SEC Newsletter June, 2012

Shelly Wright -
Executive Director

Elaine Price -
Work Force Development

Arielle Parker -
Administrator

Cheri Lancaster -
Chief Financial Officer

Robert Venables -
Energy Coordinator

Board of Directors

Gordy Wrobel -
President

Tim Rooney -
1st Vice President

Lori Blood -
2nd Vice President

Merrill Sanford -
Treasurer

Patricia Phillips -
Secretary

Janice Hill -
Past President

Leo Luczak
Jim Dinley
Tory Korn
Charles Edwardson
Richard Peterson
Bryce Dahlstrom
Mike Bell

Committees

Economic Development-

Patty Phillips

Energy -

Merrill Sanford

Fisheries -

Jan Hill

Health, Education & Social Services -

Charles Edwardson

Gordy Wrobel

Mining -

Mike Bell

Richard Peterson

Timber -

Bryce Dahlstrom

Transportation -

Tim Rooney

Tourism -

Tory Korn

Honorary Lifetime Members

Bill Allen

Tom Briggs

Herb Pond

Carol Rushmore

David Stone

Robert W. Ward Jr.

Bill Williams

Membership for FY2012

ACE Coalition

AIDEA / AEA

AK DCCED / DCRA

AK DoTPF, AMHS

AK State Governor & Legislature

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Committee

Alaska Communications

Alaska Cruise Association

Alaska Electric Light & Power Company

Alaska Forest Association

Alaska Glacier Seafoods

Alaska Litho

Alaska Marine Lines

Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office

Alaska Municipal League

Alaska Permanent Capital Management

Alaska Power & Telephone Company

Alaska Power Association

Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary/Alaska Canopy Adventures

Alaska Resource Development Council

Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute

Alaska Ship & Drydock

Alaska State Chamber of Commerce

Alaskans for Alaska - Elfin Cove

Allen Marine Tours, Inc.

Allen, Bill

Ballard & Associates

Bartlett Regional Hospital

BBC Human Resources Development Corp

Best Western Landing Plus, The

Bramstedt, Susan

Briggs, Tom

Cape Fox Corporation

Carson Dorn Inc.

Catholic Community Services

Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska

Chatham Electric

Chelan Produce Company

Chilkat Indian Village

Chilkoot Indian Association

Citizens Pro Road

City & Borough of Juneau

City & Borough of Sitka

City & Borough of Wrangell

City & Borough of Yakutat

City of Angoon

City of Coffman Cove

City of Craig

City of Hoonah

City of Hydaburg

City of Kake

City of Kasaan

City of Klawock

City of Pelican

City of Petersburg

City of Prince Rupert

City of Saxman

City of Tenakee Springs

City of Thorne Bay

City of Whitehorse

Coastal Helicopters

Coeur Alaska Kennsington Gold Mine

Commonwealth Associates

Community of Elfin Cove Non-Profit Corp.

Cordova Electric Cooperative

Cove Lodge

Craig Community Association

D. Hittle & Associates, Inc.

Denali Commission

District of Port Edward

Edna Bay Community

Electric Power Systems

Elgee Rehfeld Mertz LLC

Elliott Bay Design Group

First Bank

First National Bank of Alaska

First Things First Foundation

Gold Creek Properties

Greater Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce

Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce

Greens Creek Mining Co - Hecla

Grow Ketchikan

Gustavus Electric Company

Haida Corporation

Haines Borough

Haines Chamber of Commerce

Hames Corporation

Hammer & Wikan, Inc.

Hansen Gress

Heatherdale Resources

Holland America Line

Hyak Mining Co Inc.

Hydaburg Cooperative Association

Hyder Community Association

Inside Passage Electric Cooperative

Inter-Island Ferry Authority

Int'l Union of Operating Engineers Local 302

Juneau Chamber of Commerce

Juneau Convention & Visitors Bureau

Juneau Economic Development Council

Juneau Hydropower, Inc.

Ketchikan Gateway Borough

Ketchikan Indian Community

Ketchikan Visitors Bureau

Kootznoowoo

MacKay, Bill

Madison Lumber & Hardware

McDowell Group

Metlakatla Indian Community

Metlakatla Power & Light

Municipality of Skagway

Nalder, Nan

Nature Conservancy, The

Naukati Bay, Inc.

Northland Services, Inc.

Ocean Beauty Seafoods, LLC

OceansAlaska

Organized Village of Kake

Organized Village of Kasaan

Pacific Fishing, Inc.

