Maine For Keeps

Lt. Nick Goodman has been a cop in Portland for over 20 years.He’s run narcotics stings. Solved cold cases. Led Portland’s SWAT team through high-risk raids and manhunts. He’s watched the city change, from a place where gunfire made headlines to a place where “another shooting” barely raises eyebrows.This episode is a raw, unfiltered look at what public safety in Maine actually looks like today (and what it will take to turn things around).We cover:Why Portland went from 1–2 shootings a year to 60–70The real reason police recruitment is collapsingWhat happens when jails stop taking violent offendersWhy COVID still haunts Maine’s courts, streets, and police departmentsHow “well-meaning” laws backfire in ways few people understandWhat a Vegas man did to get a heart transplant in PortlandWhy tech silos make Maine a playground for repeat offendersAnd what Lt. Goodman believes Maine’s next governor must do right nowWe also explore a bigger question: what happens when systems stop working and the people inside them still try to show up?This is not a pro-police or anti-police episode. It’s a pro-reality episode.And it’s one of the most urgent conversations we’ve had on Maine For Keeps.🎧 Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.📍 Subscribe for weekly episodes on the future of our state.

Charlie Baker has a reputation for making big, complex institutions actually work. As governor of Massachusetts, he was consistently ranked the most popular governor in America, running one of the bluest states as a Republican without getting bogged down in partisanship. Today, he’s the president of the NCAA, steering college sports through its most turbulent era.In this conversation, Baker shares the same pragmatic playbook that guided him through both roles: results matter more than rhetoric, and time is money. If it takes five years to permit housing or six years to approve energy, you’re paying for it in higher rents, higher power bills, and lost opportunities.We talk about what states like Maine can learn from Massachusetts’ turnaround under Baker’s watch: fixing the relationship with cities and towns, treating time as a cost driver, and giving communities the flexibility to actually move. We also touch on his leadership philosophy: building coalitions, keeping public trust, and staying focused on outcomes.In this episode, you’ll learn:- Why time is the hidden driver of housing and energy costs- How to lower the cost of living by fixing state–local processes instead of just writing checks- Why ownership opportunities matter more than subsidies in housing policy- How Baker used a simple “menu” approach to let cities bundle grants and revitalize downtowns- What bipartisan leadership looks like when the goal is results, not headlines- The leadership lessons Baker carries from Massachusetts into his role as president of the NCAAIf you care about building more, paying less, and leading with results, this conversation with Charlie Baker is a masterclass in pragmatic statecraft. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Maine’s rural communities have a healthcare problem — too few providers, too much distance, and too many people falling through the cracks. But what if the solution was already parked in your town, sirens off, waiting for the next call?In this episode, Jonathan Bush sits down with Dr. Jonathan Busko (emergency physician and EMS innovator), Dr. Charles Burger (primary care pioneer), and Jeff Brown (systems safety consultant turned healthcare reformer) to talk about a game-changing idea: community paramedicine.It’s a model that trains EMTs and paramedics to do more than respond to emergencies — from checking meds and following up after hospital visits to spotting home hazards and facilitating telehealth. The result?Lower costs per patient visitEarlier intervention for high-risk patientsNew career pathways that keep healthcare talent in rural townsThey dig into how Maine is making community paramedicine legal, what it will take to make it normal, and why the collapse of primary care might be our chance to build something better.This isn’t just about saving rural hospitals — it’s about designing a system that keeps people healthier, closer to home, and out of the ER. And if Maine gets it right, the rest of the country will be watching.Listen to the full conversation now on Maine For Keeps, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Ohad Maiman is one of the most visionary figures in modern aquaculture. After successfully launching The Kingfish Company in the Netherlands (one of the world’s most sustainable land-based aquaculture operations) he set his sights on the U.S. market. His goal: bring clean, tech-enabled fish farming to rural Maine. His promise: a $200M investment, 80+ jobs, local hiring, low emissions, and zero impact on wild fisheries.He had the permits. He had the support of the community in Jonesport. He had capital ready to deploy.And then, the appeals began.In this episode, Ohad joins Jonathan Bush to tell the full story: how a green project with local backing and global relevance was delayed, discredited, and ultimately derailed not by policy, but by process.You’ll learn:Why land-based aquaculture could transform Maine’s rural economyWhy land-based aquaculture could transform Maine’s rural economyWho really stood to lose from Kingfish USA—and who worked to block itWhat other states and countries are doing right that Maine is getting wrongWhat policy reforms could help Maine compete in the futureIt’s a cautionary tale (and a roadmap for future Maine entrepreneurs).Ohad has since launched new ventures, as the Founder and Managing Partner at AquaFounders Capital, aimed at solving the aquaculture bottleneck globally. But his story in Maine still holds powerful lessons for what’s possible (and what’s holding us back).Because if we want Maine to lead, we need to make “yes” mean something again.Listen now on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

