Jackman, or bust

Nearly three years ago now, just after I started in my position with the LWIB, I was part of a discussion about economic development, and someone used the term, "the two Maines." While this phrase has become popularized by some, and periodically, you'll read an article in a Maine-based publication referring to this sense that Maine is split in two--namely north/south; with the state's economically viable (southern sections south of Bangor) corridor, and the rural regions, anything north and east/west of I-95--it more often than not indicates to me an apparent lack of understanding about the geographic, demographic, and economic realities of the state. At the very least, it's an oversimplication of Maine, and shows a lack of creativity.

At that same meeting, a DECD representative was in attendance, a gentleman I have developed a fondness and respect for, partly for his self-deprecating sense of humor, but mainly because of his wisdom that comes from his length of service working in the trenches of econonomic development. He calls himself a "dinosaur" and he bears the scars of one who has managed to maintain a relevance that's allowed him to serve in the current administration, and also during the King administration. I'd affectionately call him a grizzled veteran.

When queried about "the two Maines," he indicated that if this was the case, then his job would be an easy one. Instead, in his estimation, Maine was in reality, 16, or 18 seperate entities, all with their own inherent unique characteristics, local cultures, and economic challenges. This has stayed with me ever since, and validates much of what I've come to know about my home state.

I thought about this idea again last Wednesday, when I made the long drive north of Skowhegan, to Jackman. I had been invited to speak before the Jackman Community Leadership Group.

The trip had been arranged by a colleague and community partner, Dana Hamilton, who serves with me as a member of the Somerset Workforce Development Team (SWDT), a standing group that meets monthly, primarily in Skowhegan. This group, focused on workforce/econonomic development for all of Somerset County, has shut out other communities in Somerset, by unintentionally becoming centered mainly on Skowhegan, and to a lesser extent, Pittsfield and Madison.

My colleague chided our group back in October by saying that "Somerset County is more than just Skowhegan." This resonated with me. She challenged our group to think about holding meetings elsewhere, particularly in some of the smaller communities to the north, like Bingham, and Jackman. It's so easy, regardless of where we live and work, to become parochial, fixated on only our tiny little corner.

Workforce development, and I think, economic development, at least in a state like Maine, is really a regional affair. It's difficult to mandate statewide policies that will work well in both economically robust Portland, and even Cumberland County, and in economically challenged counties like Somerset, Washington, and Oxford to name just three. Yet, more often than not, when policy is discussed, at least by this current administration, and now, by the ever-expanding field of candidates running for governor, one-size-fits-all pronouncements continue to be made.

The best part of my visit to Jackman last week is that is helped me have a much better understanding of the issues as they are on the ground. Rooting what I do in reality informs me in the work that I do, and helps me to be as effective as possible in my position. It also prevents me from becoming someone detached, yet thinks that he knows all the answers. These kind of people often offer "solutions" to people in rural regions that prefer partners and people willing to collaborate, not government "experts" riding in on their white horses with yet another solution to their problems.

That seems to me to be what school consolidation has turned out to be for many rural school districts. What began in theory as a way to shave administrative costs, has visited major challenges on rural districts, like MSAD #12, in Jackman.

As I mentioned during my talk in Jackman, "if someone wanted to create a policy designed to destroy what vitality and hope remains in Maine's rural outposts, they couldn't have come up with anything better than school consolidation." While this might not be received happily by the current administration in power, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that understands life in Maine's small communities to disagree with that statement.

The Jackman Community Leadership Team holds their monthly meetings at The Fours Seasons Restaurant. Prior to the meeting, Dana and I had a wonderful lunch and conversation with Heather Perry, superintendent of schools in Jackman and Greenville, Denise Plante, assistant superintendent in Jackman and principal at Forest Hills School, and Steve Banahan, a manager at one of the region's major employers, Moose River Lumber Company. The enthusiasm that these community leaders expressed about the town and region at large, as well as some of the exciting things going on with students at the school, and the innovative qualities of the Moose River mill was a much different message than some would have anticipated.

