Category: Workforce Development

Alaska Economic Trends (July 2024)

Fruit in an Alaska store. Photo taken in 2017 by Flickr user Charles Mims. Creative Commons license CC by 2.0.

Gunnar Schultz, economist with the Alaska Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development, examines the cost of living in Alaska and provides historical trends of inflation — which slowed down last year, compared to the turbulent years prior.

The July edition also features a piece on inflation comparisons within and outside of Alaska, and the monthly Gauging the Economy report.

Read the full edition here.

Trends is a nonpartisan, data-driven magazine that covers a variety of economic topics in Alaska.

Source: Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development, Research & Analysis

Bishop appointed dean of UAF Community and Technical College

Photo courtesy of Carl Bishop Carl Bishop.

Carl Bishop has been appointed dean of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Community and Technical College.

Bishop succeeds Bryan Uher, who has served as interim dean since the retirement of Michele Stalder last July. Bishop will assume the role on June 24.

With nearly 30 years of experience in higher education, Bishop most recently served as a vice president at South Piedmont Community College in North Carolina. During his tenure, enrollment increased and achievement gaps among student populations narrowed. His initiatives focused on enhancing learner access, offering flexible learning options, boosting retention, expanding apprenticeships and creating accelerated educational pathways.

Bishop emphasizes collaboration between education, industry, government and community partners, and aligning workforce education with labor market needs. 

I am humbled, grateful, and excited to join the University of Alaska Fairbanks and its Community and Technical College. The college’s talented faculty and staff are the heart and soul of an educational hub that uplifts and empowers individuals, fuels the workforce, supports economic development and transforms communities. I look forward to serving alongside them.

Carl Bishop, UAF Community and Technical College Dean

Learn more about UAF CTC.

Source: Kari Halverson, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, UAF Community & Technical College

Alaska Economic Trends (June 2024)

Vickie Brown of SECON works on the Lemon Creek roundabout and sidewalk project in Juneau in 2021. Photo by Kim Andree.

Karinne Wiebold, economist with the Alaska Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development, details the growing demand for women in construction in Alaska. With the national shortage of construction workers, the industry is finding ways to broaden its worker pool by recruiting from a large group vastly underrepresented in its numbers — women.

The June edition also features a piece on the interaction of public and private sector jobs, and the monthly Gauging the Economy report.

Read the full edition here.

Trends is a nonpartisan, data-driven magazine that covers a variety of economic topics in Alaska.

Source: Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development, Research & Analysis

How Mentoring is Reaching New Teachers in Rural Alaska

Alaska’s Northwest Arctic Borough.

The U.S. Department of Education shares on their official blog, Homeroom, the challenges rural schools and early-career teachers face —the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project (ASMP) is one approach to addressing these barriers.

Our new teachers really have to learn everything: a new culture, sometimes a new language, new teaching skills, a new curriculum, customs and traditions of our kids, and the culture of our schools.

Terri Walker, Northwest Arctic Borough Superintendent

Learn more about ASMP by clicking here to read the full blog post on Homeroom.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Homeroom.

Spread the Word — BEC Monthly Meetings

Click the image to view past meetings.

Each month, the Alaska Safety Alliance hosts the Alaska Business Education Compact (BEC). This monthly meeting series provides a Zoom forum for educators and employers to discuss issues that are involved with developing the workforce and provide pathways for Alaskans into careers. The forum brings in employers from business and industry, educators from K-12 to post-secondary, as well as those representing other groups such as veterans, the disabled, and the diverse. Attendees connect in from all regions of the state, from Southeast to Southwest, and from Southcentral to the North Slope.

BEC meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month at 8:00 am via Zoom. There will be an in-person luncheon and program on October 25, 2024 at O’Malley’s On the Green in Anchorage, AK.

Click here to receive BEC notices.

Source: Alaska Safety Alliance