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Women's Employment Issues Committee Meeting
September 21, 2015: 9:30 AMFrances Perkins Rm, MDOL Commerce Dr, Augusta
Women?s Employment Issues Committee AGENDA 9/21/15 9:30 ? Noon Frances Perkins Room, MDOL Introductions Approval of 4/30/15 Minutes Discussion about Older Women with Amy Gallant, AARP Updates on State Legislation?what passed, what didn?t, what got carried over to the next session Update on WIOA, SWIB, DOL Committee Membership and 2016 Priorities Come prepared to share briefly your/your organization?s 2016 priorities for women?s employment/economic security Building a Committee policy and program agenda for 2016 2016 Meeting Dates Next Meeting: Monday, 12/7, 9:30 ? Noon, MDOL Other Member Updates
Women?s Employment Issues Committee Meeting 9/21/15 Present: Gilda Nardone, Joni Boissonneault, Laurie Glidden, Kelly Rickert, Auta Main, Christy Cross, Amertah Perman, Valerie Carter (Phone), Christy Daggett (Phone)
Guest: Amy Gallant, Garret Oswald
Staff: Cheryl Moran
• Gilda Nardone opened the meeting with welcomes and introductions.
Approval of 4/30/15 Minutes • Gilda Nardone ? minutes approved as written. • Amertah Perman ? suggested finding ways to enhance the quality of minutes. One suggestion, convey via email outside of minutes. • Kelly Rickert ? suggested meet briefly prior to Committee Meeting.
Discussion about Older Women with Amy Gallant, AARP • Amy Gallant ? Maine has the oldest workforce in the Nation and is expected to increase. The average median age is 42.7 years. Nationally, over 20% are over 55. In Maine, 200,000 would be retiring but will not. People are retiring with incredible small savings. They either retire and return to work or remain in their job. Ratio of working or not; 382 are working compared to 100 that are not. Maine will lose 20,000 jobs if we continue in this current trend. Maine?s economic contribution for over 50 accounted for 52% GDP, supported 54% of Maine?s jobs, 51% of employee compensation and 55% of state taxes. Amy also spoke about the trend of the workforce over the past 30 years. Women started engaging in the workforce during the 1980?s and 1990?s where there was a significant boost. The question is why are women and boomers leaving the workforce? The reason is 80,000 are caretakers. One-third of the total Maine workforce is providing care. Amy stated an area that needs improvement is to have a better discussion with employers in reference to skills gaps. Such as providing options to potential retirees that will enable them to continue working. For example, flexible work hours, part-time, temporary and consulting opportunities. Finally, Amy touched base on the Work & Save Legislation. She stated the average retirement is $3000, which is not very much. In order for an employer to offer retirement savings, a business is required to have 10 employees and over 2 years in business. This program will address retirement savings in our State. She advised Committee Members to keep an eye on this Legislation.
Updates on Legislation-what passed, what didn?t, what got carried over to the next session • Gilda Nardone ? stated Chris Hastedt was not present to provide updates on State Legislation. Gilda provided information in reference to the State Earned Income Tax Credit. She stated Maine had one but was not refundable. In the Governor?s budget, it was totally eliminated. However, we set a goal of a 20% refund which is a commitment that made sure it stayed on the books. A 5% refund was negotiated and now is refunded as a small percent which is seen as progress. Cliff Bill ? did get implemented, got carried over. • Auta Main ? announced Military Pension will no longer be taxable through State Legislation.
Update on WIOA, SWIB, DOL • Garret Oswald ? stated the SWIB is in the process of appointing new board members compliant under WIOA. The new members should be appointed by the October 2nd Board date. The Governor will welcome the new members and to expect vast majority seated. There will be conversations on future meetings and putting together an Advisory Board that will recognize other State agencies not required under WIOA but can contribute. The WIOA Unified State Plan will be focused on the customer not the system. The Work Groups are up and running. They consist of the Steering Committee, Performance & Accountability, One-Stop and Data Group. In the future, we may need to establish future workgroups to continue. • Gilda Nardone ? asked how can this Committee provide help and advice? • Garret Oswald ? volunteers are welcome to help. As far as WIOA, Maine is not behind. We are actually ahead of most states. We have a statewide Vision that was crafted by 40 different organizations from the 3 day WIOA Vision/Mission Workshop. WIOA language focuses primarily on 2 areas: 1) Industry Partnership and 2) Career Pathways. Garret mentioned that they are hoping by the end of September to have a ?Draft?. The ?Draft? document will be sent to the sub-committees for feedback. At the end of the year based on feedback, the ?Draft? will be put out for public comment. After public comment, the final ?Draft? will be submitted to USDOL prior to the deadline March 3, 2016.
