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S P R I N G 2 0 2 5 / W O R K F O R M E 29 travels to schools and events around Maine and beyond to expose young people and other prospective employees to ship- building. The trailer has visited vocational schools in central and eastern Maine as well the Frye- burg Fair, Laconia Motorcycle Week in New Hampshire, the Moxie Festival and the Maine Sportsman's Show. BIW also has a new partner- ship with JMG (formerly Jobs for Maine Graduates) where a BIW staff person travels to dif- ferent CTE schools to promote shipbuilding and make sure they have training available that would make them good candi- dates for shipbuilding careers. Beyond training and finding new ways to reach the workers of tomorrow, some companies are also looking at things like automation, robots and artifi- cial intelligence as ways to re- duce their workforce needs. For example, Fay said, companies can use collaborative robots to perform repetitive jobs that are often hard to fill, like loading things on pallets or in boxes. "If you don't have people," he said, "one of the options is to look at how to automate some of the more redundant tasks." n CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GRADUATING MEMBERS OF MDF'S INSTITUTE FOR CIVIC LEADERSHIP (ICL) FORT CLASS. Nellie Albright: L.L. Bean Matt Baum: ecomaine Allison Blackstone: Ethos Nicole Brennan: Millinocket Memorial Library Bryan Buhler: Baxter State Park Mike Choate: LifeFlight of Maine Adam Collins: UNUM Kathleen DeNoia: WEX Marjorie Gallant: Colby College Charles Hogan: LifeFlight of Maine Bethany Hull: athenahealth Mark Jutkiewicz: Systems Engineering Elizabeth Marsh: Bangor Housing Kaila McCracken: MEMIC Steven McDermott: Genesis Community Loan Fund Ariane Meno Kobo: City of Biddeford Cynthia Minoty: LifeFlight of Maine Casey Oakes: Portland Ovations Tracey Perry: Katahdin Collaborative Cassandra Pool: Old Town Public Library Richard Schrader: Scarborough Public Library Tara Smith: Central Hall Commons Abigail Varga: Woodard & Curran Jacob Violette: Central Maine Power Keith Wehmeyer: Baxter State Park MDF is now accepting applications for the 2025–2026 ICL class. For more info and to apply: mdf.org/ leadership-development/application GRADS Gain access to unlimited articles & lists for download Access to print and digital editions, website content, email newsletters, and downloadable business lists, plus events discounts! MAINEBIZ.BIZ/PRINTSUB Become a premium member of Mainebiz today to receive unlimited access! M a n u f a c t u r i n g How do you connect what they're doing in the classroom to what you're doing in the real world. It raises that awareness but also gives students that sense of, 'Oh, there is a reason why I'm learning this.' — John Lewis Synergy Workforce Solutions P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F C E N T R A L M A I N E C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E Central Maine Community College in Auburn offers a range of programs, including one in percision machining. technology.