National Governors Association puts spotlight on Portland, lobster, literacy and more

Courtesy / NGA In 2017, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spoke to attendees of the NGA Summer Meeting, in Providence, R.I. At this week's meeting in Portland, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is one of the speakers.

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By Jessica Hall

It’s been almost 40 years since the National Governors Association came to Maine, but over the next three days Portland is hosting the group's annual summer meeting — along with a crush of 2,000 dignitaries, lobbyists, press and associated traffic problems.

The NGA, a Washington-based nonpartisan organization comprising the governors of the 55 U.S. states, territories and commonwealths, has a busy slate of events ranging from a lobster bake at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth to a livestream event with Dolly Parton on her efforts to improve childhood literacy.

Plenary sessions on computer science education and the nation's travel and tourism industries are planned. An untold number of private meetings and off-the-record discussions are also likely.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only welcome our nation’s governors, their staff and families to Maine but to also showcase Portland and our great state during our glorious summer season,” Quincy Hentzel, president and CEO of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, told Mainebiz.

“Our hope is that while attendees are here for the conference, they get the chance to enjoy all our city has to offer such as the world- renowned foodie and brewery scene, downtown shopping and the waterfront of Casco Bay and also take the opportunity to extend their travels and visit other spectacular areas of the state.”

Speakers at the NGA meeting include Patrick Gelsinger, CEO of Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and NGA Chairman and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Murphy will be installed as NGA chair at the end of the meeting.

Not every governor will be there. Two Republicans, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, are among those expected to skip the event.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat running for reelection this fall, is expected to speak on Thursday in a public session. Former Gov. Paul LePage, Mills’ predecessor and 2022 Republican opponent, also is expected to be in attendance despite skipping the event in 2012. At that time, he said Maine wasn’t getting enough for the $60,000 annual fee from the events he called too "lovey dovey."

The NGA meeting comes at a delicate time nationally when issues of abortion rights, the Jan. 6 insurrection, gun violence and equality polarize much of the country. Despite these issues, the nonpartisan group is intended as a common ground forum for ideas and collaboration, such as last year’s successful push to get federal reimbursement to states for pandemic-related use of National Guard units.

The event, running Wednesday through Friday, will be held at the Holiday Inn By the Bay in Portland. The city will close Fort Williams Park at 1 p.m. on Thursday for the private lobster bake.

Meanwhile, Commercial Street between Pearl Street and Franklin Street will be closed to vehicles from 3-7 p.m. on Wednesday. Other related street closures include Fore/Hancock, India/Thames, and Fore/Freedom Way, which will be closed to vehicles from 4-11 p.m. on Wednesday. Additionally, Spring Street will be closed to through traffic from about 5 a.m. Thursday to 3 p.m. on Friday, and Oak Street between Free Street and Spring Street will be closed during the same time frame.

Portland last hosted an NGA meeting in 1983. Portland was slated to be the site of the 2020 meeting, but the pandemic forced that event to go online. The summer and winter meetings are the two yearly, national events for the NGA. During the winter meeting earlier this year, the governors’ group was joined by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

The meetings are typically an economic boon for the host cities.

The NGA summer meetings from 2017-2019 generated an average of $1.5 million in room stays, spending by attendees and exhibitors, and other economic activity. In November 2019, Visit Portland President and CEO Lynn Tillotson told Mainebiz it was hard to put a price on the exposure that the city and Maine would receive from the NGA conference.