Home

Doing Business in Maine

There are many reasons why Maine's economic situation is so positive. Some of the advantages of doing business in Maine include:

  • Outstanding, highly productive workforce
  • State-of-the-art telecommunications and transportation infrastructures
  • Strategic global location
  • Strong state support for business growth in the form of finance and incentive programs
  • Entrepreneurial spirit that is attracting today's most exciting emerging industries

Portland is Hot Hot Hot for entrepreneurs!
Portland emerged as a leader among more than 393 cities U.S. cities studied and ranked in Inc Magazine's 2006 Boom Town List of Hottest Cities for Entrepreneurs. Portland ranked 20th as the hottest city for entrepreneurs in the mid-size category.

Maine cities are Hot Hot Hot for business and careers!
Forbes magazine named Portland among the top 50 Best Places for Business and Careers in 2006. The ranking combines nine factors, including the cost of doing business, crime rates, education, income growth and job growth. Among 200 large metropolitan areas researched, Portland ranked 45th. Bangor ranked 74th overall among 200 small metropolitan areas. Lewiston ranked 130th overall. Both Bangor and Lewiston were among the top 50 cities for income growth and college presence. Forbes rankings draw on information from Economy.com, Sperling's Best Places and the FBI Index of Crime.

KPMG recognizes the cost advantages for businesses in Maine!
Lewiston finished 24th nationally and first in New England in a study ranking the cost of starting up and running a business. The study, "2006 Competitive Alternatives," was conducted by KPMG International, a major business consulting group. The firm looked at the after-tax impact of a wide range of business costs, including labor, land, construction and utilities.

Where to go for America's hottest small biz market?
According to a 2005 investigation by American City Business Journals (ACBJ), the answer is the Greater Portland region. ACBJ rated local climates for small businesses, defined as companies with fewer than 100 employees. Portland emerged as the overall leader among the 91 U.S. metro areas with populations above 500,000. The full report is available online.

Want more proof?
Expansion Management magazine recently named Bangor as one of its "5-Star Quality of Life Communities" and Portland-South Portland received recognition as a four-star community. The Milken Institute's latest report chose the greater Portland area as one of the top 50 "Best Performing Cities" in the nation. Morgan Quitno Press recently named Maine as the second-safest and fourth-healthiest state in the nation as part of its annual state and city rankings. Progressive Farmer chose Lincoln County (49th), Knox County (105th) and Hancock County (196th) as three of the top 200 best places to live in rural America.

The area's highly educated and skilled work force will continue to attract companies demanding knowledge-intensive workers. High-tech companies are a vital catalyst for economic prosperity. Our area's technology companies can be thanked for creating economic growth and vitality and for making Maine a more attractive place to do business. Maine offers a wide range of resources and incentives for new businesses considering a Maine location and for existing Maine businesses planning to expand. The more you know about doing business in Maine, the better the state looks. Please explore this dynamic area and the numerous links to other Maine resources.

Business in Maine

 

Maine Telecommunications

With more than 110,000 miles of fiber optic cable and 100 percent digital phone switching technology in place, Maine leads the country with its telecommunications infrastructure.

Maine is home to businesses that rely on the state's sophisticated and reliable telecommunications infrastructure for their communication networks. L.L. Bean, NotifyMD, Auto Europe, and Boston Financial Data Services all maintain large and complex tech centers that serve an international customer base. L.L. Bean alone received 14-million toll-free catalog and customer service calls in 1996. Maine's statewide availability of high-quality fiber-optic technology means businesses are free to expand or set up shop anywhere in the state.

  • Maine is highly "nexus-friendly" -- a safe haven in which call centers and their clients can avoid collecting and remitting sales tax.
  • Maine was the first state to have a statewide ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) fiber-optic-based network, allowing efficient digital transmission of voice, data and full-motion video.
  • Maine was the first state to link every school and library (nearly 1,200 sites in all) via Frame Relay Service. This allows Internet access at every site and positions Maine to take advantage of new distance learning opportunities.
  • One hundred percent of Maine's telecommunications network is switched using digital technology, making it one of the first states in the nation with this distinction. Digital networks support advanced, higher bandwidth technologies at higher speeds.
  • Maine's telecommunications system is one of the most reliable in the country. Based on FCC service quality data, Maine service and reliability ratings are among the best in the country.
  • Public telecommunications policies in Maine are among the country's most supportive of economic development.
  • Maine telecom companies offer the most advanced services available. Services include Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN); Frame Relay Service; Voice Messaging Services; 25 Megabit Service (MBPS); Infopath Packet Switching Service; Switchway Switched 56 Kilobit (KB) service; Superpath 1.544 Megabit Service (MBPS); Flexpath Digital PBX Service; Digital Centrex Service; Digital Data Services 2.4 KB 56 KB; Caller Identification and Call Trace.