Construction, service jobs still rule in Valley

MAT-SU -- In every single job classification except mining, job growth boomed in the Valley during the past decade. The largest increase in jobs, according to figures from the Alaska Department of Labor, came in services, trade and construction-related fields.

The Valley was the focus of DOL's January 2003 "Alaska Economic Trends" magazine. According to DOL figures, employment in the Valley has grown 80 percent, far exceeding the 19-percent national job growth, Alaska's 21-percent growth and even Anchorage's 24-percent growth between 1990 and 2001.

Although mining never occupied a large share of the jobs, the closure of the Valdez Creek gold mine in 1995 evaporated most of the mining jobs. Services, trade and construction-related jobs were the fastest areas of growth, with 1,824 new service jobs created during the decade, 1,541 new trade and 920 new construction jobs.

"Local residents are spending more of their income locally and less in Anchorage," the article states. But the majority of the jobs created came in two of the lowest-paying wage categories. Figures from DOL show that retail trade and service workers have annual wages of $19,380 and $23,616, respectively. Construction workers receive about $34,000, according to DOL's figures, and the average wage in the Valley in 2001 was $28,248. Comparatively, Anchorage's average wage was $37,752.

Higher wages is likely the reason 35 percent of Valley residents commute to work outside the borough. Not including federal employees and self-employed people, as DOL did not have those numbers available, 35.4 percent of Valley residents commuted to Anchorage. Five percent work on the North Slope and about 6.5 percent commute to other areas around the state. According to DOL information, commuting paid off.

"Commuting workers earned more in total wages than all those who worked in the Valley," the article stated.

But some of that may change in the near future, as expansion is planned in several areas around the Valley.

A new hospital is being planned through the joint venture between Triad and Valley Hospital Association, said Elizabeth Ripley, spokesperson for Valley Hospital. The agreement to build, Ripley said, stipulates that 85 percent of the construction must be met by local contractors.

"Just building it is going to bring in additional jobs," Ripley said.

Staffing projections aren't yet available for the facility, but Ripley said the bed count will be expanded from 39 beds to 76. Although the number of beds will be grow, the new facility will mean consolidating other Valley facilities, Ripley said, so it's hard to project staffing levels until new efficiencies are analyzed.

Along with the growth, Ripley said, will come other jobs that may help bring the Valley's median wage up.

"We do have projections for a number of new physicians," Ripley said. "We don't have enough physicians to serve the Valley. Part of the piece, in order to make this hospital run is, we don't have enough physicians to refer patients to it."

Currently, Ripley said, the hospital has six internal medicine physicians on staff. The hospital's projections have set a goal of having between 17 and 24 internal medicine physicians on staff by 2010. Along with those physicians, Ripley said, come office staff, transcriptionists and other staff.

On top of Valley Hospital's expansion, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly recently passed through a $150,000 grant to the Rural Health Mat-Su Healthcare Providers Network that will fund planning and a needs assessment to see how to plan for the future of health care in rural Mat-Su.

"There's a lot happening within health care expansion in the Valley," Ripley said. "So much is happening -- not just at Valley Hospital."

Mat-Su Borough Manager John Duffy said his staff are working to encourage growth in several sectors including health care that were identified as primed for growth in the borough's recent economic development plan.

In addition to planning for the hospital's expansion, Duffy said they're working with representatives from North Star Behavioral System to find a suitable facility for its planned juvenile mental health care facility. That facility, Duffy said, has projected the need for about 250 staff and they're working with the borough and Mat-Su College to train Valley residents to meet North Star's needs.

Duffy said the borough is also looking at the high-tech sector as an area in need of expansion. Matanuska Telephone Association, GCI and New Horizons have been contacted, Duffy said, to see how the borough can help provide infrastructure for growth.

Tourism is also on the rise, Duffy said. Hospitals at Denali State Park are planning for expansion by 200 beds. Work to establish a visitors' center and second park access on Denali's south side is moving along, and it's a project Gov. Frank Murkowski has voiced support for.

Construction work during the next season at the port, Duffy said, will likely lead to significant expansion in that area. Vibracompaction is slated for the spring, which will allow full operation of the existing dock, and the deep draft dock, a nearly $11 million project, is set to move forward.

"There's quite a bit of development out there," Duffy said.