Pacific Seafood Processors Association

PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center

Petersburg Chamber of Commerce

Petersburg Economic Development Council

Petersburg Indian Association

PND Engineers, Inc.

Polarconsult Alaska, Inc.

Pond, Herb

Port of Bellingham

Power Systems & Supplies of Alaska

Prince of Wales Chamber of Commerce

Princess Tours

Red Onion Saloon, Inc.

Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine

Roanan Corporation

Rolfe, Philip

Rushmore, Carol

Sandor, John A.

Seafood Producers Cooperative

Sealaska Corp.

Service Auto Parts

Sgt. Preston's Lodge

Shattuck & Grummett

Shee Atika, Inc.

Sheinberg Associates

Sitka Convention & Visitors Bureau

Sitka Economic Development Association

Sitka Tribe of Alaska

Skagway Chamber of Commerce

Skagway Development Corporation

Skagway Traditional Council

Southeast Alaska Fishermen's Alliance

Southeast Alaska Guides Organization

Southeast Alaska Power Agency

Southeast Alaska Reg Dive Fisheries Association

Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium

Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority

Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition

Southeast Conference

Southeast Stevedoring

Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association

Stone, David

Thomas Bay Power Authority

Thomas E. Schultz, Attorney at Law

Thompson Management Services, Inc.

Tides Inn

True North Federal Credit Union

TSS, Inc.

University of Alaska, Southeast

US Congress

US EPA

US Forest Service

Viking Lumber

Ward, Jr., Robert

Watson, Dennis

Waypoint Inn at Herring Bay

Williams, Bill

Wostmann & Associates, Inc.

Wrangell Cooperative Association

Yak-Tat Kwaan, Inc.

Southeast Conference News June 2012

Dear Southeast Conference

Newsletter Readers,

In this month's Southeast Conference Newsletter, you can find information about up coming events, like our Southeast Conference Annual Membership meeting in Craig, on Prince of Wales Island. We invite you to attend our Annual Meeting, and even become a member of Southeast Conference. You will also find news and relevant information we wanted to pass along from Southeast Conference about happenings in the world today.

If you would like information about our projects or if you would like to let us know about an event email info@seconference.org

We encourage you to forward this email to a friend or family member, and be a part of the efforts of Southeast Conference.

Sponsorship Opportunities

We invite you to be a sponsor of Southeast Conference and help us support activities that promote strong economies, healthy communities, and a quality environment in Southeast Alaska.

Annual sponsors receive recognition at both the Mid-Session Summit and the Annual Meeting, as well as on our website. Sponsorships are opportunities to advertise and build name recognition in the Southeast communities. Annual Sponsors support special projects that SEC members choose to accomplish. For example, the modeling project we are currently working on with McDowell Group.

To participate, call our office (907) 523-4353 or visit our website - click here.

USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Help Rural Businesses Create Jobs

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2012

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is accepting applications for grants to help promote sustainable economic development and job creation in rural communities.

"Cooperative enterprises often lead economic growth and job creation in rural areas," Vilsack said. "USDA is offering grants to help organizations start cooperatives, expand existing ones or help develop business opportunities in rural areas."

USDA is offering Rural Cooperative Development Grants (RCDG) to non-profit corporations and institutions of higher education. The grants also may be used to conduct feasibility studies, create and implement business plans, and help businesses develop new markets for their products and services.

One-year grants up to $175,000 are available. In most cases, grants may be used to pay for up to 75 percent of the cost of establishing and operating rural cooperative development centers. Recipients are required to match 25 percent of the award amount. The grant period should begin no earlier than October 1, 2012, and no later than January 1, 2013.

Many RCDG recipients have a long history of job creation and economic development. In Great Falls, MT, the Montana Cooperative Development Center has helped 123 entities and guided the formation of 37 cooperatives since its inception in 1999. One of these cooperatives, the Last Chance Café, in Sunburst, MT, near the Canadian border, would have closed without help from the development center and its USDA Rural Cooperative Development Grant. This iconic café is once again a successful local diner and a gathering spot for the local community.

Through this notice, USDA may award up to $5.8 million in grants. The deadline for RCDG applications is August 6, 2012. For additional information, see the June 7, 2012 Federal Register or contact the USDA Rural Development state office.

In addition, USDA is offering almost $2.37 million in grants through USDA Rural Development's Rural Business Opportunity Grant (RBOG). The program promotes sustainable economic development in rural communities and regions with exceptional needs.

