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Searsport, like many other towns in Waldo County, has felt the impacts of changing economic tides, and so has Thorndike, where I live. Our once-thriving industries have consistently shrunk or closed over the last 50 years, taking thousands of good jobs with them. We need new opportunities to steer our working families and communities toward prosperity.
The offshore wind industry promises to do just that. By investing locally in a state-of-the-art port to support the assembly and maintenance of offshore wind turbines, we could reinvigorate local economies and provide our residents with stable, high-quality employment opportunities leading to lifelong careers.
This would be a game changer for my family and so many other families in this area. Right now I’m lucky to be traveling only 45 minutes to work, but that’s one of the shortest commutes to a job site I’ve had in my career as a union ironworker. Far more common is traveling over two hours in one direction or spending my weeknights in a hotel room away from my family. Nearly everyone I know in town and surrounding areas has to drive a ways to make a living.
With a wind port in Searsport, we could spend less time on the road and more time with my family. Decades of good-paying construction and manufacturing jobs would change the local economy for the better.
Chad Ward
Thorndike
