The coffee will be free and the borough wants the information and questions to flow just as freely at the first of its “Our Town, Our Future” informal community sessions.
The listening-and-sharing session is set for 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 18, at the Stikine Inn. The borough has carved out two hours for the meeting, but people don’t have to stay that long, explained Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director.
The sessions will be held the third Friday of every month through March as part of the borough’s effort to provide more information to the community, particularly focused on Wrangell’s economy and promoting economic growth.
“Come one, come all,” Thomas said of the coffee chats, hoping for a sizable turnout at the opening session.
“This first one is going to be broad and will share data from Southeast Alaska by the Numbers,” she said. The annual report, which is prepared for Southeast municipalities, includes current data about population, jobs, wages, industries and also an annual business survey.
Thomas and staff will lead a discussion about Wrangell’s economy: “Where we are currently” and how Wrangell fits within the overall Southeast economy.
One goal of the community sessions is to “reach people where they are rather than expect people to come to us,” such as testifying at borough assembly meetings, she said.
Future topics will “depend on the richness of the conversations and the people at the table.” The sessions will be informal, Thomas said.
Comments and suggestions from the meetings will be brought to the borough’s economic development board, which has stepped up its efforts to look for ways to build the town’s economy.
Wrangell businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit new employees. The town has suffered through years of population decline, and the latest state forecast predicts the town could drop to 1,400 residents by 2050 from 2,000 now.
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