Maine Ponders Mega Investments for R&D, Tech

$190 million? $200 million? $250 million? Each of these figures has been advanced in Maine to support three different approaches toward tech-based economic development. The bottom line for the 2007 legislative session is Maine’s elected leaders - from the governor and the state assembly - believe a sizable injection of public funding is required to accelerate research and technology commercialization in the Pine Tree State.

 

On Monday, Gov. John Baldacci established a new council to develop an action plan to invest in R&D and the state’s most promising industrial clusters. The new group, dubbed the council on Jobs, Innovation, and the Economy, will immediately begin work designing a strategy to implement the recommendations of a recent Brookings Institution report on the needs of the Maine economy. That report provides a comprehensive set of investments in state communities and research intended to generate sustainable prosperity in tourism and high-tech business. The governor has commissioned the council, whose membership is composed of “active, younger members of the business community,” to collaborate with state officials and prepare related legislation for the next session.

 

One key component of the Brookings recommendations is a $200 million Innovation Jobs Fund that would promote cluster development and support statewide R&D. By devoting $180 million of this fund to research in forest bioproducts, biotechnology, information technology, organic farming and specialty foods, advanced materials, and precision manufacturing, the report argues that Maine can pursue continued growth in industries in which it currently holds a competitive advantage and begin moving into the fastest-growing fields across the country. This funding would increase the state’s investment in research to 3 percent of gross state product. Businesses in the fields targeted by the R&D program would receive additional support from a $20 million Maine Cluster Development Fund, which would support industry partnerships and organizations that promote job growth, entrepreneurial training and networking opportunities. The program would offer 5-7 competitive awards per year to business-led public, private and academic consortia with strategies to stimulate cluster activity.

 

The Brookings report also recommends the state create a $190 million Quality Places Fund to support community revitalization, and increase the state’s overall appeal to tourists and to skilled professionals who might consider making Maine their home. A $90 million recapitalization of the state’s Municipal Investment Trust Fund would support local initiatives to stimulate economic growth and create new jobs. The fund targets investments that leverage contributions from the private sector and local matching funds. The remaining $100 million would be split between programs to promote Maine’s natural tourism industry and to preserve its environmentally-sensitive areas.

 

Gov. Baldacci will meet with the council on Wednesday to begin discussing how the new programs can be implemented and how to obtain the necessary funding.

 

Legislative support for moving a major TBED initiative in the next session already has some momentum, as a bi-partisan committee meeting on Nov. 30 recommended putting a $250 million R&D bond issue on the ballot before voters in 2007. The measure would make $50 million available each year for five years to support research programs.

 

Read Charting Maine’s Future: An Action Plan for Promoting Sustainable Prosperity and Quality Places at: http://www.brookings.edu/metro/maine

 

Links to this paper and nearly 4,500 additional TBED-related research reports, strategic plans and other papers can be found at the Tech-based Economic Development (TBED) Resource Center, jointly developed by the Technology Administration and SSTI, at: http://www.tbedresourcecenter.org/.