Legislature(2019 - 2020)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
01/31/2019 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Presentation: Opportunities for Innovation in Alaska Pacific Northwest Economic Region | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE
January 31, 2019
1:31 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Lora Reinbold, Chair
Senator Mia Costello, Vice Chair
Senator Chris Birch
Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Click Bishop
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: OPPORTUNITIES FOR INNOVATION IN ALASKA - PACIFIC
NORTHWEST ECONOMIC REGION
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
NIRAV DESAI, Senior Partner
Moonbeam; Co-Chair, Innovation Working Group
Pacific Northwest Economic Region
Seattle, Washington
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in a presentation on
opportunities for innovation in Alaska.
STEVE MYERS, Senior Program Manager
Pacific Northwest Economic Region
Seattle, Washington
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in a presentation on
opportunities for innovation in Alaska.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:31:00 PM
CHAIR LORA REINBOLD called the Senate Labor and Commerce
Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:31 p.m. Present at the
call to order were Senators Costello, Gray-Jackson, Birch and
Chair Reinbold.
^PRESENTATION: Opportunities for Innovation in Alaska Pacific
Northwest Economic Region
PRESENTATION: Opportunities for Innovation in Alaska, Pacific
Northwest Economic Region
1:32:04 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD announced that the only order of business would
be a presentation: Opportunities for Innovation in Alaska, by
the Pacific Northwest Economic Region.
She remarked that Alaska has an abundance of water and she hoped
that connections could be made between Alaska and the Lower 48,
which has suffered from a lack of water.
1:33:23 PM
STEVE MYERS, Senior Program Manager, Pacific Northwest Economic
Region (PNWER), provided a background on PNWER, which is a
statutory public and private nonprofit organization created in
1991 by western states and Canadian territories. He related
PNWER participants include Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Oregon,
Montana and the Canadian territories and provinces of
Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories,
and the Yukon. In addition, PNWER is comprised of over 20
different working groups and initiatives that examine segments
of the economy to identify best practices for collaborative work
on challenges across the region. The PNWER works with federal
partners in Washington, D.C. and Ottawa to promote the voices of
the region, he said. The Innovation Working Group has worked to
identify ways to leverage resources and assets in the region and
to better work collaboratively. Mr. Desai will give an overview
of what may help the future of the region.
1:35:16 PM
NIRAV DESAI, Senior Partner, Moonbeam, Co-Chair, Innovation
Working Group, Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER began
his PowerPoint presentation, "Building Connections between
Alaska and Innovation Economies in the Lower Forty-Eight." His
goal is help connect the innovation economy, particularly in the
Lower 48, so states can benefit from the environmental and
cultural aspects of Alaska, he said.
He reviewed his background. He formerly worked for a global
consulting firm, leading the innovation hub strategy. He has
worked on four innovation economies, in San Francisco, Seattle,
Boston, and Austin, seeking ways to make connections between
start-up activities in these cities and large enterprise
customers. In the past five years his focus has been on mapping
innovation locations throughout the country.
MR. DESAI began his own business in Seattle, [Moonbeam] and he
has networked throughout the start-up ecosystem in the Pacific
Northwest, including mentoring TechStars Seattle, a startup
accelerator, and the University of Washington's CoMotion Labs.
He offered his belief that this type of technology could have
implications for remote parts of Alaska. More recently, he has
focused on establishing an innovation brokerage to connect
innovation supply and demand entities with unique capabilities
and enterprises to transform incumbent businesses.
1:37:59 PM
MR. DESAI moved to slide 2, "Alaska from a Startup's
Perspective." Prior to coming to Alaska, he spoke to a number of
startup CEOs in Seattle to get their perspective on Alaska. He
summarized the "pros" for startups in Alaska. Primarily, Alaska
presents opportunities, has a prevalence of domain expertise,
and risk is taken and tolerated. He said that Alaska's
engineering talent and knowledge is recognized in the Lower 48.
A significant number of large corporations operate in Alaska in
energy, mining, land management, fishing, health, and
agriculture. It is important to note that risk is taken and
tolerated in Alaska, since risk-averse enterprises often do not
innovate.
