Veterans Employment Committee

September 16, 2020: 10:00 AM
Frances Perkins Rm, 45 Commerce Dr., Augusta, ME

Meeting Minutes from SWB Veterans Employment Committee ZOOM Meeting September 16, 2020 (10:00am - 12:30pm)

Members and Interested Party Attendees: Bill Benson, Director, Boots2Roots, Josh Brown, Performance and Accountability Program Manager, BES, MDOL, Mark Cafiso, LVER, Portland CareerCenter, Mark Cater, Vice President of Branding and Engagement, Military Talent Source, Leo Deon, LVER, Lewiston CareerCenter, Aaron Dombroski, Coordinator, TRiO Veterans upward Bound, USM, Robin Doody, Talent Acquisition Specialist, Northern Light Health, Nicole Frydrych, Community Coordinator, VOANNE, Jennifer Giroux, GPD Case Manager, VOANNE, Mike Gray, HVRP Project Coordinator and Military and Veterans Services Director, Easterseals Maine, Debbie Kelly, Maine Director, Veterans Employment and Trainings Services (VETS), USDOL, David Klein, Division Director, BES, MDOL, Amy Line, Director, Military and Veterans' Services, UMA, Bethanie Mazzaro, Volunteer Supt Technician, ESGR, Ashley Pringle, VP of Operations, Maine and Company, Dave Richmond, Director, Maine Bureau of Veterans Services, Kaleb Roy, National Recruiter, Cianbro, Nate Russell, Veteran, Sarah Sherman, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Maine Bureau of Veterans Services, Alley Smith-Morrissey, Assistant Coordinator of Veterans Services, USM, Joe Tatem, Soldier and Family Readiness Specialist, MANG Family Program, John Wagner, DVOP, Southern Midcoast CareerCenter, David Young, VR&E Counselor, VA VR&E Togus

Staff: Auta Main, MDOL BES Veterans Program Manager

SWB Staff: Josh Howe, Program Coordinator, State Workforce Board, Cheryl Davis, Labor Program Specialist, State Workforce Board

SWB VEC Acting Chair, Auta Main: Welcome & Opening Remarks

SWB VEC Acting Chair, Auta Main: Round the room introductions.

SWB VEC Acting Chair, Auta Main: Approval of notes from July 15, 2020

Announcement of New SWB VEC Chair, Joe Tatem, Soldier and Family Readiness Specialist, MANG Family Program - Joe Tatem was nominated as the chair in July and received unanimous approval from SWB VEC members.

Speaker(s): Josh Howe, State Workforce Board, Update - The State Workforce Board is in the middle of updating its By-Laws/changing the quorum requirement around number of employers that must be present at each meeting.
- SWB has added a new Immigrant subcommittee to its active committee groups. - In spite of the pandemic, the SWB Board and its committees are busy. That said, we are all missing the networking piece before and after meetings. - The SWB Board supports the short- and long-term goals of committees and is happy to discuss coordination of goals between the State Board and each of its committees.

Speaker(s): Leo Deon, Maine Hire-A-Vet Campaign Update - Overall, the early feedback for the kick-off and hiring fair has been excellent! We did have a couple of technical hiccups early on, but we persevered, and all went well after that. Leo was a fabulous master of ceremonies as you saw! - A total of 220 employers and jobseekers attended the MHAV Kick-Off event today. The event was recorded and has been posted on our MHAV FB page. - Of those in attendance, at least 15 were from other states and countries, including NY, MA, FL, NJ, CA, MN, NC, PA, WA, IOWA and Cuba!
- For the job fair, we had 472 participants. 212 were employers and 259 jobseekers. o Of the 259 jobseekers, 215 were veterans and 44 were non-veterans. Of those, 68 were spouses or family members of veterans (some may have been both veterans and family members of veterans!). - The MHAV hotline for employers and veterans was busy with a couple of dozen calls/emails, mostly people wanting to clarify how the job fair worked, if they had the most up-to-date employer/veteran list etc. - Several employers contacted us during the day to be ADDED to the MHAV employer list. One even wanted to become a sponsor! - We heard from a number of companies (and veterans!), anecdotally, during the job fair letting us know they had interviewed (jobseekers or with employers) and/or they were in the process of setting up interviews. They said the process was going well.
- Several employers sent email blasts to all 259 jobseekers. I know because I registered as a jobseeker to get a sense of the process! For employers it was a BIG BONUS to get a list of 259 jobseekers with their contact info and work experience/interests. In the past employers met jobseekers at the job fair, and often only met a few as they passed by. - We will be asking all employers and jobseekers for more detailed feedback in the next day or two and we will keep you posted! - Additional Highlights, September 21, 2020: - Of the 259 veterans/jobseekers who registered for the campaign (50+ are nonveterans) o 197 were male, 60 were female o Former Army 38% o Former Air Force 19% o Former Navy -17% o Marine Corps 9% o Coast Guard 4% o Veteran jobseekers were from all 16 counties top participation from: 21% Cumberland 17% Androscoggin 11% Penobscot 11% York 10% Kennebec We had one veteran from Piscataquis County and 3-5 veterans from several counties and of course 15 from out of state/country. In an in-person job fair it is rare for veterans more than 50 miles away to participate, so this is very cool! Testimonials from jobseekers and employers JOBSEEKER - "Hello, Thank you so much for your efforts/support with this event. I would like to inform you that I have received invitations to set-up appointments for further discussion of employment. Im super excited and highly motivated to obtain employment SOON!! Thank you again for taking the time out yesterday to provide me with additional information about this campaign and its overall objective." EMPLOYERS - Thank you again for having us as a hiring company! It was a blast to come into contact with so many job seekers! I am looking forward to connecting with more veterans over the course of the campaign and to securing a hire! Thank you for the support! - I met 1 veteran during the hiring fair, but I still thinks it is great and hope it is permanent place we can advertise for workers , and a place active duty can also look for part time work. Being a disabled vet myself I was unable and not wanted in the regular job market , I was lucky to find a person who thought highly of vets , so much so he trained me to own my own business in a trade which unfortunately the worse society becomes the better my business and more work comes. I want to pay forward what was done for me and my family and train vets to own their own alarm company to become subs so their disabilities won't hinder them because they can schedule work and take work that works for them. MHAV EVENTS/WORKHOPS - For this weeks workshop, Applying for State Government Employment, we had a total of 19 jobseekers participate!

