MDF Awarded $535,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending Funds to Boost Maine’s Rural & Forest Product Sector Workforce

Hallowell, Maine - July 18, 2024 - Maine Development Foundation (MDF) is pleased to announce an award of Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) funds totaling $535,000 to offer critically needed training and online micro-credential courses for working-age Mainers who can then fill the hundreds of open jobs in Maine's forest products industry.

"This CDS funding - first and foremost - will help address continuing needs for workers in the Jay region who were displaced by the sudden closure of the town's paper mill in 2022," says Yellow Light Breen, President & CEO of MDF. "The investment will also help the statewide forest industry by enabling employers to fill open jobs and build their workforce of the future at a time of innovation and growth. These employers pay family-supporting wages and offer robust benefits packages."

The funds are made possible through advocacy by Maine's two U.S. Senators, Susan Collins (R) and Angus King (I). MDF, a key partner in and staff to the FOR Maine (Forest Opportunity Roadmap) coalition, worked with the coalition's established partnerships to identify which trainings/micro credentials are most needed to design the programs being funded:

• Pathways to Prosperity for a Skilled Forest Workforce: MDFis partnering with Spruce Mountain Adult Education to train 50 students over the next two years in CDL (Commercial Driver License) Class A instruction. In-kind matches and support from Merrill's Garage and Spruce Mountain Adult Education will aid the new training programs. Importantly, the CDL funds also cover up to $1000 stipends for students for things like transportation and childcare - necessities that often have proven too costly to would-be participants, barring them from taking such courses and therefore landing the jobs.
• Forestry Product Sector Micro-Credential online course: MDF is partnering with the University of Maine to develop course which will use the digital platform Badgr to educate as many as 500 people about the wide range of job opportunities, benefits, and potential career advancement within the forest products sector. The course will be free and available for navigators - those who work with students/workers of all ages to connect them to educational opportunities, job information, and life-supports that are critical to career success.

"This initiative - which includes pathways to high-wage, high-demand jobs - not only meets industry demand but also empowers our community with essential employment credentials for a prosperous future," says Dr. Robyn Raymond, Director, Spruce Mountain Adult Education. "Spruce Mountain Adult Education is thrilled to partner with MDF in this work, and deeply grateful for Senators Collins and King for helping secure this funding."

According to the Forest Opportunity Roadmap for Maine Workforce Development Strategy report, within the next ten years over 26% of the forest products workforce will have reached retirement age and are at high probability of exiting the labor force. Labor replacement demands for the entire forest products sector range from 4,770 to 5,200 over the next fifteen years. These courses will help bridge the gap to meet workforce needs.

"We are thrilled that these programs are coming to fruition as they will help us meet FOR/Maine's long-term workforce goals: attracting young people to the industry; ensuring new, replacement, and existing workers have the skills they need; and preparing our workforce for emerging technologies," says Ryan Bushey, Chair of the FOR/Maine Workforce Committee.

To learn more about FOR/Maine, visit formaine.org.