Hot Topics

Historic and Economic Landmarks in the Kenai Peninsula Borough
2008 DJIA drops 41% from 10/ 9/2007 to 10/25/08 - closes as 8,378.95 - with wild gyrations.
2008 Fuel prices surpass $5.00 per gallon.
2008 Soldotna's Mayor David R. Carey is elected KPB Mayor.
2008 Alaska's Governor Palin accepts nomination as first female Republican Vice Presidential candidate.
2008 Democrat Barak Obama is elected president -  first Black American to hold the office.
2008 Beijing Olympics - U.S.A.'s Micheal Phelps wins eight gold medals, sets seven new world records
2008 Wal-Mart purchases land in Kenai, begins construction of facility.
2008 Lowe's completes building, opens for business in December.
2008 Agrium plant ships last shipment of fertilizer, begins moth-balling plant.
2008 October 9 - DJIA has fallen 39% in one year - closes at 8,579,19
2007 July 19 - First DJIA close at 14,000.41.
2007 Lowe's purchases land in Kenai.
2007 Agrium announces intent to close Nikiski fertilizer plant.
2007 April 25 - First DJIA close over 13,000.
2007 Caribou Hills fire destroys many remote cabins and structures, burns 56,254 acres.
2007 New Bridge over Kenai River in Soldotna opens.
2007 Ice destroys much of Kenai River infrastructure - walkways, boardwalks, docks, etc.
2006 October 19 - First DJIA close over 12,000.
2006 KPB hosts the 2006 Arctic Winter Games.
2006 Mt. Augustine erupts.
2006 Work continues on Kenai River Bridge in Soldotna.
2006 Sarah Palin elected Alaska's governor - first female, and youngest person ever to hold the office.
2005 Kenai's Mayor John J. Williams is elected KPB Mayor.
2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastate the southeastern US.
2005 Agrium found gas supply, open at least one more year.
2005 Wal-Mart announces plans to open in Kenai.
2005 Grant Aviation joins service providers at Kenai Airport.
2005 Work begins on Kenai River bridge upgrade in Soldotna.
2005 Central Peninsula General Hospital begins construction of addition.
2005 Trustworthy Hardware builds a new facility in Soldotna.
2004 September - Home Depot opens in Kenai.
2004 KPB celebrates forty years of incorporation.
2004 KPB gross sales top $2 billion mark for first time.
2004 KPB Construction permit values set new high  -$84,041,457.
2004 December 26 - Indonesian 8.7 earthquake and tsunami kills more than two hundred thirty thousand.
2003 February 1 - Columbia space shuttle destroyed during reentry.
2003 April - BigKMart closed in Kenai (and throughout Alaska).
2002 Homer annexation increases its size by 28%.
2002 November 3 - Earthquake - 7.9 Richter scale in Alaska, Denali fault.
2001 September 11 terrorist attack in New York City and Washington D.C., plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
2001 October 7 - U.S. implemented Operation Enduring Freedom, targeting  Iraqi terrorist government.
2000 Census - 550,043 Alaskans; Kenai Peninsula Borough - 49,691.
2000 George W. Bush elected President of the United States.
1999 Dale Bagley elected KPB mayor.
1999 May 3 - First DJIA close over 11,000.
1999 March 29 - DJIA average breaks 10,000.
1998 Alaska SeaLife Center opened in Seward.
1998 April 6 - First DJIA close over 9,000.
1997 gust 31 - England's Princess Diana killed in car accident.
1997 July 16 - First DJIA close over 8,000.
1997 February 13 - First DJIA close over 7,000.
1996 October 14 - First DJIA close over 6,000.
1996 Mike Navarre elected KPB mayor.
1995 Oklahoma City Bombing - Alfred P Murrah Federal Building
1995 November 21 - DJIA broke 5,000.
1994 April - Fred Meyer retail store opened in Soldotna.
1993 June - KMart opened in Kenai.
1992 Mt. Spurr eruption - prior most recent - 1953.
1992 William J. Clinton elected President of the United States.
1991 April 17 - First DJIA close over 3,000.
1991 January 19 - Desert Storm initiative against Iraq begins after Iraq invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990.
1990 Census - 550,043 Alaskans; Kenai Peninsula Borough - 40,802.
1989 March 24 - Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill.
1988-1989 Series of Mt. Redoubt eruptions - prior most recent - 1966 - 1967 - 1968.
1988 January 28 - Challenger space ship disaster during launch.
1988 George H. W. Bush elected President of the United States.
1987 Don Gilman again elected KPB mayor.
1987 January 8 - First DJIA close over  2,000.
1987 Mt. Iliamna eruption - steam, prior most recent volcanic eruption - 1953.
1986 April 26 - Meltdown at Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
1986 St. Augustine eruption - prior most recent - 1976.
1985 1st KPB Traffic Light - Kenai Spur Road and Willow Street.
1982 First Peninsula McDonald's opens in Soldotna.
1980 May 8 - Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington.
1980 Census - 401,851 Alaskans; Kenai Peninsula Borough - 22,282.
1980 Stan Thompson again elected KPB mayor.
1980 Alaska's personal income tax repealed.
1980 Ronald Reagan elected President of the United States.
1976 Jimmy Carter elected President of the United States.
1976 Alaska Permanent Fund established.
1975 Don Gilman elected KPB mayor.
1975 Bridge Access Road and bridge constructed.
1974 President Nixon resigns, Gerald Ford became President of the United States.
1972 September 5 - Munich Olympics massacre - five Palestinian terrorists, nine Israeli hostages killed.
1972 November 14 - First DJIA close over 1,000.
1972 Stan Thompson elected KPB mayor.
1971 Central Peninsula General Hospital opens for business.
1970 Census - 300,382 Alaskans; Kenai-Cook Inlet district - 12,474; Seward district - 3,727.
1969 1st shipment of 48" pipe for trans-Alaska pipeline arrives in Valdez.
1969 July 20 - First lunar landing.
1968 Richard Nixon elected President of the United States.
1966 George Navarre elected KPB mayor.
1965 February 4 - Earthquake - 8.7 on Richter scale in Alaska, Rat Islands.
1965 July 1  - KPB Sales Tax enacted.
1964 Homer incorporated.
1964 March 27 - Good Friday Earthquake - 9.2 in Richter scale.
1963 November 22 - President John F. Kennedy assassinated.
1963 Lyndon Johnson sworn in as President of the United States.
1963 Harold Pomeroy elected as First KPB Mayor.
1963 Kenai Peninsula Borough incorporated.
1962 February 20 - John Glenn completes three orbits of earth.
1961 First manned American space flight - Alan B. Shepherd, Jr.
1961 Kachemak City Incorporated.
1960 Census - 226,167 Alaskans; Kenai-Cook Inlet district - 11,867; Seward district - 3,127.
1960 John F. Kennedy elected President of the United States.
1960 Soldotna incorporated.
1960 Kenai incorporated.
1959 Alaska officially becomes a state of the United States.
1959 Alaska conducts first offshore oil and gas lease sale on Kenai Peninsula.
1959 Discovery of first major Cook Inlet gas field .
1958 First successful satellite launch by United States.
1957 Swanson River oil field discovered.
1957 October 4 - Soviet Union successfully launches Sputnik.
1953 July 27 - Korean War Armistice Signed.
1952 Dwight Eisenhower elected President of the United States.
1951 Sterling Hwy completed connecting Kenai Peninsula to south-central Alaska.
1950 Census - 128,643 Alaskans; Kasilof - 62; Kenai - 321; Homer - 907; Seldovia - 701; Seward district - 2,708.
1950 June 25 - Korean War begins.
1945 May 7 - Germany surrenders unconditionally.
1945 August 6 - U.S. bombs Hiroshima.
1945 August 9 - U.S. bombs Nagasaki.
1945 September 12 - Japan surrenders.
1945 Seldovia Incorporated.
1944 June 6 - D Day.
1942 March  - work begins on AK highway - completed in 8 months.
1941 December 7 - Japan attacks Pearl Harbor.
1940 (10/1/1939) Census - 72,524 Alaskans; Kenai district - 497; Seldovia district - 980; Seward district - 1,525.
1939 WWII begins.
1937 Beginning of second major United States economic depression.
1930 Census - 59,278 Alaskans; Kenai district - 468; Seldovia district - 378; Seward district - 1,279.
1929 October 29th, Black Thursday, stock market crash begins The Great Depression.
1925 Forerunner of Iditarod - Race from Anchorage to Nome with meds to stop diphtheria epidemic.
1920 Census - 55,036 Alaskans; Kenai  - 1,851; Seward - 652.
1918 November 11- Armistice Day - End of WW I.
1917 WWI begins.
1915 First Mount Marathon race in Seward.
1912 Seward Incorporated.
1910 Census - Alaska - 64,356; Kenai Dist - 1,692; Seward - 534.
1898 Beginning of Nome gold rush.
1897 July - Klondike gold rush begins as steamer PORTLAND reaches Seattle with word of gold, lots of gold.
1867 March 30 - Secretary of State Seward agrees to purchase Alaska for $7 million.
1865 April 9 - Surrender of Troops - End of Civil War.
1861 January - Southern states secede from Union - Civil war began.
1788 Captain Cook first voyages into Cook Inlet.

