When I took office five and a half years ago, I promised the people of Maine that we would take action to protect our state, our people, our environment, and our economy from the dangers of climate change, and we would fight to preserve this special place that we call home for the benefit of our children and grandchildren, because the stakes could not be higher.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

You know, Maine's climate, like the rest of the world's, is changing. Monday, July 22, 2024 was the hottest day ever on the planet Earth. The waters of the Gulf of Maine are warming faster than almost any other water body in the world.

Ocean waters are rising, pushing tides higher. Storms are more frequent and more severe. Look no further than this past winter, when three devastating storms caused more than $90 million in damage to public infrastructure and millions more in damage to private homes and businesses. And they took the lives of four Maine people. These wild storms impacted our environment, our communities, our people, and our economy.

That's why I've made fighting climate change a cornerstone of my administration. We created the Maine Climate Council, we issued a climate action plan, and we've dedicated millions of federal and state dollars to making that plan a reality. From weatherizing homes, to installing heat pumps, to embracing renewable energy, to building better, stronger infrastructure that will withstand future storms. In fact, earlier this year, I proposed, and the legislature authorized, the largest investment in state history to rebuild from last winter's storms. And I've established a new commission of contractors, engineers and others, that is now traveling across Maine and developing a new resilience plan for our state.

That work is crucial. But what's also crucial is having the resources to get the work done. That's where the Biden-Harris administration comes in.

On July 26, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that my administration had won a significant climate resilience grant. $69 million. The White House's National Climate Advisor and other officials came to Maine to announce that with me, and with Senator King, and Congresswoman Pingree down on the Portland working waterfront. The money comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden and Vice President Harris pushed for, and Senator King, Congresswoman Pingree and Congressman Golden supported.

With this money, we're going to move even more aggressively to protect our state, our working waterfronts, our roads, and culverts, and bridges, from the impacts of these storms. We will expand our efforts to work with cities and towns across Maine through our Community Resilience Partnership, to make them safer from extreme weather, from sea level rise, from flooding, rivers, and severe heat, and other climate impacts.

During one extreme storm in January, the Crowley Island Causeway, which connects the village of Corea and Crowley Island in Gouldsboro, was flooded with at least four feet of seawater. Town officials cleaned up the debris and patched up the road, but they knew that damage was a wake-up call. Losing access to the island poses a serious risk not only to its residents, but to the commercial fishermen who use that causeway to move hundreds of thousands of dollars in bait, fuel, supplies, and seafood. Gouldsboro received a grant through our Community Resilience Partnership to redesign the causeway and other coastal roads to be better able to withstand these storms.

In addition to expanding our Community Resilience Partnership to more towns across Maine, we will also focus on strengthening working waterfront infrastructure for our fishermen and aquaculture industries.

This support is vital and I thank President Biden, Vice President Harris, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and members of our congressional delegation for advocating for these resources and for delivering these important monies to Maine.

With these state and federal investments, we will protect the health of our people, the health of our environment, and the health of our economy for every generation that calls the state of Maine home.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

Working waterfronts are a cornerstone of our coastal communities and of our economy. Last winter's devastating storms demonstrated just how vulnerable they are to extreme weather and climate change.

This week, I announced some major grants that we're distributing to those working waterfronts to help them rebuild and rebuild in ways to make them better able to withstand future storms and protect access to the water now and for generations to come.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

This spring, I proposed and the legislature approved $60 million in state funds dedicated to storm relief - the single largest investment in storm recovery by any administration in Maine history. This week, I announced that we're distributing part of that funding through the Working Waterfront Resiliency Grant program. Through that program, 68 Maine Working Waterfronts from Bailey Island and Boothbay Harbor to South Bristol and Belfast and many others will receive more than $21 million to rebuild their damaged wharves and piers, and repair bait sheds and the like, and upgrade fuel and electrical systems to rebuild their structures in a way that makes them more resilient to the impacts of future storms.

In addition to this grant program, we've also designated other funds for storm recovery, about $10 million for the Business Recovery and Resilience Fund, to provide direct support to businesses that were harmed by the winter storms. And approximately $25 million to make other public infrastructure more resilient to storms and flooding. My departments are reviewing application for those additional funds now, and we expect to announce our decisions in the coming weeks.

I hope this new funding approved by the legislature can provide some sense of certainty and security as we rebuild our infrastructure—rebuild it stronger and better, to preserve our working waterfronts and other critical infrastructure across the state for years to come, in the face of worsening weather and climate change.

My Administration will do everything we can to ensure that our working waterfronts continue to provide a good living and access for our commercial fishermen, and that they will contribute to our economy for years to come.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening. 

