Since 1977, CEI has been involved in workforce development. Initially these national demonstration projects were funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Ford Foundation, and utilized the strategy of stimulating the creation of jobs by investing in Maine's entrepreneurs. While we now have other funders, we continue this tradition. Dedicated to the employment issues of people with low incomes and those at risk of poverty, CEI has developed a model to make sure that people with low incomes get access to those jobs.

This model involves four strategies linked below:

1. Act as a workforce intermediary for CEI-financed businesses
2. Implement Employment Training Agreements, a "social compact" between private business and CEI's public goals, and the keystone of CEI's workforce development strategy
3. Implement Welfare-to-Work and Retraining Initiatives and
4. Provide human resources support to the businesses with whom we work.