Welcome and Introductions
Ronald Peterson, Vice Chair, Governor's Workforce Investment Board (GWIB), called the meeting to order at
3:40 p.m. He welcomed Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown, board members and guests to the meeting. Mr. Peterson
and Lt. Governor Brown presented new members, Stephen Neal and Manny Hidalgo, with their GWIB appointment
letters. Following this presentation, members were asked to introduce themselves.
It was moved and seconded to accept the minutes from the December 2009 Board Meeting as presented. The
motion was approved.
Skills2Compete Maryland
Mr. Peterson reported that on December 9th, the GWIB approved a motion recommending to Governor O'Malley
that Maryland launch Skills2Compete Maryland (S2C), focused on increasing the skill and credential
attainment of Marylanders. The Governor embraced this recommendation, appointing Lt. Governor Brown and Alex
Sanchez, Secretary, Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR) to lead this initiative. Mr.
Peterson asked the Lt. Governor and Secretary to speak about efforts to date. He noted that information
about S2C Maryland is in the GWIB packet.
Mr. Peterson introduced Lt. Governor Brown. The Lt. Governor noted that S2S Maryland was successfully
launched at a press conference on the Prince George's Community College campus the first week in March. This
was immediately followed by planning session of all the state agencies represented on the GWIB. State
agencies were asked to identify actions their agencies were or could implement to support the S2C Maryland
goals. Lt. Governor Brown asked business members of GWIB to provide advice and guidance to the initiative on
ways to implement its goals.
Lt. Governor Brown asked Alex Sanchez to provide an overview of S2C Maryland. He noted that the State's
efforts are part of a non-partisan national campaign by the National Skills Coalition to address U.S.
competitiveness. The State's initiative is to increase Maryland's skilled workforce by 20%, by 2012. A
critical outcome is to provide every Marylander with access to at least two years of education or training
past high school. State agencies, community colleges, LWIB directors, and business are actively involved in
aligning programs and initiatives to support this goal. The state is promoting S2C to the general public,
press and stakeholders using a variety of media including a
S2C website. Secretary Sanchez thanked the Lt.
Governor Brown for his leadership on this initiative.
Health Information Technology Update (H.I.T.)
Mr. Peterson noted that there is an emerging interest around the country in the use of Electronic Healthcare
Records (EHR). Lt. Governor Brown has looked at this issue across the state and the GWIB staff, through the
Healthcare Advisory Group, is researching the workforce implications of this sweeping reform. Mr. Peterson
called upon Eric Seleznow to report on the group's activities. Mr. Seleznow noted that federal funding under
ARRA is driving the rapid implementation of EHR and Health Information Technology (HIT). These funds are
intended to develop a hardware and software national system which will impact large institutions, small
practices and healthcare consumers. Many of the reports on HIT predict the creation of thousands of new IT
jobs in healthcare. The Advisory Group is working to determine the realistic workforce impact of HIT in
Maryland. The group will sponsor a Healthcare Workforce Solutions conference within the next quarter to
explore these issues, and develop appropriate recommendations.
State Energy Sector Partnership Training Grant
Mr. Peterson and the Board congratulated Eric Seleznow and GWIB staff for receiving a $5.8 million green
jobs training grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Mr. Seleznow noted that a briefing paper about the
grant and activities to date were in the Board packet. The grant uses ARRA funds which will be directed
through LWIB partners to train 2,000 Marylanders in four green sectors: construction, manufacturing, solar
and environmental tech. The three-year grant was awarded on January 2010.
CyberSecurity Maryland Update
Mr. Peterson called upon Christian Johansson, Secretary, Department of Business and Economic Development
(DBED) to talk about the "CyberMaryland" report recently published by DBED. The Secretary noted that a copy
of the report was in the Board packets. He reviewed the nine recommendations found in the report. One key
finding is that federal and commercial businesses are facing a severe shortage of trained and skilled
talent. Increasing the pipeline of talent is critical to future IT growth and business attraction in
Maryland and the region. One of four priorities presented to the Governor was to develop a Maryland pipeline
for new cyber security talent and workforce development. The report recommended continued support of the
P-20 Leadership Council's STEM Taskforce measures, the development of scholarships, and educator training.
The report also recommended development of IT workforce training programs.
Secretary Johansson noted that the importance of IT and cyber security are best demonstrated by the fact
that since publishing CyberMaryland: Epicenter for Information Security &
Innovation, it has been downloaded more than 4,000 times and distributed to more than 3,000 individuals.
He closed his remarks by stating DBED's commitment to work with GWIB, its members and other State agencies
to implement the report's recommendations.
College Success Taskforce Overview
Mr. Peterson called upon Nancy Grasmick, State Superintendent of Schools Maryland State Department of
Education (MSDE) and James Lyons, Secretary Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) to report on the
work of College Success Taskforce created by the Governor's P-20 Education Council. The Task force was
charged with making recommendations to the Council to ensure the college and career readiness of Maryland's
High School graduates. Co-chairs Dr. Grasmick and Dr. Lyons reviewed the eight recommendations developed by
the Task Force. A summary about the Task Force and the eight recommendations were included in the Board
packet. View a copy of the
P-20 College Success Task Force Final Report. A key recommendation of the report was to align graduation
requirements with Common Core Standards. View information about the
core standards.
DLLR and GWIB Updates
Mr. Peterson called upon Andy Moser, Assistant Secretary, DLLR to
provide a brief update on Recovery Act funds used by the State.
Mr. Moser reported that Maryland has spent about 44% of ARRA funds
for all programs: Adult Education, Dislocated Workers and Youth.
These funds are available through June, 2011. LWIBs have spent
about $7 million of the $9 million dollars for youth programs. The
summer employment program was extremely successful last year.
Nationally, over 350,000 youth received an employment experience.
DLLR is waiting to hear if there will be a new federal
authorization for 2010 summer youth programs. DLLR and LWIB's have
been used funds to respond to downsizing and closures (dislocated
workers) across the state. DLLR has used about $2 million recovery
act dollars for Maryland Business Works (MBW) to support incumbent
training by businesses. The state is less than half way through
the authorization period for ARRA dollars, but believes that the
state is on target for the number of trained workers projected for these funds.
Mr. Peterson called upon Eric Seleznow to close with a GWIB
update. Mr. Seleznow reported that staff is preparing a GWIB
Retreat and Strategic Plan report. One of its recommendations was
the creation of a Public Policy Committee. Donna Gwin, Martin
Knott, Andrew Larson and Marge Thomas have agreed to serve on that committee.
The meeting adjourned at 5:30 pm.
|
