FNBA: Making It / Issue #1

FROM TOOLS TO TACKLE, THREE GENERATIONS LEND A HAND AT SOLDOTNA’S HOMETOWN HARDWARE STORE

LETTER

FROM BETSY LAWER

Like many of you, I’ve literally grown up in my family’s business.

Pop was president of the bank, I was his sidekick on his Saturday morning business calls—dropping by to see his buddies, talking about hunting and fishing, and, along the way, discussing their current project.

We generally ended up at Peggy’s Café out by Merrill Field for a late Saturday morning brunch. My usual was a short stack of Peggy’s famous flapjacks.

For Pop, business wasn’t just a transaction, it was a relationship. One developed over the years, whether in a shop on Merrill Field, at the duck shack, on a river bank or in Peggy’s Café—one that had a rich history, that just got better over time.

Today, we still believe that business isn’t just a transaction, it’s a relationship. We offer Alaskans the convenience, service and value that only local knowledge provides and an awareness of what Alaska is all about. When a customer in Fairbanks calls to say they can’t make a payment on their bank loan, because they have to buy a new furnace, we understand—we know how important that furnace is when it’s 40 below. We know Alaska, we believe in the strength of our customers and neighbors.

First National is one of the many multi-generational businesses that have worked through the economic booms and busts to thrive in the Last Frontier—by taking care of customers and taking care of community.

A few of those stories will be told in this first edition of MAKING IT—Where Business is Anything but Usual. We’re excited to join with Alaska Dispatch News to sponsor this new endeavor, sharing

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MAKING IT | ISSUE #1

stories of Alaskans living, working and thriving in communities across our state.

Future editions will tell of Alaskans overcoming challenges, celebrating achievements and reaching for new heights. These are the stories of Alaska.

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Father-son Off-road Specialists

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Rakes, Rods and Thousands of Hot Dogs

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Like Father, Like Daughter

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Under One Roof

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A Fairbanks Family Endeavor

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Ask a Banker

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– Betsy Lawer

ALICE ROGOFF | Publisher MAIA NOLAN-PARTNOW | Editorial Director JAMIE GONZALES | Editor VIKI SPIROSKA | Production Coordinator JOSHUA GENUINO | Art Director Copyright © 2015 Alaska Dispatch News P.O. Box 149001 Anchorage, Alaska 99514

This publication was produced by the special content department of Alaska Dispatch News in collaboration with First National Bank Alaska, member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender. The ADN news department was not involved in its production.

BETSY LAWER, CHAIR AND PRESIDENT, FIRST NATIONAL BANK ALASKA

COURTESY PHOTO

HEN I WAS JUST A CHILD and my

Paving the Way for the PipEline

PROFILE

HARRIS SAND AND GRAVEL

The family:

Leo and Frances Harris, first generation founders/co-owners; siblings John Harris, Mary Ellen Murphy and Bill Harris (current owner)

The business:

Harris Sand and Gravel

The lesson:

Be the first guy to lend a hand, and a shovel, in a crisis. In 1964, HSG used their equipment and expertise to relocate the hard-hit Valdez town site after the Good Friday earthquake.

HARRIS SAND AND GRAVEL HELPED TO REBUILD VALDEZ

by Michaela Goertzen

OR SOMEONE WHO WAS just supplementing his income from a government job on evenings and weekends, Leo Harris, founder of Valdez-based Harris Sand and Gravel (HSG) left a real imprint on Alaska’s infrastructure.

Since 1958, Leo and his son Bill have laid the foundation for some of Alaska’s most historic projects. From the transAlaska oil pipeline to the relocation of Valdez after the 1964 earthquake, the Harrises have helped Alaskans build— and rebuild.

After the 1964 earthquake, Bill Harris remembers helping his father and grandfather with excavation work on weekends and after school.

“Dad kept enough equipment to help move houses from old Valdez to new Valdez,” Harris said, “and my grandfather moved homes for a living.”

