LEWISTON — When Forbes magazine ranked Maine the 50th best state for business, state officials contacted Forbes, got hold of some of the magazine’s raw data and finished jogging numbers Wednesday.

From the governor’s office and the state economist, there’s a collective bristling: It’s not possible, they say, that Maine is dead last.

Figures from Moody’s Analytics, which went into the Forbes’ ranking, show Maine 25th in employment growth, 29th in venture capital investment and 34th in median household income growth, according to state economist Michael LeVert.

“We’ve called Forbes to try to better understand their methodology and they haven’t responded to that,” said David Farmer, deputy chief of staff for Gov. John Baldacci.

“(The governor) sees that Forbes magazine thinks the quality of life is better in New Jersey than it is in Maine, or that Massachusetts, which raised its sales taxes 1.25 cents within the last year, has a better business environment and that really calls us to question the validity of this,” Farmer said.

“We’re not the worst business climate in the country,” he said. “It’s inconceivable.”

The annual rankings came out last week. Forbes lists 11 sources for its information but doesn’t elaborate on the weight given to each. In a half-dozen subrankings, the magazine named Maine 16th in quality of life, 26th in labor supply, 47th in business costs and 48th in regulatory environment.

Then, all told: 50th, ranked at the very bottom of the “Best States for Business and Careers.”

On Monday, Maine officials got on the phone to Forbes, and then to Moody’s.

“We looked at all (15) of the indicators that they supplied Forbes,” LeVert said. “I think the bottom line is that Maine compares favorably on some indicators. There are some we need to improve on, absolutely, but we’re not last on any measure of our economy.”

In one Moody’s rating, Maine is the third-costliest state for doing business, LeVert said, making him believe that measure was given particular weight. But that can’t explain it entirely: Massachusetts was highest in that same category — and still managed an overall 16th-best rank from Forbes.

LeVert said he discovered through Moody’s that Maine has little chance of controlling some of the magazine’s internal indicators: number of four-year universities; being headquarters to any of the 1,000 largest public companies; average temperature.

He also questioned whether the magazine had the most up-to-date tax figures for the state.

In 2009, Forbes ranked Maine 41st on the same list. It also rated Portland No. 1 among “America’s Most Livable Cities,” an honor based in part on income growth and unemployment.

“Then, in business climate, which looks at those same things, we’re 50th. It just doesn’t make sense,” Farmer said.

University of Southern Maine professor and former state economist Charlie Colgan said Rhode Island’s rank above Maine demonstrated the risks of simplifying indicators and relying on almost any number while climbing out of a recession.

Rhode Island’s unemployment rate had hit about 13 percent; Maine’s, 8.5 percent.

“In Forbes’ index, Rhode Island gets greater points for economic vibrancy, when in fact that vibrancy is nothing more than recovering from an even deeper recession than Maine endured,” Colgan said.

The state does have issues with health care and energy costs, and not enough young residents, real problems in the future that need to be addressed, he said.

Matt Jacobson, president and CEO of Maine & Company, in the business-attraction business, said none of the numbers surprised him.

“The problem is these C-level executives (CEOs, COOs and CFOs) read Forbes,” Jacobson said. “I don’t care if the most respected think tank on the planet puts out a different rebuttal, now we’re on the bad list. Trying to overcome that and getting to potential executives who are getting ready to relocate, when they already have this impression of Maine because Forbes said so, is a real problem for us.”

He’d like to see a speedier regulatory process with more cities and towns giving as much thought to businesses they want as to businesses they don’t — with officials deciding before an offer is on the table what they’d be willing to do for the right company. Moves like that would help the climate, Jacobson said.

As for how long the ranking could dog Maine: “How long does Forbes last in the doctor’s office?” he said.

kskelton@sunjournal.com

How Maine ranks

State economist Michael LeVert analyzed figures from Moody’s, which Forbes magazine used in part to rank the state dead last in business climate. LeVert’s findings:

Annual change in Total Nonagricultural Employment

Maine’s rank in the country: 25th (1996-2009)

Maine, projected: 38th (2010-2017)

Annual change in Gross Domestic Product

Maine: 40th (1996-2008)

Maine, projected: 40th (2009-2017)

Income: Median Household Growth, 1996-2008

Maine: 34th (1996-2008)

Maine, projected: 23rd (2009-2017)

Venture Capital Investments, as percent of GDP

Maine: 29th (1996-2009)

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