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Annual Conference Countdown
There are just a few weeks until our November 4 conference, Capitalizing on Maine's Changing Demographics.
Join fellow employers, business owners, human resources and marketing professionals, who are looking to expand their bottom line by diversifying their workforce. Register now.
The conference runs from 7:45 a.m. until 3:45 p.m., at the Abromson Community Center on the Portland campus of the University of Southern Maine. Registration is $25 for Diversity Hiring Coalition and Working Together members and $50 for non-members.
Not sure if the conference will be helpful for your business? Read Maine's Changing Demographics, an Overview to understand the value of this conference and check out the detailed program descriptions on our website.
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Christine Schwartz of Bates College receives the 2008 Workforce Achievement Award
Last Call for Business Award Nominations
Each year, Working Together gives out three awards to businesses that have shown outstanding commitment to employing people with disabilities. The awards will be presented at the November 4 Working Together conference. We need your nominations for these awards, and also encourage businesses to self-nominate. Please visit the Working Together awards page before October 19th to nominate an outstanding employer!
CE Credits for Human Resources Professionals
Members of the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) who attend the November 4 conference will be eligible for continuing education credits.
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WT Now on
  
We heard it was all the rage - now you can follow Working Together's posts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Connect and grow with other business leaders through our online networks and get additional information about Working Together. Join us!
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Maine's Changing Demographics, an Overview
With economic recovery on the horizon, Maine's impending workforce shortage should be at the top of every business leader's list of concerns. A good understanding of how the population is changing and what this means for your workforce will help your business adapt.
Let's start with a quick look at a key population factor: age. Maine is the oldest state in the nation-a dubious distinction we have had for some time. The median age in our state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is 42.1 years, compared to the national median age of 36.8.1 What's more, our median age increased by 3.5 years since 2000 when it was 38.6. Only 5 percent of the population is under age five, and, not surprisingly, a recent report from the Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP), finds that between the years 2000 and 2007, Maine's total population only grew by a little more than 3 percent.2
What do these data mean in terms of our workforce? Well, the majority of the population is getting older and older with fewer young people coming along to replenish the traditional working-age population. And the make-up of the younger segments of the working-age population is becoming increasingly diverse. For example, while Maine's overall population growth was low at a little more than 3 percent for the years between 2000 and 2007, Maine's Hispanic population grew by 67 percent for the same period.2 At present, the median age of the state's Hispanic population is 26.9 years-15.2 years less than the state median age.2
As these trends continue, the workforce Maine businesses traditionally rely on will no longer exist. This will translate into some big differences in your employment practices. Increasingly, employers will need to tap into populations which have traditionally been underemployed-people with disabilities, immigrants and refugees, economically disadvantaged workers-to fill positions vacated by Maine's aging workforce. Indeed, the MECEP report specifically points out that Maine employers will need to turn to the young and growing Hispanic population in order to stay competitive.2
In addition, when your pool of potential workers is getting older and more ethnically diverse at the same time, you probably need to re-tool your recruitment and retention tactics to ensure you are reaching the best talent available, regardless of demographic or socioeconomic factors. You need to consider what your company can offer to these members of the workforce and how you may need to change your employment practices to be more inclusive.
It boils down to this: Despite a climate of layoffs and economic downturn, Maine's workforce shortage is likely to be one of the worst in the nation given we have the oldest population in the nation. Success will depend on being proactive in your workforce development, diversifying now rather than waiting until your traditional pool of employees no longer exists. Every business leader knows reacting is far more costly and inefficient than being proactive. Now is the time to begin these conversations and get serious about addressing Maine's workforce issues at your own company.
Workforce shortage aside, there are many more reasons why diversity is good for your bottom line-too many to address here. Our conference will look at these issues in greater depth and include more strategic topics such as the importance of diversity in a global economy, the legal benefits of a diverse workforce, and how to increase consumer goodwill though marketing your diversity hiring practices. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Conference Program Preview
The conference on November 4 is chock full of expertise on the timeliest and most relevant issues concerning your future workforce.
