Tipping points for Maine talent

Second of two parts

I left rural Maine for college in “the big city” in 1989 with no intention to return. Why did I come back?

There were several indispensable factors or “tipping points” that made it attractive and possible for me to come home: I left with a deep sense of personal connectedness to my community. My time away, coupled with frequent visits, magnified my appreciation for many great attributes of Maine and Maine people that I had taken for granted. Some key role models demonstrated it was possible to enjoy professional challenge and success in Maine. Finally, my law school’s loan forgiveness program made it financially possible for me to absorb the substantial pay cut in coming to Maine.

The brain drain is a series of major demographic trends that are in turn the products of thousands of individual choices, made for many different reasons. How do we impact the choices of those who leave, those who might return and those who could immigrate?

To craft solutions with results in the short to medium term, we have to focus on the tipping points: who are those people who are almost in equal balance, torn between moving to or returning to Maine and other alternatives, and what factors would provide the little nudge that could tip them into coming here?

Who could be targeted at the tipping point?

A few possibilities include students completing college or graduate school; college students in Maine from out-of-state; summer campers, parents and alumni; professions in which virtual commuting is feasible; those who have affinity for the outdoor lifestyle; those who are starting a family; those who share a common bond – nationality, ethnicity, religion, or profession – with groups that have already immigrated to Maine.

In none of these instances is there any kind of systematic, sustained outreach by Maine as a state or by Maine businesses collectively, and there must be.

How could we tip them into coming to Maine?

A tipping point can be psychological. People want to be wanted. A personalized message to potential returnees or immigrants from prominent Mainers – such as the governor or Stephen King, or a leader in the person’s field – that we want them and need them here in Maine, can have a powerful impact.

Tipping points are historical, and cultural. A one-time Mainer who growing up is affected by subtle or not-so-subtle anti-intellectualism, homophobia or racism is unlikely to be a future Mainer.

As a hippie child named “Yellow” in a small Maine town, I often felt excluded, misunderstood and occasionally harassed. Only in the last moments before I left high school did I finally understand that I was part of a community that took pride in, and supported me in the opportunities I had in front of me.

Tipping points are perceptual. Many perceive it is not possible to have a truly exemplary professional career in Maine. I was lucky to work for Vincent McKusick, who grew up in Parkman, and was the top student of his day at Harvard Law School. Vincent could have gone anywhere, but came back to Maine where he enjoyed a national reputation, served 14 years as Maine’s chief justice, and was considered for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. The “small” in small town need not apply to a man’s character or his achievements.

Some tipping points are financial. Incomes in Maine are predictably lower than New York and Boston, but certain costs of living are not. Chief among these costs, for those in their 20s and 30s, is huge educational debt from college or graduate school. The monthly payment is the same whether you make $30,000 in Maine or $60,000 in New York City.

Education loan forgiveness could be a critical tipping point for many. I would not have been able to return except for my law school’s generous loan forgiveness program that enabled me to absorb the pay cut of Maine vs. Boston, as well as the differential of public sector vs. private sector.

Access to affordable rental housing is another key tipping point. In many parts of Maine an affordable stock of rental housing close to amenities young people and other immigrants want, is nearly non-existent. In southern Maine such rental housing is not much cheaper than it is in Boston, making the lower Maine salaries feel that much “poorer.”

Other tipping points may be contextual. For a young couple looking to start a family, it may be important to know that Maine is safe and has one of the best K-12 education systems in America – one of our well-kept secret bragging rights.

In leveraging these tipping points, there are some related structural impediments. Most Maine students lack knowledge about Maine’s key employers and employment sectors, what they require, and what career paths are possible, exacerbated by the nearly nonexistent recruiting by Maine businesses of youth here and at out-of-state campuses.

Although it is plainly difficult for Maine’s many micro-businesses – with five employees, or even 50 – individually to conduct far-reaching recruiting efforts cost-effectively, the resulting recruiting vacuum is a huge detriment collectively. Particularly on out-of-state campuses, the onus is almost wholly on the student to seek out potential opportunities in Maine.

To overcome this collective action problem, a recruiting cooperative should be formed by the state, business chambers, and particular industry trade associations that can “show the flag” in a broad array of campus and professional recruiting venues, and channel interested individuals to appropriate employment possibilities.

The lack of marketing efforts devoted to pitching Maine to talent both domestically and beyond is another major hindrance. Current marketing efforts — growing but still miniscule – are aimed at tourists and to some extent at large business attraction. There is little targeted at the talent that we need to attract. And the content does little to target the tipping points that are available to us.

I do not agree with those who argue that the immigration issue is simply an economic growth issue. True, a generally more robust Maine economy will help greatly in retaining or attracting youth and other immigrants. However, we have a lot of room to do better even within the context of our current economic prospects. And the talent we attract will in many instances bring with them the know-how or access to capital investment that powers the job growth.

The whole project of moving more Mainers into higher education, and attracting or retaining more folks with high education and skill levels, depends on a tipping point. In the short term, many of those we educate may leave. But gradually we will reach and pass a critical mass that will tip Maine into a sustainable momentum of educational attainment, immigration, and economic growth.

I feel lucky that the tipping points went my way. We need to do more to take luck out of the equation.

Yellow Light Breen is an attorney who lives in Holden. A graduate of public schools in St. Albans and Newport, Harvard College and Harvard Law School, he returned to Maine in 1997 to work for then-Gov. Angus King. He currently is an executive at Bangor Savings Bank. The views expressed are solely his own.