Meet Austin Williams: Connecting Maine’s Blue Economy to New Opportunities

As Director of the Maine Blue Economy Center, Austin Williams brings a background in strategic partnerships, economic development, higher education, and workforce development to one of Maine’s most promising areas of opportunity.

His career has taken him from helping launch business development at WeWork to leading economic development initiatives in the Boston Mayor’s Office and, ultimately, to Maine, where he has spent the past several years helping build connections across the state’s innovation ecosystem.

Through the Maine Blue Economy Center and his work with the Maine Technology Institute (MTI), Williams is focused on a familiar challenge: bringing people, ideas, and opportunities together to help Maine grow.

Why Maine

Williams has been bullish on Maine’s innovation potential for years. His first opportunity to influence that potential came in 2020, when he joined the newly announced Roux Institute.

What drew him to Maine then is the same thing that continues to energize him today.

“Maine wants Maine to succeed. Folks care about their neighbors, they lean in, they offer a hand,” he says. “That’s the DNA of MTI through and through.”

For Williams, Maine’s collaborative culture is more than a nice quality of life. It’s a competitive advantage.

The state has a strong network of people and organizations working to advance innovation, economic development, and entrepreneurship. The opportunity now, he believes, is to connect those efforts in ways that create even greater impact.

Building the Blue Economy Center

As Director of the Maine Blue Economy Center, Williams is still in the early stages of shaping what the Center will become.

His first priority has been listening.

“The days are evolving as we speak, but my first sprint at MTI and with the Blue Economy Center has been focused on constituent conversations,” he says. “Every opinion, idea, constraint, and story matters right now, and will shape the initiatives that the Center leads next.”

That approach reflects a broader philosophy that has shaped Williams’ career: meaningful economic development starts with understanding the people and places involved.

The Blue Economy Center has an opportunity to bring together Maine’s strengths in marine industries, research, technology, entrepreneurship, and economic development—and turn that collective energy into strategies and action.

“The consensus that led to the creation of the Blue Economy Center is in many ways true for our broader innovation ecosystem,” Williams says. “There’s a tremendous amount of excitement and activity in the state, but an opportunity to harness it into named strategies and bold, massive action.”

From Partnerships to Economic Development

Williams’ career has consistently centered on creating connections and identifying opportunities.

He helped start the business development team at WeWork in the 2010s, an experience that sparked his interest in economic development as a field. He later joined the Boston Mayor’s Office, where he led attraction and engagement strategies around the city’s three economic pillars: life sciences, high technology, and startups.

That experience eventually brought him back to Maine, where his work expanded into higher education, workforce development, and economic growth.

Through it all, one theme has remained constant.

“The through line has always been people and place, and a motivation to build bridges where they didn’t exist.”

That perspective informs how Williams approaches his work with entrepreneurs, companies, institutions, and communities today. For him, economic development isn’t simply about attracting investment or growing individual companies. It’s about creating the relationships and infrastructure that allow opportunities to take root and grow.

Why MTI Matters

Williams sees MTI as an important example of what sustained investment in an innovation ecosystem can accomplish.

“In a world that seems to change by the day, MTI has passed the test of time over three decades,” he says. “Its goals for innovation enablement, facilitation, and economic impact are as steadfast now as they were at the turn of the millennium.”

That institutional knowledge is particularly valuable for an initiative like the Blue Economy Center, which is just beginning its journey.

For Williams, MTI’s long history means the Center doesn’t have to start from scratch. It can build on decades of relationships, experience, and understanding of Maine’s innovation community.

What Gets Him Excited About Innovation

When Williams encounters an entrepreneur or company with a big idea, he looks for two things: ambition and seriousness.

“I love big swings, and I love seriousness,” he says. “The company, team, or founder who can’t help but vibrate with passion for their domain is infectious to me.”

But passion alone isn’t enough.

Williams is particularly energized when founders choose to build a future in Maine.

“When they’re voting with their feet to anchor that energy in Maine, I want to move mountains to help them succeed.”

That commitment to Maine is part of what makes the state’s innovation ecosystem distinctive—and part of what Williams hopes to strengthen through his work.

An Ecosystem That Shows Up

Williams’ clearest memory of MTI’s impact isn’t tied to a single company or defining moment. Instead, it came through a series of small observations.

When he first joined the Roux Institute, he found that nearly every company he encountered seemed to have had some positive experience with or support from MTI.

“I’d attend an event, look at the sponsor card, and see MTI at the top,” he recalls.

To Williams, those repeated encounters signaled something important: Maine had an institution that consistently embraced its innovation community.

“It indicated to me early on that there was an institutional body that was always showing up for Maine’s ecosystem.”

Advice for Maine Innovators

Williams has two pieces of advice that he returns to frequently.

The first is simple: get out of the building.

He encourages entrepreneurs to meet customers, partners, and competitors, absorb what they learn with genuine curiosity, and repeat the process regularly.

The second is to make a friend of failure.

The idea of “standing on the shoulders of giants,” he points out, applies not only to the successes that came before us, but also to the failures.

“How can we learn from those moments where we tried and fell short?” he asks. “How do we ensure those lessons are celebrated and not feared?”

For Williams, innovation depends on a willingness to experiment, learn, and try again.

Creating Faster Connections

If Williams could solve one challenge for Maine entrepreneurs overnight, he would make it easier for them to navigate the state’s vast network of knowledge and relationships.

He has observed that an incredible amount of Maine’s shared knowledge and connective tissue is held collectively by individuals.

That’s a strength in many ways. In Maine, the person who can help is often “one call away.”

But those connections can also require time and effort to navigate.

“Playing telephone across eight individuals can be frustrating,” he says.

Williams sees an opportunity to centralize resources so entrepreneurs can find the right solutions more quickly.

“I’d like to see us find new ways to centralize intelligence, capabilities, and relationships, such that our entrepreneurs always have the fastest path to value.”

Looking Beyond the Horizon

For Williams, Maine’s blue economy represents more than a single sector. It’s part of a larger opportunity to turn the state’s existing strengths into bold, coordinated strategies for growth.

Maine already has tremendous activity across its innovation ecosystem. The next step is connecting those efforts, identifying opportunities for collaboration, and taking action at a scale that matches the state’s ambitions.

The Blue Economy Center is just beginning that work.

With Williams’ focus on partnerships, people, and place, the Center has an opportunity to help Maine’s marine industries and innovation community build new connections—and turn the state’s blue economy potential into lasting economic impact.

Vida fora do escritório

For Williams, the ocean is never far away.

He can hear it from his home 365 days a year, a reminder of the environment that plays such an important role in both his work and his life.

“Getting into the water, tidepools, and onto the shoreline with our two children is just about a perfect day for me.”

He also believes the best way to experience Maine is simply to say “yes” more often.

There’s always another road to explore, another place to discover, or another reason to get outside.

“I’ve never regretted a day on the road in Maine.”

Music is another important part of Williams’ life. He played several instruments growing up and tries to attend live shows whenever he can. His musical tastes change with the seasons, and right now he’s entering what he calls his “Jeffrey Martin” time of year.

His ideal Maine weekend is simple: get on his children’s level, see the world through their eyes, read some Wendell Berry or Mary Oliver, have a few coffees, and bike to the beach.

For Williams, that connection to place is inseparable from his work.

Whether he’s building partnerships, listening to Maine innovators, or exploring the shoreline with his family, he remains focused on the same goal: helping Maine’s people, communities, and ideas find new ways to connect—and creating the conditions for them to thrive.