With recently awarded funding of $71 million from the Federal Communications Commission, more rural areas of Maine may receive access to broadband internet over the next seven years.
“The discussion has shifted from, ‘Is it needed? Should we do it?’ to ‘How and when?’” said Heather Johnson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.
Johnson was a panelist at a virtual webinar hosted last week by the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and Mission Broadband, a division of Bangor-based consulting firm ProInfoNet, which aims to expand broadband to underserved communities nationwide.
“I’m pretty sure there isn’t anyone who would say connectivity isn’t important,” Johnson continued. “Connectivity is part of all our lives, as it relates to education or working remotely now. Certainly we’re seeing telehealth expand.”
Recent advances in entrepreneurship and training in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, are bringing new career opportunities to Maine.
But some people worry that a persistent gap in the workforce prevents the state s burgeoning STEM industries from finding the talent they need.
That was the subject taken on by a panel of STEM experts in a webinar this week, “The Future of STEM Jobs and Innovation in Maine.” It was hosted by the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and the Science is US, a nonprofit that brings together leaders in science, engineering, industry, higher education and labor.