Nearly six years ago, the Sun Journal published a guest column from me, “What does Maine need to prosper?” Let me examine Maine’s progress during that time, in various aspects.

In 2009, I wrote, “… but cutting alone can never lead to prosperity. If it could, then by cutting and cutting and cutting some more, we could eventually shut down the government, at which point we would be rich.”

Is less, indeed, more? Doing more with less can be more, but it requires greater knowledge (e.g., best practices) and expertise to maximize the actual benefit of any attempted efficiencies.

Gov. Paul LePage has an efficiency mindset and that can be a helpful beginning. But cuts need to be done intelligently, integrated in a comprehensive economic plan and utilize sophisticated and nuanced tools.

In 2009, I wrote, “Others in Maine believe we need, fundamentally, to grow the pie by increasing incomes and bringing better-paying jobs to Maine, rather than fighting over a shrinking pie. This line of thinking is essential.”

Investments are critical, but they must be smart investments that provide a positive return. Unfortunately, as with many — if not most — places, people in Maine, across the electorate and among elected officials, do not have a strong sense of collective priorities nor an integrated vision. That makes the truly effective use of investments impossible.

That is not to say that making no investments would be better. Certainly not. But far too many of the investments made in Maine exist in a patchwork or fragmented system.

That lack of cohesion and integration greatly limits their effectiveness, as does a focus primarily on seed and incubator technologies, which are more difficult to commercialize at large scale (often required to win large contracts across the globe). They simply lack critical mass.

In 2009, I wrote, “Is cost containment, paired with providing basic conditions for a better business climate, the total picture in regard to a prosperous Maine? No. In addition to those two required dimensions, there is a third critical element as well: market sophistication.”

In the globally competitive landscape of the 21st century, Maine can learn to better integrate, coordinate, leverage and market its leading expertise in high-growth markets to successfully reach a critical mass necessary for global competitiveness.”

Democrats, who generally prefer increasing income and bringing better-paying jobs to Maine, Republicans, who prefer cutting government expenditures, and others who have various solutions but often propose trade-offs between those two positions, often miss the importance of that critical third element.

Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch once said that a fundamental principle of success (and it applies as much to Maine’s prosperity as it did to G.E.’s), is to be the first- or second-largest global player in your business. If you are not, either do whatever it takes to become first or second or exit the business and focus, instead, on areas in which you are or can become first or second.

What I wrote in 2009 with regard to how Maine might move toward accomplishing this remains critically important today. And, as economic activities become more global, that will only become increasingly so.

At that time, I wrote:

“While private industry, rather than government, must determine what Maine’s most vital industries are going forward, a few examples of areas in which Maine is already historically strong and which are consistent with Maine’s traditions and values include: forestry, agricultural science, maritime science and renewable energy.

“Components of environmental science, broadly defined, are also in great demand across the planet to address issues like deforestation, food production and clean drinking water, global warming and others. In fact, the United Nations has identified environmental science as one of the top five growth areas of the 21st century.

“Maine can greatly develop our export trade skills so that Maine businesses can readily identify where their goods, expertise and services are already in demand across the world and learn how to meet that demand most effectively.”

Alex Hammer was a 2010 independent candidate for governor of Maine. He lives in Bangor.