Maine For Keeps

Where Did All the Money Go? Alec Porteous on Maine’s Exploding Budget

Alec Porteous has run the numbers. He’s been the CFO of Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services. He’s been the Commissioner of Administrative & Financial Services

The Crime Surge No One Wants to Talk About in Maine with Lt. Nick Goodman

Lt. Nick Goodman has been a cop in Portland for over 20 years. He’s run narcotics stings. Solved cold cases. Led Portland’s SWAT team through high-risk raids and manhunt

How Maine Can Fix Education Before It’s Too Late with Stephen Bowen, Former Commissioner of Education

Stephen Bowen has seen the future of education, and he’s seen what happens when we ignore it. As Maine’s former Commissioner of Education and now Executive Director of t

Former Governor of MA, Charlie Baker, on How to Make a State Work

Charlie Baker has a reputation for making big, complex institutions actually work. As governor of Massachusetts, he was consistently ranked the most popular governor in A

How Former Governor Mitch Daniels Turned Indiana Around (and What Maine Can Learn)

Mitch Daniels has worn a lot of hats: Governor of Indiana, President of Purdue University, and before that, business executive and federal budget director. But through it

Make More Pie: Why Maine Should Bet on Growth, Not Handouts

This week on Maine For Keeps, Jonathan goes solo from North Haven Island to share why he’s still a raging Maine optimist and why it’s time for our state to stop dividing

Reinventing Rural Healthcare: Inside Maine’s Community Paramedicine Revolution

Maine’s rural communities have a healthcare problem — too few providers, too much distance, and too many people falling through the cracks. But what if the solution was a

How Mayor Tom Koch Revived Quincy, MA (and What Other Cities Can Learn)

What does it really take to bring a city back to life? In the latest episode of Maine For Keeps, I sit down with Mayor Tom Koch, the longest-serving mayor in Quincy, Mas

Ohad Maiman on What Maine Lost in Aquaculture (and What It Could Still Become)

Ohad Maiman is one of the most visionary figures in modern aquaculture. After successfully launching The Kingfish Company in the Netherlands (one of the world’s most sust

Building Belonging: The Squash Club That Became a Movement with Barrett Takesian, President @ Portland Community Squash

What started in the basement of a YMCA is now one of the most innovative community centers in the country. In this episode, Jonathan Bush sits down with Barrett Takesian

When the System Fails: Inside Maine’s Child Protection Crisis with Former Maine Senator, Bill Diamond

How do you fix a government system that punishes truth-tellers, hides behind confidentiality laws, and fails the very people it’s supposed to protect? In this episode, f

A Navy Veteran’s Case for Bringing Nuclear Power to Maine, with Sarah Lemonick @Atomic Canyon

Sarah Lemonick is a U.S. Navy veteran and now a product manager at Atomic Canyon, where she’s helping shape the future of nuclear energy with AI. In this episode, she joi

The Truth About Scaling in Maine (From Someone Who Actually Did It), with Jonathan McDevitt

When athenahealth opened a small office in Belfast, Maine, no one expected it to become one of the state’s largest private employers. But under the leadership of Jonathan

Maine Could Be a Startup Powerhouse. Here’s What’s Missing. With Jen Millard, CEO and Co-founder @mainelove

What happens when a seasoned CPG operator and Liquid Death investor comes home to launch her own brand in Maine? Jen Millard is no stranger to growth. She helped take Be

The Invisible Hand of Maine’s Lobster Market: Meet Marty Molloy

What happens when the boats disappear, the buyers retire, and the next generation doesn’t come back? In this raw and revealing conversation, Jonathan Bush sits down with

The Startup Reviving Maine’s Forest Economy, and Why It’s So Damn Hard to Scale Here, with Melissa LaCasse, Co-Founder at Tanbark MFP

Melissa LaCasse left public radio in New York to build Tanbark, a Maine-based startup replacing single-use plastic with sustainable molded fiber. The catch? She’s doing i

Why Maine Is #45 for Small Business (And How to Fix It) With Nate Cloutier, Director of Government Affairs at HospitalityMaine

Maine is a state built on small businesses—so why did Forbes rank us 45th out of 50 for small business friendliness? In this episode of Maine For Keeps, Jonathan Bush si

Over the Table, Under the Radar: What It Really Takes to Build in Maine, with Andrew Bonarrigo, Founder and Owner of ABI Masonry INC

Andrew Bonarrigo isn’t a venture-backed CEO. He didn’t get a grant. He didn’t inherit a business. He started out cleaning antique bricks from the Rockland Jail, selling t

Maine Needs More Housing. Why Isn’t It Getting Built? With Matt Marks, Principal at Cornerstone Government Affairs

Everyone agrees Maine needs more housing. So why isn’t it getting built? In this episode of Maine For Keeps, Jonathan Bush sits down with Matt Marks, a lifelong Mainer a

How Maine Is Pricing Itself Out of the Future — Energy, Regulation, and the War on Growth, with Matt Jacobson, Director of Sales & Marketing, Summit Natural Gas of Maine

Maine isn’t just losing opportunities. We’re driving them away—with energy policies, regulatory gridlock, and a learned helplessness that’s sinking our economy. In this