Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) is looking to spend an estimated $2.7 million in grants on efforts to attract “racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities” into the state’s workforce, according to a Request for Applications (RFA) document published by the Mills administration last week.

The Mills administration is seeking applications for up to twelve projects which will “broaden the talent pool of key industries by improving equitable workforce participation of racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities at Maine employers,” the document states.

The funding of these initiatives, the Maine DECD claims, will help Gov. Janet Mills (D) meet the goals laid out in her administration’s Economic Development Strategy, which set a goal of attracting 75,000 new workers into the state’s labor force by 2029.

To that end, the Mills administration stated that “historically marginalized communities” are a “crucial focus” for its workforce participation efforts.

The Maine DECD will be accepting applications until Sept. 9 for up to twelve projects across three separate categories, with an estimated total of $2.7 million available in grants.

Maine-based businesses, nonprofit organizations, school districts, and local or county governments are all eligible to apply for the grants, but are required in their application to “[p]ropose activities that will improve equitable access to workforce participation for racial, ethnic, and/or linguistic minorities in Maine.”

Last week’s RFA comes after the Mills administration revealed that they were planning to spend $2.5 million on a two-year marketing campaign to grow Maine’s “racial, ethnic, and multilingual workforce.”