Aroostook Day at the Legislature is Feb. 11

Workforce issues, education and growing the business skills of entrepreneurs present and future will be center stage at the 2015 Aroostook Day at the Legislature on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
LEADers Encouraging Aroostook Development (LEAD), a key partner in the Aroostook Partnership for Progress (APP), will be organizing the event.
“We sponsor Aroostook Day as an opportunity for members of the private, public and nonprofit sectors in Aroostook County to interact directly with our elected state representatives on issues of importance to The County,” said Jim Davis, LEAD president.
The event, held at the Senator Inn in Augusta, begins at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour, then dinner, followed by formal presentations.
Ryan Pelletier, executive director of LEAD and director of Economic and Workforce Development at Northern Maine Development Commission, and Scott Voisine, dean of community education at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, are the speakers for the evening.
“This is a chance to inform not only our delegation, but other committee members as well about our economic development opportunities and challenges,” said Pelletier.
Voisine will focus on UMFK’s Rural U program, a fast-growing early college and dual enrollment program that serves students in 57 high schools throughout the state. He will also briefly touch on the new Aroostook Business Initiative, which brings the four higher education institutions in Aroostook County together along with other partners to increase interest in business learning opportunities for learners from middle school to adulthood.
“We live in a state with dwindling resources for education, yet we are continually being held to a higher standard of accountability in education,” said Voisine. “In order for this state to be able to continue to achieve a high level of educational quality and a broad breath of curricular choices to students at all levels, we need to realize a seamless, collaborative system of education in Maine from pre-K to 16 and beyond to adulthood. My message will be that initiatives such as Rural U and the Aroostook Business Initiative are important in this effort and are examples of what can happen when educational institutions and community partners can achieve when they come together for the betterment of the community.”
Pelletier said invitees include LEAD and APP members, NMDC Executive Board, Aroostook-Washington Workforce Investment Board, Aroostook and Washington county legislators and legislative leadership.
For more information contact Judy Dinsmore at NMDC by email at jdinsmore @nmdc.org or by phone at 498-8736.