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Poll results

Sponsored by: OTELCO Inc.

Since March, Maine has experienced major upheavals in business as a result of COVID-19. Many of the changes, particularly in the hospitality and tourism sectors, have been crippling.

Yet other industries have seen surges in sales and in employment, as companies pivot to meet new pandemic-driven demands.

One example has been the growth of Abbott Diagnostics in southern Maine. In northern Maine, a second Puritan Medical Products plant is now in the works to manufacture COVID test swabs. With the new factories, Puritan expects to bring a total of 600 new jobs to Pittsfield.

Ultimately, could the changes in Maine business due to the pandemic be a net benefit for the state's economy?
Yes (40%, 123 VOTES)
No (60%, 182 VOTES)
Poll Description

Sponsored by: OTELCO Inc.

Since March, Maine has experienced major upheavals in business as a result of COVID-19. Many of the changes, particularly in the hospitality and tourism sectors, have been crippling.

Yet other industries have seen surges in sales and in employment, as companies pivot to meet new pandemic-driven demands.

One example has been the growth of Abbott Diagnostics in southern Maine. In northern Maine, a second Puritan Medical Products plant is now in the works to manufacture COVID test swabs. With the new factories, Puritan expects to bring a total of 600 new jobs to Pittsfield.

  • 305 Votes
  • 19 Comments
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19 Comments

  • October 13, 2020

    Net benefit? I doubt it. This fear-driven economy depends on borrowed dollars at the state and federal level... forgivable loans? Who (but the taxpayer) pays for this aid? The medical swabs business will settle down when people finally catch on to the fact that Covid-19 is less deadly than models have predicted and currently has a 99.97% recovery rate. Demand will decline and Maine jobs will dry up... think MBNA.

  • October 13, 2020

    Maine is uniquely positioned economically and geographically to benefit from impacts of COVID-19. We have a strong science community that has been at and will continue to be at the forefront of this virus and the research that will create protocols to get us through COVID-19 and prepared nationally for any future events. Geographically we stand to benefit from the potential migration out of the major cities that will bring population and skills into the state that we have long needed. Ultimately, Maine could be one of the states with the most to gain from the societal changes that COVID-19 will create.

  • October 13, 2020

    Basically, the government has picked the winners and losers with their shutdowns. When this started, it was to flatten the curve and not overwhelm the medical resources in Maine. It wasn't to insure that nobody dies from this. Now they are focused in trying to make sure nobody gets sick and dies, and this is not possible. So open the state back up and let people that are vulnerable take extra precautions for their wellbeing and let the rest of the people go about their lives. On average, 66,000 people in the US die from the flu each year. We don't close down the state for this each winter. Healthy people shouldn't have to quarantine and not open their businesses. Let's get back to business Maine!!

  • October 13, 2020

    Pittsfield is NOT "northern Maine". And how can 600 jobs make up for the total devastation to the tourism industry??