Maine: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Maine's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 3.4 percent of Maine's total private-sector employment. Over one-eighth (13.1 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Maine depend on exports for their jobs. (2005 data are the latest available.)

Note: Export-related employment data shown do not include manufacturing and non-manufacturing jobs involved in the export of non-manufactured goods, such as farm products, minerals, and services sold to foreign buyers. Indirect exports exclude imported items. The complete 2005 export-related employment series is available on our Export Related Jobs pages. Additional information on methodology used in the export-related employment series can be found in the U.S. Census Bureau's publication Exports from Manufacturing Establishments: 2003.

Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.

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Exports Sustain More Than a Thousand Maine Businesses

A total of 1,257 companies exported goods from Maine locations in 2006. Of those, 1,075 (86 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated nearly half (45 percent) of Maine's total exports of merchandise in 2006, the fifth highest share among the states.

Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Exporter Database.

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Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Maine

In 2005, foreign-controlled companies employed 23,700 Maine workers. Major sources of Maine's foreign investment in 2005 were Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden.

Over one-fourth of these jobs (26 percent or 6,200 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2005.

Foreign-controlled companies employed one of every ten manufacturing workers (10.0 percent) in Maine in 2005.

Foreign investment in Maine was responsible for 4.6 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2005.

Note: All figures exclude employment in banks affiliated with foreign companies.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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Maine Depends on World Markets

Maine's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $2.7 billion.

Maine exported to 169 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market in 2007 was NAFTA member Canada, which received exports of $891 million, or 32 percent of the 2007 total. Canada was followed by Malaysia ($723 million), China ($139 million), Japan ($119 million) and South Korea ($118 million).

The state's leading export category is computers and electronic products, which accounted for 33 percent, or $914 million, of Maine's total merchandise exports in 2007. Other top manufactured exports are paper products ($558 million), transportation equipment ($186 million), and wood products ($127 million).

Source: Origin of Movement State Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division.

Caution: The Origin of Movement series allocates exports to states based on transportation origin, i.e., the state from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a state should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement state export figures.

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Maine's Metropolitan Exports

In 2006, the metropolitan area of Portland-South Portland-Biddeford exported $887 million in merchandise, 42 percent of Maine's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Maine that exported in 2006 included Bangor ($212 million), and Lewiston-Auburn ($90 million).

Source: Metropolitan Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division.

Caution: The Origin of Movement zip-based series allocates exports to metropolitan areas based on transportation origin, i.e., the metropolitan area from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a metropolitan area should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement zip-based export figures.

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