He turned to the cons or challenges from a startup's perspective
of operating in Alaska. It relates primarily to investment and
access to capital, he said. Alaska ranks at the bottom, 49th in
the nation, for access to early stage funding. Given its
distance from the rest of the country, Alaska also faces
engineering challenges. In order for startups to integrate
economies, it means they must find ways to overcome some of
these challenges, he said.
1:39:44 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD asked for the source of the study.
MR. DESAI offered his belief that Forbes magazine did the study
to review accessibility of capital in states. Last year Alaska
funded three venture capital startups for a total value of $3.7
million. Although some angel investment networks are being built
and some venture capital funds occur in Alaska, it is pretty
nascent. This may have had some bearing on the state's ranking,
he said.
1:40:29 PM
SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON asked how the lack of sales or business
taxes affect startups.
MR. DESAI said business taxes do not matter as much early for
startups since they do not expect to make a profit in their
first three to five years. However, it does matter later, and
income tax is important since it leads to recruitment of talent.
SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON asked for further clarification on sales
taxes.
MR. DESAI answered that it would have a larger impact on
consumer-end businesses.
1:41:30 PM
SENATOR BIRCH recalled he mentioned distance and remoteness as a
hindrance; however, Anchorage and Fairbanks represent the number
one cargo hub in the western hemisphere. He recalled that Fed-Ex
and UPS [United Parcel Service] previously had 700 wide-body
flights weekly in and out of these airports. He said that
significant innovation occurs in the transportation arena in
Alaska. He said he is interested in Mr. Desai's perspective on
how Alaska can leverage its access to transportation to markets
to build, develop, and distribute products.
MR. DESAI responded that he would discuss unmanned systems
later. He clarified that when he spoke of remoteness, he was
referring to how it relates to channel partnerships with other
innovators. In fact, the reason that many entrepreneurs move to
the [San Francisco] Bay area is to gain proximity to other
startups and investors.
1:43:09 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD asked what Alaska could do to improve its
national ranking, besides its current "angel funds."
MR. DESAI replied he would cover this later in his presentation.
1:43:24 PM
MR. DESAI turned to slide 4, "How do we bridge the divide and
diversify the Alaskan economy?" He quoted from CityLab, The
Atlantic, which said, "Cities that have the greatest startup
activity also have the greatest job growth." He said the window
is 5-10 years, and while many fail the ones who succeed greatly
eclipse incumbent hiring. Secondly, Alaska has significant
federal spending and one avenue Alaska could explore is to look
for ways to connect the federal spending to provide a cushion
for startups. He cautioned that he is not trying to provide a
solution since he is still trying to learn more about Alaska's
economy. He pointed out his comments highlight some "seeds" that
are worth considering, he said.
1:44:59 PM
At-ease.
1:45:24 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD reconvened the meeting.
1:45:40 PM
MR. DESAI turned to slide 5, "Moonbeam has conducted a national
study of where innovation is sourced in the U.S." Although
Alaska is not on the list, he would like to help Alaska achieve
this. He acknowledged that San Francisco and San Jose are the
leaders but pointed out that innovation clusters in certain
areas. For example, Seattle has a large center for "artificial
Intelligence" (AI), "cloud computing," and high technology, he
said. It is now moving toward "space flight" and "development
technology" (DevTech). Chicago is more focused on Industry 4.0
and manufacturing, which are the traditional industries that
built the city. Austin is well connected to Houston and Dallas
in the oil industry, so Austin has positioned itself to be the
"innovation capital" of Texas. In fact, many of the innovation
companies that start in Austin are deployed by Fortune 500
companies in Houston and Dallas. He suggested Alaska should
consider this model when it thinks about connections between
these hubs.
1:47:00 PM
MR. DESAI turned to a sub-slide, "Cascadia Innovation Corridor."
He mentioned an initiative led by Brad Smith, Microsoft, to
connect the Cascadia cities of Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver
to cooperate on innovation, linking angel and venture investors
to governments. The goal is to build infrastructure to help ease
travel between these cities, he said. He has spent the last
three years immersed in virtual reality. Initially he spent
significant time in Los Angeles. However, as the Cascadia
Innovation Corridor has taken off and Vancouver has transitioned
from its entertainment industry to embrace virtual reality, he
finds he can accomplish his work in Vancouver. He offered his
belief that these cities are more similar now that their
economies are better able to collaborate.
