Economic Development
RSSBusiness attraction, tourism marketing, workforce training, commercial investment
Kuskokwim Corporation hosts first Evening with an Elder on Zoom Oct. 1
The Kuskokwim Corporation hosts its first Evening with an Elder on Zoom Oct. 1, with Jennie Zaukar and Ann Fienup-Riordan, as it marks 50 years.
by Maggie AlaskaNews5h ago1 min read
Ketchikan Indian Community gets $900,000 to revive its fleet for subsistence trips, training and charters
Ketchikan Indian Community is putting 23 boats back to work with a $900,000 federal grant: elder-led subsistence trips, youth training and halibut charters.
by Maggie AlaskaNews7h ago2 min read
A year after Typhoon Halong, western Alaskans can still get job, training and winterization help
People still recovering from Typhoon Halong can get job training, winterization help and FEMA-paid flights. Disaster unemployment benefits have closed.
by Walter AlaskaNews19h ago2 min read
Global refinery disruptions widened fuel margins in 2026, and rural Alaska's barge fuel cost more
Galena's utility paid 29% more per gallon for this year's barge fuel, and St. Paul paid about $7.55. Summer's dip in oil prices came after the fuel was bought.
by Cale Green4d ago4 min read
Hemp plant proposal asks Houston council for land and permitting help
A foundation wants a hemp processing plant near Houston to serve Alaska fiber growers. The state's hemp registry currently lists only retailers.
by Melinda Communities.News5d ago2 min read
Mat-Su asks AIDEA to build at Point MacKenzie, not on 20,000 acres near Houston
The state proposed giving AIDEA 885 acres at Port MacKenzie for free, one day after the borough voted to send AIDEA there instead of Houston.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago4 min read
Alaska is taking bids to make its own Made in Alaska merchandise
Alaska is taking bids to make its own Made in Alaska merchandise. The cap is $15,000, and the permit is only required by the time bids close.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago1 min read
A Wasilla workshop will walk job seekers through federal applications
State staff will help job seekers with federal applications Thursday in Wasilla — as Alaska's federal job market shrinks and resumes get capped at two pages.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Comment closes Monday on giving 20,000 Houston-area acres to AIDEA
Alaskans have until 5 p.m. Monday to comment on giving 20,000 acres north of Houston to a state agency for free — and only those who comment can appeal.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
State proposes 55-year Adak Airport lease, competing bids due Oct. 8
Alaska wants to lease airport land at Adak, a remote island now drawing military and space interest, for 55 years — one of the longest terms it allows.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska would give 20,000 acres near Houston to a state authority for free
Alaska proposes giving nearly 20,000 acres near Houston to a state development authority at no cost, and waiving its right to reclaim the land.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Anchorage officials pitch Assembly on Block 102-Tozier land swap for housing
Anchorage officials pitched a land swap to the Assembly Friday that could enable housing on two sites, but the vote covers only the exchange itself, not zoning or development deals.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Alaska trains construction workers, then struggles to keep them
Just 19% of Alaska's ironworkers and 44% of electricians are still in the trade five years on, a study found — a retention gap atop a worker shortage.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
UAA trains rural school workers to become teachers without leaving home
A UAA apprenticeship lets rural school workers become licensed teachers without leaving home, one answer to out-migration, though results aren't yet shown.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read
Kodiak fish waste hauler is only applicant for former cannery site
A fish waste hauler is the only applicant for Kodiak's deteriorating former cannery site, and the city council must decide whether to sell.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Sitka's old pulp mill site keeps filling up — another lot goes out for development
Sitka is seeking a developer for another lot at its former pulp mill site — long mostly empty after the mill's 1993 closure, and now steadily filling up.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Federal money, not oil, drove half of Alaska's growth — and now it's shrinking
Turns out the oil state runs on Washington's checkbook: federal money, not crude, drove half of Alaska's growth — and it's now shrinking.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
NSF backs UAF-led critical minerals coalition with $15 million
Alaska holds 56 of the 60 minerals Washington calls essential. NSF is putting $15 million behind a UAF-led coalition to figure out how to get them.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
Mike Rowe helps mark a $250,000 gift to Seward's trade school
Mike Rowe showed up in Homer to help hand Seward's trade school a $250,000 Wells Fargo gift for scholarships and instructors.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Cordova's co-op wants a data center to soak up unsold hydropower
Cordova has more hydropower than buyers, and a weak fish season is pushing rates up. The co-op's fix: a data center in a warehouse storage bay.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
Utqiaġvik gets a new credit union branch, the northernmost in the world
Global Credit Union opened the world's northernmost branch in Utqiaġvik on July 9, offering home and vehicle loans to residents who previously had limited in-person banking options.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks rally targets data centers as Air Force pursues Eielson lease
Air Force is exploring AI data center leases at Eielson while a community group rallies Saturday against 15 proposed statewide data centers over power grid and revenue concerns.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Alaska won up to $160M to hunt critical minerals with AI and microbes
UAF will lead a new NSF innovation engine — up to $160M over 10 years — using AI and microbes to find Alaska's critical minerals. SCIENCE!!
