Economic Development

It is critical we begin now to further diversify and develop Alaska's economy to expand beyond our heavy dependence on simple resource extraction. A growing and sustainable economy will enable our kids to have jobs here and a future in Alaska. While Alaska's strong oil and gas industry will continue to be a critical foundation to our economy, much of our future economy will come from sustainable resource development such as hydro electric, value-added seafood processing, tourism, air cargo, and other alternative energy development.

We also need to develop markets beyond Alaska to enable our Alaska-based companies to expand. Alaska's Native corporations, transportation companies and professional services firms have already been leading the way in earning revenues outside of Alaska and returning profits to Alaskans.

Alaska's economic future will depend as much on our ability to sell our expertise as it will our resources. We need to continually seek out opportunities to offer real value to worldwide economic activity, like we do today with air cargo.

Of all the candidates for Governor, I am the best prepared with the knowledge, experience, and past performance to actually deliver on the promise of developing and diversifying our economy. I have a proven ability to get people to work together, to find the areas where we agree, to solve problems, and to get things done. I did this when I led the State of Alaska's team to attract the FedEx and UPS cargo hubs to Anchorage, making it one of the busiest air cargo airports in the world. Twelve per cent of Anchorage jobs are estimated to stem from the Anchorage International Airport.