July 24, 2008 Business and Education Network Meeting Notes

Southeast Missouri Regional Business/Education

P-20 Council Meeting Minutes

2 p.m. – July 24, 2008

JacksonHigh School Library

Welcome and Introductions

• Kathy Swan, owner of JCS Tel-Link and a member of the state P-20 Council and higher education committees, welcomed everyone. She said making Southeast Missouri a better place to live and work is the ultimate goal of this council. The council will be made up of business and education leaders who want to make a stronger local economy through lifelong training and education efforts.

Name and Mission Statement Selections

• Rick McClard of the WIRED Initiative announced the online survey results the 60 invitees completed. An overwhelming amount of participants agreed with the mission statement of “Supporting Business and Education, Developing a Quality Workforce.”
• Rick stressed the importance of having individuals from the business and education sectors align with each other to form the council and work at it together. With that in mind, about one-third of voters in the online survey chose “Business-Education Network of Southeast Missouri” for the name of this P-20 Council. 

Needs Inventory Survey

• Steve McPheeters of Noranda spoke on conducting a needs inventory survey as one of the council’s first objectives. The survey would be completed with the input of businesses and educational institutions in Southeast Missouri. It would include questions about current and future needs in jobs in the Southeast Missouri region, what future vacancies they expect to have and the skill sets needed to succeed at those jobs. He said they hope to have the survey ready to be disseminated by September and then have participants complete the survey by Oct. 1.

Subcommittees

• Janet Witter of the WIRED Initiative discussed the results from the June 12, planning meeting including the top priorities and targeted actions for the council. The results from the recent online survey were compiled and then grouped into four categories which, if agreed upon by the group, would ultimately be the subcommittees. They were as follows: Employment Skills Subcommittee would look at addressing the lack of soft skills needed for jobs in the area.
• Career Pathways Subcommittee would focus on making seamless transitions for individuals of all ages from preschool, elementary school, high school, higher education and employment.
• Core Academics Subcommittee would look into academic skills and innovative ways of teaching.
• Resource Partnerships Subcommittee would be the link between business and education. They would be at the forefront of putting together the needs inventory survey and communicating it.
• Witter said while these groups and the goals within them may change, these are some of the main issues needing to be addressed through the Council.

Council Structure

• Discussion on whether or not to make this council a part of WIRED or a separate entity led to a vote on making the council a separate entity. The motion was made by Jane Ellen Lazenby and seconded by Bruce Bird.  Motion carried. 
• With four subcommittees it was suggested to have a steering committee composed of the four subcommittee chairs and other interested individuals.   
• Steve McPheeters and Rob Huff were nominated to be the co-chairs of the council in order to have one person from both the education and business sectors.
• Attendees then separated into the four subcommittees to designate the acting chair, set up their next meeting and prioritize the basic strategies to target first.
• Resource Partnerships chose Tim Arbeiter as acting chair. They will meet at 3 p.m. on Aug. 26.
• Career Pathways was represented by Renae Fuller and Bob Fulton.  They did not set a date to meet.
• Core Academics selected Fred Janzow as acting chair, but did not set a next meeting date.
• Employment Skills chose Sandra Manley and Wayne Wallingford as co-chairs but did not select a meeting date. (The members of each subcommittee are in a separate document.)
• The next Business-Education Network of Southeast Missouri will meet at 4 p.m. on Aug. 26, at a few different locations within the region utilizing ITV Technology.