PRESQUE ISLE – Maine Community College System President John Fitzsimmons was in Presque Isle on Friday to lead one of the first of 18 focus groups meant to examine how the colleges can help strengthen Maine’s rural economy.

Fitzsimmons said during a press conference that he is traveling around Maine this summer and fall to speak with local business and community leaders in rural areas about the challenges they face and to find ways the system can address them.

Once the meetings wrap up in late fall, the president plans to issue a report on his findings and offer recommendations on how to move forward.

“I’d like to put all the issues on the table and say we have programs that may not be rural-friendly and we need to change that,” Fitzsimmons said.

In Presque Isle, Fitzsimmons said that local leaders talked to him about capacity, day care needs, training offerings and program delivery.

He explained that in some rural areas, there aren’t enough students to support the cost of hosting certain programs and courses. The president is looking for new ideas as he visits spots in every county in Maine.

One such idea is called “bundling,” which enables small groups of students at a number of different sites to take part in a program.

For example, if a small business with four employees needs to add one welder but the local community college doesn’t offer a welding program, it could look into bundling as a way to meet the local economic need.

Officials also expect distance learning and Internet classes to serve as solutions to the problem. These efforts might cost a little more for the system, Fitzsimmons said, but would be worth it because of what it would mean for the state in the long term.

The hope is that the initiative would help many small businesses throughout Maine each add a few jobs. Though Fitzsimmons said that wouldn’t have the splash of a single large economic development improvement, it could have just as much or more of an impact on Maine’s economy.

Officials believe the examination into the rural economy is so important because there are a half-million people, or 42 percent of the state’s population, living in rural Maine and 12.2 percent of rural households live below the poverty line.

Fitzsimmons pointed out that the seven colleges and nine off-campus centers that make up the Maine Community College System are located within 25 miles of 92 percent of Maine’s population, meaning the system is strategically positioned to address rural economic needs.

Northern Maine Community College President Timothy Crowley said during the press conference that the goal is to take the visions of the seven college campuses and meld them into one clear and efficient response to the state’s needs.

“I’m excited about this program,” Crowley said. “I think it has great promise for the people of rural Maine.”

In the end, officials said, the effort is about how all seven colleges help to better deliver what is offered locally.

“Whatever happens,” Fitzsimmons said, “community colleges are going to respond to what we learn during this [process].”