Alaska Business March 2024

Making advances

Construction Machinery Industrial and Epiroc

Sales

Anchorage

Juneau Mining Sales

Paul Larson,

Alvin Ott, Fairbanks Mining

The Arctic has been our homeland for thousands of years, continuing to sustain Our People and way of life. Today, the region holds new promise, and Bering Straits Native Corporation has the vision, values and resources to develop it in a way that will benefit Our People, Alaska, and the world for generations to come.

32  OIL & GAS

18  INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Orr

24  TOURISM

76  MINING

84  FINANCE

94  HEALTHCARE

100  EDUCATION

The

10

Patrick Kelley| USGS

Cruz Construction

TAKE YOUR BUSINESS TO NEW HEIGHTS

Wherever you want to take your business, First National can help. With more than 100 years of helping Alaskans succeed, our team of local bankers provides tailored financial solutions, dedicated support, and unmatched expertise to help you navigate everyday challenges and a changing economy.

CONTENTS

SPECIAL SECTION: CONSTRUCTION

54 HOUSING SHORTAGE

Valley Residential Services addresses lack of affordable rentals

By Rindi White

62 PROJECT ROUNDUP A 2024 construction snapshot

By Rachael Kvapil

70 AGC OF ALASKA EXCELLENCE

IN CONSTRUCTION AWARDS

46 SIXTY YEARS LATER

How the 1964 earthquake changed construction in Alaska

By Scott Rhode

40 AVENUES OF INVESTMENT IN THE ARCTIC Infrastructure to access new territory

By Mikel Insalaco

ABOUT THE COVER

Operated by the UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, R/V Sikuliaq is named for fresh sea ice that accumulates on the Arctic coastline. Since 2015, the vessel has served as a floating base for researchers studying the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean.

Sikuliaq ’s homeport at the Seward Marine Center is due for some infrastructure improvements to enhance the ship’s efficiency and research potential. Thus, construction at the 60th parallel directly contributes to Alaska’s reach north of the Arctic Circle.

The construction industry and Arctic opportunities are the converging compass points guiding the coverage of this issue. By building, studying, working, and living in the far north, Alaskans stand at the threshold of engagement and investment by the rest of the world. Cover

Senior Chief Petty Officer Rachel Polish

Creating Opportunities

FROM THE EDITOR

What would Tasha do?

While our managing editor is away from her desk, focusing her energies on aggrandizing her clan and the human species, the rest of the personnel listed at the right side of this page are tending to the magazine in her absence. Well, not exactly this magazine you’re reading now; before she left for maternity leave, Tasha Anderson had a hand in completing this month’s issue. Every part, that is, except for the final flourish of this letter.

That duty falls to me. So here I am, addressing you on behalf of the magazine. And especially on behalf of this company’s owners. In a way, on behalf of its past custodians, such as Jim Martin and Vern McCorkle. Heavy is the mantle of stewardship, as we tend the hearth for the benefit of generations yet unborn—or freshly born, in the case of Tasha’s blessed offspring.

So I ask myself, how would Tasha write this?

Not with a hearth metaphor, if I know her half as well as I think I do. She’d probably start with a simple introduction.

Okay. Well, my name has been in the masthead for two and a half years. Before I joined this publication, I was in the news business for more than twenty years as a radio announcer.

Indeed, my first paying news gig was during the Arctic Winter Games in 1996, working for KTUU as a field assistant. This month’s article about the games in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough brought back memories of that long, intense week: the slopes at Arctic Valley, the biathlon track at Kincaid Park, and the gym at Gruening Middle School, modified with plywood walls. The track where I used to run each Friday during 7th grade PE class was the venue for indoor soccer, which was replaced in 2016 with futsal. The difference, I’ve learned, is that futsal players can’t bounce the ball off of walls.

That week was also the first time I handled a mobile phone, issued by KTUU to its crews. To this day, I answer my phone by saying “This is Scott” rather than “Hello” because the first call I received was from someone at the TV station unsure about which gray brick they were dialing.

Thus, Tasha, if she were in my place (which she always is; her place is where I’m putting myself), would introduce herself with a warm “Hello,” but I will simply say: this is Scott, and I’ll be your steward for the next few months, caring for Tasha’s previous baby while she welcomes her new one.

Scott Rhode Editor/Staff Writer, Alaska Business

VOLUME 40, #3

EDITORIAL

Managing Editor

Tasha Anderson 907-257-2907 tanderson@akbizmag.com

Editor/Staff Writer

Scott Rhode srhode@akbizmag.com

Associate Editor Rindi White rindi@akbizmag.com

Editorial Assistant

Emily Olsen emily@akbizmag.com

PRODUCTION

Art Director

Monica Sterchi-Lowman 907-257-2916 design@akbizmag.com

Design & Art Production Fulvia Caldei Lowe production@akbizmag.com

Web Manager

Patricia Morales patricia@akbizmag.com

SALES

VP Sales & Marketing

Charles Bell 907-257-2909 cbell@akbizmag.com

Senior Account Manager

Janis J. Plume 907-257-2917 janis@akbizmag.com

Senior Account Manager

Christine Merki 907-257-2911 cmerki@akbizmag.com

Marketing Assistant

Tiffany Whited 907-257-2910 tiffany@akbizmag.com

BUSINESS

President Billie Martin

VP & General Manager Jason Martin 907-257-2905 jason@akbizmag.com

Accounting Manager

James Barnhill 907-257-2901 accounts@akbizmag.com

CONTACT

Press releases: press@akbizmag.com

Postmaster:

Send address changes to Alaska Business

501 W. Northern Lights Blvd. #100 Anchorage, AK 99503

AKBusinessMonth

alaska-business-monthly

AKBusinessMonth

This year, TOTE Maritime Alaska

49 years in the 49th State!

TOTE is proud to have served Alaska since 1975, connecting communities with dedicated, reliable service from Tacoma, WA to Anchorage, Alaska. With our “built for Alaska” vessels and roll-on/roll-off operations, our service and operations were designed to meet the unique needs of the customers and communities of Alaska. Join us in commemorating nearly half a century of excellence in shipping to the Last Frontier.

celebrates

Wealth of the Arctic

Trade, trends, and opportunity at northern latitudes

By Lincoln Garrick and Rachael Miller

The Arctic: a term often used to broadly describe a large swath of land and sea in the north. It is a region with geographic, political, and cultural definitions. According to the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland, it is the region that surrounds the North Pole, with no single definition of a southern boundary. In Alaska, 66° north latitude is commonly used as the line of demarcation, but there are many other ways to delineate this boundary including growing zones, temperatures, biological indicators, Indigenous homelands, or political boundaries. For us, the authors, and most of you, the readers—the Arctic is home.

Arctic countries, known as the “Arctic Eight,” comprise Canada, Greenland (Denmark), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. Why the US? Alaska’s 663,300 square miles qualify the United States to be an Arctic nation.

The Arctic Eight’s land mass comprises roughly 3.2 million square miles, and those countries also control another 2.7 million square miles of seabed in exclusive economic zones on their continental shelves, which sit under less than 1,640 feet of water. The rest of the Arctic is made up of international waters that lie beyond the 200-nautical-mile limit of any country’s economic zone.

Arctic Resources

Visions abound of oil pipelines, fishery fleets, timber trucks, mine sites, and cruise ships. While economic diversification has come to the Arctic along with calls and movement towards renewable and regenerative systems, the giants of traditional energy resources like oil and gas continue to reign supreme as income sources for Arctic countries. This is slowly changing; the shifting environmental climate may make it more amenable to industries like field-scale agriculture and climate adap tation technologies.

Oil, Gas, and Minerals: The Arctic holds an estimated 13 percent (90 billion barrels) of the world's undiscovered conventional oil resources and 30 percent of its undiscovered conventional natural gas resources (1,669 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids), according to a 2008 Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal (CARA) assessment conducted by the US Geological Survey. The direct cost of oil and gas extraction, including building infrastructure and transporting it to markets, remains considerably higher than economic alternatives like in the Middle East; however, domestic energy security remains a solid investment.

During the next 100 years, mineral wealth from gold, silver, copper, nickel, lead, iron, mica, uranium, platinumgroup elements, precious stones, and rare earth elements will likely be the Arctic’s main extractive resource instead of petroleum products. Unlike the majority of oil and gas reserves that are in offshore areas (roughly 84 percent), most mineral reserves are located within the boundaries of Arctic nationstates. The combination of an increased need for these technology minerals

Dr. Alex Andronikov, a geologist from the University of Michigan Department of Geological Science, and Kelley Brumley, a geologist from Stanford University, sort through rocks that were dredged from the Arctic Ocean floor September 9, 2009, aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy. The dredging is part of the US Extended Continental Shelf Task Force's effort to locate the outer reaches of the North American continental shelf.

Overall economic output in the Arctic is currently low when compared to other global regions, but it has been increasing in recent decades. Developing technologies and an increase in access to the region’s natural resources may lead to a significant increase in economic activity.

to make batteries, electronics, wind turbines, and electric vehicle motors plus a warming Arctic means higher demand and relatively easier access for the Arctic’s minerals.

Biodiversity: Despite making up only 5 percent of Earth’s land (about 60 percent of the Arctic is sea and ice), the Arctic is home to globally significant biodiversity, with more than 21,000 identified species and still more yet to be studied. These are critical to ecosystem resiliency, and in turn food, land, and human security.

Notably, it is habitat for 30 percent of all shorebird species, for two-thirds of the global population of geese, and for several million reindeer and caribou. During the brief summer breeding season, nearly 200 bird species from various parts of the world migrate to the Arctic, creating important connections between this region and the rest of the globe, according to the 2013 publication Arctic Biodiversity Assessment from the Arctic Council. These species’ migrations are critical to environmental resilience, and they are also a driver for tourism dollars at every stop along their journeys to and from the north.

Fisheries and Mariculture: The pristine fisheries of the Arctic are relatively small compared to other areas, with an average catch of 34.4 million tons from 2011 to 2017, according to the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which accounts for roughly 17 percent of the estimated wild global catch, with an average annual landed value of $560 million.

One growing area is mariculture, the cultivation of fish, seaweed, and

CROWLEY FUELS ALASKA

With terminals and delivery services spanning the state, and a full range of quality fuels, Crowley is the trusted fuel partner to carry Alaska’s resource development industry forward.

CROWLEY.COM/Alaska

shellfish. In a 2021 final report to Governor Mike Dunleavy, the Alaska Mariculture Task Force detailed examples of industry success, including the fifty-six species commercially cultivated in British Columbia, generating approximately $1.8 billion in economic activity.

Agriculture: Arctic agriculture has historically been viewed as low yield and generally inadequate to satisfy local community needs. However, developments in geothermal greenhouse technology, global warming, and an increasing interest in traditional Arctic or “authentic” production methods may drive both the demand and supply for Arctic-grown foods. The soil and water below ground have ample thermal energy in the Arctic, so geothermal heating systems, like heat pumps, can recover this energy, converting it to heat to utilize in greenhouses and other buildings.

This technology is already in use residentially in Alaska, with one in seven homes in Juneau currently heated by a heat pump. Iceland

Ice-free summers could open new shipping routes through the Arctic, but unintended consequences from an ice-free Arctic are unknown, leading to many questions.

has been using this technology for growing since 1924 and has more than 45 acres of greenhouse growing space producing cucumbers, strawberries, lettuce, red and green peppers, mushrooms, and herbs.

Icelandic shoppers can look for “islenskt” on produce packaging, which indicates the origin as Icelandic—their vers ion of Alaska Grown.

Other renewable technologies are making their way into Arctic farming. Agrivoltaics is the practice of colocating solar panel systems with field crops. In 2023, UAF and Alaska Pacific University partnered with solar developer Renewable Independent Power Products to evaluate the feasibility of high-latitude agrivoltaics and determine best practices.

However, just because the technology exists doesn’t mean it will be easy to adopt or scale. This requires a longer on-ramp for new growers and state support to ensure easy access to markets. It also requires original equipment manufacturers’ willingness to service tools and systems. Alaska Range Dairy in Delta Junction installed the first robotic milking system in the state to combat a lack of affordable agricultural labor.

The Arctic's temperatures have risen at almost three times the global

Geologists examine oil-saturated Oligocene sandstone in the Sagavanirktok Formation exposed on Marsh Creek anticline near Katakturuk River in western Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 1002 Area. Debates about resource development in the refuge's coastal plain apply broadly to much of the Arctic region.

average since the ‘80s, warming faster than any other region on Earth, so a warmer and longer outdoor growing season may eventually produce more and diverse Arctic crops. According to the 2019 report “The Arctic as a Food Producing Region” by the Arctic Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group: “An ongoing NorthAtlantic collaboration has identified a possible northward expansion of barley cultivation because of temperature increase. With a changing diet preference, the market demands more vegetable-based products which can increase production of berries and vegetables in the Arctic.”

Published in the April 2020 journal Food Policy , researchers from the University of Saskatchewan examined attitudes about traditional Arctic foods, which were associated with a distinct cultural identity. Their questions mostly focused on wild fish, fowl, and mammals, but gathered plants were included. They found consumers were interested in such foods based on “the uniqueness of geographic origin, a pristine environment, cultural connection with Indigenous peoples, as well as the potential to promote regional ec onomic development.”

Overall economic output in the Arctic is currently low when compared to other global regions, but it has been increasing in recent decades. Developing technologies and an increase in access to the region’s natural resources may lead to a significant increase in economic activity.