During that time, the Harrises

also worked with Ed Walker and his son Bill (now Gov. Walker) moving houses to the new town site. Together, they helped to rebuild the community on the Sound, and just in time. Following that massive effort, Valdez became the oil pipeline terminal, and the Harrises had helped the town become stable enough to support the new infrastructure and opportunity.

As an industrial base took shape, there was civil infrastructure to be built. In the ’70s and ’80s, the company evolved again to take on more construction and civil projects.

Harris said that construction now brings in the most revenue and makes up 80 percent of the business.

But perhaps HSG’s greatest impact has been its efficient response to natural disasters, besides the earthquake. Like his father before him, Bill and his company continue to be among the first to respond when disaster strikes. When flooding washed out the road through Keystone

Canyon in 2006, HSG maintained the dyke protecting the Alpine Woods subdivision and helped to open the road. Then, in 2013, when an avalanche dammed the Lowe River, the company opened the only road connecting Valdez to the rest of the state, removing snow pack up to 70 feet in some areas.

During the life of HSG, each decade has brought a new challenge. From excavation to concrete to construction, the company owes its longevity to the Harrises’ ability to adapt and diversify.

Since its founding, the company has grown to 50 employees and has expanded its services to include aggregate supply,

concrete supply, asphalt paving, civil construction and marine construction. They also own and operate an ACE Hardware store and a welding shop and tackle multimillion-dollar projects, from constructing a new boat launch ramp in Homer to paving a road in Cordova to doing excavation work on the new boat harbor in Valdez.

“I’m positive he had no idea it would come to this,” Harris said of his father, with a lot of pride and a little chuckle. o

PHOTO BY GARY MINISH

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FEATURE

PROP SHOP

by Stephanie Prokop

RTES COU

Y PH

S OTO

PROP SHOP KEEPS BETHEL MOVING THROUGH THE WINTERS

raig Boney arrived

The family:

Craig Boney, founder; Steven Boney, second generation manager; Brittney Boney, third generation employee

The business:

Prop Shop

The lesson:

Save your back, hire your son.

‘I did not know how back-breaking it was going to be,’ Boney said, noting he couldn’t have run the shop all these years without the help of his son, Steven.

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MAKING IT | ISSUE #1

in Anchorage back in 1973 with nothing but a toolbox. A job in polar equipment drew him to Bethel, a coastal city then wet with bars and home to just 1,000 residents. The job offered a small raise, along with housing—which turned out to be a shack and honey bucket.

But still, Boney was young and adventurous and jumped at the chance.

“It looked like the Wild West out here,” he said. “There were lots of opportunities to do whatever you wanted.”

That included enjoying the Alaska landscape. After riding in a Super Cub, he wanted his pilot’s license, and he saved up to take flying lessons in San Diego. While Boney was there, his boss told him to have a nice life in California—he had just sold the business.

Boney returned to the Last Frontier jobless and rented a World War II Quonset

hut to repair snowmachines. He soon purchased the adjacent property and acquired a Yamaha dealership. That first winter, he had no financing and sold more than two dozen snowmobiles, one by one.

With a construction loan from First National Bank Alaska, he then set out to build the Prop Shop on Hangar Lake Road, designing it down to the sheetrock.

He took on Mariner outboards, followed by chainsaws and boats. He learned fabric work and could fix anything the marina folks brought him when commercial fishing was in full swing.

“I did not know how back-breaking it was going to be,” Boney said of the experience, noting he couldn’t have run the shop all these years without the help of his son, Steven.

Steven, Boney said, was raring to go since birth, born at the hospital’s emergency ramp, not even waiting to be admitted.

FEATURE

FATHER-SON OFF-ROAD SPECIALISTS

“...there is something about working with your family.

Not all fathers and sons can do it, but in our case it has turned out pretty well.” can do it, but in our case it has turned out pretty well.”

Steven, a certified technician, half owner of the Prop Shop and an Iron Dog competitor, says he enjoys not only mechanics but helping neighbors and friends, where everyone travels the same rivers and knows each other’s name. He and his wife have three daughters—the oldest is now working at the Prop Shop counter, and the youngsters pick up trash, making it a game.

