The City of Wainwright, a second-class city within the North Slope Borough, oversees municipal services such as the boat harbor, community center, playgrounds, ice cellars, and cemeteries. The city government is supported by state funding, grants, and donations.

The Village of Wainwright, a federally recognized tribe, stewards and develops tribal lands and resources in accordance with tribal, customary, and federal law while safeguarding the cultural and social interests of its members. In addition to engaging in government-to-government relations and securing public and private grants, the Village operates essential community services, including the food bank, tribal records, and the local childcare center.

Olgoonik Corporation is the Alaska Native village corporation overseeing lands and assets owned by its 1,680 shareholders, all of whom have a direct lineal connection to Wainwright. Olgoonik Corporation operates worldwide as a federal contractor and locally with community-serving enterprises that anchor the village. As steward of roughly 175,000 acres of surface estate surrounding Wainwright, the corporation manages land for traditional use and future economic development opportunities adjacent to the Chukchi Sea and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

Olgoonik also manages several key businesses in town, including the OC Store and washeteria, the fuel station, and the OC Service Center, which offers heavy equipment and carpentry services, as well as vehicle rentals and camps for workers on local projects. Olgoonik also manages the OC Hotel and Restaurant, which offers catering and a private conferencing facility with videoconferencing capabilities.

These assets not only create jobs and deliver essential services to this isolated Arctic community but also position Olgoonik as a valuable partner to private companies and government agencies on larger Arctic projects.

“The Wainwright Steering Committee has been active for almost fifteen years as a central hub to discuss issues that are important to our North Slope village community of Wainwright,” says Moire Bockenstedt, chief administrative officer at Olgoonik. “The three individual entities who collaborate as committee members [the City of Wainwright, the Native Village of Wainwright, and Olgoonik Corporation] have been important decision-makers in the community for much longer—more than fifty years in most cases.”

The WSC meets regularly and rotates chairing responsibilities among all participating entities. Any entity can invite an outside group or individual to speak to the committee. Also, outside groups and individuals may request time before the committee to discuss issues important to Wainwright residents. Last year, they featured speakers from universities conducting Arctic research, federal agency representatives conducting surveys in the Chukchi Sea, North Slope Borough representatives providing updates on local projects, and State of Alaska groups providing updates and soliciting input on regional projects.

“Most of the 600-plus residents in our community are affiliated with all three entities—city residents, tribal members, and corporation shareholders,” explains Bockenstedt. “For issues with broad community impact, the WSC founders decided it would be helpful to establish a central forum where representatives from each entity could hold joint discussions and hear from individuals interested in doing business in or near our community.”

“The most important thing, in my opinion, is coming together at the same table,” says Olgoonik Corporation board chair Oliver Peetook.

Peetook is a lifetime resident of Wainwright, a subsistence hunter, and an Iñupiaq drummer and dancer. He has served in community leadership roles for many years. His father, Rossman Peetook, was also a noted leader and elder in the community before he passed away a few years ago. Peetook is a proud husband and dad and, in the last couple of years, became a proud grandfather. He has a vested interest in making his home village the best it can be for current and future generations.

One important task WSC came together to achieve in 2025 was the North Slope Borough Capital Improvement Program priority list. Following meetings among its members, the WSC reconciled its community priorities for 2026, with the top three being the North Slope Borough’s investment in coastal erosion mitigation, a new landfill, and another snow fence to protect infrastructure from windblown drifts.

“Our landfill is really close to the coast, and with coastal erosion happening so fast, it’s a matter of time before the dumps we have now will be in the ocean. We need to get the landfill away from the ocean,” says Peetook.

Local leaders are working together to plan adaptation responses, such as the relocation of waste facilities farther inland and studying seawalls or other erosion-mitigation structures as part of long-term community planning.

An additional snow fence is another priority for the community, situated on a narrow spit between the ocean and an inlet. “On the north end of town, we’re protected by the snow fence that builds up the snow drifts so they’re not coming into town,” explains Peetook. “We also need a fence on the south end of town. I live at the south end, and three or four years ago, we had a bad snowstorm. Overnight, my F-250 truck was completely buried all the way to the top!”

Another priority Peetook would like to see in Wainwright involves the creation of a municipal cellar reserve. The shared reserve would support households, especially elders and young families, in creating and maintaining ice cellars that safely store harvested whale, seal, fish, and other subsistence foods, even as permafrost and weather patterns continue to change.

“A municipal cellar reserve in the city, a small plot where our community members can build ice cellars for their families, is especially important in our community,” says Peetook. “When you have an ice cellar for your family, it shows that you’re building roots in that community. You can set your family up for generations.”

Virtually an island to itself, more than fifty miles from its nearest neighbors, Wainwright supports regional oil and gas operations, transportation corridors, and emerging infrastructure projects. It plays this role in the Arctic economy while maintaining a strong local workforce through organizations such as Olgoonik Corporation and the North Slope Borough. As investment increases across the Arctic from energy to broadband to climate-resilient construction, Wainwright is positioning itself as a service hub that can support remote operations while anchoring economic benefits locally.

Equally important is Wainwright’s commitment to sustainable growth rooted in culture and community. Subsistence hunting, fishing, and whaling remain central to local life, reinforcing food security and cultural continuity while shaping how development is approached. For businesses seeking to operate in the Arctic, Wainwright demonstrates how Indigenous leadership, environmental responsibility, and economic opportunity can advance together in one of the world’s most demanding and promising frontiers.

The key to maintaining the balance of priorities lies in the collaborative efforts of community leaders. “When all the different entities and leaders in the community gather together at the same table and use the resources we are in charge of to do what the tribe, corporation, and municipality needs—progress is possible,” says Peetook. “At the end of the day, we all serve the same people and have a lot of the same interests. Working together makes the most sense and produces the same fruit.”