SWAMC's 2012 Annual Meeting
Southwest Alaska:The Genuine Aquabounty
February 16-17, 2012 • Hotel Captain Cook • Anchorage, Alaska 
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, and you can register here. 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. We are partnering with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to make the 2012 event one of the best SWAMC conferences in recent memory. 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. Click here to see the draft agenda.
The Economic Summit will feature many of the topics that are critical to economic development in rural Alaska, and primarily in the Southwest region. One of those items is infrastructure, and we will highlight the current efforts of the Alaska DOT&PF and their contractors as they update the Southwest Alaska Transportation Plan. Another key issue on the agenda is energy, as it is every year. We will have presenters covering several potential solutions to rural and Southwest Alaska's energy needs, including sea water heat pumps, high voltage direct current power transmission, and the "perfect" home design for the rugged Aleutians. Since oil and gas is the lifeblood of the state's economy and impacts the lives of every Alaskan, we will have Professor Scott Goldsmith of ISER and former gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker talk a little petroleum. Along those same lines, a few of the folks that took part in the Norway Policy Tour this fall will also address conference attendees on some of the positives they took away from that trip and what elements might be applicable for our region. Additionally, Alaska's Congressional delegation will join us live from DC via Skype as they host a Q&A session, which should prove to be a fun and challenging endeavor.
Finally, no SWAMC summit would be complete if we didn't talk about the Southwest region's economic engine, commercial fishing. This year we plan to get back to our roots and host "Fish Friday" on February 17th to dedicate several hours to the topic. ADF&G Commissioner Cora Campbell will address attendees on some of the issues the State is facing and also discuss some 2012 forecasts. The UAA Chair of Economics, Dr. Jim Murphy, will perform an experiment in fisheries design as we try to develop the "most efficient" participation model for natural resource management (we promise it will be fun!). To top it all off, that afternoon will feature a slew of discussion on fisheries allocation issues, from the Council deliberations to processor perspectives, CDQ's, Legislative questions, maintaining working waterfronts, and community involvement in resource development. There will be a lot of healthy debate during this day, so you will want to be a part of these important discussions. The draft agenda can be seen here.
And if all of this weren't enough, SWAMC will also hold its annual business meeting on the 17th to discuss organizational issues, talk a bit of policy, and reach consensus on some important advocacy pieces. That Friday night, Southwest Alaska's legislative delegation from Juneau will join us to give some insight into Capitol business as we reach a new era of redistricting, ballot initiatives, and sometimes bitter politics. We promise this will be a light and fun evening, however, and there will be plenty of good food and productive banter.
That is a quick rundown of the events over those two days. If your organization or community is interested in sponsoring the 2012 conference, please visit the sponsorship page or contact us to put your stamp on the premiere event for the region. Contact staff if you are interested in becoming an exhibitor, too. We will continue to update this webpage as the SWAMC conference draws near. Please ask us any questions you may have regarding the event. We hope to see you soon!
SWAMC Staff & Board of Directors
907.562.7380