AUGUSTA, Maine — Experts say the closure of Brunswick Naval Air Station was the most likely reason that Maine was the only state in New England in 2011 to see a reduction in an important measure of the economy — the gross domestic product.
“It is the primary measure of [overall] economic growth for each state,” said Mike Allen, associate commissioner for the Department of Administrative and Financial Services and an economist who serves on the state’s revenue forecasting committee. “This report does show that the state [GDP] contracted in 2011.”
As a matter of fact, Maine’s economy shrank 0.04 percent while the national economy grew 1.5 percent and New England grew 1.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis in the U.S. Department of Commerce, which issues an annual GDP report on the states.
A State Planning Office study estimated the closure of the Brunswick base would result in the loss of 2,700 military jobs and 700 civilian jobs.
“We saw the last of those jobs go last year,” Allen said. “That had a big impact.”
Allen said the downturn will affect state revenue projections in the fall because the forecasting commission will start with a lower base on which to project tax collections.
University of Southern Maine economics professor Charles Colgan also attributed the decrease in the state’s GDP to the base closure. He said the state saw some growth in 2010, even as the base was reducing its work force, but 2011 lacked the private-sector growth to offset job losses at the base. No other New England state had a base close in 2011.
“All of the small New England states had a weak year,” he said. “Massachusetts accounted for most of the growth in New England with some improvements in technology and manufacturing.”
Colgan said the difference between 2010 and 2011 was there was some private-sector growth in 2010 that offset the loss and actually provided a slight boost.
Allen said the latest numbers indicate to him that Maine was hit hard by the recession early and started a slow recovery evident in 2010. He said the state’s economy would have continued to improve if the base had not closed.
“The energy-producing states and states with large agricultural sectors are the ones that are showing the best improvement,” Allen said. For example, Texas grew at a rate of 3.3 percent, more than twice the national average, and states in the far west with large agricultural sectors, including California, Oregon and Washington, grew at a rate of 2.1 percent.
Colgan said the GDP measure is considered a “very good indicator” of what is happening with the economy, even though employment numbers are more readily available. He said while employment estimates are released monthly, the GDP is yearly and sometimes it takes months longer for the indicators to be compiled.
“When you look at 2009 through 2011, they were pretty dismal years for the economy,” he said.
Allen agreed and said some of the revised numbers indicate that Maine went “sooner and deeper” into the recession than first thought and was hit hard during the depth of the recession by high energy prices, which had a major impact on the state’s economy.
“You don’t want to be 46th in the country for ranking, and you certainly don’t want to be in a position of having negative growth,” he said.
Hey Maine is open for business, or that’s what the sign says anyway..
Yup… The sign that was made in another state.
Ayuh. It was made by Rice Signs of Auburn, ALABAMA.
They can spell in Alabama?
Bahahahahahahahahahaha oh LePage you have done an outstanding job thus far……can’t wait until you’re done and long gone back to Florida…..maybe you can screw that already nutty state up by running for office down there.
Ok so how do you propose lowering energy prices and promoting business? This stuff isn’t done overnight, but let me guess, you are one of the types that would like to see everyone’s children working seasonal jobs selling lobster magnets on the side of the major routes for tourists? We are lacking GDP growth because we have always put so much emphasis on tourism, we have nothing else to offer, Lepage is at least trying to work on investing in technical education and making the state attractive for business, the first part is energy – like the article said, we’ve been hit hard by the price of energy. That isn’t just the cost of gasoline, but the cost of electricity is a major motivator for companies to invest in our state and succeed. You may not like LePage but if we get another Angus King into office this state will only plunge further into ruin.
lepage is doing nothing but trying to privatize everything in our state so all his close buddies can make money of the already struggling public. he’s cut funds from the people who need it most, the poor, the sick, the elderly, the mentally ill and the homeless. all the while no cuts in pay or anything of that nature for state senators, law makers and everyone else that makes 100,000 plus a year. . . give me a break lepage is the worse thing to happen to maine in years.. and probably for years to come for that matter
The funds had to be cut because they do not exist. We’re obviously not doing ourselves any favors trying to borrow money when we have negative growth and won’t be able to pay it back. Greece and Spain are trying to just ignore this, are we really going to head down that path as a state?
….do you even know the salary of a Maine state senator?
Privatizing everything would do more for the poor, the sick, the elderly, the mentally ill and the homeless than the failed, unsustainable entitlement programs that result in nothing but destitution and bankruptcy for those ushered into a lifetime of dependency upon them. Unfortunately you, like most progressives, are simply too brainwashed to understand the destruction you sow when implementing programs that only seek to foster an expanded dependence on government.
if you’re envious of those making 100k a year, then strive to make that much yourself and stop acting like it’s somebody else’s fault that you have fallen behind.
it’s nobody’s fault but your own…
Do a Google search for Maine Republican Party, go down through t he list, notice how many members are buisness owners and belong to the chamber of commerce. Now think about that, owning a buisness and having idol time as your employees are doing most of the work for you anyway and accountants can be hired to run the details. With all that idol time what to do?
