Economic and Workforce Development Program Rural Opportunities Studies

Central Region Consortium Conference Call

September 25, 2007 

Gary Mendenhall began call by explaining that the idea for this conference call came from the Central Region Consortium’s Annual Planning Retreat.  During the Retreat, participants expressed the desire to bring the Project Directors for the eight Rural Opportunities Studies grants together to discuss how each are approaching the project and to offer one another assistance, as needed. 

Henry Madrid served as the lead grant writer for the grants awarded to Merced, COS, Taft, and SJ Delta Colleges.  He has been hired as a contractor to complete work plan activities. 

Hazel Hill asked Henry to describe the scope of the activities he will be providing to the colleges he is serving. 

Henry stated that the project for each of the colleges is very similar, comprehensive and responsive to stated goals. 

THE TEXT THAT FOLLOWS INCLUDES HENRY’S WORDS TO DESCRIBE HIS ROLE AND SERVICES HE WILL PROVIDE:

• Henry will provide countywide information for the colleges
• He will see what we have and then have some entity organize the information.  This information will be entered into an ACCESS model with information from the other colleges that received the scanning grants
• He stated that we should have consistent information to match samples.
• The colleges Henry is working with will have information in a format to be combined into one summary report.
• There will be regional information and small area information.  Henry stated that it “seems your group would be interested in the larger county areas.”

BASIC INFORMATION BEING PROVIDED BY HENRY MADRID:

• Delineate service area
• Work with study area
• Has residence ZIP code of all CC in the state
• Will prepare GIS map
• He will ask colleges to define their service area
• He will look at a comprehensive set of demographics.
• For every college included, he will prepare information for Subject County in which the college is located.  If you are serving five counties, information for five counties can be included.  You do not want to distort the comparison base, so five counties may be too many.
• He will take a more focused look at the Hispanic population to include educational characteristics.  Henry has an extensive set of information on CC students to include number of students from each zip code, mapping, AS/AA degrees by ZIP, race, ethnicity, age, range, educational attainment from 2000 Census (updated info from 2006), distance education by ZIP, non-citizens by ZIP.
• He will obtain MIS data from System Office.  2005 is the most current data.  In another month, they hope to have 2006 data available.  At minimum, colleges will have 2005 and historical data from 2003, 2004, so trend line can be viewed.
• Another big section that will be available is information on business and any establishment within the college’s service area
• One of the college deliverables he will provide is a listing of business establishments in each service area.
• Information has been purchased from Claritas.  Henry stated that the colleges would have a lease to use it, to market data, and to do analysis.  Henry is a reseller of Claritas, and he has an arrangement w/ Claritas to resell it to colleges.  Colleges will be able to market themselves to the community.
• Henry will compile all information into an ACCESS model for the colleges.  That database will serve as a summary of your CC base with extensive sorting capabilities.  He will take the same Claritas database and summarize establishments.
• He will take consumer data and show how much each house is spending on college and technical (type) schools.  He will provide maps showing where this is happening.
• Other information that will be available:  contributions to educational establishments, child and elder care establishments in the service area.
• Information will show home-based businesses and size.
• There will be an extensive analysis of 20+ industry clusters based on information done by LA EDD.  He will do a search of your study area as compared to your county.  You will be able to see clusters.  Maps will be included.
• Information will be searchable by access model.
• Included will be a forecast of jobs by industry (5-year projections and 10 years back for your area and your job market.
• There will be a forecast of jobs that require AA degree or less in your area.
• Highest paying, fastest growing.  Same for occupations by SOC codes.
• College comparisons.  You can choose or he will take those in county
• Compare in terms of head count (IPED data) revenue, etc.
• Using EMSI info looks at academic programs using TOP codes, do a forecast, and correlate it w/ your curriculum.
• There will be more than 100 kinds of exhibits in response to the rural opportunities studies grant.
• Business information will be current as of one month.  It is updated every quarter.  EMSI forecast is updated twice a year.  Census data 2000, updated 2006.
• All data will be as current as it can be with exception of System Office.
• Henry will provide all info (hard copies) and all data so you can manipulate.  He is developing an ACCESS model for people who do not know how to use ACCESS.
• He will provide training on how to use the ACCESS model.
• Henry will visit all colleges he is working with to explain use. He is working with Merced, Sequoias, Taft, Delta,

 A Draft will be available to the colleges by January 2008.

 COMMENTS/QUESTIONS:

Terry:  It would be helpful to see what the study looks like.  Is there another study you have done that you could provide as a visual model?  Maybe our existing grants need to be able to fold into this.

Henry:  San Bernardino data is similar.  He is doing it now for other clients.  He is on a team doing a strategic plan for Kern.

He will provide a summary of findings of each of the major sections. 

Hazel:  Hazel asked question to make sure she will not need a researcher to understand the data Henry provides.  Response from Henry:  You will be able to use this model to find the information you need.  Colleges will be able to log onto his computer screen to view data. Remote assistance is available.

Terry:  We (Gavilan) will use CC benefits model for what we are doing. The only thing we cannot get out of CC benefits is the business piece.  Response from Henry:  No.  This is not correct.  Henry is a CC benefits data reseller.  He is providing data other than CC benefits. 

George: How can we connect our regional COE with your work to keep it going once you are done?  George asked for a separate conversation to keep the effort going…..and to help the other colleges in the region who are not part of Henry’s project. 

Phone contact number for Henry Madrid:  562-866-3265

Email: henry@madridcg.com 

Pedro Avila, West Hills College:  They are using CC benefits, gap analysis and industry study.  They are looking at gap analysis for their educational master plan. 

Henry: next steps – He wants to regroup when the first draft of data is available.  All colleges will be done at the same time. 

DISCUSS AT REGIONAL MEETING NEXT SPRING.   DISCUSS AT OCT. 11 CCCAOE meeting.

We can even set up another workshop to show people how to access the data. 

Elaine Gaertner offered to help the colleges to get similar data sets via her Initiative. 

Hazel:  There is a lot of movement in SJ County.  They need the most recent data (2006).  Henry is working with Patrick Perry at the System Office to get the data.  He anticipates that it will be available by the end of October 2007.

Henry can hold that section to the later part of the study.  Delta wants it held off.  Delta wants project to include 2006 data.

Henry will keep us informed.   

EDITS TO MINUTES: 

Elaine Gaertner advised Terry Newman that the COEs have purchased information on individual business addresses that she wants.  She can get that from the Central Valley COE at no cost.

Michelle Marquez, Director of the Central Valley COE,is the person to contact if colleges want to know what kinds of information that the COE can provide them at not cost to compliment what Henry will be doing for them.