Alaska Entrepreneurship Week
Alaska's entrepreneurial fair. One week. Every community. The full ecosystem.
AKEW assembles Alaska's entire entrepreneurship support system into one coordinated week: organizations, mentors, lenders, workshops, and resources, visible and accessible to every community in the state.
What AKEW Does
Alaska has the organizations, the programs, and the people. What has been missing is the connective tissue. AKEW builds it.
Showcase What Exists
Alaska's entrepreneurship support infrastructure is substantial but fragmented. AKEW creates visibility: who does what, where, and for whom. During the week, every organization, program, and resource is on display in one statewide calendar.
Fill the Gaps
By assembling the full picture, AKEW exposes what is missing. Where there is no lending workshop, no mentor network, or no access to advising, AKEW recruits organizations and entrepreneurs to fill those gaps.
Deliver It Everywhere
City Leads and City Co-Leads in 7+ regions host events, create programming, and recruit additional organizers to bring the ecosystem to Fairbanks, Juneau, Kenai, Mat-Su, Valdez, rural communities, and online. Geography should not determine access to support.
From Anchorage to the Arctic
Most business programs happen in one city. AKEW is different. Coordinated by two Statewide Co-Chairs, AKEW reaches 7+ regions across Alaska through City Leads and City Co-Leads who host events, create programming, and recruit additional organizers in their communities.
How It Works
Three paths. One shared impact.
Attend
Browse the calendar and register for workshops, panels, and networking events in your region or online. Everything is free or low-cost.
Host
Organizations and entrepreneurs submit events. AKEW provides centralized promotion, scheduling coordination, and statewide visibility at no cost.
Sponsor
Invest directly in Alaska's entrepreneurial infrastructure. Sponsorships fund the coordination, promotion, and logistical support that make the week possible.
The Numbers
Three years of growth, driven entirely by community momentum.
Featured Events
Highlighted sessions from this year's Alaska Entrepreneurship Week.
#AKEWintheMatSu
It’s that time, and this year, the Mat-Su has been ACTIVATED! For our local AKEW kickoff celebration, we’re excited to…
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Small Businesses – Kodiak
Discover practical ways to use AI to save time, increase productivity, and grow your business! Join us on Monday, September…
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Marketing that Works: Practical Strategies for Growing Your Business – Kodiak
Create a marketing plan that helps customers find you, trust you, and keep coming back! Join us on Monday, September…
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Financial Projections: Building a Strong Business Foundation – Kodiak
Learn how to create realistic financial projections that support better business decisions and funding opportunities! Join us on Tuesday, September…
Learn MoreThree Types of Events
AKEW is an open platform. Anyone can host. Quality tiers help attendees know what to expect.
Featured Events
Curated sessions with actionable content, qualified presenters, and structured feedback. These events meet AKEW's quality criteria for format, content depth, and attendee value.
Partner Events
Hosted by established organizations (SBDC, chambers of commerce, universities, nonprofits) with existing programs. Leveraging AKEW's coordinated promotion to expand their reach.
Community Events
Grassroots events hosted by entrepreneurs, small business owners, or anyone with something valuable to share. Open mic, open door, open to all.
2026 Strategic Partners
No single organization covers Alaskan entrepreneurship. These four are chosen to cover it between them: the stages a founder moves through, and how far the reach extends beyond the state.
Junior Achievement Alaska (JA)
Covers the earliest stage, reaching students long before a business exists. Without it, the pipeline starts at the point where someone already has an idea.
UArctic Foundation US
Covers the step the other two leave between them, where a student or researcher becomes a founder, through a pre-seed incubator that has run three international cohorts since 2024. It also extends the map, placing Alaska inside a circumpolar network rather than at the end of one.
AK Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
Covers the operating years, advising Alaskans who are starting or already running a business from seven offices across the state. The longest stretch of the lifespan, and the widest coverage inside Alaska.
Tech Wildcatters
Covers what happens after a business works, when it outgrows its first market and needs capital to go further. Extends the reach furthest, to investors and markets well beyond Alaska and the Arctic.
Our Sponsors
These organizations invest directly in Alaska's entrepreneurial communities.
