After ups and downs of the pandemic, Alaska’s labor commissioner says ‘the future is bright’ ahead of Kodiak visit

Alaska’s Labor Commissioner Dr. Tamika Ledbetter will be in attendance for ComFish – Kodiak’s annual commercial fishing trade show – this week. Ledbetter moved to Alaska in 2003 when she was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. She later served as the Anchorage/Mat-Su Economic Region’s manager, and in 2018, she was appointed as the Commissioner of Alaska’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development by Governor Mike Dunleavy.

The department has learned from the pandemic, according to Ledbetter, and there’s opportunity right now for the state’s workforce. 

“I think our future is bright,” she said. “I think the worker has changed in that they have an opportunity to reimagine what their work will be.”

Expanding workforce development to reach more rural and remote communities and “upskilling” Alaskan workers are top priorities for the department, said Ledbetter, particularly with money pouring into the state through the federal infrastructure and omnibus spending bills. 

Ledbetter will be attending ComFish (Thurs. March 24-26) for the first time, and spoke to KMXT’s Kirsten Dobroth ahead of her trip to the island.