Federal funds have been restored to a program that helps Maine’s blue-collar workers.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced Wednesday the restoration of the AgrAbility funding.
“The Maine AgrAbility program has helped hundreds of workers across our state prevent serious injuries by providing training and technical assistance that help make high-risk jobs safer,” Collins said in a statement. “I am glad that, following my discussions with Administration officials, this critical funding has been released so UMaine and its partners can continue to provide valuable guidance to our farmers, fishermen, and foresters.”
That program is run through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. It was among $50 million in federal funding for the state’s public university system that remains held up by the Trump administration.
In April, university officials discovered they couldn’t access funding for AgrAbility despite receiving no notice.
AgrAbility serves workers in Maine’s heritage industries, such as logging and fishing. It has helped about 1,600 workers, including more than 100 loggers during a spring program in Hancock County that trained them on how to avoid slipping and falling on the job.
A lobsterman-turned-oyster-farmer, John Cotton, has used the waterfront version of AgrAbility, called FishAbility, to purchase a boat with a mechanical arm to help lift and flip oyster bags to reduce the likelihood of injury to his back, which has been in pain because of four decades hauling lobster traps.
But the sudden freeze of federal funding for that program put that purchase on hold.
“Farming, fishing and logging are essential to Maine’s economy, especially in our rural communities. Through Maine AgrAbility, University of Maine Cooperative Extension provides education and technical assistance that keeps Maine’s aging farmers, fishermen and loggers working safely in these physically demanding jobs, improving their livelihoods and quality of life. On their behalf, we are grateful to Senator Susan Collins for advocating to the USDA Secretary in support of this and other essential UMaine programs and thrilled for this restoration of our federal funding so we can resume serving these Mainers whose hard work strengthens our state’s heritage industries,” UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy and UMaine Cooperative Extension Dean Hannah Carter said in a Wednesday statement.
