Summer Interns Bring Enthusiasm to the Maine Department of Labor Bookmark and Share

August 12, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 13, 2015
Media Contact: Sarah Dean and Julie Rabinowitz, 207-621-5009

AUGUSTA?Five students are wrapping up their summer internships with the Maine Department of Labor. Katie Bernatchez of Belgrade, Emily Colfer of Manchester, Sarah Dean of Hallowell, Treva deMaynadier of China and Kyle Norweg of Norridgewock spent twelve weeks working on special projects in various bureaus within the department.

?Each summer we have a new group of students and we are continuously impressed with their fresh look at our programs and projects, their willingness to learn and their contributions to our department, our customers and the people of Maine,? said Commissioner of Labor Jeanne Paquette. ?We thank them for their work and we are pleased that they have found the internship experience valuable.?

Katie Bernatchez attends Boston University and is majoring in Political Science. Interning as a computer conversion assistant in the Bureau of Employment Services this summer, her primary tasks included various administrative projects, as well as a computer conversion project for employer and employee resources.

Emily Colfer attends Northumbria University in Newcastle, England for a Master?s program in International Development. Her job as the disability employment assistant with the Disability Employment Initiative, a program within the Bureau of Employment Services, included tasks such as updating disability resource webpages, creating disability resource and assistive technology guides and updating financial assessment tools.

Sarah Dean is studying International Affairs at the University of Maine in Orono. Her internship as the communications assistant in the Office of the Commissioner included tasks such as drafting and distributing press releases, writing and editing monthly e-newsletters, updating material on department webpages, maintaining the department?s social media presence and participating in various marketing projects.

Treva deMaynadier studies Anthropology and Political Science at Oberlin College in Ohio. As the migrant and seasonal farmworker survey assistant within the Bureau of Employment Services, her main tasks included facilitating a demographic survey in both English and Spanish to the migrant workers in the broccoli and blueberry fields, and then entering that data into various analytic platforms.

Kyle Norweg is a Master?s student in the Russian and East European Studies program at Indiana University in Bloomington. As the publications intern within the Bureau of Unemployment Insurance, his tasks included copyediting, updating professional manuals, primary data categorization and organizational analysis.

The Maine Department of Labor is committed to serving Maine workers and businesses by helping employers recruit and train a talented workforce, providing workers with the skills they need to be competitive in the economy, assisting individuals when jobs are lost, ensuring safe and fair workplaces for people on the job and researching and analyzing employment data to support job growth.

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