MORNING SENTINEL • September 20, 2023
Tourism is undoubtedly an important piece of Maine’s economic puzzle. Millions of people flooded the streets of Portland, natural attractions, and other areas during the summer months, bringing their hard-earned dollars with them. According to new research, visits to Acadia National Park alone add hundreds of millions of dollars to the state economy. But there is more to Maine’s economic fortitude than our tourist attractions. There are more than 151,000 small businesses in Maine (99.2% of all businesses), employing hundreds of thousands of workers. Take the biotech sector as a case study. Between 2016 and 2021, life science job creation in Maine grew by more than 40%, totaling nearly 10,000 new careers. ~ Virginia Templet, Puritan Medical Products,Guilford