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A salmon hatchery wants to grow at Sitka's old pulp mill site
Sitka may lease a second lot at its old pulp mill site to the nonprofit behind much of Southeast's salmon hatchery production — room for the fish supply to grow.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kenai council grants Tidewater LLC 10-year first right of refusal on Denina Point Estate
Kenai City Council unanimously gave developer Tidewater LLC a 10-year first right to buy the city-owned Dena'ina Point Estates parcel and committed $54,219 toward subdivision costs.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Juneau's Áak'w Landing project shrinks to a third its size
Huna Totem cut its Áak'w Landing development to a third its planned size after costs jumped from $150M to $250M+ — though all the promised public features stay.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Juneau invites Goldbelt to partner on Eaglecrest with two firm conditions
Juneau invited Goldbelt to invest in Eaglecrest Ski Area if it keeps city ownership and the deal stays separate from Goldbelt's West Douglas cruise dock proposal.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska's investment arm hands its director more power over public money
AIDEA gave its director a standing $4.5M fund and the power to pick which projects get vetted with public money — faster, but with less board and public visibility.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Juneau sets two conditions for any Eaglecrest deal with Goldbelt
Juneau told Goldbelt it will keep owning Eaglecrest Ski Area and won't tie any deal to the corporation's separate cruise dock proposal.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A developer wants to build homes and shops on a city lot in Kodiak — if the city sells
A developer wants to build six apartments and six shops on a vacant Kodiak city lot — a $1.6M project. First the council has to decide whether to sell the land.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska's best shot at a new federal fertilizer grant is an idle Nikiski plant — if it can get the gas
A new $500M federal program funds fertilizer plants. Alaska's one real candidate — the idled Nikiski plant — is stuck on Cook Inlet's gas shortage, not on money.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Federal money built Alaska's recent growth — now it's receding fastest here
Federal dollars drove about half of Alaska's economic growth since 2015. Now the federal workforce is shrinking faster here than almost anywhere — and rural Alaska feels it most.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Why Alaska is giving out-of-staters more kings as the runs falter
Alaska just doubled out-of-staters' king limit in Southeast even as kings struggle elsewhere — because these are treaty-quota ocean fish, and visitors foot much of the state's fishing-budget bill.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska Is Selling Off Pieces of Itself — to Alaskans First
Alaska is auctioning 152 pieces of itself — residents only, no warranties, sometimes no road, and the state reserves the right to give your remote dream lot some neighbors.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Assembly weighs $254K economic development grant to AEDC
The Anchorage Assembly will vote on a $254,000 grant to the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation to fund economic development work through 2026, including a federal economic strategy.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
AHFC board to set affordable housing award criteria June 24
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation's board votes June 24 on the rating system that determines which affordable housing projects get state funding, a decision that shifts which communities and project types win tax credits and grants.
by Alaska Newsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Labor department hosts Fairbanks skills event Wednesday
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development hosts a skills and employment event Wednesday, June 3, in Fairbanks through its Job Center Network.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alyeschem breaks ground on North Slope methanol plant
Alyeschem broke ground May 15 on Alaska's first Arctic petrochemical plant at Prudhoe Bay, converting natural gas into methanol with AIDEA's $70 million financing and operations expected by late 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
