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Workforce Development Board Meeting Minutes – May 27th, 2026

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., Wednesday, May 27, 2026

In-Person

Present: Cory Bergfeld, Teresa Cherry, Christine Gosney, Lori Warren, Mark Evans, Meg Pfoutz, Christine Caves, Jenny Miller, Kathy Marshall, Al Zwilling, Russell Medley, and Richard Nagle

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

 Action Items

  • Fiscal Agent reports- Teresa Cherry presented the financial statements of 3-31-2026 and checks written for the period ending 1-1-2026 to 3-31-2026. The WIOA Formula grant 2024 in the amount of $2,311,305 which currently has $2,292,705.000 in funds spent and another $18,600.00 is obligated to be spent by 6-30-2026.  The WIOA Formula grant 2025 in the amount of $2,715,441.00 which currently has $517,067.65 in funds spent and another $825,683.45 is obligated to be spent and has a remaining balance of $1,372,689.90 to be spent by 6-30-2027. An Apprenticeship Expansion grant dated 7-1-2025 and expires 6-30-2026 in the amount of $145,000.00 of which $69,384.24 funds spent, wand has a remaining balance of $75,615.76 to spent by 6-30-2026. The JTED grant in the amount of $562,325.00 which is to be used only on individuals from the re-entry from Prison that currently has spent $343,743.24, and another $196,420.80 is obligated to be spent and has a remaining balance of $122,160.96 to be spent by 9-30-2026. Supplemental State Funding in the amount of $71,988.00 of which $22,498.08 has been spent and has a remaining balance of $49,489.92 by 6-30-2026. The organization has hired an instructor to teach free digital literacy courses that started in February 2026 and these funds should be fully expended by 6-30-2026. Teresa Cherry also stated that the organization was applying for another Apprenticeship Expansion grant in the amount of $400,000 as the initial program has had tremendous success. Lori Warren and Teresa Cherry also presented the DCEO Benchmark Report through 3-31-2026 for the Boards review and presented an updated report through 5-31-2026. The direct training requirement of 50% was 53.76% as of 3-31-2026 and was 51.69% as of 5-31-2026 so that goal should be met as of 6-30-2026. In the May 31,2026, the organization did a projection which forecasted Payroll Expenses through 6-30-2026 to make sure the organization will be at 80% spent or obligated.  The only category that is under the 80% at 5-31-2026 is Adult Category currently at 77.15% and need to either spend or obligate $35,589.00 by 6-30-2026 which Teresa Cherry stated would be no issue.  The Dislocated Worker as of 5-31-2026 is at 97.46% and Youth is at 86.52%.  A motion to approve was made by Chris Gosney, seconded by Al Zwilling to approve the financial statements as presented.
  • ETPL Training Provider-Lori Warren presented the ETPL Training Provider list that needs to be approved annually. A motion to approve was made by Corey Bergfeld, seconded by Jenny Miller to approve the annual ETPL Training Provider List.
  • Local and Regional Plan- Teresa Cherry stated that the Local and Regional Plans are complete and were posted online in time and the organization is awaiting responses back from the State of Illinois. A motion to approve was made by Meg Pfoutz, seconded by Corey Bergfeld to approve the Regional and Local Plans subject to any technical changes by the State of Illinois to the Local and Regional Plans.
  • Allocations for Program Year 2026-Teresa Cherry reported that our region will receive $2,454,416 for the 2026 upcoming year which is a 10% decrease over 2025 Allocation.  She stated that percentage increases can either go up or down each year as last year the organization received a 17% increase and that this is still a good number for the organization.  Teresa stated that of the $2,454,416, Adult training was $624,936, Dislocated Workers was $1,125,480, and Youth was $704,000. Teresa also stated that the Federal Government may want Youth Work Based Learning to increase to 40% of the annual budget but have not finalized that percentage. A motion to approve was made by Kathy Marshall, seconded by Jenny Miller to approve the 2026 Fiscal Year Allocations.

Reports

  • Programmatic performance –Lori Warren presented the 5-12-2026 performance goals and the organization is either meeting or exceeding all the performance goals negotiated with the State of Illinois. The new system allows up to date reporting of information where the old system information was updated on a quarterly basis.
  • Online Scholarship Applications-Richard Nagle stated that since the organization implemented online applications in September 2026, the organization has received 85 online applications which is the way the State of Illinois will be requiring applications beginning 7-1-2026.  The State of Illinois is trying to get away from paper applications however for incarnation clients, they don’t have access to computers. There is a training on 6-9-2026 and 6-10-2026 where more details will be provided. Richard Nagle also provided detail of the number of hits the organization has received on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google. This is providing the organization with much more exposure than we have had in the past.

Additions:

Teresa Cherry stated that there is a Restart Grant through the Federal Government in which 5 States will receive a $5,000,000 grant to be awarded to the local State Workforce Organizations to be used to help support their current programs. If awarded to the State of Illinois, our organization requested $750,000 to start a program at the East Moline Correctional Center just like the one that is currently going on at Kewanee Correctional Center which has had tremendous success during the early process.

Teresa Cherry also stated that the State Supplemental Grant has been approved for 2026 fiscal year, and we don’t know what our allocation is yet.  Three years ago, our organization received $280,000, 2 years our organization received $28,000 and last year the organization received $72,000.

Lori Warren reported that the organization also reapplied for new Apprenticeship Navigator grant in the amount of $750,000 which is a 2-year grant to continue their successful program with Kewanee Correctional Center and hopefully incorporate the same program at the East Moline Correctional Center.

Teresa Cherry also stated her focus for the upcoming year is increasing Board members, expanding business services and focus more on Work Based Learning education.

 Public Comment: None

Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 9:40 AM, a motion to adjourn was made by Meg Pfoutz and seconded by Christine Gosney.

 Next Board Meeting is August 26, 2026, at 8:30 AM

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