edwin Bifelt

founder/ceo/owner/project manager, AlAskA nAtive RenewAble industRies; presIdent/owner, sCoRChed eARth seRviCes; prIncIpal consultant/ owner, ZAne hills CApitAl

educatIon: Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Finance, University of Alaska Fairbanks (2009); MBA, UAF (2013); Residential & Commercial Photovoltaic Systems Certificate (2018), Solar Business and Technical Sales Certificate (2018), Solar Energy International

communIty work: Living in a small remote community in rural Alaska, I don’t get to do a lot of community work in terms of any official programs. But living in Huslia, rural Alaska and along the Koyukuk River, we always come together and help out as a community and region for community events, gatherings and occasions. We do live in a tight-knit community so its common for all to help out as much as we can.

famIly: Kale Vent (7), Bobby Vent (6), sons; Fred Lee and Audrey Bifelt, family

hometown: I was born and raised in Huslia, a small rural community along the Koyukuk River in Interior Alaska. I lived in Fairbanks for about 10 years, but moved home in 2013 to be closer to family and start my businesses.

current cIty: Huslia

what Is your most memorable

alaska experIence? Well living in Alaska, certainly provides a good amount of experiences. The most recent experience was traveling by snowmachine from Huslia to Kotzebue (300 miles) this past April to help out my brother in law DJ Starr in the Kobuk 440 dog race. We experienced some pretty extreme weather and ground storms, but it was a memorable trip and it was great to finally visit our neighboring region the Northwest Arctic.

name the person you most respect

and why. It’s tough to name one person, but my parents Fred and Audrey definitely come to mind. They’ve provided for myself and my siblings tremendously and now do all they can for their grandchildren. My paternal (late Cue and Madeline Bifelt) and maternal (Helen Attla and late Alfred Attla Sr.) grandparents have also been very great teachers, and I learned a lot about project management while working construction with my late grandfather Alfred Attla Sr.

There are also many local leaders that I have looked up to. Chris Simon (CEO of K’oyitl’ots’ina, Limited and Doyon, Limited Chairman) has always been a mentor and a positive role model for myself and many throughout Interior Alaska.

what Is your favorIte pastIme or hobby away from

work? Again tough one. Have always loved playing basketball and baseball. Hunting and spending time outdoors snow-machining in winter and boating in the summer time are high on the list.

favorIte quote: “I have conquered for you a large empire, but my life was too short to take the whole world. that I leave to you.” – Genghis Khan

what was your fIrst job? Raking leaves and doing yard work for $5 an hour when I was about 11 or 12, in order to raise money to attend basketball camp.

what Is the book you most often

recommend? “The Big Short”; “Shadows on the Koyukuk”

what has been your most rewardIng communIty servIce, and what Is your pItch when you are seekIng others to get

Involved In a cause? Not really any specific cause but providing education and training opportunities for rural Alaska youth and young adults is something that I encourage all to assist with when they can in addition to encouraging local hire on rural Alaska projects.

ANRI pursues local hire to the greatest extent that we can on our rural solar PV projects.

In your professIonal lIfe, what has been a project or achIevement you have found to be the most fulfIllIng?

Building both ANRI (construction contractor) and S.E.S Fire (federal wildland fire contractor) has been a challenge but very fulfilling to see these businesses scale and grow into legitimate statewide/nationwide contractors.

durIng the past year, what has been your bIggest pandemIc-related challenge eIther personally or professIonally and

how have you worked to overcome It? Last year was definitely a challenge due to the number of employees we had. We had 15 to 20 ANRI hires on the Kotzebue solar project and a minimum of 20 crewmembers for our S.E.S Fire crew which went on fire assignments for over 40 days in California. The threat from the global pandemic was always a risk, but thankfully we made it through the year without any cases (except for myself). We hope that we can have a safe and successful season this year as well.