Executive Director’s Report
environmental, economic and geologic realties of mining in Alaska. This helps immensely to educate on the technical aspects associated with our industry, and we remain grateful to Bob for his time and his expertise speaking to this key audience. As AMA Lobbyist Paul Richards and I meet with leg- islators and distribute our positions, we’ll remind them of the reception we jointly sponsor with the Associated General Contractors and Alaska Trucking Association. This event, held at 5 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Baranof Hotel, draws a large crowd of lawmakers who appreciate the organizations’ teamwork. It is open to all members, so if you find yourself in Juneau, please join us. Outside of Juneau, and Alaska for that matter, we’ve got another top priority in putting together the Alaska Night Reception at the Association of Miner- al Exploration — British Columbia Roundup. We’ll host Alaska Night at 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Vancouver Convention Center. This is our opportunity to mar- ket Alaska’s mineral potential to global investors and parties interested in evaluating our state. Typically, we have hundreds of attendees, and I anticipate this year to be one of the most popular events yet. A huge thank you in advance to the many AMA members who sponsor this event and make it possible. At the home office, we’re starting on the retention and recruitment of AMA’s 2019 membership. Many of you choose to renew in the first half of the year, so you have received your membership renewal notices. Remember to renew by Jan. 31 to be included in the 2019 Alaska Miners Handbook and Service Directory. Don’t forget our Alaska Airlines Membership Re- cruitment Challenge — refer new members to AMA, ensure they or you notify us that you are the referral source, and Jennifer will account for who will ulti- mately win two round-trip tickets anywhere Alaska Airlines flies. I’d like to again thank and congratulate our 2018 winner, Jason Morrison, who brought in many of his company employees and also a number of contractors to AMA. In total, he signed up 12 new members in 2018, bringing in almost $7,000 in new membership revenue. We’re so grateful! Finally, I’m pleased to announce we’ve filled the AMA Staff with the hiring of a Projects Manager who will begin Jan. 21. I look forward to introducing this new team member to all of you soon. We have a lot to do. But we’re off to a great start together, and I’m looking forward to what lies ahead.
H appy New Year!
I hope all of you had a very Mer- ry Christmas and enjoyed the wonderful
holidays with your loved ones. Here we are, in 2019. I believe we are in store for a great year, in which we see big things happening in our industry. But, we have a lot to do to ensure victories and successes. Let’s reflect on some important happenings that brought us to what is sure to be a busy year. On Nov. 9, newly elected Governor of Alaska Mike Dunleavy stood before the Alaska Miners Association for his very first post-election news conference, and em- phatically declared that Alaska is open for business. Part of that, he noted, is supporting a healthy mining industry in Alaska. Immediately after the Convention and before the early January inauguration of the Governor, AMA’s State Oversight Committee compiled a document outlining priority issues for the mining industry. The document, composed of issues ranging from mineral tenure to maintaining a stable permitting process, was forwarded to the Dunleavy-Meyer transition team to ensure these issues were available for review as the administration was assembled and the legislative session approached. In preparation for the 31st Legislature to gavel in this month, our State Oversight Committee also rolled up its sleeves and significantly revised our annual Is- sues of Concern document. As a reminder, we use this document each year to communicate our major issues and positions to the Legislature and administration officials. The committee finalized this document just before Christmas, and we’ve begun to distribute it as the Legislators make their way to Juneau. (Note: A copy of this may be found on pages 30-31 of this issue) . The AMA staff came back from the holiday break ready to work on some big initiatives. First, we are working with the Council of Alaska Producers to hold “Mining 101” for new and returning legislators and their staff. In this primer, Bob Loeffler previews the
Deantha Crockett
The Alaska Miner
January 2019
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