Developing rural Alaska: ANCs address energy crisis and infrastructure needs.

AuthorSlaten, Russ
PositionALASKA NATIVE CORPORATIONS

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High energy costs and infrastructure needs are a common theme in rural communities across Alaska. As state and federal funding has continued to decrease, some Alaska Native corporations have become integral in finding energy and infrastructure solutions for villages in their region.

Whether through renewal energy projects or infrastructure improvements, these corporations aim to reduce the outmigration of residents in their communities and to answer the needs of the people back home.

Old Harbor Native Corporation

Old Harbor Native Corporation has worked with the City of Old Harbor and the Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor since 2006 to develop a community plan that included many of the infrastructure improvement projects the community has been working on to date.

Old Harbor Native Corporation, in collaboration with the City of Old Harbor, has successfully completed the Boat Harbor Replacement Project and the City Dock Replacement Project and is currently overseeing the ongoing Old Harbor Airport Safety & Expansion Project, says Cynthia Berns, vice president of administration and external affairs at Old Harbor Native Corporation.

The community is in the process of permitting a hydroelectric project with AVEC, the electric provider for the community, she says.

"The corporation has been involved in the development of Old Harbor by providing the backbone to keeping these projects moving forward," Berns says. "We provide a lot of support to the city and tribe for pursuing funding that makes these projects viable and ultimately to be completed. The corporation provides in-kind project management to the city and tribe for various projects from inception to completion."

In 2010 the City of Old Harbor and Old Harbor Native Corporation completed the replacement of the small boat inner harbor facility, which provides a safer facility for commercial fishermen, sports fishing businesses, and subsistence activities in the village, Berns says.

In 2011 the corporation completed the construction of a new dock facility, which was required in order to maintain fuel delivery service to the community, Berns says. It also provided ferry service, economic development prospects, and an overall safer facility for public use.

"Although not all our shareholders are in the village, there's an understanding that Old Harbor is our home, and this is where we're all from," Berns says. "There's such a huge rural to urban outmigration, and the concern...

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