Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins wrote to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer regarding the DOL’s recent announcement prohibiting new enrollments at Maine’s two Job Corps centers—Loring Job Corps Center (LJCC) and Penobscot Job Corps Center (Penobscot). Senator Collins asked Secretary Chavez-DeRemer to lift the current halt on enrollment at these two Job Corps centers, which are vital to Maine communities.
“The Loring and Penobscot Job Corps Centers have compiled an impressive record of success in preparing disadvantaged youth for the workplace or higher education,” Senator Collins wrote. “While we must certainly do all we can to ensure the appropriate use of federal funding during these challenging budgetary times, we must also maintain a commitment to successful programs that are important to the economic health of our communities”
“I urge you to use your authority as Secretary of the Department of Labor to reverse the decision that would, in essence, shutter Maine’s two Job Corps Centers. Penobscot and LJCC have both supported the economic vitality and community development of their respective areas for decades, and losing these centers would be detrimental to both communities as well as to the young people they serve,” Senator Collins concluded.
The full letter can be read here.
LJCC currently has 129 staff members and is one of the largest employers in rural northern Maine. This center, which currently enrolls 228 students, opened in 1997, just a few years after the closure of the Loring Air Force Base devastated the local community.
The Penobscot Job Corps has 223 students enrolled, and 65 students have graduated since July 2024. Of those graduates, 58 students have been verified as placements into employment, the military, or higher education, and five have transferred to other Centers for advanced training opportunities. Penobscot is home to the only Advanced Marine Pipefitting training program in Job Corps, which is a feeder program for future BIW and PNSY employees.
Senator Collins, Chair of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, has long been a supporter of Job Corps centers, which provide youth from disadvantaged backgrounds with hands-on career technical training in high-growth industries. Maine’s Job Corps centers rank among the very best in the nation, with Penobscot ranking fourth in the most recent national Job Corps Report Card.
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