Bangor: Economy

Major Industries and Commercial Activity

Bangor is the center for commercial activity in the northeastern and central regions of Maine. As such, the metropolitan area features a diversified economy. Unemployment rates are normally below state and federal levels. Over the past 10 years, total non-agricultural employment in the area has grown from 48,000 to more than 65,000. Major industries include services, wholesale/retail trade, and government, which together represent about 55 percent of the labor market. Other strong economic sectors include manufacturing, construction, finance, insurance, and real estate.

Bangor is a center for retail trade, and in recent years has generated close to a billion dollars annually in sales. Much of the sales activity was attributable to non-residents making use of the plentiful shopping facilities in the Bangor Mall and elsewhere in the city.

Healthcare is also an important segment of Bangor's economy. Providers include two major medical hospitals, Eastern Maine Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital. Two mental health facilities are also located in the area, one state-run and one private. Together, these institutions provide the city with a large number of medical specialists who can meet almost any physical or mental need, and by extension the area supports a number of related healthcare services.

Downtown Bangor is the site of the regional headquarters for six commercial banking companies. Two of them are among the state's burgeoning community banks, those banks whose ownership remains in the communities in which they operate. According to the Bureau of Banking, in the late 1990s, the local banking and finance sector generated in excess of $1.1 billion in loan activity in the Bangor area.

Tourism is another important segment of the economy, as Bangor is a focal point for the more than four million people who annually visit Acadia National Park, the second most visited national park in the country. The area is well-known for its natural beauty, and as such thousands of tourists visit the area. Bangor's numerous restaurants, accommodations, and cultural attractions benefit from the influx of visitors.

Forest-related manufactured output, specifically paper, has long been a dominant industry in the area as well as the state. When paper is combined with lumber and wood products, forest products in total represented more than half of the manufactured output in Penobscot County in the mid-1990s. While this kind of manufacturing is still a major component to the area's economy, in the mid-2000s it is not as big of an economic player as it once was.

Items and goods produced: pulp and paper, wood products, shoes, electronics, transportation equipment

Incentive Programs—New and Existing Companies

The city of Bangor runs a variety of incentive programs, including technical, relocation, and financial assistance—both in the form of loans and tax increment financing. The city also works with the Eastern Main Development Corporation, a non-profit organization that helps businesses with marketing, manufacturing, government contracting, finance, and international trade. The state of Maine has a number of economic development programs available for Bangor businesses, including tax credits and financing.

Local programs

Community Development Block Grant Loans, administered by the Bangor Community Development Department, were made available in order to help local businesses retain and create jobs, acquire real estate for economic development purposes, and make site improvements. The loans are available up to $10,000 for each job generated or retained, and the project in question must meet the city's program goals.

State programs

Maine's Office of Business Development offers a wide variety of business assistance programs, including financing, marketing, research and development, tax reimbursement, technical assistance, and workforce training. The state's tax reimbursement program allows qualified Maine businesses to be reimbursed for local property taxes on eligible business equipment; some companies can also recover up to 80 percent of new employees' Maine income tax withholdings for up to 10 years. The Maine International Trade Center provides statewide international business assistance. The organization helps companies with technical assistance and trade counseling, import and export leads, international credit reports, workshops, and coordinated trade missions and trade shows. Their goal is to help the state's small- and medium-sized businesses succeed in international markets.

Job training programs

The Tri-County Workforce Investment Board is a local organization that helps employers and employees in Penobscot, Hancock, and Piscataquis counties; they help employees gain access to sustainable employment, training and educational opportunities, and help employers connect with a skilled workforce. Eastern Maine Community College offers short-term and specialized training and retraining courses to local businesses and other organizations.

Development Projects

The city, in cooperation with local organizations, has made extensive efforts to preserve and revitalize Bangor's downtown. Recently, the six-floor Freeses Building was acquired by the city and renovated, now serving as an elderly and assisted living facility and the home of the Maine Discovery Museum. The museum, which opened in 2001, is the largest children's museum north of Boston, with three floors of exhibits and activities. The once-vacant Bangor Furniture Buildings were turned into apartments, restaurants, and offices with the help of community development loan funds. Grant money from the city also enabled the University of Maine Museum of Art to open a new facility in downtown Bangor, occupying the first level of a former Sears department store. The museum opened in 2002 and features traveling exhibits of mainly contemporary art, along with a permanent collection of nearly 6,000 works including those by Pablo Picasso, Andrew Wyeth, and Andy Warhol. The Bangor Museum and Center for History, formerly the Bangor Historical Society, expanded by opening a second location in 2002.

