Thursday at the Menard Sports Complex more than 65 economic development volunteers met to share their progress and ideas on executing the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Economic Development Plan. The Economic Development plan was created in 2010 as a grass roots effort of the Borough and more than 180 business owners and influencers. Starting in November 2012, with the help of more than 150 volunteers, the MAT-SU Economic Development Plan has come to life. The plan has five goals, and 26 strategies. The workgroups are responsible for executing each of the plan strategies, and had not met together since last November.
The lineup included the following speakers:
There were also demonstrations of new technology tools that the workgroups are putting to use. Joan Klapperich, demonstrated ASANA, a workgroup collaboration and project management tool. Then, Executive Pulse, a CRM system licensed by the MAT-SU Borough for the use of the economic development workgroups. This system functions as the database/inventory tool for all business information in the MSB and provides key information to the workgroups to help coordinate their efforts. Map-N-Tour was the biggest hit. Map-N-Tour is an enhancement for Google Earth that hosts points of interest on Google Earth. Clicking on one of the points gives you a feature rich tour of each business or property clicked on.
By the end of the conference, the workgroup members left energized with new ties, ideas, and a broader vision of their capabilities and support.
Among the list of attendees: