As Alaskans deal with the ramifications of a snow-starved winter, a snow management and education company is planning its second annual Alaska event.
The Alaska Snow Symposium, set for July 23 at the Dena'ina Convention Center in Anchorage, will include a series of sessions for people in the snow removal-management business. A trade show, already double the size of the 2014 conference, will round out the day's activities.
The Snowfighters Institute, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, holds regional conferences throughout the U.S.
"People can learn the latest techniques and equipment options, but we also teach how to run successful businesses," said Snowfighters Institute Executive Director Tammy Johnson.
Johnson said one trend the event will focus on will be snow-only businesses. Many companies that do plow work or snow storage turn their business toward landscaping in the summer. But more and more are beginning to focus all of their year's efforts on snowy months.
"They use the summer to gear up," Johnson said. "It takes a long time for these larger contractors to get prepared for the winter season."
And while there is plenty of snow and ice on the Eastern Seaboard, much of Alaska is a brown mess, at a time when it should be still covered in feet of snow. Johnson claimed the event would help companies learn how to plan for and deal with low-snow years.
As new techniques come along, such as the use of brine solution to clear parking lots, Johnson said it is more important than ever for municipalities, state departments of transportation, and large and small snow plow contractors, to do things right the first time.
"The new techniques are great," Johnson said. "But, when you are trying something new it can be costly if you are doing it wrong. So the training is important as well."