Maine Business Indicators has been published for more than 40 years, first by the Public Affairs Research Center at Bowdoin College and for the past 12 years by the Center for Business and Economic Research at USM. Over these years, MBI has chronicled changes in the Maine economy, forecast future changes, and provided a forum for discussion of critical issues facing Maine’s businesses, governments, and people.

Throughout this long period the publication has undergone many modifications, and this issue represents the start of the latest generation. The changes, put into place after extensive discussions with MBI readers, will allow us to continue analyzing current economic issues in Maine and to bring a more direct business focus on those issues. We also hope to examine topics in much greater depth than ever.

Among the alterations we are making to accomplish these goals include an “Economics Focus” and a “Business Focus” section in each issue, which will provide two different perspectives on the same topic. From time to time, we will also follow the same subject over more than one issue of MBI. Other aspects of our newsletter, such as the Maine Business Index, will continue to appear in each issue. We have also updated the appearance of MBI to better reflect the new way we are organizing and presenting material.

This first issue of the new MBI examines a hot topic throughout Maine: finding the workers needed to fuel future economic growth. The Economics Focus section provides early results from what will be the most detailed assessment of Maine’s workforce ever undertaken, which staff from CBER and USM’s Muskie School of Public Service will be conducting over the next two years. This section examines current employment and recruiting trends in the Waterville and Presque Isle-Caribou regions, while the Business Focus section looks at how businesses in other parts of the state perceive and grapple with these matters. The next two issues of MBI will examine employment costs as well as skills and training.

We hope you find the new MBI useful, and as always we welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Charles S. Colgan, Economics Editor (csc@usm.maine.edu)

Michael Donahue, Business Editor (mdonahue@usm.maine.edu)

Stanley M. Max, Managing Editor (smax@usm.maine.edu)