Maine Apprenticeship Council Meeting

June 20, 2014: 9:00 AM
TBD


Date: Thursday, June 20, 2014 Location: MDOL, 45 Civic Center Drive, Augusta

Attending: Don Berry, Bob Bourgault, Phil Dionne, Joan Dolan, Denise Garland, Jennifer McKenna, Trisha Mosher, Gloria Payne, Chris Trider, Travis Wood Guests: Charles McNeil, Region One USDOL-ETA

Joan opened the meeting and welcomed the newest Councilmember Denise Garland, Deputy Commissioner, Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, who is filling the remaining Agency seat on the Council. In introduction, Denise shared that DECD was tasked with creating a job matching system for jobs with unmet demand and employers, and learned when meeting with MDOL that this is one of the tasks of the Maine Job Bank. The new task became how DECD and MDOL could work together better. Her familiarity with apprenticeship in her native England and the role of DECD staff to connect with businesses added additional value for Council membership.

 Chairman Berry opened the meeting and asked for Councilmembers introductions.

 Minutes of March 20, 2014 meeting: Motion to accept ? Councilmember Trider; Seconded - Councilmember Bourgault ? approved unanimously without changes.

 Director?s Report
The Director?s Report format has changed to provide a broader overview of MAP activities during the quarter and Joan asked the Council for feedback. MAP conducted substantial business outreach during the second quarter. The program worked with 12 businesses; issued ten Certificates of Completion; interacted with six prospective sponsors since January 18th and responded to 46 individual email and telephone requests from prospective apprentices since March 19th.

?Joan pointed out that those interested in apprenticeship opportunities are directed to the Maine Job Bank, or other website links (i.e., VCN ?Healthcare) with our partner union apprenticeship programs contact sheet attached to our response. They are not pointed directly to sponsors ? we protect our sponsors who do not necessarily have current apprenticeship openings. As we improve our web presence, we should consider ways to better connect those interested to opportunities, for an interested apprentice should be able to go to a website and access information.

Discussion: Councilmember McKenna shared that UA716 uses their website to collect information and do a preliminary assessment of people interested in apprenticeship through a registration process. They then convene an orientation session where program specifics and apprentice responsibilities are outlined. Both IBEW Councilmembers Berry and Trider take applications on an on-going basis; use computer testing (aptitude) and proficiency tests (to ensure that previous experience aligns with program standards) and interviews while developing their websites. In addition, IBEW apprentices have access to their grades and tools. An apprentice should be able to get information on our website or at least from websites of our sponsors. Some states list their sponsors and apprentices and interested parties can contact sponsors directly. As USDOL upgrades their website, one of their goals is to list the sponsors without the details. As MAP looks at future website improvements, ideas for improving access to information for interested apprentices will be something Gloria will take on.

 Boston Apprenticeship Meeting Update: Joan attended the Healthcare Industry Roundtable sponsored by USDOL in Boston with two employers whom she shared the drive with. Overall, she felt that Maine was well represented. One employer, St. Mary?s is considering developing medical assistant apprenticeships and joining the Healthcare Workforce Academy. Although not ready to present to the Council, Joan asked that the in-seat $5/hr. in-house reimbursement policy be revisited for it is a challenge for new sponsors. It has worked well with traditional apprenticeship programs, but as the program moves into more diverse sectors, other program assistance may better meet those employer needs. Discussion: Charlie shared that the Boston Roundtable was the best attended to date; produced more interest in apprenticeship and sparked the need to continue the conversation. Both Joan and Charlie thought it was time well spent. USDOL is sponsoring other Roundtables around the country: Transportation/Logistics (Georgia), Construction (Washington, D.C.), Energy (Texas); Manufacturing (Chicago) and Information Technology (San Francisco). New Jersey has begun a Roundtable to address their challenges. Charlie shared how other states are working to understand what businesses need and to ?reverse engineer? related instruction requirements. Several states have developed non-traditional programs for meeting the educational component: Vermont has a 9 week Healthcare Works curriculum where students attend training 7 days a week at no cost to students who graduate with a certificate and then enter an apprenticeship program (considered a hybrid program). New Jersey has developed competency-based programs for X-ray Techs, phlebotomists, medical techs/coding and computers.

 New Apprenticeship Presentation: Gloria has developed a new PowerPoint template that we have been using when speaking with new businesses. It uses photographs and key phrases to help employers visualize how apprenticeship may look in their workplace, is script-based and better focuses the concluding Q&A. Joan has presented it 5-6 times, as recently as yesterday to 30+ people at the statewide Adult Education Conference in Waterville who were interested in learning more about apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship.

