AMA Award Winners
Felix Gold , Corporate Member of The Year By Ken Hall AMA is often hailed as being an
organization in which member and committee volunteers drive much of the work the Association is able to accomplish. With a small staff, AMA is still able to be active in the regulatory space, the Legislature and Congress, and the general public with the help of its volunteers in these areas. This nomination for Corporate Member of the Year is following my observance of a company of individuals that are always the first to raise a hand and jump in line to help with an AMA activity. The AMA Fairbanks Branch was excited when Dave and Vanessa Larimer returned to Alaska and knew they would be right back in the fold of being active in AMA. Not only did we get them, we got an entire office with support from the Corporate Office in Australia for nearly everything AMA did this year. The award discusses a company that participates in AMA events, membership, or committees and supports the organization through time, talent, or treasure. I saw this firsthand in planning and participating in the Alaska Mining Day celebration in Fairbanks this past May. Since the very first planning meeting, Dave and Vanessa jumped right in with top level sponsorships, agreements to chair a session, providing name tags, soliciting sponsorships, building out displays, etc. But they also did the laborious stuff — setting up a bag stuffing, carting truckloads and truckloads of cargo to the facility, setting up tables and décor, then taking it all out with them! They handled shipping to and from Anchorage, drove around Fairbanks getting materials, and probably numerous other things that never even came to the attention of the committee and the staff. They went right on supporting
Photo by Lee Leschper Dave and Vanessa Larimer of Felix Gold were honored as 2022 Corporate Member of the Year.
AMA after Mining Day was over. As we began to plan for Mining Day at the Tanana Valley Fair, the Felix Gold team, even in the throes of exploration field season, assisted with getting volunteers, bringing supplies, and they all showed up to staff the fair that day. And of course, this convention. Vanessa has participated in each
brought in new sponsors, built sessions, and continues to be the all-hands-on-desk kind if help that makes our events so successful. This award recognizes companies that have gone above and beyond to provide significant efforts to strengthen efforts on behalf of AMA. While Dave, Vanessa, and the rest of the team are shining stars that contribute to AMA’s success, it is the culture at Felix Gold that provides for their time and dedication, and AMA is better for it. It is my pleasure to nominate Felix Gold for AMA Corporate Member of the Year.
planning committee meeting throughout the year and has
certainly met the award’s goal of “brings interest or new blood to AMA and its efforts and strengthens or diversifies membership.” She
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Winter 2023
The Alaska Miner
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