Teaming up to encourage growth

THE LOG STAFF

May 29, 2008 at 3:55PM AKST

The three largest municipalities in the Southcentral region are teaming up to promote outside business development interests.

The Anchorage Economic Development Corp., the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and the Kenai Peninsula Borough agreed to an economic development partnership in late April.

The three will work together to promote business opportunities in Southcentral Alaska.

“Anchorage, the Mat-Su borough and the Kenai Peninsula are interdependent communities,” noted Bill Popp, president and CEO of AEDC. “Potential investors are more interested in the whole region, so this partnership brings together the entities that make that whole stronger.”

Investors in sectors such as retail, logistics and manufacturing are particularly likely to be served by the partnership.

Petrochemical manufacturing is one such potential growth area in the Mat-Su and Kenai due to the large amount of developable land near year-round ports if a North Slope gas pipeline is built to the region, Popp said.

The Mat-Su Borough and its communities have more than 30,000 acre, and the Kenai Peninsula Borough and its communities have 14,200 acres of land identified as suitable for industrial and commercial use.

On the retail side, most new stores that open in the Anchorage area are looking beyond the municipality to identify expansion opportunities and seek information about surrounding communities.

“It just makes sense to help centralize information where we can,” Popp said.

AEDC also seeks to diversify the economies of each community. It will work with the Mat-Su borough government, the Kenai Peninsula borough government and the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District to identify new industries.

While AEDC will represent all three communities to potential investors, interested businesses will be referred to the appropriate officials in the Mat-Su and Kenai Peninsula borough governments, which will continue to market their areas independently.

Anchorage Economic Development Corp. is a nonprofit, member-based organization serving as a resource for businesses in Southcentral Alaska.