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Fairbanks Community Research Center North PO Box 71267 Star Fairbanks, Alaska 99707-1267 Borough (907) 459-1000 COMMUNITY RESEARCH QUARTERLY A Socio - Economic Review Spring 2012 Volume XXXV, No. 1 COMMUNITY RESEARCH CENTER The Community Research Center is located on the second floor of the Borough Administration Building at 809 Pioneer Road. Office and Research Library hours are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to Noon and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. CITATION Tabular and summary information contained herein may be reproduced without special permission. It is requested that any information reproduced be cited as follows: Fairbanks North Star Borough, Community Research Center, Community Research Quarterly, Vol. XXXV, No. 1, 2012. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Community Research Center would like to thank the many persons, businesses, government agencies and organizations who contributed to this report. FNSB has established a policy of equal opportunity in employment, service, programs and activities. COVER PAGE Cover page photo taken by long time Fairbanksan Peggy Phillips at Haystack. The Great Grey Owl is the largest owl in North America. Its fluffy feathers give the owl a larger appearance than its actual body size of about 1.7 lbs. The length of the bird is 2 feet (up to 2 feet 8 inches) and it has a wingspan of 4 feet 6 inches (up to 5 feet). This owl is characterized by its lack of ear tufts, a white moustache, a black triangular beard, and yellow piercing eyes. FAIRBANKS NORTH STAR BOROUGH COMMUNITY RESEARCH QUARTERLY A Review of Socio - Economic Trends Volume XXXV, Number 1 Spring 2012 BOROUGH MAYOR Luke Hopkins COMMUNITY PLANNING DEPARTMENT Bernardo Hernandez, Director COMMUNITY RESEARCH CENTER Janet R. Davison, (ed.) Documentation Coordinator II Fairbanks North Star Borough, Community Research Center PO Box 71267, Fairbanks, Alaska 99707-1267 Phone: (907) 459-1212; e-mail: [email protected] WEBSITE: http://co.fairbanks.ak.us/CommunityPlanning/CRC © 2012 Table of Contents Page A Spotlight on Community Economic Trends NEW i-iv Fairbanks Economy at a Glance 1-2 Economic Indicators 3-19 Bank Deposit & Loan Summary 3 Bankruptcies Filed 4 Notices of Default 5 Foreclosures 6 Fairbanks International Airport Freight 7 Fairbanks International Airport Transit Freight 8 Fairbanks International Airport Revenue Landings 9 Fairbanks International Airport Passengers 10 Alaska Highway Statewide Entering Passengers 11 Alaska Highway Statewide Exiting Passengers 11 Alaska Highway Statewide Net Annual Migration Trends 12 Alaska Highway Statewide Net Monthly Migration 12 Alaska Railroad Passengers 13 Alaska Railroad Freight Tonnage and Revenue Dollars 13 Hotel / Motel Room Receipts 14 Quarterly Hotel / Motel Room Receipts 14 Annual Hotel / Motel Room Receipts 15 University of Alaska Museum Visitors 16 Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitor Center 16 Delinquent Property Taxes 17 Alaska Native Corporations Annual Shareholders and Revenue Dollars 18 Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) Applicant by Zipcode and Amounts 19 Employment 20-28 Civilian Labor Force Unemployment Rates 20-21 Average Unemployment Insurance Claimants and Payments 21 Unemployment Insurance Claimants and Payments 22 Average Monthly Employment Estimates by Industry 23 Annual Average Monthly Employment by Industry 24 Annual Average Monthly Wage by Industry 25 Fairbanks Largest Employers by Organization /Business 26 Alaska's Per Capita Income by Borough and Census Area 27 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages by Industry 28 a Spring 2012 Community Research Quarterly Table of Contents Page Housing 29-34 Apartment/Multi-Plex Vacancy Rates 29 Rental Housing Units Available 30 Average Monthly Rents for Available Housing Units 31 Residential Housing Sales 32 Annual Average Residential Housing Sales 33 New Structures Annual Report 34 Cost of Living 35-43 C2ER Cost of Living Index 35-36 Consumer Price Index-U for All Items 36 Consumer Price Index-U (Anchorage) 37 Consumer Price Index-U for All Items (U.S. City Average) 37 Cost of Food at Home for a Week 38 Average Self-service Unleaded Gasoline Prices 39 Electric Customers 40 Natural Gas Customers and Rates 41 Telephone Customers 42 Cellular Phone Statewide Customers 42 Water Customers 43 Population & Social Conditions 44-55 Population Counts & Estimates 44 Military Population 45 Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties of Alaska 46 Superior Court Filings 47 Distribution of Population, Police and Lawyers 47 District Court Filings 48 Criminal Offense Summary 49 Traffic Accidents 50 Alcoholic Beverages Distributed or Sold 51 Air Quality Summary-Maximum 8 Hour Carbon Monoxide Concentrations 52 Precipitation 52-53 Snowfall 53 Average & Record Temperatures 54 Air Quality Summary-Particulate Matter (PM 2.5) Monitoring-AQI 55 NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: If you have a change in your address information and wish to continue to receive the hard copy of the Community Research Quarterly please