“I’m excited,” he said. “I want to see if

they want to continue in the business.”

With a population that’s tripled since the elder Boney first settled in Bethel, there’s an ever-increasing need to keep things moving. Snowmobiles are not just for play; they’re transport tools that help villagers obtain water, wood and medical supplies.

“Our biggest service to the community,” Craig Boney said, “is being here and keeping their stuff running.” o

PHOTO BY KATIE BASILE

By the age of 3, he was playing with fourwheelers and mini-snowmachines, and before he was a teen, he had learned how to maintain and repair them. Steven chose whatever model he wanted to keep, but not for free—he paid his dad dealer costs.

“I could tell he was good with his hands and liked what he was doing,” Boney said.

“But I told him if he ever wanted to do something else, I would be glad to help.

He stuck with me, though, which is good, because there is something about working with your family. Not all fathers and sons

COURTESY PHOTO

ISSUE #1 | MAKING IT

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SPOTLIGHT

SCOTT DISCUSSES DOWNRIGGING WITH A CUSTOMER.

ING H S I F D N A RE A W D R IL A A H T E A R N T N I O E D AK SOL n H S D N Compto A a d H n a E m

by A KEEPS TH

or most shoppers, long gone are the days of a bakery, a milkman and a butcher shop with the butcher on hand to assist in selecting the perfect cut of meat. Specialty stores with skilled tradesmen are the exception in an economy that has shifted toward b i g box stores and smartphone shopping.

Soldotna Hardware and Fishing (also known as Trustworthy Hardware), on the Kenai Peninsula, offers both the benefits of the old days and the new. Owned by 75-year-old Paul Miller and his two sons, Brian and Scott, Soldotna’s go-to place for hardware and outdoor-related items is more than a store; it’s an establishment.

Scott, now 43, began working in the store in its early days, when he was 15, doing everything from unloading vans to cleaning toilets.

“It was great,” Scott said. “It was fun because Dad made sure it was a family ordeal and we were all part of it. I enjoyed being with him.”

When asked about his hobbies, Brian, 51, responded, “The store.” He means it. His passion is retail. According to Scott, no one can intuit a customer’s needs like his brother.

“It’s one of those jobs you have to love,” Brian said. “You have to love working for the public and the whole aspect of retail. It’s very rewarding to be involved with this store.”

How does Soldotna Hardware and Fishing compete with the larger chain stores in a region

SOLDOTNA HARDWARE AND FISHING

“It was fun because Dad made sure it was a family ordeal and we were all part of it. I enjoyed being with him,” said Scott, on starting work in the store when he was 15.

TOM CORR, FAMILY FRIEND, BUILDING A GREENHOUSE.

bursting with outdoor adventurers?

“We fight them tooth and nail,” Brian said.

“We run a lot of promotions and spend a lot of time out at buying shows, finding unique products and good deals to offer the community. We make sure we’re competitive.”

Nobody’s better at sniffing out a deal than Paul Miller, said his sons. He will hunt out every chance to save his customers some money.

“He likes to go to shows and dig up odd or fantastic deals,” Scott said. “It’s his forte. Brian

our store has the best experience possible, gets the product they need and leaves with a smile,” Brian said.

Soldotna Hardware and Fishing outgrew its original site and moved to a new location around 10 years ago. Though the store was three times the size of the former location, it was important to Paul to keep the same smalltown atmosphere.

“It would have been cheaper to do a sterile big box store look,” said Scott. But Paul wanted to

“We all have our jobs to do and we do them,” said Brian. “All of us are good at certain things and we had a great teacher—our dad.” and I have learned that to a point, but Dad’s got a head start on us.”

One item Paul spied that he thought might have a market in mosquito-infested Alaska was an electric bug racket. It proved to be a popular gadget; the store sells around 15,000 of them a year. They also sell more than 15,000 fishing rods and three 40-foot van loads of hip waders every year. They say Soldotna Hardware and Fishing is the largest fishing tackle dealer in the state.

“Our practice is that everyone that comes in

stay with the board and batten siding and wood floors, similar to the old location, that made it more approachable and old fashioned.

