Volume 23, Issue 2

Orange Peal Newsletter

March/April, 2015

PRESIDENT & EDITOR’S MESSAGE BY FABIÁN VALENCIA

Orange Empire Sub-Chapter Board is pleased to announce the following upcoming career development training opportu-nities:

Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Leadership Training: Creating Tomorrow’s Leaders: Managing & Expanding Roles of Millennials in the Workplace. Speaker: Jill Kimble, Disability Program Manager III. Location: Anaheim Workforce Center 2450 E Lincoln Ave., Ste # 200, Anaheim, CA 92806.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Awards Training: Steps to Prepare a Winner Award Nomination. Speakers: Nanette Bowman, Orange Em-pire, & Val Moeller, Cabrillo Del Rio. Location: Ana-heim Workforce Center 2450 E Lincoln Ave., Ste # 200, Anaheim, CA 92806.

Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Organizational Skills: Dealing with Clutter and Getting Organized – Less Stress, Less Mess at General Mem-bership Installation Dinner. Location: Jagerhous Ger-man Restaurant l 525 E Ball Rd, Anaheim, CA 92806. Speaker: Penny Lambright

Thank you to the 112 individuals for taking the time in making a reservation to the Orange Empire Awards Ceremo-ny. On March 13, 2015 at the Hotel Fullerton, Orange Empire provided 99 certificates & 29 trophies due to the 29 submitted individual and group nominations.

Lastly, do not forget to RSVP to any of the above mentioned upcoming training opportunities. Managers are exempt from dues, if you are a manager and belong to Bargaining Unit 00. All managers need to do is complete and mail the application to IAWP California Chapter Membership Coordinator or any Orange Empire Sub-Chapter Board. For members recently promoted to management, notify us to properly address the change. Any Managerial Level Personnel please share the news with your colleagues.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Legislative Report ...................... 2

Membership Report .................. 2

Awards Ceremony ..................... 3

Multiple Pictures ....................... 5

Socks Drive ................................ 8

Office News ................................ 9

CWS Program……………...………..10

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST

California UI Rate back to

2008 figures

Welcome New Members!

Orange Empire Awards Cere-

mony Facts & Multiple Award

Winners Photos

Upcoming Training Opportu-

nities & Communities Services

“The year of 2008 was the last time the unemployment rate for Califor-nia has fallen below 7%”

Our recruitment has been very successful these past few months. During

the month of January/February 2015 the following EDD employees became members of our Orange Empire IAWP Chapter; Alexandra Soltero, EPR at the

UI Anaheim Center FO#017, Mario Rivas, OT at the SDI Santa Ana FO#219, Crystal Ortiz, OT at the UI Pacific Center FO#019, Tyler Murakami, EPR at the

UI Pacific Center FO#019, and Quan Phan, EPMI at the UI Buena Park Center FO#180. Welcome to all of our newest members! We know you will not be dis-

appointed in becoming a part of our Chapter.

STATE OF CALIFORNIA UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY JOSE SORIANO, LEGISLATIVE CHAIR

MEMBERSHIP UPDATES BY DEBORAH VOSS, 2ND VICE PRESIDENT

On January 2015, the

Bureau of Labor Statistics

released the unemployment

rate for each state. The state

of California ranks number

47 with an unemployment

rate of 6.9%. The year of

2008 was the last time the

unemployment rate for Cali-

fornia has fallen below 7%.

The unemployment rate for

California was previously at

7.1%.

The California Labor

Market Review shows that

there was an increase in the

number of Californians em-

ployed. Employment in-

creased by 54,000 in Janu-

ary to 17,620,000 persons

being employed. Unem-

ployment also decreased by

31,500 in January to

1,315,900 this was also fol-

lowed by a decrease in Un-

employment Insurance

Claims by 6,900 to

239,200.

2

ORANGE EMPIRE AWARDS CEREMONY BY FABIÁN VALENCIA, ORANGE EMPIRE PRESIDENT

Southern California DI, UI, Workforce & Tax EDD Branches got together for the Orange Empire IAWP California Sub-Chapter Awards Ceremony. Whereas, the DI Chino Hills & Santa Ana, UI Anaheim, Buena Park, Pacific Center & UI Training Branch, Workforce Anaheim, Irvine & Santa Ana and Tax Anaheim Branch Collec-tion & Santa Fe Springs Area Collection Office Level I, II & III Management award-ed individual and group Employee Performance Trophies for outstanding work during the year of 2014. Orange Empire presented Administrator Award to former Underground Economy Section Program Chief and present Field Taxpayer Educa-tion and Assistance Program Chief Alicia Lozano-Garcia, Group and Individual Ci-tation Award to Veterans First Group & Deanne Tate and Retiree Award to Sherrill Longworth. Orange Empire received a total of 29 nominations from retiree and ac-tive Southern California DI, Tax, UI & Workforce EDD Employees. Orange Empire is grateful for active management and members’ participation in the yearly Awards Ceremony. A friendly reminder, please start collecting facts evidence to support your upcoming nominations.

