Now that we know where Sitka’s economy stands, what should we do about it?
The second part of Sitka’s two-part community discussion on the economy is scheduled for Tuesday, April 17, in the main auditorium of Harrigan Centennial Hall, beginning at 1:30 in the afternoon.
Download the forum agenda here.
And while the topic is the same as last week’s economic summit hosted by the Sitka Chamber of Commerce, the approach is different. Sitka Economic Development Association director Garry White says the goal of the upcoming forum is to collaborate, and build support for new ideas. He would like participants to focus on “new” money…
“…because it spins through the economy and helps prop up all these different sectors, including education, including grocery stores, the guy cutting hair – all of it gets the benefit of new money coming into the economy.”
New money is what enters the community as the result of primary economic activity, like seafood sales. White explains it like this:
“Basically, there are two kinds of industries: prime industries and support industries. The prime industries are why an economy or a community even exist. Ours is fishing. It’s health care such as SEARHC. It’s our visitor industry. It’s government. It’s non-profits that bring outside money into our community. And that is money that stays in the economy and spins through the support industries, which are your grocery stores, your city government, things like that. If we don’t have that prime money coming in, the support industries don’t exist, and the community – somewhat – doesn’t exist.”
White also wants Sitkans to dwell less on what they think is wrong with the economy, or the local government, or the school district, and concentrate on the community’s assets. This is where White believes new ideas, and new money, will emerge.
“So, we’ve got the forest, we’ve got fish, we’ve got water, we’ve got natural beauty, we’ve got the Sawmill Cove Industrial Park. We’ve got all these different assets: our airport, our schools, our access to capital, all these base things we need to develop an economy.”
White is not looking for 45-minute power point presentations from local entrepreneurs. He wants to hear ideas from the public, and then try to build consensus around a few achievable goals. The process is modeled on Sitka’s Health Summit, which has had notable success over the past few years.
He hopes, though, that anyone willing to advance a good idea would also be willing – with support of the group — to be that idea’s champion.
“You kind of pitch your idea, and there could be five guys sitting in the back of the room who think, That’s a great idea, and they want to get with you after the fact. And really make that become a reality.”
The economic forum will wrap up at 5 PM. White plans to spend the last hour narrowing the top ideas to three, and then developing a list of action items.
