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Veterans' Employment Committee
March 6, 2019: 10:00 AM45 Commerce Dr, Augusta Frances Perkins Room
AGENDA State Workforce Board (SWB) Veterans Employment Committee (VEC) March 6, 2019 (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 January 23, 2019 Meeting Speakers/Guests -Stephen Soucy, Maine Military OneSource Consultant, Military OneSource -Camden Ege, Director, Maine State Approving Agency Veterans Education -Adria Horn, VP Workforce, Tilson Technology Management SWB VEC Members Strategic Planning Priorities 2018/2019 Updates o MARKETING to Veterans and Employers o EDUCATION Employers o EDUCATION Veterans o VETERAN FRIENDLY EMPLOYER AWARD OPTIONS o RAISING AWARENESS OF SWB COMMITTEES w NEW GOVERNOR and ADMINISTRATION o SEEKING FUNDING for SWB COMMITTEES AND SWB SPECIAL INITIATIVES o SWB VEC MEMBERSHIP o OTHER Steve Roy, LVER Maine Hire-A-Vet 2018 Updates/Progress Augusta CareerCenter MHAV Campaign Coordinator All SWB VEC Member Updates All Future Dates for 2019 SWB VEC Meetings, Frances Perkins Room, MDOL May 22, 2019, July 24, 2019, September 18, 2019 and November 20, 2019 Jonathan Farr Miscellaneous / Adjourn
Meeting Minutes from SWB Veterans Employment Committee MDOL, Commerce Center, Frances Perkins Room March 6, 2019 (10:00am - 12:30pm)
Member Attendees: Mark Cafiso, LVER, Portland CareerCenter, Mark Cater, Director of Talent Acquisition, Military Talent Source, Leo Deon, LVER, Lewiston CareerCenter, Robin Doody, Talent Acquisition Specialist, Northern Light Health, Jon Farr, Owner, J.R. Farr Handyman, SWB VEC Chair, Mike Gray, HVRP Project Coordinator and Military and Veterans Services Director, Easterseals Maine, Darren Henry, Deputy Director, Maine Bureau of Veterans Services, Debbie Kelly, Maine Director, Veterans Employment and Trainings Services (VETS), Steve Roy, LVER and MHAV Coordinator, Augusta CareerCenter, Steve Soucy, Director, Military OneSource, David Stearns, President, Dale Carnegie Maine, Joe Tatem, Executive Director, National Guard Employment and Support Program
Guests & Interested Party Attendees: Camden Ege, Director, Maine State Approving Agency Veterans' Education, Chaplain COL Andrew Gibson, Director of Deployment Cycle Support, MEARNG, Adria Horn, VP Workforce, Tilson, Bill Hurley, Assistant Manager, Augusta CareerCenter, Joseph Reagan, Director of Development, Easterseals Maine, David Richmond, Director, Maine Bureau of Veterans Services
SWB Staff: Josh Howe, Workforce Development Program Coordinator, 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 January 23, 2019.
Guest Speaker: Steve Soucy, replacing Nathaniel Grace, as the new Director/Consultant, Military OneSource for Maine. About the program: - For service members, veterans and their families - Funded by Department of Defense - In Maine, services are statewide from Kittery to Caribou (and all places beyond and in between) - Military OneSource Tools are available online - FMI https://www.militaryonesource.mil/ and on FB https://www.facebook.com/military.1source
Guest Speaker: Camden Ege, replacing Robert Haley, as the new Director of the State Approving Agency for Veterans Education. About the program: - The program is celebrating its 75th Anniversary - Funded by the VA - Camden is an employee of UMA - GI Bill OJTs and Apprenticeships are great benefits that are used very little. This is an area that Camden hopes to "grow" over the next few years o Auta shared that the Jobs for Veterans State Grant (JVSG) positions for LVER and DVOP have been approved for GI Bill OJTs (statewide) and have been utilized by a couple of Vet Reps to date. There is a significant stipend that veterans receive during the OJT period. - Training must lead to occupational goal - FMI http://www.msaa.maine.edu/
Guest Speaker: Adria Horn, VP Workforce, Tilson
- Working in a very fast paced environment, given a lot of flexibility, latitude and autonomy
- When hired, the owner of Tilson had shared anecdotally that about 50% of Tilsons staff were veterans. After being hired, Adria did a little research and the actual figure was closer to 12%.
- Adria is working on several different fronts no surprise!
- She inquired with the Feds about changing the language on forms/docs for the Federal Bonding program and other programs. The current line of questioning is not helpful.
- Adria also shared with us the SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management) has a new veterans employment certification for HR professionals good for continuing ed credits, as well at: https://www.shrm.org/about-shrm/press-room/press-releases/Pages/SHRM-Foundation-Veteran-Hiring-Certificate-Program.aspx
- Tilson is currently hiring, on average, 30 new employees per month! While veterans are certainly a priority hiring group at Tilson (they are target veterans in their outreach activity), their focus is on hiring the best applicant for the job. They are looking for the person who is the RIGHT FIT at Tilson.
