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V I E W P O I N T S W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 3 A U G U S T 2 4 , 2 0 1 5 For a daily digest of Maine's top busi- ness news, sign up for the Mainebiz Daily Report at mainebiz.biz/enews Get Maine's business news daily at mainebiz.biz and on Twitter (@Mainebiz). Below is some of the best from our online-only offerings: Featured @ Mainebiz.biz Software firm grows in Hallowell Blue Marble Geographics is moving into a bigger office building in Hallowell this fall as the software company con- tinues to grow the sales of its afford- able global mapping tool. Find out how the company plans to expand at mainebiz.biz/BlueMarble Tidal opportunities A subsidiary of Portland's Ocean Renewable Power Co. has been selected by Ireland's Sustainable Energy Authority to conduct a feasibility assessment to identify tidal energy opportunities suit- able for development in the coastal waters of County Donegal, Ireland. Learn more at mainebiz.biz/Ireland From the Editor D epending on where you are in Maine, you may hear this more often than other places: Maine's young people are leaving at an alarming rate. Not only that, but there are thousands fewer than even a decade ago. At the peak in the 1970s, there were 250,000 students in the state's public schools. By 1998, there were just under 215,000, and by the 2012-13 school year the number declined to 185,767, according to the Maine Department of Education. We all know young people who left Maine the fi rst chance they got, seeking education, a job or a new life in cities around the globe. Which is well and good. Every young person should have that opportunity. Yet I am encouraged by the number of business- people I've met who left Maine in their teens or twenties and, after successful careers elsewhere, decided to come back. ere are numerous examples: Gena Canning, a managing partner at Pine State Trading Co. (and one of Mainebiz's "Women to Watch"); Curtis Simard, president and CEO of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust; and Gregory A. Dufour, president and CEO of Camden National Bank, to name just a few. Senior Writer Lori Valigra and I recently had lunch with Greg Dufour. e Old Town native is a good exam- ple of someone who went away to college — in Texas — then worked there and started his family there. Eventually, because of opportunity but also a desire to return to his native state, he came back. Since 2009, he has led Camden National, which with the acquisition of e Bank of Maine, will be the largest Maine-based bank. Dufour is also an example of someone who has made the state better. e Rockport resident saw that even in a seemingly affl uent area like Camden and Rockport there were pockets of poverty. At Dufour's urging, Camden National earlier this year launched a program to aid homeless shelters. For each mortgage the bank writes, it donates $100 to a local homeless shelter. To date, it has written more than $10,000 in checks to shelters. Young ex-Mainers are out in the world gaining skills on other people's nickel, and we applaud them for it. But there are companies here that are growing that need people with knowledge and diverse skills. ere are also opportunities for entrepreneurs — programs, services and local businesses — that are in demand here. So, you can come home again — and you'll be welcomed. Along those lines, our Bass Harbor-based correspondent, Laurie Schreiber, has become our education reporter of late. In the last issue, she wrote about Maine Maritime Academy students who were gaining management expe- rience through a program run by Bangor Savings Bank. In this issue, she talks to Edward Sihler, assistant director of the Maine Cyber Security Cluster at the University of Southern Maine. He is leading an eff ort to train students in real-world situations, creating work-ready graduates. We hope that those graduates will be able to fi nd work in Maine. If they don't, for now, we'll welcome back those who left when they ready to return. Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz Hold on, young Mainer: You can come home again Orono! A smart idea. The Orono Economic Development Corp. can help www.oronoedc.org Learn more: www.townoforono.com Join entrepreneurs at Target Technology Center Find space at Maine Tech Park and Downtown Pitch at Big Gig Learn about Ultra High Speed Fiber An inside look Get a digest of the state's largest commercial real estate transactions, industry movers and more in our weekly Real Estate Insider newsletter. Sign up at mainebiz.biz/enews.

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