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| | 1. | | Roll call.
Minutes note: Meeting convened: 10:01 A.M.
Members present: Shannon Metoxen, Mark Kessenich, Nikki Purvis, Lori Lutzka, John Swan, III, Carla Cross, Dan Thomas, Russell Stamper and Ossie Kendrix (arrived at 10:18 P.M.)
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| | 2. | | Introduction of members.
Minutes note: Mr. Metoxen has been with JP Cullen for 20 years and the company does a fair amount of work in the city.
Mr. Kessenich is the president of WRP Big Step and they do the RPP certification and recruitment.
Nikki Purvis is the director of the Office of Small Business Development.
Lori Lutzka is with the Dept. of City Development and oversees the TID portfolio and drafts the agreements that mirror chapter 355 that relates to the RPP and SBE requirements.
Carla Cross is the president and CEO of a firm that works on inclusion on city and private projects.
John Swan is the president of Laborers' Local 13 and the goal is to keep people from the community working and he is also working with high school students.
Dan Thomas works for the city on public works contracting/
Ossie Kendrix heads the African American Chamber of Commerce/
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| | 3. | | Open meetings and open records presention by the City Clerk.
Minutes note: Jim Owczarski, City Clerk, spoke on open records and open meetings laws. | | | |
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| | 4. | | Discussion about the scope and responsibilities of this body.
Minutes note: Ald. Stamper said this body was created for compliance, performance and other issues relating to the new residential preference program.
President Hamilton came and spoke to the body about its role and the needed participation of the larger community. | | | |
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| | 5. | | Presentation by Al Kennedy and Craig Jorgensen of the CMF/VJS Mentor Protege Team on owners representative services for lead service line replacement.
Minutes note: Al Kennedy and Rick Andridge (one of the owners of VJS) said one of their projects is to contain the high lead levels in the water and also shore up and expand RPP services in the suburbs. They spoke on their company, which does trade shows at the high schools to recruit future tradespeoples and also had current people in the trades teach on the job. The lead service line replacement project is to work on strengthening the RPP and SBE programs and assist DPW in breaking up the contract packages so they are more managable for RPP and SBE participants. It is important to right-size the scope of work to maximize the opportunities for smaller companies. Ald. Stamper is concerned that the smaller bundling is more expensive for the city while Mr. Andridge feels that the smaller bundles will lead to more competition and lower city costs. Mr. Thomas also mentioned that more companies leads to more administrative costs in terms of managing more companies, payroll and other issues. Ald. Stamper would like minority contractors to band themselves together to bid on a larger contract. Joan Zepecki, a member of the audience who is the Diversity Coordinator for Hunzinger Construction Company, said that little companies cannot manage the LPP Tracker, so it would be helpful if VJS managed that for companies. Ms. Cross agrees that dealing with LPP Tracker is an issue for small companies. Mr. Aldidge mentioned that new companies might form if right-sizing is done. Ald. Stamper thought the city might be willing to have a $100,000 contract and then have VJS manage the subcontractors.
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| | 6. | | Per the experiences & research of the Skilled Trades Collaborative/STC and the NAACP Labor & Industry Committee to max RPP success, Freida Webb presents on the importance of decoding the process & procedures of construction Apprenticeships for new hires, i.e. RPP participants and the importance of industry mentors to stay the course and succeed.
Minutes note: Ms. Freida Webb said the NAACP would like to see more trade workers as apprentices. The Skilled Trades Collaborative was created in 1995 to support and increase minority apprentices in the trades and still continues doing so to this day. They urge at least 2 years of mentoring in order to maximize success. Most MPS graduates come out of school without exposure to shop. Union headquarters may not be located on a bus route, the test is competitive and the oral interviewers do not look like the RPP interviewers. Systemic, long-term methods work against RPP candidates and must be overcome. Mr. Swan said that when it comes to RPP, it's the City of Milwaukee zip code, not the color of someone's skin; it is race and gender neutral. Ald. Stamper noted that the most important thing in RPP is to offer them a career. She suggested working with groups of 25-50 persons and address the challenges, including a lack of a vehicle or a driver's license. Mr. Kessenich noted that RPP is a local certification program and also need to work on diversity on both race and gender. Mr. Kessenich likes to have people go to union jobs as they offer support and unions can also refer folks to the next job once a current job ends. Mr. Swan would like to have the shop classes put back in the schools, although that is beyond the city's control. Ms. Lutzka noted that if contractors hire workers in highly depresssed zip codes, then they earn 1.25 hours per hour worked by those workers. Mr. Swan asked who monitors if the workers are actually on the job and working. Ms. Purvis noted that the city monitors, but companies also hire contractors to monitor. Joan Zepecki, from the audience, said that RPP Tracker worked very well on the Bucks project and those union workers, if they have a car, can move from job to job and are continuously working. | | | |
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| | 7. | | Presentation by Reginald Reed of Mindful Staffing on its Pre-Apprenticeship Program.
Minutes note: Mr. Reginald Reed, MIndful Staffing, said that he began working at age 19 and never missed a day of work and others can do that as well. His company is 2.5 years old and has 63 employees and it is the first staffing company to have its own school. They are trying to bring gainful employment to the unemployed and underemployed and they want to purchase an MPS school next year with the goal of 75 new construction workers trained every 10 weeks. They are trying to create free CNA training. They will do free, hands-on training at the school. They place their graduates into jobs. They are a non-union staffing firm. His workers stay as one of his workers and he gets a percentage of the workers' salaries. Traing is a 10-week program with the first hour being physical endurance and the classes focus on real-world scenarios and problems that might occur. The company does track the hours a worker works so that they can prove that they are experienced. He created a Real Time Resume which provides numbers on hours worked, punctuality and hours worked at specific skills. His workers get training and all the supplies needed (boots, etc.) and the bill out rate from the employer partners is re-invested into training for the next group of workers. Mindful Staffing (MS) buys cars for its employees, who then pay for the cars over time and then own the vehicles. Mindful Staffing does not make money on this program. MS also offers an emergency loan program which deducts the loan out of paychecks; the loan is never deducted out of one check, but is spread over multiple checks and no interest is charged. MS will also soon be creating a home buyer's program. The house will be purchased from the city for $1, fixed up as part of the program and then sold to workers in MS in the same manner as the car purchase program. They will also begin working on fixing up commercial buildings starting in February. Every employee has a personal assistant that offers 24-hour assistance for any problems, which is offered at no additional cost to the workers. Their average pay is $14 per hour and then goes up from there. The benefits package will be released early next year; they currently do not offer benefits. | | | |
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| | 8. | | Set next meeting date, time and agenda.
Minutes note: The next meeting will be in February and will include the creation of subcommittees. | | | |
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