Jenny Gore Dwyer is the owner of St. George Marine. The family-run company was established in 1986 by Jenny and her husband Pat. After her beloved husband passed away from ALS in June 2013, Jenny became sole owner and president of St. George Marine, working with her children Sean and Brenna to continue to run and grow the family business. The company owns two vessels. The F/V Jennifer A fishes crab in Alaska's Bering Sea, and in summer works with its sister ship, the F/V Brenna A, purchasing salmon on behalf of seafood processors in various parts of Alaska.
Jenny and Pat built their company from the ground up, working together on Alaska's fishing grounds and becoming involved in fisheries politics. Together, they lobbied state and federal officials on issues related to the Alaska seafood industry. In 2005, when Pat was diagnosed with ALS, the partnership built to lobby government on fish issues became a partnership working to live with ALS.
Through that partnership, Jenny became a committed advocate for the ALS cause. She started out with her local ALS Association chapter, raising more than $100,000 to benefit people with ALS in the Pacific Northwest area. Jenny's involvement later expanded to the national level. She and her family worked extensively behind the scenes in Washington, DC, to ensure passage of the ALS Registry, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2008.
At the same time, recognizing the need for innovative research funding and federal funding, Jenny became a vocal supporter of ALS.net. Locally, she helped establish the YFALS Seattle Corntoss event, which has raised nearly $150,000 for ALS drug development programs to date. On a national level, Jenny has made several trips to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on behalf of ALS.net. Jenny and ALS.net met with ranking members of both the U.S. House and Senate to bring attention to the need for increased federal support for ALS translational drug research. Jenny also serves as an advisory board member for Answer ALS, a research initiative started by Team Gleason.
