Business
RSSBusiness in Alaska covers the companies, employers and industries operating across the state. It takes in federal contracting by Alaska Native corporation subsidiaries, hiring and job fairs, employment data, and regulation of sectors such as cannabis and healthcare.
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August 2026
Anchorage firm gets $77,900 more work at the Phoenix building it maintains
Anchorage firm Tunista Logistics Solutions won two federal repair contracts worth about $77,900 for a Phoenix building, part of a pattern of Alaska companies winning GSA work outside the state.

Koniag subsidiary lands State Department writer work, up to $1.6 million
Koniag Professional Services won a State Department contract worth up to $1.6 million to staff a writer and editor position, though the job is based in Virginia, not Alaska.

Ouzinkie village corporation wins courthouse contracts in Florida
A village corporation from a 110-person Alutiiq island is fixing courthouse restrooms in Florida. One of the five awards bought only a new contract number.

An Anchorage firm will repair the State Department's headquarters
An Anchorage Alaska Native-owned firm won a federal order for emergency repairs to the State Department's headquarters — one of three out-of-state jobs.

A Fairbanks company owned by four Interior villages won a federal contract to replace a heat pump — in Boston
A Fairbanks firm owned by four remote Koyukuk River villages won a $30,780 federal contract to replace a heat pump, and the heat pump is in Boston.

A village corporation for four remote Interior communities just won the contract to run San Diego's border crossings
A company owned by four remote Koyukon Athabascan villages on the Koyukuk River just won nearly $10 million to run San Diego's U.S.-Mexico border crossings.

An Anchorage cannabis grower's license renewal turns on a $12,760 tax bill
Anchorage Assembly protested a marijuana grower's state license renewal over $12,760 in unpaid taxes and an incomplete inspection, but can lift the protest once the company settles the debt.

Starplex recruits Alaska State Fair seasonal staff Aug. 18 in Wasilla
Starplex is hiring seasonal staff for the Alaska State Fair at a job fair in Wasilla on Tuesday, Aug. 18, with flaggers earning $25 an hour, parking staff $16, and event staff $15.

More from Business
AEDC report: Anchorage strained, the military its bright spot
A new AEDC report says Anchorage is getting squeezed: shrinking job share, high costs, low confidence. The military's the bright spot, but housing's the catch.

Juneau's casino opened on shifting ground and now faces suits on two fronts
Juneau's tribal casino opened through a federal opening since rescinded, and now faces the state, a family lawsuit and doubt about whether it's even legal.

July 2026
A small Petersburg timber sale is a marker of the Tongass's long turn away from old growth
A young-growth-only timber sale near Petersburg is a small marker of the Tongass's contested, decades-long turn from old-growth clearcuts to second-growth logging. Bids due Aug. 25.

Wasilla hiring event features employer with no listed openings
A nonprofit is recruiting at the Mat-Su Job Center on Wednesday. Its own careers page says every position is currently filled. Bring a resume anyway.

New Canada tariffs land Aug. 19 with a narrow Alaska bite
New 50% tariffs on select Canadian goods start Aug. 19. Alaska's exposure: cement and hockey gear, not fuel and fish — but check your subheadings.

Alaska is auctioning 18 Fairbanks-area timber sales
Alaska is auctioning 18 timber sales near Fairbanks next month — more than double last fall's round — and the cash-up-front rules favor established outfits.

Alaska makers can claim a free booth at November's holiday market
Alaska makers can grab a free booth at Anchorage's holiday market in November. Applications close Sept. 18, and spots go first-come.

Homer reverses Copper River Seafoods building plan, keeps December deadline
Homer City Council voted to scrap redesigned plans for a Copper River Seafoods facility and revert to the original 2019 building design, keeping the December construction deadline in place.

Coming up
Alaska Black Business Holiday Expo
Alaska Native Heritage Center, 8800 Heritage Center Drive, Anchorage, AK 99504
Community event
Marijuana Control Board Meeting
Meeting
Pink Friday at Wild Starr
Community event
Made in Alaska Holiday Market
Community event
Women in Business: A Speaker Series – December Event
Class
About Business
Business in Alaska takes in the companies, employers and industries operating across the state, from banks and retailers to contractors and professional firms. It includes hiring, wages, business licensing and the economic reports that measure Alaska's job market.
Subsidiaries of Alaska Native regional and village corporations hold many federal contracts, staffing federal offices and maintaining federal buildings in other states. Other recurring questions include bank branch closures and acquisitions, state job fairs and hiring events, and local licensing of marijuana businesses.
Business connects to the economic development, small business, labor and tourism topics, and to industries such as oil and gas, mining and aviation. Economic reports such as those from AEDC assess Anchorage's jobs, costs and business confidence.
More from Business
Anchorage Assembly set to approve transfer of three marijuana licenses to sole ownership at one address
Anchorage Assembly votes Monday to transfer three marijuana licenses at one address to sole owner Yotam Levi, meeting a July 28 state protest deadline.

Federal and state cuts erase Alaska private-sector job gains in June
Federal and state government cuts eliminated 1,900 jobs in June, nearly wiping out 1,000 private-sector gains and leaving Alaska with fewer jobs than a year ago.

