Saturday, September 29, 2007

Opportunity Maine to boost education

Far too often, good programs become law but then stagnate. That is not happening with Opportunity Maine by Clifford Ginn, lawyer and president of Opportunity Maine & Justin Alfond, state director of the League of Young Voters and treasurer of Opportunity Maine

As the legacies of two of the best-known business leaders and philanthropists in the state, we both now live, work and play in Maine because of its people, its unique sensibility, and because our roots here run deep.

From an early age, we learned from our families that education is a pathway to future choices and success. Our family legacies are firmly planted on the foundation of giving to improve education and encourage students to excel in Maine. Educational philanthropy is one the highest expressions of our families’ values.

It’s a legacy of which we are proud, and a tradition that we have committed ourselves to continue. That’s why we are among the founders and leaders of Opportunity Maine, scheduled to hold a Bangor-area open house Oct. 11 at the Children’s Discovery Museum.

By now, most people in the state have heard about the Opportunity Maine success story. Almost two years ago, concerned community leaders and students came together to address what was becoming an epidemic in Maine and throughout the nation — the rising cost of tuition, the downsizing of loan assistance programs, and massive amounts of accumulated student debt. In Maine’s rapidly changing economy, those barriers deny economic opportunity to laid-off workers, mothers wishing to enter the workplace, and those who simply need training to compete in our traditional and emerging industries. At the same time, Opportunity Maine’s founders and many other Mainers recognize that an educated workforce is the No. 1 predictor of economic growth and high incomes.

The program’s founders believed that the best way to address these problems is to make the prospect of loan repayment less daunting. And we succeeded! After collecting 73,000 signatures and gaining the support of business, labor, educational and civic leaders throughout the state, we were ready to put the question before Maine voters. Instead, Maine lawmakers recognized that our bill couldn’t wait any longer. With a unanimous vote in the Maine House, a three-fourths vote in the Senate, and the Governor’s enthusiastic signature, Maine’s elected leaders committed themselves to a long-term investment in Maine’s people, workforce and economic future.

Now anyone who attends a Maine college (public or private) and lives and works in Maine after graduation is eligible to claim a large tax credit to help pay their student loans. What’s more, businesses who pay an employee’s loans can take the credit for themselves.

Opportunity Maine will help Mainers of all ages to earn college degrees, and will attract people from other states to attend our colleges and settle here afterward. As the proportion of degree holders in our work force increases, businesses will increasingly start up, grow and locate here. Meanwhile, Maine businesses can offer employees a substantial benefit, at no cost, that is unavailable from out-of-state competitors.

Far too often, good programs become law but then stagnate. That is not happening with Opportunity Maine. When it comes to giving back to Maine, one of the important things we have learned is that it’s not enough to pledge support; you must follow through. The work of Opportunity Maine is far from done.

In the coming weeks, Opportunity Maine and its supporters will engage people throughout the state about the importance of supporting our higher education program. From an event next week featuring a trifecta of Maine governors — Baldacci, King and McKernan — pledging their bi-partisan support for Opportunity Maine, to the Bangor open house featuring University of Maine System Chancellor Richard Pattenaude, we’re marketing Opportunity Maine to make sure that it succeeds. Chambers of Commerce, labor unions, educational organizations and others are all reaching out to their members to inform them about Opportunity Maine and to invest them in its success.

But it’s not just politicians and business leaders who recognize the importance of implementing this first-in-the-nation program effectively; a vast network of students is currently spending their days and nights talking to other students about Opportunity Maine and how the program will benefit them for years to come.

Just like our parents and our grandparents, we believe that Maine is the best place in the nation to work, raise a family and have fun. But we also know that Maine can be a challenging place to do so.

Opportunity Maine will make living in Maine easier by expanding educational opportunities, reducing debt for students and families, and building a skilled work force that reflects the unique aspects that Maine has to offer. As we begin to raise our families here in Maine, we look forward to encouraging our children to consider Maine their home. With the success of Opportunity Maine and other programs designed to make college more affordable and to grow the economy, we’re confident that Maine will become an even more appealing place to plant their roots.

