Maine: Italy's Gateway to the North American Market

Poised at the crossroads of the New England and eastern Canada markets, Maine is a choice destination for European investors. With New Brunswick and Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east and Boston and New York to the south, Maine is ideally positioned for Italian businesses entering the North American market. Complementing Maine’s geographic advantages are its excellent transportation and communications infrastructure, reasonable wages, fabled quality of life and highly regarded education system. 

The largest New England state, Maine is slightly over one fourth the size of Italy, measuring 488 km north to south and 325 km east to west. The state is 55 percent rural with a population of 1.3 million, approximately that of Milan. Maine is growing but still offers readily available land at very reasonable prices.

Take a look at Maine’s many advantages:

Transportation/communication infrastructure

  • Three ice-free, year-round deep-water seaports, including the eastern seaboard’s closest port to Europe and New England’s largest tonnage seaport.

  • A half dozen major airlines and several regional carriers, providing daily service to Boston and New York from Bangor and Portland.

  • Direct air container service to and from the United Kingdom and Netherlands. 

  • Over 1,200 miles of well-maintained National Highway System roads. 

  • Over 450 trucking firms providing intrastate service; over 7,000 for interstate service.

  • Six short-line railroad companies operating more than 1,400 miles of track connecting to major rail carriers across North America. 

  • Three rail-truck intermodal facilities providing daily service to major eastern markets, with service to Vancouver, B.C.

  • Statewide Asynchronous Transfer Mode fiber optics, providing fast digital transmission of voice, date and full-motion video. 

Education/Workforce

  • New England’s lowest average wages per capita.

  • A 94.5% high school completion rate.

  • High education achievement among registered job seekers (86% have high school or post-secondary degrees.)

  • Top-ranked K-12 public schools.

  • Laptop computers furnished to every 7th and 8th grade public school student and teacher.

  • Internet access at 100% of public schools and libraries.

  • Distance learning at nearly 100% of the state’s colleges and universities.

  • Seven University of Maine System campuses and over 20 private and public institutions of higher education offering degrees in a variety of programs such as computer science, mathematics, engineering, medicine, international studies, and maritime logistics.

  • Seven community colleges, providing no-cost, customized, pre-employment training to businesses.

R&D and business support and incentives

  • Seven technology-oriented business incubators, partnering with educators to offer training, technical resources, business planning and financial aid; space for offices laboratories and manufacturing; and administrative support and assistance with start-up needs. (www.atdcmaine.org)

  • The Maine Technology Institute, investing millions annually in promising technologies, and providing seed investment grants to companies and research laboratories. (www.mainetechnology.org)

  • Tax incentives for technology companies including the Research Expense Tax Credit, R&D Super Credit, High-technology Investment Tax Credit and Sales Tax exemptions.

  • The Pine Tree Development Zone program, offering added incentives to employers locating in areas of high unemployment and low wages. Available for 100-plus properties and over 30,000 acres, the program offers Employment Tax Increment Financing, corporate income tax and insurance premium tax refunds, local option Tax Increment Financing, and sales and use tax exemptions on construction materials and equipment purchases. (www.mainebiz.org/business_assistance)

Maine companies value their Italian trade. As much as seven percent of her catch goes to Italy, said Kathy Spitzer, who handles Italian sales for the William Atwood Lobster Company. Demand from Italy is year-round and significant. "An average order is 1,848 pounds (838 kg) and I have one customer who orders every day of the week. That's a lot of tonnage," Spitzer said. 

Idexx Laboratories, Inc., received Italian approval in April to sell Colilert-18, which detects coliform and e-coli in drinking water. "Our business is growing six to eight fold each year in Italy," said Jean Chiotti, director of global sales. Idexx, which had 2003 revenues exceeding $475 million, is based in Westbrook, Maine, and maintains a sales office in Milan. 

Keith Kallberg, general manager of the Maine-based Roaring Brook Consultants, Inc., entered a cooperative venture with Euroconsulting Group Engineering, S.R.L., of Rome to offer environmental management and engineering services to international clients. "It is technically and culturally interesting doing work in Italy. They're becoming a big market for engineering and environmental services," Kallberg said, adding that Maine offers Italian businesses a convenient entry point to the "huge North American market, flexible labor laws and solid, safe investment conditions." 

Many European companies enjoy success with their American subsidiaries in Maine and praise the state as a base for accessing North America. "Maine's location on the East Coast is ideal for reaching both the U.S. and Canadian markets. In terms of business communications, we are only six hours time difference from our parent in Germany, and three hours from the West Coast," wrote John I. Simpson, president of H.E. Sargent, Inc., in Bangor, Maine. "I think Maine is an optimal location for any company to establish U.S. operations. The State Government is a strong business partner, and offers many programs to facilitate employee training, manufacturing competitiveness, and international trade opportunities," he added.

Maine ranks eighth among U.S. states in export growth, and counts Italy among its top ten trading partners. Exports to Italy grew to over $40 million in 2003, up 33.7 percent in a single year. Total exports continued to rise in the first half of 2004, up another 23.2 percent over the same period in 2003.

Learn more about Maine

The Maine International Trade Center is prepared to assist Italian companies interested in direct investment, joint venture opportunities, sourcing, export opportunities and with import needs. To learn how MITC can assist you, contact Janine Bisaillon-Cary, vice president and senior trade advisor, by e-mail (jbcary@mitc.com) or telephone (207-541-7400).