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<\/a>Andrew Patneaude, a Pratt & Whitney employee, grabs lunch for himself and coworkers at Allard\u2019s Market & Deli in North Berwick. (Brianna Soukup\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\nAll told, there are about 300 defense contractors in Maine, including companies that provide cleaning and food services to military programs, in addition to the well-known players such as Pratt & Whitney, General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in nearby Kittery.<\/p>\n
Allard\u2019s Market is among hundreds of additional businesses that benefited indirectly from $4.6 billion that the U.S. Department of Defense spent in Maine in the 2024 budget year, according to the most recent data from the federal Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation.<\/p>\n
That was 4.7% of the state\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP), putting Maine at No. 9 in the nation by that measure. It\u2019s an investment of outsized importance to the state\u2019s economy, especially since Maine\u2019s share of total U.S. defense spending was just 0.6 % and ranked No. 31 nationally. The ripple effect of that cash infusion benefits hundreds of other businesses and over 20,000 Maine workers \u2014 and experts say there\u2019s opportunity for growth. <\/p>\n
Other states win much larger defense contracts. Companies in top-billing Virginia (No. 1), Connecticut (No. 7) and Alabama (No. 10) had defense contracts totaling $54 billion, $19 billion and $13 billion, respectively. Maine\u2019s defense contracts totaled $3.6 billion in the 2024 budget year, excluding military grants and payroll.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not a Connecticut, Alabama or Virginia,\u201d said Andy Roy, executive director of the Maine Defense Industry Alliance. \u201cBut defense spending is an incredibly valuable and important part of our overall economy in Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It has been incredibly important to Allard\u2019s Market for nearly four decades.<\/p>\n \u201cWorkers from Pratt & Whitney have been a big part of our business through the years,\u201d Tom Allard said as he dropped chicken fingers into a deep-fryer. \u201cWe get a significant amount of traffic from the Navy yard, too.\u201d<\/p>\n PULSE OF LIFE IN NORTH BERWICK<\/p>\n Pratt & Whitney and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are two of the largest employers of people living in southern Maine and New Hampshire.<\/p>\n The shipyard, which maintains and repairs Navy submarines, had a civilian payroll of $762 million for nearly 6,800 workers in 2024, according to the Seacoast Shipyard Association. Nearly 4,600 of those workers lived in Maine and were paid $433 million.<\/p>\n The shipyard also is where Cianbro, based in Pittsfield, is leading a multiyear, $1.8 billion upgrade as a Navy contractor, adding two dry docks to three already operating at the facility.<\/p>\n Workers at the shipyard and Pratt & Whitney set the pulse of life in North Berwick. About 230 employees of each facility live in the town of 5,300, said Town Manager Dwayne Morin.<\/p>\n Sidewalks through town have been upgraded to accommodate Pratt & Whitney\u2019s noontime wellness walks. The plant on Route 9 stretches over 1 million square feet, which the company says is the largest manufacturing facility under one roof in Maine. When shifts change in the afternoon, the town\u2019s main drag becomes a parking lot. But the sense of the company\u2019s impact stretches around the globe.<\/p>\n \u201cPratt & Whitney isn\u2019t just important to our economy,\u201d Morin said. \u201cThey actually keep America flying all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n FRAYED FEELINGS ABOUT DEFENSE WORK<\/p>\n Defense spending in Maine has drawn more attention lately as the widely unpopular <\/a>war with Iran shades the hotly contested race between five-term U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who heads appropriations, and Democrat Graham Platner, a Marine Corps veteran who served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n Maine\u2019s congressional delegation generally jostles for credit<\/a> in supporting defense contractors, but public sentiment has frayed over military spending amid a war that Congress hasn\u2019t authorized and widespread cuts to other federal programs by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Barbara Dee has always been proud of Maine\u2019s shipbuilding heritage, from the World War II Liberty ships built where she lives in South Portland, to the modern destroyers built at Bath Iron Works<\/a>. Her father, a Maine native, worked for 40 years at General Dynamics-Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, where they build Navy submarines.<\/p>\n Now, she\u2019s organizing regular public protests in South Portland against the Trump administration, including one on June 27 that drew about 50 people. She\u2019s particularly upset that the name of the defense department has been changed to Department of War.