At the new store’s grand opening celebration, there were lines around the building and the fire department showed up, clicking customers’ entrances and exits to maintain legal occupancy.

“The community came out in such droves to support us,” Scott said. “Dad wanted to do something special for people to hang on to.”

Paul had bought 3,500 silver dollars, which

HALEY, ROXY AND MELIA MILLER.

Scott’s two daughters, 5 and 8 at the time, handed out until they were gone. To this day their owners still show them off.

“That’s special to him,” Scott said.

The store holds a huge sale every year on its anniversary, giving away two $1,000 shopping sprees and a $2,500 greenhouse. They also cook and serve anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 hot dogs during the event.

“It’s a carnival-type atmosphere,” Scott said.

In addition to customer service, Paul also takes pride in the family aspect of the business. Roxy, Scott’s wife, is a full-time bookkeeper; Sherril, Paul’s wife, assists with bookkeeping during the busier times. Both of Scott’s daughters, Haley and Melia, work summers at the store as well. Brian’s two boys, Dustin and Zane, have also been working at the store, helping with bait, making lures, store maintenance and the ever important “heavy lifting.”

“We’ve always been proud of Dad, and hopefully that work ethic has been passed on to us,” Scott said. “We trust each other and give each other space to bring our assets to the store.

We have different personalities, and it just so happens it works. It’s a pretty special relationship.”

“It’s a unique situation that family members can work together on a daily basis and get along well,” Brian added. “We all have our jobs to do and we do them. All of us are good at certain things and we had a great teacher—our dad.” o

The family:

Paul and Sherril Miller, founders; siblings Brian and Scott Miller, second generation co-owners; Dustin, Zane, Roxy, Haley and Melia Miller, second- and third-generation staffers

The business:

Soldotna Hardware and Fishing

The lesson:

Listen to your dad. ‘We’ve always been proud of Dad, and hopefully that work ethic has been passed on to us,’ Scott said. ‘We trust each other and give each other space to bring our assets to the store. We have different personalities, and it just so happens it works.’

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PROFILE

KELLEY & CANTERBURY

The family:

Leonard “Len” Kelley, father/coowner; Michaela Kelley Canterbury and Christopher Canterbury, second generation co-owners

The business:

Kelley & Canterbury, L.L.C.

A DREAM TEAM OF HOMETOWN LAWYERS

by Michaela Goertzen

y job is to tell

my clients’ stories,” Michaela Kelley Canterbury said over lunch, recalling a case in which a cancer survivor got a rare kind of food poisoning from a Valley-grown vegetable. In this worst case of scenarios, the poisoning caused erosion of the sheaths around the patient’s nerves, which in turn began to shut down her entire nervous system. It was just one example of the complex and devastating cases that bring personal injury plaintiffs to the law firm of Kelley & Canterbury for help.

On the client level, the cases require investigative work, a competent understanding of technical medical terms and some serious interpersonal skills. In the courtroom, they involve simplifying medical mystery cases and litigating them before judge and jury. The work can be as emotional as it is demanding, and it requires quite a skill set and a lot of teamwork.

The Kelley & Canterbury team is a family partnership at its core. Michaela works alongside her father, Leonard (Len) Kelley, and her husband, Chris Canterbury. Together the family members pool their diverse skills and resources and work through the most trying cases.

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MAKING IT | ISSUE #1

An outdoorsman who moved his family north to live the Alaska dream, Len had been a commercial fisherman, air traffic controller, butcher and old car refurbisher by the time he began his law practice in Anchorage in the ’70s.

“My father’s example was most definitely inspirational,” Michaela said of her career choice. That, and “What else do you do with a degree in political science and philosophy/theology?”

The operation was made even richer with the marriage of Michaela and Chris, who share a near-parallel upbringing. Both were born in Maryland; both attended Chugiak High School; each has one younger sister; and each of their parents moved to Alaska in the ‘70s. Michaela graduated from her grandmother’s alma mater, Duquesne University. Chris graduated from his grandfather’s alma mater, Hamilton College.

