Construction Job Outlook: Cloudy: The silver lining--hundreds of millions of dollars in projects coming.

• Author: Joyal, Brad
• Position: JOB OUTLOOK

In October 2018, former Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Heidi Drygas said: "We're about to ramp up on some pretty significant projects in Alaska, We have all this work going on, on the North Slope; we have a boom in military construction in the Interior and other Interior build out projects. We have an expansion of mining at Fort Knox and Kensington; Donlin Gold looks like it's going to come online, and they're all happening at the same time," That statement ignited talk about the construction industry and what the state could expect in the near future.

While the North Slope and the Interior are carrying the brunt of Alaska's construction projects, other areas of the state, including Anchorage, are missing the major projects that would attract workers--both from the state and Outside--in droves. Overall, the state's construction landscape continues to inch toward brighter pastures.

Fairbanks F-35s

Department of Labor and Workforce Development Economist Karinne Wiebold says the department recently completed its forecast for 2019 and believes there will be an estimated 900 new construction jobs available throughout the state this year. According to Wiebold, the majority of those jobs are connected to the F-35 bed down at Eielson Air Force Base. Although the F-35 project started slowly in 2018. it will ramp up this spring and summertime. In September 2018, the Final Fairbanks North Star Borough Eielson Air Force Base Regional Growth Plan was released, stating the project will bring more than $500 million of construction to the North Star Borough.

But the construction of several projects related to housing the F-35s isn't limited to the base. Integrating the F35s is expected to create more than 4,000 new jobs by 2022, and some are esti mating that 800 new housing units will be required in the Eielson, Fairbanks, and North Pole area. Infrastructure doesn't build itself, and these projects spell out a necessary influx of construction workers in the Interior.

"There's a very significant housing need in the Fairbanks area off-base," says Bill Popp, president and CEO of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. "They're talking as many as 800 units of housing that will need to be constructed, multi-families and single families in the North Pole and Fairbanks communities. That's going to take a lot of workforce. That's a lot of housing to be built in that area. It's going to be a nice shot in the arm for the...