Ketchikan is an industrial center and a major port of entry in Southeast Alaska, with a diverse economy. Ketchikan is supported by a large fishing fleet, fish processing facilities, timber and wood products manufacturing, and tourism.

Ketchikan Pulp Corporation’s pulp mill closed in March 1997, forcing 400 residents into unemployment. To ease the affects of the shut-down, the U.S. Forest Service is allocating timber for the saw mill to continue operations for three additional years.

Several smaller timber companies are also based in Ketchikan. Local government leaders and business people are working to develop new wood-products plants that could create more jobs while cutting fewer trees. The state operates the Deer Mountain Hatchery which produces over 450,000 King, Coho, Steelhead and Rainbow Trout annually.

438 area residents hold commercial fishing permits. Four canneries, three cold storage facilities and a fish processing plant support the fishing industry in summer months. Over 480 cruise ships dock in Ketchikan each summer, bringing over 300,000 annual visitors.

A new Ketchikan Visitors Assoc. office building was completed in 1998, with a visitors’ center and retail sales space for 20 tourism operators. Mining may play a role in the future, as U.S. Borax is studying construction of a molybdenum mine at Quartz Hill.