February 19, 2025
Business

Maine businesses halting projects in midst of national credit crunch

AUGUSTA – Some Maine companies are delaying expanding, and some entrepreneurs are shelving plans for new projects, as concerns about credit availability persist even as bankers say they have money to lend.

“There is no doubt about it that it is going to have some impact on job creation,” said Economic and Community Development Commissioner John Richardson. “It already has, we know of projects that are not going forward because of the uncertainty in the economy.”

He said there are examples across the state where a business has decided to put expansion plans “on hold” because of national economic uncertainty.

“People have taken a step back, [and] not because they don’t have the money. They want to look over the horizon and see what is happening nationally before they make that decision,” Richardson said. “What we are told is that loans are not being denied, they are being put on hold. That’s a big difference between what is going on here in Maine and what is going on nationally.”

He said even with the turmoil in the economy, there is still growth in certain job sectors in Maine as some more traditional parts of the economy have been laying off workers. For example, he said, the demand for information technology jobs continues to be strong throughout the state and is one reason why unemployment figures have continued below the national average this year.

“I think there is something to that saying – that we don’t benefit as fast here when the national economy is booming, and that we don’t get hurt as deep when the national economy has problems,” Richardson said.

Dana Connors, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, said he has heard from members about the concern they have for the economy and what it means in this state.

“There is a real feeling of uneasiness, of uncertainty. [We] haven’t been here before – ‘How do we get out of this? What is going to happen?'” he said, adding there is “a lot of confidence that we will.”

Connors said banks in Maine have done a good job of explaining that they have money to lend, but what happens nationally and globally affects local banks. He said the short-term borrowing problems some businesses have reported in other states do not appear to be happening here.

“I have not heard of any problems, anywhere in the state,” he said.

Maine banks and credit unions say they are loaning both short term and long term to Maine companies, as well as to individuals.


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