Poll: Mainers dubious about economy

BREWER -The majority of Mainers have a negative view of the economy, according to a new poll released Wednesday, and is telling the state government to do something about it.

Whether legislative and gubernatorial candidates will listen, though, remains to be seen. Election Day is more than a year away.

The Institute for a Strong Maine Economy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank formed earlier this year, though, is hoping the politicians take notice of what are “top-of-the-mind issues, top-of-the-mind concerns” for Mainers. The institute, too, hopes the government officials give serious consideration to suggestions it will develop in coming months to fix any problems.

If not, they’ll be asked to come up with alternatives, said Paula Valente, the group’s president. They’ll have to come up with something, she said, because people are going to be paying attention because of the seriousness of the need to fix the state’s economy.

The institute, affiliated with the Maine State Chamber and Business Alliance, is being funded by more than 20 businesses and municipalities, including the city of Brewer. The survey, which was conducted in May, is the first part of the group’s review of Maine’s economic development policies and its comparison to those strategies used in other states.

Maine has been at a disadvantage the last few years even though it has undergone significant advances in job growth and business expansion, Valente said. Other states have raised the bar on standards that constitute business growth success, she said, and Maine has not met those standards but has fallen behind.

That’s why Mainers are becoming concerned, said Valente, speaking at the Lemforder Corp. in Brewer. The results from the sampling of 400 Mainers will be integrated into what the Institute hopes is the “right formula” to resurrect an economy that is becoming sluggish, she said.

Among the results:

. 57 percent of Mainers hold a negative view of the state’s economy;

. 91 percent say that government leaders need to do more to promote business in the state;

. 93 percent say the next governor and Legislature need to give high importance to improving education and training – to prepare workers with skills required in the new economy;

. 94 percent say the next governor and legislature need to give high importance to attracting new business to the state;

. 82 percent say the state needs to create better job opportunities to entice young people to stay and work in the state.

Valente said it is time for politicians and others in state government to quit talking about what needs to be done and start developing some concrete, consistent policies that aren’t being reviewed every year for possible changes.

Maine has a “brief, critical window of opportunity” to become competitive, she said.

Candy Guerette, executive director of the Greater Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce, said its discouraging to read reports of the state being 48th nationally in terms of helping small businesses, first in the amount of taxes paid by residents, and 36th nationally in per capita income.

To succeed, Maine needs “consistent, sound economic policies” that aren’t continually brought before the Legislature for tinkering, she said.

Brewer’s economic development director Drew Sachs agreed. It’s hard to sell Maine’s pro-business economic development programs when the state has a reputation among national business developers as not being behind them.

Sachs said he pitched the state’s business equipment tax reimbursement program to two businesses, and they both responded, “we can’t count on that.”

Under BETR, a business pays its taxes on business equipment to a municipality, and then is reimbursed from the state for those taxes. The financial incentive is to be used to encourage job growth.

Sachs said he wants “solid, firm facts” to use in his presentation to businesses looking to locate in the area.

“That’s something we’ve lacked in the past,” he said.

The institute is expected to have a policy paper on the state’s economic policies, and those of other states, by the beginning of the year. It also intends to have a “statement of principles” to give to candidates, and ask them if they agree with them, Valente said.