UMaine System invested $638M in state economy in recent fiscal year

A room has racks of clothes and people standing.

Photo / Courtesy of University of Maine System Investments in suppliers include construction projects such as $48 million in enhancements at the Shawn Walsh Hockey Center and Harold Alfond Sports Arena and the $27.3 million New Balance Track & Field and Soccer Complex, all unveiled in September.

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By Laurie Schreiber

The employment of thousands of Mainers and hundreds of millions of dollars spent on local businesses resulted in $638 million in payroll and purchasing investment into the Maine economy in fiscal year 2025, according to the university system’s annual financial report.

That figure is up $36 million from $602 million during the previous fiscal year.

The data include payroll, benefits and in-state spending on goods and services.

“By employing thousands of Mainers and through the hundreds of millions of dollars we spend each year with local employers or those with strong local ties, the University of Maine System is investing directly in Maine people and communities,” said Dannel Malloy, the system’s chancellor.

The money strengthens the state’s workforce and supports the growth of small businesses, he added.

Third-largest employer

In FY25, the system issued paychecks to 10,474 Mainers, including faculty, staff and student workers — making it the state’s third-largest employer, according to a news release.

Payroll for employees with home addresses in Maine totaled $384 million in FY25, compared to $363.7 million in FY24.

The system also paid $146 million in FY25 for employee benefits, compared to $143 million in FY24.

The system had the most employees (3,725) last fiscal year in Penobscot County, where the flagship University of Maine is based and the University of Maine at Augusta has a Bangor campus.

Other counties where UMS was among the largest employers include, but are not limited to:

Cumberland County (2,345), home to the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham and Portland campuses and the University of Maine School of Law;
York County (730);
Kennebec County (669), where the University of Maine at Augusta has its largest campus;
Aroostook County (644), where both the University of Maine at Fort Kent and the University of Maine at Presque Isle are located;
Franklin County (451), home to the University of Maine at Farmington;
Washington County (186), where the University of Maine at Machias is a regional campus of UMaine.

Hundreds of other UMaine System student workers have home addresses outside of Maine but live in the state for much of the year and spend money in the local economy.

Suppliers

The UMaine System paid $108 million to in-state suppliers of goods and services in FY25, an increase of 13% from $95.3 million in FY24.

The system spent the most with businesses based in:

Penobscot County ($34.1 million),
Cumberland County ($31.7 million),
Kennebec County ($12.1 million),
Androscoggin County ($10.5 million)
Aroostook County ($5.5 million).

Construction

In FY25, UMS invested $141 million in major capital construction, up from $95 million in FY24, with a focus on modernizing facilities that advance student success, workforce preparation and research and development that accelerates Maine’s economy.

The goal is to reverse decades of underinvestment in its infrastructure that had resulted in a $1.8 billion backlog of deferred maintenance, according to the release.

To do so, UMS is leveraging historic levels of private giving, one-time funding from the Harold Alfond Foundation through a capital campaign called UMS Transforms, congressionally directed spending and state appropriations.

More than $1 million for construction-related services went to each of the following Maine-based businesses in FY25, many of which employ UMS engineering and other professional graduates:

WBRC Inc. (Bangor)
Benchmark Construction (Westbrook)
Sheridan Construction (Fairfield)
CEM/DP Contractors (Hermon)
SMRT Architects and Engineers (Portland)
Sullivan & Merritt Constructors (Hermon)
Buildings Etcetera (Houlton)
Allied Cook Construction (Scarborough).

Projects with WBRC on the job include the Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center, Harold Alfond Sports Arena and Shawn Walsh Hockey Center.

“For more than 120 years, partnerships like these have enabled WBRC to recruit, hire and retain talented architects and engineers who live and work in Maine,” said Robert Frank, WBRC’s board chair and a UMaine civil engineering graduate.

Energy costs to power, heat and cool the system’s statewide physical plant were also a significant driver of FY25 spending, including with locally owned regional suppliers like Daigle Oil, an employee-owned company based in Aroostook County.

Out-of-state vendors

UMS also spent tens of millions of dollars more in FY25 with businesses that are not headquartered in Maine but directly employ many Maine workers, led by Consigli Construction ($47.9 million), food service provider Sodexo ($35 million) and PC Construction ($22.1 million).

Food

In FY25, Sodexo bought $2.7 million in local food on behalf of UMS, compared with $2.2 million in FY24, with 49% of seafood, 46% of meat and 39% of dairy served on campuses sourced from more than 160 Maine vendors.

“Through Sodexo’s Maine Course program, we have seen the University of Maine System’s use of locally sourced grains continually increase over the last decade,” said Amber Lambke, co-founder and CEO of Maine Grains Inc. in Skowhegan. “Beginning with basics, like using Maine-grown organic rolled oats for morning oatmeal and desserts, to now having specialty equipment that allows all of the college dining halls to have scratch-made cookies made with fresh milled whole grain flour sourced from Maine’s family farms, the program’s commitment reaches far.”

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