Salamatof Native Association opens new headquarters
The new offices of the Salamatof Native Association hosted the first Kenai Chamber of Commerce Afterhours event last week. The Salamatof Native Assoc. has been located on Willow Street for many years, and now has moved to the end of the block across from the Kenai Fire Station after remodeling the vacant building that was a former bank location. "We'd like to thank Dan Green of G&S construction for doing such a wonderful make-over of this building. Many folks think it's a brand new building and don't even remember it ever being a bank," said Penny Carty, president and C.E.O of the Salamatof Native Assoc. (SNA, Inc.) is a Native Corporation formed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. The majority of the 138 shareholders of the corporation reside on the Kenai Peninsula. The mission of the SNA is to preserve and protect its culture and heritage, and promote pride by enriching and educating its youth for the future, according to Carty, who has been with the SNA since 1986. "We are involved with property management and resale, and have subdivisions along the Kenai River, Moose Range Meadows, Grand View Subdivision and our newest development is Cook Inlet Shores," she said.
SNA also offers a Summer Youth Employment Program to shareholders, Alaska Natives, Native Americans and the economically disadvantaged. According to Carty, Salamatof offers this program in conjunction with the Cook Inlet Tribal Council. The program is based on education and exposing youth to as many environmental & educational resources as possible with in a 6-week period.
The first Chamber Afterhours was well attended according to Tina Baldridge, KCC executive director. "We'll be shooting to have an Afterhours every month, and next month we plan on being at the Benco Building in Kenai and joining with the Boys Scouts of America and other businesses at that location. And of course coming up January 23rd is our annual Chamber community awards banquet that will take place at the Challenger Learning Center and tickets and table sales are available now and you can call us in advance because this is always a sell out event so call us soon at 283-7989 because space and tables are limited," said Baldridge.