According to Maine’s Office of Business Development, the equity of the Maine work environment and the quality of Maine public education have been recognized in two separate national studies.

Maine offers the fourth fairest work environment in the nation, according to the new Work Environment Index completed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute and tied with Rhode Island and Pennsylvania for the 12th best overall work environment in the U.S. States ranking high on the Index generally had faster economic growth and lower poverty rates, the study said.

Maine is also the fifth “smartest” state in the U.S., according to the 2005-2006 Education State Rankings reference book published by Morgan Quitno Press, a Kansas-based independent research and publishing company.