Discussion: Partnership with Adult Ed can provide a flexible inexpensive option for pre-apprenticeship training and to expand existing programs. Sponsors could identify the skills (math, etc.) of ideal apprentices and after successful training credit can be applied as previous learning. Councilmember Dionne stated that most CTE?s offer seats on a space available basis in many of their programs for Adult Education that can provide exposure to many trades. Some programs have a waiting list for students, i.e., carpentry in northern Maine. Councilmember Woods will compile a list of programs that can be shared with apprenticeship seekers.

The Obama Administration focus on apprenticeship is launching a $100M grant funding opportunity this fall. MAP?s application will seek funding for pre-apprenticeship programs that can clearly be articulated into pre-apprenticeships with existing sponsors & new pre-apprenticeship program partners. Joan asked Councilmembers to consider identifying potential sponsors that we could work with.

Discussion: As an example of the potential already in place, Councilmember Wood identified Peter Hamlin, at Waterville Mid-Maine Tech who already has an agreement in place with KVCC for his students. With parts already in place it just becomes a matter of making the connections. Councilmember Bourgault spoke of his similar experience with the Portland Fire Department & EMS training. As part of a customized larger workforce picture, pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship connects with the larger strategy. Charlie McNeil reported that New Hampshire launched Building Pathways - that changed the number of women in construction in 60 days from zero to forty through existing sponsors and pre-apprenticeship.

 JD-NEG Grant Update: This is one of three grants MAP has applied for in the past four weeks. It is $4.7M that is specifically to expand apprenticeship and build Workforce Academies. Joan has been working with CVS and two hospitals to develop the framework. Skills include an array of soft skills, generational differences, workforce safety, and basic computer literacy, managing stress, HIPPA and career exploration (clinical vs. non-clinical tracts). Related instruction has been approximated at 80 hours (three weeks of training). Efforts are also underway to partner with Vocational Rehab for pre-apprenticeship Food Service programs specific to healthcare for adults as well as youth. MAP is seeking approval from the Maine Healthcare Workforce Forum for sector standardization with potential application in other sectors.

 CSSP Update: program applications open today. CSSP presents a good and compelling reason to improve the ease of access and update our web presence and work with sponsors so that linking their pages can increase awareness of MAP and the post-secondary options available.

 Fall Grant Opportunity: MDOL is working to replace OSOS the system used to track MDOL data. MAP has been reviewing the USDOL RAPIDS system (Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Data System), but still needs to resolve questions whether the two systems will be able to communicate. This will free Gloria to do more outreach and streamline some of our paper process and reporting.

 Budget/Metrics Update: MAP has expended all funding for this fiscal year. Joan thanks all Councilmembers who responded to her call for invoices in the last couple of weeks. Those who identified the amount they were planning on using came really close. Joan thanked Councilmember McKenna for a job well done. In the coming months, she will be writing contracts to encumber funds during the first quarter of next fiscal year for those larger users of MAP reimbursement (programs using over $5 thousand): union shops, MaineGeneral Medical Center and Cianbro. All users can expect the same planning tool from this year. It will be important to spend encumbered funds so sponsors can expect Joan to be checking in with them in March.

 MAP Policies The Council has spent the last few meetings reviewing MAP policies. Since the last meeting several questions have surfaced.

Tuition reimbursement: First, in an email on April 3rd, Councilmember Trider brought up several questions about the $5/hr. per apprentice in-house reimbursement policy. He asked if the Council should consider limiting the number of annual hours sponsors can apply for reimbursement per apprentice; and he also asked about distribution criteria/process.
Tuition Reimbursement Policy: Joan proposed a language change: that a maximum of 50% of the cost of tuition with a cap of $1000 per fiscal year per apprentice become the policy. The new language is easier to explain, and is more equitable in distribution.
In-House Reimbursement Policy: in-house training reimbursement for sponsors will remain at $5/hr. with the newly clarified language of reimbursement?will be a maximum of 50% of the cost of tuition with a cap of $1000 per fiscal year per apprentice. Joan will make the language corrections and forward to the Council for review and approvals.

Discussion: Sponsors who submitted completed Training Authorizations Request Forms (the budgeting/planning tool developed last fiscal year) were able to have all of their invoices processed. Confirmation of program rosters was an unanticipated positive process outcome & allowed MAP to confirm active apprentices. Councilmember McKenna?s Trustees found the budget/planning tool very helpful, were pleased to see the planning, and to see how the partnership worked and helped their bottom line.

