Workforce development was a key priority for the Maine’s hospitality industry as 2020 began. After it lost 30,000 jobs, the priority remains.
A year ago, Steve Hewins, CEO of HospitalityMaine, planned to launch workforce initiatives ranging from apprenticeship programs to English training for New Americans. But those plans gave way to trying to save the industry’s hundreds of pandemic-crushed small businesses.
“Workforce education is still critical, but the need has dramatically changed,” Hewins says. “We now have to prepare workers for the new hospitality economy that will be a lot different than what got us to this point. “
The biggest challenge is rebuilding the industry, which lost 30,000 jobs, he says. That will happen under someone else, though. Hewins has a new role, head of HospitalityMaine Educational Foundation, where he’ll focus on workforce issues.
There’s reason for optimism. Maine will come back quickly, he says. “And the pandemic has helped show the importance of restaurants and hotels to the state’s economy, and that the public truly values this industry.”
