For years, research and development in Maine was something akin to an annual physical: we knew it was needed, we knew it would pay dividends in the long run, but we still couldn’t quite bring ourselves to do it. Truth is, it just didn’t register well on the “Wow” Scale.

For years, research and development in Maine was something akin to an annual physical: we knew it was needed, we knew it would pay dividends in the long run, but we still couldn’t quite bring ourselves to do it. Truth is, it just didn’t register well on the “Wow” Scale.

Thanks in part to a renewed focus by Maine’s policy-makers and the news media, research and development is now front and center. It’s important to remember during all this that the endgame for increasing R&D is to create more jobs in the state. Sen. Olympia Snowe highlighted this in her column last week when she reported that two-thirds of our economic growth per capita stems from technological innovation.

As the Bangor Daily News wrote in its editorial last Monday, state funding for R&D went from virtually zero to more than $20 million a year in the last three years and the newspaper’s call for additional attention on R&D is not only well received, but well timed.

While Maine still lags behind other states in funding for its growing R&D program, the state has, in a relatively short period, made significant gains. And even in leaner economic times, the administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year ’02-’03 called for maintaining and building upon this commitment. This week some of the fruits of previous investments will become apparent with several announcements of new projects in the works.

So, where are we? Here in Maine, R&D is focused on three prongs – industry, academia, and non-profit research labs – and each program is geared toward one or more of these.

Last fall, for example, the administration proposed an initiative called “30 and 1,000,” with a goal of having 30 percent of Maine’s adults earn four-year college degrees, and the state (both public and private resources) investing $1,000 of R&D per worker. The idea is rather simple: by building a knowledge-based economy, incomes will rise.

The State Planning Office found in its research that in 1998, 19 percent of adults had four-year college degrees, and we spent less than $240 per worker on R&D. Both figures put us near the bottom of the national pack and guess what? Our per capita income also was in the bottom third of the states, 15 percent below the national average.

But if Maine improves its performance in these two factors to “30 and 1,000,” we will finally reach or exceed the national per capita income. On average, that means $4,000 more per person, or nearly $10,000 more per household each year.

And, here’s the rub: if we don’t make this investment, there is almost no other combination of things we can do to raise Maine’s per capita income to this level.

The good news is that we’re well on our way to ensuring that “30 and 1,000” works. To meet the “30” goal, we’ve adopted Learning Results for grades K-12, established a community college to ease access into higher education, made major investments at all the state’s technical college campuses, proposed the most dramatic educational technology plan in the nation, and increased support for financial-aid programs. For the “1,000,” voters in 1998 approved a $20 million bond for R&D, and the administration and the Legislature have followed up with another $19 million in on-going projects.

The Maine Technology Institute, which was created in 1999 to stimulate R&D, spends 93 percent of its $6 million annual budget on a variety of projects that will lead to commercialization. By doing this, the MTI will increase the competitiveness of a targeted industry, which, hopefully, will create more jobs in the state.

Since its inception, the MTI has developed a portfolio of financial rewards to address specific business needs, including grants of up to $100,000 for the commercialization of new products or services. The Institute also has established contracts with Eastern Maine Development Center to help develop R&D products, created web pages, offered technical assistance to businesses, and dozens of other projects. Later this week, the administration and the MTI will announce a new round of support for Maine-based businesses.

Remember the three prongs of R&D? (Industry, academia and non-profit research labs). A massive policy undertaking such as research and development often means that each of them must work in harmony because the goals are so closely intertwined.

Tomorrow, the administration will join the University of Maine to announce a major agreement with several private research facilities in the state. It is this sort of collaboration that will not only bring Maine up to par in R&D, but hopefully it will help the state to jump ahead of our peers across the country.

Because the state has taken the critical first step of making real investments in research and development, we’re also finally starting to show concrete returns. As the BDN states, we must do more, and we will.

After all, let’s face it – investing in research and development is not funding some sort of ether-world, secret program. It’s not throwing tax dollars away to study how butter would melt on the moon, or whether cats can hold their breath longer than dogs.

