STAFF REPORT

What kind of careers should college students getting a liberal arts education aspire to?

Apparently, they can plan on becoming successful business executives, dealing in emerging technologies that are sure to keep creating jobs in the future.

That’s the message a prominent Maine businessman plans to deliver Wednesday morning on the campus of University of Maine at Farmington, according to a statement from the college.

The forum is titled “So what do you do with an English major?” and will be free, open to the public and start at 11:45 a.m. in the North Dining Hall in the Olsen Student Center, South Street in Farmington.

Speaker Fletcher Kittredge is founder and chief executive officer of GWI Inc., a leader in northern New England’s telecommunications industry, according to the release.

Kittredge has an bachelor’s degree in English from Colby College and master’s degree in computer science from Harvard University.

He will share how his liberal arts education helped build the foundation for his career. A native of Arundel, Kittredge started Biddeford Internet Corporation in 1994, a company that still operates today as GWI.

Mainebiz, a business magazine and website, named Kittredge 2011 Large Company Business Leader of the Year for the rapid growth of GWI and his leadership in expanding broadband Internet access across Maine, according to UMF.

Kittredge also led the company’s efforts to get a $25 million federal grant to deploy 1,110 miles of high-capacity fiber optic in rural Maine, according to the release.

Colin Haley, special assistant to Kittredge and manager of government relations for the company, will also share his experience at the forum.

Haley has a bachelor’s degree in history from Hamilton College, in Clinton, N.Y. Before joining GWI, he was a staff assistant on the re-election campaign of Sen, Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, in 2006 and was the Southern Maine coordinator for Peter Mills’ gubernatorial campaign beginning in 2009.