Building a Stronger Economy for Maine
- Strengthened the Economy: Under Governor Mills' leadership, Maine's economy has grown at a faster rate than many other states. In fact, Maine has experienced more economic growth in the last six years than it did in the entire fourteen years before she took office.
- There are 28,000 more jobs in Maine than there were six years ago. In just the first eight months of 2025, more than 12,000 new businesses filed to begin operations in Maine.
- Maine's unemployment rate has remained below four percent for nearly four years -- one of the longest stretches ever -- and consistently below both the New England and national rate.
- Maine's credit ratings have been upgraded to the second highest possible rating after being downgraded during the previous administration -- a reflection of what credit rating agencies have called Governor Mills' "strong fiscal governance" and the more than $1 billion she has reserved in the Budget Stabilization Fund.
- Investing in What Maine People Need: The Mills Administration has connected more than 216,000 homes and businesses to the internet, created more than 6,000 new childcare slots -- many in rural Maine -- and is building more than 5,000 new homes.
- Attracting High-Value Industries to Maine: Governor Mills created the Dirigo Business Incentive program to attract high-value industries to Maine. As of December 2025, enrolled businesses are already planning more than $810 million in capital investments.
- Expanding Business Tax Credits: Governor Mills signed bipartisan legislation to provide tax credits to support the growth of potato processing in the County, including the expansion of Penobscot McCrum's Washburn facility, which employs 145 people. The law also supported a new potato chip manufacturing plant under construction at Loring Commerce Centre in Limestone, expected to create up to 100 jobs when it opens in 2026.
- Invested in Research and Development: Governor Mills signed legislation increasing Maine's goal for R&D spending and dedicated more than $21 million to research and development in 2024 through the University of Maine's Maine Economic Improvement Fund. Governor Mills also signed into law a $25 million bond for research and development, strongly approved by Maine voters.
- Targeted Federal Funds to Make Historic Investments in Maine: Governor Mills proposed and spearheaded passage of her Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan to dedicate historic federal funds allocated to Maine through the American Rescue Plan. Since the Jobs Plan took effect in October 2021, the Mills Administration has delivered $211 million in direct economic relief to thousands of Maine small businesses, invested in workforce programs to offer apprenticeship, career and education advancement, and job training opportunities to 26,000 Maine people, and catalyzed more than 700 infrastructure projects to support families and revitalize Maine communities.
- Created the First Maine Life Sciences Incubator: Through her Jobs Plan, Governor Mills awarded nearly $3 million in grants to create the Maine Life Sciences Incubator, a state- of-the-art laboratory for hands-on, innovative science.
- Enacted Balanced Budgets: Under Governor Mills' leadership, as of January 2025, 16 of 20 major spending bills, including supplemental budgets, biennial budgets, and highway fund budgets, were enacted with bipartisan support -- and all of them were balanced.
- Released the State's First Economic Development Strategy in Decades: In 2019 Governor Mills commissioned the first statewide economic development strategy in more than a decade that gathered input from more than 1,300 Maine people from every corner of the state.