Angus S. King, Jr. was born in Virginia but spent most of his adult years in the state of Maine. After early political experience as a legislative assistant to Senator William D. Hathaway, King entered private law practice in Brunswick, Maine. In the 1980s King served as Vice President of a company which developed alternative energy (hydro and biomass) projects in New England. In 1989 King founded Northeast Energy Management, Inc. The company developed, installed, and operated large-scale electrical energy conservation projects at commercial and industrial facilities throughout south-central Maine.
King was elected Governor of Maine as an Independent in 1994 in his first run for public office, then re- elected in 1998 by one of the largest margins in Maine history. As Governor, King was responsible for a $2.5 billion budget and 13,000 employees. King lists among his major accomplishments as governor a total rebuild of the state's mental health and corrections systems; major improvements in the state's service capability, including on-line services; a substantial increase in the state's commitment to research and development; the largest increase of lands in conservation in the state's history; and the nationally-recognized program that provides a laptop computer to every seventh and eighth grade student in the state, regardless of location or family income, making Maine's students among the most computer literate in the world.
After leaving office, King joined Bernstein Shur providing strategic and legal advice to the firm's business clients. In addition, Governor King is a Distinguished Lecturer at Bowdoin College, a member of several profit and non-profit boards and commissions, and was recently a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
King is currently working on two conventional wind farm proposals in western Maine and urging the state to launch a huge research and development project to create a $15 billion network of offshore wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine over the next decade. In this "Saudi Arabia of wind" 1,000 turbines, placed 26 miles offshore, could provide all of Maine's electricity as well as heat for its homes.
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