State doesn't need the duplicative Dunleavy Development Team

The Anchorage Daily News has posted two press releases on its website from the Dunleavy administration in which state officials sing the praises of the “Alaska Development Team,” the effort for which the grandson of a Duneavy donor landed a no-bid contract under questionable circumstances.

The proposed Dunleavy budget seeks to replace the team’s “unbudgeted reimbursable service agreements” with actual appropriations. The team is to feature five state employees under a division director. It’s not clear if contractor Clark Penney is still in the picture.

But hold on a minute. We already have public and private organizations promoting Alaska development that are better suited to get things done.

Alaska doesn’t need a Dunleavy Development Team to boost the governor’s ego.

The DDT seems to have grown out of his campaign promise that he would send state executives to recruit distressed gun manufacturers to build factories in Alaska, arguing that the state has a good gun climate.

If there is a reason to spend more state money, it should not go to the duplicative DDT, but to the Alaska Regional Development Organizations that have been doing this work for decades. Some of them are struggling and the state stopped awarding grants three years ago to save money.

There is no reason to reinvent the bureaucratic wheel. The Dunleavy administration is pretending that the development groups don’t exist.

Back to the press releases, which are likely to be published in most of the state’s newspapers and go unchallenged.

One press release is written in the voice of the governor: “Economic growth will remain a key part of our recovery in the years to come. That’s why I formed the Alaska Development Team. Tasked with identifying and recruiting businesses and investment to Alaska that will result in more jobs here in our state, they are currently working with Anchorage Airport staff to develop more than $500 million in proposed projects that will capitalize on recent air cargo growth. This includes 1.4 million square feet of new warehouse space that will create 1,000 construction jobs next summer.”

The other press release is written in the voices of the six women who serve as commissioners in the Dunleavy administration, with the signatories claiming that “Dunleavy has reached out to some of the state’s most accomplished women and entrusted them with control over several crucial departments of state government.”

“The ‘Alaska Development Team’ has been created to bring special focus to the administration’s efforts to attract new businesses and economic investment to our state,” their press release says.

Don’t be misled into thinking that the DDT is responsible for airport cargo expansion projects that were in the planning stage before the team was created. The Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, one of the regional development groups, has long been aiming in that direction.

“Airport Business Development is a multi-year effort focused on attracting investment to Anchorage related to the Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport’s international air cargo advantages,” a report from three years ago says.

The Alaska Regional Development Organizations, according to the state commerce department, have a clear task: “Through regional development strategies, local knowledge, and coordinated implementation, ARDORs champion economic development planning for Alaska’s regions and communities by leveraging baseline support provided by the state of Alaska.”

The baseline support is long gone, so there is zero in the way of leverage, but the state website is unchanged.

“The ARDOR program was reauthorized for five years in 2016 by the Alaska Legislature, though funding for the annual ARDOR grants was removed from the FY17 budget. The ARDOR program and network is still active, though some are struggling financially and the cooperation and shared identity the program once facilitated has lessened,” a report from fiscal year 2017 said.

The state established the program in 1988 to promote development in ways that takes advantage of local knowledge.

“The Alaska Regional Development Organizations (ARDOR) program was reauthorized in FY2017; however, the ARDORs no longer receive funding from the State of Alaska. The division continues to maintain strong relationships with ARDOR representatives, offers support and technical assistance, and produces the annual ARDOR report,” this commerce department budget report released Friday says.

The DDT money should be redirected to the regional development groups. And, by the way, if the state is producing an annual ARDOR report, which I suspect is not true, it has not posted a new one since fiscal year 2017.

Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.