Berkshire Employment Board Sets 2013 Workforce Goals

By Joe DurwinPittsfield Correspondent
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The Berkshire County Regional Employment Board lowered its performance goals in face of workforce and unemployment challenges.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — While recent initiatives have demonstrated some success, local employment authorities struggle to match job seekers with occupational needs amidst a still shaky economy.

One that's facing income reductions as federal unemployment extensions run out later this month.

Reviewing its 2013 Workforce Development Strategy, the Berkshire County Regional Employment Board voted to allow Executive Director Heather Boulger to negotiate lower performance goals than those recommended by the state for workers engaged in services with its offshoot Berkshire Works.

Proposed changes include reducing the percentage of job placement for dislocated workers [those who have been laid off from downsizing] from 85 to 78 percent, employment retention rate from 95 to 88 percent, and the six-month average earning figure from $20,000 to $17,500.

Boulger said the reasoning behind the lowered performance recommendations by Berkshire Works is that the region, which at only 1.8 percent of the population is the state's smallest labor market, has historically faced great challenges overcoming bad economic times.

"Our wages are always below the state average, we always have a hard time recovering from a recession, and that's where we are right now," Boulger told the board on Thursday. "So I think these recommendations are much more realistic than what the state is proposing."

"We have very unique needs here in the Berkshires," said Boulger, "And I think this is what we need in order to be successful."
 
Berkshire Works Director John Barrett III outlined the unemployment insurance losses facing Berkshire County residents, along with others out of work throughout the state and elsewhere at the end of this month, if Congress does not renew the current extension program for federal emergency unemployment benefits. Barrett said letters were mailed Monday to inform those whose benefits would be expiring earlier than expected.  

Following Dec. 29, a Massachusetts job seeker who would once have had the possibility of up to 90 weeks of unemployment insurance, and currently may qualify for up to 54, will now be limited to a maximum period of 30 weeks.

"A lot of people are not going to get very nice Christmas presents," said Barrett. "That's not good news at all, and it's going to have a negative impact not only on those people but also on the local economy."

Barrett said unemployment rates in Pittsfield and North Adams are currently above the state average by about half a percent.



"There's not a lot of job creation out there right now," Barrett said.

One exception highlighted was the announcement Thursday of the results of the grant-funded Northern Tier Energy Sector Partnership program, a 28-month green jobs training initiative in collaboration with several schools and businesses in the region.

Out of 46 total participants all but 6, or about 87 percent, found jobs or advancement in their jobs, according to BCREB. Thirteen received wage gains, and 93 percent of participants received industry-recognized credentials as part of their training.

Jobless rates posted Nov. 20
  October 2011 October 2012
National 8.7 7.7
State 6.7 6.2
Pittsfield Metro 6.7 6.5
North Adams Micro 7.2 6.7
Great Barrington Labor Market 4.7 4.5

"Berkshire County is fortunate that we have a proactive workforce system which has been working closely with our higher-education institutions for years and has developed a number of innovative partnerships like this one to help address the middle skills gap," said Mayor Daniel Bianchi in an announcement Thursday. "These efforts are helping people obtain the skills necessary to find employment."

With help from business leaders in the field, educators at McCann Technical School in North Adams and Berkshire Community College developed seven training programs. The photovoltaic courses offered were developed using learning objectives laid out by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP).

"The Berkshire County Regional Employment Board continues to strengthen pathways for new and incumbent workers in Berkshire County by aligning public postsecondary education with the skills of employers, especially at the community college level," said Albert A. Ingegni III, president of BCREB. "Given the aging workforce and the increasing skill levels required in the Berkshires, it is critical that we continue to focus on building education and career pathways for residents and workers that support them in advancing into middle and high skill jobs."

Berkshire Works also trumpeted its OJT Training program, wherein employers can be reimbursed for wages paid to an employee while he or she is being trained on a new skill set on the job. Ninety-five percent of people who signed up for the program entered employment, according to Berkshire Works Career Counselor Shelley Iccardi, and 78 percent stayed with the employer with whom they underwent OJT training.

Michael Filpi, who manages the Laborer's Local 473, brought up concerns about the future of high school vocational education raised at last week's School Committee meeting, in light of the ongoing development of a plan for a new high school.

"I think there's some concern among the labor people and business community that we, as the leaders of what we do need to push, to the School Building Needs Committee and the administration, what we need going forward," Philpi told the board. "We've got to make sure that what we all need as employers and tradespeople goes into that new vocational/technical school."

"The efforts of the Berkshire Compact have really made some strong movements for careers in the STEM category (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math)," answered Boulger, "Maybe we need to focus a little more on Pittsfield's trade needs as well."


Tags: BCREB,   jobs,   unemployment,   workforce training,   

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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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