2022 Western Interstate Region Conference

Participants will fly from Anchorage to Fairbanks, which is known as the golden heart of Alaska for many reasons, and spring should have heralded in the green of birch and aspen. The Fairbanks North Star Borough, a second-class borough almost the size of New Jersey, is responsible for education funding, transportation, and economic development, among other things. Participants will have a chance to explore some of the key features of this northern, interior region, including: 

• CCREL’s Permafrost Tunnel – an amazing, underground experience 
• Visit to Fort Greely – one of Alaska’s larger military bases, which interacts with Eielson Ai Force Base and Clear further south, responsible for some of North America’s missile defense 
• The University of Alaska Fairbanks – one of the leading Arctic research institutions, including to see their drone research or renewable, cold climate energy 
• Poker Flats Research Center and Fort Knox mine 
• Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) 
• Morris Thompson Cultural Center 

THIS TOUR IS SOLD OUT. FOR THOSE PREREGISTERED, YOU RECEIVED A FORM TO COMPLETE WITH DETAILS FOR THE ALASKA AIRLINES FLIGHT..

Join NACo's Rural Action Caucus Business Meeting to discuss issues important to the 70 percent of the nation's counties considered rural. The Business Meeting will feature guest speakers covering topics ranging from rural development to technical assistance opportunities to veterans services. 

The Port of Alaska is a municipal-owned, intermodal transport hub that serves all 90% of Alaska. Over 4.7 million tons of fuel and freight were handled in 2020. While it is Alaska’s key cargo gateway, it also plays an essential role in national defense infrastructure. The Port of Alaska is a “U.S. Commercial Strategic Seaport”, supporting DoD missions in Alaska, the Pacific and the Arctic. (ADA-Accessible)

Attendees will head to Palmer, Alaska to experience Alaska’s agricultural landscape firsthand. The Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center is a working research farm with 260 acres of cultivated land and 800 acres of forestland for research and demonstration purposes. The Alaska Plant Materials Center exists to promote and encourage development of an agriculture industry in Alaska. 

Attendees on this tour will visit the Campbell Tract Facility, a recreation area roughly 30 minutes outside of Anchorage managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management. 

This workshop will convene county leaders from military installation-counties and officials from the U.S. Department of Defense(DoD). Join this event to engage in peer-learning and discussion around opportunities, resources, and ideas to foster and strengthen county-military partnerships, with a particular emphasis on conservation and land-use planning around military installations through the DoD Readiness & Environmental Protection Integration(REPI) and Sentinel Landscapes programs.   

Our perspective on the market and economic forces influencing investment planning and retirement. One of the challenges of planning for a more secure financial future comes in understanding the market and economic forces that affect investment performance and influence investment decisions. With Nationwide Market Insights, we present insights and informative commentary about the economy and the financial markets from Nationwide’s staff of economists. You can share Nationwide Market Insights with clients to help answer questions about investment performance and inspire greater confidence in the guidance you provide. 

Small communities have been unable to access federal pre-disaster mitigation programs, including the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program, often due to a lack of staff capacity, financial resources and technical assistance support. This session will provide members with concrete actions to address financing and assistance concerns, as well as highlight ways communities can work together to tackle common issues in this space.  

Counties and states, along with our federal partners, play a key role in supporting local tourism and recreation economies. As significant supporters of the nation’s tourism industry, counties are finding innovative ways to continue investing in recreation. Join this session to learn more from local, state and federal tourism officials about how we can support America’s tourism industry through the intergovernmental partnership at the local level, including through new investments under the infrastructure law.  

Elections with universal ballot distribution by mail are becoming increasingly popular in the western United States. Vote-at-home election systems offer voters the option to vote their ballot in the convenience of their own home or to choose other options to vote. The Municipality of Anchorage Election Center is an example of a well-planned ballot processing facility. This tour will give a comprehensive look at how the center securely distributes, processes, and tabulates ballots for the Municipality of Anchorage and other borough elections in Alaska.

Join this workshop to learn more about new and existing funding opportunities for broadband deployment in hard-to-build and rural areas. The discussion will focus on methods for building community support for expanding access, with an emphasis on lessons learned and county case studies. This session will ultimately identify resources for rural and public lands counties seeking to deploy broadband.