UMFK Board of Visitors to host business breakfast on Nov. 13

TheUniversity of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK) Board of Visitors will host its nextBusiness Breakfast on Nov. 13 at 7:30 a.m. in the Nadeau Hall Conference Roomon the UMFK campus.

Thekeynote speaker for the event is Kiersten Purington, president & chiefexecutive officer of the Aroostook Partnership, a public-private consortium ofarea investors committed to economic and community development.

Puringtonwill present, “The Future of Aroostook County: Attracting People, GrowingBusiness.” She will discuss “Aroostook Rising,” the organization’s talentattraction and retention initiative which recently received $360,000 in federalfunding from the Northern Border Regional Commission and USDA RuralDevelopment. This initiative supports a regional marketing campaign to attracttalent to fill key workforce shortages, development of a regional recruitmenttoolkit that can be used by employers, and creation of newcomer ambassadorchapters to help newcomers integrate into the community. This work is designedto support our existing businesses and strengthen northern Maine’s economy.

Since her arrival, Purington has ledthe Aroostook Partnership through a comprehensive strategic planning processand has positioned the organization to more effectively lead initiatives intalent attraction & retention, workforce development, and policy &regional advocacy.

Before joining the Partnership,Kiersten worked in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry for 14 yearssupporting drug development initiatives for small and large-sized companiesincluding Vertex Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca. Kiersten holds a Bachelor ofArts degree in Psychology from Barnard College, a Ph.D. in Neuroscience fromRutgers University, and an MBA from Boston University, and completed herpostdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School. She and her husband Brentmoved to the County last year and love living in northern Maine.

Tickets for the breakfast are $15.00 and canbe purchased by credit card at: https://www.umfk.edu/business-breakfast/

Deadline for registration is Wednesday, Nov.4.

Please contact Lisa Roy at 207-834-7504 oremail at roylisa@maine.edu for more information.