First Peoples

The Arctic is inhabited by approximately 4 million people, according to the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland’s 2023 Arctic Human Development report. Indigenous people are estimated to comprise 10 percent of the total population, but this number could be much higher because different countries have varying definitions of who is indigenous. Indigenous peoples have inhabited the Arctic for thousands of years. The Arctic’s proportion of Indigenous people is estimated to be about 10 percent of the total population with more than 40 different ethnic groups.

An Ice-Free Arctic Passage

The Arctic has a lot of ice, with recent satellite data from September 2022 indicating ice coverage of 4.7 million square kilometers (1.8 million square

miles) in the Arctic Ocean—that’s more than eleven Californias. However, since satellite imaging started in 1979, NASA scientists have measured a 2-millionsquare-kilometer decrease in Arctic

sea ice—or just under five Californias. An April 2023 study published in the journal Nature Communications proposed that Arctic sea ice could disappear in summer in the 2030s. There remains a fair amount of debate in scientific circles about when the Arctic could experience its first icefree summer, partly because ice-free doesn’t mean no ice at all.

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder: “The term ‘icefree’ is based on a threshold for sea ice extent: the area of ocean with at least 15 percent sea ice concentration. A consensus has emerged among scientists that the Arctic Ocean is effectively ice-free when its sea ice extent falls below 1 million square kilometers (390,000 square miles)… Sea ice extent below 1 million square kilometers would leave most Arctic waterways open, with remaining sea ice mostly clinging to a portion of the Arctic’s coastlines.”

Ice-free summers could open new shipping routes through the Arctic, but unintended consequences from

Erosion on Alaska’s Arctic Coast exposes permafrost. US Geological Survey

an ice-free Arctic are unknown, leading to many questions. How will the ecosystem respond? Will treaties keep fishing and other development above board? And is it possible to operate in the Arctic without polluting it?

Opportunity in Times of Change

Any examination of the Arctic requires a solid dose of humility about the many unknowables: what would an ice-free northern sea route mean for the transportation industry and global security, what are emerging threats to the environment and traditional indigenous ways of life, and what new Arctic players like the People’s Republic of China—which has invested more than $90 billion in Arctic infrastructure and views itself as “a near-Arctic state”—might emerge in the next several decades?

We are in an era of rapid change in the Arctic. Newly opened shipping routes, coastal erosion, melting permafrost, fisheries decline, and more factors have made the far north into a Wild West of potential

Newly opened shipping routes, coastal erosion, melting permafrost, fisheries decline, and more factors have made the far north into a Wild West of potential profit and development.

profit and development. As the global geopolitical landscape evolves and countries seek to capitalize on these resources, it is critical we get this right. It will require innovation and intentional resource development to get us to a resilient and thr iving new Arctic.

Lincoln Garrick is an assistant professor of business, MBA director, and alumnus at Alaska Pacific University. He has more than twenty years of experience in the business, marketing, and communications fields, providing public affairs and strategy services for national and Alaska organizations.

Rachael Miller is an Associate Business Professor at Alaska Pacific University, where she teaches entrepreneurship and marketing. She is a two-time startup co-founder and a strategy and communications consultant with deep expertise in food-related projects. Miller was selected as the APU 2017-2020 Walter J. Hickel Professor of Strategic Leadership & Entrepreneurship, currently serves on the Alaska Food Policy Council governing board, leads the University of the Arctic network on Northern Food Security, and consults on northern food systems and economic development initiatives.

SWhat’s In a Name?

World Trade Center

Anchorage rebrands as Alaska International Business Center

By Vanessa Orr

i nce its inception in 1987, World Trade Center Anchorage has been known by both its original name— World Trade Center Alaska—and by the Anchorage moniker that it was required to adopt a decade ago. This year marks one more name change for the organization that it hopes will better represent the breadth of services it provides to Alaska and beyond as the Alaska International Business Center (akIBC).

“Every year, we take a look at whether the World Trade Center (WTC) brand is serving us as well as it could—sort of a cost/benefit analysis—and this year, for multiple reasons, we felt that it was time to rebrand to help us grow from our existing base,” explains akIBC President and CEO Greg Wolf.

“When we talked to prospective businesses, we found that they often believed that the WTC brand was only for import/ export businesses, and if they didn’t provide those services, it held them back from joining,” he says. “While we do offer import/export advice, in recent years we’ve added a much broader range of services.”

When the parent WTC organization required the Alaska branch to change its name from WTC Alaska to WTC Anchorage ten years ago, Wolf felt that it hampered the group’s efforts to attract members statewide. “Public perception is that we’re just an Anchorage group, and that sometimes doesn’t play well in the rest of the state,” he says.

Greg Wolf in Xiamen, China at a September 2023 trade show where the Alaska International Business Center presented products and services from nearly twenty Alaska companies.

Alaska International Business Center

For this and a number of other reasons, the organization publicly announced the name change on November 17, 2023, a change that Wolf says was well-received.

“Our members stuck with us universally, and we’ve had great support from the business community and others,” he says. “The day we announced it, I received twenty emails saying ‘Congratulations,’ ‘Great move,’ ‘We support you,’ ‘We want to help you grow,’ and more.”

According to Paul Johnson, who has been a member of the center since 2008, the rebranding better reflects what akIBC does. “Branding is important, and the new name reflects that the akIBC is an independent organization focused on Alaska,” he says. Johnson owns Highliner Consulting Group, which provides strategic and business planning services, knowledge management, and business valuations.

“The previous name was starting to limit our ability to grow, and the new brand more accurately reflects the variety of information and services we provide,” adds Wolf.

Far Beyond Import/Export

With the name change, akIBC’s goal is to let more people—in Alaska and across the world—know about the breadth of services it provides.

While akIBC continues to offer import/export trade services to help Alaskans find markets for the products they sell, it is only one of the services they offer. “Exports are very important to the Alaska economy, as many Alaska companies are involved in exporting products, including natural resources and professional/technical services,” says Wolf, noting that the $6 billion a year export market is quite strong for a state of Alaska’s size, ranking it number three or number four in the country on a per capita basis.

In addition to providing Alaska companies with market research and market entry services—such as how to enter the Japanese or Korean markets, for example—akIBC also helps companies abroad that seek to invest in Alaska projects. “There are many companies around the world that invest around the world—and that could include Alaska if these investors were aware of our projects and what the

“It’s easy to get down about the state’s shrinking population, but you have to remember that there are markets beyond our borders.”

Greg Wolf, President and CEO, Alaska Internati onal Business Center

need is,” says Wolf. “Oftentimes, Alaska businesses are looking for capital, and there are many sources of foreign capital available if we are able to put entities together through cross-border investment facilitation.”

The akIBC also offers strategies for companies looking to take advantage of foreign trade zones (FTZs) located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Kodiak. “These FTZs are important globally as part of international trade,” says Wolf. “We teach people where they are and how to use them to their advantage.”

As more Alaskans move into manufacturing, the need for this area of expertise has grown, says Wolf, noting that he has watched this sector grow over the past thirty years. “When I first started my career, there weren’t many people manufacturing products in Alaska; now there’s a high-quality, cutting-edge technological market here. Whether big or small, tech or not, these businesses require materials, parts, packaging, and more.”

In addition to finding outlets for sales downstream of the manufacturer, akIBC can assist with upstream supplies. “Through global sourcing, we can scour the world to find the items these companies need,” Wolf says. “For example, a lot of equipment can be sourced overseas for a lower price than companies w ould pay in the US.”

Wolf gives the example of a distiller that needed to find a less expensive source for bottles. The akIBC was able to help the company source bottles from another country, resulting in 50 percent savings.

“This is not an anti-American stance, but if a company needs a lower price point to sell more and expand their business in Alaska, they need to have a low competitive price,” explains Wolf. “Anything we can do to help nascent manufacturing companies to reach lower price points and expand production so that their cost per unit is less helps support Alaska jobs and diversification.”

Tech Tundra

The akIBC is also working on a new initiative to put Alaska’s technological prowess on the map. Wolf says numerous companies in the state do business all over the world, yet they

are little known within the state. He gives the example of one 3D imaging company that has been in business for more than thirty years, licensing 90 percent of its software overseas.

“akIBC gives small businesses traveling abroad legitimacy… In our first trade mission to Taiwan, Singapore, and India, we got meetings with embassy and consulate members, which you don’t normally get as a small company off the street.”

Paul Johnson President and CEO Highli ner Consulting Group

“They could operate from anywhere, but the founders like the lifestyle here,” he says. “Other companies could also have their headquarters here while doing business all over the world.”

The akIBC highlights these companies each year at its Tech Forward Alaska luncheon, and the center plans to step up its efforts to develop what Wolf calls “Alaska’s Tech Tundra.” This includes highlighting companies that have been in business for decades to demonstrate proof of concept.

“We want to encourage those in tech to think of Alaska as a home base; they can live here instead of Silicon Valley or Austin or the Research Triangle, which helps further Alaska’s economic diversification,” Wolf adds.

Flying the Flag

In 2024, akIBC will conduct two trade missions to China (one to Xiamen and one to Shanghai), as well as lead trade missions to Singapore and India.

“China hosts one of the most important global trade and investment shows annually that attracts more than 125,000 people over three days,” says Wolf. “Last year, we were the only state delegation there. We got a lot of attention waving our American flag and the Alaska flag, representing products and services fro m twenty companies.”

Johnson has attended these trade missions with akIBC as a way to identify foreign markets and create lasting contacts. “akIBC gives small businesses traveling abroad legitimacy,” he explains. “In our first trade mission to Taiwan, Singapore, and India, we got meetings with embassy and consulate members, which you don’t normally get as a small comp any off the street.”

In addition to helping small companies get their foot in the proverbial door, Johnson says akIBC helps members understand different business customs and cultures. “Through the akIBC, I was inspired to translate my business cards and marketing materials into Mandarin and Japanese,” he says. “These things are critical, but the difference is that not everybody does it.”

What happens on a trade mission? Johnson gives the example of a trade mission to India where he had the opportunity to meet India’s Minister of Coal. Two weeks later, he was approached by a group looking to export coal from the Navajo Four Corners Mine to potentially sell to China, despite logistical challenges and competitive disadvantages as a late entrant to the Chinese coal market.

Based on his contact with India’s Minister of Coal, Johnson asked if the mine considered selling coal to India, and he helped address the challenges of moving coal from Arizona through

the Canadian Pacific Northwest. This included routing coal through Mexico, leveraging not only the Mexico-Chinese trade pact but also utilizing a contact from the Mexican Consulate whom Johnson had met in Anchorage as a member of the akIBC.

“In under a month, I was able to give them not only a transportation solution but provide the client with a strong competitive alternative between China and India, even though I was not in the coal industry,” he says. “I would never have had those connections if I had not attended that event.”

Perks of Membership

With the new branding comes expanded member benefits beyond what akIBC already does. In addition to a traditional membership, the organization has introduced an All-Access Pass that includes free admittance to any akIBC-sponsored event (except trade missions) and guarantees admittance to sold-out events. The pass provides access to the akIBC’s numerous luncheon meetings, conferences, private sector receptions, trade shows, and roundtables with leading business executives in Alaska and overseas governments.

The akIBC is also expanding its highest level of engagement, the Taipan Club, which hosts exclusive events for club members, including small meetings with foreign diplomats or business executives who are interested in what those companies offer. This membership includes 24/7 access to akIBC staff via a hotline, which Wolf says is important to those business members traveling overseas.

In the longer term, Wolf is hoping to add Alaska/akIBC overseas trade offices similar to what the state of Alaska used to have in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, and Russia.

“There used to be a state government program that promoted trade and tourism in these important markets, but they’re now all closed due to budget cuts and lack of attention; they no longer exist,” says Wolf. “That decision was really short-sighted, and I think it would greatly help us to reinstitute some form of trade representation on the ground in key markets—like China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, and India—

with someone who understands the culture and speaks the language.”

To do this, Wolf says that he will need support from the private sector and the government to build these networks so that akIBC can help Alaskans do business in these countries and help businesses abroad find partners in Alaska.

“Some of our members are already involved in international trade, and some are considering it… Others don’t work in international trade but provide services to those who do, like lawyers, banks, and shipping companies.”

Greg Wolf President and CEO

Alaska Internati onal Business Center

Advancing Alaska’s Agenda

As the global economy evolves, Wolf says that it’s imperative for local businesses to get involved.

“International trade is big business for Alaska. We have a small domestic market, so there are only four choices if you want to grow as a successful Alaska business: you can grow organically, grow through acquisition, start expanding your business to the Lower 48, or go overseas.”

Wolf is very positive about the international potential. “It’s easy to get down about the state’s shrinking population, but you have to remember that there are markets beyond our borders. For example, there are very large, lucrative seafood markets overseas that want seafood products that Americans won’t consume; these foods are part of their cuisine and culture and are highly desired.”

He adds that, out of the world’s consumers, only 5 percent of the market is domestic, which leaves 95 percent of the total addressable market outside of US borders. For example, China, the world’s second largest economy, has 1.4 billion people, of which 400 million people are middle class.

“China’s middle class is larger than America’s entire population,” says Wolf, adding that India is poised to become the next large business market.

To this end, the akIBC wants to help members get ready. “Some of our members are already involved in international trade, and some are considering it,” says Wolf. “Others don’t work in international trade but provide services to those who do, like lawyers, banks, and shipping companies.”

