Can HMEF’s Education Strategy Pay Off for Maine’s Service Industry?

The state of Maine is preparing for continued demand to its hospitality industry, with tax data indicating it’s set to beat 2019’s $4 billion gross revenue record. Thought this is exciting for the industry at large, it also creates chokepoints in operations; Maine is surpassing gross revenue numbers with 13,000 less employees, according to the HospitalityMaine Education Foundation.

To make sure this growth isn’t squandered due to a lack of resources and operational capacity, the HMEF launched a training and career path program, Dirigo 2025, to support professionals looking to break into the service industry. This includes investments into culinary trade schools, on-the-job credits, and higher education certifications.

Sean Flynn, Chief Customer Officer at InStride, a continued education provider connecting businesses with flexible education paths, gave his insights on which of the channels HMEF is focusing on will be most useful for retaining and elevating service industry workers, and why.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

medicine
The Art of Recovery: Where Music and Medicine Meet in Patient Care
May 14, 2026

Healthcare today can feel overwhelming—not just for patients, but for the teams caring for them. After a major illness or injury, recovery isn’t handled by one doctor alone; it often involves a whole network of specialists, from physical therapists to nurses to social workers, all trying to help someone regain their independence and quality…

Read More
infant health
From Monitoring to Knowing: How Owlet Is Redefining Infant Health at Retail
May 14, 2026

Baby monitors have long promised parents the ability to see and hear their child from another room. But as connected health devices become more normalized in everyday life, from smartwatches to sleep trackers, parents are beginning to expect more than visibility. They want insight. For Owlet, that shift matters because its wearable monitors track…

Read More
SPD
Unlocking CensisAI²: The Metrics That Matter for Smarter SPD Decisions
May 13, 2026

Sterile processing departments are swimming in data, from workflow automation and supply data to patient outcome and quality metrics. But the real challenge is not collecting more information; it is knowing which metrics actually improve SPD performance, technician education, OR readiness and patient safety. For Censis, a leader in surgical asset management, the focus…

Read More
User-generated content
The New Rules of Discoverability: How User-Generated Content Is Reshaping Search, Trust, and Brand Visibility
May 12, 2026

User-generated content (UGC) is moving from marketing side dish to main course as large language models change how people discover brands, products, creators, and ideas. Customer reviews, forum posts, videos, and community conversations increasingly carry more influence than polished brand copy because they feel more specific, lived-in, and trustworthy. As AI systems learn from…

Read More