Live + Work in Maine steps up effort to promote state’s employment brand
Courtesy / Nate Wildes, LinkedIn
Nate Wildes, founder of Flight Deck Brewing at Brunswick Landing, has stepped up to assume the position of executive director of Live + Work in Maine, a private-sector initiative to promote Maine's employment brand.
Live + Work in Maine, a private-sector initiative, is poised to accelerate its efforts to promote the Maine employment brand to the national talent market. Now in its third year, the career network and marketing organization announced today it has formed an advisory board to assist its new executive director, Nate Wildes, by providing oversight, guidance and direction for Live and Work in Maine’s future efforts.
The advisory board is comprised of business, nonprofit and community leaders, who will meet at least quarterly.
“As we've grown from a ‘message’ to a more robust organization and initiative, we recognized the need for more voices at the table and are excited to take this important step in scaling up our efforts,” Ed McKersie, founder of Live + Work in Maine, said in a news release.
The advisory board members include:
- Ed McKersie: In addition to being founder and president of Live + Work in Maine, he is president and founder of Pro Search Inc., the company he founded in 1994.
- Guy Langevin: Vice president of human resources and chief administrative officer for Dead River Co., he has previously served in senior HR roles at KeyBank and Hannaford.
- Melanie Tinto: Chief human resource officer for WEX, she has served in leadership roles at Medtronic, Hewlett-Packard, Wal-Mart and Bank of America.
- Bill Allen: President and senior advisor of Allen Advisors LLC and a retired chief human resource officer for Macy’s, A.P. Moller-Maersk and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings.
- Ed Cervone: Executive director of Educate Maine, he previously served as director of operations for Denver Preschool Program and president and CEO of the Maine Development Foundation.
- Quincy Hentzel: CEO of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, was previously director of community outreach for Industrium Agency and director of governmental affairs for the Maine Credit Union League.
- Dana Connors: President and CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.
- Dave Vasconcelos: Director of business development at Pro Search, Inc. he has been part of Live and Work in Maine since its inception.
Wildes steps up to executive director
Live + Work in Maine also named Nate Wildes its executive director.
Wildes joined Live + Work in Maine in 2016 as engagement director, after having served as an independent marketing and business development consultant for several years. He also founded Flight Deck Brewing, a very successful craft brewery located at Brunswick Landing (the former Brunswick Naval Air Station) in 2017.
“Since joining Live + Work in Maine, Nate has done a brilliant job of developing partnerships, such as with the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, that have leveraged modest resources into impressive results,” McKersie said. “What sets Nate apart is how successful he has been in bringing together all the right talent recruitment partners in the state to achieve great success for Maine employers and the Live and Work in Maine initiative.”
Highlights of 2018
Live and Work in Maine’s 2018 highlights included:
- Nearly 500 Maine employers now partnering with Live and Work in Maine.
- Stories about Maine, including the Opportunity Maine tax credit that reduces debt for students who elect to live and work in Maine full-time as well as about Live and Work in Maine’s overall effort, published in nearly every major media outlet in Maine and across the United States.
- A partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism on a major three-month awareness campaign in Boston, driving millions of impressions and subsequent web traffic to Maine quality of life-related content.
- The inaugural "Boomerang Week,” an awareness campaign designed to engage all the young people coming "home" to Maine for Thanksgiving Week, was a great success. The campaign started with a live call-in show on Maine Calling, supported by over 30 venues across Maine giving out free swag with messages to remind them that quality careers await them in Maine when they're ready to come home.
- Second annual “Visit for a week, stay for a lifetime” campaign to engage summer tourists grew larger with outreach through the Turnpike Visitor Centers and geo-targeted social media ads.
- An increased presence at the Portland International Jetport during its record-breaking year to reach more than 2 million travelers with messages about living and working in Maine.
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