The borough assembly is moving forward with a strategic plan to strengthen the region’s maritime industry after unanimously approving on March 24 a new partnership with Ketchikan.

Borough Manager Mason Villarma presented a resolution to unite the borough with the City of Ketchikan and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough to seek a federal “maritime prosperity zone” designation.

This proposed designation was described as a part of a broader national effort to restore American maritime dominance, which is something President Donald Trump called for in an executive order.

If the application is successful, Wrangell-Ketchikan would become one of 100 communities in the United States to receive the status. It could provide the region with enhanced federal subsidies and technical support to build up its waterfront infrastructure.

Wrangell already has filed for a $50 million federal grant to redevelop the 6-Mile Mill property for potential construction and operation of a shipyard by JAG Marine Group, which already operates a shipyard in Ketchikan.

By working together, the communities have formed what they call the Southeast Alaska Maritime Industrial Corridor. The goal of this alliance is to secure home ports for vessels and develop sophisticated maintenance facilities that can serve commercial and government ships.

“We realized that there’s strength in a partnership with Ketchikan to get the home ports and to get the maintenance facilities together,” Villarma said, adding that the collaboration shows the two areas are not in direct competition. Instead, the effort is designed to address a major lack of maritime service capacity in the state.

Currently, approximately 60% of the maintenance work for vessels operating in Alaska is sent to shipyards in Washington and California, he said. Villarma explained that those out-of-state yards are becoming overcrowded, leaving a significant opening for Wrangell to capture that business.

“It’s not that we’re going to cannibalize Ketchikan yards in any way,” he said. “As our national security fleet continues to grow at the Coast Guard and U.S. Navy, there’s opportunities for Alaska to create jobs and do that work here.”

The assembly is also looking toward future cooperation with Petersburg. While no formal decisions have been made, leaders are exploring ways to responsibly manage shared resources. Similar joint resolutions with Petersburg may appear before the assembly in the coming weeks as the borough continues to expand its maritime economy.