Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 N OV E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 1 9 Own your retirement with a healthy smile protected by high-quality dental insurance at an affordable price. DeltaDentalCoversMe.com YOUR TEETH NEVER RETIRE. PROTECT THEM WITH SMILE POWER! NEDD_1_2 PAGE_ Senior V3.indd 1 8/19/19 8:06 AM In a major election year, Maine will host 2020 governors' conference B y M a i n e b i z S t a f f F or the first time since 1983, Maine will host the annual summer meeting of the National Governors Association, next year in Portland. The gathering, scheduled for Aug. 5-7, 2020, was last held in Maine's largest city when Gov. Joseph Brennan was in office. Next year's summer meeting will coincide with Maine's bicentennial and the 100th anniversary of national women's suffrage. It also comes on the eve of the 2020 presiden- tial election, and the three-day event will likely be at the center of the political conversation. It will be sandwiched between the Democratic National Convention, which will be July 13-16 in Milwaukee, and the Republican National Convention, which will be Aug. 24-27 in Charlotte, N.C. This year's meeting of the 55 governors was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, and past years' have been in Providence, R.I., and Santa Fe, N.M. With the governors in Portland, it will be Maine's turn in the spotlight — which might prompt some presidential candidates to make stump stops here and bring other attention. It's an "incredible opportunity for our city and state," said Quincy Hentzel, president and CEO of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce. The meeting will heat up demand for hotel rooms in what is already Maine's peak tourism season. Visit Portland President and CEO Lynn Tillotson said it's hard to put a price on the exposure that both Portland and Maine will receive from the conference. "Visit Portland is excited to show the U.S. that we can host a world-class conference in our city and state," she said. A venue for the conference has not been cho- sen, James Nash, a spokesperson for the National Governors Association, told Mainebiz. The group is in negotiations with a few Portland venues around hosting the meeting and associated events. The previous three governors' meetings averaged $1.5 million in economic activity, including room stays and direct spending by attendees and exhibitors, Nash said. In a statement, Gov. Janet Mills expressed excite- ment about hosting fellow governors in Maine. "When I took office, it was important to me that Maine engage with the nation's governors to demon- strate that they would have a partner in tackling the serious issues confronting us," she said. "Since then, I have joined Democratic and Republican governors from across the country to focus on health care, the opioid crisis, the economy, transportation and National Guard issues." P O L I T I C S & C O. [It's an] incredible opportunity for our city and state. — Quincy Hentzel Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F L I V E + WO R K I N M A I N E Portland

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