Public-private partnerships: popular for leveraging resources.

• Author: Storm, Joette
• Position: PARTNERSHIPS

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The idea of cooperative collaboration to achieve desired results is firmly rooted in the myriad of public-private partnerships that are bringing businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations together across Alaska. Partnerships are becoming ever more popular as a means to enhance existing programs, address safety and health issues, or promote work force training. In Anchorage alone, there are more than 500 school-business partnerships; and across the state in communities large and small, dozens of new partnerships are formed every year.

SAVING COMMUNITIES

Partnerships are popular, according to Mike Shifter, assistant director of the Partnership Division, Alaska Department of Labor, because they leverage resources and expand the capacity of small organizations. This was especially true in the Delta region where the population in the four communities was barely 3,600 in 2000. The forecasted closure of Fort Greely had caused a drop in jobs and population. When the Department of Defense proposed construction of a missile defense system, community leaders established the Partners for Progress in Delta Inc. (PPD) to stem the loss of local jobs in the region.

Several small training strategies were in place though they lacked capacity to develop the level of training that could prepare residents for skilled trades, says Shifter. By sharing resources among the Delta/Greely High School, the University of Alaska Tanana Valley Community College, Alaska Works Partnerships, trade associations and the Delta Mining Training Center, they developed a full-fledged Delta Career Advancement Center that produced workers with transferable industry-standard skills.

It took several years to get up to speed, but since 2003, 150 high school students and young adults completed training and earned certifications to gain access to apprenticeships and jobs.

CREATING CHANGE

Combining forces also increases the ability to persuade and promote change. In 1995, Alaska's reputation as a dangerous place to fly came to national attention with a string of fatal accidents. For decades, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had promoted safe practices and decisionmaking with limited success. Then the agency, led by Regional Administrator Jacqueline Smith Burdette, reached out to industry leader Richard Harding, president of the Alaska Air Carriers Association (AACA) to form an Alliance for Aviation Safety. Speaking with one voice, they took...