Michael Duguay, Maine’s commissioner of economic and community development, says his three policy priorities this year are housing, life sciences and the blue economy.
Michael Duguay FILE PHOTO
To ease the state’s housing shortage, one goal is to streamline municipal codes governing the use of prefabricated, factory-built panels, roof systems and other materials.
Under the current patchwork of local regulations, each home ends up being a “custom one-off,” he says. To improve the situation, “it might make sense to look at this more as a regional approach.”
He also has high hopes for the new Maine Life Sciences Innovation Center, to be led by founding director Sarah Delmar to coordinate research, business and workforce efforts across an industry that employs close to 10,000 people.
Bullish on Maine’s economy in 2026, Duguay says, “I’m aggressively optimistic.”