WHEREAS, Martha Ballard, born in 1735, was a midwife and key figure in the history of central Maine during the early years of the American republic and lived for many years in what is now the City of Augusta; and

WHEREAS, in her capacity as a midwife, Ballard delivered 816 babies and simultaneously worked as a nurse, physician, mortician, pharmacist and healed patients who include many ancestors of people living in Maine and beyond today; and

WHEREAS, on June 27, 1950, in response to the communist threat to South Koreans and their democracy, President Harry S. Truman committed the first United States forces to combat in South Korea, beginning the Korean War; and

WHEREAS, nearly 1.8 million members of the United States Armed Forces served alongside the forces of the Republic of Korea and 20 other Allied nations under the United Nations Command to defend freedom and democracy on the Korean Peninsula; and

WHEREAS, wild blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) emerged on the rocky, acidic soils of the barrens of Maine following the retreat of the glaciers more than 10,000 years ago; and

WHEREAS, wild blueberries, which are not planted but grow naturally, were first managed and harvested by the Wabanaki and are now grown by 512 Maine farms on 46,370 acres, within Cumberland, Franklin, Hancock, Lincoln, Kennebec, Knox, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Waldo, and Washington counties; and

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening. I hope you’re having a great summer weekend here in Maine.

You know, two years ago, my administration created the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, which is our road map for investing nearly $1 billion sent to us by President Biden and the Congress to improve the lives of Maine people and families, to support businesses, help us recover from the pandemic, and to create good paying jobs. That measure gained approval by the legislature, and it’s given a great boost to our economy and to small businesses in particular, who are recovering still from the economic effects of the pandemic.

Well, this week, I was excited to announce the latest investments that we’re making through the Jobs Plan to support small businesses and entrepreneurs who are creating jobs and developing new products and technologies right here in Maine.

Two years ago, my administration worked with the Maine Technology Institute to establish the Pandemic Recovery for an Innovative Maine Economy – or PRIME – Fund to help businesses that did not receive some other pandemic relief funds. Since then, the PRIME Fund has distributed about $29 million in federal funding from my Jobs Plan to entities all across Maine.

The first round of $23.3 million in July of 2022 went to 174 different companies to help them recover from the pandemic, to invest in new products and business lines, to attract new customers, and to create long-term economic growth. Businesses, including custom footwear manufacturers, guitar makers, outdoor recreational industry members, all have benefited from these funds.

The second round of $5.6 million in July 2023 went to 16 organizations that help startup businesses as they expand. Those diverse organizations ranged from the Roux Institute to Maine Outdoor Brands, the Wild Blueberry Commission, and the Midcoast Redevelopment Authority.

Finally, earlier this week, I announced that an additional $7 million is available for the third and final round of PRIME grant funds. If your business is in biotechnology, or composites and advanced materials, or environmental technologies, forestry and agriculture, marine industries, or precision manufacturing, I encourage you to apply for a grant to support your long term economic growth.

Applications for these funds opened earlier this week and will stay open through August 30th, 2024. To apply for these monies or to learn more about the PRIME Fund, please visit Maine Technology Institute’s website: www.mainetechnology.org. That’s www.mainetechnology.org.

I am proud that our investments in innovative businesses have helped them create good paying jobs, and manufacture world class products, and become leaders in emerging technologies and industries worldwide. Maine businesses are powering record economic growth for our state, and they’re improving the lives of Maine people.

We will continue to do everything we can in this administration to support their long-term success and provide good paying jobs here in the Great State of Maine.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

Hello. This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

You know, two years ago, my administration created the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, approved by the legislature, which is our roadmap for investing nearly $1 billion sent to us by President Biden and the Congress to improve the lives of many people and families, to support businesses, and to create good paying jobs.

One of the programs we created was a Domestic Trade Program to help local people sell their services and products in other states. The goal was to improve domestic trade across key industries like construction, the trades, manufacturing, agriculture and outdoor recreation. That will strengthen our economy and solidify Maine’s leadership of those industries nationwide.

The Department of Economic and Community Development began distributing Domestic Trade Program funding earlier this year. Other organizations like the Maine International Trade Center, Maine Technology Institute, the Maine APEX Accelerator, and Maine Made are also distributing this funding. Earlier this year, we awarded the first round of these grants to 40 Maine businesses who use the money to expand their sales of everything from blueberries and oysters to forest products and medical supplies.

Earlier this month, I announced the second round of Domestic Trade grants to another 46 Maine businesses. This second investment of nearly $3 million will help local producers of everything from soap to surfboards share their Maine-made story across the country and boost their sales.

Raye’s Mustard in Eastport, for instance, will use its grant to develop single-serve mustard packets. As co-owner Karen Raye said, “It’s something we had thought about doing for years and just never had the capital to do that. Now we’re ready to rock and roll.”

A business called Dooryard Development will use its grant funds to market the development of modular homes to address the lack of affordable housing here and elsewhere in the United States.

And Seafood producer Luke’s Lobster will use its grant to better understand where and what their customers want to eat and to better target their sales and to open new locations.

I’m very proud that we’re able to help businesses and good employers like Raye’s Mustard, Dooryard Development, and Luke’s Lobster tell their story to the rest of the country and showcase their entrepreneurial spirit – a spirit which clearly is at the heart of Maine.

Folks across America will learn what Maine people have known for years: that Maine-made products are the best in the world.

My Administration will continue to invest in programs like the Domestic Trade Program – with help from the Biden Administration and the Congress – programs that strengthen our businesses and support our state’s record economic growth.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, Maine has provided inspiration for much of the body of work produced by the Wyeth family starting in 1930, when N.C. Wyeth purchased a summer home in Port Clyde and he built a small studio; and

WHEREAS, while N.C. Wyeth was best known for his illustrations, many of which were derived from his Maine-based knowledge of coastal and maritime life, he was also an acclaimed painter; and