May 19, 2021
The proposed investment, part of her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, would cover tuition and fees for 8,500 people statewide.
AUBURN — Saying “workforce is the issue of the day, the issue of the decade,” Gov. Janet Mills on Tuesday highlighted the $35 million investment in the Maine Community College System included in her proposed Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan during a visit to Central Maine Community College.
The funds would cover workforce training program tuition and fees for an estimated 8,500 additional students statewide.
“This is all about workforce needs in Maine and preventing the brain drain we always complain about,” Mills said. “Stay here in Maine, come to Maine and get skilled up.”
Betsy Libby, CMCC interim president, said the additional training opportunities “would be a game-changer for all of our students.”
“We’ve learned so much during the pandemic about what our students need to meet these challenging circumstances, but we’ve also learned what we are capable of,” she said. “We can quickly add workforce training programs to meet a surge in demand to given industries … Learning never stops, preparing our students for the workforce never stops.”
She pointed to a 12-week precision machine training academy as one example. Students study at the college while also working with partner businesses like Grover Precision in Oxford and ABB in Auburn, earning an income.
“While more traditional manufacturing jobs have decreased in recent years, precision manufacturing is in high demand,” Mills said. “Last summer, two precision manufacturing companies in Maine made critical components for the Abbott Labs’ COVID-19 testing machine. Those machines, those testing apparatuses, went around the country and around the world to help us fight back the spread of the pandemic.”
The workforce training funds have some industry targets — 3,800 additional health care workers, 1,400 additional green economy workers, 500 each in hospitality and early childhood teachers — but aren’t targeted to specific Maine community colleges, System President Dave Daigler said.
Programs would be pulled together as training needs are identified, where needed and working with industry, he said.
They could last from weeks to months.
“It’s a very different model,” Daigler said. “It’s a model we really started to build out prior to the pandemic. We envision it as a new entry ramp for a student to get a degree. It starts with, let’s get the skills that person needs to get the job the business needs, get them going and then come back and talk to them again about skill development, and we’re now building up that platform.”
The seven community colleges serve more than 29,000 students a year, roughly 3,000 of them at CMCC.
Mills’ Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, unveiled earlier this month, uses $1.13 billion in aid coming to the state under the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
Mills said she looked forward to working with the Legislature to implement the plan swiftly.
“This is our chance to make a long-overdue investment in the community college system, attract and grow talent,” she said. “I’m very excited about this.”
May 18, 2021
Media Advisory – Governor Janet T. Mills
Contact: Scott Ogden and Lindsay Crete
Augusta, MAINE – Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 1:00 p.m., Governor Janet Mills will visit Central Maine Community College (CMCC) in Auburn to highlight the importance of the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan’s investment in workforce training programs at Maine’s community colleges.
As part of her plan to jumpstart economic recovery and achieve long-term economic growth, Governor Mills has proposed investing $35 million in the Maine Community College System to support workforce training programs. Maine’s community colleges offer a wide breadth of affordable workforce training programs across Maine that are easily accessed through free short-term training, degree programs, certificate programs and advanced certificate programs.
The Governor’s investment comes in the wake of recommendations from the Governor’s Economic Recovery Committee and the State’s 10-Year Economic Development Strategy that call for investment to bolster Maine’s workforce.
During her visit, Governor Mills will deliver remarks and tour CMCC’s Precision Manufacturing Technology Program. She will be joined by Dave Daigler, President of the Maine Community College System; Betsy Libby, Interim President of CMCC; Sarah Pierce, CMCC’s 2021 Student of the Year; and Heather Johnson, Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development.
WHO: Governor Janet Mills
WHAT: Tour & Remarks RE: Workforce Training, Central Maine Community College
WHEN: Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Central Maine Community College, 1250 Turner Street, Auburn 04210
May 12, 2021
Washington County Community College and the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center have received a $500,000 USDA grant to develop aquaculture-specific training.
Seafood farms popping up all along the coast have Maine’s aquaculture industry primed for a boom and two organizations in the state are preparing to meet its workforce needs with a first-of-its-kind training program.
The Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center and Washington County Community College received a $500,000 grant to be paid out over three years from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop an aquaculture-specific training program at the college.
The program will aim to meet the growing need for tech-savvy, skilled workers in four of the largest aquaculture subsets: land-based recirculating aquaculture, marine fin-fish aquaculture, cold-water coastal shellfish aquaculture and marine macroalgae aquaculture. Students will graduate with either a workforce training certificate or an associate’s degree.
“Aquaculture is the fastest-growing form of agriculture in the U.S.,” said Chris Davis, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center.
Seaweed and kelp farming is growing rapidly, and a few pending sites for a new form of land-based fin-fish aquaculture known as recirculating aquaculture systems have the potential to employ hundreds.
“There’s a need for trained workers at various levels,” Davis said. “We’re trying to help meet that need.”
Nichole Sawyer, the college’s dean of workforce development and community engagement, said the school sees both the growth potential of the industry and the value of the state’s commercial fisheries and related sectors.
The funding will allow the training program’s organizers to closely examine the industry’s needs as they develop the curriculum, she said.
The aquaculture sector has been growing at roughly 2 percent per year for the past decade. Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, expects that growth to accelerate.
More young farmers just starting out are reaching the point where they need to hire more hands, and the retail market for seafood has expanded dramatically.
“I expect consumption of seafood to be significantly higher, and I think that will translate (to growth),” he said. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we saw the growth rate go up to 3 percent or 4 percent over the next couple of years.”
According to a report published by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the state’s aquaculture industry employed about 622 people in 2020. By next year, that number is expected to increase to 880 people employed through production and over 1,600 across the supply chain. By 2030, it’s likely to exceed 1,000 in direct employment, and 2,000 including the supply chain and downstream markets.
However, while the sector is expected to grow, “there is a workforce skills constraint,” according to the report. “Education and training are a constraint to enhanced productivity and growth.”
Officials hope the program will be easily replicated across the state’s community college system, training a statewide workforce.
“We’re invested in not only Washington County, but the entire coastal region,” Sawyer said.
Belle attributes the industry’s growth to three factors.
First and foremost, he said, is Maine’s reputation as the “preeminent (seafood) brand.” Within 24 hours, consumers in Chicago or Atlanta can have high-quality, fresh products from cold, clean water. Because of this, “We get paid between 10 and 20 percent more than any of our competition,” Belle said, noting that naturally attracts industry hopefuls.
The second reason is an increased demand for seafood across the country, rooted in a shift toward healthier diets. Before the pandemic, seafood farmers couldn’t grow enough food to keep up with the demand for their products, even at a high price point, Belle said.
Lastly, he attributes the industry’s rise to the need for jobs in traditional working waterfront communities.
“It’s virtually impossible to get a fishing license,” he said, so the sons and daughters of commercial fishermen are instead turning to aquaculture as another way to make a living on the water. Those families account for the largest number of new entrants into the sector, he said.
However, not everyone is thrilled about the industry’s expansion.
Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation, a statewide coalition aimed at preventing the spread of what leaders call “large-scale, industrialized aquaculture,” fears that without proper regulatory constraints, the fast-growing aquaculture industry could disrupt traditional fishing activity and overtake the coast with large, industrial fish farm operations.
The foundation has been especially vocal in its opposition to a proposed 110-acre, in-water salmon farm in Frenchman Bay and is advocating for a statewide conversation to revamp the state’s permitting process.
The funding for the aquaculture training program comes just a few months before Washington County Community College is set to launch another, broader marine training program.
The coastal fisheries and marine technology program, scheduled to start in November, will teach students about the commercial fishing industry, its regulations and management practices, its environmental, ecological and scientific components, and the basic operations and maintenance of a commercial fishing vessel, including the electrical, electronic, hydraulic, fluid and engine systems.
The program was born out of a series of conversations with industry partners in which it was “clear everyone was wanting a very generalized program that would train folks a little bit in a lot of things,” said Sawyer, the college dean.
Some of the curriculum from the coastal fisheries program will likely be used to help develop curriculum for the aquaculture track, she said.