In reality, I have found the spirits and community health of rural Mainers, and by extension, economic possibilities in rural America, to be much more hopeful than are often portrayed major media types that rarely, if ever take the time to understand the culture of these areas. I tackled this subject some time ago in relation to a national story done by NPR on Skowhegan.

Because of my visit to Jackman, and given the technology that exists to conference in members of the Community Leadership Team, we now have a goal to start forging stronger ties between our work with the SWDT and the initiatives that are already underway in Jackman.

To do this will require a willingness to periodically take our meetings outside of Skowhegan, and possibly meet at a minimum of two to three times each year in Jackman, or other communities in the Moose River region. More to come on this.

To learn more about issues connected to rural school districts, like the one in Jackman, I'd suggest the website of The Rural School and Communty Trust. Their report, Why Rural Matters in 2009 is worth reviewing for anyone that cares about keeping rural schools healthy and vibrant, and by extension, the communities where those schools are the central focus of local life.

Is America's problem a lack of jobs?

Over the past few months, it’s become commonplace that if given a sound bite opportunity, politicians—local, state, and most certainly, national—will launch some variation on the theme of job creation. The topic tumbles from their mouths automatically. Apparently they’ve figured out that if subjected to months of double-digit unemployment, Americans will salivate when “jobs” are mentioned—this isn’t a bad thing, but let’s take a closer look, or better, peer forward—by looking backward, to decide whether the lack of jobs is in fact the problem..

None of the following is new information, but from time to time, I think it’s important to revisit—think of it as a recalibration of our workforce/economic development focus.

Back in 2008, just prior to the election of President Obama, Michael Porter, guru of competitiveness at Harvard Business School wrote an article that was published in Newsweek stating that America needed a long-term strategy to ensure our country’s ability to compete economically, on the global stage. He argued convincingly, in my opinion, that the lack of a national economic strategy not dictated by political winds or the latest flavor of the month (my paraphrase) was a major problem for the U.S. and needed to be addressed by the incoming administration.

At the time, Porter indicated that both candidates, Mr. McCain, and the eventual horserace winner, Mr. Obama, were lacking anything resembling a strategy on competiveness. Nothing over the past year handed down from Washington has addressed the points that Porter made regarding coming up with a strategic plan to address competitiveness.

Red flags have been raised over the past two years about the lack of key workforce skills, by The Conference Board, the National Association of Workforce Boards, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to name a few. Their points are clearly delineated by data and labor market information.

Clearly, the jobs that will be in demand when vitality returns to the U.S. economy are comprised of skills that fall within the important middle spectrum of the labor skill set.

Recently, I was sent a link to a report that once again highlights major literacy and skills deficiencies titled, Guide to Adult Education for Work: Transforming Adult Education to Grow a Skilled Workforce.

Produced by the Workforce and Education Policy Group, the report lays out some alarming indicators that fit very well with Porter’s article about competitiveness and, echoing his call to in fact come up with strategy.

Here are a few problem areas highlighted by the report:

• The U.S. is the only highly-developed democracy where young adults are less likely to have completed high school than the previous generation.
• Over 1 million young adults drop out of school each year. More than 12 million adults without a high school credential are in the labor force today.
• At the same time, almost twice as many jobs over the next decade will require a postsecondary credential or college degree, up from 25 percent today to about 45 percent over the next decade.
• And far too many (93 million) score at lower levels of national assessments of functional literacy skills and are unprepared to enroll in the postsecondary education or job training programs that can prepare them for current and future jobs.

So what to do? Jobs are important and mentioning job creation might help politicians gather some political capital in the short-term, but let’s face the facts. When our economy picks up, and it will, we’re going to struggle to fill existing jobs, once again. Just this morning I was on the phone speaking to the local branch manager of an international staffing firm. She told me that job requests are coming in regularly that she can’t fill—the reason? Most of the current crop of unemployed people can’t pass her basic screening requirements—a demonstration of a stable work history, verifiable references, no criminal history, etc.—basic stuff.

