Businesses have long emphasized the link between education and ecomonics. This observation usually implies that those communities and states that make the upfront investment in educational excellence will reap the rewards of economic growth.

The announcement by MBNA that it will build a University of Maine center in Belfast gives that hoary cause-and-effect equation a long-overdue shaking. By taking the lead in increasing access to higher education, the bank creates a new model for the public-private partnership that is more than public investment and private profits.

The location for this center, which will begin offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in science, liberal arts and business next fall, could not be better. Due to geography, Waldo County is woefully underserved by higher education — it’s remarkable transformation in recent years from a region of high unemployment, poverty and abandoned poultry plants to one of unparalleled growth is due much more to MBNA’s investment in Belfast than it is to any state initiatives.

This new Hutchinson Center, appropriately named for former University of Maine President Fred Hutchinson, will provide well-rounded, comprehensive educations — the campus is not being built as a breeding ground for bankers. Yet, as businesses compete with increasing vigor for the brightest, most motivated, most technologically adept minds, MBNA gives itself a nice head start. Smart businesses have learned that the best college graduates are not recruited at one-time job fairs and pizza parties — they are cultivated by long-term relationships, the kind forged through internships and cooperative ventures. For MBNA, this project is enlightened self-interest of the highest order.

Too often, the creation of a favorable business climate is seen as the responsibility solely of government and the focus is primarily upon tax policy. Too often, businesses’ role amounts to little more than lobbying for narrowly targetted breaks. While taxation and other legislative policies certainly are important, successful businesses of the information age, such as MBNA, have made clear that educational attainment, such as will be provided by the Hutchinson Center, is a more crucial and positive factor in economic growth.