Out-of-state worker recruitment aided by various programs
Portland's fastest-growing companies are working hard to recruit the workers they need. As they do, a slew of city, state and public-private efforts are underway to make Maine more appealing to out-of-state job candidates, and bring Mainers' skills in line with the needs of local employers.
• In Portland, “we're doing what we can to support businesses and create the right environment for growth,” says Greg Mitchell, Portland's director of economic development. “We're working on creating the infrastructure and housing, making direct investments, and doing anything we can to influence the market.” That includes the Business Assistance Program for Job Creation launched in 2012. Nine businesses have received matching grants, a total of $140,000, for the creation of 20 jobs.
• Maine's Department of Labor is working with employers, educators, and job-training groups to create a pipeline of workers for the positions where they're needed. A job vacancy survey due in March will identify areas that are most in demand. The Department of Labor is implementing its five-year workforce investment plan, to make workforce training more relevant to the needs of Maine's businesses. “We're bringing industry players to the table to figure out how many people they'll need, connecting with education partners to figure out who has the facilities to provide the training and figuring out what state or federal funds are available,” says spokeswoman Julie Rabinowitz. An earlier success was the 2013 Health Care Sector Grant, which trained 1,000 Mainers.
• Project>Login, a partnership between major employers and Educate Maine, was launched in 2013 to help connect computing students at Maine colleges with local employers. The partnership works through campus networking receptions, an online database for internships and IT jobs, and programs that raise awareness of digital careers for students.
• Workforce housing is vital to Portland's growth, experts say. A number of residential developments geared for Portland-based professionals are in the works. The Portland Regional Chamber's 2014 Economic Scorecard found that the average cost of owning a home in the city is higher than it is elsewhere in Maine. “You have got to be able to have housing for your workers,” says economist Jim Damicis, who developed the scorecard. “That's critical.”
• Serving two-career couples is also being addressed. Last year, Creative Portland, Growing Portland, Pro Search and 15 employers created an informal network to share resumes of job recruits' spouses and partners. “Dual-career couples are often tough to recruit due to either a real or perceived paucity of career options,” says Jennifer Hutchins, Creative Portland's executive director. “One of our toughest challenges is countering a prevailing perception that Maine is exclusively lobster, lighthouses and summer camp.”
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