While most of the akIBC’s members are small- to medium-sized companies, it welcomes multinationals as well, which benefit through the growth of local businesses.

“Multinationals are counting on us to grow local businesses in the hopes that these businesses will become their customers,” says Wolf. “If I’m shipping thirty packages a week on FedEx and can expand that to sixty packages a week, it benefits not only those companies but the community as a whole.”

`rebranding is already helping him make these contacts, now that non-Anchorage businesses have joined as new members.

“We have 115 companies now, and our immediate goal is 150, then 200,” he says, adding that his personal goal is to expand Alaska’s $6 billion in exports to $10 billion within the next ten years. “With the rebranding, we hope that people understand that we’re here to help all businesses in Alaska.”

Big Valley Welcome

Mat-Su Borough hosts the 2024 Arctic Winter Games

By Amy Newman

Pa ris buzzes with anticipation for the 2024 Summer Olympics, but for athletes living north of the 55th parallel, game time is right now. Eight delegations from the circumpolar region are converging in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for the 2024 Arctic Winter Games from March 10 to 16.

This is the first time the Mat-Su Borough has hosted in the event’s fifty-four-year history.

“We are extremely proud to be an integral part of this momentous occasion,” says Wasilla Mayor Glenda D. Ledford.

First held in 1970, the Arctic Winter Games is a biennial athletic competition and cultural exchange for young athletes, aged preteen through young adult, from eight contingents across the Circumpolar North. Athletes compete in twenty-one indoor and outdoor sports, including alpine, cross-country, and biathlon skiing; figure and speed skating; basketball, volleyball, table tennis, wrestling, and badminton; and traditional events called Arctic sports and Dene games.

Participation has expanded from the original contingents from Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories to include Northern Alberta, Nunavut, Nunavik (the northern extent of Quebec), Kalaallit Nunaat (the indigenous name of Greenland), and Sápmi, the homeland of the indigenous Sámi people spanning Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.

“There are 2,000 participants, which is close to what some of the Olympics have,” says Karen Lane, general manager of the 2024 Mat-Su Arctic Winter Games Host Society. “So it is a big deal.”

Indeed, the 2020 Winter Olympics in Beijing had 2,871 participants—along with an entourage of support staff, families, media, and 2,000 volunteers.

“Supporting the Arctic Winter Games 2024 goes above and beyond the fiscal… It provides an exclusive opportunity for us to showcase our community to international athletes, guests, and visitors while merging cooperation and interrelationships between communities throughout the borough and state.”

Glenda D. Ledford, Ma yor, City of Wasilla

Being able to host such a big deal in the Mat-Su Borough required a team effort.

Decades-Long Dream

While this is the Mat-Su Borough’s first time hosting, Alaska has rolled out the welcome mat for circumpolar athletes seven times before. Anchorage hosted the third Arctic Winter Games in 1974; since then, the state has served as host roughly every decade, with Eagle River-Chugiak and the Kenai Peninsula hosting once each, and Fairbanks hosting three times, most recently in 2014.

The idea of hosting has been on the Mat-Su’s radar as far back as 1996, the borough said in an April 2021 press release announcing its selection as the 2024 host site. Until recently, the area lacked the resources and facilities to host such a large-scale event. Since 1996, the development of several critical venues make hosting possible: the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Complex, the Government Peak Recreation Area, and the Skeetawk alpine ski area at Hatcher Pass, for example.

After the 2014 Arctic Winter Games, those involved in bringing them to Alaska unofficially agreed that MatSu would be the next Alaska host community, according to Lane. A Bid Committee approached the borough to gauge its willingness to provide financial backing. “It’s always the government agency that is a partner in [the Arctic Winter Games] because they’re the organization that always exists,” Lane says. “The host society is formed, and it puts on the games, but as soon as the games are over, it will go away.”

“All these people will be renting cars and spending money in the community. The participants and their families will be buying things and eating out. It’s a lot of economic development not just for the MatSu but Anchorage, too.”

Karen L ane, General Manager

2024 Mat-Su Arctic Winte r Games Host Society

With the borough’s backing, the Bid Committee began work on the ninety-eight-page proposal in late 2020. It included statements of support from a range of government and community organizations, including the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Matanuska-Susitna Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, the Palmer and Wasilla Chambers of Commerce, the cities of Palmer and Wasilla, and the State of Alaska.

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly approved the bid in a resolution adopted on February 2, 2021, along with a $250,000 appropriation. Early financial backing also came in the form of a $50,000 surplus from the 2014 Arctic Winter Games and a verbal commitment for $2 million from the State of Alaska.

“The bid has to include everything, like where are the villages, which is

Media central at the 2016 Arctic Winter Games in Nuuk, Greenland.

Vagn Hansen | 2016 Arctic Winter Games

Closing ceremonies at the 2016 Arctic Winter Games, where Team Alaska was awarded the Hodgson Trophy for fair play and team spirit. Hadler | 2016 Arctic Winter Games

The home team welcomes the Arctic Winter Games to Nuuk, Greenland in 2016, the second time the island territory's most populous city hosted the event. The 2002 games were the first time, hosted jointly with Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Bo O. Kristensen | 2016 Arctic Winter Games

what they call where the athletes sleep. Where would the venues for the twenty different sports be? Where will the cultural activities take place?” Lane says. “It’s a pretty in-depth document.”

Submission of the bid was followed by a site visit from the Arctic Winter Games International Committee, which for the first time was conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lane says the visit is as much for the committee to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of the bids and potential host sites as it is for the host city to get a clear picture of everything that hosting entails. The International Committee awarded the contract to the Mat-Su in April 2021. Shortly after, with the borough’s participation, the host society was formed.

Making It Happen

“A small cadre of our planning [department] staff helped to form the 2024 Arctic Winter Games host society once the games were awarded to the Mat-Su,” says Mat-Su Borough Manager Mike Brown. “Those staff members’ efforts have led to wider borough support to establishing the host society to what is now a community effort to bring the 2024 games to the Mat-Su.”

Events are being held at various locations around Palmer and Wasilla, including the Menard Sports Center, Skeetawk, the MTA Events Center, and The Glenn Massay Theater. Former host communities Anchorage and Eagle River/Chugiak are also welcoming athletes again—the ski and snowshoe biathlons take place at Kincaid Park, and the Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center in Eagle River is hosting figure skating and short track speed skating.

Partnerships with venues and local sports organizations meant there was little the Host Committee had to create from scratch. “There are things we’re building, like podiums for the medal ceremonies and some things for the biathlon course and other different sporting events,” Lane says. “But there’s not a lot we have to build because there are such great venues already in place, and partnering with different clubs that are always putting on different events makes it easier because they’re the experts.”

Athletes are being housed at “villages” in six area schools—

Wasilla Middle and High Schools, Colony Middle and High Schools, and Palmer Junior Middle and High Schools—with the Mat-Su Borough School District extending its spring break by an extra three days so that volunteers can prepare the schools for the athletes’ arrival.

“We convert the classrooms to sleeping quarters, so we take out all of the classroom things and put in beds,” Lane says. “We use the gym for a lot of the indoor events, like basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, and

futsal [indoor soccer], so the school district is a very important partner.”

The Arctic Winter Games also include opening and closing ceremonies, cultural activities, a Winter Carnival and Indigenous/Northern Makers’ Market at the Alaska State Fairgrounds, a concert by Inuit-soul music group Pamyua, and an Indigenous fashion show.

Community Engagement

The initial cost for the event was estimated between $4 million and $6 million, but a mix of pandemic-related

price increases and ongoing supply chain issues pushed the budget to $7.2 million. Revenue comes from a mix of cash and in-kind donations, sponsorships, and grants, says Host Society Sponsorship and Community Engagement Manager Cheryl Metiva.

“We are 100 percent funded through donations and sponsorships,” she says. “We’re leveraging every bit of funding that comes in to full advantage, from operations to what we need to supply not only to participants but within the community as well.”

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly’s $250,000 appropriation, along with inkind donations in the form of reduced or eliminated fees, makes it one of the event’s strongest financial partners, Metiva says. The City of Wasilla donated $100,000 in cash and an additional $25,000 in in-kind contributions, eliminating fees and discounting rental fees for the Menard Sports Center and other venues.

Larger sponsors often become part of what Metiva calls “the legacy

program,” where the donation is used to purchase equipment that is donated to the venue to keep.

Norfolk Telecom, for example, purchased snow fencing at Skeetawk and Government Peak that will be used in future competitions, she says.

With another grant, “We purchased a $7,000 Bluetooth sound system for the remote game area, which will be donated into the Mat-Su School system or library so that libraries that need systems will be able to use them,” Metiva says.

The Rasmuson Foundation is funding the purchase of 2,000 memory foam beds for the athlete villages, with American Fast Freight and TOTE Maritime Alaska partnering to help with the shipping fees, Metiva says. Those beds will then be donated to homeless shelters and substance abuse rehabilitation centers.

Avis Alaska has provided a 50 percent discount on more than sixty vehicle rentals and has donated eight vehicles and a new cargo van through

April 30, Metiva says. DG Signs & Lighting and Donlin Gold joined to cover the cost to wrap the van with logos for the Arctic Winter Games and all three sponsors.

“It’s just another one of those really creative ways that’s providing a huge need for us, but also one of those win/ win creative instances,” she says.

Many mom-and-pop businesses have also stepped up with in-kind contributions and other creative sponsorhips, Metiva says, and she leverages those contributions in a way that’s meaningful to both the sponsor and the event. Restaurant sponsors like Chepo’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, Evangelo's Restaurant, the Noisy Goose Café, or Hatcher Pass Pizza provide snacks and meals for volunteer recruitment and orientation events. Glacier Med Spa is closing its offices for three days to hand out free hot chocolates durin g the skiing events.

“It’s just a huge service to that event because there aren’t any concessions

Community partners and volunteers are a vital part of hosting an international sporting event not much smaller than the Winter Olympics.

2016 Arctic Winter Games

The "21st sport" is trading and collecting pins among the eight athlete delegations.

2023 Arctic Winter Games

“There’s not a lot we have to build because there are such great venues already in place, and partnering with different clubs that are always putting on different events makes it easier because they’re the experts.”

Karen L ane, General Manager 2024 Mat-Su Arctic Winte r Games Host Society

at Government Peak or Skeetawk,” she says. “It just shows some of the innovative ways our sponsors are getting involved.”

World-Class Exposure

With 2,000 athletes—plus coaches, support staff, families, and media—converging on the MatSu, early estimates put the Arctic Winter Games’ economic impact at approximately $10 million.

“Hotels and bed and breakfasts will be booked, and we’ve booked several hotel rooms in Anchorage for media and special guests,” Lane says. “All these people will be renting cars and spending money in the community. The participants and their families will be buying things and eating out. It’s a lot of economic development not just for the Mat-Su but Anchorage, too.”

Media coverage from outlets across the Circumpolar North will highlight the Mat-Su’s world-class recreational facilities and its desirability as a vacation destination, which is likely

MTA Invests in Community and Connectivity

By Tasha Anderson

Matanuska Telecom Association (MTA) announced in January its plans to support the Mat-Su 2024 Arctic Winter Games through a $75,000 sponsorship, which includes $30,000 in cash and $45,000 in connectivity infrastructure and support.

Elias Rojas, who is the marketing manager for MTA, as well as the director of information technology and communications on the Arctic Winter Games Host Committee, says MTA’s sponsorship fits its ongoing mission to support the community it serves. “Part of our mission is to pioneer economic development,” Rojas says. “Sponsoring both traditional and esports benefits MTA through fostering diverse community engagement.”

MTA’s support started with a process of looking at the venues where activities and events would take place. Connectivity audits and equipment evaluations determined what improvements or updates would be necessary to get the venues up to speed to meet the demands of the expected crowds—and to benefit future demands for connectivity. According to Rojas, “MTA has replaced several copper-served locations with fiber in preparation for the games; these fiber extensions will greatly increase capacity and allow for more communication options for the games and into the future.” For example, MTA added a “newer, faster, better” WiFi system at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, which hosts the opening and closing ceremonies for the games.

Communications upgrades have also been made at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena and the Government Peak Recreation Area. Rojas explains that MTA was already planning many upgrades to telecommunications infrastructure in the Mat-Su, but the timeline moved up to accommodate the Arctic Winter Games.

He says an MTA team of approximately fifty people has been working on support for the event as things have ramped up, but an additional team of ten has been providing IT help desk support for the Arctic Winter Games since early 2022. That team will continue to provide IT help desk support throughout the event—and on their own time. “They are volunteering for the games,” Rojas says. “Most of them grew up in the Mat-Su Valley, and they want to make sure things go smoothly.”

According to Rojas, while the Arctic Winter Games are an exceptional opportunity, MTA’s involvement is an example of how the telecommunications company routinely focuses on more than just the bottom line. “MTA is different from other large telecoms,” he says. “Our members are our owners, and supporting traditional sports and esports in our service area is a way to give back to the community.”

Donations help cover the $7.2 million cost, such as Avis Alaska providing a cargo van, wrapped with logos courtesy of DG Signs & Lighting and Donlin Gold.

Mat-Su 2024 Arctic Winter Games

to financially benefit the borough in the future, Lane says.

The mayor of Wasilla is quite aware of the non-financial benefits, as well.

“Supporting the Arctic Winter Games 2024 goes above and beyond the fiscal,” Ledford says. “It provides an exclusive opportunity

for us to showcase our community to international athletes, guests, and visitors while merging cooperation and interrelationships between communities throughout the borough and state.”

