April 2007 - MDF receives major grant to increase workforce degree attainment levels

 

The Maine Development Foundation has received a three-year grant totaling nearly half a million dollars to help dramatically increase degree attainment levels across Maine’s workforce.

 

With the support of the Maine Community Foundation, MDF won the major award from the Indiana-based Lumina Foundation. The Lumina Foundation for Education strives to help people to achieve their potential by expanding access and success in education beyond high school.

The Lumina grant will launch the Maine Employers’ Initiative, a new MDF program. The program was designed and an advisory board was created in 2006 with the support of a $50,000 grant from the Ford Foundation.

The Employers’ Initiative will provide Maine's public and private employers with technical assistance, training and statewide recognition for forward-looking workforce education policies. The program is a response to the lagging educational attainment of Maine’s workforce, which puts Maine at a significant disadvantage for business attraction vis-à-vis the rest of New England. Click here to see how Maine compares to New England and the U.S. in college degree attainment levels.

The Employers’ Initiative is one of the five action strategies of the Maine Compact for Higher Education, which seeks to increase the number of degree holders in Maine by 40,000 above current projections by the year 2020. The Compact was founded by MDF and MCF.

There are many things Maine employers can do in collaboration with government and educators to help their more than 700,000 employees earn college degrees and to expand the supply of skilled, college-educated workers in Maine. Some of the more effective forms of support an employer can offer are: flex time for attending classes; paying for tuition, books and fees front end; and simply making it a point to encourage workers to pursue education.

The Employers’ Initiative will allow these types of practices to be benchmarked, showcased and replicated.

Everyone benefits when employers commit to their employees' further education. Employers get a more skilled and productive workforce. Maine's working people increase their skills--and that means they increase their lifetime earnings. The State of Maine strengthens its competitive position in the Knowledge Economy. And colleges and universities boost their enrollments and enrich their campuses with dedicated adult learners.

If you would like to learn more about the Maine Employers’ Initiative, or would like to become involved, please contact program director Melanie Arsenault at marsenault@mdf.org.