Thanks, Rotary Club
Dear Editor: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska would like to thank the Sitka Rotary Club for their generous donation. Their donation was made in conjunction with the Wells Fargo Matching Donation program.
For the next month, donations up to $25,000 made to Big Brothers Big Sisters across the state will be matched by Wells Fargo, doubling the impact of the non-profit donation. Every dollar donated locally stays in Sitka and will be used to put more children on the path to success by matching them with a caring adult role model.
The Sitka office of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska is now accepting new applications for volunteers (“Bigs”) that act as mentors to the youths (“Littles”) in our community. Bigs and Littles meet two to four times per month in the community program or one time per week in the school based program. Being a Big Brother or Big Sister is simple. It’s sharing time, energy and friendship with a child in need. There is no special expertise required – and our volunteer mentors often get back much more than they give!
To learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters, please give me a call at 907-747-3500.
Thank you, again, to the Sitka Rotary Club and Wells Fargo for supporting Sitka’s youths.
Kealoha Harmon,
Sitka Community Director,
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Path to Prosperity
Dear Editor: The atmosphere in Juneau last weekend was electric with business ingenuity from across the region. Twelve semi-finalists for the 2014 Path to Prosperity competition participated in a rigorous three-day business plan ‘‘boot camp’’ where they learned hard and soft skills for turning creative and sustainable business concepts into a reality.
The Nature Conservancy and Haa Aaní Community Development Fund Inc. created the Path to Prosperity (P2P) in 2013 to build and strengthen a diverse regional economy that integrates social, economic and environmental prosperity into business planning.
In Juneau this weekend from Sitka was Robert Miller with Sea Fur Sewing and Bobbi Daniels with the Sawmill Farm. Both contestants submitted applications this spring and were selected to advance to the semi-finalist round.
Miller is using sustainably harvested sea otter pelts, seal and other Alaskan furs to craft beautiful, high quality products like hats, mittens and ear muffs.
Sea Fur Sewing currently supports hunters in Kake and Angoon, and Miller and his team are not only dedicated to crafting fine products. Miller describes his passion for, “... creating a business that uses sustainable resources to ensure (his) subsistence culture is passed on to future generations while creating beautiful Alaskan fur products.”
Bobbi Daniels and the Sawmill Farm are hoping to use currently cast-off food waste from grocery stores, restaurants, and the local brewery to raise livestock and poultry for sale locally. The project will not only eliminate a portion of waste that needs to otherwise be barged off the island, the Sawmill Farm will contribute to Sitka’s food security by providing a locally grown protein source.
The P2P Contest supports creative endeavors like Rob Miller’s and Bobbi Daniel’s, whose business concepts target our region’s economic, environmental and social challenges.
The 12 semi-finalists will continue working within the support network developed during this weekend’s ‘‘boot camp’’ to polish a business plan for final submission in December. Three finalists will be awarded $40,000 in seed funding in 2015 to further develop and strengthen their sustainable business concepts.
The Path to Prosperity, Haa Aaní, LLC and the Nature Conservancy would like to thank Robert Miller, Bobbi Daniels and all the semi-finalists for their dedication to building a prosperous region and for their participation in P2P. Special thanks goes out to the Alaska Growth Capital, Wells Fargo, and Goldbelt Corporation for financial contributions that helped fund the 2014 Boot Camp. We also would like to thank the Baranof Hotel, KTOO and the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska for the generous donation of meeting space during the weekend. Finally, we would like to thank all the professors, industry professionals, consultants and existing business owners who volunteered their time and expertise in coaching these vibrant business startups this weekend at boot camp.
To learn more about the program, follow along, and to participate in the People’s Choice award in February please visit: http://p2pweb.org/
Alana Peterson,
Path to Prosperity Administrator
