Mike Roughton, Executive Director of the Manufacturer’s Association of Maine (MAME), and he was our speaker on Friday. Mike let us know one of the interesting things about manufacturing in Maine is that it's a small demographic: 1880 manufacturers, and about 1,700 of them have 20 or less employees. Because of the small size, they need advocates and some assistance to help them do business, and this is where the MAME helps. 

Mike is surprised by how many people do not realize that Maine has manufacturers. For instance, Vic Firth is a manufacturer of high-quality drumsticks, and they claim 60% of the world’s market share. Think about that for a minute: there's a company, 940-ish employees, in Newport, Maine, making drumsticks out of the hearts of trees. He always tells people their story: when you get to the very end of the production line, a hammer hits each stick which creates a measured frequency and allows them to match sticks of equal frequencies.

Montalvos located in Gorham, are also world renowned. They make ribbon alignment rollers for paper and other rolled products which keep the product in alignment. The equipment is called web handling. 

Mike showed us some pictures of medical vials, and he let us know that there is a company called Salmonics who manufactures in Brunswick. Salmonics repurposes salmon blood to make anticoagulants that improve the rates at which wounds heal for both the general populace and for the military.

In Maine, the 10-year trend for manufacturing is clearly on the upside. However, with the workforce development challenges Maine faces, manufacturers are transitioning to take advantage of technologies to be able be more productive. In large measure, it's about doing more with less. 

They talk a lot about manufacturing being the fourth largest sector in the economy. In the Maine economy, it is roughly 10% of the GDP, but on a week-in, week-out basis, they are 14.5% or so of the wages. This means manufacturers disproportionately pay on the higher side. Part of their mission is to advocate with young people to make sure they understand that there's a real opportunity in Maine to work in manufacturing, earn a premium wage, have a good quality of life, and not move away. 

Mike let us know that the census bureau data shows the 45 to 64 age groups is the real challenge from an employee retainage in Maine standpoint. Employees are the biggest challenge that companies face. Mike said that only one company in their association that he has talked to told him that they are satisfied with their current staffing. Compared to nationwide, Maine is more than double the nationwide rate from a per capita GDP contribution standpoint. Mike gives some credit to the current administration as they have been focusing on innovation.

MAME serves their membership by " providing business development support, advocating on behalf of manufacturing with the legislature, promoting careers in manufacturing for young people through education, experiences, and scholarships, and organizing regular networking opportunities to connect members to growth opportunities, better practices, and resources within the State of Maine." MAME is really about what can they do for membership and how do they help the members profitably grow their businesses. Their clients really want to make sure they provide a voice in Augusta to try and continue to foster the things that are going to help them prosper. (Dick Hall, Mike Roughton John Thompson)