JEDC News, April 2016

7th Annual Juneau Maritime Festival Next Week!

Saturday, May 7: The Juneau Maritime Festival from 11AM-5PM! Marine Park Plaza in downtown Juneau

We have so many fun activities planned for you!

Schedule of Events:

11AM -- Juneau Maritime Festival Begins & Opening Ceremony by One Peoples Canoe Society and Yees Koo Oo
11:45AM -- Welcoming Remarks
12:00PM -- U.S. Coast Guard Search & Rescue Demo
1:00PM -- 16B Dock Tour (Hourly 16B Dock Tours; Meet for all 16B dock tours at the Docks & Harbor Conference Room)
1PM -- Fillet Contest
1:15PM-2:15PM -- Southeast Alaska Sailing Regatta
2PM -- Taku Tote Race
3:30PM -- Survival Suit Contest
4:40PM -- Closing remarks
5:00PM -- Juneau Maritime Festival ends

ALL DAY -- Beer garden, grilled seafood, and more!

Maritime Music Stage Schedule:

12:45PM -- 3,2,1 kid group
1:30PM -- JAMM band
2:15PM -- Flustered Cluckers
3:30PM -- Brass Quintet
4:20PM -- Mandalynne

Children Activities:

Raingutter boat races on a Boy Scout raingutter track
DIPAC touch tank
Scheduled Story-telling by Juneau Public Library every hour starting at 11:30AM
I-Spy activity led by the Juneau-Douglas City Museum
Juneau Cheer Club will host fun carnival games such as Fishing Hole and Extra Tuff Toss
Bounce House by Barefoot Bouncers
LEGO building
Tours on a Coast Guard vessel
National Weather Service mobile forecasting station

You can still SPONSOR or EXHIBIT at the Maritime Festival!

Friday, May 6: Port to Starboard Progressive Dinner to Support the Festival

For the past three years the Maritime Festival steering committee hosts a Port to Starboard progressive dinner to raise funds for the community event. This year we are excited to announce that the Port to Starboard progressive dinner is hosted by Juneau Food Tours . We've put a new slant on things and will take you on a walking, eating and drinking tour of Juneau's history connected to the sea.

Each ticket will include:

Themed Port Chilkoot cocktails and fresh Alaskan seafood at each location.
Set Sail Cocktails at the historic Red Dog Saloon - Meet up with the rest of your crew and batten down the hatches as we set sail into the night
A historical journey down the Seawalk to your next port stop by dedicated Cruise Directors
First Excursion Appetizers at Twisted Fish - Think: halibut cheeks, salmon collars, and black cod tips provided by Taku Smokeries
Full speed ahead to the Goldbelt Mount Roberts Tramway and get a dose of history before the main event
All Aboard Dinner at the Timberline Bar & Grill on Mount Roberts- fresh Alaskan seafood dinner, live and energetic entertainment, silent auction, delicious dessert auction, and Port toast to end the night
Catch the 9PM sunset and epic views on the way down the tram. All Ashore!

To purchase tickets please click HERE.

Innovation Summit to Air on 360 North TV Tomorrow!

360 North TV will air the 2016 Innovation Summit tomorrow starting at 8AM. You'll get a chance to watch the entire Summit and catch informational presentations by economist Michael Shuman, Harvard professor and cluster initiative expert Dr. Christian Ketels and expert on collective impact Karen Pittman. You'll also get a chance to see all 30 Innovation Short presentations from innovators from around our community. Watch the Summit HERE starting at 8AM tomorrow. You can look forward to Innovation Summit 2017 on February 15 and 16!

Alaska Team Headed to FIRST World Championship

Alaska FTC Team 3595 on stage at the 2015 World Championship with program founders Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers.

Team 3595, Schrödinger's Hat, from Fairbanks, AK, will be representing the state again at the 2016 FIRST Championship in St. Louis this week. This international championship will bring together over 17,000 students from around the world who will demonstrate their Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills, going head to head with custom-built and programmed robots and more. The FIRST program is more than just robots and fosters well-rounded life capabilities including confidence, communication and leadership. Schrödinger's Hat are veterans at this yearly FIRST Championship and won first place last year, taking home the INSPIRE Award. This year Alaska will also be represented with two candidates who are recognized for their individual achievement and dedication to the FIRST program under the FIRST Tech Challenge Dean's List Awards, Colleen Johnson from Fairbanks and Birch Boyer from Anchorage. Special thanks to our statewide lead sponsors BP and Alaska Airlines, along with GCI and Alaska Communications for bringing this outstanding program to 25 school districts across Alaska!

