Bangor: Economy
Major Industries and Commercial Activity
Bangor is the center for commercial activity in the northeastern and central regions of Maine. As such, the metropolitan area features a diversified economy. Unemployment rates are normally below state and federal levels. Over the past 10 years, total non-agricultural employment in the area has grown from 48,000 to more than 65,000. Major industries include services, wholesale/retail trade, and government, which together represent about 55 percent of the labor market. Other strong economic sectors include manufacturing, construction, finance, insurance, and real estate.
Bangor is a center for retail trade, and in recent years has generated close to a billion dollars annually in sales. Much of the sales activity was attributable to non-residents making use of the plentiful shopping facilities in the Bangor Mall and elsewhere in the city.
Healthcare is also an important segment of Bangor's economy. Providers include two major medical hospitals, Eastern Maine Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital. Two mental health facilities are also located in the area, one state-run and one private. Together, these institutions provide the city with a large number of medical specialists who can meet almost any physical or mental need, and by extension the area supports a number of related healthcare services.
Downtown Bangor is the site of the regional headquarters for six commercial banking companies. Two of them are among the state's burgeoning community banks, those banks whose ownership remains in the communities in which they operate. According to the Bureau of Banking, in the late 1990s, the local banking and finance sector generated in excess of $1.1 billion in loan activity in the Bangor area.
Tourism is another important segment of the economy, as Bangor is a focal point for the more than four million people who annually visit Acadia National Park, the second most visited national park in the country. The area is well-known for its natural beauty, and as such thousands of tourists visit the area. Bangor's numerous restaurants, accommodations, and cultural attractions benefit from the influx of visitors.
Forest-related manufactured output, specifically paper, has long been a dominant industry in the area as well as the state. When paper is combined with lumber and wood products, forest products in total represented more than half of the manufactured output in Penobscot County in the mid-1990s. While this kind of manufacturing is still a major component to the area's economy, in the mid-2000s it is not as big of an economic player as it once was.
Items and goods produced: pulp and paper, wood products, shoes, electronics, transportation equipment
Incentive Programs—New and Existing Companies
The city of Bangor runs a variety of incentive programs, including technical, relocation, and financial assistance—both in the form of loans and tax increment financing. The city also works with the Eastern Main Development Corporation, a non-profit organization that helps businesses with marketing, manufacturing, government contracting, finance, and international trade. The state of Maine has a number of economic development programs available for Bangor businesses, including tax credits and financing.
Local programs
Community Development Block Grant Loans, administered by the Bangor Community Development Department, were made available in order to help local businesses retain and create jobs, acquire real estate for economic development purposes, and make site improvements. The loans are available up to $10,000 for each job generated or retained, and the project in question must meet the city's program goals.
State programs
Maine's Office of Business Development offers a wide variety of business assistance programs, including financing, marketing, research and development, tax reimbursement, technical assistance, and workforce training. The state's tax reimbursement program allows qualified Maine businesses to be reimbursed for local property taxes on eligible business equipment; some companies can also recover up to 80 percent of new employees' Maine income tax withholdings for up to 10 years. The Maine International Trade Center provides statewide international business assistance. The organization helps companies with technical assistance and trade counseling, import and export leads, international credit reports, workshops, and coordinated trade missions and trade shows. Their goal is to help the state's small- and medium-sized businesses succeed in international markets.
Job training programs
The Tri-County Workforce Investment Board is a local organization that helps employers and employees in Penobscot, Hancock, and Piscataquis counties; they help employees gain access to sustainable employment, training and educational opportunities, and help employers connect with a skilled workforce. Eastern Maine Community College offers short-term and specialized training and retraining courses to local businesses and other organizations.
Development Projects
The city, in cooperation with local organizations, has made extensive efforts to preserve and revitalize Bangor's downtown. Recently, the six-floor Freeses Building was acquired by the city and renovated, now serving as an elderly and assisted living facility and the home of the Maine Discovery Museum. The museum, which opened in 2001, is the largest children's museum north of Boston, with three floors of exhibits and activities. The once-vacant Bangor Furniture Buildings were turned into apartments, restaurants, and offices with the help of community development loan funds. Grant money from the city also enabled the University of Maine Museum of Art to open a new facility in downtown Bangor, occupying the first level of a former Sears department store. The museum opened in 2002 and features traveling exhibits of mainly contemporary art, along with a permanent collection of nearly 6,000 works including those by Pablo Picasso, Andrew Wyeth, and Andy Warhol. The Bangor Museum and Center for History, formerly the Bangor Historical Society, expanded by opening a second location in 2002.
