PORTLAND, Maine - The University of New England and Bangor Savings Bank are working together on a program designed to help college students and recent graduates get ready for the real working world.
In a pilot program announced today, four recent graduates from Maine colleges, who work at the bank, will take part in a program combining online and in-class coursework and on-the-job training.
Bob Montgomery-Rice is president and CEO of Bangor Savings Bank. He says one goal is to teach young people skills they don't typically learn in college.
"Leadership training is not something you normally get in college," he says. "That's really what we're looking to do, is round out that skill and strengthen that skill."
Montgomery-Rice says it's important for Maine employers to invest in the young workforce in the state.
The program is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as part of an initiative to develop what's known as "competency-based" education, which is more focused on skill-building than on abstract learning.