Workers Compensation: at the March 2013 meeting, the Council revised the policy to require proof of coverage prior to program acceptance. Proof of coverage can be viewed at the Workers Compensation Board website, allowing for sponsor coverage verification at program registration. Although MAP and the Council have no exposure in the event a sponsor does not have coverage, the Council remained committed to sponsors having coverage. Proof of Coverage clause reflected in the MAP Policy will be added to the Standards template. It is also the responsibility of the sponsor to ensure that sub-contractors have coverage. A motion to accept the changes was made by Councilmember Dionne and seconded by Councilmember Bourgault. Motion approved unanimously.

 Council Member Update Councilmember McKenna spoke to the new dynamic of HVAC employer?s interest in specific apprentices who may already have college credentials and experience, but not enough to be considered at Journeyworker level and how it is presenting a placement challenge in her program. Although MAP Credit Hours for Previous Experience policy allows for a maximum of 4000 hours in a 5 year program, she is experiencing a need to provide additional credit above this maximum.

Discussion: Increased employment opportunities for energy installations and other energy work in the state has employers/subcontractors seeking apprentices who have advanced skills and they are available to pay increased hourly wages above the required program levels. MAP Council policy views this as an extenuating circumstance and requests for a determination should be submitted to the Chair for review and submission to the Council for a determination at the next scheduled Council meeting if the need is not urgent. Urgent needs should be submitted to the Chair who will get the information in front of the Council for a determination as quickly as feasible.

 Standards ? Template Revisions Gloria has been working on revising and updating the Standards template for several reasons. The previous template was not readable for the font was not user friendly and the document did not provide explanations of many of the structural portions of the program. Apparently many sponsors are unaware of these responsibilities: from the provisional status of their first year as a sponsor; to the specific timeframes requirements for notification when there are changes, and transferring of apprentices; the type of program they are sponsoring and a signature page confirming the acceptance of the standards. In summary: the original document was two-pages and this has now grown to thirteen. It remains a work in progress for the end goal is to provide a reference document for the sponsor so they are aware of the program components and MAP has a benchmark upon which to conduct monitoring reviews. There will be some degree of customization of the template to reflect sponsors programs. Based on discussion today, a Workers Compensation section will be added.

Discussion: This document is very similar to what UDSOL is working on and planning to place electronically this fall. Any additional Maine statute will be added to the template once we go online with the USDOL system. Charlie shared some feedback based on the similar template work: create a Responsibilities of the Sponsor First Section with the Term of Apprenticeship as the Second. Because the sponsor is listed by name on the front of the Standards, allow the Sponsor placeholder throughout the document remain as Sponsor rather than dropping in the individual employers? name. Joan stated that having a 14 page contract did not seem excessive. Charlie has agreed to provide additional feedback off-line. Gloria?s next steps are to update the document from Council input today and encouraged Councilmembers to review and forward any additional comments.

Once this project is complete, Joan will have Gloria begin to work on developing specific program monitoring tools this summer using guidance from the USDOL and the templates we have from other states. Joan sees the monitoring process as instructional and as an opportunity to acknowledge the things that a sponsor is doing well; provide technical assistance for improvement, and to highlight programs that are working and doing well to help us tell the apprenticeship story.

 Marketing and Business Sub-Committee Update: Chair Berry reported no additional meetings to date. At the last meeting financing going forward and outreach to the Chambers of Commerce and other business circles was discussed.

Discussion: Councilmember Garland suggested that the Governor?s Account Executives may be helpful for they are tasked with working with local Chambers. Councilmember McKenna has already had discussion with Account Executive Jaimie Logan about designating the Business Outreach person as the go-to person. Councilmember Woods spoke of engaging CET students to create the multi-media for MAP. Chair Berry stated that we also need to get in front of Guidance Counselors for they are as important as the Chambers. Councilmember McKenna suggested a coordinated message or talking points and to create a calendar of activities since councilmembers are asked to present to groups frequently. Additionally, it was suggested that we consider high school career days ? although invited frequently, we are generally hesitant to exclusively speak with students since our audience is the employer.

Gloria noted that Councilmember McKenna has been directing employers to our program for some time. The most recent and not included in the Business Outreach report is IRC ? the roofing company out of Lewiston who completed the award winning green construction Hannaford?s here in Augusta. One of the challenges has been determining at which point you hand the business off to MAP ? the point where you have moved from sharing your employer experiences in your sector to allowing for the potential for that employer to get a larger view of the opportunities. In publically thanking Councilmember McKenna, Gloria stated she wished to acknowledge that she has been doing ?yeoman?s work for some time and pointing potential sponsors toward the program?.