Maybe the issue isn’t jobs, jobs, jobs after all; maybe it’s finding the will to face up to the huge skills gap nationwide, and getting serious in America about being competitive on the global stage once again.

ARRA money preventing poverty for many

Rather than focus on talk radio, and other media pundits with ideological axes to grind, Americans should be focused on facts and data to decide whether federal and state policies are working. Let's take a look at the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

According to new analysis based on Census data, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is keeping large numbers of Americans out of poverty in states across the country. In addition to boosting economic activity and preserving or creating jobs, the recovery act is softening the recession’s impact on poverty by directly lifting family incomes.

The report, produced by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities includes information on 36 states. Maine is one of them, and the data shows that anywhere from 14,000 (lower-bound estimate), to 30,000 (higher-bound estimate) Mainers have been lifted above the poverty line by ARRA funding, with the best estimate being 22,000.

[Thanks to a Twitter feed, courtesy of the Workforce Developments blog for alerting me to the CBPP's report.--JB]

Does unemployment make you unemployable?

Yesterday, labor officials and worker advocates from across the U.S. were in Washington, urging quick Congressional action to extend emergency jobless benefits and to renew health insurance subsidies for the long-term jobless.

Prolonged unemployment insurance, passed this year in the stimulus act, expires this month, and an estimated one million workers will see benefits end in January if Congress does not act.

The health subsidies, under which the federal government pays 65 percent of insurance costs under Cobra for up to nine months, have expired and are not available to the newly unemployed.

The continued sputtering of the U.S. economy has made unemployment extensions necessary, as more than 15 millions Americans remain on the roles of unemployment insurance, 36 percent of them now out of work for more than 6 months.

Benefit extensions have been necessary in most cases, given the state of the U.S. job market. However, joblessness and its effects on idled workers, as well as the challenges it presents employers looking to rehire workers who have been out of work for an extended period hasn't been considered as closely as perhaps it should be, in my opinion.Can workers, even those who entered their phase of unemployment with strong work histories, forget how to work, or lose their employment edge? While there may be no choice at this point but to extend benefits for another period of time, is our current system an effective one, given that so many Americans have been out of work for so long? What can be done to ensure that laid off workers are prepared to go back to work?

The last time the U.S. faced extended unemployment, in the 1970s, the shift in the employment paradigm wasn’t as dramatic. For many workers laid off for the first time, the entire process of looking for a job has dramatically changed. Many are lacking technology skills necessary to access online job banks.

Interestingly, during a forum I conducted with employers looking at ways to reintroduce workers back into the workforce, one employer indicated that if given the choice between hiring a worker that has been collecting unemployment insurance, and another equally qualified person that has been working, even in a position that he/she was overqualified for, she would choose the worker who has a recent history of work. This was an interesting perspective. Her point was that the individual on long-term unemployment had developed habits that she felt affecting them negatively and decreased their value to this employer. She appreciated the efforts and savvy of anyone that has found a way to stay employed in this tough economy. Furthermore, she said it indicated a will to work that she felt was lacking in anyone that has been on extended unemployment.

This is a perspective worth considering. How do other employers and/or recruiters view job seekers that lack a recent work history, particularly due to extended unemployment?

Tweeking attitudes

It’s easy to end up in a rut and comfortable, even if you’re someone that regularly strives towards self-improvement. Routine and time in a job can inure and insulate in such a way that you become less effective. That’s where self-awareness comes in. Successful people recognize that tendency and take steps to guard against it.

Several weeks ago, I was asked to speak to a group of professionals about reinvention. I have given several presentations on the need for reinvention, so I thought it would be easy. It wasn’t the “slam dunk” I expected, however. Actually, I walked away from my talk realizing that it has been awhile since I have taken a hard look at where I’m at and where I’m headed. I’ve certainly taken some positive steps forward on the physical front in my own life, but the frantic pace of the past three months has left my psychic batteries in need of recharging.

