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B U S I N E S S P RO F I L E S 56 Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine's Workforce P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F S M C C P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F Y C C C Free short-term workforce training through Maine's community colleges F r o m b u i l d i n g a w o r k f o r c e m o d e l w i t h a training continuum to creating a pipeline of skilled workers for a statewide network of employers, the Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine's Workforce is dedicated to changing the lives of thousands of Mainers over the next four years. Established under the Maine Community College System in October 2021, the Harold Alfond Center represents a $60+ million investment in Maine's workforce. Addressing the severe skilled worker shortage, the virtual center will train and develop 24,000 future and incumbent workers around the state by 2025. Investments from the Harold Alfond Foundation, Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, Maine Quality Centers, e Foundation for Maine's Community Colleges, and private employers and foundations, allow the Alfond Center to deploy funding quickly and nimbly for trainees and businesses to address skills gaps and high-demand occupational needs. It will focus on solving today's most pressing workforce challenges: e mismatch between worker skills and employer needs. e low post-secondary education attainment rate. e realities of an aging, shrinking workforce. e need to make training and education more accessible at the workplace, online, and within our communities. In less than one year, the Alfond Center has partnered with 400 business and built and implemented more than 700 trainings, creating training opportunities for more than 4,000 Mainers. "We're addressing a great need," said Dan Belyea, Chief Workforce Development Officer for the Maine Community College System, who oversees the Harold Alfond Center. "Short-term training programs have been designed with workforce partners across the state, ensuring learners get exactly the skills needed for today's workplace. e training embraces real-time opportunities and the accelerated track in which learners can achieve a credential of value and enter the workforce in a matter of months. And for workers, the training is usually free." e Alfond Center's coordination of funding and all MCCS's short-term workforce training initiatives saves time and speeds the delivery of critical workforce training to both trainees and business partners. It also provides clear, affordable educational pathways to Maine adults no matter where they are on the job skill develop- ment continuum. Designed to be a resource for members of the business community, the Alfond Center is serving as the training partner for Maine's small- to medium-sized employers who lack the resources to sustain in-house training departments. e Harold Alfond Center creates new pathways so people get- ting short-term training can easily continue their education jour- ney, either through a pursuit of certificates, advanced certificates or degrees. is aligns with the MCCS mission of providing the right training at the right time for Mainers. e Center is working with the academic teams at all seven colleges, bridging traditional non- credit workforce training and credentials of value to certificates and degrees. Using tools such as Prior Learning Assessment, which can award academic credit towards a degree for their previous partial college, military, or work experience, removes the cost barrier and makes degree attainment more of a reality for many. e Center will serve the unemployed and underemployed who lack the skills needed to compete, Maine's front-line work- ers who need additional training to remain relevant and advance their careers, and the more than 150,000 Maine adults who have some post-secondary credit but no degree or credential of value. B U S I N E S S P R O F I L E S P O N S O R E D C O N T E N T Above: Adiel Nimbona was drawn to Southern Maine Community College's Construction Technology program because he wanted to build a future in the construction trade. Nimbona has pride in his training, saying it gives him hope for the future and the promise to live the life he wants to have. Right: A student in York County Community College's Veterinary Technology program poses with her son. Maine's community colleges offer day and evening courses, providing students the flexibility they need in their schedule to be successful.

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