COURTESY FOCUSMAINE
Kim Hamilton
February 11, 2021
FocusMaine expands training program to meet growing employer needs
Screenshot / FocusMaine
Ilija Stojiljkovic is a business management student at the University of Maine and an operations intern at Bangor Savings Bank through Maine Career Compass, an expanded internship program provided by FocusMaine in partnership with Educate Maine.
By Staff
To keep pace with employer needs and expanding opportunities for employment training in the state, FocusMaine, in partnership with Educate Maine, is launching an expanded internship program to include more professional training opportunities.
FocusMaine is relaunching its “Intern Experience” program as the “Maine Career Compass,” according to a news release Thursday.
The new name is designed to recognize the many pathways to a successful career in Maine.
The two business-led organizations said their goal for Maine Career Compass is that participants in internships, co-ops and apprenticeships will be introduced to training, business leaders, employers and experiences that demonstrate why the state is the best place to live and build a career.
2,000 students to date
The expansion builds on the flagship summer intern program launched in 2017 that has, to date, served more than 2,000 students and over 80 Maine employers across the state. Interns who have participated in this program are more likely to stay in Maine and have a more positive outlook on the opportunities in the state, according to FocusMaine.
“FocusMaine’s Intern Experience arose out of a need to attract more people to the state and to provide young people from Maine with even more reasons to stay,” said Kimberly Hamilton, president of FocusMaine. “As we’ve listened to employers, to people entering the workforce, and to our partners in higher education, we knew we could have an even bigger impact if we expanded the reach of the program.”
The program expands opportunities to learn on the job.
“We've heard from employers over the last few years that their experiential learners are not only interns but also include co-ops and apprentices,” said Kate Howell, program director of Educate Maine. “This new approach reflects and supports the broad range of students who are hoping to find their first job in our state or prepare for the next step.”
Corn, aquaculture, banking
Rebecca Dawley of Provincetown, Mass., a senior at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, participated in the FocusMaine Intern Experience last summer at Envirologix in Portland.
“I got hands-on opportunities to learn about Maine industries that I wouldn't have known about otherwise,” she said. “As a product development intern, I worked on optimizing lateral flow devices for corn. This valuable experience allowed me to develop and refine skills that I had acquired from other internships to a larger scale company.”
The summer internship program will continue to be an important part of the program. But Maine Career Compass will also increase opportunities to partner with employers that offer job shadowing, apprenticeships and cooperative education in order to meet the needs of Maine’s different economic sectors.
“Our recent analysis of Maine’s aquaculture workforce needs revealed high industry demand for workers with on-the-job experience,” said Chris Vonderweidt, aquaculture program manager at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, another partner in FocusMaine’s efforts.
The program will open opportunities to get workers experience on working farms, he added.
One of Maine’s biggest challenges is keeping and attracting skilled talent, said David Pease, senior vice president and director of talent, diversity and inclusion at Bangor Savings Bank, which has has been a partner in the program since its inception.
Pease said the program has shown students from across the United States and elsewhere in the world that Maine isn’t just a vacation destination, but a place to live and work. The new Maine Career Compass approach, he said, “reflects an appreciation for the changing face of workforce training and opens up more opportunities for business and workforce partnerships.”
Ilija Stojiljkovic, a business management student at the University of Maine and an operations intern at Bangor Savings Bank through the program, said his internship expanded his view of career opportunities and pushed him out of his comfort zone in positive ways.
For learn more about Maine Career Compass and to view videos from interns, click here.
Aquaculture has been cited as an area needing workforce development for sustainable growth.
Formed in 2014, FocusMaine’s mission is to strengthen and revitalize opportunity and prosperity in Maine by accelerating the growth of jobs in select signature industries that have high potential to create Maine jobs on a sustainable basis.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments