Come July 1, workforce services will have a new look in southcentral Kentucky.

The changes essentially scrap a system that’s been in place for more than 20 years. When the South Central Workforce Development Board was apprised of the coming changes, board Chairman Ron Sowell said the group was going through a process akin to setting up a new company.

The city of Bowling Green will take over July 1 as the fiscal agent and Heartland Communications has been awarded a $50,000 contract to develop a strategic plan for workforce services in the future. 

The Barren River Area Development District will continue as the workforce service provider, but the BRADD’s role has changed. The new workforce board will contract with Mountjoy Chilton Medley LLP of Louisville for an audit as the fiscal agent handoff goes from BRADD to the city.

“Whenever things go from one party to another, you need to confirm the numbers,” Sowell said. “It’s like setting up the balance sheet for a new company,” he said. The Mountjoy audit will cost about $15,000 and it is separate from the regular yearly audit which BRADD undergoes.

Sowell also told the new workforce board recently that a written contract will be hammered out between the board and BRADD, outlining who does what when. There has not been a contract in place.

“What is our relationship with an entity that is spending thousands and thousands of dollars? This will set the relationship and how they (BRADD) will be measured,” Sowell said.

A workforce transition plan approved last week calls for the one-stop provider to be selected by December and be up and rolling Jan. 1. There are two one stops, one in Bowling Green and a second in Glasgow, where people can talk to professionals about training and getting a job. BRADD currently runs them with assistance from the state.

As the relationship between the workforce board and BRADD changes, logistical duties the BRADD has been performing now need to be performed elsewhere. 

The workforce board executive committee will seek an individual or private company to perform those logistics, such as preparing meeting agendas and documents, all of which are needed for the cumbersome process that transfers federal workforce dollars in Washington, D.C. to the state of Kentucky, and then on to the region.

The workforce board last week approved a nearly $5 million budget including two different contracts for trade adjustment and workforce services.

Previously, BRADD served both as fiscal agent and service provider, a role that drew increasing criticism from public officials in Warren, Simpson, Logan and Allen counties and the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. An attempt made to break the four larger counties off from the other smaller six BRADD counties failed, but feelings are still raw.

Objection arose last week during a workforce board meeting in Scottsville when it was suggested the chamber might, for free, perform the meeting logistics role.

Workforce board member Beverly Tobin Ford from Mammoth Cave, representing Edmonson County, objected to the idea, saying such an arrangement would continue to show bias toward the region from Bowling Green-centered entities.

“You are going to have some perception issues,” agreed James McCaslin, representing Simpson County.

“It is unfortunate to spend public money just because of a perception,” Sowell said. 

At the first official workforce board meeting, board member Eldon Renaud of Warren County objected to the adoption of an existing not-for-profit shell company by the board. The company had been developed by the chamber when the four-county split was being pursued. With that objection, the new workforce board has had to spend money to set up its 501(c)(3), called the South Central Kentucky Foundation for Workforce Development, Inc. The non-profit will leverage federal Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act money and state of Kentucky money with funding from private foundations, with the goal of developing a “world-class” regional workforce services delivery system.

Currently in question is the fate of nearly $400,000 in federal workforce funds that wasn’t programmed for this fiscal year which ends June 30. Sowell will ask state officials for an extension so that the region doesn’t lose the money. 

Sharon Woods, BRADD’s workforce director, outlined for the board last week programs that are still under development and the board authorized Sowell to mention to the state officials, specially Workforce Commissioner Beth Kuhn, the local desire to bring into Americans with Disabilities Act compliance the basement floor of the Kentucky Career Center in Bowling Green, the one-stop, so more programs may be held there.

— Follow business reporter Charles A. Mason @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.