Meeting examines how colleges can help strengthen rural economy

 PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – Maine Community College System President John Fitzsimmons was in the Star City Friday morning meeting with local business and community leaders to see how the community college system can further assist in strengthening the state’s rural economy.     “I’m visiting 18 rural sites around the state between now and early fall,” said Fitzsimmons, “and I want to see how we can better serve each of those areas. With so many changes in the state’s economy, we need to go out and learn what we need to do to help.
“We’re also about to create a new 5-year strategic plan for the system,” he said, “and this is a critical time to stop and listen to what we need to be doing and put it into our plan.”
In announcing the initiative, Fitzsimmons noted that more than a half million people live in rural Maine and that an estimated 12.2 percent of rural households live below the poverty line. Even more disturbing, between 2000 and 2005, Maine saw the largest percentage increase in rural child poverty of any state in the nation. According to 2005 U.S. Census data, 22.4 percent of rural Maine children under 18 live in poverty.
“Steady job losses in traditional manufacturing and natural resource-based industries have contributed to poverty and unemployment in many rural areas of the state,” Fitzsimmons said. “The economic and educational gaps between our urban and rural communities are deeply troubling. Without focused intervention they are likely to continue to grow. We need to explore how Maine’s community colleges – working in partnership with local businesses and communities – can do more to strengthen and sustain rural areas of Maine.”
According to Fitzsimmons, Maine’s community colleges are uniquely situated to help address some of the major workforce challenges confronting rural parts of the state. The seven colleges and their nine off-campus centers are located within 25 miles of 92 percent of Maine’s population. Their programs of study are the most affordable in the state, and both their credit and non-credit offerings are focused on creating a skilled labor force that is responsive to the changing needs of the Maine economy.
“I’m trying to find a place where all of our services are rural-friendly,” he said. “What are we offering that serves rural Maine better? That’s what this is all about. I hope, when all is said and done, we will have a great, new set of actions, and in the end, rural Maine will be served much better than they are now.”
About 35 people attended last Friday’s breakfast meeting held at Northern Maine Community College.
Dave Peterson, president and chief executive officer at The Aroostook Medical Center, said he hoped MCCS would continue to support health professions.
“NMCC is absolutely indispensable to the health care providers in this area,” he said. “We’ve had an excellent partnership with NMCC … particularly with the nursing program, which is a difficult program to run.
“There’s a growing shortage of all health care professions in an area where we have an aging population,” said Peterson. “I would ask that there be a reinforced emphasis on supporting those health profession programs because the needs are going to get greater.”
Recognizing there is a high percentage of new students who need “remedial work” before they start higher education, Rep. Peter Edgecomb (R-Caribou) asked what plans MCCS had to ensure the students leave high school “college ready.”
Walt Elish, executive director of the Aroostook Partnership for Progress, agreed, and said students leaving high school should also have more “soft skills.”
“What we’re seeing is a lack of communication skills, and a lack of a work ethic,” said Elish. “People entering the workforce are proficient in computers because they’ve received that training since the sixth or seventh grade, but they’re lacking those important soft skills.”
Fitzsimmons said he would reflect on those issues and try to address them in his report.
Other common themes the system president has been hearing so far on his tour is that the physical capacity at community colleges needs to be bigger so more students can attend, daycare should be available to assist single parents trying to further their education, and community colleges should offer more “soft skills” training (communications, customer service, and sales).
“I’d like to put all issues raised on the table,” said Fitzsimmons. “We have a responsibility to meet the needs of our rural people.”
Fitzsimmons said the meetings thus far have been “completely energizing.”
“Some things I’ve heard about I expected to hear, some things I didn’t expect,” he said. “There are some things that we need to do better, but it was great to hear all the feedback.”
In addition to his stop at NMCC, Fitzsimmons has already visited Dover-Foxcroft, East Millinocket and Calais.
After visiting all 18 communities, Fitzsimmons will prepare a report based on his findings by late fall, and issue a set of actions in December.