Category: Workforce Development

UAF Restarts Future Educators of Alaska with Clubs in Nome and BSSD

About 16 percent of teachers in Nome turn over every decade. In the Bering Strait School District (BSSD), the turnover rate is even higher: 28 percent.

According to Nome Superintendent Shawn Arnold, part of the problem is that so few rural educators are homegrown.

“A disproportionate number of teachers trained outside Alaska are hired to teach in Alaska’s rural schools,” he said. “These are the teachers coming up from the Lower 48. Many are new to the teaching profession, they’re just starting out their careers, and they’re unprepared for the cultural competence for living in a rural Alaska Native village.”

That’s why Nome Public Schools is helping to restart the Future Educators of Alaska. The program died five years ago, due to lack of funding, but the University of Alaska Fairbanks is bringing it back with a new federal grant. Read the full article here.

Source: KNOM Radio Mission

Latest McDowell Group Seafood Report Shows Job Growth

Harvesting Alaska seafood ranks between oil and tourism in economic impact, according to a new report detailing on the commercial fishing industry.

The Juneau-based economics firm McDowell Group released an updated study on the economic impacts of the commercial fishing industry on Jan. 19. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, a private-state collaboration designed to increase Alaska seafood’s worldwide value, contracted the report.

According to the report, seafood created 41,100 full time equivalent jobs and $2.1 billion in labor income between 2013 and 2014; 17,600 of the total were Alaska resident commercial fishermen, who took a total ex-vessel income of $735 million in 2014.

The report found a growth in seafood employment from 2010-14, with more resident fishermen, processors, and total earnings and harvest levels. In 2014, the state had 500 more seafood jobs than 2010, representing a $24 million payroll growth.

Read the full article here.

Source: The Alaska Journal of Commerce

US Military to Build New Billion-Dollar Icebreaker in Arctic

The US Coast Guard and two US Senators have called for the construction of a new icebreaker ship to counter Russia in the Arctic.

Faced with a growing Russian military presence in the Arctic, U.S. leaders are calling for a new billion-dollar icebreaker ship.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, and Angus King, a Maine independent, and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft were among those calling for the advanced vessel at a recent event at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, CNN reports.

Read the full article here.

Source: Politics: Arctic-Info

Workforce Wednesday: How to Become a Heavy Equipment Operator

From loaders and dozers to excavators and graders, Patrick Rose, the outreach coordinator with Northern Industrial Training (NIT) joined Daybreak to give insight on careers as a heavy machine operator.

According to Alaska Process Industry Careers Consortium (APICC), pay starts anywhere from $18 to $24 an hour. Eventually, experienced operators can earn more than $100,000 a year. To break into the field, NIT offers classes tailored to these real-life Tonka trucks.

“We actually have a program that’s six weeks long, a little bit of classroom but mostly all hands-on time,” said Rose. “So that way you get experience using all the different types of equipment … If you like working with your hands, you want to be outside, there’s nothing better than that. You get to see a job start to finish.”

Watch the video to find out which businesses are hiring right now.

Source: Workforce Wednesday: How to become a heavy equipment operator | KTVA Anchorage CBS 11

Arctic Council Coming to Town: International Policy Group Chooses Fairbanks for 2017 Meeting

Already known for its role leading U.S. Arctic research, Fairbanks is set to be a key location in the conclusion of the U.S. term at the head of the Arctic Council. Though the Arctic Council isn’t a body particularly well known to the average Alaskan, its importance is significant and growing as the eyes of the world turn northward due to economic opportunities and the effects of climate change. Next year, the Interior will play host to the group as it makes decisions pivotal to the future of Alaska and the entire circumpolar Arctic region. Read the full article here.

Source: Arctic Council coming to town: International policy group chooses Fairbanks for 2017 meeting | Editorials | newsminer.com