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Juneau Economic Development Council NEWS  |  July 21, 2014
Storefront Star Award Ceremony at 1PM on Tuesday 
 
Attractive buildings attract people and business. The Juneau Economic Development Council (JEDC) cordially invites you to attend an Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, July 22nd at The Twilight Caf� at 1PM, celebrating the winners of the 2014 downtown Storefront Stars competition. Awards will be announced and presented to the Grand Prize Winner, two Special Recognition Winners, and the People's Choice Storefront.

The 2014 Storefront Star Awards seek to recognize and encourage a more attractive built environment in downtown Juneau through a competition focusing on storefront improvements. By improving the appearance of buildings, this program aims to improve the economic vitality of downtown.  More information here.

The Storefront Star Awards are supported by the Juneau Economic Development Council, The Alaska Committee, the Downtown Business Association, Princess Tours, Tourism Best Management Practices, the CBJ Juneau Historic Resources Advisory Committee and the Southeast Alaska Chapter of the American Institutes of Architects.  

White House Rural Council

JEDC Executive Director Brian Holst will travel to Washington, D.C. this week at the invitation of the  White House Rural Council to participate in the Rural Opportunity Investment Conference. The conference will connect senior leaders from financial institutions and other investors with rural business leaders, senior government officials, and  economic development experts to discuss the unmet need for investments in rural America.  
STEM Summer Camps Make Learning Fun!

So far more than 75 students have gotten their hands on great STEM activities in the JEDC's STEM Summer Camp Series. The NOAA Sun to Sea Camp kicked off the summer with 9 students working side-by-side with NOAA scientists for a week. Students learned about ocean currents, weather patterns, oil spill cleanup strategies, and more. 

 

Next, 30 middle-school age students had a chance to build their very own SeaPerch ROV (remote-operated vehicle) with JEDC STEM Specialist Bernadette Rosano, and an additional 25 students honed their programming skills in LEGO robotics classes.  And a Kitchen Chemistry camp is underway now with 14 students. Check out photos from the classes and see what's coming up at stemak.org/summerprograms.

 
Coming up! 2014 STEM AK Summer Camps:

Kitchen Chemistry - Grades 4-5 - July 28-Aug 1
Girls Rock Summer Science - Grades 6-8 - August 11-14

REGISTER ONLINE AT STEMAK.ORG/SUMMERPROGRAMS
 
Special thanks to our camp sponsors:
AK Communications Wostmann

 

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES ARE STILL AVAILABLE! Contact [email protected] for more information.
 
JEDC staff Zach Wilkinson interviews Karl Meilke of Alaska Bullet Works

Manufacturing Extension Partnership Progress

The Juneau Economic Development Council, in collaboration with the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development and other partners, is pleased to report progress on a project to analyze the needs of manufacturers in Alaska and potential for the extension of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) to our state. MEP is a federal program and nationwide network that provides services to small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers to help them create and retain jobs, increase profits, and save time and money. 

 

Every state in the nation has a MEP program with the exception of Alaska. Our work is to find out what a program in Alaska would look like and how to tailor the program to our state's very unique needs in order to make it valuable to local manufacturers. JEDC is pleased to have conducted interviews with over 35 manufacturers in 4 cities in coastal Alaska.  

 


Juneau District Heating Meeting a Success!

This month JEDC, in collaboration with the State of Alaska Energy Authority and the US Forest Service, hosted meetings aimed at teaching Southeast residents about district heating. The meetings were a result of the Renewable Energy Cluster working group's District Energy Action Initiative. District heating has already been implemented in many cities in the lower 48 and globally and has shown itself to be both economic and efficient. 

 

 Jesse Baker, the Assistant City Manager of Montpelier, Vermont and Michael Ahern, a representative of a non-profit that manages district heating systems in several large US cities. Together Jesse and Michael explained what district heating is, how it might be valuable to Juneau, and shared the city of Montpelier's experience with it. To read more about this initiative, click here.

 


Juneau School District wins 21st Century Grant!

The Juneau School District was awarded one of seven 21st Century Community Learning Center Grants by the Department of Education & Early Development. The 5-year grant will support new programs at Glacier Valley and Riverbend Elementary Schools designed to help close the achievement gap for Juneau's most disadvantaged students. 

 

The program will offer comprehensive out-of-school programming including a 22-week after school program and 5-weeks of summer school. Programming will consist of holistic literacy instruction and highly engaging STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) activities. In addition to support in writing the grant, the JEDC will provide 12 weeks of afterschool STEAM activities at each school and coordinate STEAM activities for the summer program. 

 

2014 JEDC Investor Spotlight!

The Juneau Economic Development Council is pleased to announce a new member of the 2014 Investor Program. Midnight Sun Oncology, an Alaskan cancer treatment practice specializing in chemotherapy, which recently opened a treatment center in Juneau, is in our in Investor Spotlight this month. Led by Dr. John Zimmermann, M.D., the center includes a clinic, a chemotherapy infusion room and caring staff located at 1701 Salmon Creek Lane. 
 
Prior to their arrival, there had been no full-time medical oncologist and patients typically travelled to Anchorage or Seattle for treatment. "Our rationale at Midnight Sun Oncology is that cancer treatment should occur in your own community, near your family and friends for support," said Dr. John Zimmerman. "Our treatment range and depth in Juneau will afford one less worry for patients who currently face additional anxiety having to travel to another city or outside Alaska for chemotherapy." Read more here.

Midnight Sun Oncology is an JEDC Investor at the Silver Level. Great thanks to Midnight Sun Oncology as well as our other 2014 JEDC Investors! To become a JEDC Investor, click here.

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Sincerely,

Executive Director
Juneau Economic Development Council

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