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Economic Development and Advocacy for Southwest Alaska
| December 2011 |
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| Greetings!
Hello again and
Greetings and salutations from the sometimes warm and wet, sometimes cold and dry world of Anchorage. Welcome to the latest monthly edition of SWAMC's e-newsletter for members and friends of the Southwest region. This month we'll focus on some of the topics surrounding the 2012 Economic Summit and SWAMC Membership Meeting as well as a few other regional items. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the holidays.
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SWAMC's 2012 Economic Summit & Annual Membership Meeting
Southwest Alaska: The Genuine Aquabounty -- February 16-17, 2012 The 24th Southwest Alaska Economic Summit and Annual SWAMC Membership Meeting will take place February 16-17, 2012 at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage. This annual event gives SWAMC members and regional stakeholders a chance to network, learn about and discuss important development topics, and reach consensus on policy issues that affect Southwest Alaska. As usual, the Economic Summit will feature many of the topics that are critical to economic development in rural Alaska, and primarily in the Southwest region. For us, the theme of the meeting - Southwest Alaska: The Genuine Aquabounty - typifies the true qualities of the region and conjures up the identity of what a real aquabounty looks like. The conference this year will feature rural energy solutions, the SW Transportation Plan, a dialogue with both our State and Federal legislative delegations, and more. Naturally, the meeting will also have a heavy focus on fishing and commercial seafood production by exploring the economics, policy, business, and community factors that go into the sausage making of fisheries management.
You can read a bit more about the conference here, and the registration page will be up soon. In the meantime, contact us with any questions regarding the event topics, sponsorships, or becoming an exhibitor. We think the 2012 conference will be one of the better in recent memory, so we hope you can attend! |
| What's New with SWAMC's Asset Mapping Project
The following update is from SWAMC's project intern, Sam Tappen:
The asset mapping project is making good progress as we are now into the Physical Infrastructure section. This portion will include data on the region's transportation, communication, and shipping capacities. Currently, SWAMC is analyzing Southwest Alaska's 89 airports and seaplane bases and their facilities and capabilities. When coupled with an analysis of our harbors and seaports, we will have a much better understanding of the complicated network of how people and freight move throughout the region. This examination should reveal any inefficiencies and opportunities for profitable partnerships as well as an indication of which hubs could benefit from an expansion in capacity.
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| New Energy Assistance Program for Alaska's Tribes
The Department of Energy and Denali Commission are launching the Alaska Strategic Technical Assistance Response Team (START) initiative aimed at providing federally-recognized Tribes with technical assistance to accelerate clean energy project deployment. The initiative is a comprehensive effort to examine all energy-related issues in a rural Alaska community including data collection and analysis, on-site workshops and training of a local "energy champion." The application can be found at the DOE Office of Indian Energy website: http://energy.gov/indianenergy/resources/start-program. Five (5) Alaska Native tribal government communities will be selected. The deadline is January 15, 2012.
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 2011 Pacific Marine Expo: Seattle
In an effort to keep our finger on the pulse of fisheries issues SWAMC participated in the 2011 Pacific Marine Expo (aka Fish Expo) in Seattle. If you don't already know, the Expo is a fisherman's one-stop-shop for all that new gear you've been waiting to get your hands on. In addition to gear and various lectures , National Fisherman magazine announced the 2011 Highliner Award winners. This year the honors went to two Alaskans, although neither were fellow Southwesterners: Sitka's Dan Falvey and Cordova's Bill Webber Jr. Once again Alaska was well represented down the 500 Isle, or as referred to on the show floor, the Alaskan Pavilion. Fishermen as we are, the most important thing was to show up, because everyone knows that the real business is hashed out in the pub after hours.
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Race to the Arctic: Shipping Potential in the Aleutians?
What do Rotterdam, Singapore, Hong Kong and Adak all have in common? They could all be among the largest international shipping ports in the world in 2050! This presumption is entirely premature, of course, as Adak is not yet as prestigious as the others (nor is Dutch Harbor or any other Alaskan port); however, talk of a warming Arctic has some people interested in new shipping routes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In recent weeks, SWAMC has taken an active effort to better understand the potential for such a proposal. As the theory goes, some of the traffic navigating the Suez Canal, currently one of the busiest sea lanes in the world, could be transferred north by shipping goods on specialized vessels capable of plying the Arctic Ocean via the Northern Sea Route. As these vessels would be too valuable to do anything other than traverse this one route, the majority of cargo would be offloaded at the nearest ice-free port where goods would be repackaged for destinations in their respective ocean. No dedicated economic analysis has been conducted specifically to determine the viability of the project, but we think it is worth taking a closer look. Alaska's Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell was recently testifying before Congress about some of this and related Arctic issues. Any real action is likely years away, but stay tuned and keep an open perspective as possibilities abound for those that can think outside the box.
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Southwest Alaska Monthly Indicator - Profitable Alaskan Greenhouses
In the midst of a cold snap, Alaskan grown agricultural is likely the last thing from most of our minds. However, under a different set of assumptions, it is very likely that growing our own veggies is far more feasible than we may think. In Canada, where average winter temperatures are often colder than much of Southwest Alaska, a successful greenhouse industry has proven to be highly profitable, worth excess of $3 Billion annually. Their secret is controlling the environment and optimizing growing conditions.
Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Greenhouses must manage energy inputs in order to turn a profit, as output is optimized. Costs are simply a function of energy inputs, to include temperature, lighting, water, air and nutrients. Using these standard assumptions about output, we determined* the average veggie consumption per capita and derived an appropriate greenhouse capable of meeting an entire community's demand; this gives us the Square Feet per community. Using empirical data from from the Canadian industry, we applied average costs per square feet for variable and fixed costs. Heating costs reflect the actual cost of heat at the local price of diesel oil. Electrical costs was assumed to be $0.12 per kw. Total revenue was determined by the retail prices of veggies at each local market.
Based on the assumptions provided, the communities of Kodiak, Akutan and Dillingham prove as viable CEA hosts; Saint Paul does not. A note about the assumptions. Revenue was based on supplying a community's total vegetable supply at retail prices; this may not be feasible even though it is the current price being paid at the grocery store. Variable and fixed costs were assumed to be that of a mature Canadian industry; a small rural community would likely have trouble constructing and maintaining the greenhouse at that level of efficiency. The largest and most important assumption is that of electrical costs assumed to be $0.12 per kw. In our own analysis the largest factor in determining the profitability of any single operation was lowering the cost of electricity. While all of SW Alaska currently pays substantially more for power than $0.12 per kw, it is a rate achievable through proven technologies. The point is that while a more thorough analysis is required, meeting our entire demand for growable produce is viable.
*Taken from an internal 2010 SWAMC report. 
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Some of Our Partners
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| Upcoming Events & Dates to Remember |
- North Pacific Fishery Management Council, Anchorage. December 5-13.
- Ocean Acidification and Alaska Fisheries Roundtable, Dillingham. January 9, 2012.
- First Day of the Legislative Session, Juneau. January 17, 2012.
- Ocean Acidification and Alaska Fisheries Roundtable, Kodiak. January 26, 2012.
- North Pacific Fishery Management Council, Seattle. January 30-February 7, 2012.
- Pacific Fisheries Technologists Conference, Anchorage. February 12-15, 2012.
- 2012 Alaska Young Fishermen's Summit, Juneau. February 13-14, 2012.
- SWAMC's Annual Economic Summit & Membership Meeting, Anchorage. Feb. 16-17, 2012.
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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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