Bulletins

SBA issues grant to Alaska

The U.S. Small Business Administration has awarded a State Trade and Export Promotion grant to the state of Alaska to provide help for qualifying small businesses interested in exporting to China. China topped the list of Alaska’s export markets for the first time in 2011, with a 56 percent increase over 2010 to $1.4 billion total. Alaska’s primary exports to China are seafood, mineral ores, forest products and fishmeal. In the decade between 2001 and 2011, Alaska’s exports to China grew more than 1,300 percent.

GSA sells Nome federal building

The U.S. General Services Administration has sold the Nome Federal Building at 113 Front St. to Front Properties LLC of Anchorage for $1.7 million. The two-story building was built in 1958 to house federal agencies and the U.S. courts. The building was sold due to a diminished need by federal agencies for office and courtroom space in Nome. The major tenants, the state of Alaska and the U.S. Postal Service, will remain in the 27,503-square-foot building in the heart of Nome. Front Properties plans to invest more than $500,000 in exterior and interior improvements, including mechanical systems and interior lighting modernization.

ANTHC receives distinguished award

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium was recently named the American Hospital Association’s Carolyn Boone Lewis Living the Vision Award winner for its work in improving the health of Alaska Native and American Indian people. ANTHC serves 140,000 Alaska Natives who make up diverse tribal communities, including Inupiat, Yup’ik, Athabascan, Aleut, Tlingit, Haida and other cultures. ANTHC focuses on wellness, community-based provision of care and public health status and improvement to achieve its vision of Alaska Natives being the healthiest people in the world.

Study shows international visitor increases

The Alaska Visitors Statistics Program Summer 2011 study found that Australia has edged out the United Kingdom to become Alaska’s top international market, and that overall international visitation to Alaska grew to 10 percent during the summer of 2011. An estimated 154,100 international visitors traveled to Alaska during that summer. Australia, Europe and Asia accounted for most of Alaska’s international visitors during the study period, while an estimated 22,000 visitors came from other international markets, most notably Brazil and Israel. The study was done by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development and the Alaska Travel Industry Association.