Denali Chamber of Commerce

The Denali Chamber of Commerce just had their Annual Banquet Meeting. Thank you to all those who participated and worked so hard to make this year's Chamber successful.

The Denali Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors:

Heidi DeCoeur - President
Teri Simmons - Vice President
Julia Potter - Treasurer
Vickie Lausen - Correspondence Secretary
Teri Logering - Recording Secretary

We look forward to serving our business community.

Thanks to the Denali Citizen Council and the Denali Chamber of Commerce for funding Noah’s trip to Juneau next week for the Alaska Youth for Environmental Actions Civics and Conservation Summit. Noah will study renewable energy.Watch for his report in the DCC’s next newsletter.

Thanks to the Denali Chamber of Commerce for funding nine students attending Model UN in Anchorage recently. Students will make a community presentation to the chamber to share what they learned at this gathering of students from around the state.

The Denali Chamber of Commerce Groundhog Day Picnic and fundraiser was a
great success thanks to those who attended the event, the volunteers and the
many who made donations. The fundraiser was held to raise money for the
installation of an indoor bathroom and a kitchen area in the beautiful Chamber
log building located in Healy.

The 50 or so picnic goers enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, other picnic fare and a
“Groundhog Cake” as well as the chance to win fun prizes. Kids had a super
time with craft projects centered on Groundhog Day and some interesting games,
like toilet paper bowling. A special guest appearance by Denali’s local
groundhog, out looking for her shadow, made the event a day to remember.
The Denali Chamber hopes to make this an annual event. The middle of winter
is a wonderful time to get folks out to socialize and have some silly fun while
helping the Denali Chamber raise money for special projects.

Dear Denali Chamber of Commerce Members:

The Board of Directors wants to share with you the projects your board members have been working on and completing since the Annual Meeting.

Building Improvements

Our largest project is the installation of a septic system, well pump, restroom facility and kitchen. We believe that with these continued efforts we will be able to hold events in the Chamber Building in 2009.

The Chamber received a grant from Denali Borough for the installation of a septic system. We would like to thank the Denali Borough for this grant. We are happy to report that the septic system is nearing completion. However, we still have associated projects which are not covered by the grant funds:

1. Installation of a well pump and plumbing into the building (estimated cost $1,800.00). This work is currently being completed.
2. Installation of a restroom (will require fixtures, plumbing and electrical work). The restroom will save us approximately $1,500 a year as we will not longer require the port-a-potty service.
3. Installation of a kitchen (will require fixtures, plumbing and electrical work). The kitchen will provide space for an under the counter refrigerator, the microwave and coffee pot – and the feature of running water!
4. New heater. Our current heater is under capacity and requiring more maintenance than it’s worth. We are looking at replacing the heater with a new Monitor heater.

Currently the Septic system is in place. We want to thank Denali Dirt Works, Inc. for being diligent and getting this accomplished for the Chamber building. Dirt Works, Inc. also coordinated with Chris Nuss to have the well pump in place. There is a lot of paperwork involved with DEC and the engineer’s report. It may be several months (9 to 15) until we receive approval from DEC in order to move forward with the associated projects. These projects are also contingent upon funds and donations. We are considering holding a fundraiser to acquire the capital for these projects. We will also welcome in-kind donations (fixtures and labor).

Website

The Board has been working very hard on getting the website updated and current. If you would please take the time to look at the chamber website to see your advertisement and be sure it is up to date with your description and information. If it is not and you would like to change anything on the site, please contact Heidi DeCoeur, VP at denali.chamber@gmail.com. We are also working on posting an E-Letter for updates and news. The Events Calendar will be current in November and if you have any events you want listed please email Heidi. We get a very high number of hits on this site and want to be certain your businesses are available to our traveling tourists and people making plans to come to Alaska.

Miscellaneous

We would like to thank our local Department of Transportation for getting our Chamber of Commerce sign on the Parks Highway so it will direct travelers to the Chamber of Commerce building – THANK YOUJ

The Chamber Board is asking for participants in a design of a “New Denali Chamber of Commerce Logo”. Currently the one we are using is too familiar with another chamber of commerce. We decided we need a logo which better reflects our surrounding area. The contest is for students and we are reaching out to our Members to see if anyone would like to donate a Grand Prize to the winner. The winner will be decided at the January board meeting. Please contact Heidi DeCoeur, VP at denali.chamber@gmail.com if you would like to donate a prize for the winner.

The Chamber is in the process of changing our name from the Greater Healy/Denali Chamber of Commerce to Denali Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber approved a resolution to support the nomination for the Parks Highway Scenic Byway an “All American Road”. Attaining this status would include extra funding for the byway. The Parks Byway Community Partnership has completed a Corridor Partnership Plan and is working on the nomination application. The Department of Transportation asked Julia Potter to be the lead coordinator on this application. Julia thank you for your time and energy on this.

