As 2024 comes to a close, I want to convey my appreciation to the many individuals and partners that helped enable MTI’s success this past year. I commend MTI’s amazing staff, contractors, and volunteer subject matter experts, its dedicated Board of Directors, and its extraordinary ecosystem partners, for all the contributions they made to the organization.
To demonstrate the value of their work, MTI recently released its fiscal year 2024 annual report. As you know, MTI’s core mission is to help diversify and grow Maine’s economy by helping to catalyze innovation and its transformation into new products, processes, and companies. We have been providing early stage capital and commercialization assistance, as well as entrepreneurial guidance and mentorship, for 25 years now.
As we reflect on some of the meaningful milestones that have been achieved over the years, one cannot help but swell with pride and gratitude.
Created by the Legislature and Governor in 1999, MTI has now disbursed over $372 million across more than 4,000 distinct projects throughout Maine and that funding has leveraged well over $2.2 billion in private sector matching investment. This fiscal year alone, MTI deployed $7.6 million across 238 distinct projects generating an additional $24.9 million in private sector matching investment.
MTI demonstrated its immense value this past year by assisting the state and federal government in the deployment of much-needed funding and support to help Maine businesses sustain and grow operations. The organization also led a consortium of Maine organizations that earned designation from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) as a Forest Bioproducts Advanced Manufacturing Technology Hub. This designation recognizes Maine’s potential to become a global leader in bioproducts that replace plastics, sequester carbon in buildings, or use nanocellulose polymers to replace harmful synthetics. It is another example of how MTI and Maine’s technology-based companies and research institutions play a leading role in our nation’s economic recovery.
This year’s report provides a wonderful overview of MTI’s activities, investments, and impact and the indelible imprint the organization has had – – and continues to have – – on Maine and its economy. It truly is a beacon for economic optimism in the State of Maine. You can access the annual report here.
I hope you enjoy reviewing the MTI annual report as it aptly details all the organization’s efforts and associated impacts over the past year. Undeniably, we are incredibly honored to conduct this consequential technology-based economic development work on behalf of the State of Maine and its citizens.
My best to you and yours for a healthy and prosperous 2025!
Best,
Brian