I know –Run for government –Join the liars club!
There Through alec , I can just spend my time monitoring my buisness, play with my lap computer flirt with the secretaries and –collect
$ 100,000.00 a year, vote the party line and Alec will write the Law For Me!
And from time to Time the Kochs will invite me to an Alec Party with free Champagne and Ham Sandwiches!
What could be better?
All I have to do is vote how they tell me.
I can vote for Tax breaks for my Company deregulate all the laws so I don’t have to follow them and just proclaim ( No new Taxes ) and the world is my oyster!
“This stuff isn’t done overnight.” I bet that you give President Obama that same benefit of the doubt, right? You know, considering the giant crap pit he was handed by his predecessor.
Obama has nothing to do with LePage or how Maine governs. But now that you bring it up, Obama’s healthcare plan and stimulus (bush is guilty of the spending as well) are dollars that this country can’t afford. Throwing money at schools will not boost the economy and will not help education. Lepage on the other hand has been working to restructure education in this state to try to improve our own budgetary issues. Mainers need to start getting creative as to how to bring the money into the state, and Lepage is leading that front (in contrast to obama whose spending is only growing the national deficit)
Well, that’s a bunch of conservative boilerplate. However, if you look at the correlation between the wealth of a neighborhood (and therefore property tax revenue) and school performance, then “throwing” (such bullcrap way to phrase that) money at schools does work and has worked, consistently, all across the country.
Except we can’t make every neighborhood a rich neighborhood by creatively spending tax dollars, it needs to come from somewhere and it’s ultimately going to cost much more because we borrow with interest. Some of the poorest areas of the state are regions where business and manufacturing used to be but closed down and moved out. Wealthy neighborhoods are created by capitol creation, gov spending does not do this. It’s simple economics. As a country if we need to raise taxes then let’s do it as long as we don’t increase spending at the same rate.
The government can and has created plenty of jobs that would not be there anyway. Look at the stats regarding the NIH! Good jobs that create value for the entire country that private industry can’t recreate. You should see the schools in Bethesda, MD.!
Of course it can create jobs but the tax revenue must be there to support it, for the past few years we have been accelerating our spending widening our deficit. If we’re not careful there will be a lack of confidence in how our country deals with money and once again… our credit rating will be downgraded. This stuff does matter, and fixing the problem now will make it hurt less later.
Agreed on the revenue, but we have not been increasing our spending the last few years. Obama has actually cut government spending (You want to see a real spender, look at Mr. Bushes record) as a percentage of GNP. The deficit has come from a decrease in tax receipts due to the recession, not from some explosion of government spending. Reagan increased the percentage of gov spending as related to tax receipts much more than President Obama has.
What about the healthcare plan? That is going to start a massive increase in taxes. Obama is not cutting spending, he may propose something which is the decrease in acceleration of a type of spending (I don’t like it when republicans do it too), but it’s still spending
what money do you suggest bringing?
Its funny how it ok if takes time for an economy to rebound if a Republican is in office but in Obamas case he didn’t turn it around fast enough!
I think that the fact that the country is on a slow recovery path but both Wisconsin and Maine have dismall records in their region and Both have Teapublican Radical Governors that Tea has a significant bearing on the abject failure.
I don’t think there is going to be much improvement to the national economy until 2015 when chinese income will start causing products cheaper to make in the US. I just love how liberals such as yourself tend to not want to put any thought into anything, you can choose to have independent thought but you give it up to follow a party that roots itself in popularity and nothing else
The libs had control of Maine for 40 plus years the first R gov we get and all the states woes are his fault? The libs have taxed and spent us into this crater of a hole growing the state government by incredible amounts. They drove out almost EVERY large employer with the above actions. Maine’s status right at the top of the business UNFRIENDLY states is 100 percent on the liberals. Now we have a guy who has run a successful business in Maine even making it grow and you think he is to blame for what he has not even had a chance to fix yet?
This perception of of our state and the truthful history of what the state government has done to us and our state is amazing..
Yeah Maine is amazing like a STD is amazing……
Wasn’t this base closed under Obama?
It was closed under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure committee decision. That would be Bush.
Constant misinformation out of you.
If you looked at it, it was not misinformation. It was a question, which somone so aptly answered. Though it was a Democratic Concress then was not it? That is in the form of a quesiton also.
yes it was, but are you trying to say this is the dems fault??
No, I am trying to say it is all their faults.
