The Maine Development Foundation (MDF) drives sustainable, long-term economic growth for Maine. MDF stimulates new ideas, develops leaders, and provides common ground for solving problems and advancing issues.

To accomplish its mission, MDF:

• Enables leaders to act
• Develops new approaches
• Advances higher education and skills for workers
• Informs and guides policy decisions
• Models organizational excellence

MDF is the oldest and one of the most successful statewide public-private partnerships in the nation. MDF was created by the Governor and Legislature in 1978 as a private, non-profit corporation with a broad mandate to promote Maine's economy. MDF is financed primarily with private resources.

The MDF Board of Directors is comprised of no less than fifteen business people, educators, government officials and community leaders, who are elected each year from among the 300 corporators. MDF has a small staff of nine professionals and makes extensive use of volunteers, loaned executives and consultants to deliver its core programs, described below.

MDF's 300 members represent companies, educational institutions, municipalities, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations throughout the state. MDF provides a common ground for leaders to discuss and act on issues affecting Maine's economy.

Programs

Maine Health Care Performance Council	The Council's purpose is to prepare and maintain a long-range vision, goals, objectives, and performance measures for the health care delivery system in Maine, in order to inform decisions by citizens, health care professionals, and policy makers. The Council is an outgrowth of the Year 2000 Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care.
Maine School Leadership Network	The Network'S purpose is to build the leadership capacity of teachers, principals and other building administrators in order to increase student learning. In addition, MDF has identified several opportunities for Maine to increase the percent of Maine residents with higher education degrees.
Maine Downtown Center	The Center is a resource for all Maine Communities that want to revitalize their downtowns. The Center offers information, contacts, advice, training, and support.
Maine Economic Indicators Program	The Program administers the Maine Economic Growth Council, collects and disseminates key economic data and analysis, and assists groups with developing indicators of long term economic health.
Policy Leaders Academy	The Academy is an education program for Maine's 186 legislators to help them gain greater knowledge and understanding about Maine's economy. The program is also for business and community leaders on how the Legislature works.
Leadership Maine	Leadership Maine is a one-year, eleven day training program for CEOs and senior level managers from business, government, education, and the nonprofit sectors. The program is experiential and helps participants gain new awareness about issues facing Maine's economic future, new skills needed for effective leadership, and networks with others from throughout the state.
Maine Economic Growth Council	The Council is a permanent, 19-member council appointed by the Governor, House Speaker, and Senate President to establish and maintain a long range economic development plan for the state. Annually, the Council publishes the Measures of Growth Report, which includes a vision for Maine's economic future, goals to achieve that vision, and performance measures and benchmarks to determine the extent to which Maine is achieving its goals. Created in 1993 by statute, the Council is administered and partially financed by MDF.
Other Programs	MDF will be organizing the new Maine Higher Education Attainment Council later this year. MDF coordinated major, annual Blaine House Conferences on Small Business on behalf of Governor Angus King, and looks forward to continuing these valuable programs with the new Governor. MDF is constantly seeking ways to achieve its mission and welcomes ideas and concerns from its constituents.

More Information

For more information on the programs of the Maine Development Foundation, please send us E-mail at mdf@mdf.org . If you looking a particular staff person, please view our staff list.