Talent Attraction & Retention in Maine

The importance of helping people find community

Maine Venture Fund occasionally asks our partners to contribute to content that our ]*> src="https://www.maineventurefund.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/LWM-Masks-240x300.png" alt="" width="250" height="313" />readers might find compelling. We are excited to have Katie Shorey, Engagement Director for Live + Work in Maine, share her perspective on talent attraction and retention.

Live and Work in Maine (LWM) is a not-for-profit initiative designed to increase awareness about the great career opportunities that exist in Maine, and promote the world-class quality of life Mainers enjoy. They partner with employers, communities, nonprofits and individuals to develop and execute programming, events, marketing campaigns, and/or other initiatives to support the Maine employment brand, raise awareness of Maine as a career destination, and ultimately attract and retain the talented individuals Maine employers need to continue thriving into the future.

Talent attraction is top of mind for most employers these days, but equally pressing is talent retention. Studies show that the cost of losing talent is always greater than the cost of hiring and retaining talent. It’s a multi-prong issue: not enough people from Maine find opportunities to stay, and people from out of state do not always know about the opportunities that exist here. Add in the age demographics and decline in childbirth - we need an all-hands-on- deck approach.

But it’s more complex than just keeping employees happy at a job. People need to feel connected to and engrained in a place. They want to find community…and their people. 

As noted in her doctoral dissertation and research, Kaylyn O’Brien, Ph.D. examined the relocation transition experiences of individuals who moved to Maine to live and work here. The intent of the project was to generate insights that could be leveraged to better support relocators as they navigated their transition to Maine. Though it may seem like an obvious question, once people move to Maine how do we ensure they stay? 

Employers play an important role in the initial stages of the relocation experience, but  building meaningful connections in their new community is a key challenge encountered by individuals who relocate to Maine. While LWM is known for talent attraction, we saw an opportunity to lean in on the retention front - especially as thousands of new people moved to Maine during the pandemic.  

In late 2021 we piloted a new program called Welcome Home, and hosted events in Portland, Bangor, Brunswick, Rockland, Lewiston/Auburn, and Presque Isle. These statewide events are centered around the premise that community matters, and helping people connect authentically helps with retention and builds stronger community networks. We targeted new-to-Maine people, boomerangs, remote workers, and community members who wanted to welcome new Mainers. We worked with local partners such as Chambers of Commerce, young professional groups, and Main Street organizations to execute the events and spread the word. 

In Presque Isle we met someone who moved from Australia - having never set foot in the county before. In Rockland, a couple had moved from Colorado only three days earlier; they had searched for local community events and found our website to be a useful resource. In Brunswick we met many Boomerangs - one who had moved back from NYC and was looking for jobs in the local tech sector, another who took a job at Bath Iron Works, and a young couple who was expecting their first child and wanted to plant roots in Maine. In Portland there were numerous individuals and couples in their early 30s looking for new friends outside of work.

The takeaway? People want more. 

This year we will have 15 events from Bridgton to Machias, Kittery to Caribou. It’s our intent to make these replicable in other towns with support from partners on the ground.The Welcome Home program is just one small piece of our efforts. We collaborate with nonprofits such as Boots2Roots, Educate Maine and Junior Achievement, execute marketing initiatives, promote the Opportunity Maine Tax Credit, host a job board, support employers by developing content and promoting industry sectors, pitch local and national media outlets to raise awareness of Maine as a career destination, maintain a robust website that serves as a resource for new or existing Mainers, and more.

Whether you’re new to Maine, boomeranged back or have lived here for years, we say “welcome home.”

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Curious about our Welcome Home events? Want to join us around the state? We’ll be releasing the line-up shortly. Sign up to receive updates here. 

Learn more at www.liveandworkinmaine.com

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About Maine Venture Fund

Maine Venture Fund invests in dynamic businesses that have the potential for significant growth and impact in Maine. For more information, visit maineventurefund.com. 

Inquiries:
Terri Wark
Maine Venture Fund
(207) 924.3800
terri@maineventurefund.com