1:47:51 PM
MR. MYERS highlighted sectors that the Cascadia Innovation
Corridor has broken out. He noted that PNWER chairs the
Efficient People/Goods Movement Across Border Working group to
help address cross-border economies. This initiative examined
the economy and broke it into "buckets" and to identify
champions in those sectors. The goal is to figure out how to
build up those networks up and eventually connect those silos.
1:48:59 PM
MR. DESAI turned to slide 6, "Technology Valley of Death" which
describes the difficulty of commercialization of new technology.
This slide illustrated how a startup goes from inception to
defining an economy. In particular, scientific startups receive
early-stage academic grants from the government. Academic
programs often work on cutting-edge technology, which typically
happens about 5-10 years away from commercialization. At that
point, angel investors step in to take the risk for the startup.
Once it has achieved a certain level of success, venture capital
will step in, followed by traditional banking. The gap between
venture capital and banking is called the "Valley of Death," he
said. In fact, roughly 80 percent of startups fail during that
time or prior to that time.
1:51:07 PM
MR. DESAI turned to slide 7, "We have classified economic payers
in four categories based on their likelihood to innovate." He
said that a number of tactics can be employed to bridge the
divide and acquire the right partners to develop prototype
solutions. He said the disruptor must work with traditional
businesses to help them create efficiencies or gain new markets.
However, filling that gap is difficult. Some startups succeed by
serendipity and are able to interact with other innovation labs.
If it is possible to organize serendipity in niche areas, it
could make sense for Alaska's economy, and could create an
avenue that would lead to some success, he ventured.
1:51:56 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD referred back to slide 6, "Valley of Death" and
wondered if [ABC's] "Shark Tank" has shed light on [funding for
startups].
MR. DESAI agreed that "Shark Tank" is a good model, one that
demonstrates "pitch sessions" for startups trying to obtain
funding. He characterized the distinction between a startup and
a small business, such that small businesses tend to have
perpetual contracts and revenue and are often service companies
with a well-developed business model with a stable return, he
said. "Shark Tank" makes it seem like these investors are
immediately going to make an investment decision. However, it
really takes a lot of follow-up for investors to understand the
founders, their vision, and their grit, to better understand how
likely they are to force their way into new market share before
they invest.
MR. DESAI turned to slide 8, "Exchange." He said a lot happens
due to serendipity, when an investor happens to be in the room
with the startup. Startups typically seek 10-100 times return on
their investment. They seek to disrupt the economy and create
new market space, desire quick growth, and create a large
economic impact. This is why they need venture capital, he said.
Accelerators and incubators help entrepreneurs prepare for the
pitch sessions. Typically, investors see as many companies as
possible and churn through 20-50 five-minute pitches in a day,
but only make one or two investments.
MR. DESAI offered his understanding that the state has been
investigating ways to get natural gas in the northern parts of
Alaska for a fleet of vehicles. That raises the question of how
to compel startups to focus on that challenge throughout the
nation. These startups must line up with the right buyers
willing to be an "early stage customer" to potentially invest in
the development of that capability. Still, many founders are
looking for a great business challenge and it all centers around
data, he said.
1:56:00 PM
SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON asked if he had been on ABC's "Shark Tank."
MR. DESAI answered no. He worked at a large consulting firm that
mentored startups, so he has attended many pitch sessions.
1:56:48 PM
MR. DESAI said, "Data is king." His primary interest is how to
provide subject matter expertise to broker connections for
startups. Startups are looking for lead generation and tailored
opportunities that really apply to their area of expertise. They
want to gain exposure across the investment community on
potential customers. He has reviewed the ratio exchange of all
federal government procurements, which includes all companies
doing business with the federal government, he said. He related
he has also worked on partnerships with various venture capital
funds, incubators, and accelerators to foster relationships
between companies and investors on this platform. He said he
would love to see Alaska involved in this platform.
1:57:23 PM
MR. DESAI discussed slide 10, "Use Case 1: Alaskan SBs/Startups
Seeking Contracts." He related a scenario in which [Moonbeam]
helped an Anchorage business, Ocean Bay, LLC. His company was
able to review and find prime contract holders, determine
contract ceiling on contracts, and assess other factors to help
Ocean Bay, LLC connect to customers. His focus is to free up
time for startups and help them make those connections, he said.
