September 9, 2025 Minutes

Workforce Development Board Minutes

Employment Services - 315 N. 11th Ave, Bldg. B, Greeley, CO 80631
Meeting Location: First Floor Conference Room
Meeting: September 9, 2025 - 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Board Members Present:
Alex Kloehn, Lutheran Family Services, Rocky Mountains; Amanda Ericson, HRx Services; Bill Johnson, Yoder Family Companies; Cassidy Stubblefield, Upstate Colorado; Erin Fink Smith, Aims Community College; Gen Spering, Colorado State University; Heath Tee, Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ; ; Lauren Price, Aurora Mental Health & Recovery; Lisa Taylor, The Weld Trust; Lisa Vaughn, Golden Aluminum; Lynette Peppler, Weld County Commissioner Matthew Hortt, High Plains Library District; Meghan Greene, CDLE DVR Michael Wailes, Weld RE-5J; Phil MacHendrie, City of Greeley; Robert Rigg, Elder Construction; Shawn Croissant, Envision; Victoria Cordova, Banner Health.

Absent: David Zumbrun, Chicken Salad Chick; Karla Torczon, Elevations Credit Union; Kelly Folks, Colorado Department of Labor & Employment; Zach Huston, Chevron U.S.A. Inc

Quorum Present: Yes

Others Present:
Greg Cordova, ESWC; Kelsey Baun, NoCo Works Tami Grant, Weld County DHS; Thomas Hartman, CWDC; Ruth DeBoer, ESWC; Carol Salter, ESWC.

