Maine’s Next Chapter: Growing Wages & Good Jobs, Supporting Small Business & Innovation, and Building the Economic Future Families Deserve

Maine’s Next Chapter

Growing Wages & Good Jobs, Supporting Small Businesses & Innovation, and Building the Economic Future Families Deserve

Too many Mainers are working harder than ever just to keep up, while the basics of life have become harder to afford. Housing costs are rising faster than wages and people can afford housing close to their jobs. Child care is out of reach for too many families. Health care remains expensive and unevenly accessible. And in rural communities, opportunity and wage growth have been constrained for far too long.

At the same time, businesses across Maine are navigating real headwinds: rising costs, global uncertainty, workforce shortages, and missing infrastructure and investment that enable sustainable long-term growth and higher wages.

But Maine’s story is not one of decline. It is one of untapped strength and unrealized potential.

We have world-class research institutions, a proud tradition of ingenuity and hard work, abundant natural resources, and communities ready to grow. We have a small business economy that anchors towns and drives opportunity across every region of the state. The question is not whether Maine can build a stronger economic future that raises wages and improves living standards—it can. The question is whether our next governor is ready to lead with urgency, focus, and purpose to support that future from day one.

Hannah’s economic agenda is built on a simple and optimistic vision: every child in Maine should have a fair shot at a good life, and every worker should be able to earn wages that actually keep up with the cost of living—no matter where they live. That means building an economy that works for everyone—not just the wealthiest or most powerful. An economy that grows good-paying jobs worth staying for, lifts wages, strengthens Maine’s competitive edge, and gives every community the tools to shape its own future.

Hannah’s plan rests on three core priorities:

Investing in Maine’s workers and people, by expanding opportunity, skills, and pathways to good-paying careers
Driving opportunity through innovation, emerging technologies and Maine’s traditional heritage industries
Building a stronger, more inclusive economy, where rural communities and small businesses are not left behind but can grow, compete, and thrive

Building Maine’s Workforce for Today and the Future

Maine’s economic future depends on how well we prepare people for a rapidly changing world. Businesses need skilled workers, but rising costs, evolving job requirements, and new technologies like artificial intelligence are reshaping the future of work faster than many workers can adapt on their own.

While Maine must continue to attract new workers from outside the state, our greatest opportunity is right here at home. That means investing in the people who are already here—strengthening skills, expanding opportunity, and supporting workers through transitions—so they can succeed in a changing economy. It also means giving young people a clear message: you don’t have to leave Maine to build a good life.

Guarantee Every Young Mainer a Real Start

Hannah will guarantee that every young Mainer, by age 20, has access to a meaningful, hands-on work experience—whether that’s an internship, paid job placement, for-credit work experience, pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, or a similar opportunity. No young person should enter adulthood without a real pathway into the workforce and a foothold in Maine’s economy.

Expand paid internships and work-based learning in partnership with Maine employers, unions, and higher education institutions to ensure more young people gain real-world experience before graduating.
Strengthen student loan repayment and retention incentives for graduates who choose to live and work in Maine, helping reduce debt while building long-term career pathways in the state.
Expand Maine service and opportunity programs that employ young people in projects that strengthen their communities—like municipal government, education and health, housing, environment, and local needs.

Train and Hire for the Jobs We Need

By partnering with unions, employers, and education institutions, Hannah will expand access to ongoing education and training that matches the jobs driving Maine’s economy today and tomorrow. These programs will promote flexible, hands-on learning for workers at all stages, prioritizing credentials, apprenticeships, and real-world experience in key sectors like construction, health care, manufacturing, and clean energy.

Expand apprenticeships and industry partnerships in high-demand sectors by working directly with unions and employers to create paid, hands-on training pathways in fields like health care, construction, advanced manufacturing, and the marine economy—ensuring workers can earn while they learn and businesses can fill critical workforce gaps.
Strengthen career and technical education (CTE) in middle and high schools by modernizing programs, expanding access in rural communities, and aligning coursework with real-world skills so students graduate with clear pathways to good-paying jobs or further education.
Partner with employers to deliver affordable, job-ready training and credentials by scaling no-cost and low-cost certification programs for new workforce entrants, career changers, and returning workers—focused on skills that lead directly to in-demand jobs.
Boost tuition assistance and loan repayment for critical workforce needs by expanding support for students and workers entering high-need fields—such as health care, education, and skilled trades—with targeted incentives for those who serve in rural and underserved communities.
Increase investment in the Maine State Grant Program to make higher education more accessible and affordable, helping more Maine students attend and complete college without taking on unsustainable debt.

Strengthening Worker Protections and Bargaining Power

A strong Maine economy depends on strong workers. But too many Mainers still have limited bargaining power and workplaces where wages and benefits don’t reflect the value of their labor. As the economy continues to face rapid changes — driven by new technologies, global competition, and shifting industries—workers need more than just opportunity; they need real power on the job and the ability to share in the prosperity they help create.

Protect the right to organize and collectively bargain so workers can negotiate for fair wages, benefits, and working conditions without fear or retaliation
Improve enforcement of labor standards to ensure wage and hour laws, workplace safety rules, and benefit protections are consistently upheld across all industries
Ensure workers benefit from economic and technological change, including AI and automation, by encouraging shared productivity gains through wages, training, and job quality improvements
Expand pathways into union and registered apprenticeship programs to give more Mainers access to stable, middle-class jobs
Expand training and re-employment support for unemployed and underemployed Mainers, while directly addressing the obstacles that hold people back—health care costs, transportation, housing, and lack of child care.
Modernize Maine’s unemployment and benefits systems so they keep pace with a rapidly changing economy. Support should be more responsive, and better aligned with retraining and re-employment—so workers can transition into new opportunities easily without losing stability.

A People-First Approach to Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping work faster than any technology in a generation. We cannot let Maine’s workers, communities and businesses get left behind.

Hannah will:

Advance a people-first AI strategy that ensures new technologies strengthen Maine’s workforce and economy—protecting worker rights, improving job quality, and ensuring innovation benefits communities, not just tech companies and corporate bottom lines.
Establish a Workers Council on AI to give workers a real voice in how emerging technologies are adopted in the workplace—ensuring transparency, fairness, and shared decision-making as jobs evolve.
Expand job training tax credits to reward businesses that invest in upskilling their employees rather than replacing them with automation—extending Dirigo tax credits to every industry sector to support a more resilient, future-ready workforce.
Create innovation funds for workforce training providers to develop faster, more flexible, and more accessible learning models—so Mainers can gain in-demand skills through short-term credentials, online programs, and community-based training, no matter where they live.
Expand language support for new English speakers by expanding and standardizing access to English language learning across regions and embracing new tools and technologies that can significantly accelerate language acquisition and workforce integration.
Strengthen partnerships between employers, unions, and higher education to align training with real workforce needs and job quality standards—ensuring Maine workers are prepared for emerging industries without being left behind by rapid technological change.
Integrate responsible AI and digital literacy into Maine schools and other training programs by teaching students not just how to use technology, but how to manage it and understand how it impacts jobs, privacy, and society—while expanding career and technical pathways and early college opportunities that connect students to good-paying, future-ready careers.

Driving Opportunity and Innovation

Maine’s future depends on doing two things: embracing innovation and building on the industries that have long sustained our state. With the right investments, Maine can become a national leader in emerging fields like clean energy, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing, while strengthening the heritage industries and small businesses that define who we are.

This is not about choosing between the new and the traditional. It’s about connecting them. So our vibrant natural resource industries and emerging sectors reinforce one another, creating more good-paying jobs, and driving opportunities in places that have long been left behind.

Strengthen Our Heritage Sectors

Maine’s food, forestry, fishing, and ocean economy have powered our state for generations. Hannah will reinvest in these heritage sectors to help them compete in a changing global economy—supporting modernization, bridge family businesses to next-generation ownership, and unlock new opportunities for value-added production that keeps more wealth in Maine communities and small businesses. As governor, Hannah will:

Investing in modernization and product innovation across food, forestry, and the blue economy—helping businesses upgrade equipment, adopt new technologies, improve efficiency, and develop higher-value products that reduce reliance on volatile commodity markets.
Streamlining state systems and permitting to ensure new business start-ups in these sectors don’t get bogged down in state bureaucracy.
Supporting succession planning and next-generation ownership by expanding technical assistance, financing and land acquisition tools (like Land for Future for working farmland), and tax incentives that help family businesses transition successfully—keeping working lands, waterfronts, and natural resource enterprises in Maine hands.
Growing markets for Maine-made, value-added products by partnering with businesses to expand access to regional, national, and international markets—promoting sustainable, high-quality food, forest, and ocean products that strengthen Maine’s brand and command premium prices.

Catalyze Growth in Innovation Industries

Hannah will accelerate innovation and good job creation in life sciences, clean technology, and advanced manufacturing by strengthening Maine’s research ecosystem, expanding access to capital, and ensuring Maine is a state where more great homegrown ideas turn into thriving companies. Hannah will:

Increase sustained research and development funding through targeted innovation funding and bonds that support priority sectors and strengthen collaboration between the Maine Technology Institute, public universities, and industry partners.
Expand and modernize the Seed Capital Tax Credit to attract more early-stage investment into Maine startups—making it easier for entrepreneurs to launch and scale companies in emerging industries.
Strengthen industry-led partnerships with research institutions to accelerate commercialization—helping move innovations from the lab to the marketplace and supporting the growth of Maine-based companies and good-paying jobs.
Expand access to patient, long-term capital by partnering with community banks and regional investors to support business growth in key sectors—ensuring companies can scale without leaving the state.
Leverage state purchasing power to support Maine innovation by positioning state government as an early and strategic customer for Maine-made products—helping new technologies gain traction, prove their value, and reach broader markets.

Maine as an Innovation Leader

Clean Technology and Energy: Maine’s clean energy economy is already the fastest growing in New England. Hannah will reinvigorate Maine’s leadership in next-generation clean tech, investing in technologies that can lower energy costs and grow new jobs and the institutions and businesses driving adoption of these technologies.
Advanced Building Products: Maine’s western hills were once home to a thriving industrialized housing economy. With our vibrant forest economy, entrepreneurial energy, and world-class technologies, under Hannah’s leadership Maine will again bring innovative construction solutions to the world, supporting the growth of value-added timber companies, accelerating commercialization of 3D-printed and prefabricated construction solutions – growing good manufacturing jobs at home while helping to build the homes our state and region needs to meet our housing crisis.
Health Care Workforce: Across rural Maine, an aging health workforce is reducing access to primary, maternity, behavioral health, and reproductive care. This is both a health care crisis and a barrier to attracting families and supporting rural economic growth. Hannah will expand the rural health workforce through training pipelines, partnering with employers to upskill and retain workers, and helping providers practice at the top of their license. She will also modernize care delivery by expanding telehealth, support the use of digital tools to reduce administrative burden on clinicians, and encourage more rural innovations like the rural paramedics who also support home-care visits. Innovation can help expand access, improve care, and help stabilize rural health systems across Maine.

Rural Prosperity and Small Business Growth

Too many communities in Maine – especially in our rural areas – have watched jobs leave without replacement, watched young people move away without a reason to come back, and watched the state government feel distant and indifferent. Hannah refuses to accept that. Every corner of this state deserves the tools to build a future that works for the people who live there.

Hannah knows what it feels like to navigate overly complicated state systems. She knows the frustration of regulations that were not designed with a small business owner in mind. Hannah has run a small business, contending with state permitting and bureaucracy, and she spent years trying to navigate antiquated systems from inside state government. As governor, she knows we need to do better and she is going to create a modern, predictable state government that works for small businesses.

Rebuild Small Business Regulations & Permitting from the Ground Up

Small businesses power Maine’s economy and it needs to be easier to start a business in Maine and manage regular state interactions, from tax filings to license applications. We need to modernize state systems, emphasize a one-stop approach, and speed up state approvals.

Hannah will also ensure Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection the tools it needs to efficiently protect our environment while also simplifying the process and eliminating the delays and unpredictability that drives projects away. Hannah’s plan will make Maine responsive, transparent, and predictable for permitting and business development by:

Establishing clear timelines and accountability for every permit decision, like Hannah’s proposed 90-day DEP shot clock for new housing applications;
Expanding agency staffing and resources to eliminate backlogs;
Creating a pre-permitting economic development program to help get potential investment sites ready to attract job-creating employers with a focus on former mill and manufacturing sites, historic buildings and zones designated by communities for business growth.

Invest in Rural Communities and Places Overlooked for Too Long

Communities that have been overlooked are not lacking in potential but they often lack the partners and infrastructure to support new opportunities. Hannah will change that by directing targeted resources to the places that need them most, supporting locally driven solutions, and ensuring rural communities have the tools to grow, attract families and businesses, and build lasting economic opportunities. This means investing in infrastructure, housing, small businesses and downtowns—so every part of Maine can thrive.

