Governor Mills has proposed investing $35 million in MCCS as part of the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, her plan to dedicate more than $1 billion in discretionary Federal relief funds allocated to Maine under the American Rescue Plan Act. The Governor has also proposed committing $35 million to the University of Maine System and $20 million to Maine’s Career and Technical Education Centers.

This investment also comes as the Governor proposes in her budget a three percent funding increase to support the operations of community colleges.

Maine’s community colleges offer a wide breadth of affordable workforce training programs across Maine that are easily accessed through free short-term training, degree programs, certificate programs and advanced certificate programs.

The Governor’s investment comes in the wake of recommendations from the Governor’s Economic Recovery Committee and the State’s 10-Year Economic Development Strategy that call for investment to bolster Maine’s workforce.

Joining Governor Mills on the tour was Betsy Libby, president of CMCC, Dave Daigler, president of MCSS, CMCC 2021 Student of the Year Sarah Pierce, Bruce Tisdale, President of Mountain Machine Work, and Heather Johnson, Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development.

Maine’s seven community colleges have the lowest tuition and fees in New England and serve more than 29,000 individuals a year through degree programs, customized training, and opportunities for lifelong learning. Central Maine Community College, in Auburn, offers more than 40 programs of study and enrolls more than 3,050 students.


Megan Diver

Megan has worked in Maine politics for more than ten years and all of her professional career, having served in many roles for elected officials (including former Secretary of State Charlie Summers), in-house with the Maine Association of REALTORS®, legislative specialist at Pierce Atwood LLP providing lobbying services and support to Pierce Atwood’s government relations clients and most recently senior government relations specialist at the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. Megan currently is the Vice President at the Maine Energy Marketers Association, utilizing her vast knowledge and legislative experience at the State House to represent MEMA on policies relating to the Association and its members.