Meet Scott Kleiman: Cultivating Maine’s Innovation Ecosystem

When it comes to Maine’s innovation community, Scott Kleiman plays a crucial role as both a policy architect and MTI board member. As the policy director for economy and workforce within the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, Scott brings a unique perspective to MTI’s mission of fostering technology-based economic development across the state.

Connecting Policy to Innovation

Scott joined the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future in September 2021 and began serving on the MTI board in February 2023, representing the director’s seat established in statute. This dual role provides him with a valuable vantage point.

“In my role, I get to have visibility for sector-specific innovation strategies that are being developed,” Scott explained. “Whether that’s industry efforts underway to build out Maine’s life sciences sector, or projects happening around the forest industry or blue economy—having that visibility helps me get a sense of where MTI’s work is accelerating existing initiatives and where there are opportunities to collaborate.”

Shaping Programs That Reach All of Maine

One of Scott’s most memorable experiences with MTI involved the deployment of federal economic business recovery funds through Governor Mills’ Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan.

“We worked closely with the MTI team around how the funding they were deploying through this program was reaching small businesses throughout the state,” he recalled. “What was extraordinary about it is that when we mapped all the entities that received recovery grants through MTI, you could see dots across every county, across all regions of the state. 

“I think MTI sometimes gets a little understated about its reach and impacts and how communities everywhere are a foundational part of our state’s innovation strategy,” he said.

The programs—including PRIME (Pandemic Recovery for an Innovative Maine Economy), forestry initiatives, and seafood sector support—created a constellation of innovation that spans from York to Aroostook County. For more on the reach of these programs, read about the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan’s impacts in its annual report.

The Future of Maine Innovation

Looking ahead, Scott is particularly excited about two major initiatives where MTI is playing a pivotal role.

“I’m really excited about the new ecosystem innovation program. It’s an opportunity to build out the pipeline of companies that are ready to scale with MTI funding and help strengthen many of the entrepreneurial support organizations,” he said.

“It has also been energizing to engage with MTI staff who are developing new AI learning resources for Maine founders through MTI’s Maine Entrepreneurial Resource Corps (MERC) program. Over the past 5 years, MTI has seen an 8X increase in the share of applications where AI is part of the business model. This new offering will help more founders learn where AI technologies can accelerate their growth.”

Finding Inspiration in Entrepreneurs

What drives Scott in his work is his profound admiration for founders willing to take on the challenges of starting a company.

“Being an entrepreneur is one of the very hardest jobs out there. It’s all-consuming. You take on huge financial risk. You put your personal reputation on the line. You get pulled away from your family at all hours of the day,” he reflected. “Despite all those reasons not to do it, there are still so many Mainers committed to tackling a problem they think they can solve for people, and they’re willing to jump in and do that. I find that extraordinarily inspiring.”

This admiration fuels his commitment to help cultivate such people and remove barriers to their success. It’s a commitment shared by Governor Mills and her administration, who have made supporting entrepreneurs and innovators a cornerstone of Maine’s economic development strategy.

Beyond the Office

When he’s not working to shape Maine’s innovation ecosystem, Scott enjoys exploring the state with his family, which these days means “anything that will keep a 2-year-old occupied for more than 10 minutes.”

He’s an avid reader, currently enjoying “Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers and Data” by Chip Heath, and recently reread “Into the Black” about the development and launch of NASA’s space shuttle—admitting to a long-term identity as a “space nerd.”

A passionate home cook, Scott describes feeling “a little bit like Sisyphus” trying to perpetually perfect his own pizza recipe. His favorite Maine dining spot? Il Leone Pizza on Peaks Island, which he describes as a guy doing world-class Neapolitan-style pizza out of a wood-fired oven on wheels in the Lion’s Club parking lot. His perfect day includes taking the ferry over, bringing a bike for a morning ride around the island, and then enjoying that pizza for lunch.

Through his work with MTI and the Governor’s Office, Scott continues to help write Maine’s innovation story—one that reaches every corner of the state and prepares Maine for a prosperous future built on technology, ingenuity, and the remarkable determination of its entrepreneurs.