65 Maine lawmakers are heading north to explore rural innovation

3 weeks ago

A bipartisan group of Maine legislators will leave the State House on Wednesday morning for a three-day bus tour of the Katahdin region and Aroostook County aimed at highlighting pockets of economic innovation and opportunity. 

It’s been eight years since the Policy Leaders Academy bus tour headed north. This year’s tour will make stops in Bangor, Millinocket, East Millinocket, New Limerick, Houlton, Presque Isle and Caribou. 

The Policy Leaders Academy, part of the Maine Development Foundation, hosts the bi-annual bus tours around the state, offering lawmakers experiential sessions related to issues that affect the economy, said Maine Development Foundation President and CEO Yellow Light Breen. 

The 2024-2025 academy kicked off with a session in December that highlighted the 2024 Measures of Growth report and Maine’s 10-Year Economic Development Strategy. But the bus tour tends to be the highlight of the academy experience, Breen said. 

This year’s tour features sessions on the outdoor recreation economy and how it’s grown, mill site redevelopment in Millinocket and East Millinocket, next-generation building products and materials, health care and workforce development issues, and agriculture.

“From what we see, there are pockets of innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship everywhere you look in Maine, sometimes below the radar,” Breen said, adding that legislators often remark on the creativity they were not aware of in a region prior to the tour. 

Most important, he said, are the relationships formed on the three-day tours. 

According to Breen, the program is financed by private contributions from the foundation’s partners and business members. Legislators pay for meals and lodging, he said.

“This diverse funding allows all legislators to participate in the program at no cost,” said Breen. “PLA is offered exclusively to legislators, creating a focused learning environment of peers that allows for open and frank discussion of the issues.”

Representative Tracy Quint, R-Hodgdon, who will be on her third tour this year, is excited for her colleagues to see her community and meet the people.

While Quint is not sure if the tours actually change legislative votes, she said it gives lawmakers  insights into how decisions might affect a rural community differently than a larger city such as Portland. 

“It gives them a better understanding of how this is going to affect people,” she said.  

Beyond presentations on the outdoor economy and mill redevelopment, other planned parts of the tour will include visits to Tiny Homes of Maine in Dyer Brook and LP Solutions in New Limerick and tours of downtown Houlton. 

Additionally, Greg Sherman, head of the Houlton Water Company, and entrepreneur Fred Grant will talk to the lawmakers at the historic Temple Theater. 

The tour will stop overnight in Caribou and before heading home, it will make visits to Washburn and Presque Isle, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bordertowns, the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Northern Maine Community College. 

While in Houlton, the recently formed Gateway Ambassadors will also be available to assist legislators. 

“It’s kind of a smorgasbord of both the issues facing our state and the opportunities that are in the region,” Breen said.  

Maine Development Foundation is also exploring adding programming from the National Institute for Civil Discourse, Breen said.

“We are working with legislators on the possibility of programming on civility and collaborative negotiation,” he said.