The Department of the Maine Secretary of State, Bureau of Corporations and Commissions will be paying $10,000 in taxpayer funds for a two-day “emotional intelligence” training seminar.

The Department last week posted a Notice of Intent to Waive Competitive Bidding (NOI) document revealing that they will enter into a no-bid contract with the Missouri-based Graceland University’s SkillPath Leadership Workshop for 80 of their employees, at a cost of $125 per person.

“The Leadership Workshop: Building Emotional Intelligence is a two-day training hosted by SkillPath designed to help leaders improve key skills like communication, conflict resolution,” a description of the program reads.

“The workshop focuses on building emotional intelligence to foster better collaboration, manage stress, and create a positive work environment,” it reads.

In justifying the no-bid contract for the training session, the Department stated that they believe the costs for the workshop are “reasonable given the quality and customization of the training they provide.”

“Although there is an upfront cost for this training, we see significant long-term benefit,” the Department wrote. “By collecting content and utilizing workbooks provided through this workshop, we can minimize future costs and reduce reliance on external vendors.”

“This approach will also help improve retention and reduce turnover, as it ensures our supervisors have the training and resources they need to succeed,” they added. “Overall, the investment in this training will result in a stronger leadership team, which leads to cost savings over time through improved employee engagement and retention.”

The no-bid contract for the workshop is categorized by the Department as a “single source/unique vendor” contract.

An audit of Maine’s 2024 spending recently published by Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2024 contract payments were made under a system the audit described as lacking basic supervisory oversight and controls​.

Of 31 such single source procurement contracts reviewed as part of the audit, 16 lacked required documentation proving a reasonable investigation into alternatives, violating competitive bidding mandates under Maine law.

Additionally, many of the contracts lacked evidence of cost analysis and were only approved after work had already begun under the contract, the auditors report shows.