Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Event
By Jessica Schultz Pleasant
The Anchorage Chamber of Commerce has announced its “Make it Monday” forum will focus on the subject of “Disrupting the Cycle of Homelessness/Homelessness Prevention.” The event will be hosted by Alaska 529. This event will be highlighting the rejuvenating energy the Shiloh Community Housing, Inc., (SCHI), and its new Mt View community resource center. This event will be held on Monday, July 17, 2023, at 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM AKDT, at the Petroleum Club of Anchorage, 3301 C, St. #120, Anchorage, AK 99503.
The Monday event schedule is: 11:30 AM -12:00 Networking
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Presentation
(this includes 3-5 min presentations prior to the main presentation, which is 30-40 minutes with a question-and-answer session to follow.)
Typically, “Make it Monday” meets every Monday at the Dena’ina Center. But July 17’s forum will be held at the Petroleum Club of Anchorage. The chamber ends registration for events at 5:00 PM on the Thursday prior to an event. Unregistered attendees on the day of the forum must be aware there will be an extra $2 fee, and seating cannot be guaranteed. The expected attire is business casual. These events do not allow outside food or drinks, but lunch service is provided to attendees.
In-Person Monday forums
- General Admission + Lunch: $35 Members / $40 Non-Members
- Table Reservation (Seats 8): $230 Members / $280 Non-Members
- Coffee only: $13 Members / $15 Non-Members
- Students: $15 w/ID
- New Punch Card (10 lunches): $330 Members / $380 Non-Members
Virtual via Zoom
- Members: $10
- Non-Members: $15
Anchorage Chamber of Commerce’s “Make it Monday” forums have existed for over 65 years. It is an opportunity for business owners to become informed about educational opportunities, and industry updates, municipal and government reports, reports on economic forecasts and new industry outlooks.
The Chamber is investing its efforts to provide support to the SCHI community resource center. The July 17 forum will be an opportunity for businesses to become informed of the intentions of the Mt View resource center. , and how they too can contribute to the community resource center.
According to the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, SCHI’s community resource center “is being developed in Mountain View, Anchorage that will provide services for the entire community consisting of financial literacy education, DOL – job center, internet cafe (access to free internet), child drop-in center for end-users receiving services, behavior health education, office space for lease, and culinary arts training for beginners and kitchen safety for children in a certified kitchen, and more!”
In June, SCHI held a Juneteenth Event that allowed visitors the opportunity to tour the blank canvas of a building GCI so kindly donated to SCHI. GCI promised its service to the resource center for five years. GCI service will prove to be invaluable to the resource center in its efforts to bring knowledge and communication to those community members wanting to invest in themselves.
GCI’s Trailblazer of the Year of 2022 and SCHI’s CEO Sheneé Williams explained the resource center will rely heavily on its relationship with the chamber of commerce. Williams discussed working with the banking and commerce industries to guide clients through all facets of financial literacy.
Williams explained, “We’re going to have all the way from the novice just knowing how to build a budget, all the way to wealth building, retirement planning, investment planning, the whole nine yards is what’s going to be provided from the financial perspective.”
Successful clients of the resource center becoming business owners contributes to the community and the goals of the chamber of commerce. Early intervention to teach a client financial literacy and entrepreneurship can have generational effects for a family’s future.
SCHI also wants to see external changes, with bringing back beauty and a sense of pride in one’s community. Communities well cared for have a healthy small business class that provides employment opportunities. This appears to be the tool SCHI plans to use to restore Mt View into a safe and financially stable environment that benefits its residents. The community resource center will also serve all Alaskans.
