INSIDE THE APRIL 2021 ISSUE: Wind Farm to Co-Exist with Cattle, Recreation p. 3 Center for the Future Finds a Home p. 4 Prescott Chamber Encouraging Businesses p. 6
Former Wrangler Helping Visitors Find Adventure p. 8 Amangiri Features Serene Luxury Near Page p. 10 Community Profile: Meet Grand Canyon’s Chocolatier p. 12
NACOG Connecting Workers with Employers T
By Ray Newton, QCBN
he Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) is developing plans to support the economic recovery. NACOG Regional Director Teri Drew says the Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) division is striving to help solve unemployment in the region with the Economic Development Administration
Recovery and Resilience Plan. The initiative, created in partnership with Arizona Town Hall and Northern Arizona University, was developed in response to adverse economic conditions such as the pandemic and negative impacts from the closing of the Navajo Generating Station and other coal plants. “If you are seeking employment, contact us. The same is true if you are an employer in need of qualified
candidates,” said Drew. “Citizens in need of job placement or training services simply must identify a barrier to employment. Being unemployed, for example, is considered a barrier. So is being underemployed. We serve all individuals who are 16 years old or older. All they have to do is to join one of our networks.” NACOG is conducting weekly orientations intended to provide a review of service opportunities. “We
provide solid information about direct services, support services, partner program services and community resources,” she said. There is no employer eligibility requirement for services or funding assistance other than doing business in Yavapai County or considering being located in the county. Orientations are available in person at 10 a.m. on Mondays at Continued on page 39
Survival Skills in Demand Cody Lundin’s Aboriginal Living Skills School marks 30 years of preparing people for emergencies By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN
A Outdoor survival guru Cody Lundin says students come to his school to learn how to be self-reliant. Courtesy photo
April 2021 | Issue 4 Volume 9
u Extensive renovations completed in October, 2020. u With the holiday season upon us, we are here to take care of your friends and family traveling to Prescott in a safe and responsible manner.
s a series of severe winter storms walloped Texas in February, causing a crippling statewide power crisis that led to shortages of water, food and heat, one woman in her late 60s was texting Cody Lundin from her San Antonio home, thanking him for the life-saving skills she and her husband learned in the Sonoran Desert Daze course they took through his Aboriginal Living Skills School (ALSS). “They got out the sleeping bags that had never been used since the course, were eating a chipped beef sandwich that was cooked over a bunch of candles, had filled up their bathtub with rainwater and snowmelt that they caught, and didn’t under-
u Strict Marriott International sanitization protocol is in place due to Covid-19 with masks required and social distancing procedures fully implemented. Safety modifications are in place for breakfast, fitness center and indoor pool.
SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Historic Downtown Prescott 200 East Sheldon, Prescott Arizona | 928-776-0998 | www.marriott.com/PRCSH
stand why people were short on water,” said Lundin. “They had transferred their mindset from fear to coping skills.” The news came as the Arizona outdoor survival instructor was about to mark 30 years in business with his Prescottbased school. For decades, Lundin has taught a cave full of courses at Prescott College and Yavapai College and has walked thousands across Arizona’s harsh desert and frigid high country. His Aboriginal Living Skills School is one of the oldest survival schools in the United States, where he teaches outdoor survival skills, primitive living skills, bushcrafting and urban preparedness. “We’re in a physiological body, yet most know very little about their biological needs.
Most don’t have any idea where their water comes from, where to find it, how to make it safe and where to store it. Most don’t know how to regulate their body temperature. We are so dependent on the grid and people don’t realize the extent they rely on it for their survival, let alone the complacency that comes with it. This creates the lack of being prepared and the feeling of shock when being caught off guard. The body shuts down.” He says everybody will be scared in a survival situation, including him. “Fear uncontrolled can kill people. Ninety percent of survival is psychology and 10% is everything else, like hard skills. I teach people how to be more self-reliant. Once people know how to deal with their needs, it simplifies their thought process – their focus can narrow in on what’s important to their safety and that brings down their fear.” Continued on page 38
