Maine businesses, health care providers will get $24M for workforce development

Aerial view of Husson University in Bangor

Courtesy / Husson University Husson University in Bangor will receive nearly $1 million to purchase equipment and technology to advance STEM education.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Maine has been approved to receive a total of $23.7 million in federal funding for a variety of business and health care workforce development programs.

The money comes through congressionally directed spending in an appropriations bill recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden.

The funding was secured by with the help of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Business development

A total of $10.4 million will go toward workforce development programs throughout Maine.

“Business owners throughout Maine have told me that they have jobs available but have difficulty finding qualified and trained workers to fill these vacant positions,” Collins said in a news release. “Job training creates economic opportunities and retention by aligning employees’ skills with employers’ needs, preparing individuals for successful careers in high-demand fields.”

Recipients are:

Mid-Maine Technical Center in Waterville: $718,000 for equipment to support a new mid-Maine engineering/manufacturing program.
Maine Development Foundation in Livermore Falls and Jay: $535,000 to expand workforce training to support the forest products industry.
York County Community College in Wells and Sanford: $986,000 to upgrade laboratory equipment in a workforce training facility.
University of Maine in Orono: $3.3 million for curriculum and professional development to expand Maine’s rural educator workforce.
University of Southern Maine in Gorham: $463,000 to create a cybersecurity operations center classroom.
Husson University in Bangor: $999,000 to purchase equipment and technology to advance STEM education.
Maine Maritime Academy in Castine: $3 million to expand an advanced shipbuilding and marine operations program.
Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle: $410,000 to purchase equipment for a diesel hydraulic program expansion.

Health care

Another $13.8 million will go toward training health care workers.

“In the midst of a growing demand for medical treatments and services, Maine and other states across the country continue to face a shortage of trained health care workers,” said Collins.

Recipients are:

Central Maine Community College in Auburn: $3.3 million for facilities and equipment to expand CMCC’s health care training programs.
Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield: $513,000 to create an enhanced radiology simulation lab.
Southern Maine Community College in South Portland: $4.1 million for a health care careers simulation center.
University of Maine at Augusta: $4.5 million to construct and equip a Center for Nursing Workforce Development and Cybersecurity.
Northern Light Acadia Hospital in Bangor: $1.3 million to create a rural training program to care for patients with dementia in outpatient and hospital-based settings.