What was thought impossible is now commonplace

I was an early beneficiary of the economic explosion in Los Angeles that came from the booming aerospace industry of the 1960s and 1970s. My mother worked for TRW at “Space Park” in Manhattan Beach. It was common at the dinner table to hear program names like Gemini, Explorer, Mariner and Apollo.

The possibilities of space travel and the arms race fueled thousands of high-paying jobs in that exciting field. I remember in July 1969 watching our black-and-white TV as Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. It’s truly amusing to read earlier words written by dozens of “experts” from science and religion that said travel to the moon was impossible. Thanks to a strong electronics program, when I graduated from high school in 1979, I went directly to work in aerospace — hands on with sub-assemblies that went into Trident missiles.

I remember in 1972 being a Webelo Scout at the Griffith Planetarium in Los Angeles. Apollo 17 had just returned with 800 pounds of moon rocks, and we were at the planetarium to see some of the new collection. As we listened to a scientist tell us about the future of space travel, he held up a model of what looked like a fat-bodied, stubby-winged airplane called the “space shuttle.” I can remember thinking how impossible flight with those stubby little wings would be. The man also said that the first launch would be 10 years away in 1982. I would be 21 — that seemed like an eternity to my 11-year-old mind. In 1981, the first space shuttle mission made all of America and the aerospace industry proud, and we all dreamed about the possibilities of the new “space truck” transporting infrastructure to outer space and building out the new frontier. We have the space program to thank for hundreds of everyday things in our lives like Velcro, microelectronics and Kevlar.

In 1983, I was working in the insurance business. I remember an older Creole guy that I worked with named Caesar. He was always on the hunt for a good investment. One day he said to me, “Don, invest in cellular. It will be the hottest investment you may ever see in your life.”

“What is cellular?” I asked.

His explanation sounded like a car phone. Ho hum. But by 1992, I was pressing that grey brick to the side of my head dozens of times per day, and I haven’t lived without one since. Where would you be today without the wireless industry and your smartphone?

In 1994, at my 2-years-young software company, a new thing called “the Internet” was just cresting the horizon. I remember people asking me if I thought it was a just a fad or if it would develop into something important. Can you imagine your life today without the Internet?

So why am I telling you these old stories? Fast forward to Mat-Su Alaska 2014. I’m going to ask you to imagine a Mat-Su that has a Knik Arm Bridge. All of that heavy truck traffic that goes up the Parks Highway through Wasilla is gone and your commute from Big Lake to Anchorage takes 40 minutes. Imagine a gas pipeline project delivering cheap, reliable energy from natural gas — energy that not only cooks your food and heats your home, but also fuels new value-added industries that provide thousands of jobs. Imagine your property taxes cut in half thanks to revenue generated by activity at Port MacKenzie and the flow of goods up and down the Port MacKenzie rail line. Imagine an Alaska agricultural industry that can feed all Alaskans, and more. Impossible you say?

I’ll give you a thought: there are 4.2 billion Asians, 350 million more will be born in the next five years. By 2020, almost 500 million Asians will transition from a rural lifestyle to middle-class urban consumers. Those consumers can be our customers.

So let me ask you, in the Mat-Su, what do you dream your life and your children and grandchildren’s lives will be like in 2020, 2030, 2050 and beyond? Let’s explore the possible vs. the impossible together in the next column.

As Economic Development director for the Mat-Su Borough, Don Dyer is charged with the execution of the borough’s Economic Development Strategic Plan, which can be reviewed at matsugov.us/economicdevelopment.