when my father was alive he used to love getting the annual Mainebiz Book of Lists, which usually comes out around this time of the year.
What this magazine does it rounds up a lot of Maine's financial figures and puts them in list form. Here's some interesting stuff:
Largest nonprofit organization: Bowdoin college at $895,629,000
Highest-paid nonprofit professional: Director of the Jackson lab $452,390
Highest-paid public company executive: Pres. of TD Banknorth $2,050,410
Highest-paid healthcare professional: Pres. of Maine Medical Center (Portland) $1,151,520
Largest employer: L.L. Bean (8000 to 9500 employees—I'm guessing there's some seasonal employees)
Largest farm subsidy: farm in Clinton $89,220
Largest Maine-based brewer: Shipyard Brewing Company, producing 69,700 barrels of beer
Largest hotel: Bar Harbor Regency Hotel with 278 rooms
There's obviously tons more information in this magazine. It's interesting to see not just who is on top but the other people and businesses that make the list. (Like the fact that a few professors at my old college made the list). The other thing to keep in mind is that these numbers are a couple of years behind. It'll be interesting to read this Book of Lists a few years from now to see how the economy really affected Maine.
It's easy to see that the nonprofit economy is central to the state of Maine (though sometimes I have a hard time seeing how multimillion dollar organization can be seen as a nonprofit but that's just me). As someone from Aroostook County, it's also interesting to see the information on farm subsidies. I just see how the center of commerce and industry is in southern Maine only and I wonder if it really has to be like that.
Even considering the southern part of the state, Maine doesn't have a lot of large businesses but in this economy, maybe it pays to be small and diversified.
If you want to get your own copy, the magazine costs about $20 but there's also lots of information on the Mainebiz website if you're interested in reading further. I'm actually wondering if other states have this kind of information available… I hope so because if your numbers person, this is a fun afternoon read!
Mainebiz's Lists on their website…(you can also buy the whole book at this link)