Biddeford mill bucks textile trend

- [The WestPoint Home mill, in Biddeford (Press Herald Photo-Doug Jones)]-

Maine has a rich heritage that’s tied to textiles. At one time, mills manufacturing textiles were one of the state’s key industries, abundant along Maine’s rivers and waterways.

Biddeford, much like Lewiston and Waterville to the north, were thriving textile centers. In Lewiston, the Bates Mill turned out products and provided incomes that supported countless families, many whom had immigrated to the area, from Canada and elsewhere, to settle along the banks of the Androscoggin River.

To the south, the Pepperill Mills loomed large along the Saco River, an industrial boundary between the communities of Biddeford and Saco. This textile facility was a key part of this area’s economy for much of the 19th and a good part of the 20th centuries. As the global economy transitioned and moved towards the 21st century, the emphasis moved from quality products and craftsmanship to shareholders and lowering labor to its lowest cost. During the last two or three decades of the previous century, textile manufacturing became the domain of third world countries, where low-wage labor is abundant.

In this morning’s Portland Press Herald, in the business section, there was an article about WestPoint Home (formerly WestPoint Stevens), as they attempt to buck the trend and remain viable in an industry that has all but disappeared from our shores.

After a shaky stretch, which included emerging from bankruptcy in 2005, demand for WestPoint products, including the Vellux blanket has been robust. In fact, Albert Davis, factory manager at the mill said that if orders hold up as forecast, the company will reinstate its second shift early this summer and bring back as many as 80 jobs. These jobs would pay between $12-15 per hour.

Developers, however are concerned that if the mill continues to operate successfully, this could make their attempts at developing the mill and gentrifying the property more difficult.

You can access the Press Herald article, here.

Expanding Maine's workforce

As Maine’s population grows older, employers will have to come to terms with ever-increasing shortages of talent. Some hold the opinion that our state has an abundant pool of labor. It would seem to me that those people aren’t paying attention to demographic trends, or the data coming from various staffing firms, or HR organizations.

This issue will continue to be debated. As I’ve written about before, the challenge becomes, for those of us in workforce development, as well as the employer community, where are we going to find our future workforce, especially when baby boomers retire?

There are a number of groups around the state that are trying to raise awareness about the benefits offered by Maine’s disability community. Recently, I became aware of a group that is championing those benefits. Working Together is coalition of Maine businesses seeking to expand the employment of people with disabilities. Their belief is that this expansion benefits Maine's business community, as well as promoting a positive economic future for the state.

I’ve long held the belief that doing the right thing benefits businesses and their bottom line. This particular group recognizes that more and more, Americans prefer socially responsible businesses.

A 2006 study, compiled by the University of Massachusetts/Center for Social Development & Education found that 92 percent of consumers surveyed felt more favorable toward companies that hire individuals with disabilities and 87 percent said they would prefer to give their business to such companies. Among those surveyed, hiring people with disabilities ranked third behind offering health insurance to all employees and protecting the environment as an indicator of a company’s commitment to social justice.

For more information about the many benefits of hiring individuals with disabilities, I encourage you to visit Working Together’s informative website.

Maine Medical Center will partner with Tufts

Maine Medical Center said today it will partner with Tufts University in what hospital officials believe is only the second joint-degree program of its kind in the country.

The new program will allow Tufts medical students to spend their junior year and part of their senior year in rotation at MMC, Abby Greenfield, MMC’s community relations manager, told Mainebiz this morning. The program will graduate 36 students a year -- with 20 spots reserved for Maine students or those with close ties to Maine -- and will begin accepting applications for the fall 2009 school year. MMC will end its affiliation with the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 2011 to make room for the Tufts students, Greenfield said.

The physician training program is designed to attract doctors to Maine, and will include a curriculum to train physicians who intend to work in rural areas. Students will receive a combined degree from Tufts and MMC.

[From Tuesday's The Daily, the daily Mainebiz email drop of pertinent business news]

2008 Androscoggin County Chamber awards

There is a great marketing slogan that the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council has adopted, "L-A: It's Happening Here." For those of us that are involved in the commmunity and in particular, have spent time with the area's Chamber of Commerce, we know that this is much more than just a slogan.

The Lewiston-Auburn area is experiencing noticeable growth and expansion. Much of the credit goes to the area businesses that go beyond mere commerce, to actively participate in the act of community that has brought new energy and a sense of vibrancy to these twin cities on either side of the Androscoggin River.

