The winners in the first Alaska Marketplace competition also got a pleasant last-minute surprise when Al Bolea, president of BP Pipelines and co-chair of the Alaska Marketplace jury, announced that BP would more than double the awards pot, which was initially set at $200,000.

"We gave them money to invest," said Bolea, smiling as he congratulated winners, who ranged from promoters of health products from Southeast Alaska forests in Wrangell, providers of educational tours of Alaska for teachers in Anchorage, and a mechanical repair shop in Savoonga.

"We want to put money into things that build employment and economic development in Alaska," Bolea said. "I walked out last night and realized we didn't have enough money in here."

So Bolea asked for and received another $300,000 from BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. "We said we have to do this and that was it," he said. "It just fit with what we want to do."

Alaska Marketplace, modeled after the World Bank's development marketplace, aims to uncover innovative ideas to stimulate economic development in rural Alaska. Each idea was judged on its level of innovation, sustainability and profitability, poverty reduction and job creation, and cultural heritage. The theme for the 2006 competition was culture and development.

Officials at the Denali Commission said Julie Kitka, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, approached them with the idea for Alaska Marketplace in the aftermath of a leadership conference that AFN held last year in Anchorage, also with support from the Denali Commission.

Alaska Marketplace was underwritten by the Denali Commission, BP, Telecommunications Development Fund, Alaska Growth Capital and ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. Other partners were Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership, College of Rural Alaska, University of Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Village Initiatives.

"Our goal is to support economic activity, based not only on the vast resources of Alaska's land, but on the rich knowledge possessed by Alaska's people," Kitka said.

"In addition to awarding seed money and follow-up mentoring to the winners, we are providing a much needed spotlight on Alaska entrepreneurs. In essence, this initiative is helping to build the capacity of rural Alaskans on their journey to becoming vital contributors to the global marketplace," Kitka wrote in a letter welcoming everyone to the event.

Delighted recipients of $30,000 of that pot were Hogarth Kingeekuk Jr., treasurer of the Savoonga Native Corp., and his cousin, Fred Kingeekuk, who want to start a small parts and repair shop in Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island.

Jill Wheeler, a grant coordinator at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and business partner Tonia Lawrence of Eagle River, won $20,000 in seed money for their plan to offer educational tours with continuing education credits for teachers.

Esther Ashton of Wrangell was awarded $25,000 in seed money for the manufacture of health products from Southeast Alaska forests. Her Alaska Resource and Economic Development Inc. is launching Tongass Health Products Initiative to produce scientifically proven beneficial health food supplements.

Winners of the people's choice awards included John Oscar of Keoryuk, for Nunivak Arts and Crafts; Lauren Padawer of Cordova, for her glacial skincare products; and Ulric Ulroan of Chevak, who is promoting Chevak bird and cultural tours.

Other winners included Jennifer Maguire of Fairbanks, with the Interior Alaska Native Artists' Cooperative, $25,000; Charles Parker of Anchorage, for development of alternative renewable energy models for rural Alaska, $20,000; DuWayne Johnson of Dillingham, for Alaska sport sleds, $8,000; Joanne Beck of Eagle, for the Han Athabascan Grocery and Native Arts Store, $12,000; Chris O'Neil of Noatak, for the Noatak Natural Products & Organic Farming Cooperative, $22,000; and Jennifer Harrison of Chickaloon, for the Chickaloon Four-Season Greenhouse, $25,000.

Other winners were Dora Nukapigal and David Smith of Nuiqsut, for a wild medicinal plants of Nuiqsut project, $10,000; Robert Kocsis of Delta Junction, for the Delta Junction biodiesel pilot plant, $20,000; Axel and Kathleen Svenson of Ketchikan, for the Thriller Alaska's Native Tour, $20,000; Paul Markoff of Anchorage, for Togiak Cultural Tourism Development, $20,000; Agnes Hailstone of Deering, for Caribou-Adventures, $30,000; Barbie Baumgartner of North Pole, for Unity Catering, $30,000; Karin Holser of St. George Island, for North South St. George Island Institute, $50,000; March Runner of Dillingham, for cultural tradition shown through quilting and beading, $20,000; Brian Bourdon of Nome, for artists development in the Bering Strait Region, $10,000; John Oscar of Mekoryuk, for Nunivak Arts and Crafts, $20,000; and Michelle Sparck of Bethel for ArXotic Bath and Beauty Products derived from tundra botanicals, $20,000.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.