Veterans Employment Committee

July 25, 2018: 10:00 AM
Frances Perkins rm, 45 Commerce Dr, Augusta

AGENDA State Workforce Board (SWB) Veterans Employment Committee (VEC) July 25, 2018 (10:00am – 12:30pm) Location: MDOL, Commerce Center, Frances Perkins Room Call-In Option: 1-877-455-0244 Code: 9218175360 Jonathan Farr, SWB Chair Welcome and Opening Remarks Jonathan Farr Around the Room Introductions Jonathan Farr/ALL Approval of Meeting Notes from May 23, 2018 Meeting Fred Webber - State Workforce Board / Update - Fred Webber, Chair, State Workforce Board (SWB) SWB VEC Members - Strategic Planning Priorities 2017/2018 – Progress Updates If Any MARKETING *Attracting Veterans to Live and Work in Maine – Lots of Activity - MBVS / Adria Horn - MDOL / Auta Main, Steve Roy - Wounded Warrior Project / Jenny Jelliff-Russell - Live + Work in Maine / Nate Wildes - Other? *VETERAN FRIENDLY EMPLOYER AWARD – Lots of Activity - Military Friendly Employer Program / Nathaniel Grace - Veteran Friendly Employer Award / Auta Main SWB VEC - USDOL's HIRE Vets Medallion Program / Debbie Kelly *Education/Veterans *Education/Employers – Military Culture 202 Update *Maine Hire-A-Vet Updates/Progress *SWB VEC Membership *Selecting Priorities for 2018/2019 / Sept 5, 2018 All SWB VEC Member Updates All Future Dates for 2018 SWB VEC Meetings, Frances Perkins Room, MDOL ? September 5, 2018 ? November 28, 2018 Jonathan Farr Miscellaneous / Adjourn


Meeting Minutes from SWB Veterans Employment Committee MDOL, Commerce Center, Frances Perkins Room July 25, 2018 (10:00am – 12:30pm)

Member Attendees:, Mark Cater, Director, Veteran Employment and Strategy, Military Talent Source, Leo Deon, LVER, Lewiston CareerCenter, Jonathan Farr, Co-Manager, Joseph’s Fireside Steakhouse and SWB VEC Chair, Steven Roy, LVER, Augusta CareerCenter and MHAV Campaign Coordinator, Alley Smith, Regional Manager, Maine, Veterans’ Inc., Joe Tatem, Executive Director, National Guard Employment and Support Program, Fred Webber, SWB Board Chair Guests & Interested Party Attendees: COL Andrew Gibson, Director of Deployment Cycle Support, MEARNG, Adria Horn, Director, Maine Bureau of Veterans Services, Brian McDonnell, Retired, USCG Captain SWB Staff: Cheryl Moran, Labor Program Specialist, State Workforce Board

Staff: Auta Main, MDOL BES Veterans’ Program Manager

SWB VEC Chair, Jonathan Farr: Welcome & Opening Remarks

SWB VEC Chair, Jonathan Farr: Round the room introductions.

SWB VEC Chair, Jonathan Farr: Approval of notes from May 23, 2018.

SWB VEC STRATEGIC Priorities 2017/2018 ? Selected Priorities for 2017/2018 ? Marketing – focus on outreach to veterans (statewide and out of state) ? Education – Focus on employers and veterans ? Misc Other – SWB VEC Membership, MHAV Updates/Feedback/Veteran Friendly Employer Award

Agenda and Discussion Topics:

Brian McDonnell, Retired, USCG Captain/Guest of Fred Webber – Presentation and discussion of proposal to get signatures in support of a Tax Credit (property taxes) for 100% Disabled Veterans. Brian said they are looking for signatures to take next steps with this voter initiative.
- Brian shared that there are 3,508 100% Disabled Veterans in Maine. Most are unable to work. 438 of them live in Penobscot County.
- This type of proposed legislation has been presented in the past and been met with mixed reviews … Brian intends to move forward with a “voter initiative” regardless of support from SWB or others. - Adria explained that in the past one of the issues has been funding the initiative. She explained that we need an offset to provide this type of relief. The offsets are often hard to find. Maine currently has education benefit/relief for veterans with disabilities and their families. - Thank-you to Brian for bringing this effort to our attention.

