Governor Janet T. Mills (D), with Brian Whitney, President of MTI, at the Grand Opening of COVETRUS on Munjoy Hill on December 15, 2022.
This afternoon Governor Janet T. Mills (D-ME) announced the creation of the Maine Life Sciences Center, a new initiative of the Maine Technology Institute (MTI), designed to attract investment and foster innovation in life sciences, one of Maine’s fastest-growing economic sectors
Also today, the Governor announced $2.7 milion in grants by MTI for the Maine Life Sciences Incubator, a state-of-the -art laboratory to provide space, equipment, and resources to support emergig companies in the burgeoning life sciences industry. Taken together, the Center and the Incubator represent a significant investment by the Mills Administation in Maine’s growing life sciences sector, which today accounts for nearly 10,000 good paying jobs and $2.3 billion in economic activity. The Center was officially established through an executive order signed by the Governnr on September 19, 2025.
The Maine Life Sciences Incubator is to be built in Portland by the end of 2026, although the press release doesn’t say exactly where in Portland it will be built. It is designed to launch and scale the next generation of life sciences startups by bringing together expert science mentors, workforce development programs and investors to support entrepreneurs in efficiently growing their companies in Maine. The Incubator is a laboratory built for hands-on scientific work — it will be equipped with specialized plumbing, ventilation and safety systems that allow researchers to test ideas with real materials, not just models or data. To build the Incubator, MTI awarded $2.3 million to HatchBio Labs of Massachusetts , a leading biotechnology lab developer, for construction of the facility. The remaining $400,000 was awarded to the Roux Institute of Portland to help grow entrepreneurial support programs for the life sciences sector and the companies housed at the Incubator.
The LIfe Sciences Center will coordnate the efforts of research institutions, businesses and workforce programs to aligh training, recruitment and investment strategies. The Maine Life Science Center will coodinate partnerships, between research institutions and industry, while supporting entrepreneurs, workforce development and commercialization efforts at the Incubator.
This initiataive reflects Governor Mills’ commitment to diversifying Maine’s economy and creating opportunities in high-wage high-growth industries of the future, in alignment with her 10-year economic strategy for Maine launched in 2019
“With this Executive Order, we are laying the groundwork for more Maine businesses to succeed in one of the fastest-growing industries in the world,” said Governor Mills. “This new Center and Incubator will give entrepreneurs the facilities and resouces they need to grow their compaies, create good-paying jobs and keep innovation and investment here in Maine.”
“The Maine Technology Insitute is proud to operae the new Life Sciences Center and help bring the Govenor’s vision to life” said Brian Whitney, President of MTI. “This initiative will focus on strategy deveopment, stakeholder alignment, investment coordination and ecosystem capacity-building to advance the Life Sciences Sector..”