TAA March/April Newsletter

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TAA Contacts

General TAA Contact
651-259-7543
1-888-234-1330
deed.taa@state.mn.us
Fax: 651-296-0288 

Anthony Alongi, Director
651-259-7528
anthony.alongi@state.mn.us

Deb Schlekewy, Coordinator
651-259-7570
debra.schlekewy@state.mn.us 

Amy Carlson, Senior TAA &
Performance Specialist
651-259-7542
amy.carlson@state.mn.us

Carrie Fink  Senior TAA Specialist / Rapid Response
651-259-7252
carrie.fink@state.mn.us

Jason Wadell, Senior TAA Specialist / Rapid Response
651-259-7552
Jason.wadell@state.mn.us

Margie Jones, Assistant
651-259-7543
margie.jones@state.mn.us

**Effective 4/1/2015**

Adele Cloutier (0, 1)
651-259-7566
adele,cloutier@state.mn.us

Cindy Boyle  (2, 3, 4)
651-259-7551
cynthia.boyle@state.mn.us 

Kelly Källi  (5, 6)
651-259-7527
kelly.kalli@state.mn.us 

Sarah Saito  (7, 8, 9)
651-259-7546
sarah.saito@state.mn.us

Trade Readjustment Allowance
deed.tra@state.mn.us

 


IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN!

PLEASE HOLD THESE DATES AND PLAN TO ATTEND
THE 2015 JOINT COUNSELOR TRAINING JUNE 3-4, 2015
AT THE DULUTH ENTERTAINMENT CONVENTION CENTER.

Bridging The Gaps

This collaborative 2-day event will focus on “Bridging the Gaps.” We hope you’ll join us as we accelerate our work toward closing the gaps that keep Minnesota from reaching its amazing economic potential!

If you would like to submit a proposal, complete the attached form and submit via email to Lynn.Dahn@state.mn.us. You will receive a confirmation email letting you know your submission has been received. The deadline to submit a proposal is March 31, 2015.

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LABOR MARKET INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKING

What job is showing the highest demand in the state right now? What is expected to be the fastest growing job in the state in the next 10 years?  These are questions that counselors in the field should all probably know the answers to, but sometimes it can be a challenge to know the best way to respond.

Jobseekers often ask these types of questions, and labor market information can provide you with the answers. For example, according to DEED’s Occupations in Demand tool, customer service representatives and Registered Nurses are the hottest jobs in the state right now, and stonemasons and personal care aides are projected to be the fastest growing jobs according to DEED’s 2012 to 2022 Employment Outlook tool.

DEED’s Regional Analysts are offering a new schedule of Labor Market Information for Decision Making training sessions at locations around the state through DEED’s Training & Development office. Attendees will get to learn about and try out all of DEED’s labor market information tools in these hands-on, interactive three-hour training sessions.

In addition to Occupations in Demand and Employment Outlook, the training session covers other useful DEED tools including wage and salary information, unemployment rates, the job vacancy survey, industry employment statistics, the new Graduate Employment Outcomes (GEO) and Cost of Living tools, and JobSTAT, which helps jobseekers match their experience to new job possibilities.

Despite most pre-conceived notions about what three hours of in-depth discussion about labor market information may tell you, the LMI for Decision Making sessions receive positive feedback and earn high recommendations. After our training sessions last fall, over 95% of respondents said that the topics covered in the LMI training were relevant to them and will be useful in their work, and the same amount said the training was organized and easy to follow.

If you regularly work with jobseekers and want to feel more comfortable answering their labor market information-related questions, we encourage you to attend one of the many upcoming LMI for Decision Making training sessions. To register, go to the “Training and Development” section of DEED’s Intraweb or respond to the upcoming e-mail from Becky French. Or contact DEED’s Regional Analysis team directly through DEED’s website, at: http://www.mn.gov/deed/data/talk-to-experts/

Cameron Macht | Regional Analysis & Outreach Manager
Department of Employment and Economic Development
Email: cameron.macht@state.mn.us

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TAA PARTICIPANTS WHO RETURN TO THE JOB OF LAY OFF

Per federal regulations, if TAA eligible participants receiving TAA educational benefits are recalled to full time regular employment with the trade certified employer and receive minimally 80% of their previous salary, all TAA/TRA benefits cease.

Counselor, please contact your TAA Specialist regarding questions about the return or repayment for tools, computers and tuition as extenuating circumstances may apply.

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BENCHMARK POLICY UPDATE

The TAA program has previously requested all Dislocated Worker counselors to send in copies of participants’ benchmarks.  A minor policy update has been posted this month to reflect this process change.  You will see the following language, excluding parenthesis text for context.  The original language has been struck through, and will be removed.

The individual (in long-term TAA approved training) is required to submit the progress report to their Dislocated Worker counselor. The Dislocated Worker counselor must review and file the progress report, and send a copy to the assigned TAA Specialist. 

Read the original policy here:  TAA and RTAA/ATAA Follow-up Requirements  https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/ddp/PolicyDetail.aspx?pol=324

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TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TRAINING

DEED staff is building off of the excellent peer sharing and learning from last autumn, as well as past counselor conferences to take a more proactive approach to assisting partners. We are developing strategy to visit the field and conduct training and listening sessions with counselors / case managers / staff regarding policy changes, case management techniques, and other appropriate topics. Stay tuned for more news on this.

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SOME CHANGES IN TAA STAFFING

Welcome to Adele Cloutier who comes to TAA from the Minneapolis Workforce Center where she was instrumental in the design of Employment Ready U training and has worked as a Dislocated Worker Counselor. As of April 1, 2015, Adele will be taking over TAA eligible clients whose social security numbers end in 0 and 1. Until that time, please continue to refer those clients to Sarah Saito (0) and Cindy Boyle (1). Adele will also be doing some grant-proposal-related work. 

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We strive for the information in this newsletter to be relevant and useful, and we encourage you to provide feedback and suggestions for future TAA Topics or TAA Success Stories. To contact the TAA team regarding this newsletter, please e-mail: cynthia.boyle@state.mn.us and type “TAA Newsletter” in the subject line.