Economy & Business
RSSAlaska News covers state economic issues including cannabis banking, state dividends, and business development opportunities.
An Ahtna-owned company will demolish buildings at a West Virginia park
An Anchorage company owned by the Ahtna regional corporation will demolish abandoned buildings at New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago1 min readAI
Anchorage wants city land sales weighed by housing, not price alone
Anchorage land sales now come with a written case for the housing they produce. The guidance is nonbinding, but it changes what the Assembly weighs.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago1 min readAI
A state windfall would restore shelter capacity Anchorage cut this year
Anchorage cut $1 million in shelter surge capacity when alcohol-tax revenue fell short. An unexpected state payment would let the city restore it.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago1 min readAI
Wasilla's legislative ask leads with $10 million aviation training center at city airport
Wasilla asks state and federal lawmakers for $10 million to build an aviation training center at the city airport, leading a capital priorities list the Planning Commission reviews Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min readAI
A plan to let Alaskans invest in the gas pipeline has stalled
A plan to let ordinary Alaskans buy a stake in the state's gas pipeline has stalled for want of $2.5 million, even as the pipeline itself keeps moving ahead.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago3 min readAI
Anchorage clears a substation plat on quake-prone Port ground
Anchorage approved a plat for a new Chugach Electric substation at the Port on ground its own maps rate as highly likely to fail in an earthquake.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
The pipeline right-of-way comment window got another week
The public has until Sept. 17 to comment on whether the trans-Alaska pipeline keeps its federal right-of-way for 30 more years, after the Bureau of Land Management extended the deadline by a week.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago1 min readAI
Hilcorp wants a North Slope gravel mine with no wetland payback
Hilcorp wants to mine gravel across about 95 acres of North Slope tundra near Deadhorse with no wetland compensation, arguing Arctic wetlands can't be replaced.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
Antimony plant equipment lands at Port MacKenzie before its air permit clears
Nearly 500 tons of gear has landed at Port MacKenzie for a plant to produce antimony, a defense mineral the U.S. lacks — but its air permit isn't approved.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min readAI
An Anchorage company will run the ATF's supply operation
An Anchorage company won $5.3 million to run the ATF's supply operation. Its federal small-business certification expires six weeks into the contract.
by Alaska News1w ago1 min readAI
A Cordova tribe's company will rebuild the Labor Department Great Hall
A tribe based in Cordova, a town you can reach only by boat or plane, will rebuild the Great Hall at the U.S. Department of Labor headquarters.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago2 min readAI
BLM rule would let NPR-A operators waive subsistence conditions without public notice
A new BLM rule lets oil and gas operators in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve waive mitigation conditions, including four protections for subsistence hunting, without public notice.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min readAI
Tunneling into an old Alaska gold mine turned up veins nobody had mapped
Crews tunneling into a historic gold mine north of Anchorage hit two veins that were not on the company's map. One sample ran 12 ounces to the tonne.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min readAI
Sitka's search for housing land narrows to two small parcels
Sitka's search for city land to build housing on has narrowed to two small parcels — the sites with the most room to build are the hardest to develop.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago3 min readAI
Chugach Solutions gets $43,689 in FBI building maintenance orders
Chugach Solutions picked up $43,689 in no-bid orders to install fall protection and replace a generator breaker at the FBI's Washington office.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min readAI
Kodiak's hospital runs on power switches nobody makes parts for anymore
The power switches at Kodiak's hospital are 27 years old and out of production. Crews scavenge parts from other sites. The borough is now replacing them.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
The White House wanted the Denali Commission closed, and it grew instead
The White House proposed closing the Denali Commission. Congress funded it, and the agency ended up administering money many times its own budget.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min readAI
Ketchikan has five years to start disinfecting the sewage it discharges
Ketchikan's sewage plant does not disinfect what it discharges. EPA gave it five years to change that, and voters approved $15 million to do it.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Juneau code allows six hens. A Silver Street family is asking for 230 animals.
