Kerem Durdag, showing conference participants a Marine boot. Biovation makes bioplastic pads that help dry the boots. Photo by Amanda Sears.

In the town of Boothbay, a cutting edge manufacturing facility is turning plastic fibers made from plants into medical supplies. In Old Town, a struggling pulp mill has new life thanks to a “biorefinery” that converts wood chips into sugars, which are nature’s chemical building blocks. And in Waterville, a company produces plastic mulch that is 100 percent compostable in the farm field.
 
Green chemistry and bio-based manufacturing aren’t just buzzwords in Maine anymore. They’re a very real and growing part of the economy.
 
In April leaders of Biovation, Old Town Fuel and Fiber, Cerealus and other Maine-based companies gathered for a conference at the Biovation manufacturing facility in Boothbay. The conference, “From Plants to Products: Seizing Maine’s Market Share in the Bio-Based Economy,” was organized by the Sustainable Bioplastics Council of Maine.

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Bigelow Executive Director Graham Shimmield (left), Director of Corporate Alliances and Technology Transfer Mark Bloom, and Congresswoman Pingree in the second floor conference space of the Bigelow Center for Blue Biotechnology in East Boothbay. Photo by Robert Mitchell.

U. S. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree visited East Boothbay in April for a tour of the new 27,000 square foot, state-of-the-art Bigelow Center for Blue Biotechnology (BCBB), the first building to be completed on Bigelow Laboratory’s new Ocean Science and Education Campus.

“Maine’s marine resources have always been a critical part of our economy and heritage,” said Pingree. “I was pleased to be able to visit Bigelow Laboratory’s newest facility, where extraordinary work is being done to find new uses for those resources. That work holds great potential for Maine’s economy and coastal communities.”

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The Maine Development Foundation’s Downtown Center announces the 12th annual Maine Downtown Conference on Friday, May 18th in Farmington. The conference will showcase the economic and community values of downtown and village center revitalization. The conference kicks off the previous evening, May 17th, with a reception and screening of the 60 minute national award-winning film, The Greenest Building. Following the movie the producer and film maker, Jane Turville, from Portland, Oregon will answer questions.

“Downtown revitalization, asset-based development and heritage conservation with policies and incentives to support all three, are key factors to Maine’s economic future and quality of life. This 12th annual conference spotlights success stories, innovative ideas and leaders from across and outside of Maine who courageously breathe vitality in communities and are saving our irreplaceable heritage,” stated Roxanne Eflin, Senior Program Director of the Maine Development Foundation.

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This month, Travel & Leisure named the City of Portland the 5th hippest city in the US, first on the East Coast, and GoLocal Providence RI named Portland the 5th best city in New England. Citing the city’s coffee shops, microbrews and restaurant scene, Travel & Leisure readers selected Portland as a magnet for hipsters, giving high marks for the city’s independent boutiques, live music scene, eco-consciousness, and offbeat and tech-savvy locals. As a part of Travel & Leisure’s annual America’s Favorite Cities survey, readers ranked thirty-five metropolitan areas on a variety of culturally relevant features including coffee shops, microbrews, and restaurants.

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On April 5, 2012 President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, a bipartisan bill that enacts many of the President’s proposals to encourage startups and support our nation’s small businesses. The JOBS Act will allow Main Street small businesses and high-growth enterprises to raise capital from investors more efficiently, allowing small and young firms across the country to grow and hire faster. This is what President Obama said at the signing:

“Here’s what’s going to happen because of this bill. For business owners who want to take their companies to the next level, this bill will make it easier for you to go public. And that’s a big deal because going public is a major step towards expanding and hiring more workers. It’s a big deal for investors as well, because public companies operate with greater oversight and greater transparency.

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The Madison, Maine, tomato producer has plans to construct a research and development building on its River Road property to be used to test new tomato varieties and growing techniques. The new development will encompass 33,550 square feet, or about three-quarters of an acre. The greenhouse portion of the research building will total 15,200 square feet, with an additional 4,800-square-foot office building.

Backyard Farms was drawn to this rural Madison paper mill town in 2006 because of Governor John Baldacci’s Pine Tree Development Zone tax incentives, cheaper electricity, available land, and the workforce. It harvested its first crop of tomatoes in its 24-acre greenhouse in 2007.

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This month, Forbes named the Portland, South Portland and Biddeford area as the sixth best region in the country for professional opportunity this spring. In an article, which identifies communities experiencing growth in employment and economic opportunity, Forbes named the Portland region as one of the top ten places to seek employment with the area’s net employment outlook at nineteen percent.

“While the impact of the country’s recession is not fully behind us, making Forbes top ten list for employment opportunity is good news not just for Portland but for the state as a whole,” stated Mayor Michael Brennan. “As a community, we have been and will continue to focus on developing policies like our Economic Development Plan and regional economic efforts in collaboration with neighboring communities to spur economic growth and support the entrepreneurial spirit that thrives here.”

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Congressman Mike Michaud sent a bipartisan letter signed by 62 of his colleagues to the House Appropriations Committee supporting level funding for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) in Fiscal Year 2013. Michaud worked with Republican Congressman John Duncan of Tennessee to build support for the request.

“In Maine and throughout the country, EDA has proven its ability to collaborate with local stakeholders to create jobs,” said Michaud. “We cannot afford to eliminate a program that helps our communities respond to shifts in international markets, address unemployment challenges and recover from plant closures, major natural disasters and other severe economic hardships.”

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Small business owners say their main concern is weak customer demand, not regulations, according to independent opinion polling released today. In fact, when asked what would do the most to create jobs, small business owners’ top response was eliminating incentives to move jobs overseas. Reducing regulation came in fifth place.

• 86 percent see regulations as necessary part of a modern economy
• 78 percent of small businesses say regulations needed to protect small businesses from unfair competition, level playing field with big business

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Maine Citizens for Clean Energy, a growing nonpartisan coalition of people and organizations committed to strengthening Maine’s energy independence, keeping Maine’s air clean and healthy, creating jobs, increasing energy efficiency, and attracting new clean energy businesses to Maine, responded tonight to Gov. Paul LePage’s State of the State Address.

“Our energy status quo isn’t working,” said Herb Sargent of Sargent Corporation. “Every year, Mainers hand over billions of hard-earned dollars to out-of-state and foreign energy companies. The initiative put forward by Maine Citizens for Clean Energy would help to change that. It would create jobs by investing in energy efficiency, which would help lower electric bills, and it would attract new clean energy businesses to our state. It’s a practical idea that will help put thousands of Mainers to work.”

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