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PHOTO courtesy of SMCC
Adiel Nimbona was drawn to Southern Maine Community College’s Construction Technology program because he wanted to build a future in the construction trade. Nimbona has pride in his training, saying it gives him hope for the future and the promise to live the life he wants to have.
From building a workforce model with a training continuum to creating a pipeline of skilled workers for a statewide network of employers, the Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce is dedicated to changing the lives of thousands of Mainers over the next four years.
Established under the Maine Community College System in October 2021, the Harold Alfond Center represents a $60+ million investment in Maine’s workforce. Addressing the severe skilled worker shortage, the virtual center will train and develop 24,000 future and incumbent workers around the state by 2025. Investments from the Harold Alfond Foundation, Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, Maine Quality Centers, The Foundation for Maine’s Community Colleges, and private employers and foundations, allow the Alfond Center to deploy funding quickly and nimbly for trainees and businesses to address skills gaps and high-demand occupational needs.
It will focus on solving today’s most pressing workforce challenges:
In less than one year, the Alfond Center has partnered with 400 business and built and implemented more than 700 trainings, creating training opportunities for more than 4,000 Mainers.
“We’re addressing a great need,” said Dan Belyea, Chief Workforce Development Officer for the Maine Community College System, who oversees the Harold Alfond Center. “Short-term training programs have been designed with workforce partners across the state, ensuring learners get exactly the skills needed for today’s workplace. The training embraces real-time opportunities and the accelerated track in which learners can achieve a credential of value and enter the workforce in a matter of months. And for workers, the training is usually free.”
The Alfond Center’s coordination of funding and all MCCS’s short-term workforce training initiatives saves time and speeds the delivery of critical workforce training to both trainees and business partners. It also provides clear, affordable educational pathways to Maine adults no matter where they are on the job skill development continuum. Designed to be a resource for members of the business community, the Alfond Center is serving as the training partner for Maine’s small- to medium-sized employers who lack the resources to sustain in-house training departments.
The Harold Alfond Center creates new pathways so people getting short-term training can easily continue their education journey, either through a pursuit of certificates, advanced certificates or degrees. This aligns with the MCCS mission of providing the right training at the right time for Mainers. The Center is working with the academic teams at all seven colleges, bridging traditional non-credit workforce training and credentials of value to certificates and degrees. Using tools such as Prior Learning Assessment, which can award academic credit towards a degree for their previous partial college, military, or work experience, removes the cost barrier and makes degree attainment more of a reality for many.
The Center will serve the unemployed and underemployed who lack the skills needed to compete, Maine’s front-line workers who need additional training to remain relevant and advance their careers, and the more than 150,000 Maine adults who have some post-secondary credit but no degree or credential of value.
Trainees: Each of Maine’s seven community colleges has a short-term workforce department. Short-term pre-hire workforce training is offered to the public for free. These programs help fill high-demand positions and take less than one year to complete; many take only a few months. Trainees conclude the course with the skills they need to go directly into the workforce. Community colleges work with industry leaders to develop or accelerate an existing curriculum, supporting computer technology, education, the green economy, health care, hospitality, manufacturing and trade occupations. A sample of programs currently underway include:
For a list of upcoming trainings, visit www.MCCSworks.com or visit the websites of CMCC, EMCC, KVCC, NMCC, SMCC, WCCC or YCCC.
Businesses: The Harold Alfond Center is predicted to serve more than 13,000 incumbent workers by 2025. Any business, association, municipality or nonprofit is invited to join the Maine Workforce Development Compact. The Compact aims to upgrade workers’ skills through professional development opportunities that lead to career advancement and job security. The Compact also provides access to grant funding to fulfill the training needs of front-line staff, who make up 86% of Maine’s workforce.
In 2022, employers can receive up to $1,200 per trainee, regardless of the number of employees.
Training takes place at one of Maine’s community colleges or by a third-party training vendor, which could be a company-based training or an online workshop. The Alfond Center provides funding to the organization and opens up community college scholarships to staff. Employees have an advisor to assist with course selection, textbooks, tutoring services, and other resources to ensure their continued success. The Compact currently has more than 400 businesses and associations, spanning all industry sectors.
Examples of trainings Compact Members have utilized funding for include commercial driving, conflict resolution, excel, grant writing, high pressure boiler operator, leadership training, masonry, OSHA and safety training, social media, specialized automotive training, welding and more.
For more information or to join, visit bit.ly/WorkforceCompact.
Scholarships: By serving Mainers with some college credit, The Alfond Center is helping more attain a credential of value by delivering for-credit courses to more than 3,200 individuals in the form of community college scholarships. In 2022, incumbent workers are eligible for a $425 scholarship, the equivalent of most three-credit courses. In 2023 and beyond, they’re eligible for up to two classes at 50% per semester. The course catalog of Maine’s seven community colleges features more than 4,500 for-credit courses. It is available at www.MCCSworks.com.
Apprenticeship: In partnership with the Maine Apprenticeship Program, and in an effort to double the number of apprenticeships in the state, the Harold Alfond Center coordinates customized training for workers and businesses. The Earn-and-Learn model attracts new employees and upskills current staff, allowing companies to retain workers through career pathways that grow your organization. The Center can help offset training and wage costs while improving worker productivity, quality, and safety.
Digital Badging: By collaborating with business partners, the Harold Alfond Center creates programs that result in demonstratable skills with learning outcomes built on models of predictive validity. Digital badges provide visible, stackable learning opportunities and demonstrate the mastery of a topic. The earner receives a sharable, transferable, and transparent credential of value. Recognized by MCCS, digital badges can have college credit associated with the learning experience. MCCS has awarded more than 16,000 badges.
Diversity Equity & Inclusion Training: DE&I training and tools help create an organizational culture that is mindful, supportive, and inclusive of everybody. It empowers trainees to be agents of change within their companies, ensuring equal access to resources and support, acknowledging and honoring cultural differences, modeling practices that make employees feel safe, and learning to address bias.
Remote Work for ME: A new three-year, $1.2 million project will provide rural Maine residents with free training to pursue remote work opportunities. It will also provide training to current employees at Maine businesses expanding remote work to train employees to oversee remote workers. MCCS will provide training to more than 700 people over the next three years. Occupational training and equipment grants are also available.
Maine’s industry and business communities have been vital partners in creating programs, designing accelerated curricula, and driving progress in workforce development. The economic impact of training 24,000 learners will significantly impact the companies they work for and the communities in which they live. We hope that it will also profoundly affect the trainee’s life: they will recognize their incredible potential, the opportunities ahead, and what they can accomplish. We are proud to be training Maine’s workforce.
Maine Community College System
323 State St., Augusta, ME 04330
Sector: Workforce Training
Dan Belyea, Chief Workforce Development Officer
Founded: October 2021
Number of Maine Employees: 16