At the Chamber's annual dinner, last Thursday night, a variety of local businesses/individuals received a variety of awards. Below is a partial list, with notes, taken from the dais (and the Lewiston SunJournal). You can access the entire list here.

• Business Leadership Award, smaller company, to Wei Li Chinese Restaurant and owner Cam Lu. Besides running a successful, health-conscious restaurant, Lu was cited for his civic responsibility and fundraising efforts for charities.

• Business Leadership Award, larger company, to WahlcoMetroFlex. Following a management buyout in 2001, the company has grown steadily, transforming itself into a smartly run prosperous business obsessed with quality and customer service. The company is expanding, bringing new vitality to Maine's manufacturing sector.

• Education/Business Partnership Award to Steve Wessler, executive director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence. Under Wessler's leadership, the center's "community conversations" provide a vehicle for new Somali residents to discuss issues with their native-born neighbors.

• President's Award to Fuel, Fish Bones and Gerry Dennison. To the restaurants for their work in reviving the downtown's image by operating world-class restaurants in renovated, historic buildings. And to Dennison, a state Department of Labor analyst, for his help in growing economic development.

• Ray Geiger Award to Bud Willey, Canteen Services, for his tireless work with the chamber. "I know of no single individual who has so consistently supported the chamber over such a long period of time," said Chip Morrison, chamber president.

Dennison's award was fitting to a longtime public employee and someone who epitomizes the kind of quiet integrity that often gets lost in today's bloodsport of bashing government and public service.

Chip Morrison, Chamber President (and former DOL Commissioner), noted that “this is really a Lifetime Achievement Award”.

The Sun Journal supplement to the Chamber Dinner read, “Even a title that long (referring to Gerry’s MDOL title, which is a long one) cannot begin to describe the enormous contributions Dennison has made to the citizens and economy of Maine, but especially to the Lewiston-Auburn community. With virtually a photographic memory for all the details of government, of economic data, for how government and the economy impact average citizens, Dennison has been a unique resource to the businesses, to local governments, to economic development agencies and to the LA community for more than two decades. A long time Auburn City counselor, Dennison has also been a major force with the Chamber, with the Lewiston Auburn Economic Growth Council, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, and has served with distinction on a long list of philanthropic interests. Gerry has had a huge impact on the revitalization of LA," Morrison said.”

When he retires this spring, Maine's Department of Labor will lose a key employee and resource and illstrates the loss that occurs when experienced employees leave their positions.

Is Maine's workforce in need of a skills upgrade?

WorkReady™ continues to gain advocates wherever it is offered. Most business leaders recognize that the requisite skills required for success in the workplace are not readily apparent in many jobseekers filling out applications and being granted interviews.

While the WorkReady™ program continues to garner positive reviews from employers in Lewiston/Auburn, where it was originally piloted (and is now being offered for the sixth time), it sometimes is a tougher sell elsewhere. I’m not sure why it is, but here is a scenario I’ve run into occasionally, like a recent conversation I had with a business person in economically depressed Oxford County, where pulp and paper has been the area’s “bread and butter.”

His take on the local workforce was that they didn’t "have any refugees, or immigrants" and that no one in his area needed to learn how to “show up on time and sober for work.” Apparently, his perception of ready-to-work programs is that only the "New Mainer" population, or derelicts, are in need of skills upgrades.

I was sorry to burst this person’s bubble, by letting him in on a little secret—Maine’s workforce isn’t as well-versed in the “soft,” or "applied" skills as he seems to believe that they are. Anyone who has transacted business at a restaurant, a local bank, an area grocery store, or other place of commerce, can relate their own “horror story” of a worker who came up short on the customer service scale. In my opinion, waiting for a sales associate to finish their cell phone conversation, before acknowledging me in the checkout aisle, isn’t award-winning customer service.

The highly respected Conference Board, issued a cautionary tale of their own, when in 2006, they issued a report titled, Are They Really Ready To Work? Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce.

The report clearly delineates what constitues workforce readiness in today's world and issued a report card” on U.S. workplaces. The report was clear—there are definitely deficiencies indicated across the U.S., in the area of essential, basic skills.

Here is a list of the top five skills that respondents indicated would increase in importance over the next five years:

• Critical thinking/problem solving
  
• Information technology application
  
• Teamwork/collaboration
  
• Creativity/innovation
  
• Diversity

Leadership and oral communication were listed sixth and seventh.

