IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
The San Bernardino County Workforce Development Board has held its first meeting.
Formerly known as the Workforce Investment Board, the organization remains the county’s primary job placement service for youth and adults, said Bradley Gates, the development board’s deputy director.
The changes were mandated by the passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which seeks to upgrade federally-funded job training programs throughout the country.
President Obama signed that act into law in 2014, with most of the required changes going into effect July 1. Workforce Development officials immediately began working with the Board of Supervisors to implement those changes, including selecting the new board, Gates said.
Besides the new name and the reduction in board members – from 45 to 19 in San Bernardino County – “youth” is now defined by the development board as anyone from 16 to 24 years old, instead of 16 to 21 years old.
The law, which received bipartisan support, is meant to streamline the various federally supported job placement programs and make their services available to more people, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s website.
So far, San Bernardino County officials are comfortable with those changes.
“We had to dismantle the old board and put together a new one, but we were able to do that without much difficulty,” Gates said. “We had our first meeting with the new board on Jan. 20, and it went well. They’re a great group of people.”
The development board traces its roots to the 1990s, when it was called the Private Industry Council. For the past two years, it has had an annual budget of about $25 million, of which $16 million came from the Labor Department, the rest from state and county sources and private grants, Gates said.
The new board members, the sector they represent and their districts are:
Name: Anita M. Tuckerman
Position filled: Business
District: One
Name: Jonathan M. Weldy
Position filled: Business
District: One
Name: Phillip W. Cothran
Position: Business sector
District: Two
Name: William C. Sterling
Position: Business
District: Two
Name: Michael J. Gallo
Position: Business
District: Three
Name: Terry I. Klenske
Position: Business
District: Three
Name: Jonathan J. Novack
Position: Business
District: Four
Name: Billy (B.J.) Patterson
Position: Business
District: Four
Name: Antonio (Tony) L. Myrell
Position: Business
District: 5
Name: Kenneth J. Boshart
Position: Business
District: 5
Name: John A. Gauthier
Position: Labor Representative
District: At Large
Name: Laurie R. Stalnaker
Position: Labor Representative
District: At Large
Name: Rene F. Castellanos
Position: Labor organizer/Community-based organizer
District: At Large
Name: Joseph R. Williams
Position: Joint Labor Management
District: At Large
Name. Dale B. Marsden
Position: Adult Education
District: At Large
Name: Henry D. Shannon
Position: Higher Education
District: At Large
Name: John P. Andrews
Position: Economic & Community Development
District: At Large
Name: Cherilyn K. Greenlee
Position: California Economic Development Department
District: At Large
Name: Robert Loeun
Position: Vocational Rehabilitation
District: At Large
