WINTER 2020
TRADITION, TRIALS and TRIUMPH STORIES OF BUSINESS SUCCESS IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY
Leaps of A SERIES OF
This publication was produced by the special content department of Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with First National Bank Alaska, member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender. The ADN news department was not involved in its production.
Faith
PUBLISHER
ANDY PENNINGTON EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
NINA WLADKOWSKI SALES MANAGER
KIERA CLARK DESIGNER
ROMNEY DODD ISN’T AFRAID TO TAKE CHANCES WHEN ALASKANS ARE STANDING BEHIND HER
LEVI BROWN
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 3 5 8 10 12
A SERIES OF LEAPS OF FAITH A NEW VISION FOR VETERINARY CARE SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR EVERY STUDENT A COMMUNITY LIFELINE WHAT’S FOR DINNER? KEEPING CORONAVIRUS AT BAY
Dishes. Clogs. Fish. Anchorage artist Romney Dodd paints on just about anything except the expected. In the course of her career, Dodd has dressed up dining tables, launched a viral footwear trend, and put a new twist on taxidermy. Each new medium has come with a lot of uncertainty, and each has been a resounding success — something Dodd attributes to the support of her community. “[Alaskans] support local artists,” Dodd said. “Always have.”
Leaps of faith Dodd started making art for a living in 1991, after the birth of her first child. During her maternity leave, she began painting and selling ceramics. By the second month, she was earning more each month selling hand-painted platters and pitchers than she had as an airline customer service agent. So she took a chance, quit that job and never looked back. Dodd’s kiln is largely dormant these days, although she does fire some ceramics from time to time, and she said she’ll go back to it eventually. “I don’t ever give up what I’ve done, but I continue to
1 | MAKING IT
grow as something new presents itself,” she said. And you never know when something new will present itself. That’s what happened with the clogs. “I had a pair of old, tired Danskos in the studio,” Dodd said. “They were the red nubuck, and I painted them. I wore them into Skinny Raven, and Daniel (Greenhalgh, the company’s then president and now owner) said, ‘Oh my god, I could sell those like crazy.’” He sent her home with a case of shoes to paint. They sold almost immediately, and an Alaska trend was born. Soon the Romney clog was Anchorage’s must-have fashion accessory and by 2004, Dodd was painting original clogs for sale at Nordstrom and in Dansko stores.
A parade of salmon These days, Dodd paints fish — skin mounts that she bought from a local taxidermist. It all started when a customer asked for an original piece similar to one she’d painted for Anchorage’s Wild Salmon on Parade event. “I didn’t even know what a skin mount was,” Dodd said. “I saw all of the fish in the shop and the idea just started. I just thought — ‘I could do something with that.’” She didn’t have room for a roomful of fish mounts in her home studio, so it was time to move into a bigger space. Dodd rented a storefront downtown and opened a new workspace and gallery. It was a bit of a gamble, but one she was ready to make. “It definitely is a leap of faith,” she said. “Every single time. I’d be like, ‘OK, I’ll lease the space.’ ‘OK, I’ll buy those fish.’” Dodd’s salmon start at about $700 and can run as high as $12,000 for custom commissions. The price is based not just on her time, materials and expenses, but
PHOTOS COURTESY OF OPHIRA GROUP on the decades she has invested in growing as an artist. “I need to cover my costs and also reward myself for the lifelong effort it’s taken me to get where I am,” she said. “These fish, for instance, are just incredibly unique.” It’s a cue Dodd takes from another respected Alaska artist, Byron Birdsall. “People would say ‘How long did it take you to paint that?’ and he’d say, ‘Oh, about 78 years,’” she said. “It took time and courage and the willingness to step into spaces that are unknown.” Dodd’s latest leap of faith will take her further into the world of taxidermy, this time with animal head mounts. “I’m in the animal rescue business now,” she joked. “I got all these animals from a wildlife museum in Anchor Point. I’m priming them and sculpting them… they won’t look like taxidermy mounts anymore.” If it sounds a little bit crazy… well, Dodd is OK with that, and so are her patrons. “Sometimes things get scary — maybe overwhelming, but certainly exciting,” she said. “It’s so fun. That’s what fuels the energy and the ideas.”
An artist’s finances Dodd treasured the years she had working at home as a young mother. She’d get up in the middle of the night to nurse a baby, then sneak off to her studio to paint. “I was so lucky to be able to carve out my life in that way, that I could be home with my kids,” she said. There was a tradeoff — financial stability. Being a full-time working artist doesn’t exactly come with a steady paycheck. “I’ve never planned my finances,” Dodd said. “That is the honest-to-god truth. I guess that’s an artist’s way. I don’t think any of us do. But it always worked out.” There were times over the years when Dodd had to resort to what she calls “creative financing” — robbing Peter to pay Paul. Trying to map out a profit and loss statement is more or less impossible. But these days, work is steady and the financial problems she encounters tend to be the good kind — like when her Affordable Care Act insurance got more expensive because her income increased.
My community offers me the confidence to be courageous It also helps that she learned some lessons about financial responsibility at a young age. “When I was like 11 or 12, I wanted a bike in the worst way,” Dodd said. “I’d only had hand-me-downs. It was a Centurion from Fairweather Sports.” Dodd had saved her money, but she was still only about halfway to being able to buy her bike. So her dad took her to meet with Dan Cuddy, then president of First National Bank Alaska. Dodd had opened her first savings account with the bank when
Dodd’s studio in downtown Anchorage. she was just 6 years old. “He was very serious about it,” Dodd said. She recalled that Cuddy told her, “You know, young lady, if you don’t make payments on your bicycle, we’ll have to take it away.” She agreed to the loan terms and financed her first brandnew bicycle, making $11 payments each month until she owned it outright. A few years later, when she turned 16, she did it again, meeting with Cuddy and putting 50 percent down on a Honda Accord. “That was such a great experience, and certainly built that trust with the bank,” she said. “Just to be comfortable dealing with an adult, with a banker, our local community bank — (it was) such a cool experience.”
