2015 Agenda

7:45 AM

Early Registration Open for Cluster Tour Attendees

8:30 AM

Industry Cluster Tours Depart

Visitor Products Cluster Tour – Starts with a tour of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center to learn about how Juneau’s popular tourist attraction manages over a million visitors every year and plans to become more sustainable using renewably powered electric vehicles. The next stop is an exclusive preview tour of the Walter Soboleff Center, which is nearing the completion of its construction phase and is not yet open to the general public.

Renewable Energy Cluster Tour – Learn how Juneau gets and maintains its power grid. Visit the Gold Creek Building, where Alaska Electric Light & Power houses four diesel generators and three hydro turbines. Other stops in the works include the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center to learn about its sustainability plan (see above) and Alaskan Brewing Company’s brewery operation where spent grains are helping produce “beer powered beer”.

Research & Development Cluster Tour – Visit UAF’s School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. See their Smart classrooms, wet labs, working-teaching lab and active research labs. Quiz a few graduate students about their exciting research projects. Next stop is the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institue — Alaska’s largest fisheries research facility for a behind the scenes tour.

Ocean Products Cluster Tour – Visit Taku Smokeries’ smokehouse, primary production and freezer facility which processes and ships over 7 million pounds of wild fish each year. Tour the office, plant and retail complex. This tour includes a stop at Alaska Glacier Seafood’s 10,000 square-foot waterfront processing facility near Auke Bay and to learn how the company is working towards full utilization of the resource. Dress warm!

11:30 AM

Open Registration – Sign up for Experience Juneau:  Dine Around Networking Dinners

1:00 PM

Welcome to the 2015 Innovation Summit

Sara Radke Brown with the Juneau Brass Quintet: Bill Paulick (Horn), Ken Guiher (Trumpet), Scott Giard (Trumpet), Katy Giorgio (Trombone) and Tim Ayer (Tuba) perform the National Anthem and Alaska Flag Song

Richard Peterson, President, Central Council Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska

​Merrill Sanford, Mayor, City and Borough of Juneau

Byron Mallott, Lieutenant Governor, State of Alaska

Beth Pendleton, Regional Forester, USFS Alaska Region

1:50 PM

Brian Holst, Executive Director, Juneau Economic Development Council

Comments and Introduction: Dan White, Vice Chancellor of Research, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Keynote: Mark Skinner – From Cluster Development to System Change: Thoughts for Shaping our Region’s Future 
Mark Skinner is founding Director of the Regional Innovation Acceleration Network (RIAN), a federally-funded project striving to grow the impact of public, private and philanthropic investments in science, technology and innovation.

3:15 PM

Coffee Break  – Sign up for Experience Juneau: Dine Around Networking Dinners

Visit Exhibitor Booths and Network in the Innovation Lounge

3:45 PM

Innovation Shorts I — An opportunity for innovative companies and individuals to share their innovations through short (ten-minute) presentations

5:00 PM

Comments and Introduction: Senator Dennis Egan, Alaska State Senator

Keynote: Scott Stern – Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Alaska Competitiveness
Dr. Scott Stern is Chair of the Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management Group and the David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He works widely with both companies and governments in understanding the drivers and consequences of innovation and entrepreneurship and will discuss the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in competitiveness and regional economic performance.

6:30 PM

Experience Juneau!

Explore downtown Juneau with Innovation Summit coupons for shopping specials from participating businesses or head over to Alaskan Brewing Company Depot for a special reception for Innovation Summit attendees. Bus transportation downtown to central shopping and dining areas will be provided.

7:30 PM

Experience Juneau:  Dine Around

Meet up at your chosen restaurant with your group for dinner. 

7:30 AM

Coffee and Pastries

8:00 AM

Welcome to Day Two of the 2015 Innovation Summit

Comments and Introduction: Lauren MacVay, JEDC Board Chair and President & CEO of True North Federal Credit Union

Bill Walker, Alaska State Governor

8:30 AM

Southeast Cluster Initiative

Moderator: Brian Holst, Executive Director, Juneau Economic Development Council – Innovation in the North

Regional Clusters Industry Updates

Comments and Introduction:  Fred Parady, Deputy Commissioner Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development

Keynote: Armelle Solelhac – French Mountain Cluster Experience
Armelle Solelhac, founder and CEO of the experiential marketing and digital communication agency SWiTCH, is a specialist in tourism and outdoor sports marketing and digital communication.

Coffee Break – Visit Exhibitor Booths and Network in the Innovation Lounge

10:45 AM

Industry Working Group Meetings
Ocean Products Cluster – Facilitated by Julie Decker, Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation
Visitor Products Cluster – Facilitated by Kirby Day, Princess Cruise
Research & Development Cluster – Facilitated by Dr. Shannon Atkinson, University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries
Renewable Energy Cluster – Facilitated by Alec Mesdag of Alaska Electric Light & Power and Bill Leighty
Arts and Culture Cluster – Facilitated by Dr. Rosita Worl, Sealaska Heritage Institute and Susan Bell, Former Commissioner Alaska DCCED

12:00 PM

Networking Lunch

Comments and Introduction: John Pugh, Chancellor, University of Alaska Southeast

Anthony Mallott, CEO Sealaska Corporation: Sealaska Lands Bill and our regional economy

Innovation Shorts II — An opportunity for innovative companies and individuals to share their innovations through short (ten-minute) presentations

Coffee Break – Visit Exhibitor Booths and Network in the Innovation Lounge

3:00 PM

Mini Sessions

Mark Skinner, RIAN – Regional Innovation Acceleration Network

Scott Stern, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Armelle Solelhac, CEO, Switch, member of French Mountain Cluster

4:15 PM

Path to Prosperity Winners Announced, Haa Aani

4:45 PM

Closing Remarks

5:00 PM

Reception in the Innovation Lounge – Cocktails and hors d’oeuvre