Economic Development

‘The Maine Question’ looks back its seventh season

Season seven of “The Maine Question” podcast covered a broad variety of subjects in research and higher education. Topics ranged from archaeology to space research, and from the challenges in K–12 education to toxic forever chemicals and efforts to mitigate them. In the tenth and final episode this season, host Ron Lisnet looks back on […]

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A photo of Liza White

Liza White: Engineering new applications for paper mill products

Growing up in Rumford, Maine, Liza White learned the extent to which paper manufacturers contribute to the rural economies in which they operate. Residents would regularly say “paper is money” in relation to the mill’s importance; they would celebrate its successes and shudder when it struggled.  Changes in global demand have brought both economic uncertainty […]

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A photo of an offshore wind turbine

UMaine receives award from Governor’s Energy Office to launch new programs and courses on offshore wind

University of Maine faculty will help meet the workforce demand of the offshore wind industry by offering students more training for future careers with new courses, micro-credentials and an undergraduate concentration in offshore wind energy, made possible with a $266,669 award from the Governor’s Energy Office’s Clean Energy Partnership program. The initiative, OffshoreWind4Maine, led by […]

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‘The Maine Question’ explores new frontiers for state’s space economy 

University of Maine research and education have ascended beyond Earth’s atmosphere since the 1990s. For example, UMaine scientists have tested the latest hypervelocity decelerators for NASA space travel and created a wireless leak detection system for the International Space Station. Through its latest inventions and studies, and scholarship and fellowship programs, UMaine plays a critical […]

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An illustration of the completed hotel project on UMaine's campus

Groundbreaking ceremony Oct. 1 for $28M hotel project at UMaine

Editor’s note: story updated Oct. 7, 2022. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Oct. 1 at the University of Maine for a $28 million project to renovate Coburn and Holmes halls, two of the oldest buildings on campus, both of which have been unoccupied for more than a decade, and develop them into boutique hotels. […]

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a decorative pile of fibers and crocheting supplies

MBS’ Percival Carter, Welcomer awarded $292K Small Business Administration grant for BARD program

Editors note: story updated Sept. 22, 2022. The Business, Agriculture, and Rural Development (BARD) technical assistance training program in the Maine Business School at the University of Maine has received a $292,000 award from the Small Business Administration that was requested by Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King through the FY22 Congressionally Directed Spending process, known […]

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AP notes UMaine role in USDA forest carbon storage project

The Associated Press reported that the University of Maine will partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for their New England Climate-Smart Forest Partnership Project, which will build markets for climate-smart forest products to store carbon in wood products and substitute wood products for fossil fuel-based materials. The project could receive as much as $30 […]

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UMaine Marine Sciences student Cole Roxbury with kelp at the Darling Marine Center. Photo by Adam St. Gelais.

UMaine researchers look into how to make kelp aquaculture a better carbon sink

Cost-effective carbon dioxide removal technologies play a key role in combating climate change. A team of researchers at the University of Maine in collaboration with Conscience Bay Research have developed a kelp aquaculture model for the Gulf of Maine that maximizes carbon sequestration and cost effectiveness of this natural carbon sink. Wild macroalgae is one […]

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