In 2005, the city of Bangor and retail company L.L. Bean announced plans to open a year-round call center facility in Bangor. This will be the fourth call center L.L. Bean has in the state of Maine. The Bangor facility will be located in an unoccupied downtown building.

Economic Development Information: City of Bangor, Department of Community & Economic Development, 73 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401; telephone (207)992-4240; Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, telephone (207)624-9800; email biz.growth@maine.gov

Commercial Shipping

Bangor is located on I-95, the major north-south highway on the East Coast. Canada is 90 minutes away on State Route 9. Bangor & Aroostock rail lines offer freight service in central and northern Maine with connections to Canada, Maine Central and Boston & Maine railroads. A number of motor freight carriers serve Bangor, operating out of numerous trucking terminals. The deepwater port of Searsport, 20 miles from Bangor, is well suited to the import or export of bulk and break-bulk shipments. Bangor International Airport offers convenient cargo shipment services, with more than 30,000 square feet of cargo warehouse space and facilities to handle multiple major cargo operations. Bangor's Foreign Trade Zone consists of a 33-acre on-airport complex containing a central import processing building.

Labor Force and Employment Outlook

Bangor's metropolitan area labor force has experienced steady growth since 1998, at a rate of 10.9 percent over five years. The area enjoys a relatively stable labor market, with unemployment rates below both the state and federal averages. With a broad range of economic sectors, Bangor offers its residents diverse employment opportunities, with recent increases in the healthcare, retail trade, and tourism industries. Area colleges, universities, and local school systems provide a strong employment base in education. Local employees tend to have higher educations than those in other parts of the state; employees are known for high productivity, motivation, and dedication, with low absenteeism and turnover.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Bangor metropolitan area labor force, 2004 annual averages.

Size of non-agricultural labor force: 65,600

Number of workers employed in . . .

construction and mining: 2,900

manufacturing: 3,600

trade, transportation, and utilities: 15,100

information: 1,400

financial activities: 2,300

professional and business services: 5,600

educational and health services: 13,100

leisure and hospitality: 5,400

other services: 2,000

government: 13,900

Average hourly earnings of production workers employed in manufacturing: $16.97 (statewide average)

Unemployment rate: 5.5% (February 2005)

Cost of Living

The cost of living in Bangor is moderate compared to the New England region as a whole. Housing prices, the largest single-family expenditure, are affordable, with the median single family home selling for approximately $120,000. Two bedroom apartments rent at approximately $550 to $600 per month, including heat, water, and sewer.

The following is a summary of data regarding several key cost of living factors for the Bangor metropolitan area.

2004 ACCRA Average House Price: Not reported

2004 ACCRA Cost of Living Index: Not reported

State income tax rate: ranges from 2.0% to 8.5% depending upon taxable income.

State sales tax rate: 5% (food and drugs exempt)

Local income tax rate: None

Local sales tax rate: None

Property tax rate: $22.05 per $1,000, based on 100% valuation (2004)

Economic Information: Department of Community and Economic Development, City of Bangor, 73 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401; telephone (207)992-4240. Maine Department of Labor, PO Box 259, Augusta, ME 04332; telephone (207)624-6400

Bangor: Recreation

Sightseeing

Bangor's heritage has been preserved in the painstakingly restored mansions of the lumber barons in the Broadway Historic District, one of several local districts. A popular way to explore the city is by way of a historic walking tour, which takes the visitor through a number of Bangor's finest buildings representing a variety of architectural styles ranging from Colonial, Federal, Greek Revival, and Second Empire Italian.

At Fields Pond Audubon Center, visitors can take a variety of walks and canoe tours through the area's 192 acres of wetlands and forest, 1,600 feet of lakeshore, a 22-acre island, a beach, a brook, and a ravine. The recently opened Maine Discovery Museum is the largest children's museum north of Boston, and features seven major interactive exhibit areas on three levels. Located in the historic Freeses building downtown, the museum promotes the learning and discovery of nature, geography, children's literature, music, art, science, and anatomy.

Visitors who travel farther afield into the Maine countryside will find charming villages and towns such as Old Town, where they may observe crafters constructing canoes at the Old Town Canoe Company. The Penobscot Indian Reservation at Old Town is home to members of that tribe. The town of Canaan displays Charles Lindbergh memorabilia housed in the crate that carried his plane back to America from Paris in 1927. Devotees of American domestic architecture can explore five turn-of-the century summer cottages furnished as they were by the families who lived in them at Roosevelt Campobello International Park, summer home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. The park also boasts 10 miles of walking trails, bird watching, flower gardens, a lighthouse, sea kayaking, and a number of beaches.