SWB VEC Members who Staffed Hotlines/Virtual Platforms During MHAV Kick-Off Event - Mark Cater shared that he was busy staffing the Military Talent Source zoom room. He had jobseekers in the waiting room and would come get them after he had spoken 1-on1 to others. He said he lost a few of those in the waiting room, but it was time well spent/active. - Robin Doody shared that Northern Light Health had a few jobseekers turn-up during the kick-off, but not many. That said, she thought the kick-off event itself was amazing! - Other members also expressed positive feedback about the kick-off event.

Well start having employers document their HIRES in a couple of weeks!

SWB VEC Strategic Priorities 2020/2021 - Updates

a. Marketing to Veterans and Employers
i. Outreach to Veterans - MHAV outreach ii. Outreach to Employers MHAV outreach o The Maine Hire-A-Vet Campaign was a huge contributor to the committees outreach to both veterans and employers see numbers above. Thanks to ALL committee members for supporting this annual project!

b. Education Employers i. Veteran Hiring for Employers Leo Deon. Presented via ZOOM at NASWA Vets Conference on August 14, 2020. o AGENDA ITEM: How can the committee better serve employers? Pre-covid, employers needed people, and many offered free training Now issue is bigger, with the uncertainty and push to work from home Some employers need people NOW Vets have the basic level of training that all employers want Ashley, Maine and Company, mentioned a few employers they are working with who need staff now o Devoted Health at Pineland and in the pipeline work with the Aquaculture and Forest Products Industries o As part of the Governors ERC/Economic Recovery Committee, the state is reaching out to businesses to help them put hiring plans in place and/or to survive during this difficult financial time (depending on the business) o How can SWB VEC and/or its members be helpful? CareerCenters and Vet Reps are already on board Should we establish clearer pathways for next steps for employers and coordination with resources? How can MDOL improve its partnership with DECD? Suggestion by Ashley that perhaps we join one of DECDs weekly and/or monthly zoom calls. o Should the state revive the HR Days that we used to offer to employers as a way to keep connected? These could be done virtually. o While some companies are hiring, others are closing shop, really struggling, especially in the hospitality/tourism o Robin suggested that we create/revive an EMPLOYER TOOLKIT Basics with information that guides employers both large and small on issues from A-Z, including assistance finding employees. o Important to keep in mind that some employers are weary of government and prospective compliance issues just thinking about how to present the information. o How can we best get information into the hands of employers? Press Releases Chambers Associations Commissioners of each of Maines Depts work together. o More discussion to come.

c. Education Veterans o Just a reminder that the Maine Guard has 2 financial counselors available to assist guard members, veterans and their families.

d. Veteran Friendly Employer Award i. The SWB VEC has determined that at this time, we will not take next steps to develop another veteran employer award in Maine. The landscape is full at the moment with Maine Hire-A-Vet Campaign awards, ESGR awards, and the USDOL HIRE Vets Medallion award. ii. The subcommittee included: Auta Main, Josh Howe, Cheryl Moran, Bethanie Mazzaro, Andy Gibson, Mark Cafiso, Nate Russell and Debbie Kelly.

g. SWB VEC Membership iii. The updated list was shared at the September 2020 meeting see attached. *New Members who have joined in 2020 include: - David Young, VA VR&E, Togus - Kaleb Roy, Cianbro - Ashley Pringle, SWB Board Member, Vice President Operations at Maine & Co. and a Veteran Prospect: Auta to contact BIW to see if they would like to identify a representative to join SWB VEC.

h. Future Agenda Items - Business Relationships Follow-Up - VOANNE Presentation, Nicole Frydrych and Jennifer Giroux (November?) - Case Managing Services At Risk of Losing Housing

Mark Your Calendars for SWB VEC Meetings 2020 December 2 2020!

The meeting adjourned at 12:30pm

Attachments