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so provoking,\u201d said Dee, a retired educator. \u201cEverything they do is so provoking. But I don\u2019t know what we\u2019d do without BIW. It\u2019s such an important part of our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n THE BROAD REACH OF BIW<\/p>\n For Sara Graves, 26, working as a marine electrician at BIW is continuing a tradition of military service in her family. A Bath resident who recently moved from Auburn, she\u2019s been pulling cable on Navy destroyers for over five years, leaving behind a job as a preschool teacher for better pay and benefits.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard work \u2014 hot in the summer and cold in the winter \u2014 but she loves it.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing on the boats themselves, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it,\u201d Graves said while shopping at J\u2019adore Consignment in downtown Bath before her shift. \u201cBecause I know they\u2019re going to house our Navy and they need to be safe, so we need to make sure we\u2019re doing a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n BIW employs over 6,800 people, who were paid a total of $508 million in 2025, according to company reports. Their average annual wage was $75,000 \u2014 well above the state average of $63,000 to $65,000 for all industries and the manufacturing average of $71,000.<\/p>\n They live all over Maine, including workers who commute by the vanload and some who stay nearby with friends during the week and head home on weekends.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re the largest employer in Sabattus,\u201d said David Hench, company spokesperson, noting the concentration of 161 BIW workers in the Androscoggin County town of 5,500, about 25 miles north of Bath.<\/p>\n In 2025, BIW spent $122 million with 246 vendors and suppliers across Maine, sharing some of the $2.1 billion in defense contracts that were awarded in fiscal 2023 to the shipyard and General Dynamics-Ordinance and Tactical Systems in Saco, formerly Saco Defense Corp.<\/p>\n BIW\u2019s impact is most apparent in Bath, where the company\u2019s industrial cranes dominate the skyline. It paid $8.7 million in property taxes last year \u2014 about 25% of the city\u2019s tax base.<\/p>\n \u201cOur tax base is heavily reliant on BIW,\u201d said Betsy Rode, 75, a sales clerk at J\u2019adore Consignment. \u201cSo many of the things we have in this community are because of them.\u201d<\/p>\n The company is spending $60 million to build a six-story, 940-space parking garage<\/a>, expand its surface parking and make other road improvements to help solve transportation problems near the shipyard.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also collaborating with the Navy and a housing developer to build a $20 million, 84-unit apartment complex<\/a> for BIW workers that\u2019s expected to open mid-2027. And it\u2019s working with the Navy and the YMCA to invest $13 million in local childcare resources, with 150 spaces reserved for children of shipbuilders.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n SMALL BUSINESSES ADVANCE IN DEFENSE<\/p>\n Most defense contractors in Maine are smaller companies, such as Howell Laboratories in Bridgton. Founded in 1964, it has 50 employees and makes air dehydration and water treatment systems for Navy and Coast Guard surface ships.<\/p>\n In 2024, Howell purchased ODAT Machine, a precision machine shop in Gorham with 25 employees that makes parts for Navy submarines. Tucked away in a business park off Route 25, the employee-owned company is a Level 1 certified defense contractor.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means we\u2019ve proven we can meet those requirements, so we\u2019re on a list of select suppliers,\u201d said Joseph McDonnell, Howell\u2019s president and CEO. <\/p>\n Howell has received over $8.2 million in defense contracts in the last five years. It recently spent nearly $2 million on several programmable machines to upgrade and accelerate production \u2014 paid for by the Navy. One room-size machine laser cuts sheet metal, and two smaller machines are multi-function lathes that produce precision parts.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was costing us a lot of money to get our sheet metal down outside, and there were long wait times,\u201d McDonnell said. \u201cThe Navy is worried about contractors going out of business, so we were able to convince them to make this investment in us.\u201d<\/p>\n Alan Roberge, head of ALR Electromechanical in Saco, was fine-tuning Howell\u2019s new lathes last week. He specializes in setting up and maintaining computer numerical controlled machines across northern New England, including the major defense contractors.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there are a lot of smaller shops doing work for defense,\u201d he said, \u201cand they\u2019re crucial to our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n STEERING DEFENSE INVESTMENT IN MAINE<\/p>\n More than a dozen state, regional or federal agencies are working to sustain and grow Maine\u2019s military-based economy.