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Maine Needs MRRA to Think Big. Thinking Big. “Anyone working on a problem that can be solved in his lifetime isn’t thinking big enough.” Wes Jackson farmer and plant scientist. Maine has been the industrial frontier. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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researchcommunicate
Planning Decisions, Inc.
Maine Needs MRRA to Think Big
Thinking Big
“Anyone working on a problem that can be solved in his lifetime isn’t thinking big enough.”
Wes Jacksonfarmer and plant scientist
Maine has been the industrial frontier
Cheap Power, Cheap Labor and a Strong Work Ethic produced a string of successes:
• Textiles• Lumber• Food• Paper• Metals• Electronics• Call Centers• Health Care & Hospitals
4
6
8
10
12
14cen
ts p
er
KW
H
Industrial Electricity Prices, Maine & U.S.
U.S.
Maine
That Era is Over
Jobs
-17%
-27%
71%
-6%
-23%
51%
-40%
-20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Average Price ofIndustrial Electricity
Total IndustrialElectricity Consumed
Total ManufacturingEmployment
% c
han
ge 2
00
0 t
o 2
00
8
Maine U.S.
Industrial Electricity Prices, Consumption & Jobs
Shifting Demand for Resource Industries
New supply of paper, U.S. all grades, million tons
60
70
80
90
100
110
Ratio of new supply to real gross domestic product
4
5
6
7
8
9
%
Slow Job Growth
Index of Total Non-Farm Employment
0.90
0.95
1.00
1.05
1.10
1.15
1.20
1.25
1.30
1990
199
2
199
4
199
6
199
8
200
0
200
2
200
4
200
620
0820
10
19
90
= 1
.00
Maine
U.S.
1.26
1.18
1.20
1.14
1.19
1.17
Labor Force Participation Rate75% 84% 66% 14%
People
Counter Cyclical Migration
Net Migration to Maine
-8,000
-6,000
-4,000
-2,000
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
20012002
2002 to 2003
2003 to 2004
2004 to 2005
2005 to 2006
2006 to 2007
2007 to 2008
2008 to 2009*
3,000
-5,700
10,900
-3,400
People don’t leave when times are bad. They do
when times are good.
If we do nothing…let current trends
continue:
• Loss of traditional jobs• Even slower employment growth• Continued emigration loss of rural life• Rising value of waterfront and
mountaintop property• Continued loss of open space and
deterioration of downtowns;• Rising tax burden & social conflict.
Job “Growth,” 2004-2009
An Alternative Future:
Where MRRA leadsThe keys to the “creative” era are the
opposite of the keys to the “industrial” era:
Industrial Era
Assembly
Isolation
Inward Orientation
Creative Era
Imagination
Synergy
Outward Orientation
An Alternative Future
The keys to the “creative” era are the opposite of the keys to the “industrial” era:
Assembly--the manipulation of things to produce commodities--becomes,
Imagination--the manipulation of information to produce meaning.
An Alternative Future
The keys to the “creative” era are the opposite of the keys to the “industrial” era:
Isolation--the hard-working, independent loner--becomes,
Synergy--the hard-working, inter-dependent, collaborative, network.
An Alternative Future
The keys to the “creative” era are the opposite of the keys to the “industrial” era:
Inward Orientation--”Tell me what you want, & I’ll make it for you; but don’t expect me to be interested in whatever ‘it’ may be.” becomes
Outward Orientation--”I know that to live ‘in here’ I need to be connected to ’out there.’ I need to understand, even anticipate, the ‘why?’ of whatever I do even before my customer does.”
An Alternative Future
1. The key to future prosperity is people--bright, energetic, learning oriented entrepreneurial people.
2. The key to people is place--beautiful, lively, safe, relationship rich, learning promoting, close to nature communities.
3. The key to place is land use regulation, business development and redefinition of community.
No Better Place to Start than MRRA
1. Its own community, a defined physical place
2. An established business-education relationship
3. A mandate to start over.
Two Modest Proposals
1. Separate yourself from the dog fight that is higher education…and try to take some bones with you.
2. Separate yourself from the dog fight that is energy development…and try to take some bones with you.
Modest Proposal #1
The Legislature should allocate some percentage of total state higher education spending to a competitive fund (like technology bond fund) to be allocated to proposals submitted by industry association-education collaboratives.
MRRA should be at the center or organizing such collaboratives.
Modest Proposal #2
MRRA should set itself up at a public utility and become the test site for all energy feasibility research.
Generate both electricity and information. test sitesmaterials researchgrid interconnection researchstorage researchimpact on Maine ratepayers research.
Questions & Discussion
