Maine Community College System launches workforce strategy webinars

Image / Maine Community College System A new monthly webinar series analyzing Maine workforce strategies launches Wednesday with a conversation about managing remote workers.

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By Renee Cordes

A monthly webinar series analyzing strategies for building the Maine workforce debuts Wednesday with a conversation about managing remote workers.

The series, called “Business Blueprint: Workforce Strategies in Maine’s Evolving Economy,” is produced and presented by the Maine Community College System’s virtual Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce. Today's webinar starts at 1 p.m. (Scroll down for registration information.)

Wednesday's guests will share best practices, opportunities, and resources to benefit Maine businesses and workers, starting with Bruce Walker, L.L. Bean director of customer satisfaction, and Julia Trujillo Luengo with Maine's Department of Economic and Community Development.

The inaugural episode will be hosted by Joshua Howe, deputy executive director of workforce training and remote work at the Maine Community College System.

Trujillo Luengo will update viewers on the implementation of the state’s 10-year economic plan and the initial findings of a recent employer survey, and Walker will share how L.L.Bean has expanded remote work in recent years, its impact on company culture, and the lessons learned since COVID.

“This is a timely, practical kickoff to a webinar series that we hope will be truly useful to Maine businesses and workers,” said Dan Belyea, chief workforce development officer of the Harold Alfond Center.

“In conversation with our 1,300-plus business partners across the state, we’ve learned there is a tremendous appetite for this kind of conversation between business leaders,” he added. "We’re looking to provide real solutions to real problems — and add value that lifts up businesses of all sizes across the state.”

Upcoming topics to be covered in the series include:

2024 Employer Changes: Maine’s New Retirement Savings Mandate
Investing in Your Workforce: The Dirigo Business Incentive
AI in the Workplace: How AI Will Change Your Workforce in 2024
Consistent Healing: What You Need to Know about Recovery in the Workplace
The New Mainer Advantage: Tapping into Talent to Help Your Organization Grow
Your Best Investment: Why Apprenticeships Should be a Priority
From Incarceration to Employment: How and Why to Hire Return Citizens

More information

Register for Wednesday's webinar at 1 p.m. here, and find out more about the monthly series here.

Recordings of each episode will be available on the Maine Community College System website and via the Alfond Center and MCCS YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook channels.