Bangor Daily News, Oct. 14, 1999

Time for an upgrade

Maine's seven technical colleges are on the Nov. 2 ballot, requesting $26.4 million for infrastructure improvements. As voters consider the issue, they might think of it as an upgrade of the state's best job-generating machine.

Most of today's expanding business sectors are technically oriented, requiring sophisticated and well-educated employees. An increasingly tight labor market in technology requires growing businesses to expand where they can find employees, whether those markets are in Sri Lanka, San Jose or Skowhegan. Maine's K-12 schools, judging by recent national test scores, are among the best in the country, but particularly the northern two-thirds of the state suffers from a lack of well-paid employment opportunities. Much of the failure to attract businesses that offer these jobs can be traced to a lack of well-trained and qualified potential employees. Sure, better roads, lower utility costs and less severe winters would help, but the most crippling problem is the lack of skilled people.

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