LEWISTON – If hunting were a metaphor for economic development, Maine has been awash in buckshot for a long time.

Despite bold thinking and visionary leaders, Maine continues to struggle with the same issues that have plagued it for decades because of its scattershot approach to prosperity, said Laurie Lachance, president of the Maine Development Foundation and speaker at this month’s Chamber of Commerce breakfast Thursday.

“What strikes people is our need to focus,” said Lachance of the reaction prompted by her presentation, “In Search of Silver Buckshot; 30 Years of Economic Development in Maine.” “Everybody gets it … what the issues are. But we need to invest appropriately and put aside other things. We’ll never succeed as fully as we can if we don’t make the tough decisions.”

That’s not to say Maine is on a downward tilt, said Lachance, but rather that it has plateaued. She noted each administration since the days of Ken Curtis has contributed to the quality of life Mainers enjoy:

Curtis consolidated 215 separate state agencies into 15 departments; James Longley began Maine’s long association with environmentalism through the bottle bill and billboard ban; Joe Brennan established FAME and the municipal bond bank, pledging the state’s bonding authority to help with private investments such as BIW’s dry dock; John McKernan reduced income tax rates from 10 percent to 8½ percent and established Land for Maine’s Future; Angus King got schools and libraries wired and established the laptop program; and John Baldacci phased out the business equipment tax, established Pine Tree Zones and the community college system.

“So there is good news,” said Lachance. She noted that Maine has closed the gap in per capita income with the national average, and still remains below the average in unemployment rates. And she was very complimentary toward Lewiston-Auburn, where collaborative economic development and a can-do attitude run counter to other parts of Maine.

“I wish the rest of the state could share this type of energy and what it can do for your community,” she said to the crowd gathered at the Ramada.

But for the past 30 years, where Maine overall has failed is in “the execution and follow- through” with economic development, she said.

That lack of focus has meant Maine’s cost of doing business has risen consistently since the 1970s, crippled by high taxes, and health care costs that are 35 percent higher than the national average. Shifting priorities have reduced state spending on economic development from 18 percent of the general fund to 8 percent, said Lachance.

Among the victims: Maine & Co., which has no state funding now; the Office of Innovation and Pine Tree Zones have no marketing dollars; a $2 million regionalization effort is funded at $500,000; the Maine Economic Growth Council has 25 percent of its original funding; Maine Technology Institute gets half its $10 million allocation nowadays and the Small Enterprise Growth Fund gets $9 million of the $20 million originally earmarked.

“We have failed to articulate a long-term vision and stick to it and move in that direction,” she said.

Adding to the problem is a fractured economic development infrastructure, a hodgepodge of five state agencies, five federal agencies, 10 statewide entities, 11 regional economic development groups, 43 municipal agencies and 66 Chambers of Commerce – not all of whom work in concert with another.

“We have evolved to a new plateau, but we’re not where we want to be,” said Lachance. “If we focus and come together, I have every reason to believe that Maine will move to that next plateau.”