Arts and Culture

Bangor Symphony Orchestra, the country's oldest continuous community orchestra, has been performing since 1896. Comprised of 60 to 90 members, the orchestra performs 6 classical concerts, special events, and pops concerts during its September-May season. At the Maine Center for the Arts on the campus of the University of Maine at Orono, musical and dance events are presented throughout the year at the acoustically heralded Hutchins Concert Hall. In late spring and throughout the summer, the Bangor Band offers free weekly outdoor concerts at the Paul Bunyan Park grandstand. Other musical concert series in Bangor include the Cool Sounds of Summer concerts, held weekly at Riverfront Park, and the Arcady Music Festival, featuring international musicians.

Penobscot Theatre Company, housed in the Banger Opera House downtown, performs Broadway hits and contemporary drama during the winter months; in July and August it presents the Maine Shakespeare Festival. Recent productions include "Dracula," "The Crucible," and "Long Day's Journey into Night." Theater students at the University of Maine present contemporary and classical works at Maine Masque Theatre from October through April.

The Bangor Museum and Center for History, exhibiting historic memorabilia from the Penobscot Valley, is housed downtown adjacent to the Maine Discovery Museum. At the Cole Land Transportation Museum visitors can learn about and view a cross section of Maine's land transportation equipment, as well as U.S. military memorabilia. The Old Town Museum commemorates the area's lumbering history, and the Penobscot Marine Museum, a 13-building complex, preserves and exhibits the history of Penobscot Bay and the maritime history of Maine. Art studios and galleries are clustered in downtown Bangor.

Anthropological exhibits relating to Native Americans are on display at the Hudson Museum on the campus of the University of Maine at Orono, which also maintains greenhouses and ornamental test gardens that can be viewed by appointment, as well as a planetarium. The university's Museum of Art, one of the country's oldest land grant university art collections, displays more than 5,700 works including an extensive collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and American prints. Its collection also celebrates Maine art and artists, with works by Berenice Abbott, Winslow Homer, and Andrew Wyeth. The Maine Forest and Logging Museum in Bradley is a living history museum dedicated to the mighty Maine woods. The museum's 400-acre Leonard's Mills contains the site of a pioneer settlement, and the area comes alive every summer and fall when volunteers in period dress recreate the daily life of a logging and milling community of the 1790s.

Festivals and Holidays

Summer festivals in Bangor include a Sidewalk Arts Festival in August, and a celebration of the Fourth of July with fireworks and a parade. Bass Park is the site of a ten-day celebration of agriculture at the State Fair, held in early August. During June and July, the park is also the site for harness racing. The Music in the Park series is presented throughout the summer. October brings Octoberfest, and downtown art studios and galleries are open for touring every November. The traditional Christmas tree lighting in December is followed by a parade the next day. A winter carnival is held in February.

Sports for the Spectator

The 27-hole Bangor Municipal Golf Course presents many tournaments each year, including the Greater Bangor Open held in July. Bangor Raceway at Bass Park offers harness racing in June and July; the sport has been conducted continuously at Bass Park since 1893. The raceway hosts several legs of the Maine Breeders Stakes, the Anah Temple Shrine Trot and Parade, and the Billings Amateur Driving Series. The University of Maine's Black Bears play baseball at Mahaney Diamond; the university also fields football, basketball, and hockey teams. Husson College also has successful baseball and basketball teams.

Sports for the Participant

Recreational opportunities in and around Bangor are almost limitless. Boating and fishing on the Penobscot, golfing at several courses, camping at sites within and outside the city limits, ice skating and hockey at local arenas, and downhill and cross-country skiing are only some of the activities available. The Bangor Municipal Golf Course has been rated by the magazine Golf Digest as one of the top 75 public golf courses in the country. The course offers a 15-tee driving range, 2 practice greens, a complete pro shop, and restaurant. PGA professionals give group and private lessons.

Bangor Creative Playground is a specially designed park for children. Grotto Cascade Park, with its lighted water fountain and a 20-foot-high waterfall, is popular with picnickers and hikers; opposite the park, at Salmon Pool, Atlantic salmon headed upstream are a favorite catch for anglers in May and June. Sewall Park in nearby Old Town consists of 30 acres, some wooded, offering hiking, picnicking, camping, canoeing, sports facilities, fishing, and boat launching. Bangor is located not far from Acadia National Park, the second most visited national park in the country, and Baxter State Park, site of Mt. Katahdin, Maine's highest peak.