MR. DESAI turned to slide 11, "Use Case 2: Incumbent Business
Scouting Innovation." He related a scenario in which his
business helped the Copper River Native Corporation (CRNC)
determine what patents were held in an Indiana university. The
goal was to see if the corporation could market some of its
capabilities, and he was ultimately able to help them source
that innovation. The CRNC currently has about $23 million in
government contracts and it wants to brand itself as an
innovator, he said.
1:59:57 PM
MR. DESAI turned to slide 12, "Use Case 3: Regional Economic
Development Council." He worked with South Bend, Indiana, a
region with a historic agriculture and manufacturing base, to
repurpose large unused factories. Many companies understand the
distribution of consumer-packaged goods, and this region is
trying to build excellence in that arena.
He pointed out Alaska's prevalence of cargo, with the Port of
Anchorage's equidistant proximity to Asia, Europe, and the Lower
48. Alaska could work to leverage the existing supply chain
expertise to market the next generation of unmanned systems, he
said. For example, a Seattle company works on sensors for
autonomous vehicles for the automotive industry, and these
sensors could be tested in Alaska. This is relevant because
Alaska has volcanic activity, so the company could test whether
vehicles with its sensors can operate in the presence of
volcanic ash. He concluded that Alaska could analyze and pivot
off data to develop those types of industries in the state.
2:02:35 PM
MR. DESAI reviewed slide 13, "A potential Alaskan Innovation Hub
Network." In his preliminary research of the innovation
ecosystem in Alaska, he identified several opportunities in
which Alaska could connect to the innovation proving ground,
including unmanned systems, industrial internet, and industry
4.0. For example, Alaska could become an innovation proving
ground for various technology companies in Seattle, especially
to test equipment that must function in cold or inclement
weather. Alaska could also use its expertise with large scale
equipment in the mining sector. In addition, it could identify
opportunities to collaborate between mining and additive
manufacturing, with potential partners in South Bend, Indiana.
Further, with the prevalence of federal dollars in Alaska, the
state could develop unmanned systems and partner with companies
who work with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) at its
military bases. Finally, he suggested Alaska could connect more
with Austin, to support innovation in Houston.
2:04:26 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO said she appreciated the presentation. She
offered her belief the PNWER offers many opportunities for
Alaska. Recently, the committee heard from the Department of
Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) on the jobs forecast in
Alaska. Alaska continually looks for ways to innovate and
diversify its economy. She acknowledged that many jobs have come
from startups in Alaska. She asked him what government's role
should be. She asked whether it should provide leadership,
abilities to network, or if government should provide something
else. She recalled government investment in the bio-tech
industry in the Lower 48, which did not work out. She further
recalled the startup bio-tech companies would launch in a region
but would be taken elsewhere once the companies took off.
MR. DESAI said government is not good at picking "winners and
losers." However, government plays a central role in setting the
conditions, creating ecosystems for startups to thrive and make
it to the next level. For example, Vancouver actively
collaborated with Seattle to secure investment and encourage
U.S. companies to open "back" offices there. Further, Austin has
encouraged technology companies to pivot to its lower cost of
living and open "back" offices. Finally, Walla Walla worked to
develop its expertise in the work force for the wine industry.
Now Columbia Valley is one of the top wine-producing areas in
the country, he said. He cautioned against government providing
incentives to companies to startup in Alaska if these companies
will ultimately need to move elsewhere once they experience
growth. Distribution tends to be centered by companies in Boston
and New Jersey, he said.
MR. DESAI acknowledged that drug development is often done with
incentives and connections to medical schools and Seattle has
had some success in this arena. However, in one instance a
startup was ultimately bought out and their exit strategy was to
relocate. All those jobs were lost and that is a gamble the
state would not want to mimic. Instead, Alaska should reinforce
its existing economy but move in a slightly different direction.
2:09:09 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO stated the Juneau Economic Development Council
(JEDC) hosts an annual Innovation Summit in Juneau. She recalled
Mr. Desai stating that government is not good at picking winners
and losers. She asked whether he meant that government should
pay attention and allow growth to happen organically, or if
government should look for clusters in Alaska that might have
opportunities for development and support them.
