By Natalie De La Garza
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Only 29 percent of The County’s workforce is between 18 and 44 years old, and that statistic has sent up red flags for economic development strategists.
President and CEO of the Aroostook Partnership for Progress Bob Dorsey is well aware that anything below 30 percent is unsustainable, and the organization has spearheaded an “education to industry” summit on Tuesday, Aug. 6 to address the issue.
“Simply, if we’re going to try to bump that workforce back up above 30 percent, we’re going to have to do a better job in retaining students — and that starts with [reversing] the perception that there are no jobs in Aroostook County,” Dorsey said.
But the problem isn’t nearly so simple as to announce employment opportunities.
Canvassing the region’s top 50 companies, APP has identified that there are roughly 2,000 jobs projected to become available in the next five years — simultaneously, Aroostook County has an increasingly aging workforce and a decreased number of emerging high school graduates.
Dorsey put it succinctly:
“One of the best examples that was pointed out to me was Tim Crowley, president of the Northern Maine Community College, graduated [high school] in 1971, as I did, and there were 265 people in his graduating class; in 2018, there’s projected to be 165 graduating students in the entire St. John Valley,” he explained.
Furthering the complexity of the workforce conundrum, current and future job vacancies will require specific and entirely different educational requirements — from health care professionals to paper mill operators.
“It’s a complex issue because you have a skills gap,” Dorsey explained. “How can you have emerging jobs and a higher unemployment at the same time? It’s because kids need to do more than get an education. They’ve got to acquire skills, go beyond high school and get certificates, get a two-year degree — not everyone needs a four-year degree, but everyone needs some skill set.”
The Education to Industry Summit on Aug. 6 will serve as a catalyst to close that skills gap, and APP officials are optimistic that the event will link employers with educators to foster more job shadowing, internships and awareness of good jobs in Aroostook County.
Dorsey explained that to help the region’s economy thrive, students need to be introduced to the working world earlier – like they were when he was a kid growing up in Fort Fairfield.
“We had a work ethic where, when we were 6 years old, we were out picking potatoes for 10 hours a day,” he said.
Growing up part of the workforce, Dorsey explained it was easier for kids to understand how the lessons they learned in school would carry over into their careers — particularly, what skills they’d need in order to be eligible for certain jobs.
“We’ve got to get more interactions between kids and work,” Dorsey said, expressing the need for more programs like job shadows, workplace tours and general exposure — even just opportunities for middle and high school students to talk with employers about what they look for in an employee to help them realize earlier what skills are required and what training is needed for the jobs they want.
Of course, most. students won’t be able determine their exact career path in the seventh grade, but workplace exposure and job shadows will certainly help youths narrow their career options.
Charity Luster, for example, is a Loring Job Corps Center student currently interning with the information technology department at Cary Medical Center in Caribou – and loving it. Luster received her CISCO certification in February — the first female on the center to do so – and explained that her internship with Cary has allowed her to get that hands-on experience she always wanted.
“It’s one thing sitting in front of a computer and retaining knowledge — the biggest part is to grow some type of love for what you want to do by seeing it in its entirety, not just pieces here and there,” she said.
But for Luster, her newfound passion for IT was highly unexpected, and is making her critically re-think her initial career intentions.
When she first came to Job Corps last September, Luster thought CISCO would be a good vocation that would financially support her through her college endeavors. After a while, however, she discovered that she genuinely likes what she’s doing — and her internship has only strengthened her newfound passion for IT.
Orchestrating Luster’s internship was Business and Community Liaison for LJCC Pamela Buck, who has seen first-hand how beneficial internships can be to complimenting classroom learning.
“It’s just enhances their ability to be ready for the workforce,” she said. “And the benefit to [having internship opportunities] is that a lot of these students consider living in northern Maine.”
Buck explained that students have to meet a certain criteria before they’ll be eligible for workplace study; by the time a student like Luster starts an internship, they’ve already proven to be work-ready having completed or nearly completed their vocation.
That proves to be potentially beneficial for businesses because say, for example, Luster wanted to start a career with Cary instead of heading back to New Jersey upon graduation from LJCC.
“She’s already trained – she doesn’t have to go through all the training and see if the company likes her because that’s already done,” Buck said. “If they see a rising star and someone that they’re already interested in hiring, the intern has already been through the orientation process — and there’s a lot of time and money involved with that.”
While the educational entity has long understood the benefits of work-based learning, Dorsey explained that different companies in the region are developing their own internship programs.
“You’re seeing MMG do more internships now, you’re seeing MPS looking into it, and what we’re trying to do with our Education to Industry Summit is raise awareness,” Dorsey said. “We’re appealing to businesses to get more involved to help because it’s their future too. Whether you’re a small-, medium- or large-sized company, what’s your succession plan? What are your needs over the next five years? How many people are retiring?” he questioned.
“A lot of companies haven’t even thought about that, and we’re coming to a tsunami here where all of a sudden, we’re going to wake up and we’re going to be 1,000 workers short and companies could go out of business just because they can’t get the workforce they need, which would hurt our regional economy,” Dorsey emphasized.
Presque Isle-based MMG Insurance is just one company who’s developed an internship that surpasses their initial expectations.
Not only have three former interns established full-time employment with the Presque Isle-based firm, two more that were initially considered for the internships have been hired as well since the program began last summer.
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of MMG Insurance Matthew McHatten explained that the company’s internship program has only helped strengthen MMG.
“The intern program looks to be a very effective way to develop the next generation of potential professionals working here, and at the same time, we can’t stop there,” McHatten said. “We have some fantastic people working here now and we have to make sure we’re giving them the training and the opportunity to continue to move up through the company, so internships are just one aspect of the many things that we feel we need to do to continue improving our workforce and getting ready for the challenges of the future.”
It took a few years for MMG to develop its intern program — particularly since organizers wanted to make certain the experience proved beneficial for all involved.
“A lot of thought went in to how we could make that experience as meaningful as possible while also providing some contribution to the work that needs to be done here every day,” McHatten explained.
While the COO of MMG has seen first-hand how a successful intern program can benefit a business, he was also once a student himself benefiting from a summer job shadow experience at Pinkham Lumber in Ashland, in addition to an internship he had under a marketing professor while studying at the University of Maine.
“If you’re studying in business in particular, you don’t get a true inside look because there’s so much variation from one business operation to another,” McHatten described. “Those [internship] experiences, like it was with me, give you a chance see it first-hand, and I think that’s important as students start to conceptualize their careers.”
Among a full schedule for the half-day summit, which takes place from 8 a.m. until noon at UMPI, is an opportunity to hear from MMG’s interns.
“All teachers, principals, guidance counselors, superintendents, higher and adult education officials, business owners or any employer should attend,” said Dorsey. “Especially those with an older, aging workforce that will need to be replaced over the course of the next four or five years should attend. We need to work in a collaborative partnership to connect the dots to get students aware of opportunities and the needed skills, training, certificates or college education to fill the emerging jobs.”
Additional information about the summit can be obtained by visiting app.me.org.
