BUSINESS BRIEFS: Nov. 16, 2016

Wasilla chamber warns of potential phone scam

The Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce is warning its members and other Wasilla businesses of an ongoing phone scam seeking financial information.

The business group said it was alerted Monday to the scam, in which someone was calling local businesses claiming to be with the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce, “informing the companies that it was urgent and needed that they update their business information with them,” according to a post on the GWCC website

“The GWCC has NOT been calling organizations asking for any update to personal, or professional information, nor are we calling asking for updated billing information (i.e. credit card information, or banking information,)” according to the post. “If you receive a call as such, please do not give out any information.”

For more information, call the GWCC office at 376-1299.

Hills featured speaker at Palmer chamber

Dr. Alex Hills will be the featured speaker at the weekly meeting of the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce Nov. 16. Hills will be discussing his new book, “Finding Alaska’s Villages: And Connecting Them,” an autobiographical look at Alaska’s telecommunications history in the 1970s that identifies the major players in bringing telephone, television, and radio to rural Alaska. The Palmer resident is an engineering professor at both University of Alaska Anchorage and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Networking time begins at 11:45 a.m. with the program beginning at noon. The program fee is $5, lunch is $15 or a soup and salad option is $8. The chamber meets at the Palmer Moose Lodge, 1136 S. Cobb St. For more information, call 745-2880.

Wasilla chamber board ballots now online

Online balloting for the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce 2017 board of directors’ election opened Nov. 9 and will run through Nov. 23, according to the business group. Two seats are up for election.

According to the chamber, three candidates have filed to run: incumbent Stephanie Berta along with Tammy Lincoln and Victoria Roberts.

Berta has been a Wasilla resident for 13 years and is a business banking relationship manager and commercial lender at Wells Fargo Bank. Stephanie is completing, by appointment, a 2016 term.

Lincoln moved to Alaska in 1986 and currently works as the marketing manager for Mat-Su Title Agency. Lincoln currently serves on the GWCC events committee, the Valley Board of Realtors events committee, is the board secretary for the Wasilla Rotary noon club and also serves on the sustainability board for Alaska Family Services.

Roberts came to Alaska when her family moved to the state with the Air Force in the early 1980s. She works for Real Estate Brokers of Alaska. Roberts attended Chugiak High School, moved on to a trade school that focused on computer science and worked her way to becoming a Realtor in 2004. She became a broker in 2011.

For complete candidate bios and information on voting, visit www.wasillachamber.org

RFP deadline approaching for meat plant

The state Board of Agriculture and Conservation’s request for proposals deadline for the lease or purchase of the Mt. McKinley Meat and Sausage plant in Palmer is Nov. 28.

The plant, the only U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved slaughter and processing facility in Southcentral Alaska, has been operated by the state since 1986 as an asset of the Agricultural Revolving Loan Fund.

According to a Department of Natural Resources press release on the RFP, preference will be given to bidders who plan to continue slaughter and processing operations at the property.

To read the request for proposals and other documents related to the privatization of the plant, go to http://dnr.alaska.gov/ag/ag_mmms.htm.

—Steven Merritt