Our best opportunity to achieve sustainable economic growth is to leverage our region's most unique competitive asset - access to one of the world's most biologically productive coldwater marine ecosystems. Over the past decade, GMRI has demonstrated the potential of marine research to contribute jobs and knowledge that benefit local communities and native industries. We stimulate innovation through our own science, education, and community initiatives and by providing thought leadership for efforts such as the Maine Marine Research Coalition, the Governor's Ocean Energy Task Force, and Maine's STEM Collaborative.

GMRI has assembled one of the largest undeveloped sites on the Portland waterfront - a total of 5.5 acres. We have the opportunity to build more than 400,000 sq. ft. of lab, office, education, and meeting space to develop a nucleus of intellectual capital at the heart of Portland's working waterfront. We envision a growing economic cluster of sustainable fishing, marine research, and ocean-based biochemistry and technology development projects, strengthened by related legal, professional, and academic services.

Moreover, with a laptop in the hands of every 7th and 8th grade student and high speed Internet access in every K-12 classroom, Maine is ideally positioned to serve as a test bed for efforts to understand the increasing impact of digital media on education. GMRI is at the forefront of efforts to leverage our state's incredible investment technology infrastructure for learning to attract new funding to Maine and prepare our children for college, careers, and citizenship in the 21st century.