<\/p>\n Leading the pack lately is the Maine Defense Industry Alliance<\/a>, formed in 2024 and funded by the Navy to coordinate defense spending and workforce development in the state. It includes the top defense contractors; the state\u2019s community college and university systems; and the state departments of education, labor and economic development.<\/p>\n The alliance just completed its first project: the $6.5 million Center for Manufacturing Excellence at York County Community College in Sanford. The federally funded facility<\/a> includes four industrial training labs for welding, machining, pipefitting and mechanics that will train workers for Maine\u2019s defense industries and advanced manufacturing.<\/p>\n \u201cA broad array of students are interested in the practical application of science, but not all of them want to pursue a four-year degree,\u201d said David Daigler, president of the community college system and chair of the defense industry alliance. \u201cMaine\u2019s defense contractors offer high-paying jobs with good benefits, but you can\u2019t just walk in off the street into those jobs. The center will prepare workers for those jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n In May, Maine officials announced the creation of the Defense and Manufacturing Training Fund<\/a> to disperse nearly $7.9 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to train new and current workers in defense shipbuilding and advanced manufacturing.<\/p>\n MAINE IS RIPE FOR MORE DEFENSE INVESTMENT<\/p>\n Maine\u2019s manufacturing heritage, tightly connected communities and positive work attitude are key reasons the state has developed a strong defense industry.<\/p>\n That\u2019s Jack Lesko\u2019s impression after five years as director of engineering research at The Roux Institute of Northeastern University. Before that he was an engineering professor and researcher for 32 years at Virginia Tech, working with the Navy and companies such as Rolls Royce and Airbus on advanced manufacturing technologies and materials.<\/p>\n Lesko grew familiar with Maine\u2019s industrial landscape while consulting with companies involved in UMaine\u2019s Advanced Manufacturing Center. He\u2019s also Roux\u2019s representative to the Maine Defense Industry Alliance.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is something about Maine that is so different from other places I\u2019ve worked,\u201d Lesko said. \u201cMainers know how to roll up their sleeves and do what it takes to get it done. There\u2019s a sense of community here that is absolutely profound. Some people here have 20 to 30 years of service with one company. That culture is not easy to find, and it\u2019s the special sauce for company success.\u201d<\/p>\n Lesko believes that Maine is ripe to expand its defense and advanced manufacturing \u2014 and that military investment can be a great driver of innovation and growth across all industries. He points to the state\u2019s manufacturing productivity, which has shown slight but meaningful gains in recent years based on early investments in automation and workforce training, he said.<\/p>\n<\/a>A Bath Iron Works ship seen from South End Park in Bath. (Brianna Soukup\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n<\/a>Tom Allard and Jen Schofield make lunches behind the counter at Allard\u2019s Market & Deli in North Berwick. (Brianna Soukup\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n<\/a>An employee works on a jet engine at Pratt & Whitney in North Berwick. (Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n<\/a>Dwayne Morin, town manger of North Berwick, looks at an economic impact report on Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. (Brianna Soukup\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n<\/a>Residents hold signs during a protest June 27 along Broadway and Erskine Park in South Portland. (Kelley Bouchard\/Staff Writer)<\/p>\n<\/a>Sara Graves, a marine electrician a Bath Iron Works, is interviewed while shopping at J\u2019adore Consignment in downtown Bath. (Brianna Soukup\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n<\/a>A Bath Iron Works crane seen from Front Street in downtown Bath. (Brianna Soukup\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n<\/a>Sara Graves, a marine electrician a Bath Iron Works, chats with sales clerk Betsy Rode, left, at J\u2019adore Consignment in downtown Bath. (Brianna Soukup\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n<\/a>Ryan McCauley, vice president of operations, stands before a new laser sheet metal machine at ODAT Machine, a division of Howell Laboratories in Gorham. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n<\/a>Hayden Wielki, an intern who is studying electrical engineering at the University of Southern Maine, operates a collaborative robot at ODAT Machine, a division of Howell Laboratories in Gorham. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n<\/a>Ryan MCauley, vice president of operations, holds an elbow pipe made for a Navy submarine at ODAT Machine, a division of Howell Laboratories in Gorham. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n