Community and confidence Today, the original First National Bank Alaska branch sits just across the street from Dodd’s latest leap of faith — her downtown Anchorage studio, located at 420 G St. “The downtown shop really has changed everything for me,” she said. “Changing from a home studio to a public space definitely — I don’t know if it’s given more credibility to my work or just changed it up. And it’s changed up my perspective, too. I show up differently in my business.” Now she welcomes the public into her studio and enjoys the sense of community and friendship when locals stop in for First Friday events. It’s a new chapter in the story of her life in downtown Anchorage. “I am so lucky,” Dodd said. “I feel so fortunate every day, really. I live downtown. I walk to work. I go paint. I can take a break, walk home, walk back down and paint late if I want.” Community support is a big part of the reason Dodd has been able to make it all work. Local galleries and customers have supported her from the very beginning. While Anchorage has grown and changed over the years, Dodd said that community spirit has stayed strong. “I feel like the sense of community is definitely still here,” she said. “People come and go, we have new influences, but we do still have the community.” That’s why she’s been able to make so many leaps into the unknown, Dodd said — because she knows her hometown fans
The artist among her elements. have her back, whether she’s painting flowers on their footwear or exploring the artistic possibilities of taxidermy. “My community totally supports me,” Dodd said. “That support of my community gives me the confidence to do crazy things. My community offers me the confidence to be courageous.”
MAKING IT | 2
New
Vision A
FOR VETERINARY
CARE
DR. SEAN AND DR. SARA MCPECK ARE VETS — AND THEY’RE VETS — BRINGING THEIR EXPERIENCE TO PALMER Going to the veterinarian often isn’t much fun for pets — or their owners. But Wasilla resident Claire Swigard says when she takes her three-year-old Malemute to the vet, he can’t wait to get inside. “Jackson is so excited to get to go there,” Swigard said. Swigard and Jackson go to Tier 1 Veterinary Medical Center in Palmer, a new business that’s rethinking the way veterinary care is delivered in Alaska — with full-service offerings, top-ofthe-line equipment and a lowstress philosophy informed by the owners’ experiences as military veterinarians.
Vets in more ways than one Veterinarians Dr. Sean and Dr. Sara McPeck served in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan, where they were both deployed with the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps. Sean, who enlisted in 1996, had twice been selected for the Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment — once as an enlisted soldier and again 13 years later as a captain after he returned to active duty while in veterinary school. It was during his multiple deployments to Afghanistan, caring for the Marines’ IED detection dogs, and within Special Operations, that Sean McPeck began to envision a different kind of veterinary practice. As part of his work, he was involved in designing kennels and hospitals for military dogs, who can experience stress
Tier 1’s services include emergency care, diagnostic testing, surgery, therapy, acupuncture and more. PHOTOS COURTESY OF TIER 1 VETERINARY MEDICAL CENTER
3 | MAKING IT
and trauma just as humans who serve in the military. As he learned to recognize and treat canine post-traumatic stress disorder, he imagined an animal hospital that would minimize stress for pets and owners alike. When the McPecks’ daughter was born, Sean decided it was time to transition from his career in active duty to the civilian world. The McPecks chose to settle in the Mat-Su area, where Sean spent his childhood, raised in a log house built by his father, Hugh McPeck. Today, their family has grown to include three children, two dogs, an elusive cat, and some fish the cat has not yet found. “Chop wood, carry water — that’s how I grew up. That is how a lot of Alaskans grow up,” Sean said. Although Sara didn’t grow up in Alaska, Sean said she embraced the northern lifestyle, too. A former collegiate field hockey player, this year she officially became a “hockey mom,” and she’s quickly learning how the rules change from the field to the rink.
A new kind of veterinary practice Knowing how much Alaskans love their animals, and with firsthand experience treating working dogs for both physical and mental trauma, the McPecks wanted to build a veterinary practice unlike any other in the state. “I wanted to create an extraordinary animal hospital for Alaskans
The McPeck family.
The building for Tier 1 was specially designed and built from the ground up to house multiple veterinary services.
and other doctors of veterinary medicine alike,” said Sean McPeck. In the military community, McPeck said, “Tier 1” refers to elite special operations forces such as the 75th Ranger Regiment, and the business has also provided a way for the McPecks to lend a hand to other military families. In addition to the McPecks’ Army backgrounds, Sean McPeck teaches Canine Tactical Combat Casualty Care courses for federal and local law enforcement personnel and emergency responders across the country, including the Anchorage Police Department and Alaska State Troopers. The medical center also offers a discount to military and law enforcement personnel.
FNBA saw how this could shape our community Applying the leadership and team-building skills they learned in the military, the McPecks set out to build a business that would emphasize attracting and retaining talent, from support staff to specialists. To promote training and education, Tier 1 was built with a 40-person classroom in the heart of the building, with observation windows overlooking the main surgical suite. The business offers courses for the general public, such as animal first aid, as well as an in-house career training program. “Within two years we can prepare candidates who are motivated and want to learn to be ready to take the national exam to become a licensed veterinary technician, without leaving the state,” McPeck said. Tier 1’s building is designed with its patients’ comfort in mind. Waiting areas are intentionally crafted to minimize stressful interactions between animals. Built-in sound dampening helps reduce unfamiliar noises.
