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Economic Development and Advocacy for Southwest Alaska
| 2011 Meeting Update
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Greetings!
Good morning. This is your weekly reminder of the 2011 Southwest Alaska Economic Summit & SWAMC Annual Membership Meeting, scheduled for February 9-11 at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage. The theme of this year's event is Strong Communities, Vibrant Economies. Read on below for more details about the three days, including the Coastal Communities Workshop taking place on February 9. If you'd like to become a sponsor for the 2011 meeting please go here, and if you are interested in having an exhibitor booth, please contact our office. Remember to register before January 28 to take advantage of the early registration. Thanks for reading- we hope to see you in a few weeks!
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Let's Get Educated-- Junior Achievement, STEM, and ANSEP
Just because we're getting older doesn't mean we have to stop learning. Thursday's program will conclude with a look at three fun and unique programs aimed at educating our youth.
First, we will hear from Junior Achievement, a program that focuses on building business and financial literacy skills for students K-12 (we may even have a "mock" lesson for the adults in the room). Next, we will learn more about the importance of STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. To keep Alaska competitive in today's marketplace, we need to hone our skills around these important areas. Finally, the audience will learn about program initiatives and opportunities through the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program (ANSEP). And as a bonus, we plan to round out the day by taking a trip down to the Captain Cook pool to watch some SeaPearch underwater robotics, as we observe these STEM learning tools in action. Should be great fun!
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 Steller Sea Lion Historical Review - February 10
In December of 2000, the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference was given $30 M dollars by Congress to mitigate the impact of fisheries restrictions implemented on behalf of Steller sea lions protection closures. To disburse the money in a reasonable and fair manner, working groups were assembled, timelines were developed, and administration costs kept to a minimum. In the end, the appropriation was distributed to more than 15,000 affected parties. Ten years later - just as we enter a new era of Steller sea lion closures - SWAMC wanted to revisit this unique program and its effects. Dick Tremaine was the project manager of the Steller Sea Lion Mitigation program at the time, and he helped put together the 10 year historical review. Dick will present his findings, along with a summary report, at lunch on February 10.
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Studying New Market Opportunities
Southwest Alaska is an area with a lot to offer the world, not to mention the entire United States and the rest of Alaska. Seafood is Alaska's No. 1 export, which is obviously in abundant supply in our region. But can we do more? Are there new markets to explore and new products to create and distribute? To help answer those questions, Greg Wolf from the World Trade Center Alaska and Robin Richardson from Global Food Collaborative will address the conference on the morning of Feb. 10. Greg will discuss domestic and international market potential and Southwest Alaska's special inroads to these markets; Robin will be discussing market connections and the importance of networking clusters of activity with future and potential partners, and how leveraging those networks can be valuable to business in the area. Come hear their perspectives on expanding market opportunities through a web of business partnerships. |
Broadband: Capturing Opportunity Through New Technology
 No economic development summit would be complete without devoting time to broadband technology. It is becoming an essential component to doing business these days, especially in large and geographically remote areas such as Southwest Alaska. Broadband is one of the tools used to help level the playing field as rural economies develop and new markets emerge. The full SWAMC summit will open on Thursday morning with a few presentations on the new opportunities created by the technology. The State of Alaska DCCED will give us their perspective on economic development and the role of broadband, and what the Governor's new Broadband Task Force will be focusing on. Hudson Hudson of ISER will illustrate some of the rural development projects and practices that have opened up due to broadband deployment, and what the future may hold for communities and businesses. Finally, Krag Johnsen of GCI will talk about his company's progress on bringing broadband to Bristol Bay and their plans to expand further into Southwest Alaska. This should be a great topic to open the conference!
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 New Feature: Coastal CommunitiesWorkshop
In addition to our traditional 2-day event, SWAMC is sponsoring a Coastal Communities Workshop with the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program on February 9th, also at the Captain Cook. The workshop will be an open dialogue and include presentations and discussions on various topics that are at the heart of thriving and healthy communities that reside on our rural coastlines. The Marine Advisory Program has a stable of knowledgeable experts on those issues that affect coastal life, from seafood harvesting operations to food security to small business potential. Most importantly, however, this workshop will provide a forum to discuss some of the characteristics that make coastal Alaska great, the challenges that lie ahead, and the opportunities to perhaps make coastal Alaska even better. This workshop will be a first for the SWAMC conference, so make sure to visit the link above to sign up. Registration is free and easy, so visit today.
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Thanks to These Sponsors!
2011 Highliners
Sponsorship opportunities remain. Please click here or contact us for more details...
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Some of our Partners
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| Upcoming Events & Dates to Remember | |
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As always...
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Thanks for your support of SWAMC. Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, ideas, concerns and events. For previous newsletters, click the link below.
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