SEC releases new five-year plan

An economic plan surveying the coming five years was adopted this week by Southeast Conference.

The Southeast Alaska 2020 Economic Plan released on Tuesday looks at various economic and demographic trends in the region and lays out targets for improvement. The plan also highlights the importance of sound economic planning in light of impending cuts to federal and especially state government spending in coming years.

The economic plan is the result of a year-long collaborative process in which more than 400 regional leaders were consulted. These ranged from small businesses, municipalities, government departments, educational institutions, tribal organizations and nonprofits. Together, SEC membership developed 47 regionally-based economic initiatives to bring jobs and commerce to Southeast Alaska.

Eight initiatives were given priority as part of the process, including continued support for the Alaska Marine Highway System, energy promotion, maritime industrial workforce creation, seafood product development, mariculture, visitor industry marketing and securing an adequate timber supply.

In its media release, SEC explained these priority objectives will dictate its organizational focus in coming years, but will hopefully benefit businesses, individuals and groups across the region. A number of helpful graphics, charts, and statistical data accompany the plan’s recommendations, which evaluated opportunities and risks on a sector-by-sector basis.

“This is a really useful tool,” SEC president Garry White said in the release. “If you have a housing project, a harbor improvement, or are building a tribal enterprise business, you can use the regional economic plan as a supporting document to show how your project fits into the greater Southeast Alaska economic planning,”

“It was put together through community meetings. We did a big meeting a year ago in March and did the (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, and met with sector committees,” explained Shelly Wright, executive director for SEC.

With this input in hand, the information was developed into a draft plan by consultancy Rain Coast Data. After some additional fine-tuning through the committee process a draft was presented at SEC’s Mid-Session Summit in March and adopted. The finished product has a new look compared to previous economic plans, which SEC has been periodically producing since 1988.

“This is a new format,” said Wright. Presentation aside, the 2020 plan focuses more on the marine industry, and addresses federal priorities for the first time. “There’s a little bit of something in there for everyone.”

The economic strategy can be viewed in its entirety at the Southeast Conference website at http://www.seconference.org/strategy.