The state’s largest driver of workforce development and research-informed innovation, the University of Maine System (UMS) also powers Maine’s economy through its payroll and purchasing — directly investing more than $638 million in Maine’s families and businesses last fiscal year. 

“By employing thousands of Mainers and through the hundreds of millions of dollars we spend each year with local employers or those with strong local ties, the University of Maine System is investing directly in Maine people and communities,” said Chancellor Dannel Malloy. “Complementing the incredible impact of our education, research and service, these dollars deliver on our mission of strengthening the state’s workforce, supporting the growth of its small businesses and promoting prosperity in every Maine county.”

In FY25, UMS issued paychecks to 10,474 Mainers, including faculty, staff and student workers — making the System the state’s third-largest employer. UMS payroll for its regular and student employees with home addresses in the state totaled $384 million in FY25. The System also paid $146 million in FY25 for employee benefits. 

The System had the most employees (3,725) last fiscal year in Penobscot County, where the flagship University of Maine is based and the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA) has a Bangor campus. Other counties where UMS was among the largest employers include, but is not limited to, Cumberland County (2,345), home to the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham and Portland campuses and the University of Maine School of Law; York County (730); Kennebec County (669), where UMA has its largest campus; Aroostook County (644), where both the University of Maine at Fort Kent and the University of Maine at Presque Isle are located; Franklin County (451), home to the University of Maine at Farmington, and Washington County (186), where the University of Maine at Machias is a regional campus of UMaine. 

Hundreds of other UMS student workers have home addresses outside of Maine but live in the state for much of the year and spend money in the local economy. 

UMS capital, energy investments ‘fuel economic growth’

Through strategic procurement that leverages the System’s collective purchasing power and makes it easier to do business with Maine’s public universities, UMS paid $108 million to in-state suppliers of goods and services in FY25, an increase of 13% from FY24. 

UMS spent the most with businesses based in Penobscot County ($34.1 million), Cumberland County ($31.7 million), Kennebec County ($12.1 million), Androscoggin County ($10.5 million) and Aroostook County ($5.5 million).  

In FY25, UMS invested $141 million in major capital construction, up from $95 million in FY24, with a focus on modernizing facilities that advance student success, workforce preparation and research and development that accelerates Maine’s economy. 

Under the leadership of Chancellor Malloy, UMS has begun to reverse decades of underinvestment in its infrastructure that had resulted in a $1.8 billion backlog of deferred maintenance. To do so, the System is leveraging historic levels of private giving, one-time funding from the Harold Alfond Foundation through UMS TRANSFORMS, Congressionally Directed Spending secured by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Angus King, and State appropriations, including from the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan. 

The System spent more than $1 million for construction-related services with each of the following Maine-based businesses in FY25, many of which proudly employ UMS engineering and other professional graduates: WBRC Inc. (Bangor), Benchmark Construction (Westbrook), Sheridan Construction (Fairfield), CEM/DP Contractors (Hermon), SMRT Architects and Engineers (Portland), Sullivan & Merritt Constructors (Hermon), Buildings Etcetera (Houlton) and Allied Cook Construction (Scarborough). 

“We are honored to have been selected by the University of Maine System to design transformative projects such as the Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center, the reimagined Harold Alfond Sports Arena and the Shawn Walsh Hockey Center,” said Robert Frank, a UMaine Civil Engineering graduate and board chair of the Bangor-based architecture and engineering firm WBRC Inc. “For more than 120 years, partnerships like these have enabled WBRC to recruit, hire and retain talented architects and engineers who live and work in Maine — many of whom are proud UMaine graduates. These projects strengthen not only our firm, but also the broader Maine economy.”

Energy costs to power, heat and cool the System’s statewide physical plant were also a significant driver of FY25 spending, including with locally owned regional suppliers, like Daigle Oil.  

“Daigle Oil is proud to be a selected vendor for the University of Maine System, supporting their energy needs. As an employee-owned company based in Aroostook County, we understand the value of local businesses working together to build a stronger, more sustainable future,” said Chief Operating Officer Carter Vaillancourt. “Partnerships like this not only fuel economic growth, but also directly benefit our employee-owners and the communities we serve. We appreciate the University of Maine System’s commitment to supporting local businesses and investing in those who contribute to the community.”

The System’s FY25 construction spending and other data was highlighted in its FY25 annual financial report, which was presented and approved by the Board of Trustees at a special meeting today.  

Other highlights from that report include:

• In FY25, the System’s net student fee revenue totaled $262 million. This marked the first fiscal year since the Great Recession in which non-capital State appropriation ($270 million) accounted for a larger share of the System’s revenue than from students, thanks to historic support from Gov. Janet Mills and the Maine Legislature. 

• Led by UMaine, the state’s only institution to have achieved R1 Carnegie Classification for research productivity and excellence, UMS recognized a record $216 million in revenue from federal, state and private contracts.

• UMS decreased its total debt to $202 million, down nearly 15% from just two years ago. 

$2.7 million invested in 160+ Maine farms and food producers 

UMS also spent tens of millions of dollars more in FY25 with businesses that are not headquartered here but directly employ many Maine workers, led by Consigli Construction ($47.9 million), Sodexo ($35 million) and PC Construction ($22.1 million).

Sodexo provides food service at all UMS universities, with a commitment to purchasing from Maine farmers and producers. In FY25, Sodexo bought $2.7 million in local food on behalf of UMS, with 49% of seafood, 46% of meat and 39% of the dairy served on System campuses sourced from more than 160 Maine vendors, many of whom also benefit directly from UMaine research and Cooperative Extension. 

“Through Sodexo’s Maine Course program, we have seen the University of Maine System’s use of locally sourced grains continually increase over the last decade. Beginning with basics, like using Maine-grown organic rolled oats for morning oatmeal and desserts, to now having specialty equipment that allows all of the college dining halls to have scratch-made cookies made with fresh milled whole grain flour sourced from Maine’s family farms, the program’s commitment reaches far,” said Maine Grains, Inc. Co-founder and CEO Amber Lambke. “UMS culinary leaders now share their model for incorporating locally sourced ingredients in standardized recipes with other Northeastern institutions served by Sodexo, furthering the positive impact to family farms that grow grains and rotation crops, improving the health of soil and creating new markets.”