Councilmember Dionne noted that the CTE?s annual meeting for program advisory committee, the Director?s Conference - (most who are employers) - is coming up in South Portland. Councilmember Woods will share the details with Joan. Chair Berry referenced a program brochure he has been sharing during MAP presentations that he will share with Gloria and Joan for potential updating. Sub-committee members can expect Gloria to send out a Doodle meeting date after July 4th

 Housekeeping: Joan will update the membership list to ensure that Councilmember Wood information is included. Councilmember Bourgault provided an address correction. Although Joan is waiting on the final paperwork to fill the remaining Council seats, she noted that for the first time Agency representation is at full compliment. She is awaiting paperwork for both Melissa Harvey from Job Corps (public seat) and Jennifer Boynton (business seat). Jennifer Boynton has been directly involved in developing apprenticeships at MaineGeneral Medical Center. The Sheet Metal Workers union representative will not be able to participate due to workload, and Chair Berry has offered to seek candidates at his Labor conference this weekend. Councilmember Garland has offered meeting space in the state office building for future meetings.

 Final Thoughts: Joan asked each member to share a final thought - Councilmember Mosher ? I am happy to be here and every time I come learn something new. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity. Chair Berry ? It is nice to see the table full, in the past Councilmember Dionne and I have sometimes been the only ones at the table. It certainly helps when we have increased our capacity here at the table to get out and talk about apprenticeship. Councilmember Trider ? I am glad to see a lot of participation. I appreciate that this group has always been very dynamic. Councilmember Bourgault ? I enjoyed today- good discussion and problem solving and putting things out there. Councilmember McKenna ? UI denied the training waiver for the apprentice?s in my program which is currently not an issue because they are all working, so we don?t feel that pressure. There are a few things and trying to explain it has been very challenging. There has to be some type of system-wide understanding of apprenticeship. We need to have a conversation about the importance of this with apprenticeship. This is the first time we have been denied in 10 years, and this is also important to Cianbro.

It really truly is a misunderstanding of our apprentice programs and how a plumber is working for a sponsor and that sponsor pays for education so when that plumber gets laid off, they cannot go work for a competing shop. When they get laid off do we really want them to go to work for a lesser wage and to not be available when the work picks up again? We tried to explain it and I am not sure that the UI waiver is the answer. Vinnie O?Malley very clearly wrote why he disagrees with their decision.

Councilmember Trider ? my program was also denied. UI really got stuck at whether an apprentice could take another job anywhere. We tried to explain that the Apprenticeship Agreement is a contract and by allowing that to happen it is taking away from the program. Rather than sponsors seeking individual waivers, maybe the program should apply for the waiver.

Joan stated she thought there was a policy that allowed the Director to put in a waiver. She asked what the timeline was for how long an apprentice should be without a job ? for sitting idle for 9 months is not acceptable. There is probably a reason why that apprentice is not working. Councilmember McKenna agreed and stated that they document and move apprentices on who are difficult to keep employed.

Charlie noted that occasionally this comes up in some of the states in Region One, and is not sure how or if it has been resolved. Joan noted that this is an interpretation of federal UI law and the basis for the decision of what can be included in those waivers. Between BES and UI there has to be some sort of interface. She asked that the documentation be forwarded to her and she would have a conversation with Ginny and UI.

Charlie ? it is great to be up here in Maine. Good to see everybody at the table and there is always good things that come out of here. Councilmember Dionne ? I am very pleased that it appears the policy and standards have ended. Much of the other conversation we had today leads to areas that I have championed for years. College is wonderful for 25-30% of the population, but the alternatives out there are unknown in most cases. We sit on one of the better alternatives and if we can make a case for it ? it would be a great thing. My only worry is if we can get the funding in support of the new system.
Councilmember Garland ? This is one of those best kept secrets. I will be very happy to share with the legislature during our report back and this program can be in there as well.
Joan ? I want to thank everyone. I feel supported and I am sure Gloria does also. Gloria ? I want to thank you and to share that LD409 has moved to the next phase where we remain tasked with creating an apprenticeship for veteran farmers using present resources without any new funding. I thank you for your good work and we appreciate it.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS ? NEXT COUNCIL MEETING Thursday, September 18, 2014 ? 9:30 ? noon Hosted by Council Chair Don Berry

Location: IBEW Local 567 238 Goddard Road


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