About Us

Funding for the Economic Analyst position was removed in 2010 therefore the Kenai Peninsula Borough no longer publishes the annual report, Situations and Prospects, or quarterly reports. The last annual report was 2008 and the last quarterly report was the first quarter of 2010.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough established policy is to support responsible economic development within the Borough. The economic development powers are not area wide, but allow for development within the Borough in areas outside of the incorporated cities.
Economic indicators for the Kenai Peninsula Borough are presented on a quarterly basis providing economic detail for those facets of the economy which can be measured on a quarterly basis - sales, construction and labor statistics.

Construction data is presented for each of five cities within the Borough: Homer, Kenai, Seldovia, Seward and Soldotna. The KPB does not require building permits, therefore quarterly data does not include building activity outside the listed incorporated cities.

Sales data - both gross and taxable - is presented for the Borough and for each of five cities within the Borough: Homer, Kenai, Seldovia, Seward and Soldotna. Sales data for 'Other KPB,' the large area within the Kenai Peninsula Borough but outside the five cities imposing sales tax, is also presented.

Kachemak City is incorporated, but does not require building permits nor does it impose a sales tax, therefore no information is presented for the municipality.

An annual report, Situations and Prospects, provides statistical data for as many facets of the economy as can be found. This information can be accessed through the links below. The printed document, published once a year, is not as complete as that presented here.