AUBURN – To a chief executive who’s considering relocating his business to Maine, “Portsmouth is Portland is Auburn” as long as the destination has the logistics he needs.
That’s how Matt Jacobson, the new head of Maine & Co., describes the regional approach he sees in executives from away. The perspective contrasts sharply with the parochial way many Mainers – even those in decision-making roles – use when trying to lure economic development to their communities.
“There is a fundamental misunderstanding of how you do this,” said Jacobson, whose nonprofit foundation is charged with bringing new investment to Maine. “The in-fighting is vitriolic, even between cities that are right next to each other.”
But not in Lewiston-Auburn. Jacobson, who was the keynote speaker at the Auburn Business Development Corp.’s annual meeting Wednesday, lauded the two cities for the pioneering work they’ve done in collaborative economic development. He said innovations like sharing revenues and tax burdens for economic development – regardless of which side of the river it falls on – is a model more municipalities in Maine should follow.
“The notion of regionalism … this area gets it,” said Jacobson, noting in particular the cities’ transportation and logistics assets. “But the rest of the state has a big learning curve ahead of it.”
It’s one of the tasks Jacobson has in his new role of marketing Maine. Formerly an executive with the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad in Auburn, he moved to Chicago five years ago following his promotion with Canadian National Railway. He and his wife wanted to return to Maine to raise their young family.
Jacobson intends to broaden the focus of Maine & Co. by concentrating on viable leads and tapping new resources, such as Martha Stewart and Sen. George Mitchell, influential residents who have significant business ties with huge corporations that are outside the state.
“Sen. Mitchell is on the boards of Staples, FedEx and Disney, but those companies have no presence in Maine,” said Jacobson.
Likewise he wants to reach out to the companies that could benefit from Maine’s environmental awareness and to those executives who come here for recreation but never consider it a place to do business. He said it’s great news that Portland harbor has 202 cruise visits scheduled this year, but there should be a way to tap into the commercial consciousness of those passengers.
“There are other messages here besides ‘Fill up your shopping bags’,” he said.
Maine & Co. has been primarily focused on site location for outside business interests, helping bring companies such as T-Mobile and J.W. Seligman to Maine.
But the foundation’s efforts were usually cost driven, said Jacobson. He hopes to broaden that view, and show prospective clients that there are more business assets in Maine than are reflected on a spreadsheet.
“I’m not a Pollyanna,” he said, noting that Maine’s business climate means many businesses are looking at a 3 to 4 percent increase in costs by locating here. “But if you talk to different people, you see a different world.”
Jacobson’s presentation was a shot in the arm to many who attended the ABDC breakfast at Martindale Country Club. The nonprofit development group hoped to be farther along in its development of a new industrial park off Kittyhawk Drive. The 100-acre project has been delayed by complications with the acquisition of property, site inspections and funding sources.
But Dan Thayer, the newly sworn-in president of the ABDC, said work is still progressing, just a slower-than-expected clip.
“We’re taking the long view,” he said.
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