Friday, Jun 10 2011 3:51PM

The Alaska Federation of Natives' (AFN) Alaska Marketplace contest took place again this year, maintaining its annual focus on improving economic relief to rural Alaska communities.

Created in 2005 to spark the local economies of rural communities statewide, the tradition continued this year, yielding many participants who are asked to come up with business ideas.

The initiative provides grants to rural entrepreneurs who come up with the best plans for job creation and ideas to rejuvenate economic activity in rural Alaska. Unemployment remains high in these rural areas, one of the reasons why the contest was created, according to the AFN.

This year's theme was 'Planting Seeds of Change,' which asked rural residents to write essays about how the state's rural communities can better themselves.

"The winners of our first four Alaska Marketplace competitions have had a genuine impact across Alaska — creating jobs and building village economies," said Julie Kitka, AFN president. "What we really love about this competition is that it helps folks who might not otherwise have access to funding and publicity pursue their dreams."

Though it's unknown how much grant money will be provided to winners of this year's contest, more than $300,000 of seed money was offered to winners of the contest in 2009. Grants provided that year ranged from $11,000 to $50,000.