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Monday, September 17, 2007

College loan tax credit will pay for itself - Portland Press Herald

Keeping Maine's brightest youth here after graduating is among the best economic catalysts by Clifford Ginn, President, Opportunity Maine

A recent Press Herald editorial praised a group's efforts to create a scholarship fund for South Portland high school graduates. As president of Opportunity Maine, I, too, applaud these people for working to make college affordable. Expanding educational opportunity is the best way to bring more high- paying jobs to Maine.

What the editorial neglected to mention, however, is that Maine is now the nation's leader in making college affordable for its residents. Under a new law, Mainers who earn associate's or bachelor's degrees at Maine colleges (public or private) and live and work in Maine afterward can claim an income tax credit large enough to cover their student loan payments.

A graduate can also transfer this educational opportunity tax credit to an employer who makes loan payments on the graduate's behalf.

Opportunity Maine drafted this law last year as a citizens' initiative, gathered more than 72,000 signatures to place it on the ballot, and built a statewide coalition of hundreds of students, community members and business, labor, education and civic leaders. The Maine Legislature passed it as written (the sixth time in Maine history that the Legislature passed a citizens' initiative outright). The vote in the House of Representatives was unanimous!

The governor and legislative leaders of both parties have publicly committed to making this a long-term investment, without any scaling back, so Mainers enrolling in college can count on the credit being there.

Educational opportunity tax credits are capped based on tuition and fees at public colleges, and are tied to loans approved under a financial aid package. This translates into assistance for most students, and up to $55,000 for those least able to afford college.

Most Maine graduates leave college with education-loan debt. Debt loads average more than $21,000 for bachelor's degree earners and half of that for associate's degree earners. The extraordinary cost of college deters many Mainers from attending and drives many graduates out of the state because they cannot make loan payments on Maine salaries.

The educational tax credit makes it possible for Mainers to enroll in college with the confidence that they will be able to erase their educational debt, and makes it easier for graduates to live and work in Maine after earning their degrees.

This law will benefit Maine businesses. The education level of the work force is the most important consideration for businesses deciding where to locate, and making college affordable is the best way to get more degree holders in our work force.

Allowing Maine businesses to claim the credit on an employee's behalf will also give them an advantage over competitors in other states.

Investing in making college affordable is thus the best way to strengthen the state's economy. The proportion of degree holders in a state's work force is the main predictor of average incomes. This is unsurprising, as an associate's degree adds an average of $10,000 to a person's yearly earning power, and a bachelor's degree adds almost $17,000.

Maine's incomes lag 25 percent behind the rest of New England, and the proportion of degree holders in our work force lags 23 percent behind. Opening the doors of educational opportunity will allow us to catch up with the rest of New England on both fronts. The law will pay for itself.

The law provides benefits for anyone enrolled in college when it goes into effect, so current students and Mainers enrolling this fall and winter should check with their financial aid offices about how to become eligible.

Even with the educational opportunity tax credit, we still need more of the type of aid that the South Portland scholarship fund would provide.

Likewise, the state and our colleges must work together to finance needed improvements to our higher education system and to control tuition growth.

However, we have seen in the past year that when Mainers work together, we can meet any challenge and build a brighter future.

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Saturday, September 15, 2007

MDI: Young retail entrepreneur finds success - Bangor Daily News

BAR HARBOR - Growing up in Bar Harbor and spending summers waiting tables, Danielle Mace knew what tourists wanted.

And Mace knew what she wanted — to live in Bar Harbor indefinitely. In 1997, at age 24, she and her boyfriend purchased the modest, aging building at 240 Main St. and got to work — renovating, rebuilding and seeing it through its evolution from a summer rental home to a consignment shop to a popular women’s clothing boutique, Macey’s.

"I definitely think she’s filling a niche on the island," Julie Veilleux, president of the Bar Harbor Merchant’s Association and owner of the Widow Panes stores, said Friday. "Danielle is a great gal. She certainly is ambitious."

Mace represents the young, native Mainer the state is trying to retain with programs such as Realize! Maine, a social networking organization, and Opportunity Maine, which gives tax credits for college loan repayment.

While her family and work have made her want to stay in Maine, Mace said she has seen about half of her class at Mount Desert Island High School leave the state. Her brother lives in Portland because he simply does not see any work opportunities on the island, she said.

After graduating from high school in 1991, Mace took a few college business courses at the University of Maine and then decided to return to her hometown to keep her job as a waitress at Jordan’s Restaurant and save money. In the winter, when Jordan’s closed, she would go to Florida to wait tables and work on a boat that sailed between Naples and Key West.