In 2005, the city of Bangor and retail company L.L. Bean announced plans to open a year-round call center facility in Bangor. This will be the fourth call center L.L. Bean has in the state of Maine. The Bangor facility will be located in an unoccupied downtown building.
Economic Development Information: City of Bangor, Department of Community & Economic Development, 73 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401; telephone (207)992-4240; Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, telephone (207)624-9800; email biz.growth@maine.gov
Commercial Shipping
Bangor is located on I-95, the major north-south highway on the East Coast. Canada is 90 minutes away on State Route 9. Bangor & Aroostock rail lines offer freight service in central and northern Maine with connections to Canada, Maine Central and Boston & Maine railroads. A number of motor freight carriers serve Bangor, operating out of numerous trucking terminals. The deepwater port of Searsport, 20 miles from Bangor, is well suited to the import or export of bulk and break-bulk shipments. Bangor International Airport offers convenient cargo shipment services, with more than 30,000 square feet of cargo warehouse space and facilities to handle multiple major cargo operations. Bangor's Foreign Trade Zone consists of a 33-acre on-airport complex containing a central import processing building.
Labor Force and Employment Outlook
Bangor's metropolitan area labor force has experienced steady growth since 1998, at a rate of 10.9 percent over five years. The area enjoys a relatively stable labor market, with unemployment rates below both the state and federal averages. With a broad range of economic sectors, Bangor offers its residents diverse employment opportunities, with recent increases in the healthcare, retail trade, and tourism industries. Area colleges, universities, and local school systems provide a strong employment base in education. Local employees tend to have higher educations than those in other parts of the state; employees are known for high productivity, motivation, and dedication, with low absenteeism and turnover.
The following is a summary of data regarding the Bangor metropolitan area labor force, 2004 annual averages.
Size of non-agricultural labor force: 65,600
Number of workers employed in . . .
construction and mining: 2,900
manufacturing: 3,600
trade, transportation, and utilities: 15,100
information: 1,400
financial activities: 2,300
professional and business services: 5,600
educational and health services: 13,100
leisure and hospitality: 5,400
other services: 2,000
government: 13,900
Average hourly earnings of production workers employed in manufacturing: $16.97 (statewide average)
Unemployment rate: 5.5% (February 2005)
| Largest employers | Number of employees |
| Bangor International Airport | (no employee figures available) |
| Bangor Mental Health Institute | |
| Bangor School System | |
| City of Bangor | |
| Community Health & Counseling Services | |
| County of Penobscot | |
| Dead River Company | |
| Eastern Maine Healthcare | |
| Fleet Bank of Maine | |
| General Electric Co. | |
| Maine Air National Guard | |
| Osram Sylvania Products, Inc. | |
| Shop 'N Save Supermarkets | |
| St. Joseph Hospital | |
| University of Maine | |
| Webber Energy Fuels |
Cost of Living
The cost of living in Bangor is moderate compared to the New England region as a whole. Housing prices, the largest single-family expenditure, are affordable, with the median single family home selling for approximately $120,000. Two bedroom apartments rent at approximately $550 to $600 per month, including heat, water, and sewer.
The following is a summary of data regarding several key cost of living factors for the Bangor metropolitan area.
2004 ACCRA Average House Price: Not reported
2004 ACCRA Cost of Living Index: Not reported
State income tax rate: ranges from 2.0% to 8.5% depending upon taxable income.
State sales tax rate: 5% (food and drugs exempt)
Local income tax rate: None
Local sales tax rate: None
Property tax rate: $22.05 per $1,000, based on 100% valuation (2004)
Economic Information: Department of Community and Economic Development, City of Bangor, 73 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401; telephone (207)992-4240. Maine Department of Labor, PO Box 259, Augusta, ME 04332; telephone (207)624-6400