UMaine SPIA named MITC Service Provider of the Year
The Maine International Trade Center (MITC) named the University of Maine’s School of Policy and International Affairs (SPIA) the Service Provider of the Year in its 2022 International Trade & Investment Awards.
MITC is a member-based organization whose goal is to assist businesses in the state of Maine with international trade through technical assistance, trade counseling, training, seminars and more. MITC’s International Trade and Investment Awards recognize four organizations that have used creativity, innovation, and new strategies to strengthen their ties to global markets and help the Maine economy.
The Service Provider of the Year Award is presented to a service provider that has established an international presence for the export of their service. MITC highlighted the fact that SPIA’s two-year graduate program that focuses on areas including trade and commerce, security, diplomacy and development, and international environmental and climate change policy has produced over 100 graduates in the last 12 years who have gone on to jobs that impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Maine and beyond.
“We invest in human potential, and there is an export here,” says Jim Settele, executive director of SPIA. “The export is well-educated Maine and international students. Our graduates go to difficult places around the world where they make an impact or they stay here in Maine to focus on public service for Maine people and businesses. Our program positions Maine to be more successful and more globally competitive. SPIA contributes to a better world.”
Other winners of MITC’s 2022 International Trade & Investment Awards include DeepWater Buoyancy in Biddeford for Exporter of the Year, Puritan Medical Products in Guilford for Innovator of the Year and Adapt Agency in Portland for Foreign Direct Investor of the Year.
“SPIA produces leaders with a global perspective, and to be honored with these other amazing organizations by MITC is validating and genuinely appreciated,” Settele says.
MITC celebrated the honorees with a video on LinkedIn.