Anchorage operator seeks renewal of four marijuana licenses across two sites
Anchorage operator Eun Lee seeks renewal of four marijuana licenses at two sites; the city's protest window closes July 25 and 26.

BLM's Campbell Tract replanting job is open only to women-owned firms
Want to grow 1,710 plants to heal a retired Campbell Tract trail? You'll need a women-owned firm — it's a federal set-aside. Quotes due July 24.

On Alaska's federal job sites, the highest-paid worker is a diver
New federal wage rules for Alaska construction show the pay hierarchy — underwater divers top it at $92.83/hour, earning more the deeper they go. Electricians make about $55.

Rural Alaska contract workers lost a federal wage floor; the state stepped in
Rural Alaska's federal contract workers lost their $17.75 floor last year. What's saving their paychecks now? Alaska's own $14 minimum wage.

Tomodachi Daiko's Power of Drums concert lists $32 tickets despite early-bird label
Tomodachi Daiko's Power of Drums concert on Aug. 1 in Anchorage lists $32 tickets as an early-bird price that expired June 15, but at least one buyer paid that same price after the deadline.

Surgery Center of Wasilla discloses $2.65M in completed equity raises
Surgery Center of Wasilla raised $2.65 million in private equity through two closed offerings, joining a wave of corporate investment in Alaska's outpatient surgery centers.

June 2026
Murkowski backs bill to open banking to Alaska cannabis businesses
Alaska's weed shops are legal, licensed, taxed — and still can't get a bank account, running on cash since 2014. Murkowski wants to end the duffel-bag era.

A Wasilla surgery center just raised $2.65M in private equity. Here is what that pattern means for Mat-Su healthcare.
Surgery Center of Wasilla raised $2.65 million from five investors across two private equity rounds in 2026, according to SEC filings, but did not disclose how it plans to use the money.

A Spenard Pot Shop Changes Hands as Anchorage's Market Cools
A Spenard dispensary is rebranding under new owners — a small sign of a bigger shift, as Anchorage's pot tax take slips and the early gold-rush crowd thins out.

Anchorage Assembly unanimously passes veteran-owned business preference ordinance
Anchorage Assembly unanimously passed a veteran-owned business preference for city contracts, letting qualifying vets match the lowest bid rather than automatically winning at higher cost.

iHeart local cuts reach KGOT and KENI in Anchorage radio shakeup
iHeartMedia cut longtime Anchorage radio hosts Casey Bieber and Amy Demboski as the company shifts from local programming to national content, narrowing Alaska's local media landscape.

Two Things Worth Watching at the Marijuana Board
Alaska's marijuana board meets in Fairbanks, where a license sale comes with baggage and growers renew their gripe that untaxed hemp THC is eating their lunch.

Alaska's legal cannabis growers say tax-free synthetic THC is sinking them
Alaska's legal weed growers pay the nation's highest pot tax, then get undercut by tax-free THC from the mailbox. They'd like a word.

UIC just crossed $1 billion in revenue — a milestone almost no village corp reaches
UIC just crossed $1 billion in revenue. Almost no Alaska Native village corporation gets there.

Anchorage Press plans return, with Northern Journal folding into revived paper
Nathaniel Herz and Veri di Suvero are reviving the Anchorage Press, an alternative weekly that closed years ago, by folding Northern Journal into it and launching a print edition this fall with arts, culture and Alaska politics coverage.

Anchorage advances 5% bid preference for veteran-owned firms
Anchorage Assembly advanced an ordinance giving veteran-owned businesses a five percent preference on city contracts capped at $50,000, affecting a city where veterans make up 13 percent of the adult population.

Peltola proposes corporate tax tied to worker pay in Senate race
New Peltola plan: companies with rich CEOs and broke workers pay more. Odds of passing: low. Odds of becoming a debate line: certain.

Anchorage Assembly weighs veteran contracting preferences
Anchorage Assembly is deciding between two veteran contracting preference proposals that differ on preference size, eligibility windows, and whether preferences apply to qualifications-based bids or price-based bids only.

SBA freeze threatens Alaska Native corporations' $9B federal footprint
An SBA freeze on new subsidiary applications threatens Alaska Native corporations' $9 billion annual federal contracting footprint, which supports 50,000 jobs worldwide and returns $300 to $350 million yearly to Alaska Native shareholders.

Trump administration stalls 8(a) applications for Alaska Native corporations
Trump administration stalls new 8(a) applications for Alaska Native corporations amid fraud review. • 2024 lawsuit challenges whether special contracting treatment for Alaska Native firms is constitutional. • Program generated 13.5 billion dollars in revenue in 2022 and employs roughly 50,000 people worldwide.

Bartlett Regional Hospital posts 39 job openings in one week
Bartlett Regional Hospital posted 40 job openings in one week, about half of all Juneau-area listings, spanning nurses, doctors, support staff, and administrative roles as the hospital works to fill vacancies and expand housing for employees.

Alaskans' debt falls to lowest level in a decade
Alaska adults carried an average of $68,900 in household debt in 2024, down roughly $1,900 from 2023 and the lowest level in a decade, though Alaskans still owe about $7,300 more per person than the national average.
