Alaska entrepreneur looks to ocean for inspiration

news miner-01Fairbanks Daily News-Miner| July 12, 2016 | Kevin Baird

FAIRBANKS - An Alaska entrepreneur believes the ocean’s untapped resources are the key to creating jobs in Alaska.

Chris Hartman, CEO of Global Ocean Center in Anchorage, has an ambitious plan to turn Alaska into the ultimate hub for ocean-based commerce, subsea research, maritime technology and so on.

“There’s a lot of economic opportunities that we’re missing out on,” Hartman said. “Alaska needs a big win, and this could be a big win for Alaska.”

Hartman says he’s invested his own time and a couple hundred thousand dollars into the ocean center during the past five years. He is looking for investors to help his company take the next step.

He’s looking for an investor or a consortium of investors to plug $3 million into his ocean center.

“My biggest challenge is getting investors to put seed money into this,” Hartman said.

The first thing Hartman wants to do is launch OceanXchange, an ocean-based platform that would connect seafaring traders and business leaders to an online marketplace. The website would also promote learning about the oceans. Hartman said Alaska’s improving infrastructure, particularly Quintillion Holding’s ongoing project of using subsea cables to connect rural Alaska to broadband internet, will improve Alaska’s ability to send big data to the rest of the world.

Hartman is also hoping to develop and patent ocean-related technology, such as a smart underwater autonomous car and submarines that would allow the public to interact with deep water ecosystems.

Read the full story here.

National Ocean Industries Association
1120 G Street, NW • Suite 900
Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202.347.6900 | Email: media@nullnoia.org