Mainebiz

V O L . X X I I I N O. X V I I J U LY 2 4 , 2 0 1 7 6 Shipyard in Kittery and at the Army National Guard Readiness Center in Presque Isle. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is a senior member on that committee, said the $61.7 million project at the Kittery ship- yard would consolidate nine facili- ties currently dispersed over 111 acres into a central location and achieve savings at the shipyard, which repairs and modernizes Navy submarines. e Senate committee also approved $17.5 million in funding for the Army National Guard Readiness Center in Presque Isle. e funding would be used to construct an energy efficient, 43,400-square-foot training facility, replacing a building that does not meet current standards. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said that 12 multifamily housing developments for seniors and individuals with disabili- ties in Maine were awarded a total of $374,400 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Service Coordinator Program. The largest of the awards went to South Portland-based Spartina, which re- ceived $87,430. College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor and the University of Maine received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study small- and medium-scale honey and maple syrup production in Maine. The grant will fund a three-year project entitled, "Finding the Sweet Spot: Scale Challenges and Opportunities for Beekeeping and Maple Syrup Production in Maine." The Maine Community Foundation's People of Color Fund awarded 21 grants totaling $152,000. The grant program's goal is to help people of color in Maine achieve greater equity through support for health care, lead- ership development, civic engagement and youth. The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded a $962,000 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant to the Westbrook Fire Department to hire eight new fire- fighters and a $244,069 grant to the Bucksport Fire Department to hire two new firefighters. In addition, the Raymond Fire Department received a $261,905 Assistance to Firefighters Grant for a new pumper-tanker truck Lobster prices steady, but catch is down Maine's lobster catch is down, year to date, but that hasn't translated into higher prices for consum- ers. According to an Associated Press report, consumers are paying a little bit less than they were a year ago. Fishermen and distributors told the AP the summer boom in lobster catch hasn't arrived yet. One reason the catch is slow is because the price of bait is high, so fishermen are hold- ing off until they know they'll have successful runs, David Cousens, a South omaston lobsterman and the president of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, told the AP. "We're not catching any lobsters and the price is average," he said. "But this is not panic mode." Senate earmarks $80M for Maine defense projects e Senate Appropriations Committee approved almost $80 million in funding for defense projects at the Portsmouth Naval B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E UMaine Augusta's new president is a familiar face B y R e n e e C o r d e s Augusta — The new president of the University of Maine at Augusta is off to a running start as she looks into expand- ing the commuter school's cybersecurity studies program and offering interim credentials to those pursuing profes- sional certificates. Rebecca Wyke succeeded James Conneely on July 1 under a three-year contract. Previously vice chancellor of finance and administration for the University of Maine System, Wyke served as UMA's interim president from July 2015 to January 2016. She told Mainebiz that her new job "feels very much like coming home." "Hopefully I am picking up things more quickly than the first time," she told Mainebiz. Besides campuses in Augusta and Bangor, UMA has University College locations in eight underserved communities, early college partnerships with high schools, and offers exten- sive online and distance learning opportunities. It switched from a two-year mission to a baccalaureate focus in 2003. The incoming freshman class — as of July 11, 384 enrolled out of 903 admitted — includes more traditional students coming fresh out of high school. "It's a reflection of families making choices to start their college-age children closer to home so they can still live at home and keep costs down," Wyke said. "That is a bit of a trend, and a good opportunity for UMA." The school offers 19 baccalaureate and five post-bacca- laureate programs, including a bachelor of science degree in the emerging field of cybersecurity, offered in partnership with the University of Maine at Fort Kent and the University of Southern Maine. "We're exploring furthering that by offering potentially a master's degree in that area," Wyke said. "There's a huge need for individuals with those skills. If they can't find it here they're going to go elsewhere … In a resource-scarce environment, one of the huge advantages of being part of the UMaine System is to leverage the collective resources that we have." She added that the idea is still in the planning stages. Another short-term priority for Wyke is exploring the pos- sibility of offering interim credentials to students enrolled in certificate programs, which range from accounting to web development. "If it's going to be a seven-year process, then they'd be getting some certification as they move through that pro- cess," Wyke said, "to encourage them to continue and to serve their own career goals in the interim until they achieve their baccalaureate degree." Asked about new undergraduate majors at UMA, she pointed to aviation, launched in 2013 and still the only one in the state, which includes the opportunity to get a full pilot's license. "There's high demand for that as pilots in the baby boom generation are retiring," she said. Wyke said the field of study now includes a component on drones, formally known as unmanned aviation systems, which will also be the topic of a conference to be hosted by UMA Aug. 2-4 looking specifically at drone applications for business. Wyke, who has lived in Augusta for 20 years, was appointed vice chancellor for finance and administration in 2008, following a stint as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Administration and Finance, the agency that oversees the state budget and administrative functions. In her finance and administration role, Wyke was credited with saving the UMaine System $82 million a year and with developing a statewide approach to administrative functions within the seven-campus system. Maine's universities also froze in-state tuition for six straight years during that period, until in May trustees approved an average 2.5% hike for the fiscal year. As for UMA students with debt concerns, Wyke said there's a major effort to make sure they're financially literate and that they have a positive educational experience. "Debt isn't necessarily bad as long as there's a clear return on that investment," she said. B R I E F Rebecca Wyke is the new president of the University of Maine at Augusta. She succeeded James Conneely on July 1 under a three-year contract. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A I N E AT A U G U S TA

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