Immigration has become one of the most divisive issues this election year. But many economists and business leaders say the country's future economic growth hinges in large part on increased participation in the labor force. In Maine, some sectors have relied heavily on immigrant labor for years, while others are training new arrivals for in-demand jobs in emerging industries.
At ReVision Energy’s South Portland office, an instructor was reviewing the basics of solar panel installation with a group of pre-apprentices earlier this month.
The solar energy company offers this free, eight-week introductory course in partnership with Portland Adult Education. ReVision’s workforce specialist Astrid Blanco, said it's one way of expanding the state’s clean energy labor pool.
"One of our biggest challenges has been really licensing and having enough folks to do the work that we do," Blanco said.
This program is geared toward multilingual learners, and Blanco said all ten students in this class are immigrants. Nginga Moniz Talane, a telecommunications engineer from Angola, said he jumped at the opportunity to advance his career while waiting for his work permit to arrive.
"When I came here, I heard about the renewable energy program and I found it so so exciting," Talane said.
Talane said he's always been interested in renewable energy, and that the course material built on his prior experience.
"The basics of electrical engineering is almost the same," he said.
Talane is among the growing population of immigrants joining the U.S. workforce just at a time when many economists say they are most needed.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that immigration could fuel $7 trillion in GDP growth over the next decade. The CBO said that a larger labor pool could also result in an additional $1 trillion in tax revenue.
Few states in the country need that boost more than Maine.
"Our workforce has really been stagnant for about a decade," said Patrick Woodcock, president and CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. He said the state will have to balance a simple demographic equation – too many workers leaving the labor force, and not enough workers coming in. And that poses a challenge for businesses looking to grow here.
"How can we make sure that this company, this business can survive this next generation, if we don't have that pipeline of workers to come in for entry roles [and] move to leadership ranks?" Woodcock said.
Woodcock said one way to address the issue is to welcome more people to Maine – either from other states or other countries.
And he said the current political debate too often ignores the historical economic contributions of immigrants in Maine and across the country.
"I think we get lost in this narrative: for, against immigration," he said. "I think everybody should be pro immigration, if they look at the record of what our country has developed. It's inspiring."
Immigrant labor is already critical to several iconic Maine industries.
At Luke’s Lobster’s processing facility in Saco earlier this month, workers used small metal picks to extract slivers of meat from the crustaceans’ leg sockets.
Over the din of machinery, co-founder Ben Conniff said with lobster prices at historic highs, every bit counts.
"Any edible meat that you leave in there and that you waste, is really damaging to your ability to make money on lobster," he said.
About 100 people work at the plant, processing 5 million pounds of lobster annually. Conniff said three-quarters of plant's employees are immigrants, continuing a longstanding trend.
"New Mainers have been the backbone of the lobster processing industry in Maine, I think since it began really in the 1980s," Conniff said.
Conniff said maintaining a consistent labor force at the plant is key to the whole industry.
"If processors can't find people to help them actually do the work of processing, then that directly hits the demand for Maine lobster products and the overall lobster market," he said.
At ReVision Energy, the electrical trainees were approaching the end of their eight-week course. The company said it hopes to be able to hire some students from this group, and refer the rest to other clean energy companies.
Whether at ReVision or elsewhere, Nginga Moniz Talane said he’s committed to a career in clean energy.
"The world is moving towards a safe environment, towards renewable energy," he said. "And that's why I wanted to be part of this challenge."
Talane said he expects to get his work permit in the next couple months, then begin a four-year apprenticeship to get his electrician's license.