We have created a Volunteer Committee to assist in the volunteer program for hosting at the building during the spring/summer. If you would like to volunteer on this committee or volunteer to host the building, please contact one of the board members.
The Chamber has a new e-mail address! Our new email address is: denali.chamber@gmail.com. Use this address to contact the Chamber Board Members.
Future Items

In 2009 we would like to start holding “brown bag luncheons/seminars”. We would like to reach out to you as members to contact others in the travel/business industry in Alaska to come speak to our local business owners. We believe this will help benefit you as owners and represent our community. Please contact Heidi DeCoeur, VP with any business/travel industry speakers that you think would benefit our businesses and community.

We would like to hold a Fundraiser as mentioned above. The reason for the fundraiser is to help with building upgrades to a Kitchen and Bathroom. The building is also in need of a new monitor system. We ask our members to look at the website and for flyers on the details about the fundraiser.
If you haven’t recently renewed your membership now is a good time to do this. We hope you see that the Chamber is working on improvements to better serve you, our members.
The board was also been working on organizing our administrative functions. We have reorganized our filing system, our accounts are being maintained using QuickBooks, we have a new phone system with a recorded message, and we are keeping our corporate records up to date.
We know we are asking a lot, but we hope that you will also recognize that as your new Board Members we are trying to move forward and become a very active Chamber of Commerce for you. Here is what we are going to offer you as members and for new members for the 2009 season:

Network
·1 Annual Special Events
·2 Meetings, Seminars, Luncheons
·3
Market Your Business
·1 The Chamber Brochures(Process in Development)
·2 Printed Membership Directory
·3 On-Line Membership Directory
·4 Mailing List Labels
·5 Business Referrals

Keep Informed
·1 Business Publications
·2 Chamber E-News
·3 Travel Industry Updates
·4 Business Seminars in the State
How You Can Help,
·1 Meet your Board of Directors and staff; share your business concerns.
·1 Attend meetings and Chamber events.

·2 Volunteer to participate on committees.

·3 Offer financial support and other resources.

·4 Invite others to join the Chamber.

·5 Stimulate Economic Growth

Denali National Park and Preserve News Release

2008 Denali Bus and Campground Reservations Available by Phone, Internet, Mail and Fax Beginning December 1.

Doyon/ARAMARK Joint Venture, the transportation concessioner for Denali National Park and Preserve, will begin accepting advance reservations for the 2008 visitor season for shuttle buses and the park’s four largest campgrounds on Saturday, December 1, 2007. Reservations will be available by phone, online, mail, and fax at that time. Reservations in previous years were not available by phone until February 15.

Approximately 65% of the shuttle bus seats and 100% of the campsites in the Riley Creek, Savage River, Teklanika River, and Wonder Lake campgrounds can be reserved in advance. The remaining tickets are made available for advance reservations or walk-in two days before the travel date. The Teklanika River Campground is now open to tents and RVs, but there is no RV camping at Wonder Lake.

Phone reservations can be made by calling (800) 622-7275, nationwide or (907) 272-7275 for international callers between 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Alaska time). The web address for online reservations is www.reservedenali.com. Fax forms for advance reservations are posted on the National Park Service website at www.nps.gov/dena. Faxes should be sent to Doyon/ARAMARK Joint Venture at (907) 264-4684. Faxes must be received no less than two days before travel. Faxed reservation requests received before December 1 will not be honored.

A maximum of eight seats may be requested with each reservation, and number of passengers and ages are required as age discounts may apply. Please include alternate dates and times when possible. When making reservations by credit card, include the credit card number and expiration date. Checks are only accepted with mail-in reservation requests.

Mail-in requests must be received 30 days prior to the scheduled departure. Mail these reservation requests to:

Please include an entrance fee of $10.00 per individual or $20.00 per family when mailing or faxing reservation requests.

The shuttle buses are designed to provide transportation along the park road for visitors who wish to view the park’s scenery and wildlife, access campgrounds, go hiking for the day or take an overnight trip into the park’s backcountry. Drivers will answer questions and help visitors spot wildlife. The shuttle bus system will operate from Tuesday, May 20 through Thursday, September 11, 2008, weather permitting.

2008 SHUTTLE BUS PRICES for an Adult Single Trip Fare

• Toklat & Polychrome: $22.75
• Fish Creek (Eielson): $29.25
• Wonder Lake: $40.00
• Kantishna: $43.75

The camper bus fare (for backcountry campers and campgrounds only accessible by bus) is $29.25. Children 14 and under ride free, and young adults age 15-17 ride for half price.

The Kantishna Experience, the 12-hour round-trip journey to the “end of the road” will be offered once a day from June 8 through August 31. The interpretive narration is provided jointly by the driver-guide and a National Park Service ranger that joins the trip at Wonder Lake. The cost is $139.00, plus the park entrance fee.

Additional park information is available on the park website at www.nps.gov/dena or by calling (907) 683-2294 from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. daily.

