Economy & Business
RSSEconomy & Business in Alaska is the mix of government decisions, contracts, grants and private projects that shape the state's economy. It covers municipal budgets, infrastructure and airport planning, federal grants and contracts, employment trends, and energy development across Alaska.
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Saturday, Jun 27
A plane flipped at Knik-Goose Bay, but everyone walked away uninjured
A plane flipped onto its back during a hard landing at Knik-Goose Bay on June 24, but all occupants walked away uninjured.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Friday, Jun 26
Richardson Highway off-ramp to Mitchell Expressway closes Saturday
Alaska DOT closes the Richardson Highway off-ramp to Mitchell Expressway on Saturday for routine maintenance.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Mountain Village airport gets federally funded snow removal building
Alaska is replacing Mountain Village Airport's snow removal building with a 5 to 10 million dollar federally funded project to keep the runway clear through winter.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Alaska's gas-pipeline bill now carries a tax on Hilcorp and others
A permanent tax on pass-through oil companies like Hilcorp is riding inside Alaska's gas-pipeline bill — and it kicks in by 2028 whether the pipeline gets built or not.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago3 min read
State economist: even with tax breaks, the gas line barely works
Even with the Senate's tax breaks, Alaska's gas project still costs more to make than Asia pays for it — and one lawmaker put it bluntly: "It seems like they don't work."
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Alaska's gas-line tax bill stalls in committee
Lawmakers writing Alaska's gas-line tax deal voted down both versions of the bill — now they need special authority to build a compromise from the pieces.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A leaked plan to fire Alaska's gas-line developer surfaces in Juneau
A "stolen" state document laying out how Alaska could fire Glenfarne from its $44B gas line leaked — and the developer says it's now wondering whether Alaska can keep a secret.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago3 min read
A pass-through tax, not the pipeline, is the real fight in Juneau
A conference committee spent two days on Alaska's $44B gas line, and the sharpest fight was over a pass-through tax on Hilcorp that doesn't need the pipeline to exist.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago3 min read
More from Economy & Business
Kenai's quiet stake in the gas-line bill
Only Kenai Borough's school-funding bill changes under the gas-line tax legislation — but the state's own modeling says the increase might sunset before it ever lands.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo 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 AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak Assembly weighs new revenue and unlocks unused savings
Kodiak's assembly worked both ends of its budget: a possible tax on nonresidents who take most of its deer, and a discount account it had but never used.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago3 min read
The number that quietly sets the state budget: a barrel of oil
Alaska's budget is a bet on oil — and the state's own forecast is banking on crude leaping to $91 a barrel by summer, so "coming out ahead" rides on a guess, not a high price.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
The state wants this gravel pit to be permanent.
The state wants to make a Richardson Highway gravel pit permanent — and this 22-day comment window is the public's only formal say over how it's run, now and indefinitely.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A Florida company wants to expand a big offshore oil unit on the edge of ANWR
A Florida company wants to expand an offshore oil unit on the edge of ANWR — and the state tagged it "approved" before comments even opened. Weigh in by July 21.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min readFrom 
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.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Two new directors join the GVEA board that sets Interior power rates
Dave Messier and Philip Wight just won seats on GVEA's board — the member-owned body that sets Interior power rates. Their first day on the job? A fuel-supply vote.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
About Economy & Business
Economy and business in Alaska is the mix of government decisions, contracts, grants and private projects that shape the state's economy. It is the broad subject that holds narrower topics such as business, energy, oil and gas, mining, aviation and tourism.
Much of it runs through public bodies, with municipal assemblies approving contracts and planning decisions, state agencies leasing land and selling gravel and rock, and AIDEA lending to industry. Recurring questions concern infrastructure such as harbors, airports, roads and water and sewer lines, along with housing and zoning rules, energy supply, labor contracts, federal grants and military construction.
Its decisions reach every part of the state, from Anchorage and the Mat-Su to Kodiak, Cordova, Haines and the North Slope. Federal and military spending, resource development and Alaska Native corporation ventures all feed into the economy.
