Community Development Projects
In the Calista region, government spending is the principal mainstay of the regional/cash economy. Although fish, furs, and crafts are exported from the Calista region, the value of these exports are marginal and have little impact upon the regional economy. Businesses which provide services cater to the retail trade or provide transportation services to the villages. The service sector depends primarily on the re-spending of dollars brought into the region by government projects and commercial fishing. The stability and wellbeing of the regional economy of the Calista region is largely dependent upon the access of state and federal funding resources.
Since 1970, villages in the region are increasingly dependent upon non-local public money to support per capita income, wage employment, maintenance of community infrastructure and basic services. With the onslaught of major oil revenues in the 1970s, the state legislature began spending large amounts of public money in rural Alaska. State spending purchased capital improvements and community services and raised the level of per capita income in the villages.
State, regional non-profit, municipal and tribal government represents the primary source of the overall economic growth in the region, especially in the villages. Educational services also represent an important source of local growth.
State and federal capital projects are major sources of income in the region. The major state contribution comes from appropriations by the Alaska legislature. Each year the Alaska legislature makes appropriations to communities for various projects and programs. Capital projects in the Calista region are funded through state agencies, such as the Department of Education, the Department of Public Safety, and the Department of Transportation. Other projects are funded through direct grants to municipalities, state house and state senate bills, and emergency funding through the governor's office.
In recent years, funding is coordinated through the Denali Commission, an innovative federal-state partnership designed to provide critical utilities, infrastructure, and economic support throughout Alaska. With the creation of the Denali Commission, Congress acknowledged the need for increased inter-agency cooperation and focus on Alaska's remote rural communities.
Community Development projects in the Calista region are listed by community and can be accessed through the following links by community.
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