It is important, indeed vital to the health of the Alaska economy, to better link our entrepreneurs with both the talent and the money they need to succeed. Oft-repeated are the statistics on how overly dependent Alaska residents are on federal and state monies relative to other states, and how critical it is becoming to diversify and increase the number of jobs in the private sector.
In order to address this need, the Knowles administration is marketing Alaska as a place for the global corporations to do business through the Department of Community and Economic Development. At the same time we need to support our local corporations with both the fiscal and intellectual capital they need to establish themselves as sustainable businesses employing Alaska residents year-round.
Our experience in Alaska again and again is that the money is here, the ideas are here and most of the talent we need is here or wants to relocate here when salaries become competitive with opportunities outside.
So what is missing? Why don't more of our Great Land frontier entrepreneurs grow their ideas into fundable businesses? And of the ones who do, why do we have several start-up companies a year that resort to finding funding outside the state? The result is a loss of private sector jobs for Alaskans when they are forced to move their corporate headquarters to Seattle or Idaho.
Arguably, we are geographically challenged in the sense that we are spread over vast distances, and we lack some of the standard incentives that other states use in attracting and keeping businesses, such as state income tax-based incentive programs.
On the contrary, our location can be an asset. DCED is marketing Alaska as positioned more strategically than most places on the globe to do business on all three major continents, with a very well-educated population.
We have identified the need for more private sector jobs and we have the ideas, money and talent to create them if we make a commitment to building Alaska businesses with the strategic networking of the intellectual, fiscal and human capital at hand.
The purpose of Alaska InvestNet is to create wealth and jobs in the state of Alaska by linking Alaska's most talented and resourceful individuals to local financial support for their diverse enterprises, creating a natural synergy in ideas and successful business development.
Alaska private equity investments keep entrepreneurial talent and businesses here, and entrepreneurs build fresh economic infrastructure with sales, new jobs and enduring wealth.
The initiative for Alaska's first formalized angel networks is being catalyzed under the banner of Alaska InvestNet. Angel investors sit on the advisory boards of the companies they invest in and provide not only the money to get started, but also the invaluable advice that often rescues companies facing the inevitable challenges of growth in the marketplace.
Business plan competitions are active at both Alaska Pacific University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and these are a proven method for incubating ideas and talent that we would like to see on all of Alaska's university campuses.
Alaska InvestNet's signature event of the year, the Capital Investment and Manufacturing Conference, will be March 12-14 at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage.
Now a full three days, the fourth annual conference will include networking receptions, an Alaska entrepreneur trade show, 15 educational breakout sessions and a venture advisory panel entitled "The Deal Doctor."
InvestNet is accepting business plan summaries until Feb. 15 for selection in the venture forum. For more information, visit the Web site at (www.alaskainvestnet.org).
Deborah Marshall is director of Alaska InvestNet. She can be reached via e-mail at (dmarshall@alaskainvestnet.org).
