Editing Ketchikan, Alaska (section)

==Economy and industries==
[[File:Street scene, Ketchikan, Alaska, September 18, 1908 (COBB 13).jpeg|thumb|A main street in Ketchikan, September 1908]]
[[File:Fishermen dressing and packing halibut on dock, Ketchikan, Alaska, October 3, 1910 (COBB 127).jpeg|thumb|Fishermen dressing and packing [[halibut]] at a dock in Ketchikan, October 1910]]

A major and first port of entry into Alaska, Ketchikan's economy has been based on fishing industries, canneries in particular, tourism, government, and forestry. Average annual civilian employment in 2017 was 4,070, with a substantial seasonal work force peaking in July.

The area near the mouth of Ketchikan Creek earned Ketchikan a measure of infamy during the first half of the 20th century for a [[red-light district]] known as [[Creek Street (Ketchikan, Alaska)|Creek Street]], with [[brothel]]s aligned on either side of the creek.

Ketchikan's economy is currently based upon government services, tourism and commercial fishing. Civic boosters have dubbed the community the "[[Salmon]] Capital of the World."<ref name=LonelyPlanet>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02vPnH0UbNAC&q=ketchikan+salmon+capital+of+the+world&pg=PA158|title=Pauline Frommer's Alaska|isbn=9780470280041|last1=Thompson|first1=David|year=2008|publisher=Wiley }}</ref>

Ketchikan also receives a large number of tourists, both by air and sea, due to its popularity as a [[cruise ship]] stop. In 2018, Ketchikan Harbour saw 40 different cruise ships making more than 500 stops in the harbour and bringing more than 1,073,000 visitors to Ketchikan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visit-ketchikan.com/en/Membership/Visitor-Statistics|title=Visit Ketchikan Alaska – Visitor Statistics|website=www.visit-ketchikan.com}}</ref> The [[Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show]], a [[lumberjack]] show, is performed near [[Ketchikan Creek]] between May and September.<ref name="Kheiry2010-09-03">{{cite news |last=Kheiry |first=Leila |date=2010-09-03 |title=Ketchikan lumberjack pulls Alaska tourist out of water |url=https://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/ketchikan-lumberjack-pulls-alaska-tourist-out-of-water/article_bc73109b-b5b1-55d5-b29a-e494f3e99223.html |newspaper=[[Ketchikan Daily News]] |via=''[[Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]]'' |access-date=2024-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608091817/https://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/ketchikan-lumberjack-pulls-alaska-tourist-out-of-water/article_bc73109b-b5b1-55d5-b29a-e494f3e99223.html |archive-date=2024-06-08 }}</ref><ref name="Nisenbaum2007">{{cite magazine |last=Nisenbaum |first=Shana |date=April 2007 |title=Alaska: Big, Bold and Bountiful. The Last Frontier is a tourism potpourri: Alaska is every outdoorman's dream, but if the idea of roughing it doesn't thrill you, there's still plenty to appreciate |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A165939747/ITOF?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ced73699 |magazine=Alaska Business Monthly |via=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] |issn=8756-4092 |volume=23 |number=4 |pages=139–142 |id={{EBSCOhost|24687117}} |access-date=2024-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608092400/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA165939747&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-ITOF&asid=ced73699 |archive-date=2024-06-08 }}</ref>

The [[Misty Fiords National Monument]] is one of the area's major attractions, and the [[Tongass National Forest]] has long been headquartered in Ketchikan, mostly in the city's historic [[Ketchikan Federal Building|Federal Building]].  For most of the latter half of the 20th century, a large portion of Ketchikan's economy and life centered on the [[Ketchikan Pulp Company]] [[pulp mill]] in nearby [[Ward Cove, Alaska|Ward Cove]]. The mill closed in 1997 in the wake of the passage of the Tongass Timber Reform Act of 1990, which reduced timber harvest targets in the national forest.<ref name="LoC">[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/101/hr987#summary/libraryofcongress HR 987, 101st Congress, Tongass Timber Reform Act], summary by the [[Library of Congress]].</ref>

{{wide image|Ketchikan Alaska Panoramic.jpg|750px|Downtown Ketchikan, with seasonal storefronts along Front Street shown in the foreground.  Cruise ship tourism drives a large part of the local economy from May to September each year.|right}}

===Lumber===
Ketchikan Pulp Company (KPC), a subsidiary of [[Louisiana-Pacific Corp.]], was headquartered just outside Ketchikan's city limits on the shores of Ward Cove.  The company's [[pulp mill]] opened in the cove in 1954.  A 1995 joint EPA and FBI investigation of the company revealed it had dumped contaminated wastewater and sludge in the waters around Ward Cove, leaving them classified as "impaired" by the EPA. KPC plead guilty to the charges and agreed to pay a $3 million fine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/Pre_96/March95/123.txt.html |title=#123 Ketchikan Pulp Co. Pleads Guilty to Environmental Crimes |publisher=Justice.gov |date=February 6, 1995 |access-date=December 10, 2011}}</ref>

In 1996, following the Clinton Administration's refusal to reinstate the original terms of KPC's timber contract, Louisiana-Pacific Corp. announced it would be shutting down the pulp mill, and did so in March 1997. A total of 514 direct year-round jobs and more than 500 indirect jobs were lost as a result.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sitnews.us/Kiffer/KetchikanPulpMill/032217_ketchikan_pulp_mill.html|title=SitNews: Ketchikan Pulp Mill Closed 20 Years Ago |author=Dave Kiffer |website=www.sitnews.us}}</ref>

===Marine===
[[File:Salmon in Ketchikan Creek.jpg|thumb|[[Salmon]] travel up the creek during spawning season to lay their eggs.]]
The Ketchikan Shipyard consists of two dry-docks (10,000 ton and 2,500 ton) owned and operated by Alaska Ship & Drydock, a subsidiary of [[Vigor Industrial]]. It successfully launched the [[Knik Arm ferry|M/V ''Susitna'']] in April 2010. A prototype ferry craft for use by Alaska's [[Matanuska-Susitna Borough]], the ''Susitna'' is the result of planning by Admiral [[Jay M. Cohen]], former chief of the Office of Naval Research, and former Navy captain Lew Madden, then working as a project manager for [[Lockheed Martin]].

[[File:Fishing fleet, Ketchikan, Alaska, June 29, 1911 (COBB 20).jpeg|thumb|Fishing Fleet at Ketchikan June 29, 1911]]
The contract for two new Alaska-class day ferries in the [[Alaska Marine Highway]] was awarded to the shipyard on September 20, 2014, at a cost of $101 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vigorindustrial.com/news-press/alaskas-newest-ferries-will-be-built-by-alaskans|title=Alaska's newest ferries will be built by Alaskans|work=vigorindustrial.com|access-date=October 13, 2014|archive-date=October 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021071858/http://vigorindustrial.com/news-press/alaskas-newest-ferries-will-be-built-by-alaskans|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Power and telecom ===
Companies involved in power and telecommunications include Ketchikan Public Utilities (KPU), which is city-owned, as well as [[GCI (company)|GCI]] and [[Alaska Power and Telephone Company]] (AP&T).