State Workforce Board (SWB) Update, Fred Webber, SWB Board Chair - Maine State Workforce Board’s Annual Plan was approved by the FEDS with conditions – around the 70% stipulation. All Maine workforce boards must spend 70% of their allocation directly on customer training. More info next meeting!

Committee Updates

Marketing – Several Committee Member Updates - Adria Horn, MBVS Director - MBVS is spending $5,000 for advertising in the Rally Point Eastern Seaboard region (northeast reach of veterans) in September and October. Will include information about Maine Hire-A-Vet.
- Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) USM/Statewide is looking for referrals as the numbers are down. They anticipate a good uptick as we get closer to the beginning of the fall semester. Please share with all the veterans you are working with. - MBVS just printed 500 Resource Guides and they are gone! Their plan is to print 5,000 more with revisions in August. The Resource Guide is also online. - Sarah Sherman has been hired to fill Laura Allen’s vacant position at MBVS. She is not a veteran but she comes to the bureau, like Laura did, with tremendous energy around supporting veterans and their families. She is also a writer and journalist. - Melissa Willette is going to basic training and officer’s training school this fall and next spring! - Joe Tatem, Program Support Specialist, National Guard Employment and Support Program - Joe is no longer using “I’m going to assist you with getting a job.” He now uses “I’m going to assist you in getting a BETTER job!” Joe’s new hashtag is - Career Upgrade! - Joe will share MHAV flyers with his NH Network. - Jenny Jeliff-Russell, Director, Warriors to Work Program of the Wounded Warrior Project - Jenny talked about the states that are PAYING people to move there i.e. Indiana and Vermont. In Indiana employers are recruiting younger vets by offering to pay for relocation. Vermont is offering people up to $10,000 over 2 years to move there. In her role as Director of the Warriors to Work Program (northeast region), Jenny will conduct outreach to neighboring states to let them know about the Maine Hire-A-Vet Campaign. - Leo Deon, LVER, Lewiston CareerCenter - Will conduct outreach with local papers and radio for free press for MHAV - COL Andy Gibson, Director, Deployment Cycle Support, MEARNG - Andy and Joe Wolfberg (UNE) met to discuss bringing people (veterans and other jobseekers) to Maine and keeping them here (Attracting and Retaining!).
- One of Joe’s focus areas is on educating and keeping Native Americans in Maine - Andy shared that the NG is experiencing retention issues and they are working hard to get trained NG members to re-enlist. - Andy also mentioned that joining the military has often been a “fast track” to citizenship for non-US citizens. - There has also been discussion about keeping seniors in the workplace. - Understanding this to be a bigger issue, Andy and Joe invited many others to the table for more discussion. The next meeting is at UNE on September 12, 2018.
- Mark Cater, Veteran Employment and Strategy, Military Talent Source - Military Talent Source has sent some of its staff to cover hiring fairs at military bases where that are host to thousands of transitioning military members. He said they are finding a good receptivity among “soon to be veterans” to consider moving to Maine – especially among younger military members.

MHAV Updates Steve Roy, Maine Hire-A-Vet Campaign Coordinator - Getting ready to kick-off the 2018 MHAV Campaign on August 30, 2018 at the Civic Center. Already over 200 employers are registered for the kick-off event and more are asking for tables/booth space! In addition, we already have over 100 employers signed up for the campaign! Any outreach on behalf of the MHAV Kick-Off is much appreciated.

Education/Veterans – More discussion at a future meeting. - Jon Farr, SWB VEC Chair - Read about an interesting concept/project recently – where Veterans are being trained to guard Schools/Students.

Education/Employers – - COL Andrew Gibson, Director, Deployment Cycle Support, MEARNG will facilitate additional “Advanced Military Culture” trainings in the Fall of 2018 and Spring of 2019.

Veteran Friendly Employer Award –More discussion at a future meeting.

Strategic Planning – We will conduct a mini-strategic planning session at our November 28th SWB VEC meeting - Members suggested we ask Robert Haley, Director of Maine State Approving Agency for Veterans Education to facilitate or Sam McKeeman, if he is still open and available. He has recently retired from the State. Another suggestion was David Stearns, President, Dale Carnegie Maine.

SWB Membership – Invite Chris Carson, State of Maine VR&E to join SWB Board – Auta TO DO

Mark Your Calendars for SWB VEC Meetings 2018 September 5, 2018, November 28, 2018

The meeting adjourned at 12:30pm


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