MR. DESAI offered three conditions that must be met. First,
government could study to figure out what opportunities exist in
the economy and identify key areas for startups. That type of
research is typically difficult for startups to perform. Second,
government could create an environment for success by bringing
in the right partners. For example, Alaska could bring in
delegations from industries to showcase what is available in its
state. Third, government could create or organize early-stage
funding opportunities to overcome the first $50,000 financial
barrier. He cautioned against government making the decisions,
but it should create an environment to allow angel investors to
come together and pool funds to help startups.
2:11:32 PM
MR. MYERS said that representatives from Trail, British Columbia
attended a summit in Spokane last summer. One company works in
metallurgical research with an initiative called "Metal Tech
Alley," he said. The area once had a large smelting plant, which
has subsequently disappeared. In its place, the community
transitioned to become expert in metal research and testing.
This has led in a "pseudo-government" method, which is an
example of current best practice.
2:12:22 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD recalled that Senator Bishop emphasized the
importance of affordable energy and infrastructure in Alaska.
She offered her belief that amazing opportunities exist in
geothermal and hydro-electric energy in the state. She asked him
to discuss the importance of affordable energy to businesses.
MR. DESAI pointed out that Iceland has transformed its economy
by harnessing its geothermal energy. He reiterated that data
drives technology, but that some industries are dependent on
energy, including data-warehousing and high-competition
activities. He said he thought that was a great avenue for
Alaska to explore.
2:13:57 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD reiterated the immense hydro-electric and
geothermal potential in Alaska. She emphasized the importance of
infrastructure in Alaska, such as Alaska's Roads to Resources
program. She asked about the new Arctic channels that are
opening up in northern Alaska due to ice melt. She further asked
him to discuss any opportunities for Alaska on the North Slope.
2:14:42 PM
MR. MYERS related that Alaska is a member of the Arctic Caucus
PNWER formed in 2009. This caucus has examined sharing best
practices throughout the region. The Northwest Passage has been
discussed in terms of how to leverage opportunities. He reported
that PNWER has met with U.S. Congressional Delegation members
and Canadian members to consider opportunities for deep water
ports and infrastructure, such as icebreakers. Last week the
group met with Prince Rupert's mayor, since many vessels transit
its port. Prince Rupert is also interested in these
opportunities and is well positioned to participate in them. He
agreed that Alaska needs to continue to look for opportunities
to leverage. He expressed a willingness to share anything PNWER
learns with its Arctic Caucus members.
2:16:36 PM
MR. DESAI said he is not aware of any issues related to North
Slope shipping. However, he said that most entrepreneurs in the
Lower 48 do not have any knowledge of the issues related to
shipping via the Northwest Passage.
CHAIR REINBOLD interjected and asked him to please watch this
issue.
MR. DESAI went on to explain that he has experience working with
the U.S. Navy, which has given him familiarity with its
processes. Most entrepreneurs do not know how to access
opportunities with the U.S. Navy or identify the types of
technologies that could be commercialized. He offered his belief
that identifying potential business opportunities and
challenging them to create solutions applicable to industries is
a great way to obtain innovation that could shape Alaska's
economy.
2:17:44 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD asked him to touch on national and international
security issues, public safety, and recycling opportunities,
especially for recycling, since Alaska wants to maintain its
pristine environment.
MR. MYERS referred to the term, "circular economy." In this
manner, entrepreneurs look at the life cycle of the product, how
it will be reused, and how it will be sourced. He offered to
share more information on what some entrepreneurs are doing in
terms of the products they are creating and how it impacts the
economy.
2:19:53 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD said that the mining industry and mariculture
offer other opportunities in Alaska. She said she hopes to hold
a hearing on the oil and gas processes from start to finish to
better understand the industry and look for other opportunities.
MR. DESAI asked to delve into the mining industry. He said he
did not feel qualified to offer solutions for each industry she
mentioned; however, he suggested it could be crowdsourced into a
broader community. He has trained soldiers using virtual reality
in conjunction with the DOD, he said. Virtual reality can be
used to provide the needed expertise for the military without
risking soldiers' lives. Similarly, while it is not practical to
train mining industry personnel to fix mining equipment using
very expensive mining equipment, it is important that miners to
be adept at doing so when something goes wrong. Virtual reality
can provide that expertise, he said. He related several
scenarios to illustrate virtual reality applications.