A trip to the library several weeks ago to visit the self-help section put me in touch with writers like Stephen Covey, Po Bronson, and a few others. I also discovered Dr. Gordon Livingston and his wonderful book, Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now.

While Covey got me refocused on the importance of moving beyond merely striving for excellence to seeing the necessity of fulfillment in life’s journey. Covey talks about “finding your voice and inspiring others to do so.”

In that same vein, Livingston, a psychiatrist, uses short essays to highlight how each one of us, regardless of circumstances, limitations, and setbacks, has the potential to move beyond these things. Things like relationships matter. We have the power to revise our personal narrative.

When Livingston writes, “we are what we do,” he puts happiness in the context of being under our control.

How do you create happiness? According to Livingston, the three components necessary for it are “something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to.”

When he touches on, “we are afraid of the wrong things,” he nails American culture in seven words. Our fixation on fright keeps far too many people imprisoned. So much that is valued in our culture is in fact, fatally flawed. Often, fear of failure prevents many people from even trying. Fear is a lousy motivator.

My time away from work over the Thanksgiving break was put to good use.

Being back in the saddle with a renewed focus feels good and has me anticipating a rousing finish for 2009, and limitless possibilities in 2010.

Boots on the ground

On Wednesday of past this week, I went to a conference in Portland focused on diversity issues and their intersection with workforce development. Coordinated by Working Together, a coalition of businesses and organizations intent on finding a way to integrate individuals with disabilities into Maine’s labor pool, the conference was held at USM’s Abromson Center, and was attended by a mix of business people, state officials, representatives from a variety of organizations, as well as non-profit agencies.

During the morning session, John Dorrer, of Maine’s Department of Labor/CWRI gave a presentation on the challenges facing Maine and the nation as our demographic “time bomb”—Maine’s aging population, mainly baby boomers—reaches the age when they’ll be leaving our workforce en masse. This will create a huge gap affecting productivity, economic growth, and U.S. competitiveness. Dorrer cited statistics by economists that indicate that by 2030 that gap of necessary employees and the diversity of skills represented could be as high as 35 million individuals, in the U.S.

Dorrer, an economist by trade talked about the need to address this, and how Maine needed to “get serious” about this. Others, like Martha Antilles, Manpower’s chief diversity officer, spoke to this issue, framing it in global terms, given Manpower’s international corporate focus.

What was lacking in my opinion was an offer of an action plan.

That’s been my experience over the past three years in the trenches of workforce development. By-and-large, recognition that there are problems with both scarcity and skill-level of Maine’s workforce is not an issue. Yes, politicians make the mistake of lauding our state’s workforce, which is still mainly skilled for the state’s 20th century, resource-based economy of manufacturing, paper mills, and wood products. As Maine shifts to a service sector economy, with healthcare growing, jobs in state government, and other business service jobs looking for fulfillment, working for 20 years in a factory environment, or running a paper machine doesn’t easily translate into transferable skills, however. As a result, the transition becomes difficult for many presently out of work.

So how does Maine help people transition from a 20th century skill set, to a 21st century one? Is merely championing four-year degrees going to push the state forward? What happens when displaced workers are told that they need to go to college, but don’t have the academic, study, and other attendant skills that will ensure success in the kind of environment conducive to higher education? Many will stumble and falter, unfortunately.

As I’ve written about before, there needs to be an emphasis on skills characterized as “middle skills.” These entail training beyond the high school level, but don’t necessarily require four-year degree programs. Some of this training can be short-term, conferring a certificate, or credential at its completion.

With all due respect to many good people, talk is cheap. Maine, like many other states have organizations, state agencies, and various hierarchies that crunch numbers, issue reports, and unfortunately, shuffle and/or warehouse elements of the state’s workforce that need to be trained, and ultimately, working. Maine’s large DHHS roles demonstrate this approach, and in my opinion, it’s a terrible waste of human potential, not to mention that it represents a partial solution to the looming labor shortage that Maine will be facing.

