Maine’s economic landscape has changed drastically since 1776. It’s hasn’t been a smooth journey, but experts think the future is bright.

When the United States of America was founded, central Maine, then a part of Massachusetts, exported timber, fish, fur and ice.

While its economy evolved, natural resources stayed at its center. The Kennebec River and Cobbosseecontee Stream powered mills, the railroads connected cities like Waterville to the coast, and central Maine became a thriving manufacturing hub.

As the region lost mills and the manufacturing jobs its economy relied on in the 1990s and early 2000s, the region suffered.

“We lost our export economy,” Garvan Donegan, president and CEO of the Central Maine Growth Council, said. “We lost the ability to make and sell and export products … we lost the ability to retain and attract talent, people and know-how.”

But economic development specialists across the region are hopeful. Donegan said central Maine is starting to look attractive again to the talent it lost when its manufacturing hubs were shut down.

Skowhegan is making a name for itself as an outdoor tourism adventure hub. Waterville boasts a creative economy and a growing downtown. People look to Fairfield for its tranquility. Augusta’s service center economy will continue to be a draw.

Donegan, Keith Luke, Augusta’s director of economic development and Christian Savage, executive director of the Somerset Economic Development Corporation, have different visions for central Maine’s future. But all think central Maine will be more populated and connected in the coming decades.

POPULATION GROWTH

Luke, Donegan and Savage all expect a big increase in central Maine’s population. Luke and Savage expect people to be drawn by the promise of outdoor adventure and beautiful landscapes.

As climate change makes southern states even hotter, and extends Maine’s famously lovely summer, Luke sees Maine becoming even more popular for tourists, a huge industry. And in the coming decades, the tourists might choose to stay.

That’s an extension of what Maine experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered a flow of remote workers to relocate to Maine. They didn’t necessarily have ties to the area, or jobs based in Maine, but Vacationland called.

“With the pandemic, large open spaces, natural resources and beauty and outdoor rec opportunities became top of mind for a lot of people,” Savage said. “We’ve always had this.”

As remote work becomes more standard, Luke said more and more people will be living where they want to. Savage has faith that Maine is set up to support this. In Somerset County, he’s spent years improving broadband connectivity to enable remote work.

“The whole nature of work is going to change,” Luke said. “That is going to provide increasing capacity for people to live where they want.”

Luke, Savage and Donegan all say central Maine’s population will grow. But Donegan and Savage think it could be Maine-based jobs, not only remote work, that bring people in.

NEW INDUSTRIES AND DEVELOPMENT

Donegan and Savage expect natural resources to draw new people to central Maine rather than just natural beauty.

Small manufacturing businesses have experienced a lot of growth in recent years, Savage said. He looks to “Maine Makers” like Maine Wood Heat, which makes pizza ovens; Maine Grains, an example of regrowth in agriculture; and Maine Cedar Hot Tubs, which creates a “world-renowned” local product.

These small manufacturers are reviving the resource-based economy that once defined central Maine, Savage said, and with new technology like artificial intelligence increasing productivity, he said, they’re ripe for growth.

Donegan agrees.

“Maine’s future isn’t about abandoning what made us,” Donegan said. “It’s not abandoning the natural resource economy, but it’s about making it smarter.”

That is where AI and new technologies come in. For example, advanced biomaterials can help grow forests, Donegan said. He also sees the “Blue Economy,” water-based economic activity, as a source of massive potential in central Maine.

Inland water bodies can produce seaweed-based textiles, Donegan said. Marine data center systems, next generation aquaculture and marine construction are attractive industries for growth nationwide, which Donegan said Maine is especially well set up for.

“Our proximity to Canada, our coastline and our deep water ports all lend ourselves to really pressing national economic and defense significance,” Donegan said, “which we’ll be needing and wanting to invest in and capitalize [on] absolutely within the next 250 years.”

A MORE CONNECTED ECONOMY

Donegan and Savage believe Maine will capitalize on its geography in the future, taking advantage of natural resources for industry. But Luke thinks it’s less important that big businesses are headquartered in Maine, and more important that people are coming here.

In recent years, migrants to Maine haven’t necessarily been taking jobs with Maine companies, so the state has still struggled with getting the workers it desperately needs. While Donegan and Savage think up-and-coming industries will attract new talent, Luke doesn’t think this will be a problem in 250 years.

As he sees it, because he anticipates the entire nature of work changing, so will the idea that businesses contribute to the economy they’re headquartered in. The businesses themselves will be remote, and Maine won’t rely on having big businesses operating out of the state. Instead, having lots of people who are happy to live in Maine will stimulate its economy.

In the meantime, while businesses still wield massive economic power, the narural resource-based manufacturers Donegan and Savage talk about will prop central Maine up. But as things become more remote, Luke said, it will mean a more interconnected economy.

Donegan and Savage don’t see remote work as the be all end all. But they agree that Maine will be a bigger player in larger economies by the year 2276.

“The state of Maine is located not too far from New York, but on an international basis, we’re the closest state to Europe,” Luke said. “Maybe someday, somehow, that will play a bigger dividend in terms of connectivity than it does today.”