Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference

Linking Alaska's small businesses to
the right resource at the right time.

Southwest Alaska: The Genuine Aquabounty

February 16-17, 2012 • Hotel Captain Cook • Anchorage, Alaska

SWAMC's staff and Board of Directors have prepared another valuable and informative event for regional residents and businesses in early 2012. The 24th Southwest Alaska Economic Summit and SWAMC Annual Membership Meeting will take place February 16-17 at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, and registration is now OPEN. The 2012 conference will feature an update on the Southwest Alaska Transportation Plan, a discussion on oil and gas and what it means for rural Alaskans, and a panel full of new and innovative ideas for energy solutions in the region. The theme of this year's event is Southwest Alaska: The Genuine Aquabounty, and the meeting will feature a lot of fisheries information as the entire day of February 17th will be dedicated to fisheries economics, science, and community resource reliance. We will also hear from Alaska's Congressional delegation and from our area legislators in Juneau, in addition to taking time for an organizational business meeting to hash out policy issues and important advocacy areas. Click here to see the draft agenda. You can register for the conference and banquet here, and sponsorship opportunities are available HERE. Please mark your calendars for this important event, and be on the look out for more news in the near future.

**Updated** New PenAir fare specials for the conference.

SWAMC Recruiting New VISTA for STEM Project

January 2012 - SWAMC is now recruiting for a VISTA service member to act as the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) education coordinator for the Southwest region. VISTA stands for Volunteers In Service To America, and the program was founded in 1965 designed specifically to fight poverty. The VISTA volunteer will focus efforts on existing partnerships for educational opportunities at the K-12 level, and investigate how broadband technologies can be used to maximize entrepreneurship and learning opportunities. Prospective applicants can learn more about the program and apply here. SWAMC is accepting applications through mid-February with a start date of April 20, 2012.... Read More

SWAMC Awarded USDA Business Opportunities Grant

October 2011 - USDA-RD Alaska State Director Jim Nordlund recently announced an investment to SWAMC through the Rural Business Opportunity Grants (RBOG) program which supports regional planning activities to improve economic conditions in rural areas. "The Obama Administration has made a significant effort to bridge the digital divide by delivering broadband technology to rural Alaska. This RBOG will help to build on the infrastructure and provide increased economic development for Southwest Alaska,” said Nordlund.

This project aims to create economic development using existing and future broadband infrastructure in the Southwest Alaska region by researching best practices and most effective uses of broadband applications in rural economies. This baseline research will be used for a guiding plan addressing various economic, social and cultural development goals related to broadband, including: creating new or improved small business operations; generating effective health, education, and training services; creating efficiencies in delivery of government services; promotion of more information and communication technology entrepreneurs; and maintaining cultural and social connectivity throughout the Southwest Alaska region. SWAMC plans to start work on this project in the Fall, with an anticipated completion date of early 2012 to include new workforce and economic development opportunities for the region.

SWAMC Undertaking Asset Mapping Project

July 2011 - Earlier this summer SWAMC hired an intern to undertake a new asset mapping project aimed at developing a comprehensive system of Southwest Alaska's resources, from human capital to the industrial base. Sam Tappen is an economics student at the University of Alaska and will graduate in the spring of 2012. Sam will work primarily on a new development initiative in which he will be creating an interactive map and database of all assets in the Southwest region. When it is released, the asset map will be an invaluable source of information for local leaders, businesses, and households, as well as decision-makers outside of the region. With this new tool, we will be able to leverage the region's foremost asset clusters as well as identify and understand any inefficiencies that exist in the regional network. This study will ultimately provide the comprehension and direction to lead Southwest Alaska into another decade of growth and prosperity. If you are interested in this project or would like to contribute to Sam's work, please contact him at stappen@swamc.org.

Southwest Alaska Fisheries Resource Allocation: A 30 Year Analysis

May 2011 - What does the fisheries landscape look like in Southwest Alaska, based on the past few decades of activity? Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to adequately answer such a complex question. However, through information provided by ADF&G's Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, we have compiled 30 years of resource allocation data to help give an understanding of the period. Aggregate data on each sub-region of Southwest Alaska has been analyzed for various resource access categories, along with the entire region as a whole. The document is quite large, so we have included links in the Table of Contents that take you to each sub-region, and each header takes you back to the Table of Contents. We invite readers to examine the document and share your thoughts with us.

Pebble Fund Awards $778,250 to Southwest Alaska Organizations

April 2011 - 18 nonprofit groups, schools and villages serving Southwest Alaska have been awarded grants totaling $778,250 from the Pebble Fund, a charitable fund at The Alaska Community Foundation created by a donation from the Pebble Partnership. The mission of the fund is “To promote and enhance sustainable and healthy communities and renewable resources in the Bristol Bay region.”

Projects funded by this grant cycle include a start-up program in the Dillingham City Schools to provide students with technology job skills, replacing high pressure sodium streetlights with LED streetlights in Egegik, and helping the Bristol Bay Elders Action Group bring the dream of a food bank to reality. A complete list of the awards is available at www.alaskacf.org.

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