May 12, 2020 - Minutes of Public Meetings - Apprenticeship and Training Council

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Mr. Brian Cavey called the virtual meeting of the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Council to order at 9:00 a.m. and welcomed all Council members, staff and guests taking part in the meeting. Mr. MacLarion did a roll call of Council members for the minutes of the meeting.

PRESENT:

COUNCIL MEMBERS
Brian S. Cavey - Chairperson Employee Representative
Christine Banovic - Public Representitive
Allen B. Clinedinst III - Employee Representative
Norbert R. Klusmann, Sr. – Employee Representative
Neil E. Wilford, Jr. – Employee Representative
David J. Wilson, Sr. – Employee Representative
Leon W. Bromley - Employer Representative
Michelle L. Butt - Employer Representative
Grant Shmelzer - Employer Representative
David Smarte - Employer Representative

Ronald Leonard - USDL/OA Consultant to the Council
Charles Wallace - MSDE Consultant to the Council

OTHERS:
James Rzepkowski - Assistant Secretary for Workforce Development and Adult Learning, Maryland Department of Labor
Christopher D. MacLarion – MATP
Kelton Addison - MATP
Ginamarie Best - MATP
Kevin L. Hunt - MATP
Jennifer D. Runkles - MATP
Patty Shreves - MATP
Jane Sinclair - MATP
John P. Taylor - MATP
Paula Bahler - Maryland Building Industry Association
Lloyd Day - Maryland Department of Labor DWDAL
Leza Griffith - Maryland Department of Labor OAG
Diane Kastner - Maryland Plumbing, Heating Cooling Contractors, Inc.
Pete Medd - M Power Education
Kimberly Nichols - Franklin Apprenticeships
Jeffrey W. Smith - Maryland Department of Labor DWDAL
Eugene Stohlman - Maryland Watch Works, LLC
John F. Vontran - Baltimore-DC Metro Building and Construction Trades Council

Assistant Secretary Rzepkowski thanked everyone for participating in the virtual meeting and stated that the Governor had issued a teleworking order for most of State government but had asked that we still continue regular operations to the best of our ability. He brought greetings from Secretary Robinson who was not able to participate in the meeting as she was tending to other State business.

Assistant Secretary Rzepkowski informed Council members that in addition to the robust agenda for the Council meeting, the Department was continuing to work on other things as well. The Department was continuing to pursue at least six grants including a Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grant and a State Apprenticeship Expansion Grant that related directly to apprenticeship.

Before the start of the business portion of the meeting, Mr. Cavey explained the process that the meeting would follow. He stated that all of the items on the agenda would be presented to the Council by Mr. MacLarion. Following each presentation, there would be a roll call vote on the approval of that item.

I. The first order of business was the approval of the minutes of the January 14, 2020 and March 10, 2020 Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Council meetings. The minutes of the January 14, 2020 and March 10, 2020 Council meetings were approved as submitted.

II. DIRECTOR’S REPORT:

A. Mr. MacLarion reminded everyone participating in the meeting as well as members of the public who were livestreaming it that the meeting was being recorded in order to be able to prepare detailed minutes of the Council meeting. He thanked everyone for all of their flexibility over the last several months which have been challenging times and for their roles in making the first virtual meeting a success.

B. Council members were provided with an update of the status of the Apprenticeship and Training Fund. Mr. MacLarion reported that the balance after all obligations was $921,988.87. Contributions coming into the fund were $12,778.13 for the month of March 2020 and $10,761.64 for the month of April 2020.

C. Mr. MacLarion noted that at the last Council meeting there had been a discussion about the possibility that schools, colleges and apprenticeship programs might need to made changes in the delivery of related instruction. Since that time the vast majority of group joint programs and group non-joint programs had provided notifications that they had needed to shift their related instruction to an on-line format to allow their apprentices to complete their training for the year.

D. It was noted that Applications for Certificates of Completion were starting to come in. Mr. MacLarion informed the Council that due to the very limited amount of time for staff to be in the office, that Certificates of Completion have not been prepared He added that he hoped that this would be resumed in the near future and when it did that due to licensing requirements, Certificates of Completion for apprentices completing in HVACR would be a priority and that all others would be prepared in the order in which requests had been received.

E. Sponsors that have had success stories of how they have adapted in order cope with the pandemic were asked to share those success stories with the Council.

F. Mr. MacLarion informed Council members that since the previous Council meeting the Prince George’s County Public School System, had been approved for Apprenticeship Maryland (Youth) bringing the total number of public school systems participating to sixteen.

G. Mr.Cavey thanked all of the healthcare workers, first responders, construction and infrastructure workers and everyone working in an essential business for going to work every day and wished for them to stay well.

III. OLD BUSINESS:

A. PROGRAM REVISIONS:

1. Maryland Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors, Inc. (Jeffrey W. Smith) – Request for registration of revised Standards of Apprenticeship and Affirmative Action Plan for the occupation of Plumber.

This item was carried over from the March 10, 2020 Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Council meeting.

Mr. Shmelzer made a recommendation that when an apprenticeship program sponsor does not require a high school diploma or GED at the time of acceptance or entry into the program that when staff perform reviews of that program that all apprentices have provided that documentation to them.

A motion to approve the request for registration of revised Standards of Apprenticeship was made by Mr. Smarte, seconded by Mr. Shmelzer and unanimously approved.

A motion to approve the revised Affirmative Action plan was made by Mr. Smarte, seconded by Mr. Shmelzer and unanimously approved.

