Veterans Employment Committee

September 5, 2018: 10:00 AM
Frances Perkins rm, 45 Commerce Dr, Augusta

AGENDA State Workforce Board (SWB) Veterans Employment Committee (VEC) September 5, 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 July 25, 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 MARKETING *Attracting Veterans to Live and Work in Maine – Lots of Activity - MBVS / Adria Horn and Team - MDOL / Auta Main, Steve Roy - MTS/ Mark Cater - 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 2018 Kick-Off 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 ? November 28, 2018 – Strategic Planning Session Jonathan Farr Miscellaneous / Adjourn

Meeting Minutes from SWB Veterans Employment Committee MDOL, Commerce Center, Frances Perkins Room Sept 5, 2018 (10:00am – 12:30pm)

Member Attendees:, Robert Carr, Director, Technological Innovations, LLC, Mark Cater, Director, Veteran Employment and Strategy, Military Talent Source, Leo Deon, LVER, Lewiston CareerCenter, Jonathan Farr, Owner, J.R. Farr Handyman, and SWB VEC Chair, Nathaniel Grace, Consultant, Maine Military OneSource, Mike Gray, HVRP Project Coordinator and Military and Veterans Services Director, Easterseals Maine, Debbie Kelly, Director, Veterans Employment and Training Services (VETS), USDOL, David Richmond, Deputy Director, Maine Bureau of Veterans Services, Steven Roy, LVER, Augusta CareerCenter and MHAV Campaign Coordinator, Joe Tatem, Executive Director, National Guard Employment and Support Program

Guests & Interested Party Attendees: COL Andrew Gibson, Director of Deployment Cycle Support, MEARNG, Adria Horn, Director, Maine Bureau of Veterans Services, Mike Merrill, Program Manager, VOANNE Veterans Services SWB Staff: Josh Howe, Acting Director, State Workforce Board, 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 July 25, 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:

Committee Updates

Marketing – Several Committee Member Updates Adria Horn, MBVS Director - The FIRST MBVS Article/Ad in RallyPoint is out. MBVS spent @ $5,000 for advertising in the Rally Point Eastern Seaboard region (northeast reach of veterans) for September and October. Will include information about Maine Hire-A-Vet. The ADS are active on RallyPoint! Check out the link here: https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/maine-has-the-lowest-rate-of-unemployment-among-veterans-in-the-entire-country-are-you-ready-to-make-the-move--2 - Messages/ads on Rally Point will be up for 3-month period and they are then archived. RallyPoint has over 2,000,000 users and 6.7k had already viewed the Maine article/ad at the time of this meeting. - While some state agencies are not permitted to use state or federal dollars for advertising, MBVS can due to the Maine Commission Report that statutorily gives them permission. MBVS has permission to influence policy. On another note, there is some staff shifting at MBVS as Sarah Sherman will fill in for Melissa while she is out. Sarah will take on the role of communications director – FB posts, newsletter, and other outreach. If we want any specific outreach done, let Dave Richmond know. MBVS has 2000 likes on their FB page and they have been strategically tagging as well.
- To date, the post with the biggest response was regarding the FREE PARK PASS for VETs and families - MBVS is discussing partnerships with DMV, ME Revenue, Licensing and Property Taxes to conduct outreach to veterans COL Andy Gibson, Director, Deployment Cycle Support, MEARNG - Andy talked about a relatively new group that he is co-leading with Joe Wolfberg from UNE --- Attracting and keeping veterans in Maine. Still somewhat of a brainstorming group with the plan of wrapping up a “viable plan of sorts” by the middle of December 2018. - Discussion topics have included but not limited to:
o looking at several populations, including Native Americans, immigrants, aliens, citizens of other States within the US, students, people over 55, people from out-of-state o Noted a lack of motivation, training and persistence in the current pool of non-working Mainers o Perception that there are few opportunities for good jobs in Maine o Retention in NG is less than favorable likely due to changes in families (more kids, more obligations as Guardsmen get older, less time for Guard activities) o Smaller pool of HS candidates to pull from o Discussion about how to overcome these barriers to ATTRACT new people to join the Guard and find other employment in Maine and to RETAIN Guard members, veterans (and other jobseekers), as well as older workers in the Guard and the workforce in general. How can schools and colleges play a role in this work? - We are hopeful that the conclusions and summary of this group will help inform others of us who are working along the same lines --- recruiting, hiring and retaining veterans (and other jobseekers) to Maine to Live+Work. - Andy also shared that he has been invited to Michigan in his role as Chaplain to lead a discussion about “Helping people find meaningful work as Guardsmen.” Discussion will include topics such as spirit, behavioral health and suicide. Mark Cater, Director, Veteran Employment and Strategy, Military Talent Source - Mark, in his role at Military Talent Source, has been recruiting veterans from out-of-state with good success. 12 have been hired in the State of Maine – drivers, mechanics, aviation engineers etc.… Mark participates in the military transition locations in the northeast and visits both in person and through website communication, as well as attending job fairs.
Joe Tatem, Executive Director, National Guard Employment and Support Program - In his efforts to get the word out to recruit and hire veterans, Joe likes the posts of MHAV campaign and shares these posts – seeing over 1,500 views in a short time. Gorilla marketing as Tim Sardano shared. They will be conducting outreach to the 200 veterans who attended the MHAV Hiring Fair. Bob Carr, Director, Technological Innovations, LLC - Shared that he is so impressed with the comments about employment of veterans in Maine – especially the unemployment rate at less than 2%! Bob is diligently working to get veterans into training for nondegree certificates for precision machining, welding and advanced manufacturing techniques and composites. Bob is helping new leadership take on technological training and next steps at Brunswick Landing. Will keep us in the loop.

