SOUTH PORTLAND – Maine needs to spend $20.3 million more a year, and approve a $30-plus million bond next November, to allow the Maine Community College System to graduate needed trained workers, according to a report released Thursday.

Contrary to popular belief, there’s a skilled worker shortage in Maine, said Dana Connors, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.

“One major company in Maine has to go to Ireland to recruit workers,” said Scott Knapp, president of Auburn’s Central Maine Community College.

That means lost revenue for businesses, workers and the state, Connors said.

There’s a need for educated workers in business, construction, nursing and other health care, automotive, machine tool, education, security and transportation. Most of those jobs pay more than $30,000 to $40,000 to start with a two-year degree.

But the seven community college campuses across Maine are at or near capacity.

A 42 percent increase of students in the last three years, when the colleges went from technical to community, means they’ve run out of room. At the Southern Maine Community College alone, 912 people who wanted to become health-care students were turned away and put on waiting list this fall, said system President John Fitzsimmons.

Maxed-out campuses will worsen as the number of high school graduates who go to college increase.

The solution is to boost what taxpayers spend annually on community colleges to increase graduates and good-paying jobs, officials said.

The Governor’s Community College Advisory Council’s report, released Thursday at the Southern Maine Community College, is:

• asking legislators to approve an annual community college increase in the state budget of $20.3 million.

• asking voters to pass a major bond of $30 million-plus in November 2007 to expand and build new buildings.

• keeping community college tuition low. Annual tuition is now $2,800, dramatically less than most other public and private colleges.

• providing more help to high school students to go to college.

• creating customized courses to provide employers with needed workers.

If the spending is approved, the number of community college students statewide is projected to jump from 13,000 to 17,000 in two years. Within 10 years the number of students would more than double, officials said.

As the number of graduates rise, so would Maine’s personal income, state revenue and quality of life for many families.

At Thursday’s news conference, Gov. John Baldacci said he’s excited about and supports expanding the community college system he created. Community college educations have opened doors to prosperity for many Mainers, Baldacci said. He’s heard from people who lost their mill jobs, went to a community college “and told me, ‘I’m making more money now as a plumber.'”

More investment is needed, Baldacci said. But he refrained from saying he endorses the proposed $20.3 million hike or $30 million-plus bond. There will be a community college increase in the budget proposal he delivers on Jan. 5, Baldacci said. But he did not commit to an amount.

“But before we go to the Legislature and the people of Maine, we want to make sure we’ve turned over every stone,” he said.

If the Auburn campus gets the increase it’s seeking, it would grow from the current 2,500 to up to 3,500 students, Knapp said. An increase can’t happen now, he said, adding that many classes are maxed out.

In Lewiston-Auburn, there are constant worker shortages of automotive technicians, electricians, lab technicians and machine tool specialists, Knapp said. “A good automotive technician can earn up to $100,000,” he said.

Bruce Tisdale, owner of Mountain Machine Works in Auburn, said like other machine shop companies, he has a hard time finding workers. The need for skilled workers “is huge.” Tisdale said he has a small shop and employs 13. If he could find workers, he’d like to hire three or four more.

“Every day we say, ‘How are we going to solve these problems because we can’t find people.'” The average pay at his company is $50,000, plus benefits, Tisdale said.

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