(CNMI Department of Labor) — From Nov. 15 to 16, 2022, CNMI Labor officials attended a two-day State Administrator’s Meeting with key officials from the U.S. Department of Labor-Employment and Training Administration or ETA in San Francisco, California.
Various topics from the meetings included ETA regional and national goals and priorities, unemployment insurance or UI and addressing UI backlogs, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access in the public workforce system, business services and sector partnerships, and policy development, monitoring, and technical assistance.
According to CNMI Labor Secretary Vicky Benavente, “The State Administrator’s Meeting was successful because it provided the opportunity to address the CNMI’s workforce priorities with federal officials and allowed interaction between federal officials and state and territory officials, but most of all, delivered critical takeaways in addressing workforce issues in the CNMI.”
Accompanying Benavente is Frances Torres, director, CNMI DOL Workforce Investment Agency, and Eugene Tebuteb, CNMI DOL director, Employment Services.
Back row, from left: Nancy Taylor, USDOL ETA, director, Special Initiatives and Demonstrations; Nick Lalpuis, US DOL ETA, San Francisco regional administrator; Frank Stluka, USDOL ETA, director, Workforce Investment; Eugene Tebuteb, CNMI DOL, director, Employment Services; Bob Kenyon, USDOL ETA, director, Unemployment Insurance. Front row, from left: Steve Malliaras, USDOL ETA, manager, Division of Workforce Security; Annie Leonetti, USDOL ETA, deputy administrator; Vicky Benavente, CNMI secretary of Labor; Frances Torres, CNMI DOL, director, Workforce Investment Agency; Lorraine Jamison, USDOL ETA, manager, Division of Financial Management and Administrative Services; and Karen Connor, DOL ETA, manager, Division of Workforce Investment.
