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UMaine economist: Waterfront Concerts generated about $259 million (2022–25) and $601 million over 16 years
Summary
University of Maine economist Todd Gabe told the Bangor Business & Economic Development Committee that Waterfront Concerts produced roughly $259 million in economic activity from 2022–2025 and about $601 million across the event's 16-year history, using an IMPLAN input–output model and travel-cost methods.
Todd Gabe, professor and director of the University of Maine School of Economics, told the committee his pro bono update on Waterfront Concerts shows substantial local economic contributions. "Over the 16 years, there were 1,600,000 people that attended the shows, and the impact over the entire, 16 year period is about 601,000,000," Gabe said during his presentation, describing attendance and aggregated impact estimates compiled with IMPLAN and travel‑cost analysis.
Gabe said the 2022–2025 period alone accounted for roughly 634,000 attendees and about $259,000,000 in economic impact. He emphasized that his analysis isolates concert‑day impacts — direct spending by attendees and event workers — then applies county‑level multipliers to estimate broader effects on hospitality, retail and services. "The direct impact would be the economic activity that happens at waterfront concerts… some of the direct impact is also spending of concert goers at other businesses in the area," he said, noting the model counts on‑site crew and seasonal workers as part of the measured employment effect.
The presentation included comparisons with other studies of live‑music economic effects and a state‑level scatterplot showing Waterfront Concerts fall near similarly sized jurisdictions. Councilors pressed for follow‑up work quantifying how concert activity affects city revenue‑sharing and local property values; Gabe and staff said they can pursue additional analysis linking taxable sales and revenue‑sharing formulas to concert-related sales.
