Investing in Maine's future

Statement

Investing in Maine's future
by Mark Lawrence

Two nights ago at the MPBN annual meeting I met a Doctor from Lewiston who was working in Maine on a research project. He talked about his children who were working out of state and longed to come back to Maine; however the lack of career opportunities prevented them from doing this.

It brought me back to my days when I had just became President of the Maine Senate. Late one afternoon, a professor from the University of Maine, George Jacobson, appeared in my office. He told me how Maine was ranked 50th for state investment in research and development. He went on to say how with as little as a $20 million dollar annual invest Maine could bring over $100 million dollars annually of federal investment in Maine to stimulate its economy.

This brief conversation lead to a bill I introduced, called Jump Start 2000, designed to access these federal funds. This small start has lead to a major effort by the state of Maine to create jobs through investment in R&D.

Each year the federal government spends tens of billions of dollars in matching funds for R&D. For over thirty years these funds have been going to states other than Maine and has stimulated substantial economic development in those states.

It is time for Maine to bring some of those dollars back to our state to stimulate growth here so that Maine will become a place where young people will come to find the careers of tomorrow.

Source