November is always full of activity, events and wintery weather, and this year is no exception! Veterans Day has come once again giving all of us an opportunity to thank the brave men and women of our country’s armed forces for their service.
Shortly after that those of us in the Southcentral area were treated to 300 inches of snow (that’s my own personal estimate based on the amount of shoveling I did). Whoever was wishing for a white Christmas this year can stop already!
From a small business standpoint, the holidays are an important time to make sales and generate enough revenue to get you through the lean months of January to March.
To that end, I hope that you’ll join the Alaska SBDC in celebrating Small Business Saturday on November 25th. Need help finding small businesses near you to support? Try browsing through the BuyAlaska Holiday Gift Guide! You can find tons of locally owned businesses from across the state that would be happy to handle all your holiday shopping needs.
Much like Santa’s elves, the Alaska SBDC crew has been extra busy this month. We had a blast hanging out at the AFN conference talking with Alaska Native business owners, tribal entities and Native Corporations about ways we can help spur business development in rural Alaska.
Anchorage Center Director Carlos Machuca joined Anchorage Mayor Bronson for a business development roundtable, our new Mat-Su Center Director Misty O’Connor hosted a fantastic open house to celebrate the reopening of the Mat-Su Center, and Buy Alaska Program Director Katie Nave showcased local products at the Alaska Food and Farm Festival. Also, for those of you in the Interior, check out our new Fairbanks Center Director Jade Greene in her brand new offices in Downtown Fairbanks!
I don’t know about all of you, but when the SBDC staff was putting together the material for this month’s newsletter we were amazed at all of the activity that was happening around the state. Businesses were talking about growing, conferences were filled with messages of recovery and positive trends, local government leaders were giving messages of hope and growth and our own SBDC programs have been seeing unprecedented success and engagement.
At the risk of jinxing the whole thing, I think that this coming year is going to be one of the best yet for economic growth and opportunity for Alaska. Now if I could just find someone to do something about all of the snow in my driveway…
Jon Bittner
Alaska SBDC Executive Director