There are those in our region that have moved beyond talk, to action. This is due, I believe, to their recognition that workforce development is one of the key elements looking forward towards growing their local/regional economy. Three leaders in Waterville--John Butera/Central Maine Growth Council, Kim Lindlof/Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce, and Ken Young/KVCOG—all recognize that if the economy of their city and region is going to be a vibrant one, then having a workforce with the kind of skills that the 21st requires is essential.

While a program like WorkReady won’t solve all of Waterville’s, or Maine’s ongoing issues of workforce development, it is a great first step in pushing the issue forward. It also moves beyond mere recognition of a problem, to finding a solution to it. An action-oriented approach should not be minimized. Far too often, problems are wanting a solution primarily because no action plan is developed.

WorkReady is the kind of foundational program that has been developed primarily to meet the needs of businesses, addressing many of the ongoing problems that HR people and hiring managers regularly encounter in their attempts at hiring new people, particularly for entry, or lower level positions in their firms.

Over the past three years, our workforce board has built a solid coterie of local WorkReady programs in key communities across Central/Western Maine. We’ve developed a model that starts first with a pilot of the program, and then constructs the next steps forward towards building program sustainability. Even better, the WorkReady curriculum has demonstrated that it has the capacity to transform and change lives, while maintaining a cost-effective approach to training.

While originally intended to target those stuck in the “ghetto” of low wage/low skill jobs, with many bouncing from seasonal position, to seasonal position, WorkReady has been successful in helping displaced workers transition by identifying transferable skills, upgrade their technology skills, and better represent their qualities on a resume, and through the interview process. Additionally, WorkReady continues to find new audiences for its training, including recent successes within Maine’s correction system and county jails, including the Somerset County Jail in East Madison. Other programs have been offered at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, and one currently under way at the Bolduc Correctional Facility in Warren.

****

Friday morning, Morning Sentinel reporter, Erin Rhoda's compelling feature article on the WorkReady graduation was a welcome acknowledgement of much of the work I've been involved in to bring WorkReady to its current place in the community. This came about because I left a voicemail for her, and she felt it was newsworthy enough to follow-up with me by phone.

Having a feature article on our program was significant because it validates the efforts that many of us have put into building WorkReady from the ground up, which is how it develops in every location where it ends up being launched. Rhoda’s article was excellent, and really captured the essence about what WorkReady is all about.

Friday was also the day of our third WorkReady graduation in Waterville. This current group of trainees is our largest one in Waterville, with candidates being awarded their WorkReady credential. This group is also a very strong group of future employees for any business that would want to employ them.

For the first time ever, we had a former WorkReady graduate returning to deliver the keynote address to the current group of trainees.

Jeneese LaRouche has taken the training she received last March, and has parlayed that into success for herself. Like many young women in Maine, Jeneese had graduated from high school without a clear career direction for her life. Before she knew it, she was a mother of two, with no firm opportunities on the employment front, and not sure of where to turn to move her life forward.

I first met Jeneese in Skowhegan, at an informational meeting that was held to promote the program and potentially recruit attendees to participate in our upcoming offering of WorkReady. Jeneese was the one person who jumped at the opportunity, and WorkReady has been a springboard for her, putting her on the road to employment success.

Upon graduating last March, she was hired by Global Contact Services (GCS), in Pittsfield. GCS is a customer contact center, working with major clients throughout the U.S. Jeneese was committed to being a success and despite some logistical issues with daycare, and carpooling with her partner to work, she managed to be a model employee. In fact, when the United Way of Mid-Maine wanted to interview a WorkReady graduate for their kick-off video (United Way is the current funder for WorkReady inWaterville), Jeneese agreed and did an outstanding job on camera, representing the program, and demonstrating its success in helping transform her life, and the lives of others. Her employer even agreed to speak on camera about her performance, telling how she had been modeling the qualities that WorkReady imparts in its trainees.

