ARDORs and hair crabs and scallops, oh my!

Politics can be downright frustrating sometimes. In Alaska, add to the tension differing regional opinions, competing industries, strong personalities and passions. Sometimes gurgling frustration morphs into impasse. The end result: good programs disappear.

Alaska Regional Development Organization (ARDOR) is an economic assistance initiative formed back in 1988 under the premise that regional economies, particularly in remote and rural Alaska, can thrive with state assistance and support.

The original ARDOR concept of stimulating local economies included the enabling of communities to pool their resources, developing partnerships with local organizations and businesses, offering technical and grant-writing support to local entrepreneurs and businesses and facilitating education on and exposure to state and federal programs to local residents for their business and development benefit.

The state Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED) oversees the ARDOR program. DCCED’s website delineates in a colorful map the 12 regional ARDORs spread throughout Alaska.

The most notable in success and credibility is the Anchorage Economic Development Corp. (AEDC), led for many years now by president and CEO Bill Popp and vice president Jonathan Bittner. In full disclosure, Bittner was a longtime state legislative aide and policy analyst, including several years in my legislative office with stellar aptitude.

In the Mat-Su Valley, under the thoughtful and hardworking leadership of Marty Metiva, the Mat-Su Resource Conservation and Development Council represents our community’s ARDOR. Mat-Su RC&D was incorporated in 1991.

Like many ARDORs, Mat-Su RC&D is a 501(c)(3) private nonprofit corporation that represents chambers of commerce, borough, city and business advocacies in the Valley. The organization has assisted on a variety of local projects that have benefited Mat-Su residents and Alaskans, including Mid-Valley Seniors Community Garden, Silver Creek Habitat Development, Jordan Lake Recreational Trail, Big Lake Sockeye Enhancement, Wasilla Creek ATV bridges, Willow community signage, Houston’s pike derby and visitor’s information center, and the schoolyard habitat improvement project, to name a few.

In February, Metiva decided to have Mat-Su RC&D distribute an online business retention and expansion survey to local businesses. Coinciding with the organization’s ARDOR mission, the survey is an integral part of its effort to study factors affecting our community’s business climate.

Utilizing various business licensee and membership data, more than 5,000 businesses were emailed the survey, with an impressive 340 business responding to questions that were both comprehensive and thought provoking. The survey results will be beneficial to economic planning and growth. Metiva said he plans to continue annual surveys.

So, you may be asking, what does all this have to do with hair crabs and scallops? Well, that’s where politics comes into play.

Every five years, the ARDOR program comes up for legislative reauthorization. The ARDOR reauthorization bill this year was House Bill 71, sponsored by our very own Rep. Shelley Hughes.

What should have been a simple reauthorization process ended up getting drawn into an unrelated fisheries turf battle. The bill was amended in the Senate Finance Committee just before the end of session to include a controversial extension of the hair crab and scallop limited-entry fisheries program.

The House refused to accept the changes made in Senate Finance, forcing the bill into a conference committee of representatives and senators in an attempt to forge a compromise in the last hours of session. The committee members failed to reach a consensus, despite efforts by members in both bodies, and the bill died in conference committee as the Legislature adjourned.

Thereafter, many legislators were caught off guard as word spread that the ARDOR program would effectively be ended July 1 with no wind-down period in which they might be able to fix the problem.

Fast-forward to here and now, and it’s still unclear if Gov. Sean Parnell can or will allocate emergency funds to keep the ARDOR programs functional.

While many of the ARDORS are self-sustaining, several rely heavily on state funds to keep their doors open. If the administration can’t find a way to toss the ARDOR program a last-minute lifeline, as many as four to six ARDORS could be in danger of closing their doors for good over the next six months.

This would leave large areas of Alaska without a regional economic development office at a time when economic diversity and support have never been more important.

Let’s hope, for the Valley’s sake, that the administration will get a handle on the issue and reauthorize the ARDOR program to keep Mat-Su Resource Conservation and Development thriving, because the benefits it provides outweigh any fiscal caution or concern. The proof is in the growth in business, commerce and the economic “ecosystem” that has been blossoming in the Valley.

And in the meantime, scallops and crab dip anyone?

Meadow Lakes resident Tom Anderson is a former Republican legislator. He owns Optima Public Relations and is a host on Fox News Talk radio, 95.5 FM and 1020 AM.