IV. NEW BUSINESS:

A. NEW PROGRAMS:

1. Maryland Watch Works, LLC (Jennifer D. Runkles) – Occupations of Watch Repairer Technician and Certified Watchmaker Technician. Related instruction to be provided in-house by Eugene Stohlman and industry instructors and curriculum from industry education providers: AWCI, SAWTA and WOSTEP.

Mr. MacLarion informed Council members that both occupations were new for the State of Maryland. He thanked Mr. Leonard of the United States Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship for his assistance in obtaining examples of the occupations from elsewhere in the United States. Finally Mr. MacLarion noted that he had spoken with the sponsor and that they had agreed to remove the requirements of having a high school diploma or GED and residing within fifty miles from their minimum qualifications for apprenticeship.

A motion to approve this request for registration of Standards of Apprenticeship was made by Mr. Shmelzer, seconded by Mr. Smarte and unanimously approved.

2. M Power Education (Jennifer D. Runkles) – Occupation of Certified Massage Therapist. Related instruction to be provided by M Power Health/Allied Health Career Institute. Request for registration of an Affirmative Action Plan with apprentice selection procedures and goals and timetables for minority and female apprentices.

A motion to approve this request for registration of Standards of Apprenticeship was made by Mr. Smarte, seconded by Mr. Shmelzer and unanimously approved.

A motion to approve the Affirmative Action Plan with apprentice selection procedures and goals and timetables for minority and female apprentices was made by Mr. Shmelzer, seconded by Mr. Wilson and unanimously approved.

3. Maryland Building Industry Association (Teresa Mena) - Occupation of Residential Carpenter. Related instruction to be provided on-line by Penn Foster. Request for registration of an Affirmative Action Plan with apprentice selection procedures and goals and timetables for minority and female apprentices.

Mr. MacLarion informed Council members that there was language in the Standards as well as on the Standards Report Form stating that employers and apprentices in this occupation cannot use the apprentice wage progression schedule on Prevailing Wage, Davis-Bacon or Maryland Stadium Authority work

A motion to approve this request for registration of Standards of Apprenticeship was made by Mr. Smarte, seconded by Mr. Bromley and unanimously approved.

A motion to approve the Affirmative Action Plan with apprentice selection procedures and goals and timetables for minority and female apprentices was made by Mr. Smarte, seconded by Mr. Bromley and unanimously approved.

B. PROGRAM REVSIONS:

1. Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., Metropolitan Washington Chapter (Ginamarie Best) – Request for approval to add additional locations for providing related instruction classes.

A motion to approve this revision was made by Mr. Smarte, seconded by Mr. Bromley and unanimously approved.

2. Franklin Apprenticeships (Jeffrey W. Smith) – Revision to add the occupations of Network Support Technician and Professional Success Coach. Related instruction for Network Support Technician to be provided by UMBC Training Centers and Intequal. Related Instruction for Professional Success Coach to be provided by Franklin Apprenticeships.

A motion to approve this revision was made by Mr. Smarte, seconded by Mr. Wilson and unanimously approved.

C OTHER BUSINESS:

1. Recommendation for deregistration of Apprenticeship Standards for the defunct apprenticeship program of Power Plus Electrical Services, Inc. (MATC No. 2039) (Christopher D. MacLarion).

A motion to proceed with the deregistration of Apprenticeship Standards for the defunct apprenticeship program of Power Plus Electrical Services, Inc. was made by Mr. Wilford, seconded by Mr. Smarte and unanimously approved.

2. Recommendation for deregistration of Apprenticeship Standards for the defunct apprenticeship program of Guardian Life Insurance (MATC No. 2315) (Christopher D. MacLarion).
A motion to proceed with deregistration of Apprenticeship Standards for the defunct apprenticeship program of Guardian Life Insurance was made by Mr. Wilford, seconded by Mr. Smarte and unanimously approved.

Mr. Clinedinst asked whether there were any guidelines for re-opening apprenticeship schools. Mr. MacLarion responded that the only only guidelines that he had seen were in the Governor’s Executive Orders that had been issued none of which specifically mentioned apprenticeship schools. Assistant Secretary Rzepkowski reiterated that the only guidance was in Governor Hogan’s Executive Orders for re-opening Maryland. He added that only guidelines on re-opening apprenticeship schools would be the limits on the number of people that could gather in one place. He added that he would find out from Liza Griffith of the Attorney General’s office if there is any additional guidance available.

Mr. Shmelzer inquired about the July 12, 2020 Council meeting. Assistant Secretary responded that as State employees, we would follow the Governor’s direction pertaining to mandatory teleworking regardless of where the meeting is scheduled or what other counties or municipalities are doing.

Mr. Leonard extended Mr. MacLarion’s thanks to James Foti, Regional Director, and to the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C. for also assisting in obtaining samples of work processes and related instruction for the manufacturing aspect of watchmaking. He stated that he had a success story not for the Council but about the Council. He stated that would share the success of the virtual meeting with his colleagues as it was a very well run meeting.

Mr Wallace informed Council members that MSDE’s Division of Career and College Readiness was alive and well and had shifted to a fully virtual format March 15, 2020 when the Governor’s Executive Order was issued. He updated the status of the student organizations during the pandemic and until schools can be re-opened.

There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting of the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Council was adjourned at 10:02 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Christopher D. MacLarion
Secretary
Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Council