The pandemic is pushing many Mainers into new lines of work

A year ago, Amber Davis knew the coronavirus was about to dramatically affect the hospitality industry. She didn’t know it would push her from a job she loved into very different work.

Davis, who sold corporate retreats, wedding room blocks and other events for a Portland waterfront hotel, was at a training seminar in Georgia just before the pandemic reached Maine last March. Another sales manager told her customers were asking to postpone or get refunds.

“Each week we just kept seeing more and more,” said Davis, who lives in Winthrop. One of the more recent hires, she was laid off in May from what she described as a “great job at a great hotel.”

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