Juneau allows six backyard hens. A homeowner is asking for up to 200 chickens and 30 other farm animals, and neighbors are pushing back on the scale.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Kodiak hospital chiller running at a third of capacity; borough moves to accept $3.85 million to replace it
Kodiak Island Borough Assembly votes Thursday to accept $3.85 million in state funding to replace a failing hospital chiller that is limiting emergency and surgical care on the island.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
Kadiak takes a $4.45 million State Department IT contract
An Anchorage company owned by Koniag will run IT support for the State Department bureaus covering the Middle East and South Asia.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min readAI
Federal grant will test a Yup'ik healing framework against homelessness
Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness won $450,000 to serve Alaska Native households facing homelessness through case management and traditional Yup'ik healing practices through August 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Hilcorp says the North Slope is running short of gravel and wants a new mine
Hilcorp is seeking state approval for a 64-acre gravel mine seven miles northwest of Deadhorse, with public comment due Sept. 28, as the company's existing North Slope gravel sources run low.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min readAI
A housing-zoning fix has stalled for months before Anchorage's appeals board
A housing-zoning fix has stalled before Anchorage's appeals board since spring — set aside twice — even as the administration pushes housing as a priority.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago3 min readAI
ConocoPhillips drilled in the NPR-A this winter and has not said what it found
ConocoPhillips drilled multiple wells in the NPR-A this winter and added $104 million to costs it has not resolved. It has not said what it found.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min readAI
USDA's Rural Housing Service awards $1.35 million cybersecurity contract to Anchorage's Koniag IT Systems
Kodiak's regional corporation has built a federal contracting arm holding well over $150 million in work, from immigration records to Pentagon cybersecurity.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min readAI
Ekwok's airport would host FAA weather and navigation equipment for 20 years, with comments due Sept. 11
Ekwok's airport would host FAA weather and navigation equipment for 20 years at no cost to the state, with public comments due Sept. 11.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
An Anchorage company keeps the heat and power on at NIH's Bethesda campus
An Anchorage company runs the heating, cooling and power plant at NIH's Bethesda campus. It just won $5.9 million to upgrade the ventilation.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min readAI
An Alaska village-owned firm services a Queens federal building
A company owned by four small interior Alaska villages is keeping the AC running at a Queens federal building that mails Social Security checks to millions.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min readAI
Scott Robb won the state fair cabbage title with 122.7 pounds
Palmer grower Scott Robb won the Alaska State Fair's giant cabbage weigh-off on Sept. 4 with a 122.7-pound entry, but the fair's official records page does not list that weight.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
Juneau grants pay up to $13,500 to add a second unit, and a contractor list is coming
Juneau is offering homeowners up to $13,500 grants to build accessory dwelling units, with 16 awards available annually.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
Homer economic commission to finalize short-term rental recommendation to City Council
Homer's Economic Development Advisory Commission finalizes a short-term rental recommendation to City Council on Tuesday after a five-month review.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min readAI
NIH gives Anchorage's Olgoonik $5.1 million in three uncompeted contracts
NIH awarded Olgoonik General $5.1 million this month for maintenance at its Bethesda campus under a no-bid program for Alaska Native firms.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Coast Guard awards Anchorage firm $1.7 million amid 8(a) freeze
Anchorage-based Old Harbor Solutions, an Alaska Native Corporation-owned firm, won two Coast Guard contracts worth $1.71 million for administrative and logistics support through 2027.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago1 min readAI
Juneau bought two fire trucks. Passengers will pay for them until 2035.
Juneau's airport wants to charge passengers through 2035, with 40 percent of the money going to two fire trucks it has already bought.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Hertz leaves Juneau airport Sept. 30, and three rental counters stay
Hertz ends car rentals at Juneau airport Sept. 30, freeing terminal space the airport will seek to fill through a competitive bid process.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
Bids open for flights to seven roadless Alaska communities
The federal government is taking bids for subsidized air service to seven Alaska communities, with deadlines ranging from October through early 2027, as the per-passenger subsidy cap drops to $850.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Juneau is weighing its first cap on whale watch operators
Juneau has never capped its whale watch fleet. The task force weighing whether to start is the same one weighing cruise ship passenger limits.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Federal orders reach Alaska's beef labeling and processing gaps
Alaska has 19,000 cattle, and just 772 went through federally inspected plants here last year. Two executive orders take up labeling and processing.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago3 min readAI
Sitka's Assembly takes up how to pay for child care
Sitka's Assembly takes up a possible child care funding source Tuesday. A survey found most parents struggle to find care and employers are feeling it too.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