Activities throughout the week— including the opening and closing ceremonies, downtime in athlete villages, and pin trading (which Lane calls the 21st sport)—allow participants and visitors to interact, learn about each other’s cultures, and create memories beyond athletics.

“It’s amazing,” says Lane, who was general manager of the 2014 Fairbanks Host Society. “By the closing ceremonies, everyone is friends and they’ve all traded uniforms, and you don’t know who’s who anymore. It’s just amazing to watch the difference between the opening ceremony and the c losing ceremony.”

Grappling with Gravel

The pads that protect the tundra

By Dimitra Lavrakas

•

GFairbanks

ravel pads are an essential base for oil and gas operations on the North Slope tundra, which is delicate and subject to challenging freeze/ thaw cycles of the permafrost below. These artificial gravel islands establish a stable foundation for industry activity while protecting the tundra, allowing Alaska operators to both access critical resources and protect the natural environment.

Tok

HC

Installing the pads for exploration and drilling on the North Slope presents several logistical considerations: where to acquire and how to transport gravel to a potential site can make the difference between a project that’s passed over and one that’s identified as economically feasible.

•

Tok

Cruz

When oil companies drill for oil in the permafrost they must create stable surfaces for equipment, roads, pipeline routes, and personnel. Gravel pads are a common solution and have the added benefit that they can take advantage of local gravel deposits, reducing the time and cost of transporting material to the site. The pads are usually 3 to 6 feet thick and require large amounts of clean material to ensure the pad is stable.

Putting Down Rock

For example, a recent proposal from Hilcorp Alaska seeks to expand H pad in the Milne Point unit by 4.7 acres, which would require approximately 60,500 cubic yards of gravel to be laid down on the north, west, and south sides of H Pad, according to the permit application filed with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The proposal anticipates gravel will be

placed this spring, with compaction from June to August.

This pad expansion would allow Hilcorp Alaska to drill twenty-five new wells. If constructed, once the pad is in the place the first round of twelve wells is slated for drilling in September 2024, with the second round of thirteen drilled in 2025.

Toe in the Water

Gravel pads such as these are an essential tool in North Slope development. Aerial imagery of Alaska’s oil patch shows beige dots scattered among numberless ponds and a webbing of greenery. These are the footholds where North Slope producers confine their work as they tap into pools of petroleum. Advances in directional drilling have allowed operators to consolidate onto smaller and

smaller footprints while wells extend horizontally for miles, saving costs on infrastructure and reducing the effect on the environment.

While all gravel pads provide a stable base, not all those industrial islands are on solid ground. Some are literally at sea.

The first artificial island built for North Slope offshore oil development was Endicott, part of the Duck Island unit just east of the Prudhoe Bay field. In waters about 15 feet deep, Alaska Interstate Construction piled gravel at the end of a causeway connected to shore. Built for BP in 1987, Endicott is now operated by Hilcorp Alaska.

After Endicott proved that offshore development in the Arctic was possible, BP followed up a decade later with Northstar. Royal Dutch Shell discovered the oil pool in 1984, but the site was 5 miles offshore—too far for a causeway,

Cruz Construction placed gravel at Ravn pad in February 2023 (below); the project was completed in March 2023 (above), and Hilcorp Alaska's ice road is visible running south.

Cruz Construction

A Cruz Construction crew drills for a gravel shot in E pit at Prudhoe Bay.

Cruz Construction

“The majority of projects mine gravel in the wintertime utilizing drill and shoot as the primary mechanism of the mining process… We build ice roads from the material sites to the construction sites.”

Jeff Miller, Senior Executive Vice President of Operations , Cruz Construction

like at Endicott. By 1999, BP pushed the project forward by designing a subsea pipeline to bring Northstar’s oil ashore. The production well was built on top of 700,000 cubic yards of gravel poured through holes cut in the frozen Beaufort Sea. To protect the squarish shoal from shifting sea ice, the edges are reinforced with concrete mats. Northstar has been in production since the fall of 2001, also operated by Hilcorp Alaska.

The techniques that made offshore gravel pads possible were perfected by the crews who built them on the tundra.

Grounded in the Field

Cruz Construction, a contractor with decades of experience working on the North Slope, provides solutions for exploration, ice roads, road and pad development, tundra transport, and snow trail development.

It has completed more than $1 billion worth of heavy civil, oil and gas, mining, and marine projects in Alaska and the Lower 48.

The company performs all of its gravel activities in-house, including drill and shoot—the time-honored method of drilling a hole to a good depth, placing a charge in it, packing the hole with dirt, then lighting the charge.

“The majority of projects mine gravel in the wintertime utilizing drill and shoot as the primary mechanism of the mining process,” says Miller. “We build ice roads from the material sites to the construction sites.”

In 2017, Cruz Construction completed the Moose Pad project, an expansion of the Milne Pit gravel mine in the Kuparuk oil field, to support the

construction of a drilling and production gravel pad. The project cost $6.3 million.

“Our biggest challenge is having the weather conditions to achieve the mining, hauling, and placing of the necessary volume of material.”

Jeff Miller Senior Executive Vice Pre sident of Operations Cruz Construction

Cruz’s comprehensive history in Alaska has led it to an interesting transportation solution when it comes to transporting material for gravel pads: four-wheelers.

“It is rare that we have to fly equipment in,” says Cruz Construction Senior Executive Vice President of Operations Jeff Miller. “The primary mode for mobilization for most oil and gas support projects is an ATV mob. The secondary is barging, but most barging mobilizations require ATV support, too.”

All-terrain vehicles are just the beginning of the equipment needed for such a project. “The equipment list is large and diverse,” Miller says, “but regardless of what you use, it needs to be Arctic rated.”

The 2017 Moose Pad project involved large-scale mine site development, including drilling and blasting overburden and gravel, winter

hauling and placement of 315,000 cubic yards of gravel, construction of 3 miles of ice roads over tundra, cross drainage improvements, and summer post-thaw compaction and grading winter-placed gravel.

Ice and snow are the other way to insulate the tundra from damage. While the winter cover is down, contractors can build year-round armor for sensitive sward.

“Our biggest challenge is having the weather conditions to achieve the mining, hauling, and placing of the necessary volume of material,” Miller says. “The biggest challenges vary from year to year and project to project, but weather, terrain/ environment, project financing, permitting, asset availability, et cetera are a few of the things that seem to always be present.”

Where the tundra hides a wealth of oil and gas resources, the workers who extract it can confidently stand on the sturdy surface of gravel pads.

Cruz Construction employees offload gravel from the Atlas 205 barge in Utqiaġvik during the summer 2022 barging season.

Cruz Construction

More than oil

In its outlook for jobs in 2024, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development forecasts significant growth in the construction sector. By adding 1,100 jobs to the 16,700 employed during an average month in 2023, construction would see the largest gains of any industry. The anticipated growth puts construction well ahead of its pre-pandemic jobs total, with the strongest recovery of any sector.

Construction lays the foundation for other economic activity, literally and figuratively, whether spreading pads on the North Slope, building new ports or hospitals, or giving other working Alaskans a place to comfortably live.

Avenues of Investment in the Arctic

Infrastructure to access new territory

By Mikel Insalaco

Op portunity is building in the Arctic. Years of underwater surveys in the Arctic Ocean culminated in December 2023 with an announcement by the US Department of State to claim a wedge of the sea north of Alaska as sovereign territory.

A topographical feature called the Chukchi Borderland, 600 miles north of the Bering Strait, shares a geophysical connection to the outer continental shelf, according to the State Department. Consequently, the United States can claim the territory as its extended continental shelf, asserting rights to conserve and manage the area’s resources and habitats. The extension covers more than 200,000 square miles of the Arctic Ocean.

This strategic move positions Alaska for future developments in the Arctic region. At the doorstep to this new frontier, projects are underway to set up infrastructure for Arctic activities.

Seward Marine Infrastructure

The extended continental shelf claim is possible thanks to an interagency task force established in 2007. Scientists collected marine geophysical data to delineate the plateaus and ridges of the Chukchi Borderland. Many of those research voyages were conducted aboard the US Coast Gua rd icebreaker Healy.

For further research at sea, the University of Alaska operates its own vessel. R/V Sikuliaq , a stateof-the-art oceanographic research vessel, is owned by the National Science Foundation for use by the UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Designed and built for Alaska conditions, the vessel is equipped to navigate through frigid, icechoked waters, conducting essential research in marine ecosystems. The vessel's capabilities allow scientists to gather critical data inaccessible by

other research teams, playing a vital role in expanding understanding of these crucial areas.

R/V Sikuliaq spent the winter in drydock for routine maintenance at its home port in Seward. Beyond a refresher for the vessel, the port itself is due for an upgrade. The Seward Marine Center Research Vessel Infrastructure project is a proposed investment to support the capabilities of R/V Sikuliaq with a new dock for yearround berthing and servicing and a modern warehouse and shop facilities. The UAF Seward Marine Center is awaiting $84 million in funding. These upgrades are considered essential for maintaining and expanding maritime research and supporting efficient operations in the Arctic.

Alaska's role in this field could also attract international collaborations, positioning the state as a hub for scientific research and dialogue on

Petty Officer 3rd Class

Amanda

Norcross | DVIDS

pressing global environmental issues. This not only enhances Alaska's academic and scientific prestige but also potentially drives economic growth through research funding, job creation, and technological innovation.

The state’s unique geographic location and expansive, diverse marine ecosystems make it a prime candidate for pioneering advancements in maritime and environmental research. Alaska’s proximity to the Arctic, a region undergoing rapid climatic changes, provides an unparalleled natural laboratory for scientists and researchers. With the anticipated improvements from the Seward Marine Center Research Vessel Infrastructure project, R/V Sikuliaq 's operational efficiency and research potential could be significantly enhanced, furthering Alaska's contribution to vital Arctic and marine research.

Seward’s waterfront is also the site of planned construction for the US Coast Guard. Currently, Seward hosts only one Coast Guard vessel, USCGC Mustang, with a crew of twelve. A new class of ship is on the way: the Fast Response Cutter (FRC), which holds a crew of twenty-four. Three of the ships are already in active service in Ketchikan; three more will be based in Sitka, Kodiak, and Seward.

The arrival of the FRC is eagerly anticipated in Seward. Harbormaster Norm Regis highlighted the positive impact of this expansion, noting the influx of crew and their families as a boon to the community. This development paves the way for the Coast Guard's expanded presence in the Gulf of Alaska and the Arctic.

Port of Nome Modification

When USCGC Healy carried researchers into the Arctic Ocean, voyages departed from Dutch Harbor, currently the nearest deepwater port. For a closer option, Nome is staking its claim with a massive overhaul of its maritime infrastructure.

The US Army Corps of EngineersAlaska District (USACE) has $250 million to complete the preconstruction, engineering, and design phase as well as the first phase of construction for the Port of Nome Modification. In partnership with the City of Nome, USACE has been designing

Landmark real estate & construction projects are represented by Schwabe. We don’t just settle on knowing your industry. We live it.

Spotting trends and navigating turbulent waters can’t happen from behind a desk. The insights come when we put on our hard hats and meet our clients where they are.

modifications to alleviate vessel restrictions due to insufficient channel depths and limited harbor space.

Currently, ship transportation is limited by existing depths in the outer basin of minus 22 feet. This depth is inadequate to safely accommodate vessels of drafts greater than about 18 feet. The construction project aims to provide larger vessels improved access to Nome’s existing harbor by enlarging the outer basin and creating a new deep-water basin with a depth of minus 40 feet. Dredging would be required to deepen and maintain both basins and associated n avigation channels

“We are on the frontlines of an evolving world, and Alaska is an integral state to the success of our nation,” says Colonel Damon Delarosa, commander of the Alaska District. “These newly allocated funds allow us to continue to build a stronger Alaska through deeds, not words.”

On January 25, the USACE and state of Alaska signed a Project Partnership Announcement, which legally binds the state to execute the Nome port

economic stability and national security in the Arctic grows ever more imporant, USACE stands with Alaskan communities and the broader American nation as we engineer solutions to our nation's toughest challenges in the far north."

US Army Corps of Engineers-Alaska District commander Colonel Jeff Palazzini and Mayor John Handeland of Nome formally signed a partnership agreement on January 25 for the Port of Nome Modification Project. Calling it a "regional and national milestone," Palazzini said, "As the need for

John Budnik | DVIDS

Image courtesy of Waliszek

expansion project. According to Nome Mayor John Handeland at the time of the announcement, “Not only is this of great significance for our community and region, and the State of Alaska, it is an historic moment for America. The nation has long needed a deep-water port to allow resupply and refueling services to the country’s national security fleet operating in the Arctic, an area of the globe on which all eyes are focusing, and is rapidly changing. Additionally, the expanded port will enhance support in the transportation of critical goods and fuel throughout the region. Concurrently, it will enhance the ability to protect the marine environment, which is vitally important to our subsistence hunters and fishers as well as the commercial fisheries operating out of Nome.”

The anticipated improvements promise to transform the Port of Nome into a more robust and efficient transportation hub, fundamental to the long-term sustainability of the surrounding communities and enhancing its role in Arctic maritime operations and commerce.

USCGC Healy, the agency's largest icebreaker, assisting crew from USCGC Midgett in the Bering Strait. Based in Honolulu, Midgett is a national security cutter and visited the North Pacific in July 2021 to assure US sovereignty in the region.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Janessa-Reyanna Warschkow | DVIDS

According to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Alaska ranks second in the United States for the landed air cargo weight and fifth in the world for cargo throughput. The state's strategic position has already made it a crucial waypoint for transcontinental air cargo.

