AUGUSTA — Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is authorizing closure days this spring for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles branch offices, to allow for staff training.

BMV employees will be taking part in communication enrichment training, focusing on topics of improving self-awareness, such as generational differences, inherent biases and emotional intelligence.

"Communications is critical to our success as individuals and as a whole," said Deputy Secretary of BMV Patty Morneault. "My hopes are that employees will gain knowledge, skills and abilities to better understand individual behavior and become more aware of their own emotions, thus leading to increased customer satisfaction and relationship management." District branch office employees will train together, so all branches in the area will be closed on the designated training day:

Monday, April 30: All Southern District branches will be closed for training. This includes: Portland, Scarborough, Kennebunk and Springvale.

Tuesday, May 1: All Central District branches will be closed for training. This includes: Augusta, Topsham, Lewiston and Rumford.
Monday, May 21: All Northern District branches will be closed for training. This includes: Bangor, Ellsworth, Calais, Rockland and Caribou.

The BMV Main Office staff will also take part in the training, on May 2 and 8, but will remain open and continue to provide services on those days. The main office is located at 101 Hospital St., Augusta, and can be reached via telephone at 624-9000. Online services will also be available during these closure days, at http://www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/ .