Mace and her longtime boyfriend, Dean Paine, decided to purchase the house on Main Street from his father, David, the owner of Jordan’s. Mace began working for David Paine at age 15. She credits him with teaching her business savvy.

"I saw what was happening on this end of the street and I just knew that I needed to utilize the property," Mace said in a recent interview, referring to the restaurants, galleries and shops that had spread up the hill through the center of town. "It was a great investment."

Mace and Dean Paine got to work renovating the 1890s house themselves, then began renting it summers. Mace eventually decided she wanted to move on from waitressing and decided to turn the rental house into a business.

"Somewhere in me I knew I was probably not going to work for somebody else for the rest my life," Mace said.

An avid resale shopper, Mace and an aunt each contributed $1,000 and started a consignment shop together in Mace’s house, calling it Macey’s. They filled the small rooms of the first floor with used and sample clothing and opened for business.

After a year, Mace’s aunt chose a new career and left the shop. From 2000 to 2003, Mace ran Macey’s on her own but found the slim profit margin discouraging. In 2003, she and Dean resolved to tear down and rebuild on the property so that she could open a larger shop and sell new clothing.

It had taken almost two years of negotiating with the town to come up with a design that would appease both owners and planning officials, but in May 2004 Macey’s reopened on the first floor of the new, three-story building. Mace and Paine live on the second and third floors in a sprawling, sunny apartment.

Mace has found much more success with her new store, which closes every January and reopens in April. Last year, when the Bar Harbor Merchant’s Association opened with the goal of promoting shops that are open beyond the summer months, Mace quickly got involved.

"People just assume Bar Harbor shuts down [after summer ends], and really it’s not the case," Mace said.

The seasonal, sometimes capricious, nature of business is Mace’s biggest challenge, she said.

"This business runs on sun, and when it rains you think, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got all this inventory,’" Mace said. "There’s a lot of sleepless nights, but it’s a lot of fun."

by Anne Ravana

Editor’s Note:
This is one in an occasional series of articles on young business leaders and their decision to live and work in Maine.


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Saturday, September 8, 2007

Calais: Small-town community makes life worthwhile for lawyer - Bangor Daily News

CALAIS, Maine - While quiet, small-town life may drive many restless young people out of Maine, it was exactly what drew David Mitchell back to his hometown.

Mitchell, a 38-year-old lawyer, exemplifies the type of educated person the state is hoping to retain with programs such as Opportunity Maine, which gives tax credits for college loan repayment, and Realize! Maine, a social networking organization. He decided to return to Maine when he was 25 and in the midst of a teaching career outside Detroit, Mich.


"I can recall driving to school one morning … and thinking that but for that seven-mile trip, one would rarely have to leave the immediate area of his or her residence. Each corner of each intersection consisted of a strip mall of sorts with all the necessities. … But there was very little sense of community," Mitchell said recently in an e-mail to the BDN.

Mitchell grew up in Calais and attended boarding school at Lawrence Academy in Groton, Mass. He graduated from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, in 1991 with a B.A. in English and political science, then stayed on for a fifth year to play hockey and earn a second bachelor’s degree in education.

After teaching and coaching soccer, hockey and baseball at private schools in Massachusetts and Michigan, Mitchell decided to return to his home state and pursue a law degree at the University of Maine School of Law. His father is a lawyer in Calais, but it was not until Mitchell graduated in 1997 that he considered joining his father’s practice.

"He has a wealth of experience to tap into, and since I graduated after him he could tap into my knowledge," Mitchell said in a recent interview.

Mitchell & Mitchell is a general practice firm that takes on criminal defense, family law, personal injury, real estate and probate cases. In addition, Mitchell represents the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

Young lawyers who enter the field in rural Maine must be prepared to practice general law, Mitchell said. He has had plenty of opportunities to hold leadership positions and is a member of the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce, the Calais Planning Board and the board of directors of the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

The cost of health insurance is the only complaint Mitchell mentions when asked about running a small business in Maine.

"It’s expensive. I always say ‘I have it but I don’t’ because the cost of it is so high. We have health insurance we never use because the deductible is so high," Mitchell said.

