Economic Development

State offers lease for what would be Alaska's first giant data center

Alaska offered STAK Energy a 50-year lease on North Slope land for a giant data center that would run on its own gas power plant, tied to no grid.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2d ago4 min read

Follows: STAK says ExxonMobil signed 15-year gas deal for proposed North Slope computing campus

State approves giving AIDEA 6,800 acres near Houston, a third of what it first proposed

The state approved giving AIDEA 6,800 acres near Houston free, a third of what it first proposed, and added a clause returning undeveloped land to the state.

by Alaska News2d ago3 min read

Juneau has slightly fewer jobs than in 2012 as state work shrinks and mining grows

Juneau has slightly fewer jobs than in 2012 as state government shrinks and mining grows. The icebreaker that might help needs somewhere for its crew to live.

by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago2 min read

AIDEA launches InvestNorth to finance Alaska data centers, but Alaskans can't invest yet

AIDEA launched InvestNorth Monday so Alaskans might someday own a piece of data centers it helps finance. There's no project, no price and no way to invest yet.

by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago3 min read

Serve Alaska seeks AmeriCorps planning grant applications by Dec. 1

Serve Alaska is taking AmeriCorps planning grant applications through 5 pm Dec. 1. Grants of $50,000 to $60,000 fund a 12 month design period for groups seeking 2027-28 AmeriCorps program money.

by Melinda Communities.News1w ago1 min read

AIDEA board weighs Wrangell shipyard loans and a stake in Augustine geothermal

AIDEA's board weighs lending Wrangell up to $22.8M for a shipyard and buying up to $10M of a company chasing geothermal power on Augustine volcano.

by Melinda Communities.News1w ago3 min read

Cook Inlet Tribal Council seeks a bigger K'teya center for the same $36.5 million

Cook Inlet Tribal Council restarted its builder search for the K'teya center with a bigger building, the same $36.5 million and more for that money to cover.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Kodiak wins $26 million for St. Herman Harbor but is still $45 million short

Kodiak won about $26 million to rebuild part of St. Herman Harbor, where 1982 floats are failing. It's still about $45 million short of a new harbor.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

State proposes a 25-year tidelands lease for Goldbelt's Douglas Island cruise port

The state wants to lease Goldbelt 152 acres of tidelands for its west Douglas cruise port, for 25 years, not the 55 it asked for. Crabbers may feel it.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Proposal deadlines have passed on two Air Force plans to lease Eielson land

Bids were due this summer on Air Force plans to lease Eielson land for AI data centers and for housing. Fairbanks' mayor flagged it in July. No winner yet.

by Melinda Communities.News2w ago2 min read

Chugach, the Alaska Chamber's business of the year, has bought five Alaska firms since 2024

Chugach, which bought Cordova's Copper River Fleece this summer, won the Alaska Chamber's big-business award. It has bought five Alaska firms since 2024.

by Melinda Communities.News3w ago2 min read

Valdez budget would add $205,000 for events, a hatchery group and workforce contracts

Valdez wants 29% more for economic development, still less than it spent in each of the past three years. Gold Rush Days and the hatchery group get a bump.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Fairbanks job fair Oct. 29 brings 27 employers, from Doyon and the FAA to Panda Express

Fairbanks job seekers can meet 27 employers in one room Oct. 29, from Doyon and the FAA to Panda Express and Jiffy Lube. Bring a résumé, and a firm handshake.

by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read

Alaska small businesses can apply for up to $10,000 to break into foreign markets

Alaska small businesses trying to sell overseas can get up to $10,000 back for trade shows, sales trips abroad and translated websites. Washington's paying.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read

Ketchikan lost jobs in 2025 as Southeast Alaska set employment and wage records, report says

Southeast Alaska hit record jobs and wages in 2025. Ketchikan went the other way, losing 23 jobs even as its wages rose 5%, a new regional report says.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 29

State proposes giving 5,805 acres to energy authority for Bradley Lake hydro expansion

DNR's 5,805 acres for the Alaska Energy Authority near Homer are for Bradley Lake hydro, where AEA says a glacier diversion could boost power 40%.

by Alaska News1mo ago1 min readFrom Oct 2

State offers trainings as Alaska towns apply for the first block grants that can build housing

Alaska is holding two virtual trainings this month for municipalities applying for Community Development Block Grants, with about $2.5 million available statewide and applications due December 4.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Final federal rule requires most Alaska DBE firms to prove disadvantage individually

Most Alaska contractors certified as disadvantaged businesses must now prove it one by one under a final federal rule ending race and sex presumptions.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Calista Education and Culture gets $900,000 to pay 16 young adults for village-based internships

Calista Education and Culture will pay 16 young adults from the Middle Kuskokwim and Lower Yukon for village-based internships with a $900,000 federal grant.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 Green1mo 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.News1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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.News1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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.News3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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.News3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 3mo ago2 min read

Eight welders certify in Nome as a $400 million port job looms

Eight Bering Strait adults certified in welding in Nome just as a $399 million port expansion gears up to need exactly that skill. And nobody had to leave the region to train.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 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.News3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read