Companies dealing with Maine's well-documented workforce shortage were in Portland Thursday for a forum on how the state's growing immigrant communities can help.
The Portland Office of Economic Opportunity, Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce and Catholic Charities Maine held the event at the University of Southern Maine.
Quincy Hentzel, CEO of the Portland Chamber, said the event was geared specifically toward the people who make hiring decisions at Maine companies.
“”It is, hopefully, going to be a resource to help educate employers as to what some of the challenges and barriers are for foreign-trained professionals, in terms of them finding meaningful employment, and how can we help employers find ways to hire from this talent pool, and ultimately to retain and promote from this talent pool,” Hentzel said.
Hentzel saidmany new immigrants in Maine are highly-trained professionals, particularly in engineering and I.T. but, in some cases, credentialing issues prevent them from working in their trade in the United States.
The event featured a video address from U.S. Senator George Mitchell and a keynote presentation from the president of the Maine Medical Center.