More from Economy & Business
Thursday, Jun 25
A 50-year airport lease, and the federal funding line behind it
A bush-plane lease at Anchorage's airport runs exactly 50 years — not 51 — because FAA rules say a longer one could cost the airport its federal funding.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Tom Begich goes after Dunleavy over vocational-training vetoes
Begich is hammering Dunleavy for vetoing job-training money while the state promises a pipeline built by Alaskans — a rare direct shot at the governor from the campaign trail.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Trump's farm package, and what it actually means for Alaska
Trump signed farm orders and pitched $11B in crop relief. For Alaska — which imports ~95% of its food and exports mostly peonies — the stake is small but real.
by Alaska News4mo ago3 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 AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Foreign-visitor park fee survives a House vote, with stakes for Alaska
A House panel kept a $100 surcharge on foreign park visitors — $400 for a family of four. Alaska's gateway towns, which live on summer tourists, are watching.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
What APA's ice-road permit signals for the eastern North Slope
A state notice for "ice construction and off-road travel" sounds dull — until you notice it's APA Corp staging a winter drilling run on the eastern North Slope.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A renewed federal fund to fix public lands could land hardest in Alaska
Alaska has more parkland than any state. A House panel advanced a renewed fund to chip at a $46B repair backlog — after a scrap over a foreign-tourist fee.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Storm-hit Alaska businesses have until July 22 to seek recovery loans
Small businesses and nonprofits in 13 storm-hit Western and Northern Alaska communities have until July 22 to apply for low-interest federal disaster recovery loans.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago2 min readFrom 
Guardrail repairs close a Glenn Highway lane toward Anchorage Thursday
Crews are fixing broken guardrail and fencing on the Glenn, so the right Anchorage-bound lane is closed till 4:30 PM Thursday. Boring, until you need that rail.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Wednesday, Jun 24
When the electric co-op sprays herbicide near your well, what are you owed?
MEA's spraying herbicide near Knik-Goose Bay. Alaska's strict notice rules cover only government land — so near your private well, what you're owed is mostly MEA's call.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
Dunleavy signs bill aligning Alaska classic car import rules with federal standard
Gov. Dunleavy signed a bill letting Alaskans title imported classic cars 25 years or older, matching federal rules and unblocking owners caught in an outdated gap.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
The EPA's No. 2 told Alaska's resource industry the door is open — for now
The EPA's deputy came to Anchorage to tell the resource industry the feds are clearing the way — and the message from the room was: hurry, before the politics flip.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Assembly approves True North deflection contract with APD
Anchorage Assembly approved a contract with True North Recovery to connect people arrested for low-level offenses to treatment instead of jail, funded by opioid settlement money.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A neighborhood drinking arsenic-tainted well water wants help paying to join the city system
A Sand Lake street says its shared wells are laced with arsenic and wants help connecting to city water — reviving the question of who pays for private wells.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Anchorage mayor introduces two property tax incentive proposals to spur housing
Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance introduced two property tax breaks Tuesday to spur housing development in the city.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Platting Board to weigh Canyon Road trail easement vacation
Anchorage Platting Board will decide July 1 whether to eliminate a Canyon Road walking path so a developer can build a house on a vacant lot near Flat Top trailhead.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 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 AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago3 min read
A housing bill aimed straight at rural Alaska just cleared the U.S. Senate
In rural Alaska the housing problem isn't the price — it's that the houses barely exist. A bipartisan bill aimed at exactly that just cleared the Senate 85-5.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Tuesday, Jun 23
A Corner of the Port of Anchorage Is Becoming a Park
Anchorage Platting Board splits 48-acre port parcel into industrial and parkland tracts on Government Hill. • Site sits in highest seismic-hazard zone, raising engineering concerns for waterfront. • State wants easement reserved for potential Knik Arm bridge to Mat-Su.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago2 min read
One Floodplain Study Stands Between Fairbanks and a Finished River Walk
Fairbanks is one riverside stretch from a downtown-to-University trail — but that last piece sits in the floodplain, so engineers have to prove it won't flood the neighbors first.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Pebble Mine's challenge to EPA reaches an Anchorage court Thursday.
Pebble vs. EPA hits Anchorage federal court Thursday. The salmon, the State of Alaska, and a major mineral deposit all want a say.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago3 min read
