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Maine Good Jobs Report

March 3rd, 2007 Posted by Mark

Maine seems to be a good place for employers at the moment, at least according to some of the sources that I have been seeing and hearing from lately. The Governor there, John Baldacci, has the Council on Jobs, Innovation and the Economy doing a study on the job growth situation and the state of the Maine economy. The resulting report, or an interim report actually to be specific, says that the state should fund something called cluster development at the rate of $10 million a year, with that money being open to all industries and employers.

The plan has already been partly put in place by the governor for some employers and some industries. For instance, the governor gave a $15 million so called Wired Grant to the state boating industry in order to help that industry and its employers grow and diversify.

The Council on Jobs, Innovation and the Economy was actually set up by the governor last year to come up with an action plan on how to get the industries in the state moving toward innovation, and how to develop these cluster development projects that we are talking about. It is all a matter of how the state is to invest its money in the Maine industries and employers, and how that money could help make your company stronger.

The way the state looks to be going forward with this cluster development is to put $3 million aside for it in the budget this first year, and then dedicate another $5 million for it in the following year. As employers, of course, you will not be able to go after that money in a free for all, but if you consider yourself an innovative employer in your industry, and a strong producer of job growth, it cannot hurt to have this development plan in mind when contacting government officials.