Relaxing pheromones are diffused in the exam rooms and placed in kennels and carriers. “We try to incorporate what is called a ‘fear-free’ technique,” McPeck said. “A lot of it has to do with body language, being able to recognize an animal when they’re stressed.” Tier 1 also uses a “less is more” approach to restraint, he added, to avoid triggering animals’ natural instincts to try and break loose. And true to the original vision, Tier 1 has brought numerous specialty services under one roof. In addition to general veterinary care, the medical center’s offerings include emergency care, hospitalization and medical boarding, diagnostic testing such as CT scans and fluoroscopy, surgery, stem cell therapy, acupuncture and specialists in oncology and surgery. The facility also has a 2,000-square-foot rehabilitation and conditioning center with canine treadmills (including one underwater treadmill) and other equipment to treat dogs with arthritis, obesity and post-surgical rehab needs.
Funding the vision Building a medical center from the ground up has required a significant investment in the facility, equipment and staff — and all three had to be top-notch for the idea to work, McPeck said. “Professionals want to use professional equipequip ment, so it really took me investing in the best equipment available,” McPeck said. He brought his business plan to several different banks and was turned down for financing. “They said, ‘I don’t see how this is going to be profitprofit able … This is not going to be successful in Alaska,’” McPeck recalled. He made one more appointment, this time with Senior Vice President Craig Thorn at First National Bank Alaska. “Craig saw the
A military detection dog.
vision. He believed in it right off the bat,” McPeck said. “FNBA saw how this could shape our community and how Alaskans would embrace having access to advanced veterinary care.” Tier 1 opened its doors in July 2018. Since then, McPeck estimates the business has seen about 11,000 animal patients. “I think it’s pretty unique that my wife and I are both veterans, and both veterinarians,” McPeck said. “We both wore the uniform, we both served in Afghanistan, and we both love taking care of the community.”
‘They just embrace everybody’ If Tier 1’s goal is to make going to the vet a happy experience for pets and their owners, clients say it’s working. Cathy Thews and her two French bulldogs, Mimi and Bandit, followed the McPecks to Tier 1 from another practice. “I literally refuse to take my pets anywhere else,” Thews said. Health problems are common among “Frenchies,” and Thews said not all vets are well-versed in how to care for them. “That’s why I’m very fussy as to where I take my pups.” Thews first met the McPecks by chance after seeking a second opinion for Bandit’s neck pain. “The one thing I loved about (Sean McPeck) most was that he introduced himself to my pets first,” Thews said. “I’ve just never met a married couple that is so darn caring and loving. They just embrace everybody.” That feeling extends across the Tier 1 practice, she added. “All the doctors I’ve seen there are just very nice,” Thews said. “The nicest thing about them all is they like to get to know your pets. They’re trying to make sure your little fur baby is as comfortable as possible.” Claire Swigard, whose dog Jackson loves visiting Tier 1, said the practice has gone above and beyond to take care of her and her pets. After another one of her dogs died, they sent her flowers and made her a print of one of his paws. Before she adopted Jackson, Sean McPeck insisted on giving him a thorough examination to ensure he had a clean bill of health. And when she and Jackson traveled to Arizona, she said, McPeck tapped into his experiences in Afghanistan to give her thorough advice for keeping a dog safe in hot weather. “They’re all really, really, really kind,” Swigard said. “That, to me, is the most important thing.”
MAKING IT | 4
Special Something
FOR EVERY STUDENT
HOW IMPORTANT ARE SCHOOL ACTIVITIES? THE HUFFER FAMILY HAS EXPERIENCED THE BENEFITS OVER MULTIPLE GENERATIONS The excitement of a Friday evening game. Opening night applause. Friendships formed at early morning practice. When you think of your fondest high school memories, chances are they took place outside the classroom. And you’re not alone. Sports, the arts and other extracurricular activities are deeply ingrained in the high school experience. According to federal census data, more than 44 percent of American kids ages 12 to 17 participate in sports, and 29 percent participate in other clubs. In Alaska, there’s one organization working behind the scenes to organize dozens of those activities: The Alaska School Activities Association. Commonly known as ASAA, this nonprofit strives to provide every student the opportunity to grow and learn through activities that range from athletic to academic, traditional to technological. “We see ourselves as an extension of the school day,” said ASAA Executive Director Billy Strickland. “A lot of those things that you’re learning in the classroom, you get to go apply in real-life settings.” And the lessons often follow students for a lifetime — long after their high school days have passed.
The football family Talk to anyone who’s ever played football at Chugiak High School and they’ll recognize the name Tom Huffer. But you might need to clarify which one you’re talking about. First there’s Tom Huffer Sr., a
5 | MAKING IT
coaching staff. “All of us were involved with ASAA from day one,” Tom Huffer Sr. said. “They just do good things for kids.” And not just kids who play football, Huffer Jr. added. “My son was big-time into playing instruments in the band,” Huffer Jr. said. “That became a big thing in his life. There are so many opportunities that ASAA promotes in music, in debate and drama, in mock trial stuff. There are so many things that they help with that support every single kid. That’s awesome.”
Activities for all
Strickland presents West High School hockey players with the First National Championship Cup. PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASAA former college football player who landed in Alaska courtesy of the U.S. Army. After leaving the service, Huffer went into education with one objective in mind: He wanted to coach. When Chugiak was a brand-new school, Huffer helped start its very first football team, and he’s been a part of Mustang football nearly every season since as a coach, parent, grandparent, or proud fan.
It wasn’t always easy. “We didn’t win too many the first seven years,” Huffer said. In fact, “we got hammered quite hard.” That started to change in the late 1970s, and in the ‘80s, Chugiak grew into an Alaska football powerhouse, winning multiple state and conference titles. “That’s when Tom Jr. enters the picture, of course,” Huffer said.