Building on this air cargo dominance, Alaska is well-placed to extend its influence to marine freight. With the gradual opening of Arctic shipping lanes and Alaska's extensive coastline, there's a growing opportunity to replicate its air cargo success in the maritime domain. The potential for marine cargo growth in Alaska could follow the growth of its air cargo operations, especially as global shipping patterns evolve with the changing climate.

Cost of Construction

The potential for Arctic investment is tempered by obstacles, of course. The cost of construction in Alaska, particularly in remote and challenging Arctic environments, is substantially higher than in more accessible regions. Factors such as distance, harsh weather, and the need for specialized materials and equipment

contribute to these increased costs, at least 30 percent higher compared to the national average. This significant cost factor is a crucial consideration in planning and implementing projects in the region, affecting feasibility and economic viability.

Extended sovereignty in the Arctic comes with the added complication of international boundaries. Canada and Russia have each claimed extended continental shelves that encompass the North Pole—yet clearly only one nation can assert control there.

The United States claim does not extend to the pole, but it does lengthen the maritime border with Russia. In addition to the territory claimed by the Chukchi Borderlands, the State Department also delineated a claim in the Bering Sea right up to the imaginary line between US and Russian waters. Alaska's strategic geographical location and its proximity to the Arctic offer a unique vantage point for monitoring Arctic developments and a potential frontline in the event of polar-region conflicts.

Findings by the American Security Project highlight a significant disparity in Arctic presence between Russia and

the United States. Russia boasts control of more than 53 percent of the coastline within the Arctic Circle, in addition to maintaining more than a dozen military bases. In contrast, the United States' presence in the Arctic is comparatively limited; its only base with access to the Arctic Ocean, Pituffik Space Base (known as Thule Air Base until last April), is in Greenland.

This imbalance poses considerable security and logistical challenges for the United States, especially as activity in the region intensifies. The expansion of military capabilities in Alaska could mean enhanced national security, improved surveillance and response capabilities in the Arctic region, and increased presence in a strategically important part of the world. This expanded presence would inevitably lead to benefits for communities throughout the state as military bases and related facilities expand and modernize to meet new strategic demands.

Looking Forward

The extension of US sovereignty into the Arctic is not a done deal. The State Department’s claim falls under the authority of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, the US Senate has never ratified the treaty. Although bipartisan majorities have favored ratification, the vote requires two-thirds of senators to approve. Senator Lisa Murkowski reintroduced a ratification measure in November, and she is hoping the benefits of the territorial claim will help her make a conclusive case.

As Alaska stands at the cusp of a new era, marked by a blend of unprecedented opportunities and formidable challenges, the path ahead is as rich with potential as it is fraught with complexity. The state's strategic position in the Arctic opens doors to myriad possibilities, from maritime and environmental research to military expansion. However, the journey is not without its hurdles, including legislative constraints, environmental uncertainties, and economic considerations. The balance Alaska strikes between seizing these opportunities and navigating the obstacles will define its role on the global stage in the years to come.

US Coast Guard divers are lowered into the Arctic Ocean from USCGC Healy in 2017.

Homeported in Seattle, the icebreaker conducted important measurements of the seafloor that led to extended continental shelf claims.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Rachel Polish | DVIDS

Sixty Years Later

How the

1964 earthquake changed construction in Alaska

By Scott Rhode

March 27, 1964 shook up the construction industry in Alaska. The magnitude 9.2 earthquake that Friday evening left 131 people dead as it crumbled streets, flattened buildings, and wiped out coastal towns. On top of the rubble, what was rebuilt was different from what stood before.

The quake contributed to knowledge about seismic design that could not have been understood beforehand. In 1964, the theory of plate tectonics was still being developed. Geologists had only two working seismographs in Alaska, one in Fairbanks and one in Sitka, according to John Thornley, a geotechnical engineer with WSP USA in Anchorage.

The only earthquake with a stronger measured magnitude, the 9.4 Valdivia quake in Chile, had occurred just four years earlier. A few months after the quake in Alaska, a magnitude 7.5 struck Niigata, Japan, making 1964 a pivotal year for seismology. “Those two earthquakes really woke a lot of people up to the need to really improve the understanding of how buildings and structures behave under seismic loading,” Thornley says.

Seismic engineering influenced new building codes. “Prior to the ‘64 earthquake, there really wasn't a lot of oversight,” says Doug Hoftiezer, a construction technology instructor at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center in Seward. “When that earthquake hit is when we really realized we needed to have more oversight over the building industry to keep people safe.”

Aftershocks from the Good Friday earthquake can still be felt, metaphorically, sixty years later. The disaster left its mark on how buildings are designed and how they are constructed.

“Prior to the ‘64 earthquake, there really wasn't a lot of oversight… When that earthquake hit is when we really realized we needed to have more oversight over the building industry to keep people safe.”

Doug Hoftiezer, Construction Technology Instructor, Alaska Vocatio nal Technical Center

Geotechnical Lessons

Each month, a panel of nine experts meet in Anchorage to assist the city’s building departments on code amendments or project proposals. This is the Geotechnical Advisory Commission, established in 1976, and Thornley is currently its chair.

“The Geotechnical Advisory Commission is a fairly unique commission within the United States,” Thornley says. “There are not that many of these types of commissions within municipalities across the US West Coast,” where geotechnical review more often is the responsibility of a staff engineer.

The commission inventoried Anchorage’s geologic hazards in 1979, and it completed a risk assessment for the Downtown area in 2010. It found high or very high susceptibility to ground failure north of Sixth Avenue, west of I Street, on the bluffs along Chester Creek, and in the Turnagain neighborhood’s coastal areas. To cope with these hazards, the commission recommends methods for building safely.

Soil conditions took on new importance after 1964. “What are we setting this on?” is a question engineers and builders now routinely ask, Hoftiezer says. “And how are we going to hold this on that foundation?”

Builders knew about earthquakes before 1964, of course, but they had little guidance for best practices. Hoftiezer says, “Municipalities were grabbing whichever code they wanted to use. There wasn't anything across the board that made sure we were all building up to the same standards.”

Prior to 1964, “The code was very thin with respect to seismic aspects,” says Thornley. “As the years

Westinghouse Long Duration Energy Storage

From 8 hours up to 200 hours for utility and mining applications

Low cost — Offers a lower levelized cost than currently available technology — CapEx, OpEx and end-of-life.

Scalable — No topographical or geologic dependencies; can be built anywhere with a fully domestic supply chain.

Flexible — Modular solution that can uniquely serve high power needs at both medium and longer GWh durations (8–200+ hours). Provides grid inertia and other ancillary services.

Longest asset life —

Unlike lithium or chemical batteries, power generation equipment has no loss in capacity or capability over time.

Sustainable — No chemical, fire or safety risks; Long asset operational lifespan (50 years+); low carbon footprint and fully recyclable at end-of-life.

Proven Technology

Currently Being Deployed in First Commercial Application

www.westinghousenuclear.com

Peter Haeussler | USGS

The

DOWNTOWN ANCHORAGE

went on and research went on to understand how buildings and other structures behave, the code kept getting thicker and thicker until you have what it is now.”

What the state has now is the International Building Code, which local governments amend to suit their particular needs.

Strong Survivors

Reconstruction after the 1964 earthquake began almost immediately. Nearest the epicenter, Valdez abandoned its original site and scratched out a new town more than four miles away. “By the end of the summer most outside utilities and streets were complete,” according to a 1966 civil defense report The Alaskan Earthquake: A Case Study in the Economics of Disaster by Howard Kunreuther and Elissandra S. Fiore. They estimated the urban renewal in Valdez cost about $3.5 million, which translates to ten times as much in current dollars.

Another $3 million went to Seldovia, where homes on pilings sank below

The 1964 earthquake caused part of Turnagain Arm to sink more than 6 feet, allowing seawater to rush ashore. The "drowned" forest near Girdwood stands as a monument to the importance of soil stability.

Alaskan place to stay for

and cuisine.

high tide. In Kodiak, the business district slumped 5 feet into the sea, and refilling the pit cost an estimated $6 million.

Larger than all those efforts combined was the $20 million rebuilding of Seward, where “petroleum tank farms along the waterfront went up in flames. The great seismic waves that followed spread blazing gasoline and oil over most of the community,” Kunreuther and Fiore reported.

Seward was on unstable ground to begin with. Hoftiezer observes, “Seward is built on a delta, basically, so how many thousands of years of organic debris was buried in the glacial till? As that stuff starts to decompose, the soil s tarts loosening up.”

Soil stability was less important than building quickly in the ‘40s, when Seward’s population more than doubled.

“I can drive around Seward and, to this day, almost pick out where the people that built certain houses came from in the Lower 48,” Hoftiezer says. “People brought up their building practices. They moved here

from Arizona; they were putting in Arizona buildings.”

One telling feature is the dimensions of framing materials. In Seward’s oldest houses, Hoftiezer says, “their rafters are made of 2x4s. Nobody would put a house up with 2x4 rafters; we would do 2x12s. The ’64 earthquake really brought us forward on increasing the size of our framing, our bearing materials, our beams, our girders.”

Yet some pre-quake buildings survived. “It amazes me as I have gone through many different homes and businesses in this town and how well they’ve stood up for a hundred years,” Hoftiezer says. “They're still in pretty good shape. So obviously the earthquake did a lot of damage, but it was almost like that earthquake took the weak out of the herd and left the strong standing.”

The strong survivors now have stronger neighbors, which Hoftiezer credits to Seward’s building department. “They’ve got very strict seismic codes, and we're very careful now about building near tsunami zones. I mean, we

“The code was very thin with respect to seismic aspects… As the years went on and research went on to understand how buildings and other structures behave, the code kept getting thicker and thicker until you have what it is now.”

John Thornley, Chair, Anchorage Geotechnical Advisory Commission

In the aftermath of the 1964 earthquake, a civil defense report concluded that the biggest takeaway was the extension of construction into winter thanks to plastic sheeting and

know that's going to be an issue even if the quake doesn't hit here,” he says.

Vote of Confidence

In terms of dollar value, Alaska’s largest city sustained the most damage. Anchorage lost 971 housing units that day. To repair and rebuild, 1,114 residential building permits totaling $4.1 million were filed in 1964, double the amount from the year before, Kunreuther and Fiore found. Non-residential permits also more than doubled to 496, and the value quadrupled to $3.8 million. The authors noted that “many business establishments which were destroyed beyond repair had an opportunity to modernize and expand their facilities over their previous size.”

The report credited two new projects with instilling confidence in Anchorage’s business community. One week after the quake, the board of what is now First National Bank Alaska voted to proceed with a new Downtown building. Around the same time, real estate developer (later Governor and Secretary of the Interior) Wally Hickel went

To

Span

portable heaters.

Equipment Source, Inc.

ahead with a $3 million plan to build the Hotel Captain Cook.

The hotel’s first nine-story tower opened a year later, overlooking the edge of Downtown that collapsed during the quake. The next two towers added to the property in 1972 and 1978 incorporated new insights into seismic design, each rising taller than the last.

The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute held conferences at the hotel in 2014 and 2019—but Thornley says it took some convincing. “The question was, we want to have our conference at Hotel Captain Cook, but, as earthquake engineers, we don't want to have it at a place that may not be that stable,” Thornley recalls. But the building speaks for itself: “At the end of the day, the Hotel Captain Cook is a stable structure.”

With Hickel and First National leading the way, businesses finished rebuilding within a year. “Owners of commercial establishments now were convinced that they could not afford to bide their time in rebuilding, in the same way that

displaced families were able to do,” Kunreuther and Fiore reported.

Ultimately, construction spending in Anchorage totaled $30.8 million in 1964, compared to pre-quake normality in the $6 million to $8 million range. The report notes, “The overall recovery of the community was quite rapid.”

Enter the Heaters

One factor that sped up recovery— and which affects the building industry to this day—was winter construction.

After the earthquake in March, soil studies delayed construction contracts until late July. Kunreuther and Fiore stated, “The need to repair or restore facilities (e.g., schools) as rapidly as possible thus forced contractors to adopt new methods for continuing work on buildings which were not closed in by the end of October. By draping a plastic covering, such as Visqueen, over the partially completed structure, portable heaters were effective in warming up the work area.”

Common practice before 1964 was to halt all construction (except indoors) during the winter. “Theoretically, you can

do building construction at 20°F below and it's not going to hurt anything,” says Nick Ferree, vice president at Equipment Source, Inc. (ESI), “but realistically you have workers who need to be able to take their gloves off and deal with fine stuff inside the building, so you need a warm space to do that safely.”

Construction site heating is not a matter of comfort but of necessity. Ferree explains, “You’re pouring concrete in the cold, you know, if you don't keep that warm, it's going to freeze and not cure. Applying paint and caulks—there's all sorts of reasons that things need to be warm.”

ESI started in 2000 as a heater manufacturer. The flagship model is the ES700, a trailer-sized unit that pushes 4,000 cubic feet per minute of warm air for up to 36 hours between diesel refills. Its energy output of about 800,000 British Thermal Unit compares to the boilers of six or seven Fairbanks houses put together.

