My grandfather was a potato farmer in The County who worked in the woods in the winter. It was a hard existence, and the family barely survived the Depression. Lifelong residents of the town of Ashland, farming was in my grandparents’ blood. Their lives epitomized the work ethic of all families who toil the soil, the woods, and the sea in Maine.

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

Maine’s farmers and food processors have had to work harder than they ever have before because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the pandemic, a number of Maine’s approximately 7,600 farms were struggling with inadequate and aging infrastructure: a lack of refrigeration, freezers, and processing facilities. All of that added up. 

And the pandemic only made things worse. With many restaurants, schools, and other institutions closing, our farmers and food processors suddenly lost some of their biggest wholesale buyers.

Despite these hardships, Maine’s farmers and food processors have responded in creative ways – with Maine ingenuity – to feed people during this unprecedented pandemic. 

We knew that they needed a little extra help too – so to support the success of our farms and farm families, to increase the supply of Maine-grown food, and to strengthen our economy, my Administration awarded $18 million in federal CARES act coronavirus relief funds last year to more than 600 farms, and food processors, and food banks and pantries all across Maine.

Last week, I was proud to announce that we are making another historic investment in our farmers and food processors by awarding nearly $20 million in American Rescue Plan funds through my Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan to help them address infrastructure needs and improvements.

These grants — which average more than $300,000 a piece — were awarded to farmers and food processors in every county in Maine. Those businesses produce and process everything from dairy to grain and vegetables to fruit to meat and poultry.

Our farmers and food processors have told us they can deliver Maine-grown food to a lot more people if they can make upgrades and strategic investments in their businesses. With these grants we are delivering that help so that they in turn can deliver to all of Maine and to the world all over healthy food, creating good jobs and strengthening our economy.

Investments in farming infrastructure will have a substantial impact on our economy. According to a study done by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the University of Maine School of Economics, investments in additional processing could support an estimated 1,400 Maine jobs, $321 million in annual statewide sales revenues, and $62 million in labor income per year.

That is just further proof that when we grow and raise our own healthy food and process it here in Maine and sell it through our own shops, stands, and stores to our neighbors and friends — well, that’s a recipe for independent and sustainable farms, and for a healthy people and a healthy economy.

Farming is at the heart of my own family history – and it’s at the heart of our state. Federal funds from the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan as approved by the Legislature are our chance to ensure that our farms can grow food that is processed and distributed here in Maine to supply local businesses and feed families, all of which is critical to our economy.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills.

From increased costs to nationwide and worldwide supply chain disruptions and workforce issues across the country, many small businesses are facing unexpected hurtles and we need to help them.

To ensure that our small businesses here in Maine can continue to recover from the pandemic despite worldwide economic disruptions, I recently announced I am dedicating $58 million through my Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan to provide forgivable loans to small businesses in Maine.

This new “Thrive Maine” program, administered by the Finance Authority of Maine, will offer forgivable loans to eligible Maine small businesses who experienced losses, increased costs, or market interruptions related to the pandemic.

Small businesses may apply for loans of up to $2 million. And if businesses are approved and continue to meet program terms, these loans may be fully forgiven over a four-year period.

Full eligibility details and other information can be found at www.famemaine.com/thrive. The program is expected to start accepting applications in early September.

These grant funds are in addition to the $62 million “Grow Maine” initiative which I announced earlier this summer. All together we’ve provided $120 million to help Maine small businesses succeed here in Maine.

I encourage all small businesses who might be struggling with worldwide economic disruptions and with the effects of the pandemic to visit FAME’s website – famemaine.com/thrive – to see if they might be eligible for this relief.

My Administration will continue to do everything we can to support the long-term success of our small businesses across the state.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening. 

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills.

I was proud recently to proclaim this weekend — August 6-7, 2022 — as Maine’s second annual Wild Blueberry Weekend in celebration of our wild blueberries and in honor of the hardworking people who grow and bring Maine blueberries to markets near and far.

Maine produces nearly 100 percent of all wild blueberries in the United States. Last year alone, Maine farmers harvested 105 million pounds of wild blueberries. And we know that these are healthy, that they have more antioxidants, and they are more tasty than any other kind of blueberry in the world.

Well to honor our wild blueberry growers and businesses and their significant contributions to the Maine economy, I declared our first ever wild blueberry weekend ever last year.

Wild blueberry growers opened their doors for free for the first time and made available fresh wild blueberries, and jams, and pies, and other products available for guests to purchase.

The Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine reports that there were thousands of dollars in direct farm sales last year and thousands of visitors who enjoyed touring the places where wild blueberries grow, maybe picking a few of their own.

This year, the second annual wild blueberry weekend will feature farm tours and other family-friendly activities at 14 different wild blueberry farms in Franklin, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Waldo and of course Washington counties.

And, wild blueberry-themed menu items and products will be available throughout the weekend at nearly 50 restaurants, ice cream shops, breweries, wineries, and distilleries across the state. To see the full list of participants, visit www.wildblueberryweekend.com and the state’s official agriculture website, www.realmaine.com, for year-round ideas on ways you can support Maine’s agricultural community.

I encourage everyone to visit one of the participating wild blueberry farms or to sample Maine-grown wild blueberry products at the many places selling them during Wild Blueberry Weekend, this weekend!

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills.

You know maintaining our water and sewer infrastructure across the state of Maine is so critical to preserving clean water, protecting public health, and reducing costs for taxpayers and ratepayers.

Untreated water can pollute our waterways, threatening the health of wildlife and the health of residents and visitors to our inland and marine waters.

Cleaning the water we use in our homes and businesses before it is sent back into the environment could not be more important, but it is costly.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, wastewater operations are typically the greatest energy expense in any community, costing more than $2 billion a year nationally. Upgrading the equipment we use will reduce those energy costs substantially. 

Recently, I was proud to announce that I am dedicating more than $22 million from my Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, that’s federal money, to 20 wastewater treatment facilities serving 27 communities across the State of Maine. These funds will speed up these communities’ wastewater infrastructure improvement projects.

Over the next four years, these facilities — from Rockport and Rumford to Anson and Augusta and everywhere in between — will use these grants to repair and replace wastewater infrastructure, improving their operations, and their reliability, their resiliency, and their longevity.

By speeding up these wastewater projects, we will create jobs, we’ll cut costs, and we’ll preserve service for the communities that rely on them.

These funds are in addition to another $20 million in grant funding I’ve already awarded to 13 communities across Maine to invest in a variety of local infrastructure projects and to make them more resilient to the effects of climate change, like flooding, rising sea levels, and more extreme storms.

And, with more than $2.4 billion allocated to the State of Maine from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for drinking and wastewater systems and other projects, these investments are just the start. And they could not be more appropriate as we celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act, drafted, supported, enacted under the tutelage of our own senator, Senator Edmund S. Muskie.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.