Two recent reports about Maine’s future economy should make us think about what direction we’re headed.

The first is from Maine’s Department of Labor, which projected job losses and gains around Maine’s economy through 2016. Topping the list of sectors to add jobs in the next decade were health care, social assistance, food services and drinking places. At the top of expected job losses were paper manufacturing, computer and electronic product manufacturing and wood manufacturing.

The second is from the Center for American Progress but was issued here by the Natural Resources Council of Maine. It suggests with a new federal plan for “green economic recovery,” Maine could gain thousands of jobs in retro-fitting buildings for energy efficiency, mass transit and alternative energies such as wind, solar, and biofuels.

When Maine’s economy was first transitioning from agricultural to manufacturing dominance, think-tanks and state agencies were not considered sources of economic strategy. Jobs were created when investors indentified markets, found opportunities and implemented their plans primarily with private resources.

During that era, “company towns” evolved. Within the Androscoggin Valley, communities like Lewiston, Auburn, Rumford, Jay and Livermore Falls developed around this model.

For those unfamiliar with a company town, put simply, it involved business interests leveraging their influence to build a community supportive of advancing their business interests. But the dynamics of a company town were more complex than throwing weight around on the “little people.”

Corporations often invested significant time and energy planning housing and commercial establishments, transportation and open space and the development of educational institutions.

Government, at that time, was nowhere near the size it’s become, so it was left, to a great extent, to business to invest in building social and physical capital and setting economic strategy. Today, tables have turned, with much of economic policy derived from Augusta and various agencies and nonprofits that have popped up in the landscape.

The last couple of years has revealed Maine as inconsistent in implementing its economic strategy, with short-term spending and policy changes outweighing a defined long-term course for the people.

The Department of Labor report paints a dim picture for the future vibrancy of some of Maine’s most proud and hard working communities.

For a community losing high-pay employment in paper, is there solace in accepting food service positions? Will the growth projected for health care and social assistance be driven by the loss of manufacturing and the necessity to meet people’s daily needs through a growth in nonprofits?

The report on “green recovery” – which relies on reducing the carbon footprint of Maine and other states – provides, at least, an alternative view for Maine’s future economy.

Without getting into debate about what role federal subsidies and investment should play in altering the market for a “green” economy, it is important to look at new approaches to creating jobs and wealth in Maine and especially regions of Maine hardest hit by job losses.

Would advancing opportunities for biofuels allow paper-reliant communities to view its industrial infrastructure as a waiting investment that could soon convert wood chips to ethanol?

How might incentives for energy efficiency in buildings help heavily populated areas like Lewiston and Auburn create new construction jobs, while reducing the cost of heating for residential investors and renters?

Does the opportunity to prioritize alternative transportation, like rail for freight and passengers, open new windows for the Port of Auburn and its connections to national and international markets?

Some believe moving back to allowing the uninfluenced marketplace to dictate investment and job creation would allow Maine to get back on the economic map. There are others that act on the belief that regulation and government should play a strong role in crafting the future economy of Maine.

The reality, however, rests somewhere in the middle: between the former company-town approach and steering government policy and public sector investment in a strategic manner.

Jonathan LaBonte, of New Auburn, is a columnist for the Sun Journal. E-mail: [email protected].