Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. X X I V O C T O B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 9 12 B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S N E W S F RO M A RO U N D T H E S TAT E N O T E W O R T H Y N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N Professional Logging Contractors of Maine raised $52,100 for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals in Maine at its 23rd Annual Log A Load for Maine Kids Northern Maine Golf Tournament held at JATO Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln. Good Shepherd Food Bank opened a new food distribution center in Hampden, which marked the comple- tion of a $5 million capital campaign that funded renovations of the former Bangor Daily News printing plant. Community Care Partnership of Maine, a Bangor-based Accountable Care Organization comprised of 15 health care organizations throughout Maine, announced it achieved $17.5 million in total savings for Medicare, with $7.4 million returned to the part- nership and its member organizations, in the 2018 performance year of the Medicare Shared Savings Program. 2019 Annual Summit Maine Grown: Building a Future on Big Ideas • Maine's Strategy to Drive Innovation and Support Entrepreneurship • Rebuilding Rural America Through Innovation • Equity and Inclusive Entrepreneurship • Pitch Competition with Blitz Wednesday, November 13, 3-7:30 p.m. Cross Insurance Center, Bangor Registration information available at mainecf.org 245 Main Street, Ellsworth, ME 04605 50 Monument Square, Portland, ME 04101 1-877-700-6800 info@mainecf.org With new funding, UMPI will beef up training in IT and health care B y M a i n e b i z S t a f f P R E S Q U E I S L E — The University of Maine at Presque Isle has been awarded a federal grant of nearly $2.2 million to expand career pathways for students. The grant is the largest in UMPI's history, the school said. It will use the funds to prepare students for jobs in the fast-growing, high-paying fields of computer science and health administration, and to develop stronger career-readiness and experiential learning offerings, according to a news release. The grant is awarded through the U.S. Department of Education's Title III Strengthening Institutions Program. The program provides discre- tionary grants to higher-education institutions to help them become self-sufficient and expand their capacity to serve low-income students, by bolstering academic quality, institutional management and fiscal stability. UMPI's grant project, "Expanding Access, Investing Success," will receive close to $450,000 for the first year, and the school expects the total for five years will come to $2,249,710. In its announcement Oct. 3, UMPI said the work involved in the grant project will allow it to better serve the student population and meet several goals as part of its 2020 strategic plan, as well as University of Maine System priorities. "UMPI's commitment to serving students and preparing work-ready graduates for careers in high-demand fields is bringing new resources and opportunities to Maine," said Dannel P. Malloy, chancellor of the University of Maine System. "Student-focused innovation attracts investment and is one of the reasons why Maine's public universities deliver unmatched quality and affordability." Specific plans Over the next five years, UMPI plans to hire new faculty to create the two new bachelor's degree programs, with two concentration areas in each program: Software Development and Information & Data Management within the Computer Science degree program, and Community Health and Health Informatics within the Health Administration program.. The grant will also fund professional development for faculty and staff. In a recent "On the Record" interview with Mainebiz, UMPI President Raymond Rice said his top priorities for this year include working with the University of Maine at Fort Kent and with Northern Maine Community College to ensure they are meeting workforce needs and keeping the community vibrant. He also said this year's incoming class would probably be the largest since 2008. B R I E F F I L E P H O T O / U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A I N E S Y S T E M Raymond Rice, president of the University of Maine at Presque Isle

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