Tom Huffer Jr. — known as “Huff” to his friends, and simply as “Junior” to his dad — was the first Alaska football player to be selected for all-state honors in three positions (kicker, tight end and linebacker) two years in a row. He was a state wrestling champion, too, followed 16 years later by his younger brother John-Paul, another standout high school football player who is now on Chugiak’s
Formed in 1956, before statehood, ASAA was originally established to unify two regional high school sports organizations in the Territory of Alaska. As schools grew following statehood and the oil boom, ASAA was formally organized under the state Department of Education and Early Childhood in the 1970s and funded by the state. That funding was abruptly cut in 1986, when Alaska experienced a severe economic downturn. The ASAA board voted to incorporate as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit independent of the state, but it took time to work out the legal and financial arrangements. Today, state statute allows Alaska school districts to become dues-paying members of ASAA as long as the association upholds specific organizational standards, but at the time, the future looked uncertain for high
Three generations of the Huffer family who have all been involved in ASAA pose at the ice rink, including Tom Sr., brothers Tom Jr. and John Paul and John Paul’s son, Tyler. want,” Strickland said. “Our goal is not make money. the Alaska Airlines Center or bringschool activities in Alaska. to make the student better while a “We’re not about providing ing in out-of-state guest conductors “When we lost state funding in student and in their adult lives as a return to our shareholders,” for the all-state music ensembles, ’86, the association kind of mudwell. We want every student to have Strickland said. “We’re trying to get for example. dled along for about a three-year students motivated to achieve some an opportunity to participate in an “It allows us to do more for our period,” Strickland said. “Then the activity that’s going to help them goal. That’s motivating (them) to students, provide more services bank really came in and basically keep (their) grades up, to have good develop these positive life skills.” to our member schools, without rescued us.” attendance, to have good behavior First National Bank Alaska signed having to increase school dues The benefits of being involved in school.” or increase the entry fees at state on as ASAA’s first-ever title sponsor In the long run, he added, that’s tournaments,” Strickland said. in 1989, contributing financially Activities aren’t just good clean good for everyone in Alaska. Absent that sponsor support, and providing employee volunteers fun. Teachers will tell you they’re a “Ultimately it’s helping our state most tournaments would operate at championship events. Other powerful tool to promote positive orgacorporate sponsorships eventually at a loss. But the orga have community members behaviors and academics. Students began to follow the bank’s example. nization’s mission is to that are more productive and have to stay out of trouble and It’s an important source of income involve students, being the kind of citizen you maintain a minimum grade for an organization that, like the participoint average of 2.0 to partici state itself, has a “three-legged pate in ASAA activities. stool” revenue structure. “You learn self-discipline,” “Generally speaking, about a inductsaid Huffer Jr., who was induct third of our budget is school dues,” ed into ASAA’s Alaska High Strickland said. “About a third of School Hall of Fame in 2011, our budget is tournament gate the same class as Stanley Cup revenue, and about a third winner Scott Gomez and is corporate Olympic gold medalist sponsorships.” Kikkan Randall. “That’s That final third probably the biggest. You — sponsorships — is learn how to work with important because it people and understand helps ASAA keep activities other people’s ideas affordable and accessible to all and opinions.” students. First National’s 30Studies have also shown year title sponsorship has also that involvement in made it possible for ASAA to school activities directly elevate experiences for students affects students’ perfrom every community in Alaska ception of their schools Billy Strickland, Executive Director of the Alaska School Activities Association, accepts donation — hosting state tournaments at to his organization from First National Bank Alaska at the First National Championship Cup.
and consequently improves their academic achievement. “If you can get a kid involved in sports, that keeps them grounded, keeps them involved with other people,” Huffer Sr. said. “It makes a better experience for the kid, better overall education.” And it’s not just sports, Huffer Sr. added. His name might be on Chugiak’s football stadium, but as a former school counselor, he’s seen firsthand the importance of helping a student discover what they personally get excited about. “Whatever a kid’s passion is, it’s an important part of what we do and what we are,” he said. Students who are engaged in multiple ways — academic, social, extracurricular — are more likely to succeed academically and less likely to drop out. Those benefits are especially meaningful in Alaska, which has a high school graduation rate that’s significantly lower than the national average — and another reason it’s important that ASAA offers so many different programs. “We have a wide variety of activities that we offer, with the intent of making it really hard for a student not to find something that they can get excited about,” Strickland said.
MAKING IT | 6
“We pride ourselves on being an activities association, not just an athletic association.” In recent years, Huffer Sr. helped develop a girls’ flag football program that has proven to be tremendously popular. There’s “mix six” coed volleyball, too, which is a hit with small schools that have a hard time filling teams. ASAA also has programs in drama, debate and forensics; music; world language; student government; and even esports. “As society evolves and as different activities become popular, we’ve tried to kind of stay on what is going to keep the students motivated,” Strickland said. “We’re always looking at things that will increase participation.” That motivation leads to growth, according to Huffer Jr., who has watched his own
three children and countless of his student athletes grow through school activities. “I saw a lot of individual kids really go from point A to point B, to where they wanted to be,” Huffer Jr. said. “To me, it was really satisfying, watching these kids progress with what they wanted to do.” And he knows from his own experience as an ASAA student athlete that those experiences have a lasting impact. Now retired, Huffer Jr. still credits ASAA activities with giving him a strong foundation for life. “It’s really helped me become the person — the family man and coach and person — I am,” he said. “Without (ASAA), kids wouldn’t have these opportunities. That’s the bottom line.”
High school orchestra students perform at the All-State Music Festival.
ASAA participants with banner at Dimond High School.
7 | MAKING IT
Lifeline A COMMUNITY
WILSON BROTHERS DISTRIBUTING STARTED OUT WITH A SINGLE BOX TRUCK — TODAY THEY’RE A VITAL CONNECTION FOR VALDEZ
It all began simply enough: Two brothers, a 24-foot box truck and $900 worth of ice cream and milk for delivery along the stretches of perpendicular highway that connect Anchorage to Glennallen and Glennallen to Valdez. That was 45 years ago. Today, the company that is still known as Wilson Brothers Distributing serves 285 customers with daily deliveries of goods from more than two dozen different food and bevconerage vendors, along with con solidating and transporting everything from commercial cleaning supplies to Amazon packages to laundry. From the local food bank to the tugboats working in Prince William Sound, it’s hard to find an aspect of life in Valdez that isn’t touched by the multigenerational family business. “It ends up being quite a
responsibility,” said Curtiss Wilson. “You can’t go through the town without seeing a Wilson Brothers employee or truck or vehicle of some sort there.”