The Hotel Fullerton presented a welcome atmosphere thanks to impeccable table decorations created by Deborah Voss. The flawless logistics of the event was due to Nanette Bowman and Carol Kolesar with the registration team composed by Carol Kolesar, Jean Stefanik, Jacklyn Shih and Deborah Voss. The Networking “Bingo” Activity, created by Fabian Valencia, initiated the Orange Empire Dinner Program with the following given instructions on it:

“Walk around the room, find a colleague, introduce yourself and ask for his/her

job title.

Match your new friend to the criteria below [different DI, Tax, UI & Workforce

job classifications] and courteously ask her/him to print her/his name within

the following boxes and move on to the next individual.

After you successfully obtain 20 different names (winner), bring your sheet to

reception and obtain a ticket with a chance to WIN a California Scratchers Lot-

tery Games Basket – A possibility to become a millionaire!”

Sheri Smith, Sokwong Keo, Phi Do, Milly Cubillas, Fabián

Valencia, Melanie Velasco , Claire Sun, Lynn Vilain, Rex

Abiva, Paula Levy-Harris & Jayoung Choi.

3

ORANGE EMPIRE AWARDS CONT...

The 104 attendees moved all over the room, met the different faces within DI, Tax, UI and Workforce and truly em-braced ONE VISION, ONE TEAM – EDD. IAWP California Chapter brings together the isolated successfully run programs at a local office level by asso-ciating faces to names, breaking the ice to increase internal customer service communication, and building bridges between each Branch by expanding the peripheral vision. Your participation and contribution to IAWP make it hap-pen.

The Orange Empire 2015 Awards Celebration Mistress of Ceremony (MC) was Lori Everson. She led the Award Presentation of the program, but prior Lori went beyond expectations to pro-vide the following guidance structure:

1. “MC announces and describes the

award and introduces the Presenter.

2. Presenter announces the name(s) of

the Awardee(s). Ask them to stand

as their name is announced. They

remain standing while Presenter

shares their accomplishments (3-4

sentences).

3. During the applause, Presenter and

Awardee(s) meet at photo area.

4. All pose for picture. (Presentations

will continue; next Presenter please

walks to the podium).

5. Presenter/Manager hands certifi-

cate/award to Awardee(s). All return

to seats.”

Thanks to the great job done by Lori

Everson, the program successfully end-

ed at the scheduled time and all of the

attendees remained until the end. The

celebration was brought to you by a

team effort within Orange Empire

IAWP. I personally want to provide a

special thanks to each and every one of

you that helped to make Orange Empire

Awards Ceremony successful.

4 Nikki Nguyen, Enrique Dueñas, Luu Christy, Kim Vong, Blanca

Romero, Maria Briones, Thao Vu, Mei-Ping Jhern, Abel Bravo &

Eric Locano

ORANGE EMPIRE AWARDS CEREMONY PICTURES

5

SAVE THE DATE FOR UPCOMING EVENTS

ORANGE EMPIRE BOARD MEMBERS & OFFICE REPS

President:

1st Vice President:

2nd Vice President:

Treasurer:

Secretary:

Past President:

CHAIRS

Community Service:

Legislative:

Retiree:

Web Masters:

Web Admin::

Newsletter Editor:

Past Newsletter Editors:

Fabián Valencia

Magdalena Brooks

Deborah Voss

Carol Kolesar

Nanette Bowman

Huy Pham

Deborah Voss

Jose Soriano

Jean Stefanik

Dee Ann Williams

Fabián Valencia

Jacklyn W Shih

Fabián Valencia

Isaac Garcia

Jessica Moran

Anaheim UI Center:

Anaheim Tax Office:

BOPSD:

Chino Hills DI:

Irvine Workforce:

Pacific UI Center

Santa Ana DI:

Santa Ana Workforce:

Santa Fe Springs :

CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

President:

1st Vice President:

2nd Vice President:

Treasurer:

Office Manager:

Membership

Jacklyn W Shih

Fabián Valencia

Jeanne Wallace

Jose Jaurequi

Magdalena Brooks

Jose Soriano

Deborah Voss

Jessica Moran

Dee Ann Williams

OFFICERS

Charles Patterson

Ray Cabrera

Yvette Quevedo

Phil Dwyer

Pat Thornton

Joseph Allen

GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES

ORANGE EMPIRE SUB-CHAPTER IAWP

SAVE POP TABS IN YOUR OFFICE

COLLECTION CONTAINER

The income from recycling the aluminum pop tabs supports the House where families stay while their infants or children are receiving medical treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses at area medical facilities.

Labels for Education

Even something so simple as mailing in your Campbell’s

Soup Labels and Box Tops for Education can make a

great contribution to St. Jude’s Ranch. Past contri-

butions of labels have resulted in more than 6 new

Dodge Caravan Mini-vans for St. Jude’s Ranch cam-

puses. Save only the bar code part of the label.

Office Representatives or mail them yourself to:

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children

P. O. Box 60100

Boulder City, NV 89006-0100.

Orange Empire IAWP

Any questions please contact Debbie Voss at 559-917-1950 or

Email Deborah.Voss@EDD.CA.GOV

Help our local Orange County Veterans by donating new socks!

Currently our homeless veterans are in need of your support.

Socks Drive!

From April 15th to May 14th

Please do your part to help support those veterans in need by

simply donating a multi-pack of socks!

Contact your Office Reps for drop-off locations.

COMMUNITY SERVICE EVENT

OFFICE NEWS

Workforce

Kendall Tidwell, New Disabled Veterans Outreach Specialist

Brenda Gutierrez , New Youth Employment Opportunities Program Specialist

Brenda Alipour, EPM II and Office Manager at Anaheim WS , Retirement

Wedding Congratulations to Ivette Correa, Santa Ana WS

Tax Branch

Tuan Tran, New TCR position with the Santa Fe Springs Area Collection

Grisel Razon , New Area Audit Program Manager of the Anaheim AAO

Rebecca Warren, Southern Region Audit Program Manager

Certified Workforce Specialist (CWS) Program

IAWP believes that to grow as people and to grow in our careers, we need to be lifelong learners. That's why IAWP is committed to helping its members achieve professional development goals and it is the reason the Certified Workforce Specialist (CWS) Program was developed.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

The "CWS" credential after your name shows you are part of an outstanding group of workforce professionals who have extensive knowledge and experience in workforce issues.

It shows you have passed a rigorous competency-based testing program from an international association, that you are respected by your peers, and that you see professional membership as an important part of your career.

The CWS designation shows current and potential employers your initiative in developing, maintaining, and improving your career skills within the workforce field.

CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

There are four (4) requirements: 1. Education plus Experience

Master's Degree with two (2) years current experience OR

Bachelor's Degree with three (3) years current experience OR

Associate's Degree with four (4) years current experience OR

High School Diploma or GED with five (5) years current experience 2. Professional Membership The applicant must have maintained membership in IAWP for the previous two (2) consecutive years or have sim-ilar membership in another workforce development professional association for the same time frame. To join IAWP, please go to the Join IAWP section of this website. 3. IAWP Workforce Professional Development Program (WPDP) Candidates must pass all four (4) WPDP competencies (History of Workforce Development, Business & Jobseeker Specialist, Unemployment Insurance Specialist, and Labor Market Information Specialist). The WPDP is current-ly available 24/7 for online testing. See the WPDP section of this website for more information. 4. Professional References The candidate must submit two (2) letters of reference: one from an immediate supervisor, and one from another person within the workforce profession who can attest to the individual's experience, knowledge and skills. Need help explaining what you need from your references?

CERTIFICATION PERIOD

Certification is valid for three years from time of approval. Individuals may apply for recertification every three (3) years as long as they can show proof that they are still employed in a workforce development profession and provide proof that they have completed at least 100 hours of professional development training since their last certification.

APPLICATION PROCESS

The official application form must be completed legibly and sent to the IAWP Administrative Office with the re-quired documentation and fees as noted. Applications will be reviewed by the IAWP Review Committee within two (2) months of receipt. Approved applicants will be notified within two (2) weeks of completion of review by way of a certificate and letter of congratulations.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.IAWPONLINE.ORG