GrowSmart Maine
 Excerpts from Brookings Report Summary:

 

Sustainable growth won't happen unless we fix some of the problems that we face.

 

Our state's economic development work is unfocused

Brookings says Maine shoots itself in the foot with scattershot economic development programs, which are too often driven by short-term political goals and wishful thinking. We tend to "send a dollar in every direction," which may keep people happy but accomplishes little. We also tend to change our minds every election. The result: Maine's landscape is littered with too many independent and poorly funded programs, towns competing against each other for stores, and agencies that are too often doing the wrong things in the wrong places.

 

Good, new jobs are just taking root

 Some of the state's new high-paying jobs are in emerging innovation sectors, such as biotechnology, marine aquaculture, and composite materials. But these sectors are still tiny. Idexx and Jackson Laboratories, for example, account for nearly all the biotechnology jobs in Maine. These new "clusters," as the economists call them, haven't yet reached a critical mass where they can really grow new jobs, attract sufficient talented workers and keep Maine young people here. They still need a boost.

 

Our work force isn't yet ready for tomorrow's jobs

The people who are moving to Maine aren't offsetting our growing shortage of skilled, educated workers. Maine is already in short supply of nurses, construction trades-people and machinists. Shortages will worsen and spread as baby boomers retire, because the next generation is not nearly big enough to replace them. Compounding the challenge are the thousands of older, less educated workers laid off by downsizing manufacturing companies. All of that points to an enormous challenge of retraining and re-educating ourselves for the new economy.

 

We tax and spend too much

For years, taxes and spending have been hotly debated topics in Maine, giving rise to various citizen initiatives, including the Taxpayers Bill of Rights this year.  New research conducted by Brookings compared Maine spending to ten rural states across the country. What they found won't surprise most of us. Maine taxes and spending are too high. Maine's overall state spending is several hundred million dollars per year more than the average of the peer states. Our K-12 education spending is about $150 million a year more than these other rural states. Much of that excess is in administration and all of it absorbs money that should be going into investments in the new economy. The predictable result: Maine's combined state and local taxes were second highest in the nation in 2002. Property taxes as a percentage of personal income gave Mainers the highest property tax burden in the country in 2002. It's no wonder we face a continuous and divisive taxpayer revolt that pits Mainers against Mainers almost every two years.

 

We're squandering our small-town landscape

Our quality of place - our brand - is also threatened from within. In the past 15 years, an area the size of Rhode Island has been converted from farms and forest to scattered house lots and subdivisions. Some 70 percent of Mainers now live outside town centers and cities. This has happened while our population was hardly growing. Now that we're growing again, this suburbanization could get even worse.

 

Unplanned and haphazard growth isn't just diminishing the rural character of Maine, it's also costing Maine taxpayers a bundle, and bringing us to a breaking point. Over a decade, Maine spent $200 million in unnecessary new schools just to accommodate suburbanization, while school enrollment was actually declining.  As people move out into the countryside, we also create the need for new duplicate schools, town infrastructure, roads and municipal services. It may be good for the individual or the family in search of lower taxes and land, but it's a killer for taxpayers.

 

Plus, all that moving around threatens our brand and our uniqueness. It cuts up farms, forests, and wildlife habitat, while encroaching on traditional hunting and fishing areas and chews up the things that attracts visitors and new residents to Maine, including scenic vistas, charming small towns and high-quality recreational opportunities.