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Henry Bourgeois' Mission: Educate Maine

BY ALAN ELLIOTT, OF THE BANGOR DAILY NEWS STAFF
reprinted with permission

Henry Bourgeois, shown in his office near the State Capitol building in Augusta, announced in February he will step down as director of the Maine Development Foundation in order to head the foundation's Compact for Higher Education. Compact participants are preparing to publish an action plan aimed at boosting college enrollment and degree completion in Maine.

"We are really moving toward a knowledge-based economy."

Henry Bourgeois

It's not just Maine, Henry Bourgeois will tell you, but all of America is caught up in an era of dramatic change. But it's an era that has hit hard here, causing drastic changes in the number of jobs and the outlook for traditional industries.

Bourgeois has spent the last 25 years helping the state navigate that change. The president and chief executive of the Maine Development Foundation since it was created by legislators in 1978, he played a part in establishing the Maine Downtown Center, the Leadership Maine program, the Maine Economic Growth Council and other entities familiar to those working to further the state's community and economic interests.

In February, Bourgeois announced he would step down as MDF director in order to head the foundation's Compact for Higher Education. Compact participants are preparing to publish an action plan aimed at boosting college enrollment and degree completion in Maine. Bourgeois spoke to the Bangor Daily News about the compact's goals, and about the idea of college education as a business development tool.

Alan Elliott: One point of clarification to start: What is the relationship between MDF and entities like Eastern Maine Development Corp.?

Henry Bourgeois: MDF is a statewide nonprofit corporation chartered by the state. Eastern Maine Development Corp. is one of six regional economic development agencies in Maine chartered and funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. They have close relationships to the state government, but there is no straight line between MDF and those six agencies. There is a dotted line: we know their staff well and when we do work regionally we do it through the regional economic development organizations.

Elliott: Our state is clearly in the midst of a vast economic transition. You suggest the forces driving that change are largely national and international trends over which we here have limited or no control. What among all these challenges is unique to Maine?

Bourgeois: One unique characteristic of the state is that it's rural and the population is small. We get compared a lot to North Carolina: "Why can't we do things like North Carolina?" North Carolina has 8 million people. Its size and urbanness bring a capacity with university systems, larger businesses, etc. that a state like Maine just doesn't have.

Elliott: Do you see what we're going through here as a shift from old to new economy industries?

Bourgeois: I think that is very much a part of it. And I know it [is] really a cliche to say it, but we are really moving toward a knowledge-based economy. So we are trying in very direct ways to support those kinds of businesses.

The state's investment in R&D at Orono and USM is one example. The governor's conference on the creative economy coming up in May is another.

Richard Florida, who is speaking at that conference, is an international expert in where jobs will be in the new economy. He says knowledge-based jobs are going to follow talented people, and that one focus should be on attracting highly talented people. Highly talented people go where there is a high quality of life - where the crime rate is low, where the outdoor experience opportunities are plentiful. In Maine, we have world-class capacity in that regard.

Elliott: How far along are we in the transition from traditional industry to whatever comes next - will things get worse before they get better?

Bourgeois: I don't know the answer to that question. It is wicked hard when you are in the middle of a transition to figure out where you are on the continuum. I just know we are somewhere in the middle, and that what we are going through is very, very hard.

The Maine Economic Growth Council administers reports on indicators of economic progress. Among them is Maine's relative position among other states regarding tax burden and, of course, Maine's is very high. What the governor and many others are trying to do, with not increasing taxes, is going to have big payoffs over the long term because other states are increasing taxes.

Elliott: Are there things that could derail the state's overall transition?

Bourgeois: Sure. It's not black or white, win or lose. The stakes are high, and what Maine needs to do is figure out ways to increase the education attainment level of its work force - which is what the knowledge-based economy is all about. If you are a company in this new economy that relies on the brainpower of the workers to compete internationally, and you want to relocate in New England, you're probably going to try to locate where there's a strong labor force that's highly educated. That is the one, single thing we have the most control over in our state over the next 10 to 15 years. That's why we have set up this Compact for Higher Education.

Elliott: What is the compact?

Bourgeois: It was created, is wholly owned and jointly sponsored by the Maine Community Foundation and the Maine Development Foundation. It is comprised of 33 members: employers, business people, higher education and government officials as well as community leaders.

We have met every other month since last April and are going to be publishing a five-part action plan April 29. We were looking for ways to better prepare students for college, to make going to college more affordable and to help students to get through to a degree.

Establishing the Community College System is obviously a big step toward those goals.

It's a major step because it improves access.

Some argue we should have updated the technical school approach, that the new system will simply produce a large number of liberal arts graduates rather than a more skilled work force.

Well, a lot of businesses want critical thinkers, people who have good communications and teamwork skills. And some of those attributes are what you find among graduates with liberal arts degrees. Of course, other businesses need engineers and people with high technical competence. We have the capacity to produce many of those as well.

Elliott: How does the plan to consolidate Maine's University system fit that goal of increased access?

Bourgeois: I'm really not sure because the plan just came out and few of us have seen the details. My understanding, and it's from what I have read in the Bangor Daily News, is that [the proposed plan] is not a question of closing campuses, it's a question of reducing administration. I think the presence of really good faculty and convenient hours and proximity to where one lives or works are things that increase access. Whether there is a president on the campus is a secondary concern.

Elliott: What do you say to the people watching all this, the 40- or 50-year-old mill or factory worker who sees their industry on the ropes?

Bourgeois: What we say long term, and I know it sounds almost glib saying it, but the new paradigm here is that everyone in this state has a right to a college education but a responsibility to get it. So we must provide better access, and we've got to make sure everyone understands that college isn't just for a few people, it's essential for everybody.

When you look at what is happening with the population and the projected decline in high school graduation rates over the next decade, it becomes evident that if you are going to achieve a higher attainment level in your work force you really need to have a major focus on people already working: On moving adults already in the work force to higher levels of education.

We want more adults who are getting GEDs in adult education programs to transition to college. And we want employers, like the Bangor Daily News, Eastern Maine Medical Center or whomever, to do more to get their workers to go to school: pay their tuition, provide support for books etc.

We know that, in the long run, businesses are going to need talented people. And that will be a strong determinate on where businesses grow and expand. In a very real sense, the engine for small business in Maine should be the Orono campus and the USM campus and the other educational facilities.

Elliott: That certainly has been the case in North Carolina.

Bourgeois: Absolutely: the Research Triangle. But that took more than 20 years, they envisioned it in the 1960s. And a century ago, when we were talking about providing a high school experience for every young person in the country, it was a crazy idea. But just as we changed that paradigm, we need to change this one.