Cordova Community Cold Storage

All of rural Alaska faces the challenge of maintaining a high-quality subsistence food supply. Lacking variety and regular availability, it becomes difficult to train young taste buds and impossible to avoid highly-processed and expensive commercial alternatives. At the same time, cottage industries in Alaska have a problem producing high-quality food products for sale because the processing and packaging equipment are built (and priced!) for larger operations. In Cordova, these barriers mean that fewer than 25 of the 550 Copper River Delta commercial fishermen are direct-marketing their salmon; instead, they sell their entire catch for low prices to canneries or outside cash buyers.

To address these problems, EPC is helping individuals and businesspeople to create a Cordova Community Cold Storage and Cookery (CCCS). We will offer processing tables, a vacuum sealer, a blast freezer, cooler space, and a place to package finished products safely and efficiently. CCCS users will be able to safely dress, process, smoke and preserve subsistence foods including seafoods, shellfish, red meats, and plants and berries. Because the CCCS will be a Department of Environmental Conservation approved facility, small commercial producers will also be able to share its use.

In October 2007, Alaska Federation of Natives chose the CCCS as one of the top four business concepts in the Alaska Marketplace competition. We are developing a business plan and investigating energy saving systems such as solar, wind and tidal power sources to help reduce energy costs, as these represent one of the most significant financial hurdles to such a facility. If CCCS pencils out as expected, additional funding will be needed for final design of the facility, start-up capital, and purchase of equipment. Help us with support for this state-of-the-art subsistence model. Communities all over should have them!