Agenda 03-15-22; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 1 the services Orange County provides are through a competitive bid. She said that services 2 would continue, even if it is with a different provider because of the competitive process. 3 Commissioner Hamilton asked how many Orange County residents take advantage of 4 the program each year. She asked if the services meet the needs of Orange County residents. 5 She asked what performance measures are required by the federal government. She asked 6 how well the county does with the allocation of funding and if the new alignment would change 7 how the money is split up. 8 Nancy Coston said she would send numbers and performance measures to the 9 commissioners. She said funds follow the county. She said if the county aligns with a different 10 group, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds will follow. She said the 11 Department of Commerce will meet with the workforce board in the next few days to explain the 12 study to them. She said after that meeting, questions about realignment, boards, and 13 representation, and funding will hopefully be answered. 14 Commissioner Fowler said it seems like the Chamber of Commerce is in agreement with 15 realignment, but that they aren't sure if prosperity zones are the right option and suggested 16 alignment with how the councils of governments or community colleges are aligned. She asked 17 if the county gets a say in how realignment works. 18 Nancy Coston said there will be a public comment period when the proposal is made 19 public by the Department of Commerce. She said she thinks the Governor will have the final 20 say. She said she is going to ask the Department of Commerce about how the decision is 21 made. 22 Commissioner Fowler asked if the prosperity zones are the only divisions they are 23 considering for now. 24 Nancy Coston said she does not know that she has not been able to get information at 25 this time but hopes to learn more at the meeting on Thursday. 26 Commissioner McKee referred to slide #4 showing the prosperity zones. He said the 27 current map on slide #5 is helter-skelter. He said the prosperity zones make more sense. 28 Chair Price said the prosperity zone proposal brings the county into alignment with the 29 Triangle and many of the other Triangle J Council of Governments and makes sense to her. 30 She asked about the other programs and how they might be affected by realignment. She asked 31 if the prosperity zone realignment causes any risks to how the programs are being run now. 32 Nancy Coston said she would like to get back to the Board on that question after 33 meeting with the Department of Commerce on Thursday. She said she is interested in if the 34 county has a say, and what would it look like. 35 Commissioner Greene said that the Triangle J Council of Governments is made up of 7 36 counties and that seems like a middle ground between the two alternative realignments. She 37 said that it hits the entire Triangle, but not farther northeastern counties. She hopes they will 38 give that alignment consideration. 39 Commissioner McKee asked if there has been discussion of any other realignment 40 configuration. 41 Nancy Coston said she did not know. 42 Commissioner McKee said he was curious how the prosperity zone map was created 43 other than pulling contiguous counties together. 44 Nancy Coston said this map was created by the Department of Commerce for another 45 purpose. She said she would ask them at their meeting about how the model was developed. 46 Chair Price said that she has heard conversation in other groups, like Transportation 47 circles, about bringing Nash, Johnston, and Granville counites in since they are growing and 48 becoming bedroom communities for the Wake, Orange, and Durham counties. She said there is 49 some logic to the prosperity zone map. 50 Nancy Coston said that she would send more information to the Board after the meeting 51 with the Department of Commerce.