Mitchell said his brother, a hemophiliac, lives in New Brunswick because the cost of health care is so much cheaper there.

Life on the Canadian border allows for plenty of cross-cultural exposure, Mitchell said, and while he might be far from any major U.S. cities, he has quick access to those in Canada. His wife, Tammy, grew up in Pennfield, New Brunswick, and Mitchell coaches two youth hockey teams in St. Stephen. Two of his children, Greg, 8, and Emily, 6, play on his teams. Mitchell also coaches baseball in Calais.

Living out of state was ideal because Mitchell was able to return to Maine to establish roots, he said. And when friends frequently pose the question of why he chose to spend his young adulthood in such a rural place, Mitchell insists "the small things" make it worthwhile, he said.

"Not having to spend hours on the road commuting to work and such simple things as being able to return to my own home daily for lunch with my wife and youngest child, Megan, are, put simply, enjoyable."

by Anne Ravana

Editor’s Note: This is one in an occasional series of articles on young business leaders and their decision to live and work in Maine.

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Monday, September 3, 2007

Gains for workers must continue - Portland Press Herald

Labor Day celebrates our workers. This holiday dates from the late 19th century, when the country was changing from an agricultural economy to an industrial one and labor unions began organizing and advocating for America's workers.

The first Labor Day parade took place on Sept. 5, 1882, when 10,000 workers demanding better working conditions took unpaid leave to march in New York City. Congress legalized the holiday in 1894, after a turbulent labor strike at the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago drew attention to the issue of worker rights.
Maine has a rich, tumultuous labor history. At statehood in 1820, Maine's work force was mostly agricultural. Less than 7 percent of our workers were employed in commerce, called service and transportation now, and just over 11 percent were in manufacturing.

During the dramatic economic change of the 19th century, and despite the state's enduring reputation as having the hardest workers in the nation, working people were not necessarily well-treated or well-paid.

In 1888, the Maine State Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics (now the Department of Labor) engaged Flora Haines to assess conditions for women working in the state's shops and factories. The bureau's annual report that year includes comments like this one, from a cotton mill cloth inspector: "Scores of women with
families to raise and support have but barely enough for their work to keep hunger from their doors."

While wages were a primary concern for most workers, safety and other working conditions were also inadequate, if not downright dangerous.

A 92-year-old Lewiston man who worked as a boy in the Pepperell Mill is quoted in the Museum L-A's current exhibit, "Portraits & Voices: Workers of Seven Mills," in which he recalls another boy taking his place on a machine and losing a finger when he accidentally ran it between the rolls. "If they had had OSHA in those days, they would have made the company change lots of machines."

Reforms regulating child labor, safety, wages and hours at the state level occurred directly because of the tremendous sacrifices of Maine's workers, individually and collectively, along with support from lawmakers, cooperative businesses and responsive government.

Labor Day 2007 finds Maine's work force in transition. As in the 1800s, the economy is changing the character of the job market and the nature of the work force. Nonetheless, workers still want basic respect, a safe workplace, fair pay and benefits, opportunity for job advancement and a chance to make life better for themselves and their children.

Today presents a tough reality for Mainers who have lost the jobs they thought they'd be retiring from. Layoffs in the papermaking industry this summer are a recent and sad example. We acknowledge the challenges facing our work force and respond both compassionately and pragmatically.

Technology is transforming the way work is done. Nearly half of the jobs in Maine created by 2014 will require a college degree or a training certificate. We introduced Lifelong Learning Accounts so employers and employees can collaborate on paying for continuing education.

The Legislature recently approved the Competitive Skills Scholarship Fund, which helps low-income workers pay for tuition, books, equipment and support services to complete a degree or certificate program. Gov. John Baldacci signed this bill
and another, establishing the Opportunity Maine tax credit for college graduates who work in Maine while paying back their student loans.

The Maine Department of Labor helps laid-off workers with training through federal programs. By partnering with organized labor and businesses, we're keeping Maine's workers in our hearts and minds.

Without our workers, we have no economy. As the state, national and global economies evolve, we commit to ensuring that the entire work force has education and skills, a livable wage and health and safety protections. This is the best way to honor
Maine's workers.

On this holiday, let's honor past sacrifices and vow to help Maine's work force adapt and advance.

Laura Fortman, Maine Commissioner of Labor

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