Support Local Jobs and Small Business

My great-grandparents came to this region from Quebec to work in the paper mills. For generations, my family—like thousands of families across western Maine—was supported by good jobs in manufacturing and industry. Those jobs allowed people who worked hard to buy a home, raise a family, and build a good life here.

My generation is the first in more than 100 years to come of age without a large industrial employer providing that same foundation in our town. I don’t believe we should accept that decline as inevitable.

Good, stable work is a pillar of an honest living and the ability to provide for one’s family. A strong local economy also strengthens everything around it: healthier families, thriving small businesses, stronger communities, less poverty, and a broader tax base to support our schools and essential services.

My Plan to Rebuild Economic Opportunity:

• Put the Androscoggin Mill site back to work. Redeveloping the former mill site is one of the greatest economic opportunities our region has had in decades. I will work with the Town of Jay, state government, property owners, and prospective employers to bring new private investment and good-paying jobs to the site. Its industrial infrastructure gives us an opportunity to compete for manufacturing, technology, energy, and other emerging industries while growing our commercial tax base and taking pressure off homeowners.

• Compete for investment in rural Maine. Economic development shouldn’t stop when you get north of Cumberland County. I support targeting state economic-development resources toward communities that have suffered major job losses and rewarding investments that create permanent jobs, pay good wages, and expand the local tax base. When taxpayer dollars are used to support private development, taxpayers should see a return on that investment.

• Make it easier to start and grow a small business. The next great local employer might begin with one person and a good idea. I support better access to startup financing and technical assistance, simpler navigation of state programs, and removing unnecessary regulatory barriers that make it harder for entrepreneurs to get started. I also want our schools to expose more young people to entrepreneurship and the possibility of building a business right here at home.

• Keep community college within reach for every Mainer. I support continuing Maine’s tuition-free community college program. It gives young people an affordable path into good careers while helping employers find the skilled workers they need. We should strengthen connections between our high schools, career and technical education programs, community colleges, apprenticeships, and local employers so education leads to real opportunities for work.

• Build the infrastructure a modern economy requires. Reliable electricity, broadband, roads, bridges, water, and sewer infrastructure determine whether businesses can locate and expand here. I will prioritize investments that make our communities more competitive for private investment and prepare former industrial properties for their next generation of jobs.

I don’t expect the economy of the future to look exactly like the economy my great-grandparents found when they arrived here. But I do believe the promise should be the same: if you’re willing to work hard, you should have the opportunity to earn a good living, provide for your family, own a home, and build your future right here.