Whether Maine did or did not just experience a recession is an academic question to five biomedical institutions here that never slowed with the rest of the economy in 2001. Their most recent gains, explained in brief in a new report card, suggest how much more these research facilities could contribute to Maine.

It’s worth knowing what Maine’s future could look like. The Maine Research Biomedical Coalition is made up of The University of New England’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Maine Medical Center’s Research Institute, the Foundation for Blood Research, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory and The Jackson Laboratory. While Maine’s job growth was essentially flat last year, the number of jobs at these five labs grew 13 percent, as it has during the last several years.

Your tax dollars are partly responsible for this. In 2001, Maine provided the coalition with $7 million. The coalition was then able to leverage another $70 million in grants, which in turn meant construction work, increased local sales, new facility jobs and a stronger economy. Altogether, the coalition spent $33 million on construction, supporting 300 jobs, and added, within the labs, 173 jobs with average pay and benefits worth $47,500 each. Just the sales and income taxes expected to be returned to the state for its investment is $8.3 million. That is, state funding was more than repaid in a single year in addition to all the economic activity.

The report card is strictly an economic assessment, but it is important to note that the work being done saves lives. The coalition focuses its research on heart and bone disease, diabetes and cancer, on finding cures for AIDS and Alzheimer’s. Given the recent advances in genetic research – made possible in part by the coalition – their work holds promise for improved health as well as for a healthier economy.

But to succeed Maine must be ready for the change. All five institutions are looking to hire more people. The Jackson Lab, for instance, needs an additional 200 employees, work for those right out of high school to lead researchers who hold doctorates. A partnership formed last year means that eight University of Maine students will begin a mentoring program this summer with the coalition. Other colleges around the state have similarly recognized the opportunity biomedical research presents and are responding. The report card mentions some of the people who have found work in the labs, like the two UMaine graduates who will start their careers as lab technicians at salaries of $35,000 a year and the former sandwich shop worker who went back to college and is now a research assistant at The Jackson Lab or the Maine native who was recently hired by MDIBL to coordinate science education activities. These young Maine residents would otherwise likely be looking at low-paying jobs or looking out of state. Instead, they are staying and prospering.

The state’s economy was built by the strong hands and hearts of the lumberman, the farmer and the fisherman; it will thrive in this new century on the sharpened minds and powerful imaginations of the scientists and researchers in this new economy. The coalition’s report card is a glimpse at Maine’s future, or its potential future if it continues to support this life-saving work.