Similarities aside, Michaela said she knew Chris was the one when they were on a trip to Seattle. One afternoon while she was taking a nap, he went to Nordstrom and selected, coordinated and purchased a courtroom ensemble for her “from shoes to earrings,” she said, still impressed.

Today, the three of them make an incred-

The lesson:

Celebrate your differences. ‘Clients say that if you want to know the best thing about a case, ask Len; if you want to know what’s wrong with the case, ask Chris; if you want to get stuff done, ask Michaela.’

ible team: Len, the seasoned legal counsel and client conversationalist; Michaela, the partner, litigator and hockey mom who makes spaghetti and mooseballs for her son’s team before a big game; and Chris, the Columbia-trained corporate lawyer turned local attorney and little league coach.

They each contribute something professional and personal — the trademark of their family practice. As Michaela tells it, their clients will say that if you want to know the best thing about a case, ask Len; if you want to know what’s wrong with the case, ask Chris; if you want to get stuff done, ask Michaela.

Though a picture-perfect partnership, the transition wasn’t so seamless.

After a series of prestigious jobs and clerkships, Chris joined Len and Michaela, and the firm extended its practice to the Mat-Su by operating a satellite office in the Valley. But when Len had a heart attack at home shortly after returning from a moose hunt, the family had to rally and regroup.

“I don’t think we realized how serious it was at the time,” Michaela said, “because he was the biggest man in our lives.” Following a quintuple bypass surgery, it was all hands on deck. “I had to do triage on the cases

dad had to try, my sister was getting married, and we had a dead moose to cut up,” Michaela said.

Though forced by circumstance, a logical transition took place in which the team decided to close the Valley office, consolidate their office space and caseloads and create the Anchorage-based firm Kelley & Canterbury LLC. The work can be very sensitive, and in turn, very rewarding. Interacting with clients, patients and families on such a personal level, being a family practice and having a wide social network in their hometown means a lot to the Kelley & Canterbury team. It’s why Chris and Michaela came back to Alaska.

“The practice of law is changing … It’s more of a transactional situation in the Lower 48,” Michaela said. “But it’s important to our clients that we’re from here and that we know them. Alaska is still a gem that way, and I can still be that kind of attorney.”

In addition, knowing them gets a lot of people from their large community of family, friends and clients disqualified from jury duty, Michaela joked. But nobody seems to mind. o

Q&A

NOMAR

The family:

THE EXTENDED FAMILY BUSINESS AT NOMAR Making It: What were the kids’ roles in both businesses when they were young? What kinds of jobs did you have them doing?

Kate: Richard was moving boats when he was 13, detailing them, working inside and out. Jennifer, being little, was the bilge monkey. She could crawl down and get stuff out of the bilges. And I remember her cutting webbing and learning to sew when she was nine. working for Mom and Dad at that stage?

Kate: Well, they always say that if you want

Making It: What are some of the benefits

the kids to be a part of it, you can’t sit at the dinner table and complain about it all the time. In the early years, they heard all about how hard it is to be in business, and when they graduated, Homer was still quite small. They both got one-way tickets out of here.

Jennifer: Our house was right in the boatyard, so we lived right there. Our parents were there for us all the time. I don’t know—looking back, it was just our life. I thought everyone lived in a business and greeted customers with cute smiles and talked about it at the dinner table every night. I thought that’s what life was.

PHOTO BY SCOTT DICKERSON

husband, Ben Mitchell, was in the Coast Guard. They were transferred to Homer in 1978 and took their business with them as Mitchell’s Marine Canvas and Upholstery. Their original Homer shop was in a school bus, and the kids, not surprisingly, were there all the time. In 1980, they purchased the Homer Boatyard on Kachemak Drive and ran both businesses simultaneously. The kids—Jennifer and Richard—grew up in the business and have now been following in their parents’ footsteps for more than 20 years.

Don’t be afraid of new ideas. ‘That’s the good part, taking what was the good foundation of Mom and Dad getting something started, and then the fresh ideas and the better ways of doing things, and taking it forward.’

