"Make it Monday" forum - Ballot Measure 1

Presentations and a Q&A with Bill Popp of the OneAlaska campaign, and Dr. Mark D. Myers with the Alaska's Fair Share Act campaign.

PLUS, a member presentation by Patty Wilbanks, Executive Director, Visit Girdwood.

Dr. Mark D. Myers 
Mark moved to Anchorage in 1983 as an exploration geologist with ARCO Alaska. Over the next 2 decades he worked for major oil companies and for the state of Alaska as a petroleum geologist. He served in the Air Force Reserve retiring as a Lt Colonel.  In 2001 Mark was appointed Director of Division of Oil & Gas, and later Director of Division of Geological and Geophysical Survey, and State Geologist.  In 2006 President Bush appointed him to the position of Director of the United States Geologic Survey.  Mark served under Governor Parnell as Alaska Natural Gas Inducement Act Coordinator and under Governor Walker as Commissioner of Natural Resources.  From 2011-2015 he was the Vice Chancellor for Research at UAF.  He is now in business for himself as a consultant on energy projects around the world for the US Departments of State, Energy, and Interior.

 

Bill Popp, President & CEO
Anchorage Economic Development Corporation

Bill Popp has spent 46 years in both the Alaska private and public sectors. As President & CEO of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation since 2007, he sets the strategic direction in marketing Anchorage and Alaska to companies and global industries considering Anchorage as a place in which to do business and assists local businesses looking to expand both within Anchorage and Alaska as well as Lower 48 and international markets.

Prior to joining AEDC, Popp was a special assistant in the Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor?s office from 2002 to 2007 focused on oil and gas and mining policy. Popp was also an elected municipal government official for the Kenai Peninsula Borough (KPB) from 1996 to 2002 and presided over the KPB Assembly as president in 2000. Popp has over 25 years of private industry experience working for large national and regional businesses and as a small business owner. He also served as project coordinator of the Challenger Learning Center for Alaska from 1996 to 2000. 

Popp is currently co-chair of the 49th State Angel Fund Business Advisory Committee. He is a board member of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Visit Anchorage, Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Alaska Public Media, and the Anchorage Concert Association.  Popp also serves as a member of the UAA College of Business and Public Policy Business Advisory Board, the Alaskan Command Civilian Advisory Board, the JBER Community Partnership Leadership team, is co-chair of the Governor?s Alaska Civilian Armed Services Team (ACAST) and is a member of the Municipality of Anchorage 2020 Census Complete Count Commission, the Municipality of Anchorage Senator Bettye Davis Public Facility Naming Panel.

Popp has previously served as chair of Mayor Berkowitz JBER Base Economic Analysis Research (BEAR) Working Group and co-chair of the initial efforts to oppose the force reduction of the 4-25 Army Brigade at JBER.  Popp was also a member of Governor Bill Walker?s Transition Committee, member of Mayor-Elect Ethan Berkowitz?s Transition Committee, and member of Mayor-Elect Dan Sullivan?s Transition Committee. He has also served as chair of the Governor?s Broadband Task Force, and Municipality of Anchorage Energy Policy Task Force.

Other past service includes serving on the Legislative Energy Policy Stakeholders Group; chairman of the KPB Economic Development Criteria Task Force; chair of the Economic Development Committee for the Municipality of Anchorage; vice chairman of the Alaska Stranded Gas Act Municipal Advisory Group; co-chair of Governor Murkowski?s Agrium Task Force; chair of the Kenai Peninsula Development Coalition; consultant for the British Columbia Provincial Government?s Offshore Oil and Gas Team; member of the Tri-borough Commission Energy Task Force; Board member of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Economic Development District; Fundraising Chair of the 2006 Arctic Winter Games; Fundraising Chair for the USS Anchorage Commissioning Ceremony; and a member of the Cook Inlet Natural Gas Pipeline Terminus Group.

Popp first moved to Anchorage in 1968 as a military dependent at Elmendorf Air Force Base.  A graduate of East Anchorage High School in 1977, Popp and his wife Nicole married in 1979.  Work took Popp to the Kenai Peninsula in 1983 where he and Nicole raised their daughter and son over the 25 years they lived in Kenai.  They have two grandchildren who live in Anchorage and happen to be military dependents too.