Imparting these foundational skills are all key elements in the WorkReady™ curriculum, a curriculum that relied upon the input of local employers during its development.

The skills tied to creativity/innovation are interesting. Daniel Pink, in his book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future, states that “the future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind.” These different kinds of people, like storytellers—creative and holistic “right-brain thinkers,”—these types of skills represent a “fault line” between who gets ahead and who doesn’t.

Rather than wallow in the realm of “doom and gloom,” Pink (and the Conference Board report, for that matter) shows us that it's possible to teach the skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century world of work. The left-brain, automated typ of stuff, is being off-shored, or continues to occupy the low-wage realm of employment. The economic prosperity that Maine needs to turn its focus towards, is tied to skills that aren’t necessarily being taught, but could be.

If this kind of stuff intrigues you, let me recommend this article, by Mark Prensky. He speaks eloquently to differences in learning and more importantly, communication styles.

For more from the Conference Board and the issue of work skills, visit the website for The Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

New Technology + Research and Development =New Jobs

From the Maine Technology Institute (MTI):

Maine Technology Asset Fund: Request for Applications Released

This past November, Maine voters passed a $50 million bond referendum to support research, development and commercialization of new technologies and to generate quality jobs across the state. The Maine Technology Institute (MTI) is administering the new Maine Technology Asset Fund that can be used for capital and infrastructure expenditures, such as laboratories and laboratory equipment supporting research and development leading to commercialization of new products and services in Maine's seven technology sectors.

Universities, nonprofits and businesses may all apply to this fund. Projects involving collaboration are encouraged. This is not a traditional research funding program, but one that rather aims to drive economic development and grow Maine's innovation economy through investments in critical capital projects. Projects that move technologies farthest along the innovation continuum toward commercialization and revenue generation, therefore maximizing economic benefit for Maine, will be the most competitive for this program.

Applications will be reviewed competitively according to five criteria: economic impact, scientific merit, project team and institution, relevance to Maine’s innovation economy and collaboration. To oversee the external review of all applications, MTI is contracting with the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, a respected scientific organization that has worked with over 30 states to implement research and technology commercialization programs. Applicants who move forward to the second phase of review will participate in an interview panel with out-of-state and Maine reviewers.

There will be two rounds of awards, one in 2008 and another in 2009. The MTI Board anticipates approving the first round of awards by September 2008. For the 2008 round, the Notice of Intent to file an application is due electronically at MTI on Monday, March 17, by noon. Late submissions will not be accepted. Paper applications are due at MTI on Thursday, April 17, by 5:00 p.m. Late submissions will not be accepted.

The Request for Applications and Notice of Intent along submission dates and other important information can be found on MTI’s Web site.

"Green Collar" Jobs For Maine?

From The Associated Press (Feb. 2, 2008):

-- When 1,800 workers lost their jobs after a Maytag appliance factory and headquarters closed last year in the small town of Newton, Iowa, a wind turbine blade company saw opportunity _ an available, skilled workforce in the middle of one of America's hardiest wind energy production regions.

TPI Composites Inc. is building a new plant there as the energy industry aims for a cleaner, more sustainable future. With proper incentives, thousands of "green-collar jobs" could be created, from ethanol production to wind turbines and solar panels, and all the maintenance and construction to support them, industry officials said.

TPI used to build boats, but switched to turbines in 2001 for the "major growth opportunity," said Steve Lockard, CEO of the Phoenix, Ariz.-based company. The idea, he said, is to "transform the workforce away from the Maytag-type jobs of the past into jobs that can withstand the test of time going forward."

However, advocates and executives say training is key to making sure the industry has enough skilled workers to make it into a real economic engine, and are pushing for more lucrative tax breaks, much like oil companies already receive, to make it profitable.

Read the rest here (free Washington Post registration required).

The article goes on to say that for technologies to be successful, federal tax credits must be extended and more federal dollars must be targeted for training.

Randall Swisher, executive director of the American Wind Energy Association estimates that estimates that by 2030, nearly a half-million new jobs could be created in the wind industry, in manufacturing, construction and operation.

Says Swisher, "These are jobs that are really the backbone of the economy, jobs like roofers, carpenters, electricians and plumbers," he said. "But the federal government is completely asleep at the switch here."