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Promoting Vibrant & Livable Communities in Southwest Alaska
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June 2014
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Summer weather has arrived in Alaska! Last month brought unseasonably warm temperatures to much of the state, and from the looks of it, the beautiful weather is going to continue. Sunshine aside, the SWAMC staff has been hard at work on the latest update of Southwest Alaska's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) is the product of an ongoing regional planning process-it is updated every five years and builds upon SWAMC's previous planning efforts. The CEDS is the guiding document for all of SWAMC's efforts and provides staff with the background and direction they need for working with partners, allocating funding, and prioritizing efforts that support economic development in the region.
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CEDS 2014-2019 Focus Areas
Primary sections of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) are organized by five key topics that have emerged through the planning process. They include: Workforce Development, Resources Infrastructure, Energy, and Partnerships. Many of the region's strengths and needs center on these topics.
 Workforce Development- Businesses and organizations note the difficulty of training and maintaining a stable, qualified, reliable workforce in Southwest Alaska. Southwest Alaska sees a large influx of nonresident seasonal employees each summer, in part due to the lack of workforce development in the region for residents. In recent years, statewide and regional efforts have begun to identify and address workforce development needs, especially in the fishery, seafood and maritime industry.
 Resources-
Southwest Alaska has an abundance of natural resources. In particular, the region has world-class fish stocks and rich mineral deposits. The SWAMC region also has scenic natural landscapes and other intrinsic values that have the potential to support tourism. SWAMC would like to ensure that these resources are managed responsibly in order to build regional wealth and benefit the residents of Southwest Alaska.
Infrastructure-
Southwest Alaska is a large region with a small population and many dispersed communities. The region has a substantial base of port infrastructure and harbor services. However, communication and transportation infrastructure is limited and does not adequately support business and community needs.
 Energy-
The cost of energy is high in Southwest Alaska and continues to rise each year. High energy costs equate to higher costs of doing business and an increase in the cost of living for regional residents. Southwest Alaska has an abundance of renewable energy options that have the potential to offset the current high costs of energy.
 Partnerships-
Businesses; local, state and federal government; Alaska Native entities; regional non-profits; and communities all contribute to the economic development and employment picture in Southwest Alaska. SWAMC supports existing local and regional economic development efforts and aims to identify new partnerships that can affect change and build regional wealth.
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Community Spotlight: Port Lions
The Native Village of Port Lions is located in Settlers Cove near the mouth of Kizhuyak Bay on the north coast of Kodiak Island approximately 19 air miles west of Kodiak and 249 air miles southwest of Anchorage.
Port Lions, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, was built to house the inhabitants of Ag'waneq from the neighboring island of Afognak and Port Wakefield from Raspberry Island, after their villages were destroyed by the Good Friday Earthquake in 1964. Port Lions was built with help from the United States government and the Lions Club. It was named in honor of the club.
Port Lions is contained within the boundaries of Koniag Regional Corporation and Kodiak Island Borough. The village is accessible by air and water; there are no roads connecting the village with any other villages in the area. The City owned docking facilities enable residents to use fishing boats and other types of vessels for transportation. The Alaska Marine Highway ferry, Tustumena, provides service to the village twice a week. A 2,600-foot gravel airstrip is located approximately 1.5 miles north of the village. Seaplanes can land on the sheltered waters of Settlers Cove in front of the main town site.
With a reputation as a great place to raise a family, Port Lions has a diverse year-round population of 194, whose heritages are unique in their birth, location and goals. As of the 2000 census, there were 89 households out of which 44.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.2% were married couples living together. Approximately one third of Port Lions residents are under the age of 18.
The goal of the Port Lions Traditional Tribal Council, a governing body of Port Lions, is to promote, strengthen, foster pride and self-determination for its members and their descendants in the areas of cultural heritage and traditions; to preserve and promote the education, physical, economical and social well-being of Native individuals, family and community; to prevent and overcome racial prejudice and to restore self-governance.
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Business Spotlight: Kodiak Island Brewing Company
Founded by Ben Millstein in 2003, Kodiak Island Brewing Company started with a humble home brewing passion & a great dream. Today it supplies locals & tourists with a wide variety of premium craft beers. As the first and only brewery on Alaska's emerald island, KIBC nurtures craft beer culture in this frontier paradise with innovation, quality, and tradition. Beers like local favorite Snowshoe Session IPA & award winning Spruce Tip Wheat Wine only scratch the surface of the repertoire.
Pure Island water, organic base malts and the finest imported specialty malts are used in KIBC's 10 Barrel system to produce a plethora of the finest international beers styles. Beers are served fresh on draft or aged in barrels for specialties.
KIBC is proud to employ six local Kodiak residents and is a great example of the entrepreneurial spirit of Southwest Alaska. They are located in the center of town since their move 2 years ago and have a tasting room over 2500 square feet that gets pretty full every evening. Consequently, they serve as a kind of community center in some ways.
KIBC certainly has healthy local support, including fishermen and coasties, teachers and biologists, but also caters to the tourists that make it out to Kodiak. They have received awards from both the local chamber of commerce and visitors bureau. They have hosted meet and greets for Senators Murkowski and Begich, as well as for hopefuls such as Byron Mallot and Forrest Dunbar.
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Alaska Business Week
SWAMC and Bristol Bay Native Corporation have partnered to send a Dillingham student to Alaska Business Week in Fairbanks this summer. With SWAMC providing a round trip PenAir flight voucher and BBNC covering the tuition fee, the student will be able to attend the program with no out of pocket cost.
Alaska Business Week is a one-week summer program teaching the basic principles of private sector business to Alaskan high school students. Participants live on campus, where they grow as leaders, mentored by Alaska's business elite. ABW is now four years young, but was modeled after the very successful and long-running Washington Business Week program. Also, through our partnership with the UAF School of Management, ABW is able to offer two college credits to all participants who successfully complete the program requirements.
Sending a student to Alaska Business Week is in line with SWAMC's education and workforce development goals.
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Envisioning a New Educational Model for Rural Alaska Schools
Diane Hirshberg, director of the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research, spoke at SWAMC's 2014 Annual Economic Summit on the topic of unique challenges and opportunities faced by rural Alaska schools.
She envisions a future where rural Alaska schools are shaped differently than their vastly different lower 48 counterparts. With Alaska specific curriculums, a greater focus on the opportunities of vocational and technical training, and more local teachers, she hopes that this generation of rural Alaska students will have as wide a spectrum of opportunities available to them as a student anywhere else in the country, "I want a student in Bristol Bay to be able to take over dad's fishing business or go to Harvard or come to Anchorage or decide to be a hunting guide. They need to have those choices."
Read KDLG's summary of her comments here.
Ms. Hirshberg's full presentation can be found online here. |
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Mount Pavlof Erupts
Southwest Alaska boasts a wide variety of landscapes including wetlands, rocky islands, seacliffs, exposed coasts, rivers, streams, lakes, taiga, alpine and low arctic tundra, glaciers, and temperate rainforests. Alaska Peninsula residents were recently reminded of another topographical feature present in the region: volcanoes!
Pavlof Volcano's recent eruption has prompted a "red alert" from the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Air traffic out of Dutch Harbor has been interrupted significantly the past week.
Posted on Facebook by Roy Robinson, these photos show Mount Pavlof spewing ash and smoke over the Alaska Peninsula on June 2.
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Interested in Supporting Southwest Alaska's Economy?
BECOME A SWAMC MEMBER TODAY!
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Our Special Thanks to SWAMC Members!
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Our Supporters
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Visit Southwest Alaska @
www.southwestalaska.com
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SWAMC Board of Directors
Alice Ruby, Pres.
Carol Austerman, Vice Pres.
Layton Lockett, Treasurer
Cynthia Berns
Dan Clarion Glen Gardner
Paul Gronholdt
Shirley Marquardt Dan O'Hara
Michelle Ravenmoon Joe Sullivan
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| Upcoming Events & Dates to Remember |
- ARDOR Program Annual Meeting, June 17, Tuesday
- Economic Development for Local Government Leaders Seminar, June 18, Wednesday
- Business Retention and Expansion Workshop, June 19, Thursday
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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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