Make Maine 'work-at-home state,' fix broadband challenge, King says
Screen shot
Mainebiz editor Peter Van Allen, left, interviewed U.S. Sen Angus King, I-Maine, for the Mainebiz Small Business Virtual Forum, in a pre-recorded conversation broadcast on Wednesday.
As remote work gains traction during the pandemic, U.S. Sen Angus King, I-Maine, sees a real opportunity for Maine to become the go-to place for employers to build a workforce — as long as it can solve the broadband access challenge.
"I'd like to see Maine become the work-at-home state, where ... instead of going to Amazon or Google and saying, 'Build a big $50 million building and you've to go through the permits and make that big investment,' [tell them to] hire 300 or 400 people in Maine to work at home," King said in Wednesday's Mainebiz virtual Small Business Forum.
King was responding to questions from Mainebiz editor Peter Van Allen in a 25-minute pre-recorded interview for the two-day event, which included a CEO/business owner panel on Tuesday and sessions on funding and commercial real estate on Wednesday.
A politician who remains an entrepreneur at heart, King had this recommendation for his business idea of turning Maine into the work-at-home state: "Somebody needs to accumulate and consolidate the names of those 300 people who are ready to work from home and have the broadband, and then say to Amazon, 'Here they are.'
"In other words," he added, "Amazon can't go to Dover-Foxcroft and recruit five people here and eight people in Bethel," he said. "We need a consolidator, an aggregator, who can create these opportunities. But I think this is a big opportunity for Maine, and for the rural areas, which have been hurting for years. This could just rejuvenate them and provide opportunity so kids don't have to leave rural areas to find employment."
But he said the biggest hurdle to making that happen is the lack of broadband access in a significant part of the state, similar to other rural states with a lot of open space such as Nebraska, Arkansas and West Virginia.
"Broadband is difficult because it's a density function, just like electricity in the 1930s," he said. "But we've got to get by that, and there's all kinds of new technology being developed" such as smaller satellites and wireless and 5G. "I think the problem will be solved in four or five years, but it's going to take some concentrated effort."
On that front, he said he has worked to coordinate various federal programs. He also noted that there are effective state programs.
While praising the recently passed $15 million state bond issue to fund broadband as a step in the right direction, King said,"I think it's going to take a lot more, but I think we're on the way," and cited broadband as the single biggest infrastructure problem facing Maine.
“If we can lick that one," he added. "there's no limit to what we can do in Maine and incomes will go up, particularly in rural areas. If you can get the broadband, and work from home for Unum or Anthem of L.L.Bean or Amazon or whomever, this is a real opportunity."
His comments come on the heels of a recent survey by Live + Work in Maine showing that the number of people working remotely in Maine for employers based out of state may be larger than most people think.
Roux Institute 'huge opportunity'
King also praised Northeastern University's recently established Roux Institute as a "huge opportunity" to build a knowledge economy in southern Maine and a "hugely potentially significant development for the knowledge-based economy, which of course is where we're headed."
He also called it "one more feather in Portland's cap" as the Institute leases space from WEX Inc. on Portland's East End to set up a technology education site.
Asked at the end of the interview whether it's easier to be a politician or an entrepreneur, King said that was a toss-up.
"I hadn't really thought about it," he said. "I can tell you though, going to sleep at night worrying about how you're going to make the next payroll is pretty tough, but going to sleep at night and worrying about what the Russians are up to in the next election or the Chinese development of hypersonic missiles, that weighs on you, too."
More information
Recordings from the Mainebiz Small Business Forum will be made available to registered attendees starting next week, and to others for purchase on the events section of the Mainebiz website.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments