On December 13, approximately 150 elementary and middle school students from around Southeast Alaska will gather at Centennial Hall for the Juneau Robot Jamboree, a FIRST LEGO League Qualifier Tournament and a Jr. FIRST LEGO League Expo. For this year's "World Class" Challenge, teams of 2 to 10 students have been meeting since September to build and program a LEGO robot to compete on a 4'x8' playing field, and they've been researching how learning occurs and developing their own innovative improvements to how we learn and teach things. 

As event hosts, JEDC needs a crew of approximately 40 volunteers to serve as judges, referees, crowd control and more. Volunteering is fun and a great way to experience the excitement of FIRST!  Even if you cannot volunteer, we hope you can join as a spectator to celebrate the hard work of all of our kids and coaches. 

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER or contact Rebecca Soza for more information ([email protected]/523-2334)

The Juneau Robot Jamboree is the first of two regional robotics tournaments to take place in Juneau this year. On January 23-24, Thunder Mountain High School will host the Southeast Regional FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifier. Learn more about the high school program and that event at fllalaska.com. 
 

JEDC's featured investor is Douglas Island Pink and Chum (DIPAC). The goal of Douglas Island Pink and Chum, Inc. is to sustain and enhance valuable salmon resources of the State of Alaska for the economic, social, and cultural benefit of all citizens, and to promote public understanding of Alaska's salmon resources and salmon fisheries through research, education, and tourism. DIPAC is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to salmon enhancement and education. They recently made cruiseline.com's list of 7 Best Things to Do in Juneau. Click here to read more about DIPAC or stop by The Ladd Macaulay Visitor Center to learn about the fascinating life cycle of salmon, check out their impressive hatchery operations, and explore exciting attractions! Call 877-463-2486 for winter hours.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis has released updated 2013 annual per capita personal income statistics. Personal income grew in all but one Southeast community, according to estimates released last week, increasing in total by 1.3 percent. This is a slowing of growth when compared to 2012, when regional personal income grew by 5.4 percent. Inflation, as measured by the national price index for personal consumption expenditures, slowed to 1.2 percent in 2013 from 1.8 percent in 2012. To compare the level of personal income across communities, per capita personal income, personal income divided by population, is a useful metric. Per capita personal income for 2013 ranged from $40,890 in Wrangell City and Borough to $85,326 in Haines Borough.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, "Personal income is the income received by, or on behalf of, all persons from all sources: from participation as laborers in production, from owning a home or business, from the ownership of financial assets, and from government and business in the form of transfer receipts. It includes income from domestic sources as well as from the rest of the world. Personal income is the income that is available to persons for consumption expenditures, taxes, interest payments, transfer payments to governments and the rest of the world, or for saving."

The TCI Network is the leading global network of main organizations and practitioners with expertise in clusters and competitiveness, who collaborate in an open, flexible and practical context to advance in the practice of competitiveness, innovation and cluster development. Every year TCI hosts a conference to bring together national economic development agencies, regional governments, multilateral organizations, clusters, research institutions and consultants to discuss cluster economic strategies and best practices.

JEDC Executive Director Brian Holst attended the 17th TCI Global Conference in Monterrey, Mexico (200 miles south of the Texas border) where he learned about how countries around the world are using cluster strategies to strengthen regional economic development. JEDC began implementing a cluster based approach in Juneau in 2010, focusing on five key industries: Ocean Products, Visitor Products, Renewable Energy, Mining Services & Supply, and Research & Development. Click here to learn about JEDC's Southeast Alaska Cluster Initiative.