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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 N OV E M B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 7 From the Editor For a daily digest of Maine's top business 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 A family commitment took us to Indianapolis recently. My GPS also made the trek and it, like us, struggled to grasp all the new construction and new neighborhoods and towns. e landscape, straight as a ruler, is dotted with construction cranes, brand new shopping centers, new highways — and, to the confusion of my GPS, numer- ous new roundabouts. A map wouldn't be of much use because so much of Indianapolis is so new. One village, WestClay in the northern suburb of Carmel, has an honest-to-God New England town square surrounded by historic-looking houses — and yet much of the 719-acre New Urbanist haven is less than a decade old. e village was settled in 2000. With construction all around, it's very much a work in progress. e median list price for a home is $699,900. Indy is home to Anthem, Eli Lilly, the Simon Property Group, Lucas Oil Stadium, an industry built around major sporting events like the Final Four and Big 10 Tournament and a slew of manu- facturers, from the highly publicized Carrier plant to an aerospace plant owned by Rolls Royce. rough family I met someone who owned a small manufacturing plant. We exchanged introduc- tions and he told me he'd recently hired a Mainer who was seeking better pay and more opportunity. Sounds familiar, right? e man moved his family from Maine and he was happy with his job and his kids were happy with their new school. Now this manufacturer had a simple expla- nation for the disparity between Indianapolis's growth and Maine's. I'm paraphrasing, but the gist of what he said was this: "In Indiana, we have plenty of open land. It's fl at, so you just plow it down and build. Maine is beautiful. Maine's more the type of place I'd like to retire." ere you have it, folks. While no one here would ever wish for the rapid expansion of Indianapolis, it wouldn't hurt to have just a bit of that growth. Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz Cranes, planes and automobiles UMaine president among MDF honorees Maine Development Foundation honored three Maine compa- nies as "champions of economic develop- ment' and presented its annual Kenneth M. Curtis Leadership Award to University of Maine President Susan J. Hunter. The award is named in honor of the former Maine governor and given annually to a graduate of MDF's Leadership Maine program. www.mainebiz.biz/mdfawards Back to the drawing board Although LD 1650, An Act To Amend the Marijuana Legalization Act, originally passed by strong margins, the bill failed to reach the two-thirds support needed to override Gov. Paul LePage's veto — due to the majority of House Republicans opposing the measure in the 74–62 override vote. To find out more go to mainebiz.biz/nextsteps Top grades for 11 Maine hospitals In the Leapfrog Group's latest national survey of hospital safety, 16 acute-care hospitals in Maine were graded and 11 were awarded an "A", the high- est letter grade, demonstrating their commitment to safe care. Several hospitals improved their rat- ings and three — Cary Medical Center, Inland Hospital and Mid Coast Hospital — have each maintained an 'A' rating since Leapfrog began reporting hospital safety grades in 2012. To find out more go to mainebiz.biz/hospitalsafety Be smart. BE SHUR. bernsteinshur.com When you want a law firm t hat puts your interests before [h]ours. In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of In Indiana, we have plenty of open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just open land. It's flat, so you just plow it down and build. Maine is beautiful. Maine's more the type of place I'd like to retire.

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