Investors coming to Maine with millions

Maine continues to thrive and attract new businesses and investors. In late January 2020, it was announced that a Maine native is donating $100 million to Northeastern University to establish a graduate school and research center in Portland to work toward transforming the city into a technology hub and furthering economic growth.

David Roux, who grew up in Lewiston, Maine, graduated from Harvard University, and built a fortune as a technology entrepreneur and Silicon Valley investor. The Roux Institute will open in the spring and will carry his name. He is the donor of $100 million for this project.

“In this country, ambition and ability are broadly distributed, but opportunity is not,” Roux

said. He hopes to create this opportunity in his home state. Roux described the project as “an opportunity machine disguised as an educational institution and research center.”

Ten companies, including retailer L.L. Bean, specialty insurer Unum, pet diagnostics company Idexx and the Jackson Laboratory, have signed on as founding partners, which

will enable the center to help people adapt to the evolving economy.

Roux's efforts began a few years ago with a review of university options. His team eventually settled on Northeastern, which is known for providing its students with work and internship opportunities as part of degree programs.

It will add Portland to a network that includes its main campus in Boston and satellites in several other cities in the U.S. and Canada.

“The impact of the Roux Institute will reverberate across the region for generations to come. It will serve as a national model for expanding growth and innovation, and reducing inequality,” Joseph E. Aoun, Northeastern's president, said in a statement

This is a boon for Portland and the region as it attracts students and encourages people to stay in Maine after graduation. Already known as a “foodie town,” Portland will expand its reach and continue to attract entrepreneurs and talent throughout the state, making it a great time to consider visiting Maine, and even better, perhaps living in Maine!