Aquaculture is multidisciplinary, Belle said, and employers are looking for workers with skills ranging from a good handle on math and science to traditional husbandry and farming practices.
Because of this, Belle and other industry professionals have worked to determine a set of standardized occupational competencies, many of which will be used by Washington County Community College and the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center as they develop the new program.
This set of standards will be the “first time this has ever happened in the U.S.,” Belle said.
The competency standards also will help develop a similar program at Southern Maine Community College, which Belle said will likely launch shortly after Washington County’s.
A third, more advanced-track program is offered through the Aquaculture Research Center at the University of Maine.
Belle expects the training programs will attract people from other states and other countries, putting “Maine on the map for being a center for excellence.”
The $500,000 award was among 19 agricultural workforce training grants totaling $9.4 million, and one of 12 awards totaling $4.9 million for rural economic development projects as part of the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
May 5, 2021
AUGUSTA, ME — Medical assistant programs at Maine’s community colleges hold seven of the top 10 rankings for Best Medical Assistant Schools in Maine in 2021, according to new data released by findmedicalassistantprograms.org.
Eastern Maine Community College’s medical assistant program is ranked #1 in Maine by findmedicalassistantprograms.org. The group ranks the state’s best medical assistant schools based on cost, type of school, financial aid, placement and counseling services, student-faculty ratio, number of courses and retention rate.
“This is another honor for the outstanding medical assistant programs at Maine’s community colleges across the state. Maine’s medical community is in desperate need of these skilled workers and these are good jobs. We’re working to expand these programs and enroll more medical assisting students to meet that demand, while ensuring graduates are well-prepared for these important jobs,” said Janet Sortor, vice president and chief academic officer for the Maine Community College System.
Medical assistants work with medical professionals at hospitals, clinics and other medical offices to make sure everything runs smoothly and freeing up doctors to see more patients. They have a wide range of duties, which can include assisting with exams and surgical procedures, taking vital signs, administering injections, performing electrocardiograms, processing insurance and billing, and scheduling appointments.
Medical assisting programs at Maine’s community colleges and their rank:
- Eastern Maine Community College ranked #1
- Kennebec Valley Community College ranked #2
- Southern Maine Community College ranked #3
- York County Community College ranked #4
- Washington County Community College ranked #5
- Northern Maine Community College ranked #6
- Central Maine Community College ranked #9
All seven colleges offer a two-year associate degree program in medical assisting. Eastern Maine, Kennebec Valley and Southern Maine community colleges also offer a one-year medical assisting certificate program.
Medical assistants in Maine earn an average of $37,640, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The demand for medical assistants is projected to grow 19 percent from 2019 to 2029, which is “much faster than the average of all occupations,” according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Health care is the largest program area for Maine’s community colleges, with about 2,100 students currently studying in the allied health professions. There are approximately 400 students in medical assistant programs.
April 8, 2021
Due to the pandemic, Presidents Daigler and Brennan and Chancellor Malloy delivered recorded remarks, which are now available online
AUGUSTA, ME — The leaders of the Maine Community College System, Maine Maritime Academy and the University of Maine System have released recorded addresses on the state of their respective public postsecondary institutions.
The biennial addresses are usually delivered in person to a joint session of the Maine State Senate and House of Representatives. This year, with the State House closed to the public due to the pandemic, the remarks were recorded over the last two weeks and are now available online.
The remarks are available online at:
Together, UMS, MCCS and MMA currently enroll approximately 46,000 students.
March 31, 2021
AUGUSTA, ME — The Maine Community College System (MCCS) welcomes its newest trustee, Dr. Mark Fourre, president of Coastal Healthcare Alliance and a longtime senior health care executive in Maine.
Fourre, of Camden, was nominated by Governor Janet Mills to the MCCS Board of Trustees and confirmed by the Maine Senate. His first board meeting was Wednesday.
“I am particularly grateful to have Dr. Fourre on the board right now, as we respond to the pandemic and the shortage of health care workers in the state. Health care has long been the largest program area for Maine’s community colleges, and I look forward to his unique perspective as a leader in rural health care delivery. With his counsel, Maine’s community colleges will be poised to best meet the state’s workforce needs,” system President David Daigler said.
