A Scarborough man and his pregnant wife are visiting New Hampshire. While in New Hampshire the wife goes into labor. The husband bundles her into the car and they drive as fast as they can toward the Maine border, but, as luck would have it, the baby is born before they reach the border. The family returns to Maine, where the child lives a long and fruitful life. The same day at the same time, another baby is born in Scarborough. As soon as he is old enough to travel, his parents take him to the Orient where he lives for the rest of what turns out to be a very long life.

Interestingly, and coincidentally, both men die on the same day. Not surprisingly, The Current runs both obituaries with the following headlines: “Local Man Dies in Singapore” and “Man from New Hampshire Dead at 81.”

Why am I telling this story, other than my secret desire to be Woody Allen or Jerry Seinfeld? I’m really telling the story for a number of reasons: first, I like it; second, I think it is illustrative of the mind-set of Mainers; third, it speaks volumes about us, which I hope will become clear as I ramble on.

There are two groups of people living in this state – those that were born here and those, like myself (though I only admit this under duress or with the promise of a whoopee pie) who are “from away.” Some of “us” came by choice, others by circumstances beyond our control: job relocations, school, the witness protection program, etc… The important point here is that most of us are staying here.

And why are we staying? I can hear the groans already, “Here he goes again with the quality of life stuff.” But, that really is it in a nutshell. Maine is the place to do business if quality of life for you, your family, and your employees is of primary importance.

Coming to this realization is necessary if one is to really understand what needs to be done in order for economic development to expand in Maine. The first step in this process is to take a realistic view of the state. Honest self-evaluation is not something we readily do.

If we take a bird’s eye view of the state of Maine, what we see is a state as large as the rest of New England combined, with a population of only 1.3 million people. We have the oldest population and as a consequence of that, a population in need of health care services, and although Maine has an enviable record of high-school graduation, our post high-school graduation, whether from community college, four-year college or technical school, is well below the national average. As a result, Mainers are not well equipped for the job market of the 21st century.

After painting that dismal a picture, one might ask the question, “Why are you still here?” I suppose it could be that I have picked up some of that fabled Yankee stubbornness or more likely that I see a better future for Maine if we are all willing to make the changes necessary to compete globally. Maine can only become competitive by developing an educated, highly skilled workforce for employers who understand the benefits of living and running their businesses where the environment and quality of life are of primary importance.

To reach this point, I am going to set out a number of challenges and tasks for each of us who care about this state and want to see it prosper:

Challenge No. 1: Stop bad mouthing the state. Instead of talking about a high tax burden, energy costs, government spending and worker’s comp, start talking about why you live here and why you want to raise your family here.

Challenge No. 2: Get involved. There is a bill of rights somewhere that must say it is the right of all citizens to whine and complain without knowing the facts. This area has three papers covering local political activity; read them. Volunteer for a town board or committee, run for office, and watch the town or city council and school board meetings on local access TV.

Challenge No. 3: Support Education. Help build the best education system possible. It might mean spending more money, or maybe not. See Challenge No. 2.

Challenge No. 4: Support and Encourage Regionalization. There are 142 communities and 662,242 people in Maine within 50 miles of Scarborough. Enough said.

Challenge No. 6: Employers, value and empower your employees. They are not expendable; they are your greatest resource.

These are some things to think about. The future of our area and the state of Maine is up to each of us. I will hopefully delve into these challenges in more depth in future columns.

Harvey Rosenfeld is the president of the Scarborough Economic

Development Corporation (SEDCO), a private, non-profit organization located in Scarborough. The opinions in this column are solely his and are not a reflection of the Scarborough Economic Development Corporation or the town of Scarborough. If you would like to contact him, e-mail him at sedco@maine.rr.com.