Welcome to the MNTAT Blog!

05/06/2009

Welcome to the MNTAT Blog!

The Minnesota Employment Training Services & Technical Assistance Support Center, or MNTAT for short, was recently funded by the MN Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) at the Dept. of Human Services Disability Division, Pathways to Employment.

Briefly, the MNTAT will: Design and broker state of the art, person-centered employment training and technical assistance using proven, inventive, and evidence-based methods that meld the needs of employment seekers (supply-side), the business community (demand-side), service providers, policy makers, families ,educators, workforce development professionals and other Minnesota stakeholders.

Accomplishing these tasks requires a multi-year approach, developing a series of classroom and on-line courses, establishing at least 5 customized employment development and demonstration sites, developing best-practice examples, and proposing policy that supports the full employment of Minnesotans with disabilities. The Center will take a economic development approach to employment, utilizing both wage and self-employment strategies, and will create the labor market rather than reacting to it.

For now, this blog is simply providing an introduction to the Training and Technical Assistance Center. We will be adding our website soon, which will include training schedules, materials and resources related to employment, updates on the Development Sites, and links to related organizations, opportunities, and sites. Down the road, this blog will host discussions of various employment strategies and related topics.

Please feel free to offer suggestions by clicking on "Comments" below.

Also, please check the right-hand column, at the bottom, for articles and resource materials relevant to employment and Minnesota. Comments on these are welcome too!

Thanks so much! We look forward to meeting you during the soon-to-be-scheduled Town Hall Meetings!

Posted at 11:05 AM | Permalink

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MNTAT Key Personnel

MNTAT is operated by Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC
Bob Niemiec is a Senior Consultant with GHA and serves as the Director of the Minnesota Employment Services and Technical Assistance Support Center. Prior to that, Bob was the Director of Employment and Community Supports for Community Involvement Programs in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bob also serves as a mentor for the Wisconsin Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) in their CRP Rebalancing Project. A graduate of Indiana University, Bob has been in the field of employment for persons with disabilities for twenty-seven years. He has performed at virtually every level within a human service organization, from direct service to executive director. Bob served as the Chair of the Minnesota State Rehabilitation Council for seven years as well as being a member of the Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development council. He is a Past-President of APSE – The Network on Employment, a founding member and former President of the Minnesota APSE, former President of the APSE Foundation, a current member of the Editorial Board of The Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, and a founding member of the Minnesota Employment First Coalition. Contact Information: Bob Niemiec Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC 1923 Cottage Avenue East Saint Paul, MN 55119 651-334-0235 bniemiec@griffinhammis.com Cary Griffin is Senior Partner at Griffin-Hammis Associates, a full service consultancy specializing in building communities of economic cooperation, creating high performance organizations, and focusing on disability and employment. He is also Co-Director of the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s National Self Employment Technical Assistance, Resources and Training project with Virginia Commonwealth University. Cary maintains a strong relationship with the Rural Institute at the University of Montana, where he served as Director of Adult Community Services & Supports. He is the former Executive Director of the Region VIII CRP-RCEP at the Center for Technical Assistance & Training (CTAT), which he founded at the University of Northern Colorado in 1989. Cary provides training to administrative and direct service level professionals in the rehabilitation field; consultation to businesses and rehabilitation agencies regarding the employment of individuals with significant disabilities; field-initiated research & demonstration; family & consumer case consultation; resource development; organizational development. He has developed, written, and administered over $30 million in grants and contracts covering transition to work, supported employment, customized employment, small business development, positive behavior support, and leadership mentoring. Recently, Cary has been instrumental in designing self-employment protocols and training for individuals, schools, agencies, and states. Contact Information: Cary Griffin, Senior Partner Griffin - Hammis Associates, LLC 5582 Klements Lane Florence, Montana 59833 E-Mail: cgriffin@griffinhammis.com Please see our website at: www.griffinhammis.com

Minnesota Employment Training & Technical Assistance Center (MNTAT)

05/06/2009