Rural jobs will be the goal from $800K grant to CEI
FILE PHOTO / TIM GREENWAY
Coastal Enterprises Inc. has received $800,000 in federal funds to grow rural jobs. CEO Betsy Biemann and President Keith Bisson are seen here outside the organization's Brunswick headquarters.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Community Services has awarded Coastal Enterprises Inc. $800,000 to help cultivate new businesses and new jobs in rural Maine.
CEI, a community development financial institution based headquartered in Brunswick, will use a combination of grant and loan dollars to finance three small businesses in rural Maine counties whose unemployment rates are greater than state and national averages and poverty rates greater than the state average, according to a news release.
The nonprofit said it is in discussion with three businesses that are candidates for the initiative.
Together, it's expected that the businesses will create at least 40 new living-wage jobs with benefits and a "fair and engaging environment." At least 30 of the jobs are targeted for people with low incomes receiving public assistance or earning a low wage.
“Our Growing Good Jobs in Rural Maine Initiative is designed to meet a need for not any job, but for good jobs that can help people with low incomes receiving public assistance or earning a low wage rise out of poverty and achieve financial self-sufficiency,” CEI President Keith Bisson said in the release.
“We are delighted to have this financial support to invest in rural small businesses so they can create positions that pay a living wage, provide career advancement opportunities, and include benefits like health care and paid sick leave.”
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine 1st District, hailed the award in the release, saying, “I’ve prioritized funding for this program on the Appropriations Committee because I know how impactful it is in creating an economy that works for everyone.”
In a March 2018 report, CEI said that, although Maine’s average unemployment rate had been below 4% for two years, not all employees and employers were benefiting from the tight labor market.
Compensation for people at the lower end of the income scale is lagging, while for many, access to health insurance and retirement savings continue to move further out of reach.
“More than anywhere in the U.S., rural regions are being left behind in our changing economy,” the report said. “Once dominant contributors to national jobs, productivity and exports, rural communities have lost industries that kept families employed for generations.”
In December 2018, CEI reported it had deployed more than $89 million in 2018 to 104 businesses in mostly rural regions across Maine and the United States. CEI staff members provided business advice and housing counseling to 2,457 individuals in Maine.
Betsy Biemann, CEO of Coastal Enterprises Inc., was a 2019 Mainebiz Women to Watch honoree.
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