Tag Archives: LWIBs

Color Me Eclectic

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As much as some people tout that we’re becoming a free agent economy, if you’re the one living that life, it often seems like everyone else is still doing the 9 to 5 corporate (or nonprofit) thing. Maybe it’s just in Maine that most people found their dream employer right out of high school (or college) and has been with them ever since.

When I look back over my own career, it’s the equivalent of a cat’s nine lives. By that I mean that there’s the “Indiana era,” “the CMP years,” time served at “Moscow Mutual,” etc. Work relationships from each one of these periods in my life have fallen away and seem to be forgotten by everyone but me. Oh, a few people from my past are on Facebook, but I don’t consider social media the reality-equivalent that everyone else does. There are a handful of people that I remain connected to and actually spend some time with periodically. I treasure these relationships and the qualities represented by true friends.

Probably the most meaningful period during my pre-freelance career journey were four of the six years that I spent working for the Local Workforce Investment Board (LWIB). Our nonprofit organization was housed at the Lewiston CareerCenter, a place that elicited mixed feelings. I’m not a huge fan of government bureaucracy, and the Maine Department of Labor certainly operates like one. Then there were the other nonprofit partners also housed there. I won’t bother to name them. Continue reading →

Disability Mentoring Day 2012

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Denise Smith delivers “Social Media & Your Job Search” at DMD 2012.

Readers following my blogging for the past few years know that I’m a passionate advocate for workforce development. That passion was kindled back in August, 2006. That’s when I accepted a position with the Central/Western Maine Workforce Investment Board.

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. At the end of June, I was laid off. I wasn’t sure where I’d end up and whether I’d be able to continue in the realm of workforce development or in some other capacity where I could leverage what I’d learned over the past six years. Continue reading →

Conferences come to an end

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It’s hard to believe four days have gone by so fast. USBLN 2012 is now officially in the books.

As a BLN rookie, I didn’t know what to expect. My first thought when I found out shortly after being hired in August that I was going to a national conference was, “why Orlando?” I should have known not to be overly critical before arriving. Continue reading →

Turning the page (and embracing the future)

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I’m officially a free agent. The job that I poured my heart into for just short of six years (August 7 would have been anniversary #6) ended yesterday at 5:00 pm.

This transition has been in the works for awhile; yesterday was just one more step in that process. First, the governor began railing against the four LWIBs (my employer) threatening to phase them out by June 30 (this posturing began last September). By March of this year, my hours with the Central/Western Maine Workforce Investment Board had been reduced from 40 to 20. When I walked out the door of the Lewiston CareerCenter last night at 5:15, it was just another step along the reinvention path. Continue reading →

The state of Maine’s workforce

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Tomorrow morning, I’m delivering a presentation to the Kennebec Valley Human Resources Association—in essence, my own “state of the state” on workforce development; it’s titled, “The State of Maine’s Workforce: An Update from the Trenches.”

For the past six years, I’ve been employed by the Central/Western Maine Workforce Investment Board. The Local Workforce Investment Boards, or LWIBs as they’re often referred to, channel the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funds, appropriating them for training and aligning them where each regional LWIB thinks they will be the most effective. A large percentage of those funds support Maine’s One-Stop Career Centers, the bricks and mortar centers where job seekers and the unemployed access employment and career resources. There are 12 One-Stop Career Centers scattered across the state. Continue reading →

Thursday morning coming down/PCNC 2012 getaway day

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Today is getaway day after a very full day yesterday, at the Project Compass National Convergence 2012.

So, what happens when you stick someone like me, a non-librarian; someone with his patchwork background in workforce development, a writer and publisher, with a strong entrepreneurial bent, as well as someone that understands how to partner and the value that comes from one’s personal network–smack dab into the middle of 200+ librarians for two days? I’m not entirely sure, but I think I’ll be able to better answer that later, when I finally put together my final wrap-up post, which will probably go up late Sunday, or early Monday.

As of this moment, Thursday morning before sunrise, on the 10th floor of the Sheraton National, here’s how I see it, so far. Continue reading →