The University of Alaska Foundation announced a $300,000 gift from Icicle Seafoods Inc. for scholarships, student aid, research and technology programs throughout the UA System. The many programs benefitting from the gift include rural campuses and the communities they serve, as well as opportunities for both secondary and post-secondary students.

This is the latest in a string of generous gifts to the university that brings Icicle’s total donations to UA over the past five years to a remarkable $1.1 million.

“Through its consistent and generous donations, Icicle is providing the university a tremendous opportunity to bolster student scholarships and integrate more technology into the classroom; provide more research about Alaska fisheries and seafood markets; and expand marine science programs,” said Carla Beam, president of the UA Foundation. “This is a perfect example of a company using its donations strategically, for the benefit of the overall health of its industry.”

Gunnar Knapp, a fisheries professor at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage, noted a significant share of Icicle’s support goes to support fisheries economics research at ISER.

“They have been instrumental to my being able to offer a new course in fisheries economics and to continue tracking trends in markets for Alaska seafood,” Knapp noted. “But I’m particularly pleased that Icicle has supported many branches of the University of Alaska in coastal communities across Alaska with donations for vocational programs, scholarships, equipment and in many other ways that make an enormous difference in the university’s ability to serve people in these communities.”

Icicle Seafoods President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Guhlke said, “We are pleased to be able to support the University of Alaska in providing educational and training opportunities for Alaskans to enable them to enter the workforce with the knowledge and skills needed to be successful. We take great honor and pleasure in contributing to the further development of this next generation of leaders.”

Icicle’s latest $300,000 donation benefits the following:

• ISER, UAA: Icicle Fisheries Fund, created to strengthen ISER’s capacity to engage in research and instruction regarding Alaska’s fishing industry and seafood markets, $85,000
• Kenai Peninsula College’s Kachemak Bay Campus: Learning Resource Center, $10,000
• Kachemak Bay Campus: part-time technology staff, for eLearning classroom technology, $10,000
• Kenai Peninsula College: Icicle Seafoods Scholarships, $5,000
• Kodiak College: Icicle Seafoods Scholarships, $12,000; general fund support, $3,000
• University of Alaska Southeast (Juneau): Icicle Seafoods Scholarships, $5,000
• UAS (Juneau): career education/dual enrollment scholarships to allow Petersburg high school students to earn college credit and support UAS Fisheries Technology instruction in the high school, $5,000
• UAS (Juneau): undergraduate Icicle Seafoods fisheries and Marine Science Research Endowment, $30,000
• UAS (Ketchikan): Fish Tech Program, for expansion of fisheries education opportunities to secondary and post-secondary students in Craig, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Kake, Juneau, Sitka, Valdez, Kodiak and Dillingham, $50,000
• University of Alaska Fairbanks: Alaska Business Week, a partnership with the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce in which high school teams simulate running their own businesses for a week, $25,000
• UAF: Alaska Tsunami Ocean Sciences Bowl, a regional competition for Alaska high school students on topics related to oceanic studies, for scholarship awards, $25,000
• UAF Bristol Bay Campus: Icicle Seafoods Scholarships, $10,000
• Bristol Bay Campus: science center renovation, $25,000

Icicle Seafoods was founded in Petersburg in 1965, and is one of Alaska’s largest seafood processors with operations in Petersburg, Seward, Homer, Egegik, Larsen Bay and Adak. Icicle also operates a fleet of floating processors at various locations around the state.