Rapid changes in technology and global markets demand that the United States make serious and significant investments in its technology and business infrastructure to ensure the Nation's long-term economic health.

Recognizing the need for the States and the Federal Government to work together to address the challenges of the New Economy of the 21st Century, the United States Innovation Partnership was created. The Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy joined the Nation's governors in forming this partnership which is designed to foster the development of a truly national innovation system. This partnership serves as a model for states and Federal agencies to work together to cultivate technology-based economic development. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was established by Congress in 1901 to support industry, commerce, scientific institutions, and all branches of government. An agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, NIST has worked with industry for nearly 100 years to promote U.S. economic growth by advancing measurement, developing standards, and applying new technologies.

The State of Maine recognizes that technology is an engine of economic growth, creating high wage jobs, building new industries, and accounting for as much as two-thirds of national productivity growth in the last sixty years. Maine will improve its ability to take advantage of the opportunities ahead by encouraging an entrepreneurial environment in which technology enhances economic growth. By exploring new ways of adding value to its natural resource assets and by capitalizing on emerging technology opportunities, Maine will improve the ability of its products and services to compete in world markets. Investments made by the State of Maine in science, technology, education, and associated forms of infrastructure will ensure benefits to the citizens of Maine as active partners in a vibrant and balanced economy.

The State of Maine has many strong working relationships with NIST that have been developed over years - and in some cases decades. Through this Letter of Partnership, these existing relationships will be strengthened and acknowledged and promoted more widely.

• The Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership in Augusta was established in 1995 and is a strong component of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program's nationwide network. The Maine MEP center serves the needs of small and medium-sized firms through regional offices located in Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, Caribou, Orono, Portland, and Waterville.
• Maine's Division of Quality Assurance and Regulations works with NIST's Office of Weights and Measures (and the National Conference on Weights and Measures) to protect consumers and to ensure equity in the marketplace. Weighing and measuring devices used in commercial transactions within the state are tested and evaluated by the State of Maine to ensure correctness and proper traceability to national standards.
• The Margaret Chase Smith Quality Association (MCSQA) promotes economic development in Maine by helping organizations -- small and large -- achieve higher business performance and quality excellence. Established in 1991, the MCSQA makes awards to companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies in Maine based on evolving criteria developed by NIST's Baldrige National Quality Program.
• The Building and Fire Research Laboratory at NIST works with officials in the State of Maine, in cooperation with several national organizations, including the National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards (NCSBCS) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), on building codes and fire codes to ensure public safety in all Maine buildings.
• Maine's state and local law enforcement agencies and laboratories use standards and research data developed by NIST's Office of Law Enforcement Standards in such wide ranging areas as body armor, electronics, concealed weapons detection, and the forensic use of DNA.
• The Laboratories at NIST maintain and provide technical leadership for the measurement and standards infrastructure needed by firms in the State of Maine and throughout the Nation to continually improve America's products and services. Measurements and standards are recognized as the universal language of commerce, and the Laboratories maintain and transfer the basic and derived units of measurements via primary standards and measurement systems, Standard Reference Materials (SRMs), reference data, and the highest level of calibrations. Both consumers and sellers rely on NIST measurements and standards to ensure that their products and services are of the highest possible quality.

In addition to recognizing and encouraging existing relationships, this Letter launches a new level of partnership between NIST and the State of Maine. Teams from NIST and Maine have worked together to develop several new initiatives that will further the depth and breadth of the relationship and will result in important benefits to both parties. These new initiatives will include some or all of the following:

1. Staff from NIST's Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Extension Partnership Programs and from the Technology Administration will provide information and technical assistance to the State of Maine as it designs and establishes an efficient infrastructure to maximize the economic impact of its recently expanded funding for science and technology. NIST staff also will act as a catalyst to improve Maine's ability to work with other important resources, such as the State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) and the other Federal agencies.
2. The NIST Office of Weights and Measures will work with the State of Maine to implement "NetMeeting," a pilot project for mass intercomparisons. If successful, this effort will be used as a proven model for the rest of the U.S. metrology system. Also, special training for Maine's weights and measures officials will be provided by NIST staff as part of this initiative.
3. Businesses in Maine have identified measurement and technology needs in advanced optical technology. The NIST Physics Laboratory will work with Maine's firms to respond to their needs, address national optical technology challenges, and ensure that businesses in Maine become involved more closely with the work that NIST is initiating with optics industry clusters in the Northeast.
4. Staff from the NIST Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory will meet with several composites firms in Maine to discuss their technical and business issues and explore possible NIST collaborations - which could range from informal consultations to formal cooperative research arrangements. Potential partnerships might include assistance with the transfer of NIST technology; joint research programs; test method development, evaluation, and standardization; and the exploration of new technology areas and markets.
5. The NIST Building and Fire Research Laboratory will work with Maine partners to explore and plan a joint project demonstrating the commercial and technical viability of using composite materials in both new and existing construction. The result of this exploratory planning might be, for example, a joint project with the University of Maine to retrofit an existing structure or build a new one using composite materials.
6. The NIST Baldrige National Quality Program will work with the Margaret Chase Smith Quality Association to understand more fully Maine small businesses' use of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. For example, a study could examine the impediments small businesses are encountering in using the criteria and what modifications might be made to make the criteria more accessible and usable by small businesses nationwide.
7. The NIST Office of Standards Services will work with Maine toward the goal of establishing Maine-based conformity assessment bodies which will improve the ability of Maine's companies to export into European and global markets. If successful, this pilot project could be used as a model for export capability improvements in other states.