Many Mainers are struggling to survive. We see our heritage of traditional fishing and logging waning, with few new vibrant industries on the horizon to replace them. Few of our students pursue higher education, and the best and brightest young adults who do are leaving the state to find their future.

We have a property tax crisis and a budget crisis. Faced with the enormity of these problems, is there anything that individuals can do? As the manager for Maine Technology Institute’s (MTI) Federal and State Technology (FAST) partnership program, I suggest a way for you to become part of the solution.

Last year, MTI received a grant from the Small Business Administration to develop a FAST program to help Maine’s small technology businesses thrive. As a state, we are doing a better job of creating new technology companies, yet we still rank 34th in the nation on this score according to Corporation for Enterprise Development. We fare worse in our ability to sustain these new businesses, earning a “D” in development capacity, and an “F” for innovation assets.

In a nation that increasingly relies on technology and other new-economy businesses, Maine simply must do more to encourage technology business launches of all kinds. MTI identifies technology areas as including advanced forestry and agriculture, aquaculture and marine, biotechnology, composites materials, environmental, information technology, and precision manufacturing. These industries have the ability to provide stable, high-paying jobs for our state residents, contribute to state tax rolls, and provide a future for our young citizens, all while supporting our precious environmental resources.

Governmental assistance such as that from the SBA is important to our future: we need funds in order to invest in new businesses. Maine’s small technology entrepreneurs have great ideas, and MTI has helped many turn them into reality. MTI has approved more than $10 million in funding to 220 different companies within Maine since our inception in 1999. Yet, we need to go beyond just financial support from federal resources. We need commitment from the private sector, commitment from business professionals like you.

Maine’s small technology businesses need more than seed grant and development money. They need advice, counsel, and guidance on how to commercialize their products, and how to grow and run their businesses. In short, they need an experienced friend to whom they can turn.

That’s why we created the Maine TechTracker Network, an association of business professionals experienced with the process of taking a business from idea to fruition. Our goal is to pair each willing technology business owner or manager with an experienced professional, to provide the types of support that money just can’t buy. Ask any business person to spell out the factors contributing to his or her success, and more often than not, you’ll hear stories about someone who provided sage advice when they couldn’t cover payroll, or who offered insight on managing a staff, or who knew just how to establish a nationwide distribution network. Someone they could call when they needed a bit of encouragement. A business friend with valuable “been there, done that, you can do it too” advice.

The Maine TechTrackers maximize public sector financial investment capital by matching it with private sector human capital, and we think it is a model for the future. The association also provides a way for people to get off the sidelines, and help our State’s future. Currently, we have far more technology business professionals than we have TechTrackers with which to pair them. We urgently need TechTrackers on our list.

Consider this your invitation: If you have experience running a business, commercializing a product or service, and growing a company, we want you. We ask that you devote four hours per month to your partner company, via phone or in person, and we request a one-year commitment. We guarantee that it will be time well spent.

If you think that our state’s problems are out of reach for anyone individual, think again. If you are able to help one business sustain itself, or provide counsel that helps it grow, you’ll help far more than just the entrepreneur with whom you’re partnered. Think of the kid down the street, whose parents have fished for generations. Will there be a job for him in the future? Maybe, if you help an entrepreneur develop an aquaculture center, there’s a way to stay part of the industry. How about that budding computer specialist, or mechanically gifted child? We have composite materials developers, manufacturing companies, and information technology businesses on our list.

You can play a part in their future, and the future of our state. Is it worth four hours of your time a month? If your answer is yes, please give me a call. Our entrepreneurs, our state and our children need you.

Pat Martin is FAST program manager for the Maine Technology Institute. For more information about the TechTrackers program, or to participate in the series of commercialization workshops starting this month in Orono, contact him at 582-4790, extension 6, at http://www.mainetechnology.org, or at patmartin@gwi.net.