Jeneese delivered an inspirational speech to the graduates on Friday. She encouraged them to take what they’ve learned, and in particular, some of the personalized lessons that Kathleen Lewia, the program’s outstanding facilitator has given them over the past four weeks. Jeneese spoke about the challenges, and also, about the opportunity that she now has, to be a role model for her children, who see their mother going off to work each day, helping to provide for their well-being.

Demostrating that good things come to those who apply the lessons learned in WorkReady, Jeneese was recently offered a position with T-Mobile in Oakland, and it currently going through the company’s eight-week training program. She will be one of T-Mobile’s customer service reps upon completion of the training.

For more information about WorkReady, you can visit the program’s website. You can also contact Jim Baumer, director of business services, for the Central/Western Maine Workforce Investment Board at 207-753-9026.

[Waterville WorkReady graduation photo]

Workforce in the year 2020

Our local workforce investment board has a wonderful and respected member that gets quite animated about how Maine continually fails to do long-range strategic planning when it comes to fiscal matters. I can't say I disagree with him. In addition to fiscal matters, I think our state also is lacking in long-range strategic planning when it comes to its workforce, with a few exceptions.

We have begun an election cycle for governor. We are one year out from having to decide who we want to lead our state for four more years, but I don't think it's too early for the candidates to formulate a strategic vision, and communicate just what their workforce strategy might be during their four (or eight, if chosen for re-election) year tenure.

Unfortunately, not much that is coming out of the mouths of any of the candidates is making me particularly giddy at this point. Experience teaches me that not too much will change over the next 12 months, either.

You see, politicians talk in generalities. They say things like Maine's biggest challenge is "lack of jobs and opportunity." Others indicate that all Maine needs to move from the bottom tier of states, to possibly the middle tier, is "more accountability in Augusta." We hear others blather on about "cut, cut, cut, cut, cut," as if cutting government spending (and taxes) to the bone will magically deliver prosperity. Then, there is the belief held by many that merely running government like a business will lead the Pine Tree State to the economic promised land.

Maine does not have a vaunted work ethic, at least in any greater capacity than the other 49 states of the union; yet we've heard the current governor and members of his administration regularly trumpet this myth for the past eight years. What Maine has is a workforce that was predominantly skilled for an economy that was resource-based, and heavily oriented towards manufacturing--basically, a 20th century mindset towards work. The skills required for success in the 21st century are heavily weighted towards information, and technology. Further, in speaking with employers on a daily basis, I hear them indicate that work ethic, or the basic skills of being able to show up, on time, as scheduled for work, is not a given, at least in the five counties that I travel throughout, in Central/Western Maine. I don't think it's any different in the other 11 counties, represented by the three other LWIBs.

While it might be tempting, given that our unemployment rate was 8.6 percent in August, to think that Maine's workforce will be sufficient for the future. In reality, Maine, like the other 49 states that make up the U.S. will be looking at a labor shortage--projected at 30 million skilled and educated workers over the next thirty years, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor, cited in a report funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In the face of these numbers, the Foundation has committed to doubling the number of low-income students earning post-secondary degrees, or credentials that hold genuine value--basically leading to employment in a sector where jobs are being created.

Maine can learn some things from this report, which focused on successful programs that had both significant employer involvement, as well as employment connected to a career track.

Additionally, certain common characteristics were apparent in the successful program that were highlighted (see report pages 10-12). Things like flexibility, partnerships, connections to local employers, helping students learn and gain skills while they continued to work, all were important determinants of success.

Some of these same lessons (particularly the value of partnerships, leveraging resources, and connecting with employers) have been learned in Central/Western Maine with WorkReady, Next Steps programs, our recent CNC Precision Manufacturing training at CMCC, as well as other initiatives developed by our LWIB.

Maine's four workforce boards are closely aligned with their regional workforce needs, as well as having "boots on the ground," so they can offer some sense of what's needed for workforce solutions in the short-term, as well as offering a more strategic vision for the future.