Category Archives: Economy

‘It doesn’t mean [Maine] doesn’t have a lot to offer:’ Forbes editor on Maine’s last-place business ranking

Have you heard of Kurt Badenhausen? No? He’s the guy we all love to hate. Kurt is a senior editor at Forbes magazine and the producer of the infamous list of the Best States for Business, on which Maine has placed dead last four years in a row. Marty Grohman, entrepreneur, sustainability guru and podcaster, spoke […]

Eastport, a ‘startup town,’ gets some national attention

A few high-profile members of the national media descended on Eastport, Maine, this week. James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic, and Kai Ryssdal, host of the well-known public radio program Marketplace, visited Eastport as part of their American Futures project, which is looking at “reinvention and resilience across the nation.” Basically, Fallows and his wife […]

Player in New Orleans’ startup scene coming to Portland to discuss importance of ‘seeding an entrepreneurial ecosystem’

How do we create an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Maine? The question is not meant to imply Mainers aren’t entrepreneurial. We certainly have a workforce known for its hard work and resourcefulness. But we can’t rest on our reputation for “Yankee ingenuity.” What I’m talking about when I say we need to foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem […]

TD Bank quietly drops Portland as headquarters

TD Bank, which traces its roots back to the founding of Portland Savings Bank in 1852, has officially dropped its historic hometown as its corporate headquarters. The bank is now officially based in Cherry Hill, N.J. The company had held Portland and Cherry Hill as dual headquarters since 2008, when Portland-based TD Banknorth merged with Cherry […]

More furloughs at Kittery naval shipyard

The most read business story on the BDN website yesterday was about furloughed employees at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery facing pressure not to speak to the media about the sequestration-forced furloughs, which are forcing workers to take off one unpaid day a week through September. The story — which was from our friends at the Foster’s […]