AUGUSTA – After almost seven years as governor, Angus King still is trying to change how people outside the state’s borders perceive what’s happening inside them.

King hopes a new four-page advertising supplement in the Dec. 24 issue of Forbes magazine will emphasize to people that the lobster is good, and so is the state as a place to locate their business.

During a press conference called to highlight the section Thursday, King said that during his time as governor he has traveled to New York City and Boston, and to Mexico, Thailand, Brazil and other countries on trade missions. At each stop, his hosts ask about lobsters more than the state’s business climate.

The Forbes advertising section will tell the world’s chief executive officers that Maine has a strong fishing sector, but also has strength in biotechnology, high-technology and the paper and woods products industries.

“Yes, we’re fish,” King said. “But we’re also chips. We’re fish and chips. But not the chips you think, like fish and chips in Britain. These chips are the kind that come out of Fairchild and National Semiconductor.”

The advertising section was developed by the state Department of Economic and Community Development and Nancy Marshall Communications. It will appear in Forbes and Forbes Global magazines, which are circulated to more than 5 million readers worldwide, said Peter Malloy, director of economic development at Forbes.

The section cost $140,000, and four Maine-based businesses and the University of Maine System picked up the tab. The magazine was able to work out a deal with the businesses, thus reducing the cost from the usual $300,000, Malloy said.

The UMS and the businesses have separate stories about them in the section, which accompany a longer piece written by Dean Lunt, a free-lance writer and former business reporter.

King said the primary result the state hopes to achieve through the advertisement is “just to get on people’s mental map.”

“Will somebody read this and decide to move their business to Maine tomorrow? I doubt it,” King said.

But, he added, the testimonials from the businesses that helped pay for the supplement – Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, Wright Express, Commtel and Clareon – carry more weight “than anything a politician can say.”

Malloy and King were asked why Forbes didn’t do a regular story on Maine’s business climate instead of having the state pay to have its story told.

King answered that in an advertisement, the state has the opportunity to get a “clear, succinct message out.”

Other companies with Maine-based operations that are mentioned in Lunt’s article include Jackson Laboratory, McCain Foods, L.L. Bean, Putnam Investments, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney.

Next to the article is a mail-in response card. Companies interested in Maine can ask that more information be sent to them about the state’s business climate, such as labor market statistics and small-business development programs.

Besides the business climate, the article tells readers that Maine has been named the best place to raise a child by the Children’s Rights Council, and one of the nation’s healthiest states by Self magazine. It also mentions that the state has one of the highest-performing school systems, a ranking given by the National Education Goals Panel.

“This is a myth-breaker story,” King said.

And even though Maine – at this time – is known more for lobsters than a strong business climate, King said that’s OK.

“We’re lucky because there are places that have no image,” he said.