The economic development organization FocusMaine announced the completion of its 10-year initiative on Wednesday and the transition of its programs to other community partners.
FocusMaine officials cited the creation of the Maine Life Sciences Center and the creation of 1,500 jobs as some of its accomplishments.
Maine State Economist Amanda Rector said FocusMaine promoted innovation in sectors such as life sciences and the food economy.
“Notably, the growth of participants in FocusMaine programs has outpaced broader growth in those faster-growing sectors, demonstrating the value of the FocusMaine programs,” Rector said.
Sam Pierce, Owner of Three of Strong Spirits in Portland, said FocusMaine programming helped him get his business off the ground.
“The team helped us out and gave us the confidence to take what we thought was a pretty good idea, and we knew how to do a small part of it. The rest of it, we provided from what we heard back from the team, and that was incredibly helpful,” Pierce said.
The group announced that its programs will now be run by seven community partners, including Educate Maine, the Maine Aquaculture Association, and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.