MacNeil says that as soon as PNC identified its first opportunity to work with a Native corporation, “We actually wrote a white paper about how they operate, what their purpose is, and how they give back to their shareholders… We had to educate our credit team on why these were really strong, diversified companies that are great for us to support from a credit standpoint.”

Beyond credit, PNC has a government contract team based in Washington, DC, that MacNeil sees as a particular asset for Alaska Native corporations that contract with government agencies.

What PNC doesn’t have, at present, is a permanent location in Alaska, and MacNeil is frank that it likely will not have a brick-and-mortar location in the state any time soon. PNC, she explained at the economic briefing, has found success in different markets through both organic growth and acquisitions, but the organic growth generally starts with corporate banking, which is PNC’s current approach in Alaska.

Wall says that cosponsoring the economic briefing emphasizes RSM’s commitment to Alaska. “RSM prioritizes being present in Alaska and building personal relationships with Alaska’s local business leaders,” he says. “Our personalized approach means we understand the needs of the Alaska business community and the industries that are driving growth for the state, particularly with Alaska Native corporations, including government contracting, construction, seafood, and energy.”

One of RSM’s special offerings is its Industry Eminence Program, which was created and is led by the company’s Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas and Deputy Chief Economist Kevin Depew. “The program positions senior analysts to understand, forecast, and communicate economic, business, and technology trends that are shaping the industries RSM serves,” Wall says.

MacNeil says that, even without a physical branch in Alaska, PNC representatives travel to the 49th state regularly to meet with clients and strengthen ties to the community; the economic briefing, which may become an annual event, is part of that. This year the bank was excited to share its new message that it is “brilliantly boring.” According to MacNeil, “It’s really to say that you can trust us to be dependable and not doing crazy things with your money, so that you can… count on us to help you, individually and your business, grow so that you can be brilliant.”

Beyond networking and building community ties, PNC and RSM are investing in providing timely and relevant information to Alaska businesses. Tim Clark, senior investment advisor for PNC, presented the economic forecast, and he spent some time explaining the factors that will likely influence inflation for the rest of the year.

One, he said, is that goods inflation, which was stimulated by the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues, has already come down, but inflation related to services is “still staying relatively strong and sticky… whereas food, energy, and goods inflation is in the negative.”

The availability of housing, he said, is still an issue nationwide. Mortgage rates are “extremely high right now, but it’s not dampening the fact that shelter is still a concern.” Clark mentioned that approximately 40 percent of homeowners have a current mortgage rate of less than 4 percent, and high mortgage rates will lead many of them to avoid selling their home. He referenced the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation’s annual economic forecast, where Mayor Suzanne LaFrance expressed the city’s goal to add 10,000 homes over the next ten years. “That’s great; I mean, that has to happen all across America,” Clark said. “There needs to be huge initiatives to build single-family homes; there’s just not enough homes to go around.”

Another contributor to inflation is that wealth for many Americans actually grew over the last fifteen years. “If you look at the net worth and growth that we’ve seen here in household net worth, especially middle class and above, it’s been tremendous,” Clark said. “Your house has doubled, your 401(k) has doubled, the stock market’s doing great, if you owned Nvidia, life is wonderful. But again, this also drives politics; if you’re below middle class, you might not be doing as well.”

Speaking of politics, he said how the new Trump Administration may affect the economy is a significant unknown. “Some of the fiscal policy rules with the new administration could potentially be inflationary… Adding material tariffs to our trade partners like Mexico, China, and Canada—that could be inflationary… The curtailment in immigration could change the labor pool, which could potentially be inflationary, as well.”

Narrowing down on Alaska, Clark offered his thoughts on the Trump Administration’s pro-oil policy, which has potential to boost the state’s economy, though that certainly isn’t a guarantee. Clark explained that the last crash in oil prices, near the end of 2014, was in some ways driven by a large increase in oil production. “That whole industry, specifically the public market, has changed dramatically. Investors have really pushed all the big majors to slow down and grow at a pace that can provide capital back to shareholders, to increase dividends, share buybacks; you can’t do that if you’re blowing yourself out creating these big cycles… In the case of the public companies, they’re going to say, ‘If you can give me more tax incentives, if you can give me other ways for me to make these projects more economic and I can grow faster, sure. But if not, then I’m going to continue to follow what my shareholders are asking me to do, which is to grow at a decent pace, keep my balance sheet in check, and return my capital to shareholders.’”

Clark did share that production on the North Slope is expected to grow by about 40 percent. The growth is significant because, in Alaska, every job in the oil patch creates fifty jobs around the state.

All factors considered, Clark anticipates inflation will “start to taper off into the end of the year,” which would be a relief for many industries in Alaska and beyond.