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Perhaps every community in the country makes claim to the quality of its workforce. But in Lewiston-Auburn, national companies such as Tambrands, L.L. Bean, and Formed Fiber Technologies have praised the quality of employees, calling them among the most loyal and efficient of their national workforce. In fact, Industry Week magazine once named Lewiston-Auburn the strongest manufacturing area in New England based on productivity, specialization, and employment.

In both 2004 and 2005, Inc Magazine named Lewiston-Auburn among it's "Top Cities for Doing Business" in part because of strong job growth. An efficient workforce is no doubt one reason why, in a global study conducted by KPMG International comparing the cost of starting and maintaining a business, L-A faired better than the majority of U.S. communities analyzed.

With four colleges, a hospital-sponsored nursing program, and an adult education program, there are many opportunities for employees to continually pursue lifelong learning. Institutions of higher education use innovative ways to partner with the business community. Offered through the Maine Community College System, the Maine Quality Center provides employer-specific training programs, trainee recruitment, and pre-employment screening at no cost to qualified businesses.

Faculty members at Auburn-based Central Maine Community College -- Maine's second largest community college -- work with employers to offer courses at the worksite, on campus, or both.

L-A College, part of the University of Maine System, offers the Workplace Learning Partnership Project. This grant-funded initiative provides skills training and educational coaching to workers in small- to mid-sized manufacturers in the L-A area. The program also helps company management increase its training capacity and understanding of workforce potential.

Lewiston-Auburn has enjoyed astounding economic growth over the past few years and a low unemployment rate. Furthermore, Lewiston-Auburn is able to draw from surrounding areas with traditionally higher unemployment rates. That is particularly true due to Lewiston-Auburn's central location, with access to nearly 50 percent of the state's population within a 30-mile radius.

In the Lewiston-Auburn MSA, more than 8,000 people are employed in health services. More then 2,500 firms are thriving, while 50 banks and credit unions employ a total of more than 1,100 employees. L-A also has a pool of skilled welders, press operators, and financial services professionals, with a growing number of information technology specialists. Thanks to L-A's high-precision manufacturing industry, utilizing robotics, servicing growth industries such as microwave technology and automation, the local economy is more diversified than ever.