PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. Department of Labor has given $4 million to a nonprofit partnership aimed at training young adults and people who have lost their jobs for careers in information technology, starting in July.
The program, called TechHire, was started by the Brunswick-based Coastal Counties Workforce Inc. and Educate Maine and seeks to prepare people for work in computer systems analysis, software development and IT project management.
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King announced the award Tuesday. A total of 39 programs will share $150 million through the Department of Labor grants. The department listed the Maine project as part of its national TechHire effort last August, putting it a step closer to federal funding.
Mike Bourret, executive director of Coastal Counties Workforce, said its program “will help young people and other workers throughout Maine increase their skills in technology” and could also help employers become more competitive.
The program aims to train at least 500 people for computing or IT-related jobs in four years.
Jason Judd, director of Educate Maine’s Project Login program, wrote in an email that the IT training program will focus on young adults ages 17 to 29 with barriers to training or employment. As many as a quarter of the participants would be people who have lost a job and are looking to gain new skills. Judd said recruiting for the program is expected to begin in September.
The project also includes partnerships with employers, who have agreed to hiring employees with demonstrated technology skills, regardless of where applicants received their training.
Participating employers include Machias-based Axiom Technologies, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, Idexx Laboratories in Westbrook and the Maine Office of Information Technology.
The program will involve a variety of training types, including career coaching, paid internships, on-the-job training and shorter-term IT boot camps.