Committee Membership and 2016 Priorities • Gilda Nardone ? Membership ? expressed how the transitory nature of membership is a little frustrating. There are some members who have continued and some who have fallen off. Who are we now and our priorities? What brings you to this table and your interest to participate in this particular committee? How do we relate to other Committees and how can we work together smartly? She stated how she would like to solidify who the membership is and to think about the most effective structure to communicate. • Come prepared to share briefly your/your organization?s 2016 priorities for women?s employment/economic security • Joni Boissonneault ? Self-sufficiency Program Manager, Portland Housing Authority - stated her job deals with supportive services, Section 8 in the areas of employment, education and home ownership. She stated the majority of participation in her program is females. That is why her interest is here. • Laurie Glidden ? Maine Housing Authority ? commit to family self-sufficiency funding stated most of her clients are female. More than 80% are young single women with families. • Amertah Perman ? COO, Maine Development Foundation ? mentioned issues or areas of concern that exists or need to focus on such as: 1. Education and workforce initiative are key - Upskilling 2. What would it look to strategically target needs of women specifically in the older population in terms of workplace flexibility 3. Language gap exists between age groups, business and education, etc. ? need for translation and transparency 4. How to create a diverse workforce ? flexible work environments, work ready skills, culture training, etc. 5. Interested in breaking down some college no degree numbers by gender She also stated she wants to understand what this group has done in the past and the outlook for the future. • Auta Main ? Staff Person for the Veterans? Sub-Group of the SWIB/Veterans? Program Manager at MDOL ? stated when she first started as Program Manager, she only had 1 female Veterans? Representative, now she has 4. Their main focus is employment. 95% Veterans? Reps are with disabilities. 76% of Maine Vets are over age 50. A lot of younger Vets are returning. Mike Michaud will be their new boss. He is the head of the State Grant at the National level which will put Maine on the radar at a higher level. There are 125,000 Vets in Maine. 94% are male and 6% female. She mentioned about the Maine Hire a Vet Campaign which is 100 days, 100 hires, 100 employers. This program pulled together all the job developers across Maine. It received National recognition. Currently, there have been 22 hires, 76 employers. She mentioned their best practice is showcasing 2 Veterans to employers each day via email. • Kelly Rickert ? Director of Workforce Development ? stated her main focus is how can she help and what she can bring to the table. She stated how she always had a gender focus particularly women in the workplace, but feels there still is a long way to go. She also pointed out there is a collaboration with the University of Maine at Augusta and Orono in reference to Women and Technology. Women in IT is very low, only 20%. And how do you reach out to the different generations in the workplace? • Christy Cross ? EEO Coordinator, MDOT ? stated she has been a member of this Committee for a long time. It enables her to network, which she enjoys. In terms of recruitment, not specifically with women. She has had success with New Maine Hires Program. She mentioned how recruitment has been a challenge for MDOT especially from Augusta south due to not paying enough. • Christy Daggart ? stated women issues will be part of her concern. We will need to find some great strategies, leveraging WIOA dollars, gaining skills and employment. • Valerie Carter ? Bureau of Labor Education through the University of Maine ? we don?t specifically specialize in women?s issues, primarily employment law. But in a nature?s sense, age discrimination and equal pay. Her priority deals with labor market analysis, access and data. • Gilda Nardone ? Executive Director, New Venture?s Maine ? our perspective interest are in 3 program areas particularly career, education and development. We want to make sure women have the tools to make good decisions and be gainfully employed.
2016 Meeting Dates ? will discuss at next meeting.
Other
• Gilda Nardone ? on October 16, 2015 is the Women?s Economic Summary at the Augusta Civic Center. She will provide more information. She pointed out once again, intersect with other Committees. We have a strong voice, and there is an opportunity here.
• Cheryl Moran ? if you like to access information on other Committees and WIOA, the SWIB website will provide the information at: http://www.maine.gov/swib .
Next Meeting: Monday, 12/7/15, 9:30am ? Noon, Frances Perkins Room, MDOL Commerce Drive, Augusta
Meeting adjourned
Respectfully submitted by Cheryl Moran
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