Southeast Conference April Newsletter

In This Issue
Southeast Alaska Private Investment Survey
Mid Session Summit
Southeast Conference in Review 2016
Mariculture poised to come of age
Biomass Success in Ketchikan
Heat Pump Expo
Thank you Mid Session Sponsors!
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium 
Avista
The Alaska Committee
Williams Kastner
Alaska Gasline Development Corp.
PeaceHealth Ketchikan
Alaska Marine Lines
City of Hoonah
City of Craig
Juneau Economic Development Council
Alaska Electric Light and Power
The Landing Plus Hotel
True North Credit Union
K&R Drilling
Wostmann Associates
Legacy Sponsors
AVISTA
First Bank
Ketchikan Gateway Borough
Haines Borough
City of  Ketchikan
State of Alaska
City of Valdez
Benefactor Sponsors

Alaska Electric Light & Power
Alaska Committee   
Lynden Inc.  
City and Borough of Sitka  
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Alaska Power & Telephone
Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority
Southeast Road Builders
Vigor Alaska  
Ketchikan Marine Industry Council  
Municipality of Skagway  
City of Kodiak 
Bronze Sponsors
Ketchikan Visitors Bureau
Coeur Alaska Kensington Mine
University of Alaska Southeast
Alaska Marine Lines
Madison Lumber & Hardware  
Best Western Landing Plus  
City of Unalaska  
City of Cordova
City and Borough of Wrangell
City of Pelican
City of Thorne Bay
Cordova Chamber
Greater Sitka Chamber
Hyder Community Association
Huna Totem
Inter-Island Ferry Authority
Marine Engineers
Masters Mates and Pilots Union
Petersburg Chamber of Commerce
Petersburg Economic Development Council
SouthWest Alaska Municipal Conference (SWAMC)
Travel Juneau
Wrangell Convention and Visitors Bureau 
Board of Directors
Staff

Southeast Alaska Private Investment Survey 2017
 
 
Southeast Conference tracks private sector investment in the region on an annual basis as part of our region's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, and we need your help. Are you a Southeast Alaska small businesses owner, a CEO, a vice president of operations, a manager, a commercial fishermen, an independent artist, or the head of a non profit? If so, then this survey is for you.
 
Please take this three minute survey regarding any significant private project investments your business or company made between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 in Southeast Alaska. All individual survey answers are 100% confidential. Results will be reported in aggregate only.  

 
Fantastic Mid Session Summit Last Month

We had nearly 200 people turn up to talk ferries, maritime, energy, transportation, seafood, visitors, timber, mining, arts, solid waste, and economics. The governor kicked off the Southeast Conference Mid-Session Summit with an outstanding speech. Our annual Mid Session Summit had something for everyone in Southeast Alaska. If you missed it, you can view the presentations below:

2017 PRESENTATIONS
Annual Report: Progress on our Eight Priority Objectives
In our mid session summit Annual Report, we provide a review of what we did in 2016, an overview of our board of directors, and a 6-month progress report on our 8 priority objectives in the areas of AMHS, energy, seafood, mariculture, maritime workforce, tourism, and timber.  Download Southeast Conference 2016 in Review Here.   
Become a Alaska Marine Highway System Reform Project Sponsor

We invite you to be a sponsor of Alaska Marine Highway System Reform Project. Our mission to support activities that promote strong economies, healthy communities, and a quality environment in Alaska aligns directly with the AMHS Reform. 
 
Work on our Mariculture Objective:
Alaska's mariculture industry is in its infancy, compared to other regions of the world, but it has the potential to be much larger - maybe worth as much as $1 billion within three decades. Markos ("Mark") Scheer is a board member of Southeast Conference, and the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation - which published the first phase of a study called The Alaska Mariculture Initiative in 2015. He discussed his organization's hopes for mariculture in front of the Sitka Chamber of Commerce this week (4-19-17).
The following are about Blue Evolution:
 
 
Article about the first commercial harvest of Alaska grown seaweed in Ketchikan:
 
Work on our Energy Objective:
Alaska's Biomass Success celebrated in Ketchikan
Southeast Conference is currently working with biomass projects in Kake, Haines, Hoonah and Klukwan and was a steering committee member for the biomass-heated greenhouse handbook cited below. This priority from the SE IRP has become a meaningful part of the regional energy solution, especially in the more rural communities and helps to stabilize and lower the cost of energy while providing local jobs to the economy. 

Ketchikan airport pellet boiler. Photo and story by Amanda Byrd/ACEP

The 2017 Alaska Wood Energy Conference was as much a conference as it was a celebration of the success the state has seen in biomass energy.  The conference, held in picturesque Ketchikan, showcased a number of community biomass installations including a few in the Southeast area, and large community scale projects in the interior communities of Galena and Tanana.
 
The conference began with a tour of Ketchikan biomass systems including the flagship pellet boiler installation at the Ketchikan International Airport.  This  installation sets the standard for new biomass boiler design and construction projects in the state.  
 
The conference also presented updates on the Galena biomass project that reached its final milestone of start-up and heat production for the Galena Interior Learning Academy (GILA) as well as other community buildings through a district heating system.
 
An Alaska-specific  Greenhouse Handbook was officially unveiled, and a tour of 3 schools in the Southeast Island School District on Prince of Wales Island ended the conference with a showcase of a school district taking energy and food security into their own hands. The school district has installed biomass boilers and greenhouses, some are still being planned, in each of the schools on the island.
 
The conference was also a way to strengthen the collaborations and discussions between Alaskan and Canadian energy researchers, energy champions, and energy policy specialists as both move toward a more sustainable arctic.
 
Links to two stories by Southeast radio KRBD reporter Leila Kheiry can be found here:
May Heat Pump Expo on Prince of Wales