Three generations of Wilson Brothers (and sons, sister and mother) Curtiss — Curt — is the vice president of Wilson Brothers and largely manages the business today. His father, Jim, and uncle, Floyd, were the original Wilson brothers when that first truck started making trips back and forth between Anchorage and Valdez in 1975, providing lodges and grocery stores with products from the dairy where Jim worked. Established just as Alaska’s pipeline economy began to boom, Wilson Brothers grew quickly, and although Floyd moved on after a few years, Jim’s wife Aggie and their sons and daughter stepped up to help manage the thriving business. “I guess I grew up with it, you know,” Curt said.
Now he’s working toward passing the mantle of leadership to a new generation. While Curt runs the show and Jim still serves as president of the corporation, Curt’s son Samuel has started to step into the role of operations manager at the company’s Anchorage location. The job comes with long days and high expectations, but Samuel, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served multiple tours in Iraq, says he’s been training for it since childhood. “A lot of it starts at the dinner table,” Samuel said. “Hard work and dedication and customer service is how we were all raised and brought up.” Over the years, Wilson Brothers has established partnerships with major suppliers, freight companies and clients around the state, forming partnerships with companies like Sysco Alaska, the Odom Corp., and nearly every freight transporter in Alaska. Since 2011, Wilson Brothers has been a Lynden agent, the only one of the transportation group’s partners that represents six of its subsidiary companies, which include familiar names like Lynden Transport and Alaska Marine Lines. Wilson Brothers now operates out of a custom freight terminal in Valdez that was built in 2012 with Lynden’s help. No family agrees on everything, and there’s not always 100 percent consensus among the various Wilsons about how the business should operate. But Wilson Brothers has survived despite — or, Curt suggested, because of — the different per-
spectives that the family members bring to the table. “There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” Curt said. “A lot of give and take. When it comes to the community side, they don’t really see that part of it.” “They’re not supposed to,” Jim added.
Families supporting families Like many longtime family businesses, Wilson Brothers doesn’t have a complex growth strategy, big plans for innovation, or any intent to “disrupt” the industry. The company’s goal is simple: People need things; Wilson Brothers delivers them; service is priority. And they do it reliably, according to the head of another longtime Valdez family business. Colleen Stephens is the president of Stan Stephens Cruises. Founded in 1971 by her dad, Stephens’ company has been doing business with Wilson Brothers since the late ’70s. Whether they needed hot cocoa and clam chowder for day cruises or beef brisket and cleaning supplies for the island camp they once operated, the Stephens family has gone to the Wilson family. “Being a family-run business, you allow each other to have a lot of flexibility,” Stephens said. “They’ve always worked really well with us. We know that they’re going to have our backs, and (they know) that we’re going to work around what they have.” That mutual give-and-take extends
Curtiss Wilson, vice president of Wilson Brothers. PHOTO COURTESY OF SEED MEDIA
MAKING IT | 8
Port of Valdez. PHOTO COURTESY OF SEED MEDIA Businesses like Wilson Brothers that have longstanding ties to a community are the ones that you know you can count on even when times are as “challenging” as they have been for the past several months, she added. “I think that’s kind of the core of who a small town is,” Stephens said. “When you have someone that’s in your community, rooted in your community, every pain of each resident has been felt by every business, and every success, too.”
Challenges and community
Curt Wilson, circa 1979. PHOTO COURTESY OF WILSON FAMILY beyond everyday business transactions, she added. “We are dependent on them for supply chain, (and) at the same time, they’re there to support our schools, to support the city,” Stephens said. “If the commitment of that family had not been made to this town … we would be relying on large corporate entities rather than someone that holds the value of Valdez in their hands.” Stephens said that while Wilson Brothers is known in town for being supportive of community efforts with “fantastic” discounted rates and donations, its importance to Valdez has been particularly felt over the past several months during the COVID-19 pandemic. De-
9 | MAKING IT
spite the pandemic, Stephens said, she’s been able to get pretty much anything she wants or needs, including household staples, special ingredients, and yes — toilet paper.
I try really hard to do what we can to fulfill what I think is our responsibility as being part of the community “That supply chain is a lifeline,” Stephens said. “They provide that link to Valdez, whether it’s getting something on grocery store shelves or into a restaurant, or it’s getting something (shipped) out.”
As the business has evolved over the years, so have its financial needs. The Wilson family has been banking with First National Bank Alaska since 1960, when Jim took out a loan to buy a 1958 Pontiac in celebration of his high school graduation. “I had the world by the tail then,” he said. Curt talks about the company’s history with First National in some of the same terms Stephens used to describe the mutually beneficial, give-and-take relationship between Stan Stephens Cruises and Wilson Brothers. Not only has the bank been creative and flexible in the ways it has supported Wilson Brothers’ growth, he said, but First National is, in turn, a Wilson Brothers Distributing customer, trusting the company to transport supplies to its Glennallen and Valdez branches. First National Bank Alaska and Stan Stephens Cruises aren’t the only Valdez businesses that rely on Wilson Brothers. The port community of 3,900 currently has no commercial air service and no ferry, so the only ways in and out are the port and a single ribbon of highway.
