Maine’s economy urgently needs a new lease on life. That much has been made clear in the aftermath of the closure of three more Maine paper mills. Maine’s legacy industries, for the most part, are struggling to compete in a world where developing countries offer markedly lower cost structures. While the state’s service sector has been growing steadily, it simply cannot match the economic stability delivered by Maine’s manufacturers in the previous century. Tourism, now Maine’s primary generator of cross-border earnings, cannot be expected to sustain the state’s overall economy as a consequence of its highly seasonal business cycle.
Question 4, which proposes a $10 million bond to build a cancer research center here in Maine, would be a boost for Maine-based cancer research, but the local economic impact of this bond’s passage is at least equally important. The $10 million in state funding would be matched with $11 million in private funding, for a direct $21 million investment in the Maine economy.
In other words, Maine’s growing research and development sector would get a meaningful boost for less than 50 cents on the dollar in public investment.
Since 1998, R&D has been one of the brighter spots in Maine’s relatively stagnant economy. R&D spending as a percentage of gross state product tripled and in terms of spending per employee it actually quadrupled. Even so, the Maine Development Foundation cites the overall rate of R&D investment in Maine as a serious cause for concern. In much of the developed world, knowledge and invention have become the primary drivers of economic growth, replacing yesteryear’s raw production capacity. The direct link between R&D and economic growth has been well established, a reality perhaps best underscored in California. To regain pace with the rest of the nation Maine must generate and attract significantly more investment in R&D.
Apart from the critical economic necessity for Maine’s increased focus on R&D, there are pragmatic local considerations for passing Question 4. The Jackson Laboratory’s collaboration with Eastern Maine Medical Center and the University of Maine has been a key factor in regional job growth. Over the past 25 years, the lab’s workforce has grown from 300 to 1,300 and, more recently, at least 100 well-paying jobs in the Bangor-Brewer area can be directly attributed to the lab’s nearby presence and growth. While R&D alone cannot replace Maine’s lost industrial jobs in the short term, it does help generate the higher-income jobs Maine graduates and the Maine economy urgently need.
Question 4 represents but one key step in the larger process of developing the economic climate Maine needs to attract new cross-border investment. Currently just over 55 percent of R&D spending in Maine is funded privately (versus nearly 85 percent in New Hampshire).
Maine offers the quality of life, natural environment and essential infrastructure to attract both organizations and individuals interested in R&D activities. Our state cannot afford to miss the R&D growth trend and the proven economic spinoff that it generates.
The Action Committee of 50 strongly encourages a “yes” vote on Question 4. Increased R&D directly translates into a better future economy.
Andrew Sturgeon and Bob Ziegelaar are, respectively, president and vice president of the Action Committee of 50, a non-profit economic development organization composed of business and civic leader in the Bangor region.