The State of Maine has long had serious conditions of unemployment, underemployment, low per capita income and resource underutilization that cause substantial hardships to many individuals and families, impede the economic and physical development of various regions of the State, and adversely affect the general welfare and prosperity of the State. [RR 2013, c. 2, §11 (COR).]

There is a need to establish a new basis for a creative partnership of the private and public sectors for economic development, a partnership which can capitalize on the interests, resources and efforts of each sector, but which does not compromise the public interest or the profit motive. The state’s solitary burden to provide for development should lessen through involving the private sector in a leadership role. [PL 1977, c. 548, §1 (NEW).]