The key feature, Ferree says, is the ES700’s reliability and simplicity. The 3-ton unit can go 3,000 hours between oil changes, which is especially handy on

the North Slope. “You don't want your guys wasting their time changing oil,” Ferree says. “So we set up [the ES700] for those extended service intervals, so they can run for the whole season and then come back in the summer.”

He admits that heaters aren’t necessarily exciting, and nobody wants to think about paying for the diesel fuel to operate them, but they have become essential tools for year-round work.

Even at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center, Hoftiezer says, “Our students are taught where and when heaters should be used as an acceptable part of the construction process.”

Extended Season

There was a time when construction laborers were unemployed in winter. Or, if they were transients in Alaska, they returned to the Lower 48 to

spend their earnings after a fiveor six-month season. Only certain trades, like electricians or plumbers, remained busy after October.

The industry in Alaska copied other states with cold winters. Ferree noticed that mentality in North Dakota, where ESI operated a branch at the Bakken oil fields until recently. “The difference in the Lower 48 is that winter doesn't last long, so projects will shut down,” he says. “Some really cold days are like, ‘Let's just not work today.’”

In 1964, post-quake construction didn’t have the luxury of waiting out a cold spell.

“One of the most beneficial of all possible economic effects of the earthquake is the change it may have induced in the length of the Anchorage construction season,” Kunreuther and Fiore found. “Due to the effectiveness of the plastic covering, contractors

now feel it is to their advantage to continue this expansion of winter construction in the future.”

The authors noted that winter construction allowed contractors to avoid expensive overtime during the summer, and the workforce was more stable because construction laborers could earn a paycheck all year.

The new rhythm didn’t become industry standard immediately; winter was still an idle season into the ‘70s. “Contractors would try to have projects dried in by the end of fall shoulder season and work inside all winter,” Hoftiezer says. However, “As company sizes increased and economics changed over time, outside work in winter became the new normal.”

Sixty years later, a construction site wrapped in polyethylene stands as a living reminder of the earthquake that changed Alaska.

When a job calls for a smaller heater than Equipment Source Inc.’s flagship model, the ES500 fits the bill. Equipment Source, Inc.

Housing Shortage

Valley Residential Services

addresses lack of affordable rentals

By Rindi White

Th e Matanuska-Susitna Borough, long considered Anchorage’s bedroom community, has a housing problem. Its growth is outpacing available housing, particularly affordable rental housing.

It’s outpacing it so quickly that housing and emergency shelter is listed in the 2022 Mat-Su Community Health Needs Assessment Implementation Plan as the top health need to be addressed.

The implementation plan is a direct outgrowth of the triennial Mat-Su Community Health Needs Assessment, a study the Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) must undertake every three years due to its affiliation with Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, says MSHF public affairs director Robin Minard.

MSHF operates Mat-Su Regional Medical Center jointly with Franklin, Tennesseebased Community Health Systems through a 65/35 partnership. The foundation’s primary role is to work in the community to improve the health and wellness of MatSu residents, using some of the proceeds earned through the hospital partnership.

anchorage | palmer | juneau | seattle

portland

houston | vancouver

To that end, in its 2022 annual report (the most recent one posted), MSHF listed more than $15 million in grants distributed that year, along with $5 million in program and capacity building. It ended the year with nearly $332 million in net assets.

Each Community Health Needs Assessment identifies goals and charts accomplishments in the three-year span since the previous assessment. It’s worth noting that housing and emergency shelter wasn’t even listed as a priority in the 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment. However, in the most recent assessment, almost half the 1,000 Connect Mat-Su survey respondents reported they had unmet needs related to housing.

Those needs varied largely due to location. The survey showed that one in five Mat-Su residents experiences housing problems considered severe: overcrowding, high costs, or a lack of kitchen or plumbing facilities. The more rural reaches of the Mat-Su—the Glenn Highway or Upper Susitna areas—were more likely to have structures without complete plumbing, the survey notes.

“Recent trends in landlords transitioning year-round units to shortterm rentals have exacerbated the problem. Temporary shelter is the number-one system gap identified by Connect Mat-Su in 2021 and 2022,” the survey reports.

Addressing the Need

Valley Residential Services (VRS)— in partnership with Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), Cook Inlet Housing Authority, and The Pacific Companies—is working to address the need for below-market-rate housing.

VRS currently has fifty-two housing units of workforce housing (partially subsidized housing) under construction, having added eighty-six units in 2023.

“My goal is to provide roots for families to have safe, affordable housing,” VRS President and CEO John Weaver says.

Weaver has been at the helm of VRS since 2006. Since then, the organization’s number of employees has surged, from four to more than twenty-five, and the number of housing

units it manages has increased as well, from 113 to 473.

“John will say that the success that VRS has is actually a team effort— and he is right, it does take a team— but a team needs a leader to give it direction, to nurture it, and to guide it along a path to success, and John is that leader,” says Mat-Su Health Foundation President and CEO Elizabeth Ripley. “In addition to his paid position at VRS, John is a tireless volunteer. He has served as president of the Wasilla Area Seniors and Family Promise boards of directors for more than ten years and been active with the Mat-Su Coalition on Housing and Homelessness and State of Alaska homeless coalition. John also serves as an elder and trustee for First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage, which is providing supportive housing there as well. He makes a mark on housing system s wherever he goes.”

Making a Mark

Weaver is certainly making a mark. Winter Rose I is VRS’s most highly visible project in progress, where

Valley Residential Services opened Vista Rose Senior Apartments in 2018. The seventy-six-unit facility located at 1240 N. Lucille Street in Wasilla consists of one- and two-bedroom apartments for seniors fifty-five years of age or older.

Valley Residential Services

“Recent trends in landlords transitioning yearround units to short-term rentals have exacerbated the problem. Temporary shelter is the numberone system gap identified by Connect Mat-Su in 2021 and 2022.”

Mat-Su Commun ity Needs Assessment

more than a dozen neutral-colored strips of townhouses have sprung up in a former hayfield at the busy intersection of Bogard and Trunk Roads, a bit more than a mile from Colony Middle and High schools.

The two-phase project will have a total of seventy-six rental units, set up as two- and three-bedroom townhomes with four units in each building. The first forty-unit phase of the project opened to renters in September and was fully occupied by the end of 2023. The second phase of the development, with thirty-six units, will be finished by the summer.

One nice feature of the development, Weaver says, is that every unit includes a garage. Units also have in-floor heating and full-sized washers and dryers. A community center with a site manager’s office, workout area, computer area, TV area, and a reading area will be part of the second phase of construction, Weaver says—that’s something VRS strives to provide for every development it does.

“The big selling point on that project is the proximity; there’s an elementary

“The big selling point on [Winter Rose I] is the proximity; there’s an elementary school on Stringfield Road, a high school and middle school within a mile, it’s close to shopping and medical, and for commuters, it’s an easier end of the Valley to head into Anchorage.”

John Weaver, President and CEO, Valley Residential Services

school on Stringfield Road, a high school and middle school within a mile, it’s close to shopping and medical, and for commuters, it’s an easier end of the Valley to head into Anchorage,” he says.

Also under construction is the Breezy Meadows development on Scott Road north of Palmer, which are two- and three-bedroom townhomes. VRS is currently building sixteen units, and Weaver says VRS recently received approval for another twenty-four, which will bring the total development to forty units. The units currently under construction are expected to be occupied in the late spring or early summer, he says.

Another project in progress is named for its location, Old Matanuska Road,

near Walmart and The Valley Cinema. That project, with one- and twobedroom units, has twenty-four units currently occupied and another twentytwo being built, Weaver says. Those units also feature a garage and are within walking distance to several jobs.

Over this year, VRS’s 473 managed housing units will grow to 653, though not all of that is workforce housing—the nonprofit also manages or partners in the management of senior housing and projects for people with developmental or behavioral disabilities. Recently, VRS partnered with California-based housing developer The Pacific Companies to build housing focused on helping people fresh out of a treatment facility or out of homelessness.

The Bridgeway development north of Wasilla has twenty-two units of efficiency and one-bedroom apartments, fully furnished, with a case manager on site. A second phase of that development, with eighteen additional units, was completed in September. Last year was a busy year for Weaver and his team of twenty-four employees, and he doesn’t see it slowing down soon. Even when the planned units are complete, Weaver says the waitlist for available housing will still be more than 100 names long.

Making Rentals Affordable

The rent for VRS’s subsidized housing is based on household income. For example, VRS’s Winter Rose Phase II development under

The Winter Rose townhome project, located at the intersection of Bogard and Trunk roads, is a mix of two- and three-bedroom apartments and will have seventy-six units when complete. Pictured is the first phase, with forty units, which opened in September. The second phase, complete with a clubhouse and thirty-six units, will open in late spring or early summer.

Valley Residential Services

construction at the intersection of Bogard and Trunk Roads consists of thirty-six units, with most of those restricted to applicants making 30, 50, or 60 percent of the area median income, or between $30,100 and $60,240 for a four-person household. Eight units are designated for disabled adults, under the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 811 program. Seven of the units will be re nted at market rate

According to the market feasibility study conducted for the project (a requirement for AHFC financing), renters who fall under the 30 to 60 percent of area median income level will pay between $640 and $1,281 for a two-bedroom, one-bath, 861-squarefoot unit or between $739 and $1,479 for a three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,168-square-foot unit, utilities included. According to the study, marketrate rents (before utilities) for those units would be $1,300 and $1,500, respectively, though income and rent limits are recalculated each year.

How can Valley Residential Services and The Pacific Companies afford to build and rent the units at a subsidized rate? They don’t. Housing grants and tax credits help finance lowincome housing. The Mat-Su Health Foundation, the Rasmuson Foundation, and Weidner Apartment Homes have been instrumental in assisting with gap funding over the years to make these projects a reality, Weaver says.

There are a few different financing options, but low-income tax credits are probably the most popular, AHFC Manager of Housing Development Andy Petroni says. AHFC can issue tax credits that can be sold to finance a lowincome housing project.

“The amount a project can receive is based on the amount of depreciable basis—the costs they can depreciate on their taxes,” Petroni explains. “It’s a gap-funding program, so you take the amount of debt the project can support plus any other sources of funding coming in, the gap between that amount and the total construction cost is the gap AHFC funding fills.”

AHFC issues the tax credits, which are sold on the equity market, and the project is financed, with tax credits claimed over time. Once the investment partner goes through the

agreed-on compliance period, often fifteen years, they have claimed all the benefit they can from the project and they step away from it, at which point it reverts to VRS and its project partner. The tenant rights and lowincome restrictions stay with the land, Petroni says. AHFC is generally required to examine tenant files yearly and complete on-site compliance inspections every three years. About 6,100 units, or 210 properties, are on AHFC’s compliance list.

Subsidize, Don’t Supplant

The annual AHFC-conducted survey of rental costs and vacancy rates across the state showed the Mat-Su Borough had a 3.6 percent vacancy rate—or 39 vacancies among the 1,083 units surveyed—for private rentals. That count doesn’t include subsidized or partially subsidized rentals such as those that VRS provides, notes Petroni.

A 3.6 vacancy rate speaks of a tight rental market, meaning it’s not easy for individuals and families to find rental housing at the estimated $1,297-permonth rental rate. Anchorage’s

comparative vacancy rate is just above 4 percent, with 333 vacant units out of 8,159 surveyed and an average adjusted monthly rental rate of $1,404.

Even Juneau, where the rental housing market is notoriously tight, had a vacancy rate of 4.1 percent in 2023, with 46 units vacant of 1,121 surveyed, though its average adjusted monthly rent was higher than Anchorage, at $1,420.

“Below 5 percent is considered a pretty tight housing market,” Petroni says.

The goal of subsidized housing such as what VRS offers—and what AHFC helps to build around the state—is not to infringe on the private rental housing market, however. The aim is to help individuals and families who can’t afford marketrate housing, whose income makes it impossible to afford the nearly $1,300-per-month market rate

As Petroni says, “These projects help to add units. We hope to not compete with the market-rate units; it will help take the pressure off the lowest-income folks who just can’t find anything they can afford out there.”

Project Roundup A 2024 construction snapshot

By Rachael Kvapil

Co nstruction spending in Alaska totaled approximately $5 billion in 2023, counting both private sector and public sector projects. Ahead of the 2024 building season, contractors have lined up new projects for the year while continuing work on several multi-year projects around the state.

“[The Dalton Highway] project significantly improves the safety and usability of the haul road by reducing steep drops, climbs, and sharp corners, along with the new bridge across Hess Creek.”

Jennifer Quakenbush, Vice President, G reat Northwest, Inc.

“Given the remote nature and severe weather conditions in Anaktuvuk Pass, [the public works shop] is a piece of critical infrastructure that is much needed by the borough to house and maintain equipment that keeps the remote village up and running.”

Jeremiah Campbell Operations Manager ASRC Construction

Restore and Rebuild

ASRC Construction, a division of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, is heading up two rural projects in 2024, one in northern Alaska and one in the southwest region. Both projects will restore useful structures that were previously destroyed or damaged in natural disasters.

The New Anaktuvuk Pass Public Works Shop project consists of a 14,797-square-foot pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) that will provide interior vehicle parking, locker rooms, restrooms, a mezzanine, office and meeting facilities, and mechanical/ electrical support spaces for North

Slope Borough staff. In addition to the structure, site development will include select demolition, contaminated site soil and groundwater management, parking areas, gravel pad, stormwater management, utility services and connections, and site electrical.

“This is a new equipment shop that is replacing the old shop that previously burned down on February 7, 2018,” says Jeremiah Campbell, ASRC Construction operations manager.

