WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD

OF ROCK ISLAND, HENRY AND MERCER COUNTIES,

NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION

Draft Board Minutes

8:30 a. m. – 9:30 a. m., Thursday, May 28, 2025

In-Person

Present: Barb Courville, Al Zwilling, Jenny Miller, Tim Foster, Teresa Cherry, Lori Warren, Mark Evans, Christine Caves, Russell Medley, Abigail Cox and Meg Pfoutz

Call to Order: Meeting was called to order at 8:35 AM

Action Items

• Approval of Minutes- The minutes of 2-26-2025 were reviewed and a motion to approve was made by Teresa Cherry and seconded by Barb Courville. The minutes were approved with one change in adding Barb Courville as she was present at the February 20, 2025, Board Meeting.
• Fiscal Agent reports-Teresa Cherry presented the financial statements for the quarter ending 3-31-2025. Teresa Cherry included the 2023 grant that expires on 6-30-2025 being fully expended. The WIOA Formula grant 2024 in the amount of $2,311,305 which currently has $768,221.67 in funds spent and another $463,094.69 is obligated to be spent and has a remaining balance of $1,079,988.64 to be spent by 6-30- A Pre-Apprenticeship dated 1-1-2024 and expires 12-31-2025 grant in the amount of $569,000 of which $243,481.63 funds spent, with $325,518.37 left to be funded. The JTED grant in the amount of $562,325 which is to be used only on individuals from the re-entry from Prison that currently has spent $129,334.84, and another $162,429.95 is obligated to be spent and has a remaining balance of $270,560.21 to be spent by 6-30-2026.  A Pre-Apprenticeship Expansion dated 7-1-2024 and expires 6-30-2025 in the amount of $165,000 which has $105,356.03 left to be funded. This grant will be modified downward by $28,000 soon. In addition to those grants, the organization just received approval for 1E grant in the amount of $342,225 for the purpose of training workers laid off from John Deere which currently has spent $190,227.45 with another $22,776.49 obligated to be spent and remaining balance of $129,221.06 to be spent by 12-31-2025. In addition, a Supplemental State Funding of $28,785 of which $20,085.67 has been spent with another $8,699.33 left to spend.  Teresa Cherry stated that she has already talked to State Officials as we received $220, 385 last year and only $28,785 this year, hoping that we receive more next year. Teresa Cherry also stated that the organization transferred 20% of Dislocated Workers’ budget to Adult Training as there is greater demand in that area. Teresa stated that she received approval from State Officials. A motion to approve was made by Meg Pfoutz, seconded by Barb Courville to approve the financial statements as presented.

• One stop Operator-Christine Caves reported that the organization was approved for the One Stop Operator beginning 7-1-2025 until 6-30-2027 through an RFP process in coordination with Consultant Jeff Marcella. Teresa Cherry stated she will be working to draft the contract, and the contract between partners should be ready within the next three weeks. A motion to approve was made by Barb Courville, seconded by Meg Pfoutz to approve the One Stop Operator agreement, with Abstentions by Abigail Cox, Teresa Cherry, and Jenny Millere as they are the participating partners.

• MOU-Teresa Cherry stated that the 2025-2026 MOU has been approved by the participating partners and is only awaiting one signature to complete from IDES. Abigail Cox stated signature should be received very shortly. A motion to approve was made by Tim Foster, seconded by Al Zwilling to approve the MOU Agreement for the next fiscal year.

• Programmatic performance – Lori Warren discussed the 3-31-2025 performance goals for the organization and stated that we are not meeting a couple of goals but should be either meets or exceeds in all categories by the time 6-30-2025 numbers are incorporated. Lori Warren stated that they have applied for a Pathway grant in the amount of $1,500,000 which would serve 150 individuals. The chance of receiving approval on this grant is slim as the Government is only approving 9 grants across the whole United States. Lori Warren also had applied for a Digital grant in the amount of $192,000, which we just received notice that were not approved for this grant. Lori Warren is also working on a Navigation Grant that is in process but not ready to be sent in for approval.  Lori Warren also mentioned one success story of the Quest grant in which 45 of 46 Kewanee Life Skills individuals are currently working, one has passed away unfortunately, and none have returned to prison.  This success story will be documented and sent to our State of Illinois officials to make sure they are aware of the situation.
• Update Youth of 2024-2025 Providers-Teresa Cherry provided an update that our organization has taken over the High Roads program in Mercer County from Family Resources. She stated that they have found a new location in downtown Aledo, Illinois, as the previous office is not in a great location. We are expected to move in by 6-30-2025.

• DCEO Monitoring-February 2025-Teresa Cherry informed the committee that DCEO monitoring is complete and the were 5 minor exceptions, all being related to clerical input errors and that they have been corrected. Teresa Cherry also stated responses to those findings have sent to DCEO as part of the monitoring process.

• Federal WIOA Update-Teresa Cherry stated that DOGE made changes to the disbursement system and checks that are supposed to be mailed this week will be held until the organization can access funds. This caused significant stress on the staff but now has been corrected. Teresa Cherry also stated that we have not heard of any WIOA funding for fiscal year 7-2025 to 6-2026 yet and is concerned with what funding is going to be. Teresa Cherry stated that they will be looking for other grants outside of WIOA to help continue to support the Pre-Apprenticeship program as we still have not received any funds owed to the organization under the current Pre-Apprenticeship grant. Teresa Cherry also stated that there may be some changes coming which focus more on Youth Work Based learning where the current goal is 20% of funds focused on work-based learning going to 40% goal.  This has not been determined yet as WIOA is still not reauthorized.

Additions-Teresa Cherry mentioned that the organization needs to hire another program manager, however it may be very tough as the DOGE has cut funding in so many areas, it will be hard to find people as they are getting out of the Government related Job Market.

Public Comment: None

Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:55 AM, a motion to adjourn was made by Barb Courville and seconded by Jenny Miller.

Next Board Meeting is August 21, 2025, at 8:30 AM