ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Alaska Support Industry Alliance today launched the Alaska Headlamp, an education and informational online portal designed to provide real-time news updates, in-depth analysis and a fresh perspective on the critical issues and events unfolding in Alaska.
"There's no denying the state is at a cross-road," said Rebecca Logan, the Alliance's general manager. "We're facing significant budget deficits and an unclear outlook for Alaska's future prosperity that's marred by confusing rhetoric on a major initiative of importance to our members: the Alaska LNG project. So we came up with the idea of the Alaska Headlamp as something that could break through the cluttered landscape and become a destination for people around Alaska to visit and learn more about how political issues, news events, and decisions being made from Juneau to the North Slope affect the backbone of the state's essential resource development industry."
The site, www.akheadlamp.com, features a news section that will incorporate Alaskan responses to current events, as well as original editorial content and guest commentary. Alaska Headlamp will put critical context to and provide analysis of the major issues of the day, Logan said, highlighting this blog post on the gas reserves tax up for consideration during the special legislative session as an example of what to expect from the Alaska Headlamp in the months ahead.
"The gas reserves tax proposal is a perfect example of something the Alaska Headlamp would cover on an on-going basis," Logan said, noting that Alaskans defeated a similar policy in a 2006 ballot initiative by a nearly two to one margin. "When the idea of a gas reserves tax was announced our members were clamoring to learn more – more about what it meant to their futures and what, ultimately, it would mean to the Alaska LNG project."
Logan also cautioned that the Alaska Headlamp wasn't designed to be a single-issue site, noting her members have been urging for a project like this for quite some time.
"Our members are engaged, thoughtful, and demand more than cursory information about an issue," Logan said. "And there's no single destination in the state for these business owners, their families, and other community leaders to get meaningful facts, current news and expert opinions, as well as the full picture of what political decisions and industry activity mean for Alaska's economic health. The focus right now is on budget issues and the natural gas project but tomorrow it could be oil and gas tax credits and other economic policies. And at the heart of it will be the Alaska Headlamp, positioned to quickly react and adapt to any issue."
A nonprofit trade association, the Alliance is made up of more than 600 businesses, and individuals that provide products and services to the oil, gas and mining industries, and represent more than 30,000 Alaskan workers.
For more information about the Alliance, please visit www.alaskaalliance.com.
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SOURCE The Alaska Support Industry Alliance
