THE LINK: OCTOBER 2024 12 CONTINUED from PAGE 11 The addition of several F-35 jet squadrons at Eielson has dramatically increased the military presence and economic impact in Fairbanks. Adequate housing and infrastructure are already limiting plans to expand that presence even more. although year-to-date 2024 showed a slight decrease in occupancy rates — 68 percent for the first half of 2024 compared with 70 percent for the same period of 2023. In the problem areas, workforce challenges continue. The trucking sector is busy with North Slope work but there are concerns about a shortage of drivers. The beginning of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, shipments by truck later this year from Hilcorp Energy’s new LNG plant at Prudhoe Bay to the Interior Gas Utility in Fairbanks will put further pressure on the demand for drivers and put more traffic on the Dalton Highway, the surface road link from the Interior to the North Slope. Maintenance on the state-operated Dalton Highway is an ongoing concern for truckers. Housing challenges are still there as well. Apartment rents are up 18 percent from 2019, for example. The lack of housing in the Fairbanks area is a problem in workforce recruitment and retention, and a drag on the economy. For example, the U.S. Air Force is delaying a decision to move four additional KC-135 aerial tankers to Eielson Air Force Base on concerns over availability housing for the 270 additional personnel and families that would come with the tankers. The drain of working-age adults out of the Fairbanks is the major concern for community leaders. The overall population is stable, although slightly down — a 0.7 percent decline between 2019 and 2023 — but the working age population is down 2 percent. That’s a problem shared with other Alaska communities, like Anchorage. With it comes a 5.9 percent decline in the K-12 school population, however. That, and a failure of the state to provide more funding, has caused the local school district to close three schools this year including one on Eielson Air Force Base, which has not gone over well with top Alaska military commanders. On the other side, the population of senior citizens is up sharply, by 22.9 percent between 2018 and 2023. More senior citizens strengthen the economy with pensions and other retirement income, and it increases demand for health care, strengthening that sector. Overall, things are good for Fairbanks. The labor force is stable, average annual wage income was up 22 percent in 2023 from 2018, and freight landed at Fairbanks International Airport, a key indicator, was up 140 percent in 2023 over 2019 due to North Slope work. — Tim Bradner
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