PORTLAND, Maine - Former independent gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler starts a new job today.
For the next 18 months he will serve as CEO of the University of Maine System's Professional and Graduate Center Initiative.
Cutler says the new center, which is still a concept in development, will be the first of its kind in the nation, promoting collaboration between business and law programs across the system, as well as the outside business community.
"This is a chance to really achieve distinction and contribute to the economic development of the state in a big way," he says.
An outside consultancy issued a feasibility study in November, concluding that such a center could double enrollments in the system as it comes to scale.
It also said the center could be economically self-sustaining within three to five years. The initiative is receiving $1.75 million in funding from the Harold Alfond Foundation.