Bernstein Shur 'Maine 2015' Symposium Explores Maine's Economic Future

Former Gov. King and four top economists discuss the next 10 years at May 25 event

Portland, Maine – The next decade in Maine will be a time of accelerating change, unprecedented challenge and enormous opportunity, a panel of the state’s top economists and former Governor Angus King said Wednesday.

“What we do to prepare for the future will largely determine whether it is opportunity or challenge that carries the day,” Gov. King told an audience of business and community leaders gathered at the Portland Museum of Art for the ‘Maine 2015’ symposium sponsored by the law firm of Bernstein Shur.

The May 25 event featuring three of the state’s top economists – Charles Colgan, Laurie Lachance and Evan Richert – as well as Dartmouth economist Matthew Slaughter, an expert in globalization. The former Maine governor, who now serves as Counsel to Bernstein Shur, moderated a panel discussion.

The panel discussed Maine’s economic health and ways for the state to become more competitive. Panelists focused on the economics and politics of globalization and how a number of key factors – capital investment strategies, tax policies, workforce training initiatives, higher education and private sector innovation – will shape the next 10 years in Maine.

The impact of the potential loss of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and reductions at the Brunswick Naval Air Station added a sense of urgency to the discussion. King asked business leaders to look for potential opportunities and find hope in the face of the difficulties ahead.

Lachance, a former state economist who now heads the nonprofit Maine Development Foundation, said innovation and higher education are vital to the state’s economic future.

She pointed out that proportionally, Maine spends significantly less on research and development than either New England or the U.S. as a whole. Maine also lags behind other New England states in the number of adults with bachelor’s degrees or higher.
High electricity rates, health care costs, taxes and education spending also continue to hurt the state’s business climate, she said.

Lachance said there is no silver bullet to solve the state’s economic challenges. Rather, she said, the solution is “silver buckshot” – relying on a number of variables that will improve the business climate if addressed.

Colgan, another former state economist who is now a professor at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service, challenged some misperceptions about Maine.

Studies show that per capita income, while still below national averages, have shown steady growth in recent years and have nearly returned to levels from the robust late 1980s in Maine. Also, while it is true that Maine has lost a significant number of manufacturing jobs, the number of new jobs created is above the national average.

Richert, the former director of the Maine State Planning Office, said that as traditional manufacturing jobs leave Maine, businesses need to continue to develop new knowledge and market those ideas to the rest of the world. He pointed to Maine’s growing biomedical community as a positive sign.

Slaughter said Maine needs to see itself as connected to the world’s economy and find ways to take advantage of globalization.

A question period with the audience focused on regionalization and how to maximize the attractiveness of the state to outside investors and entrepreneurs. The panelists said that outside investors are most concerned with the availability of skilled workers in Maine, not high taxes.

King said the discussion of economic issues and opportunities must continue, adding that he would like to see the symposium become an annual event.

“There’s a danger in seeing Maine as being isolated from the rest of the world,” King said. “We can’t just look at Maine like an island.”

Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson is one of northern New England's largest law firms with more than 80 lawyers in offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine and in Manchester, N.H. The firm provides legal services in all other major subject areas, including corporate and commercial law, litigation and trials, municipal and governmental affairs, labor and employment law, education law, construction law, and tax and estate planning. The firm also has an active practice in bankruptcy, health law, environmental law, technology and commerce, legislative law, intellectual property, public utilities, and other regulated industries. For more information, visit the Bernstein Shur web site at www.bernsteinshur.com.

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