How do you fix a government system that punishes truth-tellers, hides behind confidentiality laws, and fails the very people it’s supposed to protect?In this episode, former Maine Secretary of State and longtime legislator Bill Diamond joins Jonathan Bush for a sobering look at what’s really happening inside Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) — the agency responsible for child protection.Bill shares the heartbreaking case that changed the course of his life, the culture of fear that’s silencing frontline workers, and why so many foster parents are walking away from a system that’s supposed to support them.This episode covers:How 148 children have died under DHHS involvement in just 5 yearsWhy foster families are quitting—and what it’s costing MaineThe massive failures of OCFS, Maine’s Office of Child and Family ServicesWhat Bill learned from attending child homicide trials across the stateCommon-sense reforms that every future Maine governor must act onWhy Walk a Mile in Their Shoes is fighting to bring transparency to DHHSThe broken technology system (Katahdin) wasting time and jeopardizing safetyAnd why simply admitting there’s a problem could be the first step toward fixing itIt’s one of the most important and revealing conversations we’ve had on Maine For Keeps.Listen now on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

When athenahealth opened a small office in Belfast, Maine, no one expected it to become one of the state’s largest private employers. But under the leadership of Jonathan McDevitt, that office grew from a couple hundred people to nearly 1,000—creating real career paths in a rural community that had long been overlooked.In this episode, Jonathan Bush sits down with Jonathan McDevitt, former Senior VP at athenahealth, to talk about:What it really takes to scale a high-growth company in small-town MaineWhy word-of-mouth—not headhunters—was their most powerful recruiting toolHow Maine’s “hidden talent” could become its greatest economic assetThe workforce challenge no one can solve: 9% of young men not working, not in school, not even lookingWhy the next economic boom may come from the people already here—if we know how to activate themIf you care about innovation, rural revitalization, or building companies in Maine that actually last, this is one you don’t want to miss.Subscribe for more unfiltered conversations about Maine’s future.

What happens when the boats disappear, the buyers retire, and the next generation doesn’t come back?In this raw and revealing conversation, Jonathan Bush sits down with Martin Molloy—a Navy vet turned legendary lobster buyer—to unpack what’s really happening to Maine’s working waterfront.They talk about the hard truths behind the decline in young lobstermen, the quiet collapse of Matinicus and North Haven’s fleets, and why labor shortages, pricing pressure from Canadian seasons, and outdated state policies are making survival harder than ever.But they also spotlight what’s still working—and what might save the fishery.Key themes include:How Matinicus went from 20 boats to 10—and what that says about the futureWhy Maine lobstermen are struggling to find crew (and how “Probation Point” became a labor pool)The market dynamics driving lobster prices from $9.50 to $5 in weeksThe cultural tension between stewardship, competition, and survivalWhat aquaculture and bait diversification are teaching us about adaptationThis isn’t just a story about lobster.It’s a story about rural economies, generational handoffs, and whether Maine can hold onto the soul of its coastal identity.⏱️ Chapters:00:00 – Matinicus memories and how they met04:00 – What a lobster buyer really does06:00 – The Navy, the transition, and family legacy13:00 – The decline of the island fleets16:00 – The labor shortage no one’s solving22:00 – Why Canadian supply crushes Maine’s lobster price27:00 – The lost opportunity in processing and exports32:00 – The case for diversification (bait, mussels, aquaculture)35:00 – Reflections on stewardship, policy, and the fight to stay in businessSubscribe for weekly conversations on the real challenges and future of Maine’s economy.🎧 Search Maine For Keeps wherever you get your podcasts.

Maine is a state built on small businesses—so why did Forbes rank us 45th out of 50 for small business friendliness?In this episode of Maine For Keeps, Jonathan Bush sits down with Nate Cloutier, government affairs director for Hospitality Maine, to unpack the absurd barriers holding back Maine’s restaurant, hotel, and tourism industries—from soda fountain laws still on the books, to family leave mandates that punish seasonal businesses.They discuss:⛔ Why running a coffee shop in Maine could get you fined for not having a soda fountain💸 How well-intentioned policies push employers underground🍽️ The surprising apprenticeship programs fueling Maine’s food scene🏠 Why lack of workforce housing is Maine tourism’s #2 bottleneck📉 And how regulatory red tape is stifling growth in one of Maine’s most essential sectorsThis episode is a must-watch for anyone who wants to see Maine actually support the small businesses it claims to champion.🔔 Subscribe to Maine For Keeps and never miss an episode: www.maineforkeepspodcast.com📌 Timestamps:00:00 – Nate’s backstory: from French teacher to policy advocate03:20 – The economic footprint of tourism in Maine06:30 – How Maine became a food destination08:30 – Why young people aren’t staying in Maine11:00 – Family leave and seasonal work don’t mix14:00 – Maine’s “whiteboard of shame” for small business laws21:00 – Can we make it easier to start a restaurant?27:00 – Why workforce housing is the key to Maine’s future33:00 – The mindset shift Maine desperately needs