SCARBOROUGH – Improved education alone cannot solve the so-called “skills gap.” In fact, the only way to fix this problem and grow our economy will be through attracting more skilled people from away.

No fewer than five articles and editorials have been written in this newspaper in recent days on the growing gap between the skills Maine workers have and those Maine employers need right now. Everyone seems to agree that the solution is better education for Maine students and better retraining programs for aging or unemployed Maine workers.

A lot of business folks talk about solving Maine’s “skills gap” through more technical and community college education of Maine residents. And Gov. LePage has asked his labor commissioner to redirect the state’s work-force education dollars to Maine business sectors where skilled workers are needed.

Aligning our education and workforce training programs with the global economy is a terrific idea, because it will give Maine workers the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century. But that won’t solve Maine’s skills gap problem, and it certainly won’t grow Maine’s economy.

NO SIMPLE ANSWER

Are we really going to leap nimbly and quickly from the projected supply of 200 information technology associate degrees to the projected demand of 1,800? The only way Maine is going to prosper is if we attract and keep people from away.

Let me be blunt: Maine’s economy will not grow simply by retraining our current students and workers.

This is not a criticism of the Maine worker — in the words of President Obama, “it’s just math.” We’re the oldest and least racially diverse state in the country. In less than 20 years, a quarter of our population will be in retirement.

We cannot grow the economy with these demographics and the lack of work force and family diversity we see in Maine today. We had better get to the real work of attracting new workers, entrepreneurs, and innovators from elsewhere to grow our economy.

Take a walk through Boston’s financial district or inside any firm along Interstate 495. You’ll pass workers who look dramatically different from those in Maine. They are black, brown, Asian, Indian, Pakistani, Russian and Mexican workers, and more.

You will literally feel the energy, ideas, jobs, services, and products they’re creating. We need to make sure we’re a state welcoming of all comers interested in bringing their skills to Maine.

This should not come as a surprise. Always, when Maine has prospered, it has been because of our ability to attract people from away. Consider the mills of Biddeford and Lewiston, as well as Millinocket — the Magic City — and the thriving manufacturing economy they generated through much of the 20th century.

All were created by attracting thousands upon thousands of immigrants and their families from Quebec, Ireland, Italy, Poland and many other nations.

Or consider Portland, which in the last 10 years outperformed both Boston and Manchester in job creation and income growth because it attracted and retained skilled workers. I saw this firsthand working at a large health care analytics firm in Portland’s Monument Square. It assembled a cadre of talented, highly educated young professionals from across the country partly by marketing Portland as a great place to live.

To solve Maine’s skills gap and grow our economy, we need a new and thoughtful population growth strategy for Maine. All our disparate economic development and education initiatives should be aligned under the umbrella of attracting and keeping skilled workers.

Among other things, a comprehensive strategy must include repatriating former Mainers who have left to go to school or work elsewhere; recruiting skilled professionals and their families from across the globe; attracting first-generation immigrants and giving them the support they need to integrate into the community and work force; and retaining talented young Maine workers.

SUPPORT JOB GROWTH

Attracting and keeping people is a complicated matter. Clearly, the single most important factor is jobs.

And reasonable people will disagree on how public policy can support job growth. But clearly there are things we should not be doing, because they undermine our ability to attract and keep a skilled work force.

Topping the list of what not to do is unwelcoming official attitudes and policies toward immigrants. Executive orders and budgets designed to discourage immigrants from living in Maine are economically destructive.

A close second is siphoning money away from urban areas and schools and giving it to rural ones. Revitalizing our rural places depends on investing in our urban areas because our cities are the places that are generating jobs and attracting and keeping workers.

We all agree Maine has a “skills gap” and needs to grow its economy. It’s now time to recognize that keeping Maine a wonderful place to live means attracting the thousands of skilled workers, families and immigrants “from away” who are the key to growing the Maine economy.

– Special to the Telegram

 

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