MAINE'S $55 MILLION SECRET
By EDWARD D. MURPHY, Staff Writer
October 14, 2007
It's hard for $55 million to fly beneath the radar, but the economic development bond for that amount on the Nov. 6 ballot hasn't exactly captured the public's imagination.
But the lack of discussion on the bond belies its importance to Maine's efforts to use research and development as a way to encourage economic growth, according to those who will oversee and receive the grants made from the bond money.
"It's the cornerstone of our economic development strategy that we foster research and development," said John Richardson, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development. "Fifty-five million is a good number to invest in Maine's economy."
State officials, backed by a study of the Maine economy by the Brookings Institution, believe that research and development can lead to commercial products, and the hope is that companies pursuing that commercialization will be based in the state. Those companies will need engineers, technicians, salespeople and other workers and presumably buy most of their supplies and services from local businesses.
The bond calls for $50 million to be disbursed in grants for research and development in biotechnology; aquaculture; marine technology; composite materials; environmental technology; advanced technologies in forestry and agriculture; information technology; and precision manufacturing. Grants will have to be matched dollar-for-dollar, using federal grants or private money.
Another $5 million from the bond is earmarked for loan programs and the Maine Rural Development Agency.
The grants will be awarded in a competitive process overseen by the Maine Technology Institute, which is state-funded but organized as a private non-profit.
Like most economic development bonds, the money will likely go to buy equipment or to help pay for building projects, said Betsy Biemann, president of MTI.
"It's really a research infrastructure program," she said.
Biemann said panels reviewing the grant applications will look for projects that lead to collaboration. For instance, university researchers might pursue a grant to buy a piece of equipment, but they'll be more likely to get the money if they show how it will be used in concert with other researchers and private companies.
The state is looking to create a "portfolio" of grants, said Catherine Renault, director of the state Office of Innovation, with projects large and small. Some money might go to research that is close to producing a marketable product, while some would go into more basic research, she said.
Ideally, grants would go for projects in each of the seven targeted industries, Renault said, but there's no requirement to make sure the money is spread evenly.
"The demand out there is so much greater than what we have," Renault said, adding that means the grants will need to go to those projects that provide the biggest bang.
"We'll find some really fabulous projects," she said.
The Brookings Institution --the Washington think tank that performed a thorough study of the Maine economy released a year ago --had recommended that the state spend $180 million in support of research and development and an economic development tool. However, the organization said the money should come from government savings produced by a commission similar to the federal one which recommends military base closings, and no such panel has been formed.
Earlier this year, Gov. John E. Baldacci suggested $150 million in bonds over three years for R&D, but the Legislature cut that to a $55 bond this year, with no commitment for funding in subsequent years.
That worries Kenneth Ault, the director of the Maine Medical Center Research Institution.
"It's not the amount so much," he said. "The thing that's more important from my point of view is consistency. In the last five or six years, the state has invested sporadically in research and development."
Ault said he'd even trade less money this year for an agreement that a set amount will be plowed into research and development every year.
That's because state grants tend to go to help pay for buildings, like a 23,000-square-foot addition to the MMCRI facility in Scarborough, and the equipment that's needed inside the structure. Federal research grants, he said, tend to be more project-oriented and aren't usually available for infrastructure improvements.
Ault added that Maine is "quite enlightened " about supporting R&D for a small state, but lawmakers -- and voters --should consider it an investment, and not necessarily one that takes years to recoup.
He said many people think money for research will pay off years down the road, when it results in a tangible product. But the research itself is a contributor to a better economy, Ault said, with highly technical, good-paying jobs in Maine.
"Research itself can be an industry," he said. "It doesn't have to be the thing you do before you get jobs. It's only going to create more jobs as you begin to get commercialization."
Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:
emurphy@pressherald.com
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