2:22:33 PM
SENATOR BIRCH said he attended a PNWER/LEHI (Legislative Energy
Horizon Institute) program in Richland, Washington last fall. He
recalled that a high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) line runs
from Central Washington to Southern California. He said
discussions on how to monetize natural gas resources on Alaska's
North Slope are ongoing. Some people have talked about
developing a HVDC to access markets. Given his electrical
engineering background, he asked whether he had any suggestions.
MR. DESAI said he would love to challenge electrical engineers
across the country to tackle that issue. He offered one approach
he would take is to offer graduates prizes, and spin off
companies, who could potentially test their solutions in the
field.
2:24:41 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO recalled the PNWER Innovation Working Group
considered declassifying DOD's information and making that
unclassified information available to entrepreneurs. This is an
exciting opportunity because it could lead to entrepreneurs
creating a business or product, she said. She asked what that
process would look like if the committee or state wanted to
pursue it.
MR. DESAI said he would broaden the scope of the project to
encompass all technology that the federal government has
developed. He said there is a process companies can use to
leverage government technology and build a technology transfer
platform. He mentioned the Creative Cooperative Research and
Development Agreements (CRDA). [A CRDA is an agreement between a
government agency and a private company or university to work
together on research and development.] It is possible to
identify what the government procures, but not necessarily what
technology it owns, particularly in the labs. Some of the
information would be mineable by startups, at the point the
research and development led to commercialization, he said. From
a policy perspective, the state could make it easier for
startups to set up CRDAs, so that startups could work
collectively with the state and federal government to leverage
that technology and commercialize it. However, the CRDA process
is challenging and research and development is expensive, he
said.
2:27:33 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD reiterated the topics covered. She emphasized
that Alaska offers numerous opportunities. She asked who serves
on the Arctic Caucus.
MR. MYERS responded that Representative John Lincoln serves on
the Arctic Caucus.
CHAIR REINBOLD said she attends the Council of State
Government's (CSG) meeting on behalf of the state, and western
states have substantial water resource issues. She asked whether
he had suggestions on how Alaska can export its water.
MR. MYERS identified PNWER's Water Working Group (WWG), chaired
by Senator Jim Honeyford (WA), and David Hill, [Alberta Water
Research Institute], who serves as the academic co-chair. The
WWG has reviewed challenges in Washington. He noted that
significant work has been done on the Columbia River Treaty. He
explained that reservoirs have been created due to the dams and
Washington has been examining ways to move water throughout the
state for agriculture. He characterized it as more of an in-
state issue. He said was unsure if the incentive to do so exists
right now.
He elaborated that several initiatives in Tacoma have examined
how to use current technology to protect water, using Alaska as
a proving ground. In addition, PNWER has looked at contaminated
water between British Columbia and Washington and "tech mining"
worked on water testing methods in the area. However, he was
interested in learning more about how to market Alaska's water
interests, he said.
2:30:48 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD pointed out that people cannot water their lawns
in some states, so it did not make sense to her that incentives
did not exist. She asked for further clarification the reason
that water resources were not being incentivized.
MR. MYERS clarified that viability was the issue, that currently
it is too expensive to transport water.
CHAIR REINBOLD offered her belief that this is a worthy topic.
2:31:41 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD asked for a list of the PNWER committees.
MR. MYERS answered that PNWER has 18 working groups that meet
during its annual meeting. Some of the PNWER working groups,
include energy, water, mining, workforce development,
innovation, agriculture, livestock health, border issues,
tourism, and invasive species. He offered to provide the
complete list to the committee. In addition, some initiatives
that PNWER hosts are separate from the working groups, for
example, the Legislative Energy Horizon Institute, mentioned by
Senator Birch, and the Arctic Caucus, previously discussed.
2:33:13 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD remarked that Alaska also has immense
opportunities for agriculture given the 24-hour daylight it has
in the summer. She noted that the presentation did not touch on
some opportunities, including business interests; for example,
importing Canada's cattle and pigs in order to achieve more
self-sufficiency.
CHAIR REINBOLD made committee announcements.
2:34:26 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Reinbold adjourned the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing
Committee meeting at 2:34 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Innovation Connections - PNWER Presentation - Senate Labor and Commerce Committee 01.31.19.pdf |
SL&C 1/31/2019 1:30:00 PM |