For example, in 2011, USDA Rural Development awarded Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission a $90,000 grant to assist with the development of a local food prospectus for rural areas in the tri-state region of Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. The Commission will use the grant award with partner agencies in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa to improve the local food opportunities in the tri-state region. The two-year effort will identify agricultural strengths, regional opportunities, and recommend a unified network of processing, storage, and distribution facilities throughout the region.

The RBOG program provides training and technical assistance grants for business development, entrepreneurs, and economic development officials and assists with economic development planning. Funding is available to rural public bodies, nonprofit corporations, Native American tribes and cooperatives with primarily rural members that conduct activities for the mutual benefit of the membership.

More information here:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-06-07/html/2012-13833.htm

NHA Holds Alaska Regional Meeting

Register: http://hydro.org/news-and-media/events/details/nha-alaska-regional-meeting-2/

More information about NHA events: http://hydro.org/news-and-media/events/

Mine Academy Training update

The University of Alaska Southeast Mine Training program offered an Introduction to Mining class this spring as a dual credit, after school class for Juneau High School students. Twenty students were funded by Hecla Greens Creek and Southeast Conference. Out of this class eleven signed up for a two week Mine Academy this summer. It was a jam packed two weeks. The class consisted of MSHA underground training. MSHA or Mine Safety & Health Administration certification is training which every mine worker is required to have. There is both a surface and an underground certification. The students spent two days job shadowing at Greens Creek, two days on the million dollar mine simulator, a trip to the AJ mine, and a field trip to the Glory Hole and Last Chance Museum.

The Mine Academy was funded by Greens Creek. Ron Plantz of Greens Creek, said they were impressed with the students. Several of the students have been offered summer internships at the Greens Creek mine. "I got to spend the day looking at rocks with the Geologist" said Sharon Harris who is interested in becoming a geologist. Another student was enthusiastic about his day at the mine and is going to start working at Greens Creek this summer. This is a great opportunity for our youth and we would like to thank Hecla Greens Creek for sponsoring this program.

(above) Students in the UAS Mine Training Program pose with a piece of equipment during their training. Mike Bell (fourth from the left) is the Director of UAS Center for Mine Training Career Education.

(above) University of Alaska Southeast students study their course work in their Juneau classroom, before taking time to train on the simulator, below.

(left) A student trains on simulated heavy equipment at UAS, the only school with an underground mining simulator in the United States. This is an important way to gain experience before operating real underground heavy equipment. The student sits in an operator's seat on a motion platform to give the sense of realistic uneven ground, including the rumble of the engine and gear engagement.

(right) Students take notes during their mine training course in Juneau, through UAS.

For more information contact:

Elaine Price

Workforce Development Coordinator

Southeast Conference

elaine@seconference.org

http://www.uas.alaska.edu/career_ed/mining/index.html

Workforce Development

Action Initiative added to CEDS

From our Workforce Development Coordinator - Elaine Price

An action initiative has been added to the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) document for Workforce Development. The objective is to train Alaskans to take advantage of good paying jobs with benefits and to coordinate vocational training with k-12 programs. One of the outcomes will be a website that lists all the vocational training available with links to the different entities offering classes. Currently there are classes being offered but very few people know about the timing and location.

With this website a person can find a class in refrigeration, hydraulics, etc. Classes could be offered in different locations at different times. An interested party can find a class that can fit into their schedule and location. The website will be kept up to date with links to the various vocational schools for details and information. For instance, did you know Unions offer all sorts of training? Juneau Douglas High School offers Medical Terminology, UAS in Sitka offers marine hydraulics, UAS in Juneau offers refrigeration, KIC has a culinary program? The goal is to make all vocational training available to Alaskans.

The Southeast Conference CEDS can be viewed here: http://seconference.org/ceds

For more information about the

Workforce Development initiative contact:

Elaine Price

Workforce Development Coordinator

Southeast Conference

elaine@seconference.org

Welcoming the Season's

First Cruise Ship to Haines, Alaska

Southeast Conference Past President, Jan Hill, (second from the right) is preparing to greet the first cruise ship of the season to the Haines dock with a drum song, in this photo. Accompanying her is Tim (far left), wearing his mountain goat horn "crown". Also with her are two other dancers wearing traditional regalia, and holding their drums.

