Gov. Janet Mills announced Monday that her administration will make $15 million available to four technical education schools in Maine. The funds will come from the Maine Jobs & Recovery Grant program.
The schools receiving the funding are Oxford Hills Technical School in Norway; the Biddeford Regional Center of Technology; the Northern Penobscot Tech Region III school in Lincoln, and the Region 9 School of Applied Technology in Mexico.
The grant funding will allow the schools to build new facilities, add to existing ones, and expand programs for Maine students pursuing careers in plumbing, electrical, building construction, culinary and hospitality services, emergency medical training and welding fields, according to a release by the Mills administration.
Mills, joined Monday by educators and students, made the announcement at Oxford Hills Technical School. The school will receive more than $2 million for a new building that will allow the school to expand its plumbing, electrician and building construction programs.
"I have always been a strong believer in the power of Career and Technical Education schools because they equip students with the skills and hands-on experience needed to take good-paying jobs and have rewarding, lifelong careers in the trades," Mills said in a statement. "We all know that Maine desperately needs more electricians, plumbers, welders and other skilled workers, and investments like this one through my Jobs Plan will help deliver them."
"This will be a game changer for our students. The grant funds will be used to construct a 6,000 square foot, free-standing building on our campus that will have three classrooms and shop space for our plumbing program and the new electrical technology program," Oxford Hills Technical School Director Randy Crockett said. "Our building construction program will also use the new building for some aspects of their classes, making this new building a hub for the building trades here at Oxford Hills Technical School."
The Biddeford technology center will use more than $7 million to build a two-story addition to Biddeford High School. The addition will provide space for a new culinary arts and hospitality program as well as an athletic training and sports medicine program. It will also allow the center to expand its existing plumbing and emergency medical technician programs.
"Through these grants, we're able to offer more workforce training programs and give students more choice and opportunity," Biddeford Center of Technology Director Paulette Bonneau said.
Maine's 27 Career and Technical Education regions and centers enroll more than 9,800 students in 85 programs.
©2023 the Portland Press Herald (Portland, Maine). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