As president of Coastal Healthcare Alliance, Fourre is the senior executive for Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital. Prior to that, Fourre was chief medical officer at LincolnHealth.
Fourre specializes in emergency medicine and served as chief of emergency medicine at Miles Memorial Hospital and St. Andrew’s Hospital, and as emergency medicine residency director at Maine Medical Center.
He is past president of the MMC-Physicians Hospital Organization, and the Maine chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Fourre earned his doctorate from University of Minnesota Medical School. He has held faculty appointments at University of Vermont School of Medicine and University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.
Fourre has been actively involved in multiple boards and committees for regional and national health care organizations, volunteered at the Portland Street Clinic, and served on the Cape Elizabeth School Board.
The MCCS Board of Trustees consists of 13 appointed voting members, one ex-officio voting member, and one ex-officio non-voting member.
March 11, 2020
AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Community College System welcomes three new board members, nominated by Governor Janet Mills and confirmed unanimously by the Maine Senate.
The newest trustees are: Anna “Anne” Eleanor Roosevelt, former president and chief executive officer of Goodwill Northern New England; Kathie Leonard, president and CEO of Auburn Manufacturing; and Peter DelGreco, president and CEO of Maine & Co.
“Each of these new trustees brings unique perspectives and strengths to the board, and I look forward to working with them in charting a strong, vibrant future for our colleges to best serve the people of Maine,” system President David Daigler said.
Roosevelt, of Embden, is active on multiple boards, including a presidential appointment to the Campobello International Park Commission, board chair of the Roosevelt Institute and secretary of the Embden Pond Association. She also serves on the boards of the Maine Community Foundation, Maine Grains and The Jim Browne Foundation.
Roosevelt retired from Goodwill Northern New England in 2019. Before that, she was vice president of global corporate citizenship for The Boeing Company. Earlier in her career, she spent more than seven years teaching museum studies at Western Kentucky University.
Roosevelt earned a master’s degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.
Leonard co-founded Auburn Manufacturing in 1979 and began creating new heat-resistant fabrics to replace asbestos. The company has also patented an insulation kit for use in institutional and commercial HVAC systems to save energy and meet sustainability goals. Today, Auburn Manufacturing has 50 employees and manufactures heat- and fire-resistant textiles in Auburn and Mechanic Falls.
In 2019, she was named the Maine Exporter of the Year by the Maine International Trade Center.
Leonard serves as vice chair of the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Textiles for the U.S. Department of Commerce, and serves on multiple boards, including the National Council of Textile Organizations and the Export–Import Bank of the United States.
Leonard said graduating from a community college is one reason she wanted to serve as a trustee. She earned an Associate of Arts degree from St. Petersburg College, with special classes in technical writing and general business courses. She furthered her studies in business administration at the University of Maine.
In addition to leading Maine & Co., DelGreco, of North Yarmouth, is vice chairman of the board of the Maine Rural Development Authority. He also serves on the boards of the Maine Development Foundation, Maine Venture Fund and the Portland Community Chamber of Commerce.
Maine & Co. works to attract companies to Maine and helps them establish successful and profitable operations within the state. Most recently, those companies include athenahealth, Grand Rounds, Grove Collaborative, Sun Life Financial, Wayfair, Carbonite, Nordic Aquafarms, and Kingfish Zeeland.
DelGreco is a graduate of Colby College and earned his MBA from the University of Southern Maine.
The Board of the Maine Community College System consists of 13 appointed voting members, one ex-officio voting member, and one ex-officio non-voting member.
MCCS is Maine’s comprehensive two-year college system offering nearly 300 career and transfer programs of study, customized training for business and industry, and continuing education. The MCCS consists of seven colleges with nine campuses, five off-campus centers, and a centralized System office. Each fall, MCCS enrolls some 17,000 students. Annually, the seven colleges serve more than 27,000 individuals through degree programs, customized training, and opportunities for lifelong learning.