Having more people leave Alaska than enter it and the aging of the adult population that remains has put Alaska’s largest city and the state as a whole at risk of squandering some historic economic opportunities, according to a new three-year outlook report released Wednesday by the nonprofit Anchorage Economic Development Corp.
“Anchorage and Alaska are witnessing a weird combination of big economic opportunities that are mostly a sure thing, combined with economic threats that could lead to decades of stagnation and decline,” Bill Popp, the organization’s president, said Wednesday at an annual luncheon where the report’s results were presented.
The report and Popp’s presentation painted a picture of plenty of jobs available but fewer people available to fill those jobs.
Anchorage, home to four out of every 10 Alaskans, has lost 18,600 working-age residents since 2013, Popp said,…
