The Haines Economic Development Corporation has partnered with the Utah-based Western Rural Development Center (WRDC) in an effort to identify new industries and businesses that may be compatible with community preferences.
A survey available to residents this month will gauge economic development preferences as part of the WRDC Area Sector Analysis Process (ASAP). ASAP has been implemented and applied in about 50 communities in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah, said WRDC executive director Don Albrecht.
The survey results will inform future short-and-long-term economic development goals and initiatives. A WRDC team is overseeing the Haines ASAP project with direction from a local steering committee.
HEDC board member Jessica Edwards is on the steering committee that will work with WRDC.
“It’s important for people to know that the goal of this process is not to measure community support for existing or prospective industries we are already aware of, but to hopefully identify new ones that might be a good fit for Haines based on community preferences and existing infrastructure/assets,” Edwards said. “To learn something that may help in efforts to diversify the existing economy.”
Albrecht said his organization’s goal is a kind of economic “eharmony” style matchmaking between economic development and rural communities based on an industry’s desirability and its compatibility with existing assets in the area.
“We have people fill out asset inventories. There are 43 assets we look at. Are you a seaport, are you on an interstate highway, do you have broadband, workforce skills? We’ve completed surveys with about 2,500 businesses and industries throughout the country from a wide range of sectors and asked them virtually the same questions,” Albrecht said. “We ask them, ‘What do you need to do business in a community?’”
Survey results and a list of assets in Haines will be matched against WCDR’s database of industry requirements to create a list of compatible industries for Haines. The steering committee will narrow down the list as a starting point for further research into short-, mid- and long-term economic planning and initiatives.
After the ASAP process was implemented in Moab, Utah, a tourism community that was seeking year-round jobs, the community was able to attract manufacturing companies that built bicycle and raft parts, Albrecht said.
“In Moab, they’re a big tourist trap kind of place. Housing costs are really high. Most of the jobs are flipping hamburgers and don’t pay very well,” Albrecht said. “They’re also seasonal. They had some good success.”
The ASAP process also helped struggling coal mining counties in Utah attract manufacturing jobs, Albrecht said.
The survey is available online at https://bit.ly/ASAPHaines. Paper copies are available at the HEDC office on Second Avenue or at the public library. The deadline is 5 p.m. Feb. 14.