“Wilson has become the lifeline, really, for that town,” Curt said. The company sends trucks between Anchorage and Valdez five or six days a week, loaded with grocery store stock, medical supplies for every health care provider in town (including the veterinarian), and UPS shipments, including the Amazon orders that have more than quadrupled during the coronavirus pandemic, from about 30 pieces a day to nearly 150 on a recent Friday. When an avalanche closes the highway, cutting off the town by land, Curt will bring a barge over from Whittier to keep the supply chain open with the cooperation of Alaska Marine Lines. One of the services Wilson Brothers prides itself on is consolidation. Rather than having a dozen different shipments coming on different trucks from different vendors, their customers can have everything from cleaning chemicals to fresh bread to mail consolidated into pallets and delivered in a single shipment. In a city where the economy is built around remote work on the water, it’s a valuable offering. “We delivered a big order of groceries to a tanker here about a month ago or so,” Curt said. “The guy on the tanker says, ‘This is really cool. When I get groceries elsewhere, you gotta call the meat guy, the dairy guy, the beverage guy, the chemical guy, the laundry guy.’” Along with convenience for its customers, Curt said Wilson Brothers prioritizes safety for its team. All of Wilson Brothers’ drivers have numerous certifications and oversights, including CDL licenses, regular drug tests, and badges with the Transportation Security Administration and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. Valdez has escaped any significant outbreaks of COVID-19 so far, but the community has been prepared for the worst since March, when Wilson Brothers helped make sure the city had everything it needed to be ready. Curt delivered 100 milk crates to the hospital to be used in setting up emergency beds, and he made sure the local food bank had what it needed to keep the town fed, setting the organization up with storage containers and a refrigerated truck for extra supplies. Pandemic or no, community service is a regular part of Wilson Brothers’ business model. Curt estimates they spend about $35,000 each year on sponsorships, giveaways and philanthropic endeavors like supporting the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive “It’s just something that we do,” Curt said. “It’s part of being responsible to the community in which we do business.” Being an entrepreneur in Valdez isn’t always easy. Compared to other towns on Alaska’s road system, it’s pretty remote, and the volume of business is low relative to the cost of operating. As a result, everyone tends to rely on their neighbors, and that extends to the business community as well. “I consider us the local vendor,” Curt said. “We have local employees. I try really hard to do what we can to fulfill what I think is our responsibility as being part of the community.”
What’s for Dinner? ALASKA DINNER FACTORY HAS SURVIVED THE BUST OF ITS INDUSTRY, A HUGE SHIFT IN FOOD TRENDS, A CHANGE IN BUSINESS MODEL, AND NOW A PANDEMIC It all began when Linnea Cummings was chatting with a friend who had moved out of state. As they talked casually about the items on their respective to-do lists, Cummings’ friend mentioned that she planned to visit a business in her area where she could prep her family’s meals for the month. The business provided recipes, a prep kitchen, equipment and ready-to-assemble ingredients, and she could make what she wanted and take it home to freeze and cook throughout the month. “I thought, ‘I’m a busy person — I would totally use something like that,’” Cummings said. “‘Why don’t we have that here?’” And then: “‘Why couldn’t I do that here?’”
Soon Cummings had thrown herself into researching meal assembly businesses, traveling Outside to visit a dozen different kitchens to see how they ran. “The next thing I know, I’m writing a business plan and signing a lease and opening up a business,” Cummings said. Alaska Dinner Factory opened its storefront near Lake Otis and Dowling in 2006.
A business model’s boom and bust From the beginning, Alaska Dinner Factory has had a simple mission: Bring families back to the dinner table — and make it easy for them to get there. For the first 10 years, Cummings’ business model was built around hosting “sessions.” Customers could book a session to come in, maybe for a date night
or girls’ night, and assemble their choice of meals from that month’s selection of 14 menu items. At the time, meal assembly kitchens were a hot business trend across the nation. When Alaska Dinner Factory opened, it was one of about 1,300 such kitchens operating in the U.S., according to Cummings. Of those, most were franchises of national or regional chains. Only a handful were independent, the path Cummings chose. “I had briefly looked at perhaps doing a franchise, but I didn’t like the idea of sending a royalty outside of the state, and I didn’t like the idea of not being able to choose my own recipes and my own ingredients,” she said.
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Linnea Cummings, owner of Alaska Dinner Factory.
Alaska Dinner Factory sessions provided a fun and novel way to prepare make-ahead meals, although over time, customers tended to drop off — and in 2008, the entire meal assembly industry, which had been booming just a year or two before, began to crumble. “I found that customers really liked coming in,” Cummings said. “But then, just like anything else, they would do it a handful of times and then it just became another chore that they had to do.” Following the 2008 recession, the meal prep industry re-emerged in a different form: Meal kit services like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh that deliver recipes and raw ingredients for customers to cook at home (and that often don’t ship to Alaska). So in 2012, Alaska Dinner Factory introduced Delivery Club, its own twist on meal kits. For $195 per month, members receive six large or 12 small pre-assembled meals they can freeze until ready to be eaten. “We take it a step further (than a meal kit),” Cummings said. “We actually pre-assemble the dinners themselves. It’s just a big time-saver.” Delivery Club meals require almost no prep work; for example, vegetables arrive already chopped. “On Sundays, I go to the deep freeze, I pull out and transfer three or four things into the refrigerator, and when I get home at night, they are thawed, easy to cook,” Cummings said. Depending on the selection, meals are cooked on the stovetop, in the oven or slow cooker — or, in summer, on the grill — in between 10 and 30 minutes.
Growth, change and a new kitchen
The ingredient assembly process in full-swing.
Orange basil broiled chicken.
