Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. X X A U G U S T 2 4 , 2 0 2 0 22 G R E A T E R B A N G O R / N O R T H E R N M A I N E F O C U S In return for those benefits, participants are asked to make a commitment to work for the Bangor hos- pital for five years after graduating in any role that requires a nursing license. "It's challenging to fill the talent pipeline, but the program has benefits beyond just getting someone in the door," says Ali Worster, vice president for human resources at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center. "We're getting somebody in the door who already knows their way around and who is already part of who we are." Bridget Squires was the first person to graduate from the program this year. A stay-at-home mom for many years with a bach- elor's degree in health care management but no direct path to a job without a nursing background, she enrolled in a program at Bangor's Beal College in 2018. When she ran out of funds to pay for her school- ing, Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center came to her with word of its new scholarship program and encouraged her to apply. She did, and hasn't looked back since. "e program did more than just pay for my school- ing, it paid me 40 hours a week for my family," she says. "It lays the groundwork for you to succeed not only in school, but at the hospital once you graduate." Appreciative of the opportunity to ask questions of mentors and other nurses along the way, Squires says that "is going to make you a better nurse when you grad- uate because you have all that knowledge already." Now working as a supplemental staffing depart- ment registered nurse, she gets around to all the floors. Based on her experience so far, she has this advice for others with an interest in the profession: "If you're on the fence, just take the leap because you are capable of so much more than you think." Worster says that another 10 people started the pro- gram this month, and does not know of a similar one anywhere else that pays for school time. While the program focuses on community residents, the hospital also recruits job candidates from out of state and even internationally, and Worster says it's important to have a workforce that's as diverse as its patients. "Our patients are very diverse socially and economi- cally, so having a workforce able to reflect that provides a level of care that's above and beyond," she says. Central Aroostook business boom offers 'encouraging signs' combination of new businesses, new own- ers coming in and expansions in e County are all "encouraging signs" after a number of clo- sures during the pandemic, according to LaNiece Sirois, executive director of the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce. Based in Presque Isle, the Chamber covers 22 com- munities including Presque Isle, Caribou and Fort Fairfield and the unincorporated township of Oxbow. "e ones that have closed are mainly restaurants and a couple of them were going to close anyway, so the COVID shutdown was the best time to do it," she says. "It's nice to start changing the tune of the conversation, and any success is acceptable at this point." New businesses include the Outdoor Extreme store and Baldwin's Driving Academy in Presque Isle and Family Haircuts by Lisa and the Playtime Adventures recreational facility in Caribou, while Burger Boy in Caribou and Morning Star Art & Framing in Presque Isle are both under new ownership. Among businesses that have expanded or added a second location, Haney's Home Farm Garden store in Caribou recently opened a location in Presque Isle, hydroponics equipment supplier Here We Grow moved to a larger facility in Presque Isle; and Caribou-based Progressive Realty added an office in Presque Isle. Asked what her pitch is to individuals looking to move to the region, Sirois says she tells them that the economy is good and that people are loyal to local businesses. "Most of our people are back to work again, unem- ployment is going down significantly and that's excit- ing," she adds. She's relaying that message a lot lately, with about three or four calls a week to the chamber from people wanting to move to the area from out of state. at includes a family of 10 from Montana that bought a house before arriving. "I think it's a COVID numbers thing," she says. Update on $45M bridge revamps and other northern MDOT projects ittsfield-based Cianbro Corp. won the Maine Department of Transportation contract for a $44.8 million bridge renovation project in Hampden, a town of 7,400 about five miles south of Bangor. Work began in late July with an expected completion date of Nov. 30, 2022. e Hampden Bridge Bundle Project entails rebuilding eight bridges and rehabilitating a ninth along a four-mile stretch of I-95 in Hampden. Among other MDOT projects in the region, MDOT spokesman Paul Merrill says that construc- tion work is continuing on the Bangor Ohio Street Bridge Replacement Project, with a new structure expected to open in September. On the Route 395-Route 9 Connector Project in Brewer, contractor Wyman & Simpson Inc., of Richmond, is starting to mobilize equipment on the $10.7 million Wilson Street Bridge project with utility work expected to start soon. e rest of the project is still in the design stage, according to Merrill. He also says that the Madawaska/Edmundston International Bridge Replacement Project is scheduled to go out to bid near the end of the year. R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e reached at rcordes @ mainebiz.biz and @rscordes » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E "It's nice to start changing the tune of the conversation," LaNiece Sirois, second from right, executive director of the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce, says of the regional economy's turnaround. Corinth resident Bridget Squires, a registered nurse at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, was the first person to graduate from the hospital's RN Sponsorship Program. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y C E N T R A L A RO O S T O O K C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y N O R T H E R N L I G H T E A S T E R N M A I N E M E D I C A L C E N T E R We're getting somebody in the door who already knows their way around and who is already part of who we are. — Ali Worster Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center A P P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y M D O T MDOT's $44.8 million Hampden Bridge Bundle Project, contracted to Cianbro Corp., is slated for completion by late November 2022.

• Cover