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Lake County panel approves workforce contracts for manufacturing training, school mentoring and AI training study
Summary
The Health and Community Services Committee approved three workforce contracts: a $340,000 Cymbal Training Institute agreement for CNC and industrial-maintenance training, a $100,000 United Way grant to expand parent mentoring in schools, and a $100,000 Deloitte engagement to study AI's workforce impacts. The committee also accepted several small emergency grant appropriations.
The Lake County Health and Community Services Committee on Dec. 2 approved three workforce-development contracts intended to expand training and employer engagement across the county.
Jennifer Serino, Lake County director of workforce development, asked the committee to authorize a contract with Cymbal Training Institute of Skokie not to exceed $340,000 under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to provide classroom-based CNC and industrial-maintenance training and to manage recruitment, career coaching and job placement for participants. Serino said the proposal would enroll about 34 job candidates and that placement rates for these programs are "close to 80 percent." The committee approved the contract by voice vote (motion by Vice Chair Cunningham; second by Member Maine).
The committee also approved up to $100,000 in WIOA-funded support for United Way of Lake County to expand a parent-mentor model that places trained parent mentors in classrooms and creates a pipeline to paraprofessional roles. Serino and Jeff Hubert, manager of business services, said the program currently operates in six elementary schools, is expanding to a seventh (Keegan Elementary), engages roughly 56 mentors and aims to reach about 1,100 students. United Way described recruitment, information sessions and selection for parent mentors; the organization also partners with College of Lake County (CLC) and local high schools on apprenticeship and paraprofessional pathways. The motion passed by voice vote (motion by Member Cunningham; second by Member Kavanaugh).
Separately, staff recommended a contract with Deloitte Consulting (Chicago) not to exceed $100,000 to study how artificial intelligence is affecting Lake County industries, to develop "train-the-trainer" modules, offer small-business office hours and provide access to Deloitte’s AI Academy. Eric Nordstrom, the project lead on the Deloitte engagement, said the county received 16 proposals and that ethical use of AI, including a safety and ethics component, is built into the program. Committee members asked that materials cover both practical skills for job seekers and guidance for employers on integrating AI. The contract was approved by voice vote (motion by Member Cunningham; second by Member Casman).
Earlier in the meeting the committee approved several emergency appropriations to accept additional state grant dollars that had been withheld and later released: Director Chris Hoff described one appropriation of $6,148 for public-health emergency-preparedness funds and an additional appropriation of roughly $2,951 for an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services intensive placement stabilization grant. A second emergency appropriation to accept Cities Readiness Initiative funds was approved as well; the precise dollar amount for that Cities Readiness item is not clearly stated in the meeting transcript.
Serino said workforce staff will return with results after contracts conclude, and committee members requested a final report on the Deloitte engagement and placement outcomes for the Cymbal training cohort. The committee adjourned with all items approved by voice vote.
