AUGUSTA, ME, June 14, 2011—Workers’ compensation insurer MEMIC and the Maine Community College System have announced the formation of the MEMIC Center for Workplace Safety, to be based at Central Maine Community College in Auburn.  The Center, funded by an investment from MEMIC in The Campaign for Maine’s Community Colleges, will train workers and health and safety professionals across the state.  It will begin offering courses and workshops this coming fall. 

“Workplace safety in Maine has improved significantly over the last 18 years, but there’s still more work to be done,” said MEMIC President and CEO John T. Leonard.  “The establishment of this center is a perfect way to address the fact that too many people still get hurt at work in Maine.  We believe there is a natural fit between MEMIC and Maine’s community colleges, who are now educating a large number of our current and future workforce. The community colleges have both the statewide capacity and the expertise to expand the support our company already offers employers as they seek to continue to improve health and safety in the workplace.”

The primary goal of the MEMIC Center is to improve workplace safety and help lower workers’ compensation costs for Maine employers.  Its programming will be offered in a variety of settings, including online, at the workplace, and at the state’s seven community colleges.  In addition to offering programming that leads to national health and safety certifications, the Center will develop customized courses and programs to meet the needs of individual employers and their workers.

"All Maine employers are responsible for creating an environment that supports and promotes workplace safety,” noted MCCS President John Fitzsimmons. “MEMIC's investment in this statewide center means employers will have access to high quality health and safety training available at a time and place of their convenience.”

MEMIC

Headquartered in Portland, ME, MEMIC is Maine’s leading workers’ compensation insurer, providing coverage for more than 18,000 employers and their estimated 170,000 employees. The company is rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best and is a member of The MEMIC Group which holds licenses to underwrite workers’ compensation in 45 states plus the District of Columbia. Since MEMIC’s inception in 1993, rates for workers’ compensation insurance have fallen by more than 40 percent. Better still, workplace injuries have fallen by nearly 40 percent during the same period.

MCCS

The Campaign for Maine’s Community Colleges was launched in January 2010 to support the continued growth of the state’s seven community colleges.  To date, the Campaign has raised nearly $9 million. More information about Maine’s community colleges is available at www.mccs.me.edu.