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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 9 M AY 1 , 2 0 1 7 Source, whose tagline is "Talent on target," will focus on the 200,000 to 250,000 military service members who separate from the armed services each year, Leonard said. N O T E W O R T H Y C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N SeniorsPlus, an agency on aging located in Lewiston, launched a new dining site in the Farmington Community Center at 127 Middle St. in Farmington. Kneadful Things Massage and Bodywork opened at 134 Water St., suite 3 in Skowhegan. The Maine Health Access Foundation, a nonprofit health care foundation in Augusta, announced $1.5 million in funding for 10, two-year projects that will create new or expanded capacity to provide medication-assisted treat- ment, emphasizing people who are uninsured or medically underserved. Old trick used to battle higher bait prices Two Washington County fishermen plan to invest in an ancient technol- ogy to combat a new problem — the high cost of lobster bait. e Quoddy Tides reported that the fishermen plan to build a weir fishing system, the first used in that area in 15 years. Lobster bait, primarily herring, is sell- ing for as much as $90 for a "tote" unit. e high costs last summer report- edly drove Maine lobster fishermen to start buying porgies from as far away as New Jersey. Scott MacNichol of Perry and Jason Leighton of Edmunds will build the weir at Shackford's Cove in Eastport. ey're borrowing a pile driver owned by the operator of the Eastport Chowderhouse, Bob del Papa, who offered the equipment to fishermen on an as-needed basis. e duo has also enlisted the help of fishermen familiar with the old ways. e weir depends on migrating her- ring coming into the weir's netting, where they're trapped. "We don't know if it will work or not," MacNichol told the Quoddy Tides in its April 14 print edition. e Eastport Planning Board approved construction of the fishing system on April 4. Pilot program aims to boost digital workforce skills B y L o r i V a l i g r a A pilot project among Venture Hall, Thomas College and Project>Login could bring much-needed software devel- opment classes to Maine using the Code Fellows program developed in Seattle. The partners are talking to employers throughout the state about how the program may fit with their workforce needs. It will hold Code 101 classes on June 10 and 11 in Portland and Waterville, respectively. Jason Judd, executive director of Project>Login, a Maine program to connect Mainers to careers in computing and information technology, says the Code Fellows program, along with other computer science programs and classes in the state, could provide relevant prospective employee training for employers and technology-related companies. Maine currently has 1,144 open computing jobs, almost three times the job demand rate in the state, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance found in its report released in January. The average salary for a computing occupation in Maine is $73,150, much higher than the state average of $43,260. The job website Indeed.com alone listed 100 open soft- ware developer jobs in Maine ranging in pay from $65,000 to $95,000 and 93 basic programmer and coding jobs ranging in pay from $30,000 to $85,000. Thomas College President Laurie Lachance said when the Code Fellows project was announced in mid-April that mov- ing the program beyond Portland opens more opportunities for other Mainers to build skills and increase their chances for good-paying jobs. The Code Fellows program, which in other states has educated not only technologists but people with fine arts, education and social sciences backgrounds, aims to bridge the job gap in Maine and potentially ripple down to younger students to interest them in the science, technology, engi- neering and mathematics fields. Only 165 high school students in Maine took the AP Computer Science exam in 2016, according to the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance. Of those, only 14% were female. And only 38 schools in Maine offered the AP Computer Science course in 2015-16. The alliance noted that fewer AP exams were taken in computer science than any other STEM subject area. There currently is a big gap in what parents want and schools offer, the alliance found. Some 90% of parents want their children to learn computer science, but only 40% of schools in the state teach computer programing. Maine has not yet created a statewide plan for K-12 computer science to make it a fundamental part of the education system. And that impacts students' future job prospects. The Maine Workforce 2025 report issued in March 2015 envisions a future for Maine government workers that includes much more technology and robotics in the workplace. It noted that digital workers who can design and maintain applica- tions for new technologies, as well as retrieve, analyze and use data to solve problems, will be increasingly in demand. Starting with early education, Project>Login aims to increase the number of Mainers interested in technology careers using K-12 computer science initiatives, in collabo- ration with employers and workforce development partners. The Code Fellows program, if successful in Maine, could notch that up the ladder by teaching software development to people changing jobs, entering the workforce or who are out of work. Venture Hall noted that 77% of graduates from the national program had no previous professional coding background and came out of it looking at average starting salaries of more than $72,000. Venture Hall CEO Mike Sobol was optimistic about the prospects of the Code Fellows program, saying that fitting employer needs with the demand for workers should make the program successful and sustainable in Maine. B I Z M O N E Y Digital workers/data analysis Age diverse work plan Continuous learning and development Intelligent innovation and change Employment relationships Cultural fluency and global competencies S O U R C E : Maine Workforce 2025 REQUIREMENTS FOR MAINE GOVERNMENT WORKERS 2025 N O T E W O R T H Y M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T Glenmoor By The Sea, an inn in Lincolnville, announced Renato and Millicent Kriste as new owners. KidsPeace, a nonprofit in Ellsworth, said it received a $50,000 grant from the Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation in Bangor to establish a library facility on its Graham Lake Residential Campus. The First Bancorp, parent company of First National Bank in Damariscotta, announced record operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2017. Net income was $4.6 million, up $134,000 or 3.0% from the first three months of 2016 and earnings per common share on a fully diluted basis of 43 cents were up a penny, or 2.4%, from the same period in 2016. Caribou looks to events to boost economy Christina Kane-Gibson, recently hired as Caribou's new marketing and events coordinator, is planning new tourist draws, including collaborations with towns and cities in Aroostook County. e Aroostook Republican reported Kane-Gibson's ideas include an enhanced Winter Carnival, Santa Claus Crawl shopping event, Caribou Crafts and Cocktails event and "Classic Hollywood" movies in the park, adding to a proven repertoire of events such as ursdays on Sweden, a summer-long arts, music and vendor festival. "Tourism in Aroostook County is really the goal," Kane-Gibson said. "Be it Caribou, Presque Isle, or Fort Fairfield, I want everyone to succeed. It could lead to businesses wanting to be up here, which could lead to jobs, and ultimately more people moving up here." M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N

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