Launch the Rural Opportunities & Growth Partnership to work with communities to drive targeted investments that create new, locally-driven economic opportunities—from downtown revitalization to growth in agriculture, forest products, marine industries, and outdoor recreation. Strengthen public-private partnerships, while expanding support for infrastructure, housing, and local business development.
Bolster Maine’s agriculture and fishing industries through a “Maine Feeds the Nation” initiative to expand production, strengthen regional market access, and invest in local processing. With abundant farmland and thousands of farmers, fishermen, and aquaculture businesses, Maine can grow its rural economy while helping feed millions.
Create a State Resilience Bank to finance critical infrastructure and prioritize projects in rural and underserved communities. Expand the Community Resilience Partnership and invest in working waterfronts to help towns prepare for flooding, storms, and climate impacts with locally driven solutions.
Sustain and expand rural housing programs through support for the Rural Rental Workforce Housing and Homeownership initiatives—helping communities build the housing needed to attract and retain young families and workers.
Support local entrepreneurship and investment by expanding community-based business programs in underserved areas and ensuring rural communities receive a majority share of Opportunity Zone designations to attract private capital.

No Dead Zones: Bringing Reliable Cell and Broadband Service to All of Maine

Every Maine resident, business, and community deserves reliable cell service and high-speed internet. Too many people across our state still can’t make a phone call from their car, close a business deal from their shop, receive emergency calls or load a telehealth appointment from their home. Gaps in coverage cost Maine businesses customers, slow economic growth, and leave too many communities at a disadvantage. Hannah will:

Ensure seamless, high-speed wireless coverage across the state’s most vital arteries – including I-95, Route 1, and key regional routes — to improve public safety and eliminate dangerous dead zones.
Work with private partners to build new infrastructure to expand coverage and make use of the State of Maine’s existing land, fiber assets and towers.
Complete the work of historic federal and state broadband investments in fiber and satellite broadband, and ensure that every Mainers has the tools and training to use the internet safely and confidently to improve their health, education and livelihood.

Powering Maine’s Small Businesses

Small businesses aren’t just part of Maine’s economy—they are the backbone of our towns, our downtowns, and our way of life. But too often, they’re burdened by high costs, red tape, and a system that’s hard to navigate. Hannah will change that by making Maine one of the easiest places in the country to start, run, and grow a small business.

Create a true one-stop shop for small businesses and cut unnecessary red tape so entrepreneurs can handle permits, licensing, financing resources, and technical assistance in one place—without getting bounced between agencies or buried in paperwork.
Put world-class business expertise within reach of small firms by expanding support through the Maine Technology Institute—helping businesses access fractional CFOs, AI tools, marketing support, and other high-level services without the cost of hiring full-time staff.
Lower health care costs for small businesses by giving them access to the same high-quality, cost-saving tools used by the state and larger employers—including preventative health programs, virtual physical therapy, and virtual urgent care reduce health costs and keep workers healthy.
Build out small business and entrepreneurship hubs that provide hands-on help to start and grow businesses—especially in rural communities—so Mainers can find support for growing their business closer to home.
Recapitalize and strengthen lending tools at the Finance Authority of Maine with more lendable funds and reduce debt coverage requirements to make financing more accessible for rural entrepreneurs
Unlock more local capital for Maine businesses by deepening partnerships with community banks, local investors and Community Development Financial Institutions that understand rural communities and invest in them for the long term.
Help small businesses grow and stay local through ownership transitions by supporting succession planning, employee ownership, and conversions to B Corps and other mission-driven business models—so successful Maine businesses stay rooted in Maine, keep good jobs local, and continue serving their communities instead of being sold off or leaving the state.

Building the Economic Future Families Deserve

Hannah has spent years working in Maine’s communities and delivering results for workers, businesses, and towns. She knows what it takes to grow jobs, strengthen local economies, and create real opportunities. And she knows it takes more than good intentions.

It takes a governor who will bring people together: labor and business, cities and small towns, community colleges and universities, established industries and emerging innovative startups. Someone who will listen and then turn ideas into bold action.

Maine is not a state in decline. It is a state with extraordinary potential that has gone underutilized for too long. By supporting our hardworking workers, backing Maine businesses, driving innovation, and ensuring that no community is left behind, we can unlock Maine’s potential and build an economy that works for everyone who calls Maine home.