Long-time teacher and business owner now champions workforce development program
Photo / COURTESY of BRIAN LANGLEY
Brian Langley, an Ellsworth business owner and former member of the state Legislature, is now executive director of the Bridge Academy.
Brian Langley is intimately familiar with the challenges of workforce development. He is not only owner of Union River Lobster Pot in Ellsworth, but taught for 27 years at Hancock County Technical Center and spent a decade in the state Legislature. He’s now executive director of Bridge Academy, a Bangor-based nonprofit that creates pathways from high school technical ed programs to high-wage jobs in industries with a high demand for workers. Some 2,000 students have gone through Bridge Academy since its inception in 2011.
Q: How does the program work?
Brian Langley: High school juniors and seniors who are taking career and technical ed classes get to take college general ed credits while they’re getting hands-on training. In most cases, the college classes are taught by high school teachers who have been vetted by the University of Maine or the community college where the course originates.
Q: What other kind of support do you offer?
BL: We introduce kids to companies and work opportunities they may not have known existed in Maine, and help them learn how to develop a professional network that will open doors for the rest of their lives. We also take students on college tours and help them make score sheets to weigh the pros and cons, so they can figure out where they want to go. We bring students to Eastern Maine Community College, and show them what it’s like to do things like sleep in a dorm, get a roommate, and sign up for courses.
Q: What kinds of results has it produced?
BL: We have a senior at Hancock County Technical Center who is one of five students accepted into EMCC’s highly-competitive radiography program. Upon graduating from high school, she’ll have had two years of Health Occupation courses at Hancock County Technical Center, plus 24 college credits through Bridge Academy. When colleges see Bridge Academy students, they know that in addition to technical skills, the students are college proven.
Q: Tell us about the partnership with Northern Light, EMCC, United Technologies and Hancock County Technical Center.
BL: This is an opportunity for high schoolers to earn college credit and seamless entry into EMCC’s associate RN program. Juniors in health occupations programs at United Technologies and Hancock County Technical Center get mentored by Northern Light staff, and get experience at the hospital. During their two years at the technical center, students take college general ed courses like anatomy, biology and history. If they maintain a solid GPA, EMCC guarantees the students the next available slots in its associates degree RN program. At EMCC, they can finish the program in two years instead of three because they already completed a year of college credits. After graduation, if they go work at Northern Light, the hospital provides tuition assistance that covers the cost of getting a bachelor’s in nursing at UMaine.
Q: How do students pay for Bridge Academy’s college courses?
BL: There are a variety of sources. We have an agreement with EMCC and University of Maine Augusta to offer classes to students at a reduced cost. There are also other scholarships, like the state’s Competitive Skills Scholarship Program for low-income students. Bridge Academy is also working with the Maine State Chamber of Commerce to duplicate this model in other industry sectors and raise money for scholarships.
Q: How did you get interested in this?
BL: For me, technical ed was a pathway out of poverty. I grew up blue collar. I always wanted to be a chef and own a restaurant. I studied at a technical ed center in high school, got an associates degree from a community college, got a bachelors’ degree, then a masters degree. I went on to teach, become a chef and own a restaurant.
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