advise this office as soon as possible so the database can be altered before the next mailing. In an effort to conserve on postage costs, if your issue of the Community Research Quarterly is returned for any reason, we will not attempt to resend. Thank you for your cooperation. Community Research Quarterly Spring 2012 b A SPOTLIGHT ON COMMUNITY ECONOMIC TRENDS* THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY BLANK *SPOTLIGHT SOURCE: Alaska Still A Cool Destination For Tourists, Ski Buffs In Winter, By Jonathan Grass, Alaska Journal of Commerce, Volume 36, No. 1; January 1, 2012. Jonathan Grass can be reached at [email protected]. i Spring 2012 Community Research Quarterly Alaska Still A Cool Destination For Tourists, Ski Buffs In Winter By Jonathan Grass Alaska Journal of Commerce International competitive champion and performance skier Elyse Saugstad tackles the slopes of the Chugach Mountains. In the dead of winter, the air outside swings past zero on the Fahrenheit scale around the Anchorage area. Further north around Fairbanks, it gets even colder. But none of this dissuades tourists who see this as a time to take in some of the attractions that have built Alaska’s tourism reputation. Deb Hickok, president of the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Fairbanks remains a big draw to visitors in the winter despite subarctic temperatures. She said the big attraction there is the Aurora borealis, while other Alaskan-style activities like dog-mushing and ice fishing also draw tourists into the cold. Such attractions have been packing the customers into the Chena Hot Springs Resort in Fairbanks for years. The resort’s Marketing Director Denise Ferree said the top draw is the hot springs themselves. Of course, Aurora borealis viewing is also at the top of the list, flowed by the Aurora Ice Museum, sled dog rides, flying snow machine tours and cross country skiing. Free geothermal renewable energy tours are also bringing in a lot of interested groups, including students. The northern lights in Alaska have still remained a unique business boost for much of the state. Hickok said Japanese tourists are coming in with really strong charter flight numbers to see the northern lights. “The proprietor of the resort, Bernie Karl, always says about viewing the Aurora — ‘you can’t see them if you are not here,’” Ferree said. Alaska’s terrain is also keeping visitors coming to the rest of the state. For example, skiing, snowshoeing, dog sledding and snow machine tours, not to mention the Spring Carnival in April and the Roundhouse Museum, have helped build Alyeska Resort into a staple of Girdwood. January 1, 2012 • Alaska Journal of Commerce • 1 Anchorage also holds popular tourist attractions in the winter, namely with the Iditarod, Tour of Anchorage and Fur Rendezvous. Many resorts are gearing up for an anticipated busy winter. Their personnel contend that customers keep coming in during these months. A majority of these customers are domestic but the resorts are seeing more and more customers from overseas. Ferree said a lot of visitors from Japan, Taiwan, Korea and China come between December and March to see the aurora borealis. The resort is also seeing increased visitors from Australia and Germany. Domestically, Chena’s largest visitor groups are from California, Arizona, Florida and Texas. International tourism has grown so much that the resort has a designated vice president of Japanese marketing who partners with Japanese wholesalers and visits the country twice a year to set up groups. “We are fortunate to have our Asian visitors sustain us during our busy season which is winter from mid December to the first part of April. We are an anomaly for the state of Alaska in that summer is our ‘slow’ season from May to mid-August and winter is our busiest season,” Ferree said. Alyeska Resort spokeswoman Sandy Choi said they’re getting strong visitation from both the east and west American coasts as well as Europe. She said there are definitely more domestic visitors but that guests from predominant ski countries like the United Kingdom and Germany are up. She said there are more people from Switzerland and France in recent years too. “They come to us because of the skiing,” she said. Girdwood has a new addition this ski season: a season-wide itinerary of skiing and snowboarding professionals, courtesy of the adventure company EpicQuest, which operates out of Alyeska Resort. Customers will be accompanied by reigning free-skiing world champion Jess McMillan one week or ski film regular Ian McIntosh another. Nine different experts from around the world plus Chugach powder guides will lead guests through their week-long, heli-skiing expeditions. Famed ski photographer Scott Markewitz will also return to EpicQuest for a week this year to teach skiers how to capture their best moments. EpicQuest has brought in renowned professionals before but this will be the first time they will be on-board continuously throughout the season from February through April. “It’s something we always wanted to do,” said Chris Owens, EpicQuest co-founder and vice president of marketing and brand development.