Summer school | Promising changes in Brewer and Portland set the example for ingenuity throughout Maine
In October 2007, Motiva Enterprises of Houston, Texas, launched an effort to build a $5.2 billion oil refinery, the biggest in the country. It was the largest capital project in Texas history and Motiva asked for proposals from construction companies far and wide to build it. Two thousand miles away in Maine, little attention was paid to this announcement. Except in Pittsfield, where they haven’t yet thrown in the towel on Maine’s manufacturing capability.
Cianbro Corp. CEO Pete Vigue saw Motiva’s new refinery as an important manufacturing opportunity for Maine workers. Cianbro bid on the project and won. Last month the grand opening of Cianbro’s Eastern Manufacturing Facility in Brewer signaled a significant development in Maine-based manufacturing. Cianbro will manufacture and assemble 50 modules that will then be transported to Port Arthur, Texas, and put together to create Motiva’s new refinery. “This project enables industrial companies around the world to employ Maine’s skilled workforce in the construction of new industrial plants,” Vigue explained to me. “It also allows Maine workers to live at home while exporting their knowledge and skill.” Cianbro has trained hundreds of workers for this new effort and expects to train hundreds more.
But while Cianbro flourishes, other Maine plants are shuttering. Just this month, several Maine manufacturers announced temporary or permanent closures. The contrast between Cianbro’s opening and other mills closing is striking: Cianbro is making a multi-million dollar investment in a manufacturing facility in Brewer while other Maine manufacturers are struggling.
Cianbro’s investment reflects its confidence that Maine’s highly skilled workers, who have earned a high quality manufacturing reputation, will provide a sustainable competitive advantage. It’s a gamble other Maine companies should take to heart.
New tourism and manufacturing, 101
In a flat world, commodity-based manufacturing is now possible anywhere. Quality paper is being produced in South Africa and South America, in northern Europe and in North America. It is no longer enough to create commodities in markets where worldwide competition requires Maine companies to compete solely on price.
Highly skilled laborers manufacturing highly technical products are hard to come by in most parts of the world, and the benefits of being in an exclusive club show: All over the United States, commodity manufacturers struggle while companies producing sought-after, high-quality products thrive. From solar panels to artificial joints to state-of-the-art oil refineries, these companies lead the way for American and Maine manufacturing.
Vigue, Cianbro and Brewer prove manufacturing in Maine is not over. But it has changed. Like our ancestors, Mainers can dominate in this new market reality if we capitalize on that change.
This summer in Portland there was another announcement that could have equally significant implications. The Portland City Council approved a preliminary business agreement with Kevin Mahaney and The Olympia Cos. to develop the $100 million Maine State Pier Project.
The agreement paves the way for the Olympia Cos. to begin work on the project in 2011. Olympia will construct a waterfront office and retail building, a waterfront park, a hotel on the pier and additional buildings designated for marine related uses. When complete, the project will bring an estimated $1 million in property taxes to the city, lease payments for use of the pier and city land, and the rehabilitation of the Maine State Pier, an essential asset of the public waterfront.
This development has enormous significance not only for Portland but for Maine. More than 20% of state revenue is tied to the tourism industry and so infrastructure to support this industry is critical to our state’s financial security. Redevelopment of the Maine State Pier gives Portland much needed opportunity for growth. And it allows the development to pay for improvements to the pier, costs that would otherwise be borne by Portland taxpayers.
The Maine State Pier project shows the world Maine’s largest city is open to development. Those who follow the pier redevelopment effort know it has been a long and difficult process. But now Portland has said yes and partnered with a private sector company. The ramifications for other projects is significant. Developers and companies around the world may now look at Portland and see a city that welcomes them.
These two projects show that there is much to be optimistic about. Our highly skilled workers continue to compete well in the world. We are finding new ways to compete and win. Thanks in part to movement in Brewer and Portland, it’s been a good summer in Maine.
Matt Jacobson, president of Maine & Co. in Portland, can be reached at mjacobson@maineco.org.
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