Fiscal

Program Year 2014 EHEAT Budgets
Service Providers will be asked to submit eHeat budgets for PY14 in late August.  Prior to Service Providers entering budgets, Commerce must process PY13 closeout reports and adjust PY14 allocations using final PY13 expense figures.  A new, adjusted, NFA will be emailed to Service Providers along with instruction for eHeat budgets after closeout.

Quarterly Budget Worksheets
Thank you to Service Providers who have already completed their PY13 4th Quarter or PY14 1st Quarter budget and expense worksheets.  Service Providers who have not yet submitted their worksheets are not required to do so.  

Commerce is redesigning the quarterly budget report for PY14 and will introduce it at the MinnCAP Pre-Conference Administrative & Fiscal Training.  Our goal is to gather feedback on the new budget format throughout the program year to ensure that it serves the best functions possible for both Service Providers and Commerce staff.

New EAPWX Funds Available
The PY14 EAPWX Annual Plan has been approved and funds transferred from EAP to WAP.  The new funds will be termed EAPWX A2105/Carryover.  Commerce will release EAPWX A2105 funds on a first-in first-out basis.  A NFA which will be released as Service Providers close out PY13, will include A2105 funds only for providers who have reported spending at least 80% of EAPWX A2104, as reported on the final FSR.  Service Providers who have not reached 80% will receive A2105 once they reach this goal.  The first-in first-out approach will be used for PY14. This will be explained, in detail, at the upcoming MinnCAP pre-conference workshop. Commerce anticipates feedback over the coming year to inform the method for releasing funds in PY15.
 

Staff Changes

Happy Trails!

We extend our thanks and well wishes to Eric Boyd and Marilou Cheple as they complete their service with Commerce. Eric has taken a new position outside of Commerce, starting July 15, 2014 and Marilou will retire from Commerce September 3, 2014.

We ask for Service Providers continued patience as we will be understaffed for a period of time during this transition. We anticipate posting positions shortly and encourage all SPs to encourage strong candidates in their networks to apply.

Training

Register Today FORor MINNCAP Conference and Special WAP Days

In addition to the six sessions offered at the conference, there will be a SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION PRE-CONFERENCE DAY on Tuesday, August 5, 2014. This day‐long session is presented by the Department of Commerce.  There is no registration fee for this pre‐conference day. The day will run from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm.  Breakfast and lunch will be provided. To register, please respond to weatherization.commerce@state.mn.us with names and email addresses of each attendee.

There will also be a special WEATHERIZATION FIELD DAY on Thursday, August 7, 2014. Registration is included in the registration for the full conference or you can register for this day only. The three sessions include a repeat and expansion of the Basement and Crawlspace webinar by Pat Huelman of the University of Minnesota’s Cold Climate Housing, a presentation on asbestos and vermiculite by Mark Bender from the Minnesota Department of Health, and a session that will include a variety of topics by the Commerce Weatherization staff, including Policy Manual changes for PY2014. You can register for both the MinnCAP conference and the weatherization field day at: www.minncapconference.org