Shopping and Dining

Shopping is serious business in Bangor, a major outlet store center and home to numerous department stores, shopping centers, and malls. Downtown Bangor features specialty shops, bookstores, restaurants, and parks on the waterfront. Woven baskets and leather goods are offered at the Penobscot Indian Reservation on Indian Island, Old Town. Shoppers from a wide area are attracted to the department stores and specialty shops at Bangor Mall, the state's second-largest shopping mall. Restaurants and a 10-screen theater flank the Bangor Mall area. Airport Mall was Maine's first indoor shopping center when it opened in 1972; today it offers more than a dozen stores selling a variety of products. Antiques and collectibles are the focus at Center Mall in Brewer; within driving distance of Bangor are scores of antique shops, potteries, and gift shops.

Dining opportunities range from regional establishments specializing in lobster to ethnic restaurants specializing in Mexican, Italian, Indian, Asian, and Pakistani foods. Coffee-houses, pubs, and taverns round out Bangor's offerings.

Visitor Information: Greater Bangor Convention & Visitors Bureau, 1 Cumberland Pl., Ste. 300, Bangor, ME 04401; telephone (207)947-5205; toll-free (800)91-MOOSE

Bangor: History

River Powers Lumber Industry

The first settlers in the area where Bangor is now located were Abenaki Indians, residing in a peaceful village they called Kadesquit in a beautiful valley called Penobscot, "place of rocks." Their first famous visitor was the French explorer Samuel de Champlain who, in 1604, sailed up the Penobscot River. The legend was that he was searching for Norumbega, the city of gold of the poet Milton's Paradise Lost. Instead Champlain found a locale near the Kenduskeag River, "most pleasant and agreeable," covered with oaks, pine, and spruce that formed the fabled forests of Maine that would later make the city's fortune in the timber trade.

Jacob Buswell was the first settler, coming from Massachusetts in 1769 to the area which would be known as Kenduskeag Plantation until 1787, when its name was changed to Sunbury. The area grew slowly, a frontier town strategically located between the forests and the opening to the sea, its revenues derived mainly from the export of fish, furs, and lumber. The American Revolution brought the British to Kenduskeag Plantation in 1779, causing most settlers there to flee. By 1791 the community, which had grown to number 576 inhabitants, had recovered enough to petition Massachusetts for incorporation as a town. Legend has it that the cleric who was sent to Boston to obtain incorporation papers was humming a religious tune known as "Bangor" while the town clerk filled out the papers; in some resulting confusion, the name "Bangor" was entered in the incorporation papers as the name of the town.

Over the next twenty years Bangor enjoyed a brisk international trade in lumber. Prosperity was interrupted by the War of 1812; in 1814 the British stormed the town, demanding its unconditional surrender. A peace treaty was signed shortly thereafter.

By 1834, Bangor's lumber and related industries made it a boom town; its population had grown from 2,808 in 1830 to 8,000 people. Millions of logs traveled down the Penobscot River to be converted in Bangor's mills, and by 1850 Bangor was the world's leading lumber port in spite of the disastrous overflow of the Penobscot River that occurred in 1846.

Lumber Industry Spawns Excesses

The mid-nineteenth century was a time of excess—sometimes riotous—for Bangor. The part of town known as the "Devil's Half-Acre" rivaled San Francisco's Barbary Coast in its heyday for drinking, debauchery, and the telling of tall tales (such as the legend of Paul Bunyan) when lumbermen and rivermen descended on Bangor during the winter months. At the same time lumber barons built stately manors, traveled widely, and encouraged the arts in Bangor, earning the city a reputation as the cultural center of the state. Bangor-built ships carried pine boards to the West Indies, where they were traded for molasses, sugar, and rum. A brisk trade grew up with the United Kingdom and Europe, while Penobscot River ice was harvested and shipped to ports on the Atlantic coast. Records of the time show that as many as 700 seafaring vessels were anchored in Bangor's harbor at one time.

By 1880 the readily accessible timber had disappeared, loggers headed west, and Bangor's glory days were over. In 1911 a large part of the city was destroyed by fire. In rebuilding, Bangor focused on an economy based on wholesale and retail trade; new industry moved into the area with the establishment of an interstate highway system and an international airport. Today Bangor is a thriving city, the commercial and cultural center of eastern Maine. The late twentieth century was marked by the passage of strict historical ordinances, downtown restoration, and an emphasis on the architectural value of the city's older neighborhoods. With a growing economy focused on the service industry, Bangor is a popular place to live as well as visit.