Veteran Friendly Employer Award – Several Committee Members Share Info About Programs Nathaniel Grace, Consultant, Military OneSource Maine - Through his work at MMCN, Nathaniel has been working with others to designate cities/towns as Military Friendly Communities. Employers list who offers what special services and supports for Maine’s veterans. The list is vetted. Houlton has earned this title as a Military Friendly Community and other communities in Maine are in process. - Nathan shared that the state of Michigan has an active employer appreciation program, where employers can earn a gold, silver or bronze level Michigan Veteran Friendly Employer award. These employers acknowledge that they recognize importance of recruiting, hiring and retaining veterans. They actively seek veterans. They educate employers. What category of employer you are is posted online. We can learn more about this program by going to the State of Michigan’s Veterans Affairs website. Will ask Nathaniel Grace for the web address.
- A couple of concerns/questions emerged from this conversation. Most members liked the idea/concept of Michigan’s program. Questions? Do we have anyone here on the SWB or other folks we know who would have the time to grow and manage a program of this stature? Are both smaller and larger employers given the same opportunity? Is there a fee to apply? Debbie Kelly, Director, Veterans Employment and Training (VETS), USDOL - Our opportunities to give employers awards has fallen since the ESGR structure has changed. When Joe Sousa and Juliette Brandt were leading the ESGR effort dozens of Maine employers received patriot awards and other awards, as appropriate.
- Today, MHAV awards employers for their participation in the program which has been a great new addition to awards statewide, but there is still a gap from the ESGR type of employer awards and the fanfare of the breakfasts and employer recognition. - Another opportunity that USDOL is now promoting is the HIRE VETS Medallion Program.
o The Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act of 2017 (HIRE Vets Act or the Act), signed by President Trump on May 5, 2017, required the Secretary of Labor to establish a program, by rule, that recognizes employer efforts to recruit, employ, and retain veterans. Employer-applicants meeting criteria established in the rule will receive a “HIRE Vets Medallion Award.” As described in the Act, there are different awards for large employers (500-plus employees), medium employers (51-499 employees), and small employers (50 or fewer employees). Additionally, there are two award tiers: Gold and Platinum. For each award, the employer must satisfy a set of criteria. Verification of these criteria includes a self-attestation by the applicant and a check for violations of veteran related DOL labor laws by the U.S. Department of Labor. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published on August 18, 2017. DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) thoroughly evaluated and carefully considered all comments received. The Final Rule became effective in January 2018 and VETS will begin accepting applications for this award in January 2019. Additional information about the Final Rule and demonstration can be found on the website at www.hirevets.gov
- Again, committee members very interested in this award – like the concept! Questions: Will application fees be a barrier for smaller employers? Do smaller employers really have the same opportunity to meet the requirements as larger employers? - Maine DVOPs and LVERs (especially LVERs) are already conducting outreach to prospective Maine employers who may meet the required eligibility for the HIRE Vets Medallion program. Auta Main, Veterans’ Program Manager, MDOL CareerCenter Network - SWB Veteran Friendly Employer Award - Like the SWB Older Workers Committee, several members from the SWB VEC met regarding a possible SWB Veteran Friendly Employer Award. The application and award information has been prepared, but we have not been able to get the ear/support of the Commissioner’s office, primarily because it has been a very hectic year. We plan, in 2019, to revisit this with the Commissioner’s office. In the interim, we will add this topic to our January 2019 meeting to strategize more about which of these programs we are interested in, which ones will happen anyway (are already underway) and which ones might we want to take next steps with.
Joshua Howe, Acting Director, State Workforce Board – Update - Anticipate the Title I funding issues will be resolved in the next couple of weeks. - Contracts will likely be completed by the end of September as the funding to the training partners has been approved.
- Josh has 9 vacant seats on the SWB Board, including some employer seats. Adria Horn’s name has come up as a possibility for nomination to the SWB Board, in her new capacity as VP of Workforce for Tilson Technologies.

SWB Updates

Steve Roy, LVER, Augusta CareerCenter and Maine Hire-A-Vet Campaign Coordinator - Maine Hire-A-Vet Employer Kick-Off, August 30, 2018, Augusta Civic Center Another very successful Maine Hire-A-Vet Kick-off! Kick-off activities and speakers included: Posting of the Colors by the Army National Guard, National Anthem sung by Master Sergeant Nathaniel Grace, and comments by Labor Commissioner John Butera; Maine’s Adjutant General, Major General Douglas Farnham; and Director of Human Resources at BIW, Jonathan Mason. Other highlights: ? 251 Employers participated ? 19 Veteran Resource tables ? 525 job seekers attended ? 200 were Veterans – 38% of job seekers were Veterans ? 13 Veterans took advantage of the Hilton Honors Program, utilizing hotel accommodations in the area while participating in the hiring fair. 3 of these veterans joined us from out of state.

Education/Veterans – More discussion at a future meeting.

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

Strategic Planning – We will conduct a mini-strategic planning session at our November 28th SWB VEC meeting.

Mark Your Calendars for SWB VEC Meetings 2019 January 23, 2019, March 6, 2019, May 22, 2019, July 24, 2019, September 18, 2019 and November 20, 2019

The meeting adjourned at 12:30pm

Attachments