Since the release of Sean Penn's movie "Into the Wild," there have been many more inquiries about the infamous bus on the Stampede Trail. In the past, there have been perhaps a dozen or so visitors to our area every year that attempt to visit the final resting place of Mr. McCandless. While it is not our place or purpose to tell folks what they can or cannot do, the Chamber would like to caution potential visitors who may attemp to visit the Stampede Bus via the Stampede Trail:

• Communications. There is no cell phone service (or any other services for that matter) past Eight Mile Lake on Stampede Road. The bus is at least another 15 miles past this point.
• Rescue. The Alaska State Troopers will be the ones to respond to any emergency or problem, and you may be held liable for the entire cost of your rescue ($2,000 +)
• Rivers. The Teklanika River can be deceptively friendly to look at, but has a very fast-moving main channel. Three feet of water is enough to take you down stream, even on a 4-wheeler. Rain in Denali National Park can make the river triple in size in no time at all.
• Weather. Being anywhere in the Alaska bush can be a wet and cold experience, even in July.
• Bugs. The mosquitos can be fierce and seem to run in herds. Have lots of DEET with you. Nothing else will work as well.
• Poaching. You need a valid hunting license to hunt. It is illegal to shoot moose, caribou, or bear without the appropriate licenses and tags. Anyone caught poaching game will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
• Guided tours. The Stampede Trail is under the management of the Alaska Department of Natural Resouces (ADNR) and requires a permit for any commercial guiding or tours. There have been no such permits issued, and anyone engaing in this activity is breaking the law. The only exception to this would be accessing the area via helicopter.

Please use caution if you are planning to travel to the the bus and dress appropriately. Some of the windows in the bus are broken and there is no way to use the bus to stay warm. Remember, you will be in a backcountry situation. If you do not know what kind of gear you need or have this equipment to travel safely into the Bush, then you probably have no business trying to do so. For example: If you had decided to carry 10 pounds of food with you, a 10 pound bag of rice is probably the wrong choice.

The Alaska bush IS NOT the Cascades or Rockies.

Death is always a possibility.

There are no provisions or supplies at the bus.

Please feel free to visit the Chamber Building in Healy or contact us if you have any questions. We wish you to have only the finest quality visit in our beautiful area, and we certainly want you to have the opportunity to tell your friends and family about it, too.

A map is now available in the download section of this website: Stampede map

It is made from USGS quads and DOES NOT show the location of the bus. It has only been provided as an illustration of how big an area you might be dealing with(400+ square miles). There are no USGS 1:63360 quad maps available online, so this document has been provided as a courtesy. The board recommends that you visit the USGS map store website and order the official paper maps rather than use the document available on this website.

I apologise for not getting the news out sooner, but it has just been a tempest getting things ready for the 2007 tourist season. The following is a quick summary of the occasion.

The Black Diamond Grill offered up a delicious dinner, which included: hot wings appetizers, ceasar salad, potato salad, barbequed short ribs, Sockeye salmon, steak, and a tasty bery pie for dessert.

During and after the meal, several speakers were heard, including Craig Pester of Aramark. He spoke of Aramark's continuing commitment to be a part of the Healy/Denali community and that Aramark is contantly looking for new ways to further integrate themselves in a positive way throughout Denali Borough.

After the dinner, and the General Membership vote for board members, the results were announced: Neal Laugman (McKinley Media), Cathey Peterson (former board member), Julia Potter (Denali Citizens Council), Arlie Swett (Denali Coffee Co.), and Josh Wilhour (Healy Cool Zone). The new board then convened and elected officers for the 2007-2008 year:

President: Â	Neal Laugman
Vice President: Â	Josh Wilhour
Treasurer: Â	Julia Potter
Recording Secretary: Â	Arlie Swett
Correspondence Secretary:	Cathey Peterson

The 2007 Greater Healy/Denali Chamber of commerce annual banquet and general membership meeting will be held tonight, Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at the Black Diamond Grill with drinks and hors d'oeuvres at 5pm and dinner at  6pm. RSVP to marilyn@usibelli.com. Business membership rates are based on the number of employees. Membership dues for the 2007 year are as follows:

Type	# EmpÂ	FeeÂ
AssociateÂ	Â	$ 25
Business	  1 to 4 Â	  $ 85
 "	   5 to 19	 $ 110
 "	   over 20	  $ 135

Additional listings for businesses with more than one line of business are $20.
 

The Chamber's Dreamweaver HTML website built and maintained by Terry and Ann Miller ( denalidomehome.com ) for so many years is soon to be retired. The Millers tirelessly chased after new memberships and maintained the current ones for many, many years and faithfully kept the Chamber's website up-to-date and running.

But with time and technology being what they are, they never stand still. The days of non-database driven websites are quickly coming to an end as the Internet world moves faster and faster - and expects more and more from itself every day. Today's world of technology in which we live is a world where everything requires the specialist - even in Alaska. Just as you could not become a dog musher or B & B operator by accident, neither could you accidently learn the complexities of Information Technology.

I've written this article for the Greater Healy/Denali Chamber of Commerce membership to help them understand what has changed and why the change is necessary.

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