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A few years after Delivery Club launched, Cummings rolled out Alaska Fresh, which delivers single-serving, pre-cooked microwaveable meals for seniors. By that point, Alaska Dinner Factory had begun to outgrow the small kitchen in its 2,000-square-foot storefront. “I knew I was either going to have to expand or move to a different location,” Cummings said. She chose expansion, and for that she needed a loan. She turned to First National Bank Alaska. When she first started the business, Cummings found that not every bank believed her business model could work. She chose First National Bank Alaska largely because when she met with a banker there, her idea for Alaska Dinner Factory was received with encouragement rather than skepticism. The bank’s local roots were also very important to her. “No question, the reason why I initially went with them is because they were a local bank,” Cummings said. She uses local suppliers whenever possible — businesses like Mr. Prime Beef, 10th and M Seafoods, Taco Loco, Linford of Alaska and local Mat-Su farmers. “First National just fit right in there.” With the funding secured to remodel her kitchen, Cummings was able to reconfigure the business to focus on deliveries. (Customers can still drop by and pick up single meals to take home, even if they don’t belong to the Delivery Club.) As the new model grew in popularity, Cummings eventually made the “painful” decision to eliminate sessions and pivot to all delivery. “I penciled it out, and sessions weren’t doing as well as Delivery Club was,” she said. The move away from customer assembly might have been a tough call, but it was a boom for the bottom line, freeing the business to expand its service area
throughout Anchorage and all the way up to Wasilla. “It allowed for business growth,” Cummings said. “We were able to service more families and employ more people. We definitely saw a significant upswing in revenue once (First National) gave me a loan.” Two other meal assembly kitchens opened in Anchorage within six weeks of Alaska Dinner Factory, both franchises. Neither is still in operation. Cummings attributes her success in part to the fact that she hired a local marketer who made sure to amplify the message that Alaska Dinner Factory is locally owned. “People really gravitate toward that message, that story,” she said.
Learning to build a business Often people assume that because Cummings owns a food business, she started out as a chef. But in fact, her professional background is in road construction administration. And believe it or not, that experience was incredibly helpful as she began to venture into entrepreneurship. “Running a business was similar to running a road project,” she said. “It was all about schedules and budgets and getting it all to line up.” For her first year, Cummings bought 150 recipes from an independent meal assembly kitchen in Iowa so she could focus on learning to run the business. Once she got her legs under her, she started to develop her own recipes, drawing inspiration from magazines, TV shows, customer feedback and employee contests. “It’s fun because the employees come up with the recipe ideas and then they make them at the store together and we have lunch together,” she said. The staff votes on their favorites, and there are prizes for the winners. Her staff has also helped Cummings find some work-life balance. In the early years, she spent 14hour days in the kitchen. Now that she’s more established, she has a manager supervising her employees — about 10 of them — while Cummings handles the behind-the-scenes aspects from her home office. These days, she comes into the kitchen two or three times a week, and she also drives the Saturday Delivery Club route to Eagle River and the Mat-Su. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Cummings’ first concern was for her staff — would she be able to support them? Once it became clear that Alaska Dinner Factory would be able to stay open as an essential business, she said the team pulled together to keep things running safely. She has stressed the importance of social distancing and taking hunker down orders seriously with her staff. “They understood that if they didn’t comply, it could jeopardize our operation and all of their employment,” Cummings said. “They also at the same time felt this tremendous pride that they were supplying the community with meals. They all understand the impact of our mission to get families back to the dinner table.” Next year, Alaska Dinner Factory, which started as an offhand conversation with a friend, will celebrate 15 years working to bring that mission to life. “It just blows my mind,” Cummings said. “In the beginning it was so hard that I didn’t know if I’d make it through year two or three. Now we really are one of those longtime Alaskan companies that I dreamed of being.”
s u r i v a n Caot ro KEEPING
Bay
BEFORE MOST ALASKANS HAD EVEN HEARD OF COVID-19, M.C. CORPORATION WAS ALREADY PREPARING TO MEET THE PANDEMIC HEAD-ON When the novel coronavirus arrived in Alaska earlier this year, it caught just about everyone off guard. Just about everyone, that is, except for Andy Kwon. “No one really expected COVID-19 to really be like this,” Kwon said. “When it came, I think it caught everybody by surprise how fast it was spreading.” But Kwon was ready. The owner of M.C. Corporation, an Anchorage building maintenance company, Kwon had already taken steps to prepare for the heightened emphasis on sanitizing — and the shortage of supplies that was to follow in the pandemic’s wake.
An unexpected business venture Ask Kwon how he got into the building services business and he’ll tell you: “By accident.” Born in South Korea, Kwon emigrated to Anchorage with his family when he was 12. The move effectively bisected his youth; his childhood was spent in Korea, his adolescence in the U.S. “I’m a hybrid,” he said. “We call ourselves ‘first-and-a-half
generation’ Koreans.” After graduating from West Anchorage High School, Kwon moved Outside to attend college and start his career as an electrical engineer. In the early 1990s, he moved back to Anchorage to help care for his parents. Kwon had been a project manager for ExxonMobil in California and planned to work in Alaska’s oil and gas industry, but when that fell through, he ended up stumbling into a job at a small building maintenance company. What was supposed to be a short-term gig turned into a career as a business owner. “It’s not what I had envisioned,” Kwon admitted. “When you study engineering, you don’t say ‘I want to be a janitorial company owner.’ Really, I didn’t know much about it. My world was project management. But the principles of operating are about the same.” Since 1993, M.C. Corporation has grown to offer everything from basic janitorial services to floor restoration, painting, maintenance and small improvement projects. The company also offers a specialty service called SaniGLAZE that seals tile floors to keep them cleaner and
Andy Kwon, owner of M.C. Corporation, poses between members of the cleaning crew. eliminate odors. The staff includes 40 full- and part-time staff who service about 20 clients, including private office buildings and municipal, state and federal properties. M.C. Corporation was able to grow significantly through the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, which provided access to government contracts, and as it grew, Kwon found ways to share that success with others. Today the company has a nonprofit arm, M.C. Resource Management, that provides employment in food service for 35 Alaskans who
experience disabilities. “We live in the community, therefore you need to give yourself back to the community,” Kwon said. “That’s the only way businesses will thrive.”
Going ‘above and beyond’ One of Kwon’s satisfied clients is First National Bank Alaska, which contracts with the company for janitorial services at its Anchorage and Mat-Su branches and also provides business banking services for M.C. Corporation.
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“They have just established a background with us of response above and beyond the call of duty,” said FNBA Vice President and Property Manager Mike Bridges. “They bend over backwards.” More than once, Bridges said, M.C. Corporation has provided rapid response to help First National reopen branches quickly following emergencies. When Anchorage was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in November 2018, First National locations sustained damages including burst pipes, leaks, and downed equipment. As soon as the ground stopped shaking, M.C. Corporation sprang into action to help get the bank’s locations safe and ready for employees and customers to re-enter. With the exception of the main lobby at its hard-hit Eagle River branch, First National Bank Alaska was open for business later the same day throughout the Southcentral region. “They were spectacular,” Bridges said. “We had everybody back to work within a few hours.” Because of the business it’s in, First National has stringent requirements for vendors and their employees. Bridges said it makes his job “exponentially” easier to know that the bank has a reliable cleaning crew at the ready — and not only is it nice to see the same faces every day, it’s a strong statement about the company. “They have been one of our more stable vendors as far as the staff that’s doing the work on our behalf,” Bridges said. “They don’t seem to have a huge turnover. That means to me they’re taking care of (their employees).” As it happens, just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, First National conducted a pandemic flu drill as a company-wide training exercise. Because of that exercise, the bank was well-stocked with extra supplies. Even so, Bridges said he was impressed at just how prepared M.C. Corporation was for the pandemic. “They came through with spray sanitizers and appropriate other materials and supplies, and immediate responsiveness for calls of potential COVID cases,” Bridges said. “Each time they have absolutely nailed it. They’ve made life easy for me and my team here.”
A graduate from West Anchorage High School, Kwon moved out of state to pursue a career in electrical engineering. After returning in the 1990s, he found himself in a job at a small building maintenance company.
Getting coronavirus-ready How was M.C. Corporation able to be ahead of the game when it came to COVID response? It all comes back to Kwon’s Korean roots — and his TV habits. Kwon is a daily consumer of television news. In addition to watching multiple American cable news channels for a mixture of perspectives, he regularly watches news from South Korea. It was that habit that put him ahead of the game when it came to preparing for the pandemic. When South Korean news began reporting the virus’ spread in January, Kwon reacted swiftly. Before a single case of COVID-19 was reported in Alaska, M.C. Corporation’s staff had whipped up 200 office-made masks using dryer sheets as filters. “I knew what was happening in Korea could be here,” Kwon said. “We actually prepared all kinds of chemicals and PPE prior to March. We were already making masks
In order to keep employees safe, M.C. Corporation generally keeps cleaning teams in pairs and requires protective gear as part of the uniform.
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When South Korean news began reporting virus spread in January, Kwon quickly had his staff craft together 200 office-made masks using dryer sheets as filters.
in the office (in) late January, early February, because we couldn’t find anything online.” As soon as Anchorage started to implement measures to prevent the disease’s spread, M.C. Corporation notified all of its clients that periodic services like carpet shampooing would be delayed as the company shifted gears to disinfecting surfaces. “We emphasize sanitary,” Kwon said. “We want to have sanitary buildings more so than shiny buildings. You could have a shiny building that’s really infected.” Kwon was even able to source a handful of electrostatic sprayers — the futuristic-looking devices you see workers using to spray down public spaces with disinfectant in news reports. “That was hard to get,” Kwon said. “That took about two months. I did some research and I could only find it online through eBay from China.” Employee education has been a priority from the start, he added. Masks and gloves became a required part of the uniform. Educational materials were prepared in both English and Spanish so all employees would be fully informed about COVID protocols. Cleaning teams generally travel in pairs, so schedules were rearranged where necessary to ensure those teams stayed consistent, and the company established its own internal contact tracing process. “We have to protect our employees first,” Kwon said. “They (do) all the work. I’m just kind of the guy who watches the news and tells them about it.”
The future of the cleaning business Like other Alaska small businesses, M.C. Corporation has experienced fallout from the struggling economy. While its services are essential, its clientele has been severely impacted. “More people will be going to remote work locations, whether it’s home or somewhere else,” Kwon said. “The economic dynamics have changed. We don’t do the same thing anymore.” Although there may be fewer offices to be cleaned and maintained, he added, disinfecting is increasing in importance, and he expects that demand for SaniGLAZE and air quality work will grow as well. “The landscape for the janitorial and custodial business will change for the next decade,” Kwon said. “I think (clients) understand that keeping it sanitary is more important than just keeping it looking clean.” For Kwon, who never expected to be in the cleaning business — and certainly never expected to be in the pandemic-response business — there has been a silver lining to the pandemic. From part-time employees to longtime clients, he has observed the year’s challenges being met with flexibility, patience, and a willingness to work together to protect Alaskans’ health and safety. “I do appreciate the support that we give each other,” Kwon said. “This is a time everyone just needs to help each other out and be more understanding.”
Since starting in 1993, Kwon has grown M.C. Corporation to include 40 staff members who service private, municipal, state and federal properties.
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“WE’VE ALWAYS SUPPORTED ALASKAN-OWNED BUSINESSES THAT BUILD OUR ECONOMY.” For nearly a century, First National has supported the companies that build our economy. From development and production to healthcare and tourism, we understand the importance of good jobs, and the benefits of strong communities.
We believe in Alaska. Alaska has always experienced more than its share of economic ebb and flow. And that’s why we work with businesses that look beyond the ups and downs, the companies who — like First National — are vested in Alaska and here for the long haul. Now, and for the future—First National is the one Alaska bank you can count on. Sincerely,
Betsy Lawer Chair and Chief Executive Officer
Call us today at (907) 777-4362 or visit FNBAlaska.com