It’s investing in real people, and helping them to secure a better future for themselves. And that’s good for all of us.

Angus King is the governor of Maine, and Evan Richert is the director of the Maine State Planning Office.

Thanks in part to a renewed focus by Maine’s policy-makers and the news media, research and development is now front and center. It’s important to remember during all this that the endgame for increasing R&D is to create more jobs in the state. Sen. Olympia Snowe highlighted this in her column last week when she reported that two-thirds of our economic growth per capita stems from technological innovation.

As the Bangor Daily News wrote in its editorial last Monday, state funding for R&D went from virtually zero to more than $20 million a year in the last three years and the newspaper’s call for additional attention on R&D is not only well received, but well timed.

While Maine still lags behind other states in funding for its growing R&D program, the state has, in a relatively short period, made significant gains. And even in leaner economic times, the administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year ’02-’03 called for maintaining and building upon this commitment. This week some of the fruits of previous investments will become apparent with several announcements of new projects in the works.

So, where are we? Here in Maine, R&D is focused on three prongs – industry, academia, and non-profit research labs – and each program is geared toward one or more of these.

Last fall, for example, the administration proposed an initiative called “30 and 1,000,” with a goal of having 30 percent of Maine’s adults earn four-year college degrees, and the state (both public and private resources) investing $1,000 of R&D per worker. The idea is rather simple: by building a knowledge-based economy, incomes will rise.

The State Planning Office found in its research that in 1998, 19 percent of adults had four-year college degrees, and we spent less than $240 per worker on R&D. Both figures put us near the bottom of the national pack and guess what? Our per capita income also was in the bottom third of the states, 15 percent below the national average.

But if Maine improves its performance in these two factors to “30 and 1,000,” we will finally reach or exceed the national per capita income. On average, that means $4,000 more per person, or nearly $10,000 more per household each year.

And, here’s the rub: if we don’t make this investment, there is almost no other combination of things we can do to raise Maine’s per capita income to this level.

The good news is that we’re well on our way to ensuring that “30 and 1,000” works.

To meet the “30” goal, we’ve adopted Learning Results for grades K-12, established a community college to ease access into higher education, made major investments at all the state’s technical college campuses, proposed the most dramatic educational technology plan in the nation, and increased support for financial-aid programs. For the “1,000,” voters in 1998 approved a $20 million bond for R&D, and the administration and the Legislature have followed up with another $19 million in on-going projects.

The Maine Technology Institute, which was created in 1999 to stimulate R&D, spends 93 percent of its $6 million annual budget on a variety of projects that will lead to commercialization. By doing this, the MTI will increase the competitiveness of a targeted industry, which, hopefully, will create more jobs in the state.

Since its inception, the MTI has developed a portfolio of financial rewards to address specific business needs, including grants of up to $100,000 for the commercialization of new products or services. The Institute also has established contracts with Eastern Maine Development Center to help develop R&D products, created web pages, offered technical assistance to businesses, and dozens of other projects. Later this week, the administration and the MTI will announce a new round of support for Maine-based businesses.

Remember the three prongs of R&D? (Industry, academia and non-profit research labs). A massive policy undertaking such as research and development often means that each of them must work in harmony because the goals are so closely intertwined.

Tomorrow, the administration will join the University of Maine to announce a major agreement with several private research facilities in the state. It is this sort of collaboration that will not only bring Maine up to par in R&D, but hopefully it will help the state to jump ahead of our peers across the country.

Because the state has taken the critical first step of making real investments in research and development, we’re also finally starting to show concrete returns. As the BDN states, we must do more, and we will.

After all, let’s face it – investing in research and development is not funding some sort of ether-world, secret program. It’s not throwing tax dollars away to study how butter would melt on the moon, or whether cats can hold their breath longer than dogs.

It’s investing in real people, and helping them to secure a better future for themselves. And that’s good for all of us.

Angus King is the governor of Maine, and Evan Richert is the director of the Maine State Planning Office.