Americans not going it alone

During an economic downturn like our current one, it would seem logical if self-employment trended upward. The notion is that losing a job might provide the spark that someone needs to finally start that business they’ve only dreamed about, or outlined on a cocktail napkin, now sitting in their desk drawer.

In Canada, self employment numbers have been rising for several months. The June statistics show another increase in those seeking their own path to re-employment. The numbers show gains in self-employment of 37,000 in June, while the number of employees in the private sector decreased by 39,000. Since October, self-employment has grown by 1.5%, whereas the number of employees has declined by 3.3% in the private sector and 1.4% in the public sector.

On the other hand, Americans seem to be recoiling from entrepreneurship, and self-employment, at least according to an article written by Scott Shane, in the New York Times.

[Source: Created from data contained in the OECD Factbook 2009. U.S. self-employment rate, 1990-2007.]

We hear so much about Americans and their entreprenurial spriit. Why the sudden lack of courage when it comes to starting down a new path?

One reason Shane posits is the increase in healthcare costs. According to the article, a result of these spiraling expenses is the “inability of new companies to offer health insurance to their employees. The Kauffman Firm Survey, which tracks a sample of new businesses drawn from the 2004 cohort of U.S. start-ups, reports that only 29.5 percent of new employer firms and only 12 percent of all start-ups provide health insurance to their full-time employees.”

Charter schools: Why not in Maine?

[I have posted this as a question. I have no "skin in the game" regarding charter schools. I no longer have any children in public school. I regularly see the results of public schools, however, in building training programs for people that didn't acquire the requisite skills when they were in school. This isn't meant to be a slam against educators. I do believe, however that Maine parents should have as much choice in educating their children, as possible.

In 2004, I wrote a lengthy article on schools, and detailed the charter school option, asking similar questions. Five years later, Maine still is one of a handful of U.S. states without charter schools. I remain curious about why this is.--JB]

Charter schools: Why not in Maine?

Maine is one of only ten states that don't permit charter schools. Why is this?

Given that Maine currently is facing an $80 million dollar budget shortfall, with major cuts looming, potentially in education, could charter schools be an option for public education in Maine? Currently, there is a $4.4 billion federal pot of money targeted at education reform. States which limit or prohibit charter schools may be excluded from sharing such funds.

On May 28, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, “States will hurt their chance to compete for millions of federal stimulus dollars if they fail to embrace innovations like charter schools.” (Libby Quaid, Associated Press, “Duncan: States could lose out on stimulus cash,” 5/28/09)

Charter schools are voluntary public schools, open to all children without admissions tests. They must be non-religious, and as small non-profit public organizations they are allowed increased flexibility in their operations in return for increased accountability for their students’ academic performance.

Many of these new charter schools, often small public schools, operate on a five-year charter issued by their authorizing agency, a local school board or a Maine university, which monitors and assesses their performance according to specific criteria.

The charter school model encourages innovation and responsiveness to children’s needs. It provides parents with increased choice, particularly if they feel that a public school, conventional or charter, is not meeting their child’s needs. It allows them an option of choosing another public school and the funds will follow that child - but only if charter schools as an option--in Maine, they are not.

Here are ten things you should know about charter schools:

Charter schools are:

• publicly funded, and are not vouchers for private schools.
• open to all students.
• pioneers and innovators in public education.
• meeting parents' needs.
• appealing places to work for teachers.
• committed to improving public education.
• operated by an exciting array of non-profit groups.
• playing an important part in school reform.
• demonstrating a record of student achievement.

[list courtesy of the US Charter Schools website]

If interested in knowing more about charter schools, and efforts in Maine to provide that choice for parents, here is a link to the Maine Association for Charter Schools website.

Here's a good example of the problems that occur when students don't receive a quality high school education.

Summer movies at MIFF

Like most Mainers, I’m growing tired of waking up each morning to forecasts of rain, and one day of sun out of seven. While it’s a truism that “a little rain must fall,” I think 25 out of the last 37 (or some approximation) is enough!

If it must rain, and Maine’s coastline and sun isn’t an option, then maybe it’s time to focus on movies.

Waterville is set to commence hosting the 12th annual Maine Independent Film Festival (MIFF), which begins Friday, July 10. This yearly film festival has become a Mecca for Maine’s movie lovers, as well as people who travel up to the Mid-Maine area just to take in some or all of the ten days of independent and international cinema.

MIFF is hosted at two unique Waterville venues. The historic Waterville Opera House is a 940 seat theater, built at the turn of the 20th century. If you’ve never visited, you’ll be impressed by its beautiful gold-leaf proscenium, as well as amenities geared to your comfort, like air conditioning, and modern projection equipment to enhance your viewing pleasure. The Opera House will be hosting films and events throughout the festival, including both Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

[Waterville City Hall, circa 1902, home of the city's historic Opera House]

The Railroad Square Cinema, a haven to Mainers who love intelligent, cutting-edge cinema fare, will also be a prime venue for many of the 100 films that will be showing over the 10 days of the festival.

