The Dunleavy administration continues to pay for a marketing website set up at state expense months ago that has never been mentioned or promoted on the website of the state Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.
“We’re Open For Business, and we’re looking forward to doing business with you,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy says on the “Alaska Business Initiative,” which is not on the state website.
Keeping the website under wraps is not a good way to tell the world the state is open for business. In fact, it communicates the message that the state is not open for business. And that the commerce department is out to lunch.
There is only the note above, posted more than a year-and-a-half ago, the top item on the commerce website. It says that the state intends to hire a company “to develop an initial marketing plan and advise on strategies to effectively market Alaska.”
The commerce department appears to be unaware that the commerce department hired a company seven months ago to create a marketing plan for Alaska.
The website that must not be mentioned is one part of the $3 million Alaska marketing contract between the commerce department and Six-7 Strategies, a consulting firm owned by Kevin Sweeney, a veteran of Alaska politics. The contract could be renewed for a total cost of $9 million through 2030.
“The website will support economic development by attracting investors and others looking to develop a new business or grow an existing business in Alaska. This site is a key component of the department’s marketing initiative. This site will be branded unrestricted by state standards and geared towards attracting investment and business to the State,” the contract says.
“The website design must be highly functional using modern design techniques. The design must be mobile responsive and intuitive to navigate,” according to the contract.
No need to worry about being “mobile responsive and intuitive to navigate” if you don’t tell anyone the website exists.
I wrote here April 11 that the new website was nowhere to be found. It was supposed to be operating by March 14.
I wrote Sweeney on April 11 asking about the website, but he did not reply. I wrote again on June 4 and asked for a list of vendors he has hired and for how much.
He replied by sending a link to akbusinessinitiative.org, which claims that Alaska is “The Frontier of the Future.” Sweeney did not provide any information about vendors.
There is still no mention of the marketing website on the state commerce website.
Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