Keep trying Bruce. I bet if you ask enough questions , all of which attempt to place blame, you might fool someone. FYI the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission was appointed by The President. His name was George W Bush. He was a REPUBLICAN wasn’t he Bruce?
In 2005 it was a Republican controled House, Senate and Presidency. 3 for 3.
Well I could say Clinton signed NAFTA, though you would say it was Bush’s idea. So, we can blame them both for that. And we can blame Bush for Iraq and Afghanistan, though I see we still are there and are having soldiers killed.
Um, yes, Clinton signed NAFTA, and he is responsible for it. You mean the first Bush’s idea?
Well I guess that is pretty good, 25% right lol
Way to go Governor. This happened on your watch.
We could hire some cops and teachers…..its a start. Get out of the way governor.
Wasn’t it just a few days ago that “Lame Duckie” LePage was telling us Maine’s economy was picking up and using campground reservations as the example? Only State in New England to see the GDP go down. Great job Governor. Oh speaking of JOBS where in hell are they?
See what happens to the economy when you lose all those Government jobs. Hey Tea Partiers, how come the Private Sector hasn’t picked up the slack?
Hey! Trust the invisible hand! It’s only invisible because its so super awesome and works everytime!
Now there is an idea. Its the ghosts. No one is to blame.
When you take away Military (government tax dollar spending) the GDP declines. Imagine if Pratt Whitney, BIW, Portsmouth lost it’s “Socialist spending” This state would implode. The reality is Taxes support most of us, even if we call ourselves Republican.
Thanks Lepage, for your incompetent leadership to the bottom of the economic Abyss in New England and the rest of the USA.
LePage can only do so much..Maine is anti-business despite anything he does..Let’s look at the recent history..
Poland Springs wants to expand…Nope we might run out of water despite Maine floating on the worlds largest fresh water reserve..
Many proposals for Sears Island…Nope we need more Eel Grass…
LNG downeast…Nope it might blow up..To scarey..
One of the worlds largest Natural Gas deposits sitting in the Gulf of Maine..Nope no drilling offshore…
Somebody wants to invest millions in developing land around Moosehead Lake…Nope..We want it to stay just the way it is…
Anyone “from away” is only here to rape us and send their profits out of state..
I could go on and on but you get what I’m saying…We have met the enemy and it is US….It’s gonna take awhile to undo Maine’s reputation..If the interest is really there to do it…I don’t think it is but that’s JMHO..YMMV…
Its always Maine’s anti-business. We’ve got the biggest this, and the greatest opportunity that, we are swimming in oil, or gold, or American cheese. If we would just let these fine businessmen rip up our state, destroy our environment, loot the treasury and let them buy 2 elevators for their gargages we average working people will be wallowing in 100 dollar bills. Bull. We are an end of the road state with few natural resources other than our people and now a loot first ask questions later political leadership taking their orders from Washington.
2 years and they are doing everything they can to wreck our already weak economy. Next they will blame it all on sunspots.
We have been trading decent paying manufacturing jobs for low wage service sector jobs for the last 20 years since the advent of “free” trade. Now our GDP is 46th in the nation. Whoda thunk it? lol. Hang on fellow Mainers, we still have a long ways to fall.
Yeah 4 whole points to 50th pffffffffft.
If there was ever an arguement to made for the DECD folk’s to use with Bombardier and the Brunswick NAS project, this is it. As far as the offshore LNG drilling issue goes, the drilling itself is not the problem. But it is A HUGE PROBLEM when the driller’s are gonna be the same one’s that drilled in the Gulf of Mexico, ala BP, and use the same practices here that they used there. Anyone really in a hurry to see Maine’s coast covered in slime ? No, drilling is fine, But before any of this is done someone had better be able to show us all a serious amount of ‘OH CRAP’ emergency planning. To date the only emergency planning I’ve seen is the DOT re-stocking their winter salt shed’s.
The same can be argued for Irving’s Bald Mountain mess. Anyone looked into just what is needed in the event any of the mining debris, which gets dumped and spread around, ever gets moving when it get’s waterlogged, like in Spring Thaw or another Hurricane Irene, and starts moving, ala a landslide ? Some folk’s really need to go re-read some civil engineering books and look at what happened in the West Virginia coal mining towns when these coal debris ‘mountain’s’ (and no matter how you want to call it, a pile of debris standing 300 ft high is 1 BIG HILL !) got waterlogged and began moving downslope. Buffalo Creek was the most tragic, and the most avoidable, of these. It’s about time that these 2 items were addressed, openly, so that Maine doesn’t get bushwhacked. Louisiana didn’t address these out of a open and trusting attitude to the gas and oil industry. We all saw where that wound up. Here in Maine, we’re smarter and know what to call ‘it’ when some try’s to sell us ‘it’ as something else.