By Diane Wieland, DCLnews
Previous issues introduced readers to the partnership
between DCL and the Native American Document Conversion
Program (NADCP), which created over 300 jobs among remote
Native American populations that face high unemployment. We
told you about the challenges faced by some of our partner
tribal organizations - building high-tech facilities, building
their work forces in these remote locations, and the
positive effect the program has had on the tribal members.
This issue focuses on some of the faces of success--the workers
themselves who have found a sense of pride in their work and
the work of other tribal members, workers who have gained
new skills and increased their income through their
willingness to learn and the opportunity to succeed. The
previous issue introduced Michael Brown from Tlingit
and Haida Technology Industries (THTI), who runs the
facility in Klawock, Alaska. This issue gives you more
of Michael's story and also introduces a young woman
named Trish Woods-Ellison, another exceptional worker from
THTI.
On the west coast of Prince of Wales Island in southeast
Alaska, in Klawock--a
town of about 850 residents--predominant industries were
once fishing and logging. However, in recent years those
industries have provided fewer opportunities to residents
there.
But thanks to the partnership between Tlingit and
Haida Technology Industries (THTI), Intertribal Information
Technology Company (IITC) and Data Conversion Laboratory,
Inc. (DCL), a pearl has grown in the small community in the
form of a high tech facility that has brought high tech jobs
to residents and workers from nearby communities.
In Klawock, Tlingit tradition is apparent in the community
that still relies on fishing as both a form of industry and
fun. And the technology center has given Native Alaskans
both small business opportunities and a boost to the local
community in terms of morale and pride.
More Than Just A Job
Michael Brown, Production Supervisor of the THTI Klawock
office, was hired in October 2005 and progressed through
several stages of the process before being promoted to
Supervisor. Like many other Native Alaskans, he relishes the
idea of tradition and technology in the same location.
While Michael works in the high tech office during the week,
he is often seen hunting and fishing in this temperate
climate--that some would call cold--with average temperatures
of 37 degrees in January, and in July just 58 degrees, with
a yearly average precipitation of 120 inches.
"About 30 to 40 percent of what I live on is from what I
fish and hunt," he says. He catches and smokes his own wild
salmon, and he recalled a story of fishing close to the Gulf
of Alaska. "I was pulling a Halibut skate that I had set
earlier in the day. I was about half way done pulling the
skate up when a humpback whale surfaced about 150 feet from
my boat (a 16 foot skiff). It spooked me and I almost let go
of the skate that I was pulling up. A very cool sight."
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The jobs at THTI require (and teach) the
widest range of technology skills on the island.
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Though Michael is a success story of his own, the pride in
his voice when he talks about THTI in Klawock isn't just
about his own accomplishments, but those of his fellow
workers too. For many of the workers the facility provides
something more than just a job; also a chance for self
determination. The jobs at THTI require (and teach) the
widest range of technology skills on the island. In fact, many of
their workers move on to other areas of Alaska or the lower
48 states after acquiring these skills and working for THTI
for a time.
That's okay, according to Michael. "For some of our workers
these are their first jobs ever. We are always willing to
give someone the chance they need to move to better jobs."
One such person was a young man who recently saved enough
money working with THTI to go into the Marine Captain's
course to become a licensed pilot, and who has aspirations
to one day become a commercial jet pilot.
Success for One Means Success for Everyone
Another exceptional worker, a young woman named Trish
Woods-Ellison, had previously only been able to land service
jobs in her small community. Trish had the intelligence and
ability to do more, she just needed the opportunity--and she
got it.
"I was living in Kotzebue [AK] just above the Arctic
Circle," Trish says. "I came back to Klawock, and came in to
THTI several times a week to see when they were going to be
hiring again, and started work about two weeks after I got
home."
From the beginning it was clear Trish would be a rising star
at the facility. She received in-house training and has
learned every aspect of the process. That, she says, is one
of the most rewarding parts of her experience so far.
"Knowing that you finish a project, and knowing I was
capable of working through all of our production steps and
that I was given the opportunity to."
In just a little over one year, she learned more advanced
computer skills, highly specialized software skills, and SGML
(an ISO standard for defining the format in a text
document.) And, she's seen two increases in pay.
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"(This opportunity)has the potential to bring me to different areas in
Computing--and everything, really. I think there's great
potential to learn so much more."
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What are the practical benefits Trish has seen from this
opportunity? "It has provided more stability and steady
income. I'm paying off my student loans as we speak," she
says. "I got to go on a vacation to Juneau for Celebration.
It has the potential to bring me to different areas in
Computing--and everything, really. I think there's great
potential to learn so much more."
But Trish agrees with Michael when she says that what is
most important is the sense of pride the projects have
brought to the island. Pride in the fact that the business
is Native owned and primarily Native operated.
"I think it's great that Tlingit and Haida has brought this
opportunity to our small town because there aren't many
jobs. The more we can do for our culture the better. I hope
it lasts a long time."
[Click here for Part 1 of this article]
[Click here for Part 2 of this article]