- Tilson has 21 offices around the country and their goal is to be $100,000,000 company by the end of this year
- The diversity of openings ranges from CAD drafters, engineers, utility line men, HR, office staff and more! Some of the positions can be done through teleworking.
- In 2018, 4,300 candidates applied to Tilson and 5% were hired
- Tilson has special programs for vets:
o Specialized training on some military installations
o Veterans distro list at Tilson
o Tilson Tuesdays (recognizes Vets)
o Military leave policy changed to now pay for up to 15 days paid leave per year
o More to come!
UPDATES - GOALS/PRIORITIES 2018-2019
a. Marketing to Veterans and Employers
i. MBVS created a great outreach article/ad for Rally Point several months ago. See link at: 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 - Darren Henry and David Richmond, MBVS
ii. MHAV provided successful outreach to both employers and veterans during the campaign. 191 Employers joined the campaign. 276 veterans were hired at an average wage of $23.05 per hour. The 2019 kick-off is scheduled for August 29th at the Augusta Civic Center. Steve Roy, MHAV Campaign Coordinator, LVER, Augusta CCTR
b. Education Employers i. Veteran Hiring for Employers Test Run to be conducted at our June SWB VEC meeting. Proposed outline includes: Military service, culture, ranking, skills, myths, why hire vets, recruitment, interview questions specifically designed for veterans, decoding of DD214, military skills translation, USERRA basics, CareerCenter services, and information about additional resources. Mark Cafiso, LVER, Portland and Leo Deon, LVER, Lewiston ii. Military Culture 202 continues to be in demand. Chaplain/COL Andy Gibson presented it to HR staff at the City of Portland in March. Well continue to provide this training to MHAV employers and others upon request. Andy will be providing this training to CareerCenter managers at our August 2019 meeting. 1. The Military Culture 202 video is available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/S1BwHbh3lNE or simply google Military Culture 202 iii. Question came up is there a Veteran Chamber of Commerce in Maine? Not aware of one, but several states have very active groups.
c. Education Veterans
i. One-day Civilian 101 Training for Veterans seeking employment. A curriculum template is already complete thanks to the efforts of David Stearns, Dale Carnegie Maine and Mark Cater, Military Talent Source. The challenge over the past couple of years has been to find funding to support this important one-day training for veterans. The committee expressed a commitment to moving this forward in the year ahead. Discussion centered around seeking possible funding or other strategies for bringing this training to life. A small group of SWB VEC members will meet prior to our next committee meeting to discuss next steps. David Stearns, Dale Carnegie and Mark Cater, Military Talent Source
This training could be 1, 2 or 3 days, perhaps for a train-the-trainer and then a ONE DAY (?) course for veterans. Might we ask employers to sponsor/pay support the vets they hire to take this training?
Would the community college system support this training given it is somewhat similar to their work ready courses?
Could CSSP business support this training? Vets would need to meet low-income threshold.
d. Education Veterans
i. Financial Literacy for Veterans. How does this fit with SWB VEC? Certainly, if veterans are financially literate, they are less likely to have employment issues stemming from broken down cars/lack of transportation or no power, no heat, or getting behind on their rent or mortgage payments etc. Still what role can SWB VEC play in assisting veterans with financial challenges? Should we refer them to resources or develop/coordinate an in-person training specifically for veterans? More to be determined.
*Did not address this at the March meeting
e. Veteran Friendly Employer Award TBD
i. A few members of the SWB VEC committee developed a Veteran Friendly Employer Award template in 2016/2017, following the lead of the SWB Older Worker Committees very successful award packet and presentation. At the time the MDOL Commissioner felt there was too much active legislation impacting employers so the time wasnt right to take next steps. More discussion is needed by the SWB VEC committee, along with a review of current materials.
ii. There was also question/concern about when (each year) we should seek applications for the veteran friendly employer award (assuming we opt to move forward), considering our commitment to the Maine Hire-A- Vet Campaign and the USDOL HIRE Vets Medallion Award.
*Did not address this at the March meeting
f. Raising Awareness of SWB Committees with New Governor and Administration i. The committee awaits the hiring of the new SWB Director to learn more about how the current Governor and administration will work with the SWB and its committees.
g. Seeking Funding for SWB Committees & SWB Special Initiatives
i. As mentioned earlier, there is a definite interest in trying to take next steps with a Civilian 101 training for veterans. We are also interested in prospective funding for MHAV activities and other SWB VEC initiatives (to be identified). Members stated that our funding requests need to be laser focused:
1. Succinctly providing a clear overview of the committees activities and accomplishments, discussion of special initiatives, that we are in a time of rebuilding and that our services impact different populations of veterans that have unique needs/challenges (i.e. recently separating vets, older vets, younger vets, female vets, vets with disabilities etc.) and more!
*Did not address this at the March meeting. Waiting for new SWB Director to provide guidance.
h. SWB VEC Membership i. The updated list will be shared at the June meeting see attached. *If you have thoughts about other prospective members, please bring your ideas to the meeting to share.
Mark Your Calendars for SWB VEC Meetings 2019 June 5, 2019, July 24, 2019, September 18, 2019 and November 20, 2019
The meeting adjourned at 12:30pm
Attachments