BELFAST - Two days after formally announcing his candidacy for governor, independent Eliot Cutler swung through the Midcoast, touring Front Street Shipyard in Belfast then heading to a fundraiser in Camden.

Cutler is making his second bid for the governor’s seat. In 2010 he was narrowly defeated by Paul LePage in a three-way race that included Democrat Libby Mitchell.

Speaking at Front Street Shipyard on Thursday, Cutler made a number of comparisons between state government and business, saying that Augusta would do well to emulate the approach of successful business like the Shipyard. 

“This place wouldn’t be working if he didn’t come in and say here’s a plan,” Cutler said, gesturing to Shipyard President JB Turner, who joined roughly 30 Shipyard workers to hear the candidate’s remarks.

“You’ve got to treat the government the way you treat a business,” Cutler said. “You have to have a vision for success, which is what you’ve encountered and built here now. You’ve got to have a plan about how you’re going to make it happen and you’ve got to get people to invest in that plan.” 

In the case of Front Street Shipyard, Cutler said the worker were also investors.

“You get paid for working, but you’ve got to have it in your head that this place is going to be successful,” he said.

The group gathered on a concrete pad recently constructed for the Shipyard’s new 485-ton travel lift. The lift itself, which stood on the opposite side of the yard, dwarfed the company’s 160-ton travel lift, which until recently was touted as the largest north of Newport, RI.

The rapid rise of the Shipyard, in which a group of veteran Midcoast marine industry businessmen transformed a derelict waterfront property into a world class shipyard seemingly overnight, has attracted attention far beyond Maine’s borders. Locally, Front Street Shipyard has created over 100 jobs with higher-than-average wages in Belfast with another 40 anticipated as part of a planned expansion.

The success of the Shipyard was lauded in its early stages by candidates in the last gubernatorial election and is likely to key stop for Maine candidates in the 2014 races.

Turner said Cutler’s visit was scheduled about a month ago.

In response to a question from PenBay Pilot, he said Front Street Shipyard is not endorsing or planning to support any candidate for governor.

“You know us. We’re not political,” he said.

Cutler, a 67-year-old attorney and former political advisor from Cape Elizabeth, has never held elected office. 

In the 2010 election, he got significantly more votes than Democrat Libby Mitchell. As a result, some Democrats have charged him with splitting the left-leaning vote, allowing LePage to win.

In the opening days of his 2014 campaign, Cutler has focused on his independence as an asset, and brushed off the “spoiler” tag as evidence of party entitlement.

“The way forward is not left, it’s not right. It’s straight ahead,” he told the group at Front Street Shipyard on Thursday. “It’s a little uphill but this state could be the story of the century in America if we get it right.”

Currently, the field of candidates includes the Republican incumbent Gov. Paul LePage and Democratic U.S. Congressman Michael Michaud. Primaries are scheduled to held June 10, 2014. 

Cutler told the workers they were lucky to be working in Belfast.

“It’s a different place today. It’s the right place today,” he said. “The people who have built this shipyard have done an amazing job, and there are people like this all over the state of Maine. All we need is leadership, a plan, a vision and we’re gonna sing.”

Cutler acknowledged that with the election more than a year away it was too early to ask the shipworkers for their vote, but he asked them to look at his website, YouTube videos and his recent web-published book A State of Opportunity.

“It’s a plan. It’s a business plan for the state of Maine,” he said. “Take a look at it ... spend a few minutes on the site, and then come back and visit it once in a while over the course of the next year when you’re really, really bored.”

“Or really, really drunk,” he joked, drawing some laughter from the group.

“But come on back. I’d love to have your help. We’re going to make this a state of opportunity and prosperity and we’re starting in places like this, and I congratulate you guys for the work you are doing,” he said. “And I wish I owned some of the boats you’re working on.”

Cutler launched his campaign in Bangor on Tuesday and held a town hall meeting the same day in Portland that included a large phone-in audience and a Twitter component. Since then, he has made stops in Kittery, Saco, Biddeford, Gorham and Presque Isle.

Cutler was scheduled to attend a fundraiser in Camden on Thursday evening.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com