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A series of unrelated events gut the Midcoast economy It didn’t happen all at once; rather, it lay in a series of remorseless and often disconnected decisions and events outside of the control of local political influence. Lawmakers in Washington, facing huge deficits and demands for Social Security and other support for the aging population, recognized that the nature of war had changed. The result: a cutback on the new destroyer program, which shifted it to a single shipyard in the South. BIW tried to re-tool for a new generation of smaller, less costly coastal warships, but in the end its parent, General Dynamics, closed shop in Bath and moved operations to southern New England. The redevelopment of BNAS, another victim of cutbacks in defense spending, only realized about half of the lost jobs, in part to the deep, region-wide economic recession of 2012-2015. That recession was triggered by political instability, causing an energy shock that pushed per barrel prices to $130 before settling down to an average between $110 and $120. Biofuels and diesel alternatives were on the rise as the market clamored for cheaper alternatives. At the other end of the corridor, Bank of America closed its credit card telephone operations, which were no longer needed given video internet technology, and closed shop in Belfast nearly a decade ago. New, technology-based enterprises, such as advanced materials, marine instruments, and electrical components companies, have emerged, thanks in part to state investments in R&D. Most, however, have remained small and have yet to gel into strong “clusters” of activity that can make a real difference in the region economically. Traditional resource-based industries also have not fared well. After historic and, it turned out, unsustainably high lobster catches in the first decade of this century, the trend dropped back to “average” levels. This created an economic crisis in the coastal fishery, especially because the groundfishing that once dominated the Gulf of Maine had not recovered from severe overfishing. At the top of the corridor, the paper mill in Bucksport tried to keep its foothold in Maine, but like most of the mills in the state, it could not compete with the commodity-based economies of China and South America. And Mack Point, almost maxed out a decade ago, found its growth spurt plateaued, making a container port in Searsport a moot point. The same economic inertia affected the land trusts, which while still strong, saw a slowdown in investments. Tourism and retirees keep the economy afloat Thank goodness for the retirees and tourists. The deep recession of the last decade slowed the in-migration of baby boomers – in large part because they could not sell their southern New England homes – but enough came to be an increasingly important part of the midcoastal economy. They continued to support construction, health and elder care, and community banking. There was a downside: the growth in this sector has kept housing prices relatively high, making it difficult for the health care and other industries to find workers for low-skill positions and forcing many workers into long commutes; but overall the retirement industry was a big plus. Coastal real estate values stayed relatively strong, but growth was dampened by the development of regulatory standards spurred by a sea level rise that has now reached 2” per decade. And a bad luck economy did not take away the Mid-Coast’s storied natural beauty. After the energy price shock that sent the nation into the recession, tourism dropped off, but with the perfection and mainstreaming of biofuels and diesel alternatives, the number of travelers recovered, and tourism now accounts for 15%-20% of the region’s jobs. The over-reliance on tourism and the climbing land values, however, limited the ability of the region to expand its economic base and compete in a world economy. Generally high property values and the lack of any meaningful funding alternative for the state kept property taxes at an all-time high as municipalities struggled to maintain services. Transportation system underfunded, Route 1 focus of unregulated business growth Meanwhile, the region was unable to gain traction with its transportation system. On the one hand, declining federal transportation dollars never funded the bypass in Wiscasset, let alone gave support to expand the rail system. At the same time, periods of economic trouble depressed the appetite for regulation and design, resulting in an “Anything Goes” mindset along Route 1. Conflicts and congestion along Route 1 increased despite the economic slowdown, as municipalities bid against each other to attract new businesses and a property tax base to high visibility locations. This resulted in much slower travel times along Route 1 and several remaining industries that depended on reliable and rapid shipment of goods along arterial roads simply relocated out of the region or grew their businesses elsewhere. The flexible highway design standards adopted by MaineDOT in the first decade of the century became difficult to apply as traffic congestion increased. While MaineDOT wanted to make context sensitive improvements, the demands on the system to accommodate the traffic often forced their hands toward wider roadways and turning lanes in the stripped out areas that degraded the image and character so valued by residents. * indicates a required field |
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