Symposia to give reports on state Legislature, economy

BANGOR – The Maine Economic Research Institute will host the third annual MERI Subscriber Symposia on Wednesday, Sept. 29, in Bangor.

The symposia will feature reports on the performance of the 121st Maine Legislature as well as provide information about the state’s economic condition. Attendees will see how Maine’s economy and business climate stack up against the rest of the country.

At this year’s symposia John F. Mahon, professor of management at the University of Maine, and nationally known economist Raymond J. Keating of Small Business Survival Committee, based in Washington, D.C., will present information.

Mahon is the John M. Murphy Chair of International Policy and Strategy at the Maine Business School and interim provost for the University of Maine. His 25-year career as a professor of management has been marked by a concentration on international business studies, a perspective he now applies to the problems of Maine’s economic transition as it relates to the rest of the country.

Keating, chief economist for Small Business Survival Committee and a columnist for New York Newsday, is also an authority on economic comparisons. His third book, “U.S. by the Numbers: What’s Left, Right, and Wrong with America State-by-State,” published in 2000, took a look at that topic.

Keating is a recognized figure on issues affecting the entrepreneurial sector of the economy – such as taxation, the budget process and regulation.

Peter G. Vigue, MERI board chairman, and Edward J. McLaughlin, MERI president and CEO, also will speak at the symposia, providing a full-circle economic overview of Maine from both a national and statewide perspective.

To register, e-mail Glen Foss, MERI vice president, at gdfoss@me-ri.org, or call 622-9075. Directions to the symposium locations are available at www.fixmaine.com.