Last week, the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation convened its annual summit, drawing over a thousand people to the city’s convention center. The event buzzed with anticipation, a rare moment when Anchorage feels like a hub of big ideas, not just a northern outpost. Economists, policymakers, and locals mingled, sifting through data and forecasts to glimpse the city’s financial future. McKinley Research economists took the stage, laying out a clear-eyed view of Anchorage’s prospects over the next two years. Their analysis didn’t shy away from trade policy’s potential ripples but stopped short of the apocalyptic tone the newspaper adopted. Instead, they emphasized a truth too often buried: oil projects like Santos’ Pikka and ConocoPhillips’ Willow are lifelines, pumping jobs and dollars into Southcentral Alaska. These initiatives employ thousands, from engineers to roughnecks, yet their broader impact—like the spending power of Hilcorp’s Prudhoe Bay workers—slips through the cracks of official job counts. Over a decade ago, then-Governor Sean Parnell and a unified Republican legislature dismantled a punitive oil tax system, replacing it with one that encouraged investment. The result? Production has climbed despite crashing oil prices, hostile federal policies, and relentless lawsuits aimed at strangling development. Alaska’s private sector has defied these odds, building feats of engineering on the Arctic’s edge.
