Letter of Interest for Economic Development Projects

Request for Letter of Interest for Economic Development Projects.   The Denali Commission requests Letters of Interest (LOI) for developing economic development projects in Alaska with a focus on developing rural economies. The Commission would like to create an inventory of these types of projects that are in or are moving toward development, so we can design programs that provide technical and/or financial assistance to potential project developers. Continue to monitor our website for further information on submitting your LOI.

Advisory Committee December 20th 2007 Meeting

An introduction of a new member to the committee Mr. Doug Ward was made. Doug is the director of shipyard development at the Alaska Ship & Dry-dock Inc. in Ketchikan and brings many years of experience to the table.

Presentations to the advisors were made by the following; Mitzi Barker of RurAL CAP presented a holistic view to community planning.  She shared the experience of using student interns in the completion of a Community Plan in the village of Chevak during summer 2007.

• Planning offers framework for the community to tell their story
• Planning should focus on the communities' gifts and assets
• Planning must include all stakeholders
• Linear planning may not be the best approach
• Identify communities' vision & goals
• Sustainability issues must be addressed
• Use of culture and traditional values in decision making

A second group of presenters provided the group with a summery of programs currently offering non traditional micro lending in rural communities.   Ms. Lujean Diamond Fedotov of the State of Alaska Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development, Jeff Batton and Hugh Short of Alaska Growth Capital, and Gene Kane of USDA rural development.

The Alaska Division of Investments offers the following programs;

o  Rural Development Initiative Fund

o  Small Business Economic Development Fund

o  Commercial Fishing Revolving Loan Fund.

You can learn more about these funds at their website www.commerce.state.ak.us/investments or by contacting Lujean at (907) 269-8150.

Alaska Growth Capital fills in a lending gap in the state by working with groups that do not fit into the grants or traditional bank financeable areas by working with groups that may be a higher risk to investors.   Their business model imports new capital from Wall Street and their loan average is in the million dollar range.   www.alaskagrowth.com

USDA offers several programs to small business with a focus on Rural Housing, Rural Business, and Rural Infrastructure.   In the areas of rural business they have the following;

• Business and Industry Guarantee Loans
• Rural Business Enterprise Grants
• Intermediary Relending Program Loans
• Rural Economic Development Loans and Grants
• Rural Cooperative Development Grants
• Value-Added Agricultural Product Market Development Grant Program
• Rural Business opportunity Grant
• Renewable Energy Systems Energy Efficiency Improvement Grants

To find out more about these programs you can contact Gene Kane at the Denali Commission at (907) 271-3025 or on their website at www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/index.html

Equipment & Enhancement leads to Economic Development

The Denali Commission is a major funder of the State of Alaska's Mini-grant program and the following projects had a focus on enhancement or equipment purchase as a means of economic development.

Hyder bottle descrambler

False Pass dock crane

Mat-Su Bus

Anderson rock crusher

False Pass fork lift

Whittier Museum Development

False Pass dump truck

Craig safety equipment Inter Island Ferry

Naukati Bay refrigeration truck

Hyder automatic palletize