Every year, Waterville becomes Movietown, USA, with its rich variety and diversity of films, as well as Q&A sessions with key figures in the independent film industry. Prior special guests read like veritable who’s who of Hollywood, including John Turturro (2008), Bud Cort (2007), Walter Hill (2006) Ed Harris (2004), and Sissy Spacek (2001).

This year, MIFF will present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Arthur Penn, best known as the director of the iconic Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Penn also has been nominated for both Tony and Oscar awards for masterpieces like Alice’s Restaurant (1970) and The Miracle Worker (1962).

This year’s opening night features the much talked about movie with a Maine gridiron flavor, award-winning filmmaker, Kirk Wolfinger’s The Rivals. This “Friday Night Lights set in Maine” features the epic high school football playoff battle between two very different Maine communities—the gritty mill town of Rumford, pitted against affluent southern coastal burb of Cape Elizabeth.

While this is an all American story, featuring Friday night high school football, a staple of many Maine communities, it’s also a film about Maine and by Mainers. Every cameraman, soundman, the edit team, as well as the mixing for the sound, was done by people living in Maine.

Another highlight at this year’s MIFF is the scheduled unveiling of the highly-anticipated romantic comedy, (500) Days of Summer, which garnered a 2009 Sundance selection.
I saw a preview last weekend and this seems like a winner.

MIFF is a project of the Maine Film Center and is made possible in part by generous support of Bangor Savings Bank, Colby College, and Maine Public Broadcasting.

FMI about the festival, contact Festival Directors Ken Eisen at (207)872-5111, or Shannon Haines at (207)680-2055.

I’m forced to miss the opening weekend to attend a wedding, but I plan to hit one of the weeknights next week, and take in a day’s worth next weekend, on Saturday. I encourage others to visit downtown Waterville.

Additional information about the city can be found at the Waterville Main Street website, as well as the Mid-Maine Chamber’s site. If you want to experience a unique dining treat that you won’t find anywhere else in the Pine Tree State, check out the authentic Southern cuisine of the Freedom Café. Check their website for the nights they're open for business.

You can also read my take on last year's MIFF, here.

The lost art of reading

With others reading less and engaging more with social media, my early summer experience has been just the opposite. During my non-work hours, I’m trying to limit my time with technology and pursue old-fashioned activities like writing and reading. In fact, my current book of choice is close to 1,000 pages, with an additional 96 pages of endnotes. I've blogged a bit about the community read taking place that I've decided to participate in, over at my personal blog devoted to my writing/publishing interests.

Summer has more often than not been a time when I’ve tried to engage with books. From my youth, when the season was about reading books and getting my summer reading card punched at my local library in Lisbon Falls, to a couple of summers of unemployment/under-employment where I made use of my time to pour through some weighty works (Lewis Mumford’s Culture of Cities, John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion to name just two). Even full-time work hasn’t made reading impossible, as I read David James Duncan’s sprawling novel, The Brothers K, last July, over a long weekend at Shagg Pond, all 741 pages of it.

I recall former governor Angus King, a few years ago promoting turning off the television for a week, saying that “readers are leaders.” Sadly, I’ve found far too many supposed leaders lacking on the reading front.

Technology is great, and has its place, but there is still a place in my opinion, for communication that exceeds 140 characters.

A little workforce history lesson

I spent much of the past two days participating in this year’s Maine Adult Education Conference, titled, “At Work for Me” at Colby College, in Waterville.

One of the elements of this year’s conference was a WorkReady™ strand, or focus. On Thursday, I was one of the presenters of “Connecting WorkReady™ to the Businesses in Your Community,” which highlighted successful public/private partnerships that I’ve been part of in Central/Western Maine, in building partnerships that have developed as a result of this program. Many of these initially developed as a result of WorkReady™ have also facilitated relationships that have supported summer youth programs funding by Recovery & Reinvestment Act money, as well as contributed to training programs for New Mainers, as well as precision manufacturing to name but two.

Wednesday, I sat in on a breakout that was done by Bryant Hoffman, our WIB's (or "LWIB) executive director. This was one of four regional meetings that helped to emphasize the collaboration that exists, as well as the historical context connected with the Workforce Investment Act, and the mandated partnership established between the workforce boards and adult education providers.

More than a mandated partnership however, adult education has been an eager and willing partner in delivering the curriculum portion of WorkReady™. Additionally, other connections have been fostered between our workforce board, various adult education partners, the private sector, and the community college system.

