Maine job training, arts organizations receive $850K in response to crisis
Courtesy / Camden International Film Festival
The Points North, which puts on the Camden International Film Festival, is one of eight Maine arts organizations to share a $400,000 CARES Act grant.
Maine state job training and efforts to retain jobs in the arts both got boosts from federal grants totaling $850,000, it was announced Wednesday.
The Maine Department of Labor has been awarded $450,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor to help expand the Registered Apprenticeship Program.
The Building State Capacity to Expand Apprenticeship through Innovation grants will go to local apprenticeship needs while enhancing the focus on employer engagement, performance and positive outcomes for apprentices, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine 1st District.
Eight arts organizations also will get $400,000 in grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.The arts grants are funded through the federal CARES Act and will support staff salaries, fees for artists or contracted personnel and facilities costs.
Both grants will help boost the state's economy, Pingree said in separate news releases.
“As our nation prepares to recover and rebuild from the unprecedented levels of joblessness caused by the coronavirus pandemic, registered apprenticeship programs will give employees a leg up to enter a new industry," Pingree said. "Given additional education and resources, workers will actually earn more over their lifetime if they participate in an apprenticeship program."
Pingree is co-chair of the Congressional Arts Caucus, and said, "I know how much of an economic impact arts and cultural organizations have on our local economy. Maine’s arts organizations are not only great spaces for cultural enrichment — they are employers and cornerstone institutions for local economies."
Arts organizations getting $50,000 grants are:
- Portland Symphony Orchestra;
- Portland Ovations;
- Portland Stage Co.;
- The Telling Room, Portland;
- Points North Institute (Camden International Film Festival);
- Cultural Resources Inc., Rockport;
- Penobscot Theatre Co., Bangor;
- L.A. Public Theatre Inc., Lewiston.
“Though I was proud to push for this funding in the CARES Act, artists and arts organizations desperately need more support," Pingree said. "The pandemic has devastated the creative economy, with Americans for the Arts estimating a nationwide loss of $6.7 billion to date.The arts are keeping so many of us connected during this time of social distancing — we can’t leave them behind.”
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