Peter out. Die on the vine. This is how experts talk about Maine’s prior efforts to plan for its economy. Worse, the new solutions are repeats from the past. Twenty years ago, Gov. John McKernan touted the Maine Economic Growth Council as the method to chart Maine’s future. Today, Gov. Paul LePage is readying The […]
Archive | Growing Maine’s Economy
Current Focus
Training ME: Hard questions about the University of Maine are being asked amid another budget crisis. The community college system is successful, but even so, the state still lacks the workforce it needs. What must change about higher education in Maine to be sustainable and develop the workers of tomorrow?
Maine’s job training dilemma
Growing Maine's Economy Maine FocusEducation is essential to prepare a person for a job. It doesn’t matter if that job is an assembly position in a manufacturing facility or an executive position in a corner office. Education is essential to prepare Maine’s workforce for the future. But Maine faces an inherent contradiction when it comes to education and job training, according […]
Metropolitan future for Maine’s economy, but policies for rural past
Growing Maine's Economy Maine FocusGreater Portland now accounts for more of half of Maine’s economic output. And 90 percent of the state’s population growth between 2000 and 2010 took place in the state’s metropolitan areas (Greater Portland, Greater Bangor and Greater Lewiston), its two “micropolitan” areas (Augusta-Waterville and Rockland), and in the state’s service-center communities. Yet Maine’s economic development programs, […]
From north to south: Economic and jobs disparity across Maine
Growing Maine's Economy Maine FocusMuch has been made lately of Maine’s skills gap — the chasm between what skills and knowledge workers have and what employers need. Gov. Paul LePage has made closing this gap a high priority. This work is complicated by the fact that the gap — and its causes and consequences — varies widely across the […]
What will build a workforce for Maine’s future?
Growing Maine's Economy Maine FocusA number of efforts are already underway in Maine to build a workforce ready to take on the jobs of Maine’s economic future. The Democratic majority made the state’s workforce a key issue of this year’s legislative session, assigning a special legislative committee the task of developing legislation aimed at strengthening the state’s workforce. The […]
Demographics complicate Maine’s economic future
Growing Maine's Economy Maine FocusIn many Maine counties, deaths outnumber births. Young people are leaving. Those who stay in Maine are often less educated. Manufacturing jobs are drying up and not being replaced. The state’s workforce is increasingly made up of aging workers. If Maine wants to reverse this trend of economic decline and stagnation, many argue the state […]
Maine’s workforce is getting better; how can we make sure it continues?
Growing Maine's Economy Maine FocusWhile labor force gains resulting from the growing attachment of older workers to the labor force are anticipated to more than offset losses stemming from other demographic changes, the slowly growing and aging workforce will be a problem as employers seek to replace experienced workers and expand their businesses.One means of accommodating reduced quantity is […]
One word for Maine’s workforce? ‘Seasoned’
Growing Maine's Economy Maine FocusAlmost half of all private industry workers are over 44 years old Currently, 46 percent of private industry workers are at least 45 years old. Within the next twenty years, at least 40 percent of the current workforce for most sectors will be 65 or older. Create infographics
Working in Maine? 40% chance you’re over 45
Growing Maine's Economy Maine FocusCumberland County’s got it, but how can rural Maine build a workforce to attract business?
Growing Maine's Economy Maine FocusMuch has been made lately of Maine’s skills gap — the chasm between what skills and knowledge workers have and what employers need. Gov. Paul LePage has made closing this gap a high priority. This work is complicated by the fact that the gap — and its causes and consequences — varies widely across the state. Consider […]