“Given the remote nature and severe weather conditions in Anaktuvuk Pass, this is a piece of critical infrastructure that is much needed by the borough to house and maintain equipment that keeps the remote village up and running.”

The PEMB construction method, where parts of the structural steel building are prefabricated off site and assembled at their final location, fits the project’s remote location. Anaktuvuk Pass, in the Brooks Range about 50 miles west of the Dalton Highway, is only accessible by plane, so the entire project, including construction and gravel processing equipment, will be flown in by C-130 Hercules aircraft.

ASRC Construction started the project in September 2023, and work is expected to run through the end of September 2025. The estimated cost is around $27.7 million.

In Southwest, on the north bank of the Kuskokwim River approximately 10 miles downriver of Bethel, ASRC Construction is working on a replacement school in Napakiak.

“Due to the effects of climate change, the old school has had to have part of it removed due to the bank erosion of the Kuskokwim River,” says Campbell. “The new replacement school is much farther away from the main river on the other side of the village. The new school is also in the same location where many of the houses in the village are going to be relocated.”

The new school will be a onestory, steel-frame structural insulated panel (SIP) building, approximately 27,600 square feet, constructed on a recently installed pad and pile. Crews will also build an additional new pad extension and building and deck piles. Civil site work also includes well drilling, wastewater treatment

lagoon construction, and other site utility connections.

SIP is another high-performance building system that works well for remote areas like Napakiak. The advantages of this system are exceptional thermal performance, healthier indoor air quality, environmental sustainability, structural superiority, and cost effectiveness. The estimated cost of the project is around $45 million. ASRC Construction received the notice to proceed from the Lower Yukon Kuskokwim School District in May 2023. Substantial completion of the project is estimated around July 2025.

Bridging the Gap

In the Interior, Great Northwest, Inc. (GNI) is working on two bridge and

drainage projects that will improve the safety and sustainability of the road system. GNI specializes in road and airport construction, site development, site reclamation, underground utilities, erosion protection, and riverbank restoration.

On the Dalton Highway between milepost 18 and 37, just northwest of Livengood, GNI is rehabilitating the 19-mile section with major drainage upgrades, a new bridge, and significant grade improvements requiring more than 1.8 million tons of material and 800,000 cubic yards of excavation. Located about two hours north of Fairbanks, this section of the road is frequently used by large transport vehicles. GNI Vice President Jennifer Quakenbush says, “This project significantly improves the

safety and usability of the haul road by reducing steep drops, climbs, and sharp corners, along with the new bridge across Hess Creek.”

GNI started the project in April 2023 and anticipates completion ahead of the scheduled date in fall 2025. The project is estimated to cost around $83.4 million; however, the final cost will be determined following completion.

A thirty-minute drive south of Delta Junction, GNI will also continue to work on the Bear Creek Bridge project started in September 2023. Located at milepost 233 on the Richardson Highway, GNI will replace the bridge over Bear Creek with a wider and longer one while realigning the road and improving the curves and grades to current design standards. Crews

The location for the new Anaktuvuk Pass Public Works equipment shop is only accessible by plane, so construction and gravel processing equipment, as well as other jobsite supplies, are transported on C-130 Hercules aircraft.

ASRC Construction

Stantec will begin work in May on the Seward High School and Nikiski Middle and High School Track and Turf Project to rehabilitate aging athletic facilities in both locations.

Stantec

“The [track and turf] project will provide safe and modern athletic facilities for use by students and the community at large… The design and construction also address maintenance and access issues experienced by existing facilities.”

Stephanie Scheevel Principal Stantec

will also undertake considerable drainage improvements, including replacing culverts. Quakenbush says the goal is to improve safety by widening shoulders and replacing guardrails and signs while increasing the sustainability of the road by al tering its geometry.

“Bear Creek will have a wider channel at the crossing, allowing larger volumes of water to pass underneath and lessening the likelihood of the highway washing out like in 2022,” says Quakenbush.

The cost of the project is estimated at $26.3 million, though the final cost will be determined at the completion of the project in fall 2025. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Northern Region and the Federal Highway Administration

Waste Not

By Rachael Kvapil

In 2024, Delta Backhaul Company (DBC) will continue working with Donlin Gold during its annual “In It for the Long Haul” backhaul project. DBC is a solid waste contractor specializing in household hazardous waste and scrap metal backhaul and demolition projects. Company owner Doug Huntman says, “DBC is devoted to implementing practical solutions that benefit remote villages across Alaska.”

For a seventh year, Donlin Gold is sponsoring the backhaul program as part of its community investment program for Kuskokwim River villages. Donlin Gold is developing a major mining prospect on lands owned by Calista Corporation and The Kuskokwim Corporation. Huntman says this project is a natural fit for his company, which is committed to enhancing solid waste programs.

DBC will collect and dispose of twenty-four common household hazardous materials, including old electronics, vehicle batteries, household chemicals, old paint, and used oil. In 2023, the program expanded to collect old household appliances in an additional five pilot villages in the region, utilizing an innovative appliance baler for efficient shipping. This year, the program will service all fifty-four villages along the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers in Western Alaska.

Huntman says the project actively engages village residents, emphasizing the importance of responsible material removal to safeguard clean drinking water and subsistence resources. In-person collection events use a large landing craft owned by the Native Village of Napaimute, ensuring operational efficiency in transporting crews, equipment, and materials for backhaul. Collection and disposal services are free of charge to participating residents. All collected materials are shipped out of the region for recycling.

“This project underscores Donlin Gold’s commitment to environmental sustainability and community well-being by removing potentially harmful materials from the region,” says Huntman. “Landfills are not lined, and many sites face challenges with hazardous materials since they should be processed separately from regular household waste.”

Last year, the program removed an estimated 234,750 pounds of household hazardous material for a total of 660,826 pounds of material since the program began in 2018. The program will run from July through August this year.

are funding both the Dalton and Richardson Highway projects.

Leveling the Playing Field

In the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Stantec is preparing two projects that will benefit school athletics. Starting in May, Stantec will begin work on the Seward High School and Nikiski Middle and High School Track and Turf Project. Crews will rehabilitate the tracks at both schools, adding artificial turf fields to the sports facilities and making necessary dra inage improvements.

Stephanie Scheevel, principal and project manager for Stantec, says the Seward and Nikiski tracks are forty and sixteen years old, respectively. The tracks will be replaced or repaved as needed with 8-lane, 400-meter tracks for walking and running, and the artificial turf field will support both football and soccer. Scheevel says this design is comparable to other Stantec-designed facilities found at Kenai Peninsula Borough School District high schools in Soldotn a, Kenai, and Homer.

“The project will provide safe and modern athletic facilities for use by students and the community at large,” says Scheevel. “The design and construction also address maintenance and access issues experienced by existing facilities.”

In Nikiski, the school’s track and field is currently at the bottom of a bowlshaped space with bleachers on the south end of the field. The bleachers are built into a hillside that slopes down to the track. This layout, along with the lack of direct sunlight, increases the time it takes for snow and ice to melt and reduces the amount of time students can use the facilities during the spring season.

The estimated cost for both projects ranges between $8 million and $11 million and is funded by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. Scheevel estimates the tracks will be completed in September of this year.

Contractors say they regularly acquire additional projects throughout the year as new bid solicitations open and existing bids are confirmed by various project owners. As busy as builders are at the start of 2024, they expect to stay that way all year.

Delta

Dawson City

Stewart Crossing

Wasilla

Anchorage

Soldotna

Homer Kodiak

Haines

Junction

Whittier

Seward Cordova

Sitka

Whitehorse

Watson Lake

Skagway

Juneau

Petersburg

Wrangell

Ketchikan

Craig

CELEBRATING 1959-2024

THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF OUR JOURNE Y .

photo: Petro Marine Services, Ketchikan Terminal

AGC of Alaska

Excellence in Construction Awards

As sociated General Contractors (AGC) of Alaska annually recognizes projects completed by its members that exemplify the high quality of work that Alaska’s contractors perform season after season. Here are the winners of the 2023 Parker, Smith & Feek Excellence in Construction Awards, which were presented at AGC of Alaska’s annual conference in November 2023.

ROGER HICKEL CONTRACTING

ANC Cascading Escalator Enclosure

Under $5 Million, Vertical Construction

This Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport project replaced a glass superstructure with a glazed curtain wall enclosure cantilevered off the west side of the public parking garage. Rigid enclosures were constructed around the escalators, providing means of protection while serving as a working platform helping to access the areas above. Since the cascading escalator enclosure is the only means of conveyance between all four levels of the parking garage and the main terminal, Roger Hickel Contracting constructed a dust-free pedestrian tunnel through the middle of the work area equipped with all lifesafety requirements of the Municipality in terms of public conveyance through a temporary structure.

STG INCORPORATED

Stebbins/St. Michael Wind Energy Project

$5 Million to $15 Million, Vertical Construction

STG Incorporated installed one of the largest wind energy towers on the West Coast of Alaska in the remote village of Stebbins. This tower will provide energy security and sustainability for generations to come. It will produce 2,529 MWh (net) of wind powered electricity, a clean and renewable energy source, each year. It is expected to displace approximately 104,700 gallons of diesel fuel per year and thereby displace 1,645 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. The Stebbins Wind Energy Project proves that sustainable energy systems can be established in the most remote locations of Alaska.

STG Incorporated

Roger Hickel Contracting

DAVIS CONSTRUCTORS & ENGINEERS

Solid Waste Services Central Transfer Station

Over $15 Million, Vertical Construction

Over $30 Million, Sustainability in Construction

Davis Constructors & Engineers won two awards for this Construction Manager/General Contractor project, which included the construction of a new transfer station and operations campus for Solid Waste Services of Anchorage. The 26-acre site development included spaces for residential and commercial interaction, administration, and the trash collection fleet operation spread across seven buildings anchored by the 97,000-square-foot tipping facility. The project is envisioned to increase Municipality of Anchorage landfill diversion efforts over the next 50 years, extending the life of the current landfill into the 2070s.

Ken Graham Photography

Ken Graham Photography

Ken Graham Photography

CHEMTRACK | CORNERSTONE JOINT VENTURE

Barter Island Runway Geocell Removal

Under $5 Million, Transportation|Heavy|Marine|Earthmoving

In the late ‘40s, residents were forced to move from their original homes and historic Kaktovik village site to allow for construction of a US Air Force runway and hangar. The Barter Island Runway Geocell Removal project allowed ChemTrack/Cornerstone Joint Venture (CTCSJV) an opportunity to remove 1,464 linear feet of steel drums and 11,121 square yards of geocell material from this former US Air Force runway. The removal of these remaining site materials will ultimately allow the land to transfer back to Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation. CTCSJV delivered the project on-time and within budget.

KNIK CONSTRUCTION

Northern Region Western Coastal Storm Emergency Repairs

$5 Million to $15 Million, Transportation|Heavy|Marine|Earthmoving

In the face of Typhoon Merbok’s devastating aftermath, Knik’s Nome Emergency Storm Repairs team performed nothing short of a miracle. Scheduled to leave Nome, the crew instantly pivoted, assessing the catastrophic 30-mile road damage and a 1,000 linear foot sea-to-lagoon breach. Mobilizing within days, the team collaborated with contractors and the community to defy looming winter odds over the Bering Sea. Utilizing drone technology and innovative construction techniques, the team hauled 67,000 tons of material up to 20 miles to repair roads, the breach, and heavily hit downtown Nome.

BRICE INCORPORATED

Kotzebue to Cape Blossom Road Stage 1

Over $15 Million, Transportation|Heavy|Marine|Earthmoving

The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities contracted with Brice Incorporated to construct the 4.5 mile Stage 1 of the road from Kotzebue to Cape Blossom in the fall of 2020. Brice used an innovative approach to utilize deep draft mainline barges to haul aggregate to Cape Blossom and an ice road to move the aggregate to the project location. This approach reduced costs while limiting construction traffic through town and left a permanent staging area behind for future stages.

Knik

KLEBS MECHANICAL Chepo's Mexican Restaurant

Under $1 Million, Specialty Contractor

KLEBS played a pivotal role in the construction of Chepo's Mexican Restaurant, a dining establishment located along the Parks Highway in Wasilla. Its expertise as the mechanical subcontractor brought innovative solutions, state-of-the-art mechanical systems, and top-notch plumbing to the project. KLEBS embraced challenges with proactive problem-solving and fostered strong relationships with all stakeholders. The company’s commitment to safety resulted in a flawless safety record throughout the project duration. Moreover, KLEBS prioritized environmental responsibility, reducing waste, and maintaining a clean, organized work environment. This holistic approach resulted in an energy-efficient, high-quality restaurant that positively impacts the community.

KLEBS MECHANICAL

Moose Haven Natural Gas Conversion

$1 Million to $5 Million, Specialty Contractor

Serving as the project’s mechanical subcontractor, KLEBS led the transition from communal to individual heating at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. This complex endeavor covered forty-one duplexes and one single occupancy home, totaling eighty-three units, and required new boilers, water heaters, and unit heaters. KLEBS excelled in project execution and sustainability, lowering costs and environmental impact. The company’s planning and innovative methods ensured timely and budgetconscious completion.