Jennifer: Being in Homer was a big pull. After leaving, I missed it terribly. I’d moved to Colorado where there was no ocean. And I didn’t even leave for very long.

Making It: And how did they feel about

ness. Ben and Kate Mitchell are the founding members who work sideby-side with second generation shareholders Richard Mitchell and Jennifer Mitchell Hakala.

Kate learned the upholstery trade from her own mother growing up in Washington and started doing boat canvas work in Ketchikan in the 1970s when her

The business:

NOMAR

The lesson:

by Kris Farmen

OMAR, a custom marine upholstery and sewing shop in Homer, is a family-run busi-

Ben and Kate Mitchell, founders; siblings Richard Mitchell and Jennifer Mitchell Hakala, second generation management team

Making It: Kate, could you tell me a little about your business objectives after you moved into t he new shop on Pioneer Avenue?

Kate: It was important to make this yearround, because once you’ve got somebody trained in sewing, it just breaks your heart to have to lay them off in the fall. And then they might not be there in the spring. Our goal was that we would create one more year-round job. First it was one, then two.

It didn’t happen fast. We’re at a point now where we have 15, and we’re trying to hold the line on that.

Making It: Jen, what made you want NOMAR to be your career when you returned to Alaska?

and frustrations of working with your family?

Kate: The challenge is keeping it very

businesslike with this many of us. At this point, the other challenge is the transfer of ownership, and setting things up where they can be vested in shares, that sort of thing. It’s a slow transition from one generation to the next.

Making It: Have the kids brought anything new to the business? Is there any sort of push-pull dynamic there?

Kate: They’re two more skilled people with fresh ideas, and little by little we’ve added new machinery and challenged the old way of doing things with more modern technology. That’s the good part, taking what was the good foundation of Mom and Dad getting something started, and then the fresh ideas and the better ways of doing things, and taking it forward.

Making It: So is retirement in the future for Mom and Dad? Jennifer: (Laughs) We’ve been on the fiveyear plan for about 15 years now. It’s been talked about for quite a while. Various strategies of doing it don’t always come to fruition. This is a hard transition, for sure.

There’s still a lot of information in Kate’s brain that we’re trying to upload. We have a plan, but I don’t think she’ll ever not come here, which is a good thing. We need her! o

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PROFILE

FLOWLINE

The family:

Rick Schok Sr., founder; siblings Richard, Genevieve, Dan and Melanie Schok, second-generation management team

The business:

Flowline Alaska, Inc.

The lesson:

Respect the boss, whoever it is.

‘The Schok siblings, the second generation to take charge at Flowline, learned early on to work well together and keep one rule in mind: Whoever is in charge is the boss. Period.’

FAMILY-OWNED FLOWLINE PROTECTS THE INTERIOR

by Stephanie Prokop

(L TO R) RICK SR., GENEVIEVE AND RICHARD PHOTO BY TODD PARIS

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MAKING IT | ISSUE #1

laska’s economy was forever changed upon discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay. In 1981, Rick Schok Sr. decided to seize the opportunity. He headed to Fairbanks and founded Flowline Alaska, choosing a location off Phillips Field Road in close vicinity to rail lines.

Initially, Flowline insulated thousands of miles of steel pipe for companies on the North Slope. Without this critical component, pipelines in the largest oil field in North America could not operate in Arctic temperatures. Today, the family-owned business has four production facilities, a quality control lab and a full line of services from welding to fabrication and corrosion coatings.

Schok Sr. says his company’s focus is on customer service, an I-will-help-youin-any-way-you-want ideal. As a result, Flowline was recently recognized by ConocoPhillips for teamwork as part of the oil company’s global Supplier Recognition Award program.

“We don’t run a fast food restaurant with millions of people walking in and out,” said Schok Sr. “Every client is valued.

We need to be there, reliable as concrete, consistent, and sell a good product.

Pretty simple.”

While the types of services Flowline provides have remained steady through the decades, there have been dramatic changes in the amount of industry investment, based on the price of oil. When oil prices climb, small companies connected to

the energy sector receive more business, and when oil goes down, exploration and projects contract.

