Maine does not have a Silicon Valley, thankfully. Maine does have a St. John Valley and a Kennebec Valley.
https://umaine.edu/undiscoveredmaine/aroostook-county-maine/st-john-valley/ https://visitkennebecvalley.com/
As someone with a degree in economics, I believe I have a fairly good understanding of economic principles in general, and of Maine’s economy, in particular.
Forestry, fishing and farming have always been cornerstones of our economy. As these have declined in relative importance, our tremendous diversity of small businesses have picked up the slack. We must continue to support our small businesses and incentivize their establishment and success. Publicly provided seed monies and start-up loans should be more widely available. We must encourage entrepreneurship and teach our young people the skills needed to start and successfully run a business. There is no valid reason for Mainers not to succeed when people from other states move here, start a small business, and thrive.
Even after more than two centuries, Maine’s economy is still in its infancy. Our economic potential has not even begun to be achieved. With the creation of the internet, Maine’s location is no longer a barrier to economic growth. For those who want to visit Maine, we are within a day’s drive for tens of millions of people.
Maine’s environment is Maine’s economy. We are destroying our environment in the name of “economic growth” and “progress”. The state’s enforcement of environmental violations has all but stopped. We are killing the goose that lays the golden egg. From the overdevelopment and traffic in coastal southern Maine to the massive clearcutting and herbiciding in the Crown of Maine, our “quality of place” is declining.
We must identify, preserve and protect those places that make Maine so special. As governor, I will establish a Quality of Place task force whose function is to do just that. Change is a fact of life and much of Maine has changed drastically in just a few decades. We can and must direct and control that change to minimize negative impacts to our environment-based economy.
Maine is called “vacationland” for many reasons. As a seventh generation Mainer, I like to say that I bleed potato juice and pine sap. We must place our primary economic focus on preserving and improving upon that which makes Maine the best state in the nation. If we do this, I believe that our best economic days are yet to come.