In returning to the history of Maine’s WorkReady™ Credential, it was actually “born back in January 2004 as a result of a U.S. Department of Labor grant through the Employment & Training Administration to the Central/Western Maine Workforce Investment Board.

In 2005, several statewide forums (funded by U.S. DOL) were conducted by Melanie Arthur to explore collaboration for work readiness and skill development in Maine. At one of these, then state director of Adult Education, Becky Dyer, and Hoffman had a conversation during a break that eventually led to the first meeting that forged the partnership with Adult Education that has served WorkReady™ so well since. This was in April, 2005.

In the spring of 2006, the very first pilot of WorkReady™ was initiated in Lewiston. Twelve participants graduated from that first program with their WorkReady Credential. Since then, six more programs have run, with an additional 78 candidates being certified as “work ready,” upon graduation. Additionally, the program has fanned out and has also run successful programs in Farmington (three times), Waterville (two times), Rumford (two times), Skowhegan (three times), Pittsfield (once), and Augusta (once). All told, more than 170 candidates have received WorkReady™ Credentials in Central/Western Maine.

While launched in Central/Western Maine, all three other LWIB regions in Maine have established programs in their workforce areas.

In Area 4 (Coastal Counties, Inc), WorkReady™ has now been offered at the Maine Correctional Center three times. MSAD 54 (Skowhegan, Norridgewock, Canaan, Cornville, and Mercer) recently facilitated their first jail-based WorkReady™ program, with 10 trainees at the Somerset County Jail receiving credentials signifying that they’d completed WorkReady and were ready and eager to make a contribution to the workforce.

Other states like Florida, Louisiana, and New York have built elaborate top down programs, often endorsed by state leaders. Maine being Maine has had to piece together this particular program with a grassroots orientation. Undeterred, Maine’s workforce boards have leveraged a variety of resources and as a result, WorkReady™ continues to gain momentum, as well as harboring cautious optimism about sustaining this necessary program into the future.

Lessons Learned from Workforce Innovations

As the North Star Alliance Industry Liaison, I participated in the 7th WIRED Academy held in Washington, DC last week. WIRED stands for Workforce Innovations in Regional Economic Development and is the federal grant that helped establish the North Star Alliance. Their are 39 total regions that have received these grants over three generations. Over the last three and a half year the North Star Alliance has worked hard to bring togther workforce and economic development for the marine trades and composites industry. We have developed many strong partnerships including education (Maine Advanced Technology Center, Marine Systems Training Center, The Landing School, and the Boat School), industry associations (Maine Composites Alliance and Maine Marine Trades Association), and with field staff in economic development and business services (SBDC and DECD). Though, I learned about innovations from some of the other regions that seem to be working even better.

For instance, the Metro Denver Wired region integrated their workforce and economic development professionals at the beginning of the grant. They worked side by side out of the same office and this allowed them to establish very efficient business services for industry. In addition, the decision was made to have liaisons work directly with each specific industry, and all training development was industry led.

A second example comes from Mississippi. To create sustainability this region has created a Steering Committee that has agreed to live on after WIRED is over. This committe includes each major industry, each level of Education (HS, Community College, and 4-year), Economic Development, and the Workforce System. It is the charge of this committee to the lessons from WIRED alive and continue developing these partnership for Mississippi.

Finally, two other important items were developed because of this WIRED Academy. First, 33 or the 39 regions created very informative posters of their regions' successes. You can find all of the posters here. In addition, a white paper was created to be used in educating legislators and others on what we have learned from the WIRED experience. Download the two page paper here.

To quote the white paper, "To build the next generation of prosperity, we need workforce innovation: the integration of education, workforce development and economic development." Through the WIRED project the 39 regions have learned how to connect, how to leverage resources, how to measure outcomes, and how to break boundaries down.

Maine mustard goes to Washington

President Obama likes hamburgers. He also prefers mustard on them.

A Maine mustard maker, recognizing an opportunity to get their product some run outside the state, leveraged their political ties and made a delivery of their Maine-made product to the White House.

Maine Senator Olympia Snowe served as the middleman, shipping over a gift pack of Raye’s Mustard in the wake of the news reports on a burger run by President Obama and the chief executive’s expressed preference for mustard.

Raye's Mustard is made in North America's last authentic stone-ground mustard mill. The mill is owned and operated by Maine Senate Minority Leader Kevin Raye, and his wife, Karen. Raye formerly served as Snowe's chief of staff.

Kevin and Karen Raye are the fouth generation to own and operate the Eastport-based mill, established in 1900 to supply Maine’s once-thriving sardine industry.

How do you prefer your hamburger? I'm a mustard, relish and ketchup burger connoisseur (with a pickle), myself.

[news source-Bangor Daily News]