Historical Information: Bangor Museum and Center for History, 6 State St., Bangor, ME 04401; telephone (207)942-1900

Bangor: Education and Research

Elementary and Secondary Schools

Public school education is highly prized and well supported in the Bangor metropolitan area. The Bangor school system is unique in that it is organized into schools serving four separate age levels (K-3; 4-5; 6-8; 9-12). Individual student progress is closely monitored through systematic assessments. Area students excel on achievement tests such as the Maine Educational Assessment, the Metropolitan Achievement Test, and the Scholastic Aptitude Test. More than 90 percent of graduating seniors continue their education at post-secondary institutions. Bangor's high school has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, which designated Bangor High as a 2001-2002 National School of Excellence—the only high school in New England to receive that designation for that year.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Bangor Public Schools as of the 2004–2005 school year.

Total enrollment: 4,022

Number of facilities

elementary schools: 5

intermediate schools (grades 4-5): 2

junior high/middle schools: 2

high schools: 1

Student/teacher ratio: 14:1

Teacher salaries

average: $47,722

Funding per pupil: $7,652

Public Schools Information: Bangor School System, 73

Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401; telephone (207)992-4152

Colleges and Universities

The University of Maine at Orono, the state's principal research institution, is located just north of Bangor. Its six colleges are Liberal Arts & Sciences; Business, Public Policy & Health; Education & Human Development; Natural Sciences, Forestry & Agriculture; School of Engineering Technology; and Honors College. The university offers 88 bachelor's degree programs, 64 master's degree programs, and 25 doctoral programs. Its library is ranked among the top in the country.

Eastern Maine Community College offers associate's degrees, diplomas, and certificate levels in 28 technology programs; More than 1,200 full- and part-time students are enrolled at the college, which employs more than 150 faculty members. Husson College is a four-year school that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines. The Bangor Theological Seminary, established in 1814, awards master's and doctorate's degrees; it is the only accredited graduate school of religion in northern New England. Other post-secondary institutions in the Bangor area are University College of Bangor, Beal College, Maine Maritime Academy, the New England School of Broadcasting, Unity College, the College of the Atlantic, and Colby College.

Libraries and Research Centers

The Bangor Public Library, with more than 500,000 volumes of books, periodicals, government documents, and recordings, is one of the largest in New England and the busiest per capita in the country. The library sends more interlibrary loans each year than any other library in New England.

The University of Maine is home to the Raymond H. Fogler Library, the state's largest. Its collections include more than one million volumes, 3,400 periodical subscriptions, 1.6 million microforms, 2.25 million federal and provincial government documents, and a large number of electronic resources. The library's Ira C. Darling Marine Center houses a specialized collection focused on marine studies.

Public Library Information: Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401; telephone (207)947-8336; fax (207)945-6694; email [email protected]

Bangor: Population Profile

Metropolitan Area Residents

1980: 83,919

1990: 91,629

2000: 90,864

Percent change, 1990–2000: -0.8%

U.S. rank in 1990: 258th

U.S. rank in 2000: 259th

City Residents

1980: 31,643

1990: 33,181

2000: 31,473

2003 estimate: 31,550

Percent change, 1990–2000: -9.0%

U.S. rank in 1990: 809th (State rank: 4th)

U.S. rank in 2000: Not reported (State rank: 3rd)

Density: 913.7 people per square mile (2000)

Racial and ethnic characteristics (2000)

White: 30,299

Black or African American: 447

American Indian and Alaska Native: 514

Asian: 463

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: 36

Hispanic or Latino (may be of any race): 329

Other: 190

Percent of residents born in state: 69.6% (2000)

Age characteristics (2000)

Population under 5 years old: 1,805

Population 5 to 9 years old: 1,812

Population 10 to 14 years old: 1,857

Population 15 to 19 years old: 2,348

Population 20 to 24 years old: 2,772

Population 25 to 34 years old: 4,611

Population 35 to 44 years old: 4,921

Population 45 to 54 years old: 4,361

Population 55 to 59 years old: 1,423

Population 60 to 64 years old: 1,132

Population 65 to 74 years old: 2,103

Population 75 to 84 years old: 1,643

Population 85 years and over: 685

Median age: 36.1 years

Births (2000)

Total number: 333

Deaths (2000)

Total number: 346

Money income (1999)

Per capita income: $19,295

Median household income: $29,740

Total number of households: 13,738

Number of households with income of . . .

less than $10,000: 2,239

$10,000 to $14,999: 1,193

$15,000 to $24,999: 2,307

$25,000 to $34,999: 2,138

$35,000 to $49,999: 2,069

$50,000 to $74,999: 1,925

$75,000 to $99,999: 848

$100,000 to $149,999: 669

$150,000 to $199,999: 163

$200,000 or more: 187

Percent of families below poverty level: 11.9% (64.2% of which were female householder families with related children under 5 years)

2002 FBI Crime Index Total: 1,630