JEDC Program Highlights Now Available

JEDC is excited to share its Program Highlights which covers 2015 and 2016 initiatives and results. You can download a copy from our JEDC homepage banner or HERE.

JEDC's Revolving Loan Fund -- Get More Info Now!

Interested in expanding your business? Got a great plan for a new investment? Call Margaret at 907-523-2300 and learn more about JEDC's Revolving Loan Fund.

Alaska Sustainable Seafoods LLC dba Deckhand Dave's just got startup financing from our Revolving Loan Fund. Look out for the salmon covered food trailer dockside behind the downtown library.

David McCasland,Entrepreneur, and Margaret O'Neal, JEDC's RLF Manager

Thank You for Making the Jr. FIRST LEGO League a Success!

JEDC thanks all volunteers, coaches, parents, sponsors and especially the Friends of the Juneau Public Libraries and the Juneau Public Libraries for a great first season of Jr. FIRST LEGO league. We look forward to next year!

Jr. LEGO League team shows JEDC STEM Coordinator_ Rebecca Soza_ the poster and the LEGO model they built with motorized parts using the WeDo software.

STEM Corporate Challenge

Building LEGO robots just isn't for kids! JEDC invites any team of adults (corporate or other) to sign up for this year's Corporate Challenge held in Juneau on June 3 and help support

FIRST in Alaska events around the state! Teams can be of any size and come from anywhere -- businesses, families, or community organizations. For more information, and to sign up, visit www.jedc.org/FIRSTinAlaska or contact Courtney Weiss.

Become a 2016 JEDC Investor

We invite you to invest in Juneau by becoming a JEDC Investor. Show your support of the work we do to forward Juneau and Southeast's economy.

By supporting JEDC you are supporting the long-term economic success of Alaska's capital city, and creating a business climate that in turn supports your business or organization.

To learn more about our investor program, please visit www.JEDC.org/investors or send an email to Dana Herndon.

STEM Summer Camps Are Filling Up Fast!!

Summer camp slots are almost full so sign up while you still can! Children will have unique and incredible experiences either learning how to build underwater robots or learning how to build rockets and more! You can sign up HERE.

2015 Summer Camp Testimonials:

"Oh, how I wish we could get many more children in this!! It is SO WONDERFUL!!!"
"My son enjoyed creating his underwater robot and showing us how it worked. Seeing him engaged in a learning activity that he enjoyed was great!"
"My son had an amazing time building both an underwater ROV, and programming the commands on his EV3 robot to perform specific duties. I witnessed an excitement in him that I haven't seen in a while and his instructors had asked him to come back and be a student teacher for the younger classes. These programs are what make our future engineers!"
"JEDC STEM camps give kids the opportunity to problem solve while working cooperatively gives our children the confidence and skills necessary to be successful in whatever they decide to do."

Featured Economic Indicator:
New Housing Permitted for Construction in Juneau, 2010 - 2015

Juneau's single family housing market got a boost in 2015 with 72 houses permitted to be built, a 75 percent increase over 2014. However, with only 18 multifamily units permitted in 2015, the outlook for multifamily housing construction in Juneau is down from levels seen recently and continues to be insufficient to meet demand.

Investor Spotlight: BP

BP opened its first office in Alaska in 1959, and for more than four decades has led the oil and gas industry that drives economic growth in Alaska. BP operates nine North Slope oilfields in the Greater Prudhoe Bay area and owns significant interests in six producing fields operated by others. BP also owns significant non-operating interests in the Point Thomson development project, the Liberty prospect, and in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). Key aspects of BP's business strategy in Alaska are the safe, reliable and efficient development of the significant undeveloped light oil, viscous and heavy oil, and natural gas resources within the existing North Slope fields.

Learn more about supporting the work of JEDC and consider an Investment in Juneau.