Study: SHI’s economic impact on state topped $20 million in 2023
Funds included support for school districts, university, educators
June 11, 2025
A study by an Alaska research firm has found that Sealaska Heritage Institute’s (SHI) economic impact on the state grew to more than $20 million in 2023, and the top category was in education spending that benefited school districts, the University of Alaska system and teachers.
The report, “Economic Impact of Sealaska Heritage Institute,” by McKinley Research Group found that SHI supported 210 jobs and $20 million in labor income statewide. SHI generated more than $39 million in economic activity in Alaska when factoring in multiplier effects, meaning money spent by employees and vendors from the funds they received from the institute, the study found.
SHI President Rosita Worl was surprised when the data was revealed. Worl was aware through evaluations and studies that SHI’s programs promote higher academic achievement and school retention among Native students and enrich the school environment for all students and teachers, but the extent of SHI’s economic reach came as a surprise.
“We didn’t realize the depth of our economic impact until we read the report’s findings. We spent $5.4 million on education alone in the state, and I’m proud to say, that has been a boon to our teachers,” Worl said.
SHI’s spending on education included $2 million to school districts, $1 million primarily to the University of Alaska (UAS) and $2 million in direct payments to more than 380 individual educators. The institute’s programs served all educational levels, from pre-kindergarten to university. Direct spending with the Juneau School District and UAS totaled $2.7 million in 2023, and that included direct support for teacher salaries.
“Through SHI funding, UAS offered free, non-credit Southeast Alaska Indigenous language classes in 2023. About 500 people enrolled, which led to increased enrollment in other UAS humanities courses, contributing to a significant rise in revenue for the university department,” said a UAS provost and dean in an interview with McKinley in February.
A Decade of Growth
The 2023 numbers stand in contrast to economic impact studies done by the firm in 2014 and 2018.
In 2014, researchers found SHI created about 23 jobs and spent $2.5 million statewide. A 2018 study found SHI employed 54 staff and direct operational expenditures totaled $7.1 million. In 2023, SHI supported 210 jobs and spent $20.4 million in Alaska—in other words, SHI’s job creation increased by 813 percent and its statewide spending grew by 716 percent in the past decade.
The opening of SHI’s Walter Soboleff Building in 2015, its Arts Campus in 2022 and its Indigenous Science Building in 2024 allowed for significant operations and programming expansion over the past decade and subsequent increased economic contribution to the City and Borough of Juneau, Southeast Alaska and Alaska as a whole, the report found.
“Community leaders interviewed describe SHI’s investments in downtown Juneau as ‘transformative.’ The strong Alaska Native cultural presence is also a draw for travelers to Juneau,” the researchers wrote.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a tribal organization founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. SHI also conducts scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee, a Southeast Regional Language Committee and a newly formed Education Committee.
CONTACT: Kathy Dye, SHI Communications and Publications Deputy Director, 907.321.4636, kathy.dye@sealaska.com
Caption: SHI’s Walter Soboleff Building (left) and Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus in Juneau. Photo by Kai Monture, courtesy of SHI. Note: Media outlets are permitted to use this image for coverage of this story. For a higher-res image, contact kathy.dye@sealaska.com.