"High tunnels" Sprout in Sitka,

Thanks to USDA Program

Article written by KCAW in Sitka

When you think of food in Southeast Alaska you might think of king salmon or moose - farming is not really our forte. But some Alaskans are trying to change that - at least on a small scale. Here in Sitka, you can find two large, transparent plastic tunnels rising from a front yard on Peterson Street. These are "high tunnels," for growing produce. And they were funded by a USDA program that hopes to see similar stuctures sprout throughout the US.

This month, Judy Johnstone plowed under the flower garden she'd cultivated for over 20 years. In its place, she erected a pair of unconventional structures, which look...

"...Like two very large igloos, 12 feet high, 24 feet long, covered in clear plastic."

These are high tunnels, low-tech alternatives to the conventional greenhouse. Plastic sheeting is stretched across steel ribs to create a shelter for vegetables planted in the ground. The high tunnels allow gardeners to stretch the growing season. Johnstone hopes to keep hers going year-round.

Kerry Maclane, of the Sitka Local Foods Network, helped build Johnstone's high tunnels. MacLane - They're very simple structures. But if you step inside, you'll see the difference, between outside and inside." KCAW - Outside, it's about 59 degrees, but inside, it'a s humid 75 or 80. MacLane - Just a few more degrees is what you need to produce food. Out there is just a little too cold for what we're used to eating. Inside the high tunnel, rows of vibrant green starts poke out of furrows in the earth. MacLane counts off the crop.

"Here we have chard and broccoli...cilantro, onions, lettuce, things that can grow without protection, and some things that can't, like here are all tomatoes."

Johnstone's high tunnels are part of a USDA program in which the agency reimburses gardeners for the cost of building the tunnels. In most of the country, the program is designed to conserve soil and cut down on the use of water and fertilizer. But in Southeast Alaska, the program's major benefit is food. This is Samia Savell, who manages the program from the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Juneau.

"It's pretty challenging to grow food in Alaska, and definitely in Southeast, where, as everyone just experienced in May, we can have pretty cool temperatures and a lot of rain, and that limits the number and types of crops that you can grow, and certainly we have a short growing season. But I think the appeal is extending that growing season and giving people more of an opportunity to grow a variety of crop that might not otherwise be possible in our climate."

Johnstone and Maclane say the program is perfect for Sitka, with its chilly summers, the lack of farmland, and high food prices. High tunnels, they say, could be an excellent source of cheap, local produce.

Johnstone - We don't want to add to the carbon footprint, by flying all this lettuce and stuff in from Mexico. It's crazy. We can grow it here. And we should.
MacLane - And the price of food has gone up 40 percent in the last five years in Sitka, so it's very expensive.

That's according to the Alaska Food Cost Survey, which found that the cost of food for a family of four in Sitka increased by nearly 44 percent between 2006 and 2011. That's compared to a 21 percent rise in Anchorage over the same five years.

The deadline to apply for the USDA funding is this Friday, June 15. MacLane says the program does require some past horticultural experience. "You have to have some land, and a desire. And you have to have grown something. They really made it flexible for Alaska, so if you've grown a potted geranium, on your front porch, you will qualify. That's farmer enough for Alaska. But you have to combine it with some thousand dollars' worth of something that you've gotten from the land. So that could be sockeye, or deer."

Johnstone is one of about 40 people in Southeast Alaska who have applied for the grant in the past three years. And she's looking forward to a productive season.

See the full article and audio - more here:

http://www.kcaw.org/2012/06/12/high-tunnels-sprout-in-sitka-thanks-to-usda-program

Highlights

June Events:

June 14 - Flag Day

June 17 - Father's Day

June 20 - Summer Solstice / First Day of Summer

July Events:

July 4 - Independence Day

Up Coming

September - Southeast Conference Annual Membership Meeting, in Craig, Prince of Wales Island [Book your own travel and lodging now!] Click here to see what is offered for this event.

Planning Lemonade Day Alaska for next spring!

If you would like to submit an article or event announcement for the Southeast Conference E-News, please send your request to arielle@seconference.org.

Sincerely,

Arielle Parker

Administrator

Southeast Conference

phone: (907) 523-4353 ..
arielle@seconference.org
info@seconference.org
http://seconference.org

The mission of Southeast Conference is to undertake and support activities that promote strong economies, healthy communities, and a quality environment in Southeast Alaska.

SEC is the State-designated Alaska Regional Development Organization (ARDOR), the federally-designated Economic Development District (EDD), and the federally-designated Resource Conservation & Development Council (RC&D) for Southeast Alaska. Each of these things requires Southeast Conference take an active role in regional resource management and economic development planning.
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