The program kicks off with an address from John Dorrer, Director of the Center for Workplace Research and Information within Maine's Department of Labor. With his background in economics and the best data at his fingertips, John will guide us through the sentinel points all businesses must understand to avoid being left behind as Maine's workforce changes. (Read more about John below.)
Then, participants will choose from three break-out session tracks - Recruitment, Workplace, and Business Strategy. Each session will feature a panel of topic experts and business leaders who will share first-hand experiences and take-away suggestions for best practices. Topics include leadership and diversity, effective diversity initiatives, the importance of diversity in a global economy, legal issues, cultural competency, and marketing your diversity policies and practices. (Click here for complete session descriptions and panel speakers.)
After the morning break-out sessions, Martha Artiles, Chief Diversity Officer for the global corporation Manpower Inc., will deliver the keynote address. Martha will pull from her two decades of leadership in business strategy and diversity development to demonstrate how a diverse workforce leads to success. (Read more about Martha below.)
Lunch will be an opportunity to exchange ideas and meet with speakers and provider agencies.
After lunch, the Honorable Katherine O. McCary, Vice President, Human Resources, Compliance, and Diversity for SunTrust Banks Inc., will make a plenary address that will tie together the day's main themes and leave you inspired to bring diversity into your own business. We are delighted to have Katherine back with us for the second year in a row following her very practical and highly engaging keynote address at our 2008 conference. (Read more about Katherine below.)
This information packed conference ends with more engaging break-out sessions.
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Martha Artiles
Speaker Highlights: Martha Artiles, Katherine O. McCary, and John Dorrer
A nationally recognized and dynamic speaker, Martha Artiles is the Chief Diversity Officer for Manpower Inc., a worldwide employment services corporation. Artiles is responsible for developing and leading Manpower's company-wide strategic diversity and inclusion initiatives.
During the last 15 years, Artiles developed and implemented business-specific diversity strategies for three unique global corporations in very different market segments: manufacturing, IT, and service. She also chartered and led a minority council at a Fortune 300 Global Corporation. The primary objective of the council was to educate senior executives on how to develop solutions to improve the recruitment and retention of employees of all ethnicities.
She is a community-minded leader with over 22 years of experience in a broad range of diversity-related fields and is actively involved on both the local and national levels with numerous diversity-focused organizations.
Katherine O. McCary
The Honorable Katherine O. McCary, Vice President, Human Resources, Compliance and Diversity, SunTrust Banks Inc., is one of America's leading executives and speakers on employing people with disabilities. Katherine has corporate responsibility for SunTrust's disability leadership and the Disability Resource Center, a program that seeks to increase the employment of people with disabilities throughout SunTrust's workforce and to increase awareness of marketing opportunities for customers with disabilities. She is co-chair for SunTrust's National Disability Mentoring Day, a disability consultant to SunTrust's 16 Diversity Councils, and a SHRM certified Diversity Trainer.
For her outstanding contributions throughout her 19 years with SunTrust, Katherine has earned several national awards, including the SHRM HR Magazine 2000 Innovative Practice Award, the 2002 US Business Leadership Network (USBLN®) Exceptional Leadership Award, and the US Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao's 2004 New Freedom Initiative Award.
In October 2008, Katherine was appointed to the National Council on Disability by President Bush and confirmed by the US Senate. Katherine was a founder of and now serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN®). In 2009, Katherine received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the USBLN®.
John Dorrer
John Dorrer is an economist and research administrator focused on workforce development, human capital, and labor market policies at the state and local level. He is responsible for overseeing the State of Maine's workforce statistics systems for measuring employment, unemployment, and labor market developments, including forecasting skill requirements and workforce needs. He works closely with Maine employers, industry associations, economic developers, and education and training agencies to analyze workforce requirements, trends, and developments.
He recently served as Deputy Director, Workforce Development at the National Center on Education and the Economy in Washington, D.C., where he worked with America's largest cities and leading states to assess policies and practices and to provide technical assistance and consultation. He served as an adjunct faculty member in the Economics Department at the University of Maine. He has consulted to the U.S Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration on labor market information systems development, capacity building, and workforce strategies. He spent 20 years in Maine as senior vice president of Training and Development Corporation, a non-profit organization focused on workforce and regional development.
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