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Business Leaders Say Immigration Can Stem New England's Workforce Shortage

SIGCO worker Antonio Pedro came to the United States from Angola three years ago.  The company says immigrant employees reduce Maine's workforce shortage.
Ryan Caron King | NENC
SIGCO worker Antonio Pedro came to the United States from Angola three years ago. The company says immigrant employees reduce Maine's workforce shortage.

It’s hard to avoid the hand-wringing about aging demographics in New England these days. The region's six states have the six lowest birth rates in the country. Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have the oldest populations in the country, and Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts aren't far behind.

These demographics leave the region desperate for young workers who can power businesses, pay taxes, and won't dip into social security for decades.

New England's business leaders and politicians are looking at any number of solutions, from putting classrooms in manufacturing plants, to giving tax cuts to Millennials.

Only in Maine, however, is immigration a major part of the public policy conversation.

Fewer births

Like many of the region’s elementary school principals, Becky Ruel knows more than she’d like to about New Hampshire’s declining birth rates. A decade ago, more than twice as many students attended Kensington Elementary School as do today.

“When I started three years ago, there were two third-grade teachers, two fourth-grade teachers, and two fifth-grade teachers,” Ruel says.

Today, the school is down to one teacher for each grade level.

The hallways at Kensington feel big and quiet. One whole room in the school is now dedicated to physical therapy, another to science and math projects, and yet another is designated for hands-on learning.

But while the school is making use of the extra space afforded by declining birth rates, this same problem keeps business leaders like Dana Connors up at night.

Credit Sara Plourde / NENC, NHPR
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NENC, NHPR

Connors is the president of the Maine Chamber of Commerce. When his team looked at the demographic trends, he said, “you found a very strong case to be made to attract the immigrant worker.”

As in other states, Maine’s business community is lobbying for programs to help Maine residents find good jobs in the state. But that won’t be enough to stem the shortage posed by declining birth rates.

One solution: Immigration

Connors and the Maine Chamber of Commerce recently released a report recommending policies to attract more immigrants to Maine. The report suggests expanding the New Mainers Resource Center that already exists in Portland, creating similar centers in Lewiston and Auburn, providing the centers with additional financial resources, and funding access to English classes and transportation.

Maine’s Gov. Paul LePage is famous for his anti-immigrant rhetoric, but that hasn’t stopped lawmakers from proposing legislation to fund more programs for new Mainers. At the local level, Portland and Bangor’s city councils are also working to establish centers for job preparation.

Credit Sara Plourde / NENC, NHPR
/
NENC, NHPR

SIGCO, a glass and Metal fabricating company in Westbrook, Maine supports these efforts. Cindy Caplice manages Sigco’s Human Resources department. Even in December, when competition for workers is down, she says, “many people are still looking for help.”

That's not the case at SIGCO, where about a third of the company's workers are immigrants, many of them refugees. Thanks to them, Caplice says, her company has no openings.

SIGCO worker Herve Kanyarugano came the United States from Burundi two years ago.  The company says immigrant employees reduce Maine's workforce shortage.
Credit Ryan Caron King / NENC
/
NENC
SIGCO worker Herve Kanyarugano came the United States from Burundi two years ago. The company says immigrant employees reduce Maine's workforce shortage.

Missed opportunities?

Across the border, New Hampshire has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, which, combined with a shrinking population, leaves companies struggling to find workers. The state’s business leaders say little about immigration as a solution to workforce shortages. According to Amadou Hamady, businesses stand to benefit from immigrants who move here.

Hamady heads up a refugee resettlement program in Manchester. He says businesses should celebrate the role immigrants play in reversing New England’s economic trends.

“City officials, elected, need also to celebrate that,” Hamady says, “Because we’re keeping these industries going. But sometimes we don’t see a lot of that being said. I think it’s a missed opportunity.”

Amadou Hamady, Manchester site director of the International Institute of New England.
Credit Ryan Caron King | NENC
Amadou Hamady, Manchester site director of the International Institute of New England.
A refugee family arrives in the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. They are being resettled by the International Institute of New England. The Institute's site Director, Amadou Hamady, says immigrants can help reverse New Hampshire's demographic trends.
Credit Ryan Caron King | NENC
A refugee family arrives in the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. They are being resettled by the International Institute of New England. The Institute's site Director, Amadou Hamady, says immigrants can help reverse New Hampshire's demographic trends.

The Numbers

Research shows immigrants are economic drivers not just for businesses, but also for state and local budgets.

According to a report published by the National Academies Press, first-generation immigrants tend to cost states and towns more than they contribute in tax revenue. That’s mostly because of the cost of educating immigrants’ families. But, as economist Kim Reuben explains, “The second-generation individuals are both paying more taxes and using less services than both the first and the third” generations.

In fact, the children of immigrants contribute more to state and local revenues than the general population does.

Credit Sara Plourde | NENC, NHPR

Back at the Maine Chamber of Commerce, Dana Connors said he knows there’s a lot of confusion and concern around immigration policy.

But, he says, immigrants offer a lot of value, both economically and socially, so it’s worth it to keep a clear head.This report comes from the New England News Collaborative. Eight public media companies coming together to tell the story of a changing region, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Copyright 2021 New Hampshire Public Radio. To see more, visit New Hampshire Public Radio.

Emily Corwin reported investigative stories for VPR until August 2020. In 2019, Emily was part of a two-newsroom team which revealed that patterns of inadequate care at Vermont's eldercare facilities had led to indignities, injuries, and deaths. The consequent series, "Worse for Care," won a national Edward R. Murrow award for investigative reporting, and placed second for a 2019 IRE Award. Her work editing VPR's podcast JOLTED, about an averted school shooting, and reporting NHPR's podcast Supervision, about one man's transition home from prison, made her a finalist for a Livingston Award in 2019 and 2020. Emily was also a regular reporter and producer on Brave Little State, helping the podcast earn a National Edward R. Murrow Award for its work in 2020. When she's not working, she enjoys cross country skiing and biking.
Emily Corwin
Emily Corwin covers New Hampshire news, and reports on the state's criminal justice system. She's also one of eight dedicated reporters with the New England News Collaborative, a consortium of public media newsrooms across New England.
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