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Northeastern Workforce Board: QUEST grant closed, WIOA funding cut threatens services; e‑bikes, stipends show better outcomes
Summary
Northeastern Workforce Development Board told Penobscot County commissioners the three‑year QUEST grant closed Oct. 1, FY2025 WIOA funding is reduced and a proposed FY2026 cut could be 30%. Board leaders highlighted local program successes — e‑bike pilot, stipends and raised work‑experience reimbursement — that improved employment outcomes.
Dylan Langston, executive director of the Northeastern Workforce Development Board, told Penobscot County commissioners on Oct. 1 that the regional QUEST grant closed on Oct. 1 and that the board has an awarded contract from the Maine Department of Labor for fiscal year 2025.
Langston said the board received a roughly 9% cut in its current contract and that the U.S. Department of Labor has recommended an approximately 30% reduction to WIOA funding for program year 2026, a level of reduction that the board said would be “very difficult to overcome.”
The funding outlook matters locally because WIOA (the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) and related grants pay for job training, supportive services and work‑based learning that serve youth, adults and dislocated workers in Penobscot County.
“The QUEST grant has ended effective today,” Langston said, and the board has been working to co‑enroll QUEST participants into other eligible WIOA programs so services can continue.
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