I read with great interest Mike Michaud’s economic development plan for Maine in the Press Herald (“Michaud outlines strategies for economic growth,” Feb. 19). It reminded me of “Red Sox Nation.”

His plan focuses on Maine’s core strengths: tourism, fishing, farming and renewable energy. These are small businesses currently located here in Maine, creating jobs and opportunity for Maine people.

To me, this is preferable to Gov. LePage’s plan to aggressively create “business opportunities” through generous tax benefits and financial incentives to encourage large out-of-state corporations to relocate to Maine with the perceived benefit of bringing jobs with them.

Courting these corporations through such programs is highly competitive, expensive and with only limited probability for success.

Michaud’s plan could be analogous to the Red Sox, whose success has been attributed, in part, to growing their own talent through their farm system (Sea Dogs) and developing players who fit their culture.

I believe this is preferable to the George Steinbrenner approach of going into the “free agent” market and signing high-profile players to large multi-year contracts with little assurance that they will perform as paid for and assimilate into the making of a winning team.

Frank Wright

Cape Neddick


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.