SMCC receives $1.75M to amp up electric vehicle repair, agriculture programs

FILE PHOTO / SMCC The main campus of Southern Maine Community College on South Portland's waterfront.

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Southern Maine Community College said it will receive over $1.75 million in federal funding to help train Maine's workforce in the electric vehicle repair and controlled environment agriculture industries.

Both industries are seeing enormous growth in workforce needs in Maine.

"This funding will allow developing SMCC students to help ease the critical staffing needs in the rapidly changing industry while helping Maine consumers maintain their investments to help the environment,” Jim Whitten, SMCC's dean of workforce development, said in a news release. “The program will allow us to contribute to helping Maine reach the goal of having 30,000 clean energy jobs by 3030.”

SMCC's main campus is in South Portland. It has a midcoast campus in Brunswick.

Its certification program for electric vehicle repair was founded in 2019, and was the first in Maine. From 2019 to 2022, Maine saw a nearly 90% gain in EV registrations and just over 60% expansion in EV charging station construction.

In 2021, the U.S. EV and hybrid vehicle market share was $273 billion, with projections of reaching $802 billion by 2028.

"There are already so many EVs on the road, and there are going to be many more over the next few years," said Ruth Morrison, SMCC’s automotive technology chair. "The need for a workforce to repair new vehicles and the growth of the second and third owner repair markets will only keep growing. This project will keep our space updated and technology current to meet those needs."

Greenhouse development

A new controlled environment agriculture greenhouse will be built as part of the midcoast campus program in Brunswick. The program combines engineering, plant science and computer-managed greenhouse control technologies to optimize plant growing systems, quality and production efficiency.

"A new state-of-the-art greenhouse will be the jewel of the system,” said Whitten, who is dean of the Brunswick campus. “The ability to develop training based on year-round plant growth in a state with challenging weather patterns will be a game-changer for the industry and SMCC students.”

The project will yield a new greenhouse certificate program, workforce skills training and several industry workshops.

Agriculture supports nearly 30,000 Maine jobs and $600 million of direct economic impact.

"With the new greenhouse, SMCC students will help Maine businesses participate in the sustainable agricultural processes," said Cheryl Rich, SMCC's chair of horticulture. "We will be able to train our students in year-round, controlled environment agriculture that will help significantly contribute viability to support state-grown produce and products.”

The program has also partnered with midcoast food banks to ensure produce grown on campus will help Mainers in need.

"These two projects will help us to meet our goal of helping improve the lives of Maine’s hardworking people through increased skills in high-demand jobs," said SMCC President Joe Cassidy. "The training will put our students in the workforce of several industries that make meaningful differences in our region."

Cassidy said SMCC is part of an $8 million University of Maine partnership that creates two advanced manufacturing technology training centers, on the South Portland campus and the Brunswick campus. The partnership is expected to help develop new supply chain strategies and help modernize manufacturing of Maine products of all kinds for years to come.

"Our partnership with the University of Maine will help us train students to improve manufacturing efficiency throughout the region, making a positive impact on Maine's economy to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars," Cassidy said.