The 14th Annual Industry Outlook Forum is optimistic about Alaska’s spiraling oil prices and Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District Rick Roeske said “we’ll deal.”
Roeske: “Well I moved here in the 80’s when it was melting down, I’ve been here when we’ve had a relatively stable economy, we are going through some bumps in the road obviously the state of Alaska has its issues but we’ll deal with them, Governor Walker’s been pretty proactive in getting out there with the message that Alaskans pull together and deal with the issues when we’re confronted with them, we’re an extraction state so we understand that when commodity prices are low we deal with it and we move on and they’re going to put some policies in place that hopefully smooth out some of those bumps in the road.”
He also said the forum, which starts on Wednesday, is branching into other top employers in the area like healthcare.
Roeske: “I hate to say it but we’re all aging a little bit, especially on the peninsula we tend to be a little bit older than the average in Alaska probably because of our nice weather. And so going forward both with the Wellness Center and Central Peninsula’s rather large buildout, I mean they’re doing like a 90,000 square foot addition on the hospital for additional space for out patient and out clinic, that’ll be a huge driver in the economy going forward.”
Roeske added that companies like Donlin Gold will also be present, representing the need for operations across the state which rely on Cook Inlet natural gas.
To register call the Kenai Chamber of Commerce at 283-1991 or the KPEDD at 283-3335 by 5 pm today.