Anchorage
Anchorage is a modern city of approximately 283,000. Located in southcentral Alaska, Anchorage is the hub of the state’s communication, transportation, health care, finance, and trade industries. These industries are constantly improving by upgrading technologies, providing competitive services, and offering new services. In 2008 Anchorage completed its 20th consecutive year of job growth.
As the largest city in Alaska, a young, educated workforce populates Anchorage. The median age is 32.4 years, and 32.8% of residents 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher. This combination spells success for businesses, and individuals alike, with the median household income at $68,726 compared to the national average of $50,233. Anchorage provides all the amenities and conveniences of a large city, but leaves behind the normal congestion and hectic pace. It’s where having coffee while browsing the Internet wirelessly, calling home on your cell phone from one of the city’s trails, or developing your retirement plan with an educated professional, is all possible. Anchorage is the place where the modern and the wilderness coexist and create a great place to live and do business.
If that weren’t enough, Forbes.com recently cited a Manpower study ranking Anchorage third on the list of U.S. cities with the most projected job growth, “Where the jobs are, spring 2009.” And Business Week magazine picked Anchorage as one of its “Best cities for riding out a recession.”
The region offers opportunities in the following sectors:
Renewable Energy
Alaska has a reputation for resource extraction — minerals, oil, timber and even seafood — but what gets overlooked is the fact that about 24 percent of Alaska’s power comes from renewable energy, mostly hydropower from Southeastern Alaska. Alaska’s renewable resources are vast and diverse compared with those of other states. Alaska has more than half the nation’s ocean wave energy resources and more than 90 percent of its river current and tidal resources. In 2008, Gov. Sarah Palin announced a goal for at least 50 percent of the state’s power to be from alternative sources by 2025.
Film
With the introduction of a generous state incentive program for film projects in 2008 and the re-establishment of an Alaska Film Office in 2009, Alaska has become serious about tempting filmmakers to the state and developing infrastructure support for them. Currently there are pre-approved productions with over $5 million invested in Alaska planned for 2009. Projects range from documentaries to reality TV shows. The projected economic activity will impact industries across Alaska. One Anchorage entrepreneur, a partner in the California-based Evergreen Films LLC, has even built a $10 million post-production studio in Anchorage, and is scouting for business partners to invest in a local sound stage and visual effects studio.
Aerospace
The Alaska Aerospace Corporation, headquartered in Anchorage, serves the international aerospace industry by providing comprehensive launch services with a state-of-the-industry spaceport on Kodiak Island. Created in 1991, the corporation works to strengthen Alaska’s technological sector and stimulate interest in space among Alaska’s young people. The Kodiak Launch Complex is the first FAA-licensed, privately owned, commercial spaceport in the U.S. It offers unobstructed flight paths away from populated areas and its latitude makes the facility ideal for launching satellites into polar orbits and sub-orbital payloads for research and development. The state’s initial investment of $15.6 million has resulted in $232.5 million in additional infrastructure and launch revenues.