Welcome to The New Mainers Resource Center
The New Mainers Resource Center (NMRC) is a statewide program offering FREE services to skilled immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, as well as employers in the Greater Portland, Lewiston, and Bangor areas.
NMRC is proud to be affiliated with the Welcome Back Initiative, a national program committed to building a bridge between internationally trained health workers and the need for health services in underserved communities..
Our Services
Our services are designed to help internationally trained professionals (ITPs) who have a bachelor’s degree or above from outside the USA, as well as immigrants with work experience in the trades (such as electricians, plumbers, welders, carpenters, masons, HVAC technicians, millwrights, and machinists), to overcome barriers to enter the US workforce and thrive.
We provide advising and case management, licensing and credentialing support, workshops focused on job readiness skills, connections to employers, employment, and networking opportunities, and other services designed to ensure workforce readiness for ITPs of all professions. We also work to connect employers with qualified and motivated individuals.
Internationally Trained Professionals: Get Hired!
Jumpstart your career in the U.S.! Our offerings are designed to help ITPs and skilled trades people, including immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, successfully prepare, enter and thrive in the US workforce and advance in their careers. Let us help you achieve your career goals!
Employers
NMRC links employers with highly skilled, qualified and diverse professionals. We can connect you to a talented pool of well-educated, work-authorized professionals who bring global perspective, international experience, multilingual skills and who are highly motivated to contribute in their communities. Let us help you find a great candidate!
Community Organizations & Higher Ed
NMRC operates within a highly interdependent network of government, community-based non-profits, institutions of higher education, and private sector organizations. Workforce readiness takes strong ties and collaboration among all of these partners to successfully address labor shortages and training needs. Collaborate with us!
2023 — 2024 Updates
2023-24 was a year of transition for NMRC
- Longtime coordinator, Sally Sutton, retired in April of 2023.
- In the fall of 2024, an NMRC Expansion Grant provided new funds to expand staff and services statewide, beyond Portland to Lewiston and Bangor).
- During 2023-24, NMRC provided services to 107 people, 1/3 of whom were returning to participants from the prior year, and 12 joined the program via the new Lewiston office.
- 93% of ITPs served by NMRC had a Bachelor’s degree or higher; 98% had some college.
- NMRC works closely with PAE’s Workforce department. Sector-specific programs, many of which include employer partners, continued to be successful at offering training that led people directly into jobs in the fields of healthcare, banking, education, and renewable energy.
2024-25 Updates
- Newly hired staff in all three locations restarted the NMRC intake process for participants during the summer of 2024.
- NMRC’s website is currently under construction – thank you for your patience as we rebuild our site
- NMRC’s Professional Licensing Guides will be updated during FY25. Find current guides for: Accountants, Engineers, Lawyers, Electricians, Nurses, Pharmacists, Physicians, Physical Therapists, and Teachers
Portland Adult Education served a total of 2,033 students students during the 2023-24 school year.
See what people are saying about NMRC.
I am very happy and thankful for what I learned from the Job Class. I'd like to share my story with you regarding what I learned from Job class. I am a very happy guy today. I am Warehouse Associate 1 and Forklift Operator. I use all the professional skills that I learned, I can manage my pay, understand my Pay Stubs and more. Portland Adult Education is a place where I found every help regarding job search, connecting me with Allagash Brewing Company and the interview was successful because of what the teacher taught me during my interview. I would like to say Job class is the manpower booster for all those who take it seriously.
Antonio Langaba
PAE Student
Intern at Allagash Brewing Company
We are very excited to share with you that Langaba has accepted a full-time, year-round position as a Warehouse Operations Associate! Langaba has done an excellent job learning the core functions of the role and has met the goal that his supervisor set for him at the beginning of the internship (to be able to ship a tractor trailer truck). Langaba's first day working his new schedule will begin tomorrow. In addition, he has earned a merit increase and now has access to all the benefits that Allagash offers….Thank you so much for your support through this process. This feels like a big win!
Meg Sweet
HR Coordinator
PAE/NMRC has been a good referral source for SMI , and we have worked cooperatively to support students with scholarships for many years. What SMI values in NMRC’s work: NMRC facilitates whatever service the individual needs. They can be an advocate with a school or an employer or can strategize with the individual on how to overcome whatever the barriers might be. Each person who comes to them is provided with a pathway that will address their barriers. For all of these reasons, since 2019, SMI has been proud to have a more formal funding partnership with NMRC.
Scholarships for Maine Immigrants
2021 Fall/Winter Newsletter
Job Class had numerous students who were busy with other responsibilities including families, work, appointments and more but they showed a commitment and pushed till the end. Leticia is an excellent example. She became a citizen and 2 weeks later voted in the 2020 election. She has had experience working as a hotel housekeeper but after completing Job Class A and despite her limited education in her home country of Mexico she is currently employed at Abbott assembling kits. She happily reports that because of this new job, it is no longer imperative for her to work a second job to support her family.
Job Class A Report
Student Success Story