More than 5.6 million passengers traveled in and out of the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) in 2018. The airport also saw 2.79 million tonnes of air cargo during 2018. Almost 85,000 additional passengers, a 3.1 percent increase compared to the previous year, passed through the gateway of Alaska. Most of the increase can be attributed to a robust tourism industry. Last year airlines boosted their flight frequency, used larger aircraft, or both, to accommodate the increased demand.
Anchorage, the world’s fifth busiest air cargo airport, also saw solid growth in its air cargo numbers. Air cargo grew by 2.52 percent to 2.79 million tonnes. dot.state.ak.us/anc
Enterprising Women magazine named Anchorage business owner Kristen Fowler Lindsey a winner of its 2019 Enterprising Women of the Year Awards. Lindsey is an industry veteran with nearly twenty-five years of technology marketing experience and is president and owner of Thrively Digital. Lindsey is the only honoree from Alaska, with other award recipients including women from the United States, Canada, India, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Turkey, Germany, and Switzerland. thrivelydigital.com
According to the 16th annual construction forecast prepared by Scott Goldsmith for the Associated General Contractors of Alaska, construction spending in Alaska this year will be around $7.2 billion, up 10 percent from last year. Excluding an estimated $200 million in spending attributable to the 2018 earthquake, spending will be $7 billion, up 8 percent from last year. The spike in spending is primarily due to an increase in petroleum spending which will grow 13 percent to $2.7 billion and national defense spending which will also grow 13 percent to $700 million. Although most other sectors will also see increases, their growth will be modest, partially due to the continuing recession and uncertainty surrounding the resolution of the state revenue shortfall. iseralaska.org/publications/?id=1738
Trilogy Metals announced a new regional exploration budget of $2 million, which is in addition to the previously announced 2019 programs and budgets of $16.2 million, increasing the exploration budget at the company’s Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects located in the Ambler Mining District of Northwest Alaska for 2019 to $18.2 million. trilogymetals.com
During their regular meeting in January 2019 in Juneau, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority board of trustees directed $650,000 in funds for two Anchorage housing projects. Trustees approved $150,000 for RurAL CAP’s Sitka Place and $500,000 for the United Way of Anchorage’s Anchored Home Pay for Success project.
With its Sitka Place project, RurAL CAP is planning to remodel its existing property into fifty-one efficiency units that can house more than one person, expanding capacity and accommodating couples. United Way of Anchorage’s Pay for Success project intends to significantly expand permanent supportive housing in Anchorage by adding up to 270 additional units. Trust funds are supporting United Way of Anchorage in the “startup” phase of the project and will help with supportive services for the first sixty program participants to support long-term tenancy and connections to other beneficial social services. alaskamentalhealthtrust.org
The 2018 Path to Prosperity winners are Mud Bay Lumber Company, a family-based, small-scale sawmill in Haines, and Juneau Composts, a composting service available in Juneau that serves households and businesses of all kinds. Each will receive $25,000 for consulting and technical assistance.
The Path to Prosperity program is facilitated by Spruce Root and is made possible through a partnership with The Nature Conservancy and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership. The application period for the 2019 Path to Prosperity competition is April 1, 2019, through May 31, 2019. spruceroot.org/path-to-prosperity/
The Anchorage Fire Department formally placed in service its new Heavy Rescue truck. The new rescue truck is housed at Fire Station 4, located at 4350 MacInnes Street.
Heavy Rescue 4 replaced a fifteen year old smaller truck that reached the end of its service life. In 2016 voters approved a bond that allowed the department to custom build the truck to meet its needs serving the community. This Heavy Rescue is designed to support rescue operations within the Municipality of Anchorage stretching from Knik Bridge north to Portage Valley south of town. muni.org/departments/fire
The Alaska Department of Natural Resource’s Division of Forestry and the US Forest Service have partnered to award a second timber sale in Southeast Alaska under a Good Neighbor Authority agreement. The $2.1 million Vallenar Bay Timber Sale contract with ALCAN Timber Incorporated of Ketchikan was signed in February.
The sale covers approximately 481 acres on state and federal land on the north end of Gravina Island, approximately five miles west of Ketchikan. The sale includes a mix of old- and young-growth Sitka spruce, western hemlock, red alder, western red cedar, and Alaska yellow cedar. The total volume of the sale is approximately 16 million board feet. Customers are in the West Coast, Asia, Canada, and Southeast Alaska, depending on market conditions. dnr.alaska.gov 