In follow up to the 2006 Office of Program Evaluation and Governmental Accountability report entitled “Economic Development Programs in Maine – EDPs Still Lack Elements Critical for Performance Evaluation and Public Accountability”, the Maine Development Foundation was hired to develop an inventory and “map” of economic development programs in Maine. The Maine Development Foundation worked with the Department of Economic and Community Development to refine the definition of “economic development incentives” and identified 55 programs that fit that definition. Data gathered for these programs reveals the following:

• Maine spends approximately $200 to $250 million of state, federal, and private funds each year on economic development.
• There are four lead agencies that oversee the majority of programs: Department of Economic and Community Development, Finance Authority of Maine, Maine Revenue Services and the Department of Agriculture.
• All programs can be generally placed into five categories based on their focus: General Business, Research & Development, Agriculture, Community, and Project-Specific.
• By category of focus, General Business Programs account for about 79% of funds,
• Research & Development accounts for approximately 10% of funds, Agriculture
• Programs are 7% of funds, Community’s 2.5%, and Project-Specific programs account for the remaining 1.5% of funds.