SITKA, Alaska --- Are you ready for the new millennium? What steps do you need to take to be ready for the Year 2000? Alaska communities will have the opportunity to learn about readiness and what they can do to be prepared for the effects of the Year 2000 computer challenge in an upcoming series of public forums.

The State’s Y2K Project Office, in conjunction with the Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, have created these forums to bring industry and government leaders together to share their Y2K status with the public. The first of these meetings will be held in Sitka, Alaska on July 28-29, 1999.

Bob Poe, Commissioner of the Department of Administration and Brigadier General Phillip Oates, Commissioner of the Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, will be conducting a series of programs called Regional Y2K Community Discussions.

"This forum will bring community leaders, businesses and government agencies together to discuss regional preparedness and focus on the Year 2000 computer challenge," said Commissioner Poe. "This special forum will provide information about the Y2K readiness of the regions’ businesses, government agencies and other key service providers as we prepare to deal with potential natural and manmade disasters," added Poe.

Brigadier General Oates comments that, "These Y2K community discussions will help the Division of Emergency Services refine their assessment of the vulnerability of local and regional systems to Y2K related failures. We are especially interested in sharing the message about individual and family preparedness."

The Year 2000 computer problem is a very real challenge in Alaska today and community leaders, businesses, and members of the public are crucial to the success of meeting the challenge, according to Poe.

2//State to Launch Public Y2K Forums . . .

Members of the public and the media are encouraged to attend the two-day forum. Registration is not required.

WHEN: July 28-29, 1999, 8:00am-5:00pm

WHERE: Harrigan Hall & Visitor’s Center, 330 Harbor Drive, Sitka

For more information, contact Juanita Hensley, Y2K Outreach Coordinator for the Y2K Project Office, at: (907) 465-5648 or Kerre Martineau, Department of Military & Veterans Affairs Public Information Officer, at: (907) 428-6034, or go to the Y2K Project Office website at: www.state.ak.us/y2000/. 

The following is a tentative schedule of the other Regional Y2K Community Discussions. Exact times and locations and other details will be available for each closer to the dates.

Unalaska August 4 – 5

Bethel August 25 – 26

Kotzebue September 8 – 9

Fairbanks September 29 – 30