Choose development not decommissioning!
Today, together with other entrepreneurs, we have published an article in VK regarding the proposal to close down Tärnaby Alpine Gymnasium. We work every day for the development and future of Tärnaby. A closure of the high school will have a very negative impact on the future of Tärnaby. We stand up for Tärnaby and its development, not for closure, we believe in Tärnaby. Go and read on VK or read below.
DEBATE
Choose development not decommissioning!
The path that Storuman Municipality may now choose to take is completely wrong! Choosing closure instead of development of TAG (Tärnabys Alpina Gymansium) is completely incomprehensible to us entrepreneurs! We represent the companies that work with tourism and trade in Tärnaby and the decision will have devastating consequences for our businesses. In Tärnaby, we do not have a major player who acts as a locomotive for the wagons, but here the lift company, accommodation facilities, two restaurants, shop, café and petrol station are owned by enthusiastic small business owners who love the village and want to be involved in its development.
We are proud of Tärnaby and its unique alpine history. It has taken a long time to build up our activities, we have put in extensive work and made major financial investments. The pandemic years were a big challenge for us who work with tourism, but we also managed to get out of that crisis thanks to TAG being there and the slopes being open for training.
We have an upward trend in Tärnaby. Even though the village has only about 400 inhabitants, it is alive and kicking and thanks to the ski instructors, we manage even during the off-season. The 80 or so young people who attend TAG and two other skiing programmes are very important to us. They visit our shops and restaurants. Their families and friends come to visit several times a year and stay in our hotels and rent chalets and apartments. They fill in and do extra work during the high season in our facilities, they get involved in Fjällvinden and help out at competitions. Thanks to the ski training programmes, we have a pre-season and a post-season in addition to the tourist weeks.
The students' families and friends are good ambassadors for Tärnaby throughout the country, helping to bring new visitors to the village. In addition to the students, TAG also attracts teachers, coaches and their families to settle in Tärnaby. Several students have chosen to settle permanently in Tärnaby after school.
If Storuman municipality and Södra Lapplands Gymansieförbund decide to close TAG, the other two programmes will be negatively affected and there is a great risk that they will also be forced to close. It is the dynamics and interaction between the ski instructors in Tärnaby's unique alpine environment that makes TAG one of the country's most popular ski training programmes.
Four years ago, the question of closure was also raised and it was decided to revise the budget, review costs and development, and do everything possible to keep TAG going. What has been done and why does it not make sense? What has changed to date and in one year in the new merger with Vilhelmina? Have they taken in more students, offered local students to study at home, collaborated with the other two programmes? Have they investigated whether it is possible to rationalise ski training to three years instead of four?
We all understand the recession and the tough budget, we have that in common both as entrepreneurs and municipalities, but what about the impact assessment? Has a thorough one really been done?
We entrepreneurs demand that you fight as hard as we do to keep Tärnaby going. We take responsibility for Tärnaby's future, and we demand that you as elected politicians do the same. Storuman municipality would like to profile itself as a business-friendly municipality, but right now we find it difficult to see that.
The idea of closing down shows that the municipality and the Swedish Upper Secondary School Association with chairman Anders Persson have not done their homework. Do it again and do it right!
With its sporting history and unique conditions, Tärnaby has every chance of becoming Sweden's best alpine education centre.
Tärnaby Alpint, Tärnaby Sporthotell, Tärnaby Fjällhotell, Frendo Tärnaby, Trolltrumman, Kafé Ryfjället and Åkerlundska Gården/Backvillan