“We have a handle on what you’re going to expect dollar-volume-wise,” said Schok Sr. Flowline manages activity based on oil production forecasts, so existing projects may be put on hold as needed. Some years will require as many as 140 employees; other years it’s down to half.

Family-owned businesses have to be careful navigating interpersonal relationships, and the Schok siblings, the second generation to take charge at Flowline, learned early on to work well together and keep one rule in mind: Whoever is in charge is the boss. Period.

Two brothers and two sisters are all integral parts of the enterprise, with each member responsible for specific functions from accounting to operations. Genevieve Schok serves as manager and marketing director, representing Flowline at local events and the chamber of commerce.

Richard Schok, president, acts on opportunities for expansion.

“It’s either that or unclogging a toilet,” he said. “You have to do what you have to do to keep things running.” He started out sweeping floors as a youngster and, after college, returned to the business full-time, working his way up the ranks while his dad steered the ship.

Now retired, Schok Sr. said he retains his equity interest and the kids run the show.

“They all do a great job, probably better than I did, and I’m happy that they decided to stay.” o

ADVI C E

ASK A BANKER

Q: What’s the right way and the right time to hand over the reins to the family business?

SUCCESSION PLANNING

A: We field this kind of question more

often than you’d think. The short answer is: There is no short answer (but we’ll try). Alaska is unique in the U.S. in that it’s a land of firstgeneration wealth. This is the first hand-off. The Lower 48 is a land of second, third, fourth-generation wealth, so succession planning— charting the right course for your business after you step aside—is old hat down there. But this question is relatively new for Alaskans and it’s an important one.

Succession planning is something you should revisit year after year with your family, your senior employees and your banker. The right answer for your business — and your family — will evolve over time and the best thing you can do is start talking about it today.

Q: Why should I start planning now?

A: Taxes. This might be obvious, but

starting the conversation now with financial advisors will ensure there are no tax day surprises when you decide the time is right to sell your business.

Risk. The business owners looking to retire right now, Baby Boomers, are a big generation. The generations coming up underneath them to buy are much smaller. So Boomers are actually in competition amongst each other to sell their businesses to a smaller pool. Plan first; get ahead of the curve.

Second-generation success.

Successors need ample time to download valuable business

knowledge from the matriarchs and patriarchs at the helm of a family business. Could your successor — whether it’s a family member or an outside buyer — shadow you throughout the day and envision duplicating what you do? Or do you run your business in such a style that nobody could get in your mind and imagine running it? If so, it’s time to streamline. Write a manual.

Commit your processes to paper. A business is only going to be worth what somebody is willing to pay, and who would buy something that’s only in your mind?

Q: OK. So how do I start the succession planning process?

A: In football, you pick a quarterback

and huddle up to discuss strategy. Same here. Tell your banker you want to discuss succession planning and she/he will put you in touch with business succession experts. The process will really be driven by your goals. What’s important to you? Is it to take care of your kids? Are kids not part of the equation? Is it to take care of your employees? Remember: You don’t have to know all the answers when you first sit down. We’ll have a conversation—or several—and help bring those goals out. Once those goals are defined, we can implement the techniques that make the most sense for your retirement and the longevity of your hard-built business. o Bob Tannahill and Matt Anderson of First National Bank Alaska Trust Department helped answer your succession planning questions.

For more infor mation , v i sit FNBAlaska.com or call 907-777-4560.

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We believe in Alaska business In Alaska,

there’s no such thing as “business as usual.”

From permafrost to daunting logistics and a changing economy, Alaska businesses face unique challenges.

Hard work, commitment, innovation. These are the hallmarks of Alaska business.

First National Bank Alaska began as a small community business. We’re local bankers who understand your business and what it takes to succeed.

Jenny Mahlen Vice President

NMLS# 640297

Learn how local knowledge and experience make the difference. Call 907-777-4362 or 1-800-856-4362.

We Believe in Alaska

FNBAlaska.com