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Maine's Economy

© Linda M. Orlando

In prior months, this column has focused on the many factory and mill closings and the recent BRAC commission inclusion of three Maine facilities on its closure list.

Since then, Maine citizens have learned of the final decision to close just the Brunswick Naval Air Base. The DFAS center at Limestone and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard have apparently been spared-this time around.

However, there is no disputing that the Maine economy is changing, that the livelihoods of many Maine families continue to be in jeopardy. In addition, the shifting focus of the Maine economy from higher paying mill and factory jobs to a lower paying service economy has resulted in more and more of Maine's young people leaving their home state for better, more lucrative opportunities in other parts of the country.

Many Maine people have resorted to self-employment in an effort to support their families when faced with layoffs and shutdowns of factories and mills. The majority of these home businesses are in the service sector: child care, housekeeping, and janitorial services, which are not the highest paying occupations, but which generally provide regular work and income.

According to the Maine Department of Labor, the fastest growing occupations in Maine will be: "[...] concentrated in the service-providing industries. Education and health services, retail trade, and leisure and hospitality services are expected to create about two-thirds of all new jobs" (Maine Employment Outlook 2002-2012 4).

However, many of these opportunities will be jobs paying in the eight-to-ten dollars per hour range. Therefore, Maine's people are left with a dilemma: Do they trade a middle-class lifestyle for the quality of life available in Maine's small communities or do they relocate to more populous, traffic-congested areas in order to make more money and enjoy higher socio-economic status? Each individual and each family must make this determination, decide what the priority is. But one thing is certain, if Maine's economy does not improve and develop, the state will continue to lose more and more of its young people.

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