Matanuska Brewing Company Innovates  (2021©donnliston.co) Dining in our own bubble; Waneta Borden, Bill Borden, Brenda Borden and this writer, recently had a wonderful meal at Matanuska Brewing Company in Eagle River. Matanuska Brewing Company owner Matt Tomter believes his business absorbed the pandemic shutdown better than some other area businesses because of innovation to safely […]
Challenges from Anchorage Read More »
Opportunity Lost The State of Alaska has a high opinion of the value of Agriculture Land, which includes Agricultural Homesteads with Agricultural Rights Only, and Fee Simple land with Agricultural Covenants. Perhaps that is why so little ag land is in production in Alaska. It is just too valuable to allow much of it to
The Sorry State of Alaska Agriculture: Kodiak Island Area Beef Production Read More »
Addressing Alaska’s Hierarchy of Needs This is an update of a story that first appeared February 10, 2021. Alaskans are generally stuck at the bottom of the 5-level pyramid of human needs defined in Abraham Maslow’s 1943 paper, A Theory of Human Motivation. His 1954 book “Motivation and Personality” expanded on this theory and remains a
Alaska has Food Security Options Read More »
(2021©donnliston.co)  Everybody has a habitat–that place where you spend most of your personal time being a person. As an Alaskan I have loved every habitat I have known since I left the family home in midtown Anchorage as a teen, because like everybody I mostly make my habitats into Cozy Interiors. That means lots
Destiny Happens; The Cozy Interiors Side of Eagle River Read More »
 Realities of Alaska Food Security (2020©donnliston.co)  Familywith food on the table have many problems. Familywith no food on the table have one problem.                                                                                         Â
Who is Making a Difference? Read More »
 The Mat-Su Valley  State Economist, Neil Fried recently explained the impact of theChina Virus Pandemic to a Mat-Su audience. (2020©donnliston.co)  The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced on October 16 that September jobs in our state are down 11.0 percent from last September; a loss of some 37,600 jobs. A
Alaska’s Economic Sweet Spot Read More »
The Future of Alaska Food Security Rayna Reynolds, 9, is a farm girl in the Matanuska Valley. (2020©donnliston.co) When 200 farm families were selected from three mid-western states to be moved to Alaska’s Matanuska Valley for a farming experiment in 1935, nobody was certain what would happen. During the early 1930s Alaska agriculture was in
Who Dares to Farm in Alaska? Read More »
Who does the Alaska Legislature Really Represent? The Alaska Economy is staggering like a weakened 11th round boxer, from a half-year Coronavirus Pandemic bout, but the Alaska Legislature made no attempt in Juneau to stop the move of $4 Billion from the Permanent Fund Earning Reserve Account (ERA) to the untouchable principal of the fund
Sen. Shelley Hughes Speaks Out (2020 Interview) Read More »
(2020©donnliston.co) The latest financial study is in. It brings good news to the communities of Chugiak, Birchwood, Eagle River, Eklutna and Hiland Road in the goal to form their own local government. The study, conducted by Northern Economics, shows there is more than adequate tax base for a new city to be born. Old timers
Eaglexit’s New Validation: Financial Study by Northern Economics Read More »
Who Can Afford to Live in Alaska? Alaska has always had a tenuous economy, buffeted by winds of boom and bust. Most economic winds are generated by capacity for natural resource extraction. And, for more than 40 years, income from any other industry has been a bonus. This fragile economic reality means government sector employees
Alaska’s Economy Down from China Virus Read More »
