From day one, my Administration has been guided by the belief that to grow our economy, we have to invest in our greatest asset: the people of Maine.
Recently, we got some new data that shows that our strategy is working.
Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.
The United States Bureau of Economic Analysis released data recently that shows that Maine is leading New England in economic growth and that we’ve experienced stronger growth in recent years than even larger states like New York and California.
Before I took office, Maine was frequently at the bottom of the list of states regarding economic growth.
This improvement didn’t happen by accident. For the last five years now, my Administration has been making investments in Maine people – investments that have helped create robust economic growth.
In my first year in office, I released a strategic economic development plan – the first one in decades – to improve the lives of Maine people and families, to support business, to create good-paying jobs, and to build an economy that is poised for future prosperity.
Just a few months later, of course, the pandemic brought the global economy to a halt. During that very rough time, I brought together economists, and business leaders, and citizens to recommend ways that we could sustain our economy in the short term and strengthen it in the long term to make us less vulnerable to future crises.
Based on those expert recommendations by hundreds of people and experts, we created and released the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan. That plan had three goals: first to achieve immediate economic recovery from the pandemic; second, achieving long-term economic growth for our state; and thirdly, to revitalize our infrastructure.
Then, when Maine was fortunate to receive nearly $1 billion in federal American Rescue Plan funds from President Biden and Congress, we were ready. More quickly than most states in the nation, we deployed those federal funds across the state of Maine to put our Jobs & Recovery Plan into action.
Since the Jobs & Recovery Plan went into law October 18, 2021, we’ve delivered $175 million to thousands of Maine businesses, we’ve created workforce opportunities for 25,000 people, and invested in more than 400 infrastructure projects statewide to bolster broadband, childcare, energy efficiency and weatherization, and housing.
These are all critical things we need to support our people and to bolster our economy.
Now, don’t get me wrong — we still have challenges, including a lack of affordable housing. And we are working on all of that right now, but this recent federal GDP data is really an encouraging sign that our investments in Maine people are working.
I am excited about the direction we are heading. Small businesses are expanding their operations; people are moving here to work and raise their families; graduates are staying in Maine to pursue rewarding, life-long careers here at home — our economy, and our state, are getting stronger every day.
We’ll continue to work hard to address the challenges we face to ensure that Maine remains the best place to live, work, and raise a family.
This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.