KEDC Presents 2025 Report and 2026 Priorities to the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly

On Thursday, January 29, Kodiak Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Melissa Schoenwether presented to the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly, sharing a formal update on KEDC’s work in 2025 and priorities as the organization moves into 2026. The presentation focused on housing, workforce and career connections, economic diversification through mariculture, community-driven economic development, and organizational readiness. A copy of the full report provided to the Assembly is available to download below.

Providing Transparency and Regional Context

KEDC’s presentation to the Borough Assembly was part of the organization’s ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and coordination with public partners. KEDC works across the Kodiak Archipelago, and much of this work directly supports Borough priorities related to housing availability, workforce stability, economic resilience, and regional coordination.

The report shared with the Assembly outlines how KEDC moved major community priorities from planning toward implementation in 2025, while also preparing for sustained, coordinated action in the year ahead.

Housing as the Anchor Issue

Housing was the central focus of KEDC’s 2025 work and remains the foundation for many other community challenges. Housing availability affects workforce retention, public safety, healthcare access, education, and whether families can remain in Kodiak long term.

In 2025, KEDC completed the Kodiak Housing Action Plan in partnership with the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development. The plan was informed by extensive engagement across the Kodiak Archipelago, including public forums, focus groups, employer outreach, and village visits. Residents, tribal partners, employers, and community organizations contributed lived experience and local insight to shape a shared roadmap for action.

The Housing Action Plan is organized around six core themes, including housing finance tools, zoning and land use reform, development processes, infrastructure, village housing, and leadership and coordination. Together, these themes support coordinated, realistic action in both the near and long term.

A major milestone in 2025 was the launch of the Kodiak Housing Dashboard, a public-facing tool that brings housing data, timelines, and progress updates into one accessible place. The dashboard supports transparency, reduces misinformation, and allows residents and decision makers to work from the same information as housing implementation moves forward.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, KEDC reconvened the Housing Steering Committee to transition from planning into implementation. The committee shifted into a coordinated working group focused on early, achievable priorities such as accessory dwelling units, short-term rental oversight, housing funding tools, and cross-jurisdictional coordination. Village housing remains a central priority, with continued outreach to tribal governments and village leaders to ensure regional representation.

As part of implementation, KEDC is supporting the development of several housing-related policy initiatives for consideration by the City of Kodiak and the Kodiak Island Borough, including accessory dwelling unit regulations, short-term rental policies, and strategies to improve funding and feasibility for market-rate housing development.

Career and Workforce Development

Workforce development is another core priority closely tied to housing and economic stability. Employers across Kodiak consistently report challenges with hiring and retaining workers. While housing is part of that challenge, there is also a need for clearer, more connected pathways between education, training, and employment.

KEDC’s role in workforce development is to convene partners, identify gaps, and help align existing efforts so students, job seekers, and employers are not navigating disconnected systems. Over recent months, KEDC has held foundational meetings with partners including the Job Center, T3 Alaska, and the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.

This coordinated Career Connections work focuses on practical outcomes, helping employers communicate workforce needs more clearly, supporting students and job seekers as they move from awareness to training to employment, and ensuring workforce initiatives connect meaningfully to housing and long-term economic stability. Workforce development is a regional issue, and coordination benefits the entire Kodiak Archipelago.

Economic Diversification Through Mariculture

KEDC also continued advancing economic diversification through mariculture and industry development in 2025. Engineering work for a multi-use mariculture processing facility moved toward shovel-ready status, supported by statewide investment. This represents a significant step forward from earlier concept-level work and positions Kodiak for future decision making and investment.

In partnership with the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development, KEDC completed a business plan and financial model for the facility, reducing risk and grounding future decisions in operational and market realities. KEDC also worked with Kodiak Ocean Growers on an at-sea processing feasibility analysis to explore how mobile processing could support kelp farming in remote locations.

In addition, KEDC began developing a Mariculture Start-Up Business Development Guide to support new entrepreneurs entering the industry and continued work on a feasibility and working model for Gibson Cove to identify financially viable uses that align with economic opportunity, community values, and public access.

Community-Driven Economic Development and Organizational Readiness

Community-driven economic development remains central to KEDC’s approach. Through grant support from the Rural Community Assistance Corporation’s Building Rural Economies program, KEDC has helped train and support local leaders developing place-based economic initiatives known as Value Chains.

Through the Recharge Our Community’s Economy initiative, five Value Chains continue advancing locally led work in business support, walkability, childcare, housing, and seafood market development. These efforts reflect local leadership and practical action, with KEDC and RCAC providing facilitation, technical assistance, and project management.

In December 2025, the KEDC Board of Directors adopted the 2026–2027 Strategic Plan. The plan emphasizes implementation, accountability, and transparency, and clearly defines where KEDC will concentrate its time and resources to best serve the Kodiak Archipelago.

Looking Ahead

As KEDC moves into 2026, the focus remains on implementation and coordination. Housing policy development is underway, workforce connections are strengthening, mariculture projects are advancing toward readiness, and community-driven initiatives continue building momentum.

KEDC values its relationship with the Kodiak Island Borough and appreciates the opportunity to continue aligning its work with regional needs and responsibilities. Sustained partnership, coordination, and communication remain essential as this work moves forward.