Maine Voices: State should skip blame game and learn from loss of Kestrel
As a small, rural state, it makes sense to invest in small business rather than focusing on just ‘big fish.’
By SETH GOODALL
RICHMOND – The recent news of the loss of nearly 600 jobs at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station is a major disappointment. The manufacturing jobs, originally promised by Kestrel Aircraft, were lost in a bidding war to Wisconsin. Without a doubt, Kestrel’s decision is a temporary setback for the redevelopment of BNAS because the company was slated to be a major anchor tenant that could easily propel the redevelopment of the entire base.
Now that Kestrel’s decision has been made, Maine has a decision to make: Are we going to assign blame or learn from this experience in order to move forward and succeed in the future? I say that we choose the latter.
Assigning blame for the loss of Kestrel is a counterproductive exercise and a waste of time. Instead, we must ask ourselves what we can learn from this nearly two-year courtship. Simply, we must determine how to be more proactive in securing and creating jobs, as well as being responsive to the needs of businesses seeking to grow in Maine.
Job creation and economic development is a competitive business, especially between states. Often, as was the case with Kestrel, it comes down to a bidding war that already puts small, fiscally disciplined states like Maine at a disadvantage from the outset. But we can overcome that disadvantage by identifying Maine’s comparative advantages and using them as best as we can. Wooing firms with huge incentives and subsidies is not one of our strengths and never will be. However, many businesses make location and investment decisions on more than just financial giveaways.
The governor, Legislature and our economic community development partners must examine all of our resources and options for attracting and creating jobs. As a small, rural state, Maine has a limited pool of resources, so we must spend wisely and target businesses that will be accountable for their job creation promises, because anything less is irresponsible to the taxpayer.
Mainers are hard workers. Unemployed Mainers are eager to get back to work – and the underemployed want to further their careers in order to improve their livelihoods. Each player in our economic development chain must do everything they can to help increase opportunities for gainful employment that puts people back to work and more money into the pockets of Maine people. At the end of the day, we cannot afford to look back and wish we had done better or tried harder.
We also have to learn from our successes and not forget about them after the ribbon-cutting is over. We must reverse engineer those instances and understand what we did right. Maine has many competitive advantages for job growth. We have an environment that many entrepreneurs find exciting due to the focus on economic clusters, our natural resources and existing partnerships with post-secondary education, among others.
Last fall, Ernst & Young ranked Maine first in the nation for having a favorable tax climate for new business investment. We must not forget our quality of place and natural environment. People want to live and work in places like Maine, and we must leverage it.
In addition, we must not focus only on the “big fish.” Often we receive a better return on our investment and effort by focusing on small business and helping existing businesses grow. If half of the small businesses in Maine hired just one person, our job deficit would be erased. It is that simple.
Small business led the nation out of the last recession, and it can do so again. In fact, during the last recession 10 years ago, micro-business employment grew almost 10 percent, while large companies fell by 2 percent. We must do everything we can today to give small businesses the tools needed to jump-start our economy.
Investment in small business also has the added benefit of helping our local economies. By helping small business, we are actually helping many of our own entrepreneurs and employers, many of whom we all know well and who have proven that they are driven to succeed.
Maine has much to offer, and our economy will rebound if all parties work together to sell Maine, its work force and products. It is incumbent upon the governor to be our promoter-in-chief, selling Maine to job creators and highlighting our strengths on a daily basis.
Focusing on our weaknesses or setbacks may be convenient for political gain or advancing an agenda, but it’s counterproductive in our interconnected world. We must work together on a common vision for economic prosperity and job creation. Maine has a lot to offer and now is the time to sell it to the world.
State Sen. Seth Goodall, D-Richmond, represents Senate District 19, which includes all of Sagadahoc County and Dresden in Lincoln County. He also serves on the Maine Economic Growth Council.
