Portlander
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- Apr 14, 2010
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TC zoid, I am in total agreement with your views and having the stage positioned so that the Portland skyline/waterfront is in the background would be excellent.
Portland should be doing a full court press in an attempt to lure WEX downtown.
The CEO at WEX has already, on several occasions during events in Portland, hinted at the importance of having an available pool of business grads in the Portland area to draw from. The answer to that? An incompetently run USM scaling back instead of expanding. I would be surprised to see WEX stay. They need to run a profitable company first before being a fixture in a community. And who is in theory, the CEO of the University of Maine system?... the Governor.
Well, it looks like the prime office tenant fell though for the Thompson's Point project. I believe that was WEX--hope they don't move to Massachusetts with all those employees. (I've heard a rumor) This project now is sort of falling apart. It's now mostly old industrial buildings being remodeled for artists. I don't mean to be negative, but this is not "money". WEX would of been money. Now it's all hype from the developer in denial of the reverse energy.
http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20141006/CURRENTEDITION/310029992
Well, it looks like the prime office tenant fell though for the Thompson's Point project. I believe that was WEX--hope they don't move to Massachusetts with all those employees. (I've heard a rumor) This project now is sort of falling apart. It's now mostly old industrial buildings being remodeled for artists. I don't mean to be negative, but this is not "money". WEX would of been money. Now it's all hype from the developer in denial of the reverse energy.
http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20141006/CURRENTEDITION/310029992
As a Business grad from USM (2009), I was surprised at how little the school did to connect its grads to local employers. I ended up getting work through connections of an out of state friend. Neither myself or any of my close friends from USM ended up staying in Maine. Not only did the school do very little to encourage grads to stay, but the few opportunities that existed couldn't compete with higher paying opportunities out of state. It seems like a bit of a catch 22. I think grads have to really, really want to only stay in the Portland area for it to work (often times for a lower salary). I don't know of anyone from my class who ended up with what I'd consider an outstanding opportunity in Portland.
This is pretty much accurate. There are a lot of really talented young folks in Portland, and many from much larger metropolitan areas who leave very lucrative careers behind after they've made enough to buy or put a substantial sum toward what is comparatively cheaper real estate to live in a place with a thriving cultural atmosphere and relaxed pace. It's a tradeoff.
It's also definitely true that you effectively pay a premium for staying in Maine. Really, other than real estate the cost of living here isn't any cheaper than Massachusetts (and the cost of heating for a winter may come close to evening that out), but the fewer employers, particularly in the technology fields, mean that there's less competition for your labor and fewer places to turn if you want out, so salaries are lower and there aren't many chances for a "very lucrative" career here.