business, Craig Brown called the meeting to close at about 4:35 p.m. Submitted by, David Cruise 6