  1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order promptly at noon.  
    1. Introductions & New Members: Heath Tee
  2. Changes to the Agenda - None
  3. Approval of Minutes
    1. Motion: Moved by: Bill Johnson
    2. Seconded by: Shawn Croissant
    3. Vote: Passed
  4. Workforce Wins
    1. Highlighted Miguel’s success story: After 16 years in prison, Miguel completed education and vocational programs, earned his commercial driver’s license through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program and is now employed as a truck driver, showcasing workforce perseverance and effective second chances.
  5. Unfinished Business
    1. Skills-First Local Workforce Board Challenge
      The workforce board successfully met the Skills First Challenge from the Colorado Workforce Development Council focused on skills-based hiring and job description reviews to reduce unnecessary degree requirements.
      The board committed to evaluating job descriptions within their organizations to remove four-year degree barriers where possible. And approved the completion of the skill assessment challenges and plans to continue supporting skills-first hiring strategies.
  6. Announcements, Updates, and Celebrations
    1. Submission of Annual End of Year Report & High Performing Board Application
      1. Ruth gave an update and thanks for everyone getting their votes to approve submission timely. We expect to hear back about our High performing board status in a few months.
      2. Workforce Development Month Proclamation and events
        1. Carol thanked Commissioner Peppler on behalf of the County Commissioners for all the great support they gave the Workforce center during the proclamation. She shared the proclamation with the board.
        2. Carol shared all the great internal and external projects and events we have going on for Workforce Development Month. Activities including business-focused Lunch & Learns, staff team-building, internal branding improvements, and QPR Suicide Prevention training, and the Workforce Symposium at month-end
      3. Demo of NoCo Works website
        1. Kelsey gave a presentation on the NoCo Works website to the board members, walking them through its resources. She let them know it is not a space for labor market info, it’s not a place to post for a job – it’s a resource center when someone is wondering how to “find an apprenticeship, post on Connecting Colorado, look into sector partnerships, and much more”.
        2. Kelsey talked about how it’s a work in progress and asked for people to review and give feedback, which is directly available for you to submit on the website at the bottom of the page. There are six subcommittees, and they each have their own page.
        3. Call to action – we need to get more profiles – Kelsey shared a login that board members can use to be able to utilize their press kit and ambassador section to be able to speak to what NoCo Works is about. Kelsey will send Ruth the password to share with the board.
      4. Awareness Committee
        1. Veterans Resource Fair and Job Fair – 1st Wednesday every month. Resource Fair from 9-11 and job fair from 11-2pm.
        2. Kelsey’s time with NoCo Works is coming to an end and our last NoCo Works meeting we discussed what to do going forward. It was decided to hire a contract employee to help run it. Matt stated that they are looking for additional funding and right now if we can get a $5000 donation, then Weld Trust will add $15,000 to that. Lisa Taylor noted that donations are tax exempt.
      5. Youth Committee Update
        1. Next Youth Committee Meeting will be 9/23/25 at the Boys and Girls Club Teen Center. The subject will be on AI; we have some great speakers lined up to talk on the topic of AI.
        2. We had both an employee and an employer recognized last week for the Govener’s Summer Job Hunt Awards
          1. AmeriCorps of Weld County, housed in our Greeley Office, was awarded the Weld County Employer of the Year and accepted by Holly Bernhardt, for their work with providing youth every summer an opportunity to complete community service projects and earn a living stipend along with an education award. AmeriCorps served 19 members this summer. Various projects included Colorado Youth Outdoors, St Vrain State Park, City of Greeley Natural Areas and Trails. They conducted trail Maintenance, Construction in open spaces, re-stained bridges and built irrigation systems for trees.
          2. The youth recognized was Jeremiah Marin, he was awarded Weld County Youth Employee of the Year. Jeremiah Worked at Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Job Duties were unloading donations, cleaning merchandise, sweeping and mopping the sales floor, and customer service, along with refurbishing furniture. Jeremiah faced immense challenges: securing housing on his own, navigating life without local family support, and balancing work with school. At one point, he slept in a structure unfit for living. Yet through sheer determination and his ReStore paycheck, he found safer, stable housing. He now dedicates his mornings and afternoons to schoolwork, and his evenings and weekends to his job—never losing sight of his goals.
      6. Veterans Committee
        1. Ruth gave updates on the Veteran Committee meeting that was held in July – we had Volunteers of America, Veteran Buddy System, Veteran Employment Services, Catholic Charities, PAM Health Greeley, and the Northern Colorado Veterans Resource Center attend.
        2. They worked through the Veteran Resource Fair launch in September. We had a late marketing launch but still managed to get:
          1. 7 Veteran Advocate Resource Groups Attended
          2. 3 Veteran Friendly Employers Attended
          3. 6 Veterans Attended
            Attendees appreciated the event, As word gets around, I look forward to this event getting larger and more popular.
  7. Board Focus
    1. Annual Monitoring of ESWC
      i. Carol gave an update: Monitoring will take place September 29 – October 9, covering fiscal, equal opportunity, service delivery, outcomes, and compliance from July 2024 – June 2025. Staff are gathering documentation and coordinating support for monitors during the on-site review.
    2. Joint WDB meeting recap
      1. The recent joint meeting covered several talent pipeline strategies with panelists highlighting apprenticeship programs, leadership academies, oil and gas leadership programming, and cohort training for healthcare and irrigation tech sectors. Emphasis on alignment with state initiatives for occupational cohort training and avoiding duplication of efforts among sector partnerships.
        Continuous collaboration with local sector groups to update and submit tactical workforce plans due imminently.
    3. Regional Action Team
      1. The sector partnerships are finalizing two- and five-year tactical workforce plans, aligning efforts around quality training, skills-first hiring, and industry priorities. Accountability and reporting standards for these plans are evolving, with expectations for ongoing progress reports to the Colorado Workforce Development Council through 2030. Healthcare, manufacturing, and construction sectors have defined their critical workforce activities, which the board will oversee collectively.
    4. Workforce Enterprise Fund – Innovation Proposal for PY25
      1. Proposal submitted to use the Workforce Enterprise Fund for expanding youth employment programs focusing on justice-involved youth, particularly those in pretrial services. Plans to coordinate with the Rebalance Program for therapeutic mentoring, skill development, and employment support. Introduction of VR headsets for career exploration and certifications to better engage youth in job readiness and reduce recidivism. Target to assist 12 youth this year, doubling last year’s numbers.
    5. Approval of policy: WCWDB-30-2025-1 Reporting Fraud
      1. Lisa Taylor motioned to approve, Michael Wailes seconded – all approved.
        1. Board reviewed and unanimously approved the required policy for reporting suspected fraud, program abuse, or criminal conduct related to workforce programs. The policy helps detect and prevent misuse of federal funds, conflicts of interest, false claims, and other violations to protect program integrity.
  8. Miscellaneous
    1. Golden Aluminum announced Manufacturing Day event on October 3rd featuring facility tours and new state-of-the-art casting equipment, inviting workforce board members and community to attend.
    2. Public workforce system in Colorado is undertaking a unified branding initiative to create a common identity across counties to enhance visibility and reduce confusion. Weld County staff will lead local implementation of this cohesive brand rollout to complement existing Weld County logos.
    3. The High Plains Library District and Employment Services collaboration secured procurement and ordered a workforce development vehicle, expected to be operational by spring, enhancing mobile outreach capacity.
  9. Adjournment – 1:31 pm  

Strategic Goals

  1. Continue seeking clarity and improving connections for programs and services between Employment Services and the businesses and individuals in the Weld County Community.
  2. Increase awareness and clarify the impact of Weld County's workforce network by attracting organizations and businesses to utilize the available funding provided to Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) targeted populations.
  3. Increase Weld County Workforce Development Board (WCWDB) member engagement by involving board members in planning, leadership pipeline development, and committee involvement.
  4. Working with intention by participating and supporting ESWC, sector partnerships, and their workgroups to ensure our regional workforce has equitable access to opportunities for quality, life-long education, and individual advancement to secure the future of work in Northern Colorado.

Board Recruitment

The following positions are vacant:

Union/labor organization member

  • One (1) open currently
If you know someone interested in workforce initiatives and can fill one of these roles, please direct that person to Andrew Chadwick or Ruth DeBoer.

Upcoming Events

Required Meeting: 11/4/2025; 11:45 AM to 1:30 PM (12:00 PM-1:30 PM Virtual)
Awareness Committee Meeting: 10/28/2025; 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM (12:00 PM-1:00 PM Virtual)
Youth Committee Meeting: 9/23/2025; 11:45 AM to 1:30 PM (12:00 PM-1:30 PM Virtual)

Assurance

Veterans and eligible spouses are entitled to priority access to Department of Labor-funded programs.
Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Dial 711 for Relay Services.
Employment Services of Weld County is an equal opportunity program and employer.

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