From Our CEO

For the past 5 years, it has been an absolute pleasure serving as the President of the Maine Development Foundation.  After 21 years of analyzing and forecasting Maine’s economic conditions (first as Central Maine Power Company’s Corporate Economist and then as Maine’s State Economist), I feel like I am living a dream in having the opportunity to lead an organization with both a rich history and an unlimited future.  The most difficult task I seem to face is adequately describing who we are at MDF and what we do to help shape a vibrant and sustainable future for Maine!

Maine Development Foundation is an Engaged Statewide Network:

• 250 member organizations – private, public and non-profit
• 650 Leadership Maine Alumni from all sectors and all counties
• 12 regional REALIZE!Maine groups, 2,500 connected 20-40 year olds
• 10 Main Street Maine communities and 2,200 networked downtown enthusiasts
• 175 active volunteers serving on our many program advisory groups

Relevant Player in Addressing Today’s Most Pressing Issues:

• Higher Education – working with employers statewide helping them support their employees in pursuing higher education
• Tax Burden – MDF has authored two reports related to creating efficiencies in the delivery of government services and has researched and published two inventories – one of the State’s economic development programming and one on workforce development
• Transportation – Connecting Maine Through Transportation provides a series of mini-case studies of how Maine businesses in various sectors use the transportation system and what would better serve them and how the economic impact of  transportation justifies the critical investments we must make for our future
• Health Care – is being fully integrated in our leadership programs curriculum and was the focus of a full-day forum for legislators
• Energy – was the focus of a Policy Leaders Academy full-day forum for the Legislature

A Respected, Positive Voice

• Measures of Growth is the most respected report on Maine’s economy
• Each year, I highlight 40-50 Maine companies and organizations in my “Just Imagine” speech – celebrating all that is good about our State
• MDF honors the most dynamic leaders in both the private and non-profit sectors each year at our Annual Meeting

A Trusted, Non-Partisan Partner

• Through our Policy Leaders Academy, MDF takes legislators on an economic bus tour of Maine and runs policy forums on the most critical development issues to ground and enrich their policy-making
• The Legislature has made MDF the home of the Maine Economic Growth Council, the Maine Downtown Center and REALIZE!Maine
• The Legislature and several state departments have commissioned MDF to do a number of economic development studies
• In Search of Silver Buckshot, commissioned by the Brookings Institute, assesses 30 years of Maine economic development policy and programming

As we enter our 31st year, MDF remains passionate in serving its statewide role of empowering leaders, strengthening communities, and guiding economic policy, and steadfast in our commitment to providing objective, non-partisan information on which sound decisions can be based.  Please join us and be a part of the energy and passion for all things Maine!