The world, nation, and Maine are facing the facts of the 21st Century's second decade.  New facts, if we face them, may change our understanding of our challenges and choices.

 

For Maine, our most important facts are demographic. The state of our people must guide public policy to increase citizens' well-being and rebuild prosperity. The U.S. Census Bureau gives us these facts: 

 

     --Maine is a state of only  1.3 million people with the oldest median age in the nation.

 

     --The percentage of Mainers aged 25 and over who have a BA or further advanced degree is the lowest in New England.

 

We know that higher education is a hiring and income-earning advantage for workers. It provides the skills employers offering good paying jobs seek. We must do all we can to increase our existing workforce's educational attainment, though most of us are older than a traditional college-aged student.

 

But for Maine's future to be bright, we must find ways to attract younger people to our state, people who bring the skills we need. It makes sense: while Maine's tax rates, regulations, access to capital, infrastructure, and other factors are part of our propserity equation, we must have a workforce able to start or build businesses that will succeed in markets of today and tomorrow.

 

We did in the 1960s. Maine's traditional migration of rural young adults to urban areas in-state and out ceased. A significant number of baby-boomers decided to live among the amenities of Maine's natural resources. Known as the "back-to-the-land movement," this period brought youth and skills to Maine --and then relatives and friends who didn't want to work the land, but learned that Maine was a great place to live.

 

SPO research supports the idea that Maine's quality of place can still attract quality businesses and skilled workers. Governor Baldacci's Quality of Place Council, now in statute, will help Mainers learn how best to preserve our special places, market them, and bring people to Maine who love this state. Perhaps the Saint John, New Brunswick approach would serve Maine well. Saint John determined its values and assets; determined the demographic profiles of people who would share and enjoy these and the location of these people on the planet; and aimed a campaign called "Life on Your Terms" at marketing Saint John to the skilled workers they needed. Saint John's efforts paid off. The province of New Brunswick joined in with its population growth strategy.

 

How does Maine find the resources to invest in this kind of campaign and in the other amenities skilled workers seek? Part of finding these resources --especially in these recessionary times --is to continue the restructuring of Maine governments at all levels begun by Governor Baldacci. Can it be that 19th Century local government structures meet all our needs best and cost-effectively in the 21st Century? Can it be that a state government last overhauled in the 1960s is organized perfectly for the 2010s?

 

The Saint John enterprise involves five municipalities all working together to promote Saint John and share the benefits within the region. The Saint John area relied on facts and built a winning economic strategy based on those. Now New Brunswick is acting as one to keep and attract a skilled workforce. As a New Brunswick government minister said, "[W]e will need the involvement, input, and cooperation of all stakeholders, levels of government, and communities throughout our province." He continued, "[I]t isn't just a blueprint to solve a problem, but a solution that builds opportunities for a prosperous, self-sufficient future for everyone who calls this place home."

 

In the months and years ahead, to promote the Maine we love and entice skilled people who share our values, we all need to face facts and be willing to evolve.

 

 

While email addresses for SPO employees will remain the same, phone numbers will change. New contact information will be posted to our web site as soon as we know it.