Matthew C. Jacobson

In 2006, Jacobson returned to Maine to become president and chief executive officer of Maine & Company, a non-profit corporation whose staff provides free and confidential services to companies locating to or growing in Maine, taking over for Joe Wischerath, who had served as CEO since Maine & Co. was founded in November 1995.[1]

As the organization chief executive, Jacobson is responsible for developing and executing business attraction and expansion strategies. To that end, he engages with corporate executives, state and local authorities, as well as other stakeholders. Jacobson changed the organization's focus from a passive go between helping businesses already interested in coming to Maine, to one which actively courted specific companies to attract them to the state.[2]

In his tenure, several major companies have relocated to the state. Among these were NotifyMD,[3] athenahealth[4] and Boston Financial Data Services,[5] which have contributed more than 1,500 new jobs to the state. Jacobson himself has been credited with facilitating these moves, with Mainebiz specifically citing him as the reason athenahealth chose to move to Belfast, ME rather than Burlington, VT.[6]

Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative

In 2014 Jacobson was selected to lead the newly formed Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. According to the Bangor Daily News, "The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative was formed in 2013 to replace the Maine Lobster Promotion Council. The new entity has more representation for fishermen on the board and, more significantly, has a much bigger budget. The old council had an annual budget of a few hundred thousand dollars but the new entity will have a budget that will rise to $2.25 million by 2016. The increase in funding for the state’s lobster marketing efforts is necessary in order to compete with other global seafood marketing campaigns, industry officials have said."