Privately funded projects accounted for roughly 65 percent of total construction spending in 2007, a 15 percent increase over 2006. Public construction spending - including highway, railroad and airport projects - totaled approximately $2.45 billion, down 6 percent from last year due to a slight decline in spending financed by the federal government.

The construction industry is the third largest in the state. It pays the second-highest wages, employs 21,000 with a payroll of over $1 billion and accounts for 20 percent of Alaska's economy.

Negative jobs, positive image

Alaska Department of Labor market data shows that 1,000 new construction workers will be needed each year until roughly 2014. State labor economist Neal Fried said construction peaked in 2005. It fell in 2006 and fell a little harder this year.

“We're still at high levels because we've been growing for so many years, but that trend of slowing down will continue,” he said.

Even with the slight tapering off, construction maintains a positive image among Alaskans. According to a public opinion survey conducted this fall by Ivan Moore Research in Anchorage, nearly 70 percent of the 500 survey participants had “very positive” or “somewhat positive” views of the construction industry. The numbers have shown slight improvements over the past three years.

Participants were asked if they had a child between the ages of 18 and 23 who had completed his education, how positively they would view their child's choice to pursue a career in the construction industry. Roughly 35 percent of participants gave it a “very positive” rating. Only the oil industry was viewed more positively than construction.

Educating Alaskans for local jobs

The construction industry's high ratings can be attributed in part to the Associated General Contractors of Alaska's communications campaign designed to improve the image of construction in Alaska and encourage more young Alaskans to consider a career in construction.

The industry has worked to build education programs for young adults and high-school students in communities throughout the state, and several of those programs have waiting lists.

Now in its second year, the Anchorage Construction Academy is a unique partnership among six Alaska workforce-related agencies: the Anchorage School District, the Associated General Contractors of Alaska, the Anchorage Home Builders Association, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Alaska Works Partnership Inc. and the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Classes are held at King Career Center and at high schools in Anchorage and Eagle River.

The adult program teaches unemployed and underemployed adults entry-level skills for construction and trade jobs. The high-school student program offers young people the skills needed for construction trades careers and provides career exploration opportunities.

In 2006, the state Legislature awarded a $1 million grant to the Anchorage School District and the Alaska Works to implement the academy, with the goal of serving 200 youth and adults within the year, and to create a similar model for Fairbanks and other regions with local chapters of the Alaska Home Builders Association.

As early as January 2008, programs will be available in Fairbanks, Ketchikan, the Matanuska Susitna Valley, Kenai and Juneau.

“The whole reason the pilot program came about is because of the labor shortage,” said Kathleen Castle, the academy's executive director. “We're hoping that because of these efforts more Alaskans will be trained and aware of the opportunities available to them, then stay in Alaska and use their talents.”

In August, the Mat-Su Career and Technical High School opened with some 270 full-time and 200 part-time students. The $22 million, 76,000-squre-foot school is dedicated to each of the craft trades.

Students get a cross-section of all aspects of the potential careers, including mathematics, drafting and design, as well as the functions of remodeling, carpentry, tools, framing, plumbing, masonry, electrical and sheet metal work.

Students choose from several career paths, including architecture/pre-engineering and construction. The goal is to help students choose career paths to fill the needs of various industries.

“I think that even if a portion of the graduates coming out of the career academy choose construction, they will make a well-educated decision and they will make good money,” said Ray DePriest, director of career and technical education for the school district. “With the demands on construction for commercial and residential properties going strong, the industry still needs a lot of new people.”

Looking ahead

While most of the large projects that have generated work over the past couple of years are nearing completion, retail chains opening up in Anchorage, Eagle River, the Mat-Su Valley, Juneau and Fairbanks could provide a boost to the construction industry.

“Construction is coming down, but retail could seen an increase,” Fried said. “We expect to see sizable gains toward the end of next year and certainly in 2009 in the retail sector.”

According to Dick Cattanach, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Alaska, the industry's future currently relies heavily on the proposed natural gas pipeline.

A gas pipeline would provide the next economic explosion in the state. Construction of a pipeline would require more than 1,000 people to work over a number of years. A pipeline, in turn, would generate a host of other projects throughout the state.

Cattanach said it's not a matter of if the gas pipeline gets built but when.

“(The proposal) could go through as early as next month, or it could be a year or two from now,” he said. “Once they've laid out a timetable, we'll experience the whole boom psychology that comes with it. Gas might not start flowing for 10 years, but you'll see businesses saying, ÔI need a new store or hotel' or ÔI need this or that,' almost immediately.”

That's good news for the construction industry, which will need workers to build, oversee, upgrade and maintain these projects. That also affects infrastructure, since the state relies on petroleum taxes to fund those projects.

“If we can't rely on (oil and gas) to pay for infrastructure, the economics will be such that we'll see a smaller state,” Cattanach said. “That means a smaller workforce in construction and almost everything else.”