MASS EXCAVATION

Solid Waste Services Central Landfill Transfer Station Over

$5 Million, Specialty Contractor

The Solid Waste Services Central Transfer Station is a state-of-the-art, 26-acre facility designed to extend the life of the current Anchorage landfill by more than thirty years. Completed over three years, Mass X was selected as the civil scope subcontractor to work on this Construction Manager at Risk project. The project was a major challenge to build in parallel with design development, model the complex site conditions to maximize materials usage, coordinate closely with the general contractor and other subcontractors on-site, and continue civil operations through two winters to keep the project on schedule and within budget.

Ken Graham Photography

Ken Graham Photography

Ken Graham Photography

Treasures Underfoot

Locally sourced construction aggregates

By Terri Marshall

Alaska’s role in the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 19th century provides a fanciful impression of mining. Eager prospectors rushed into the state in search of golden treasures with the hopes of striking it rich. But sometimes the riches come from things that are less shiny. Gravel, rock, and sand sources around Alaska are key to numerous infrastructure projects. In the present day, utilizing Alaska’s abundance of natural resources yields its own set of riches.

The Riches of Aggregates

In the construction and mining industries, aggregates include any gravel or sand-based product. Aggregates are used on every construction project in the state, but especially by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) and municipalities.

Sand and gravel are used for road construction, for mixing with asphalt, as

construction fill, and in the production of construction materials like bricks, concrete blocks, and pipes. They’re also used on icy roads in the winter, for railroad ballast, for making roof shingles, and for water filtration.

The largest gravel and sand projects are runway construction and maintenance, road construction and maintenance, and pad/foundation construction. The size and scope of any project or the number of projects in each category can affect which category will use the most gravel or sand in any given year.

“Each project has slightly different grades/specifications of materials depending on application and location,” says Larry Pederson, vice president of Nome operations for Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC). “Examples include gravel classified as crushed E1 and D1, which are utilized for road and runway surfacing. Other types of subbases and base course gravel [are] typically utilized for filling roads, runways, and construction pads. Engineered or screened/sorted gravel is generally larger in size and used with fine materials added to allow for compa ction and drainage.”

BSNC, its subsidiaries, and outside contractors use gravel and sand from sources in Nome and the surrounding region. Gravel and sand are used for building foundations and pads for the construction of private homes, commercial buildings, and industrial infrastructure. Gravel and sand are also used to level uneven foundations that settle due to permafrost thawing—a concern for 85 percent of Alaska’s land area. Uses within the transportation industry include construction of new roads, maintenance of existing roads, and reconstruction of roads affec ted by storm damage.

“Gravel and sand can be taken from any source in our region with landowner permission,” says Pederson. “Each community generally has a gravel or sand source that is utilized for community projects. As a result of the gold mining history of Nome, there is no shortage of gravel in the Nome area. Gravel from Nome is exported to other communities that do not have access to a reliable source.”

While contaminants in gravel sources are a concern in some regions, Nome rarely deals with that issue. “Contaminants are generally not found in natural gravel sources such as glacial till, alluvial, or fluvial deposits, which are most of the sources throughout our region,” says Pederson. “Manmade sources from mining, like in Nome, mostly contain manmade debris from mining, like scrap metal or wood debris. The debris must be removed before the gravel can be processed. If petroleum

contamination is encountered, it must be reported to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, which will determine appropriate actions for dealing with the contamination.”

BSNC subsidiary Sound Quarry, Inc. (SQI) independently operates the Cape Nome Quarry approximately 12 miles east of Nome. It is the only commercially viable rock quarry in Northwest Alaska. SQI produces rock and aggregate products, including industrial-grade armor stone and riprap, for projects across western

OPEN FOR A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

Kinross Alaska has operated in Interior Alaska for nearly 30 years, and we take pride in our legacy of emphasizing the importance of people and safeguarding the environment.

Today, 95% of our 750 employees at the Fort Knox and Manh Choh mines are local hires in longstanding careers, and we are committed to responsible development, cultural respect and environmental stewardship. We are dedicated to being good neighbors, participating as active community members and maintaining an exceptional workplace.

John R., Blaster

Hometown: Fairbanks

Doreen M., Environmental Technician

Hometown: Tetlin

James W. Jr., Security Guard

Hometown: Tetlin

Gabby G., Human Resources Coordinator

Hometown: North Pole

PROVIDING THE BEST CONSTRUCTION EXPERIENCE — EVERY TIME.

ADVANCING CARE IN ANCHORAGE AT SOUTHCENTRAL FOUNDATION’S FIREWEED DENTAL

The ice-free tidewater dock at Kodiak Granite Quarry is accessible to tugs and barges year-round.

Koniag

“In some cases, material sites may be too challenging to produce rock from with local equipment. This is often the case with quarries where the rock is harder, requiring large excavators, crushers, and sometimes blasting to mine, which may not be doable utilizing local resources.”

Andrew Tunnell, Land and Natural Resources Specialis t IV, Doyon, Limited

and northern Alaska such as seawalls, causeways, and breakwaters.

Discovering Alaska’s Natural Resources

Although sand, gravel, and rock are seemingly everywhere, locating construction-grade aggregates can be challenging. According to reports from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, in some areas these materials are rapidly depleting or possibly not economically accessible, so the department’s Division of

Geology & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) must locate new sources. DGGS maps the character and distribution of construction materials, and the geological mapping focuses on areas with state-identified needs which are often adjacent to existing or planned infrastructure corridors. Gravel bars and streambeds are typically easily located in most regions, but these commodities are more scarce further north

On the North Slope, identifying potential gravel locations requires

satellite imagery and filters to determine what type of vegetation is in the area. Initial evaluations and mapping are followed by observation from helicopters. Once an area is identified as possibly having gravel deposits, subsurface exploration with geotechnical drilli ng equipment begins.

Geologic mapping and materials investigations by DGGS have aided in numerous projects in the Arctic. For example, on the Dalton Highway, mapping by DGGS and cooperative

“The large granite stones that come out of our quarry are ideal for marine construction in the Kodiak archipelago… One benefit to our quarry is our close relationship with Brice Companies as operators for the quarry.”

Jesse Kreger, Director of Operati ons and Risk, Koniag

work with the Alaska Division of Mining, Land & Water helped with the location of sand and gravel necessary to repair the haul road after significant flood damage from the Sagavanirktok River in 2015. Communities in Western Alaska facing coastal erosion problems also benefited from the geological mapping to locate sand and gravel resources.

Granite for Marine Construction

Located at Shakmanof Cove on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Granite Quarry (formerly known as Granite Cove Quarry) is part of the Koniag family of companies. Kodiak Granite Quarry is a long-term source of high-yield products. The mine yields 250,000 tons of product

per year and has a minimum estimated mine life of 100 years.

“The large granite stones that come out of our quarry are ideal for marine construction in the Kodiak archipelago,” says Jesse Kreger, director of operations and risk for Koniag. “One benefit to our quarry is our close relationship with Brice Companies as operators for the quarry.”

Through a multi-year contract with Brice Companies as the quarry operators, Kodiak Granite Quarry has access to a multitude of high-yield products including super armor stone, armor stone, riprap, and filter rock.

“Our unique location adjacent to an ice-free deep-water port also allows us to readily transfer materials year-

round, accommodating tugboats and barges capable of efficiently moving the mined granite to customer locations,” says Kreger.

Granite from the Kodiak Granite Quarry has been used for the Chignik Ferry Terminal, the Homer Spit, the Kodiak Airport runway extension, Kodiak Pier III, the Port Lions Breakwater and Ferry Dock project, the Seward Breakwater project, and the Sterling Highway, among others.

Cost Factors

With gravel and rock mining operations across the state, the logistics of moving construction products to various worksites can be a significant determining factor in the cost.

A road leading to Kodiak Granite Quarry from Shakmanof Cove on Kodiak Island.

Koniag

“Each community generally has a gravel or sand source that is utilized for community projects. As a result of the gold mining history of Nome, there is no shortage of gravel in the Nome area. Gravel from Nome is exported to other communities that do not have access to a reliable source.”

Larry Pederson

Vice Presiden t of Nome Operations Bering Strait s Native Corporation

“If the location of the gravel or sand is close to the project, then costs are relatively low to transport,” Pederson says. “If the gravel or sand comes from 10 or 100 miles away, then the logistics of getting the gravel or sand to the project drive the cos t up exponentially.”

Another factor is processing. Pederson explains, “If gravel or sand from a source requires minimal or no processing to meet project specifications, then the cost can stay very low; however, this rarely occurs. If the gravel or sand must be screened or crushed, then processing will drive costs up.”

Material availability can also play a significant role in the budget of construction projects.

“If material isn’t readily available in a community, the cost will increase drastically, especially if the community is off the road system, as this often means that material will need to be barged in for a project,” says Andrew Tunnell, lands and natural resources specialist for Doyon, Limited. “This is often prohibitively expensive for local projects, meaning in some places the only time new rock can be made available is when state or federal money is involved to fund it. This challenge can further be seen in mining practices, where, in some cases, material sites may be too challenging to produce rock from with local equipment. This is often the case with quarries where the rock is harder, requiring large excavators, crushers, and sometimes blasting to mine, which may not be doable utilizing local resources.”

Doyon charges a flat fee for most sand, gravel, and rock uses that are standardized across the region. An exception is riprap (also called armor rock, used mostly to control erosion control on stream embankments), which is charged at a premium rate due to the large amount of waste generated from its creation.

Community Approach to Aggregates

“Although Doyon does not mine gravel, in many cases we are the primary owner of gravel resources in and around villages throughout Interior Alaska,” says Molly Redilla,

vice president of lands for the Fairbanks-based Alaska Native regional corporation. “Our Lands and Natural Resources departments manage sales and donations in which other organizations will mine for gravel.”

Doyon material sites are available for large-scale projects, community projects, and individual shareholder projects. “Community members will typically rely on what is available, which may not be ideal,” says Redilla. “This often creates challenges for Alaska Department of Transportation projects requiring materials to meet certain specifications.”

Doyon will donate a fixed volume of sand, rock, and gravel for most shareholders' personal uses on a case-by-case basis. Doyon will also donate material to local projects that will benefit the communities. “It is still the user's responsibility to conduct the mining in a safe, legal, and practical manner that will leave the material site usable for the next user,” says Redilla. “Making these resources available for local projects without charging a royalty makes these highly beneficial projects more affordable, which is often necessary to ensure that these projects can happen, as costs for most things a re incredibly high. ”

Maintaining the focus on community is key for Doyon, and that is evident in a recent project along the Koyukuk River. “One project that we are very excited about is the construction of Sunny Lane Road in Hughes,” says Redilla. “This project was done in collaboration with the Alaska Department of Transportation, the City of Hughes, and the Hughes Traditional Council, funded by [DOT&PF] and orchestrated by the City of Hughes. The project brought together young people from Hughes, Huslia, Alatna, and Allakaket who were eager to learn construction.” The project trained the young people in road construction, providing employment and the development of skills while constructing a much-needed road to the Hughes Cemetery, which had previously been difficult to access.

Humble rocks and sand literally pave the road from Alaska's past into its future. Riches like these are truly golden.

Services

Accounting Firm

Law Firm

Advertising/Creative Agency

Swag Supplier

Printing Services Provider

Staffing Agency

Job Training Program/Certification

Snow Removal Company

General Contractor

Cargo/Logistics Provider

Bank/Credit Union

Telecommunications Provider

Coworking Space

Heating/Air Conditioning Company

Retailers

Jewelry Store

Tattoo Shop

Bookstore

Antique/Thrift/Second Hand Store

Auction House

Cannabis Retailer

Airplane

Car Wash

Bike Shop

Venues

Museum

Hotel

Meeting/Event Venue

Indoor Recreation/Activity

Healthcare

Teller Window Shopping

How to choose the best financial institution for business needs

By Tracy Barbour

St artups, new businesses, and established enterprises require a range of financial services, but not all institutions are the same. Selecting the right one can have a significant impact on a company's success. Therefore, a business must understand its needs. These requirements can range from deposit accounts, commercial loans, and credit lines to merchant accounts, treasury management, and investment services. However, the specific factors depend on what stage of the business lifecycle the company is in and the timing of its cash flow cycle.

Northrim Bank Commercial Lending Manager Joe Gelione explains: “Is it a startup? Is it rapidly growing? Has it matured? Or will the ownership soon be retiring and selling the company? Does the business earn its money through billings, or does it receive cash immediately upon sale of its product or service? How much cash or capital does it have to deploy before it gets paid? Is there enough cash to accomplish this? If not, which would be more appropriate, a line of credit or term

Joe Gelione Northrim Bank

loan? These are solutions that an experienced banker can easily identify and provide a business with throughout its life cycle.”

Comparing Offerings and Institutions

Once a company has clarified its requirements, it can proceed with evaluating institutions to determine which one aligns best with its needs. While there are clear distinctions between banks and credit unions (the latter being nonprofit cooperatives that serve member-customers), most financial institutions offer comparable products, services, and resources.

Whether weighing a bank or credit union, the business should compare products and services, expertise and support, fees and charges, locations and accessibility, and stability and reputation. For instance, some of the most fundamental financial products for businesses are deposit accounts and commercial loans. Key factors for deposit accounts are interest rates, earnings credits, minimum balance requirements, and the fee schedule. In the realm of business loans, important considerations include interest rates, terms, collateral requirements, and an institution’s experience with government or participation programs.

Smaller enterprises may have less financial finesse and may be intimidated by the process of vetting banking institutions. However, they must do their due diligence, says KeyBank Alaska Market President Lori McCaffrey. Can the institution satisfy the company’s need for payment (treasury) services and products? And are US Small Business Administration (SBA) financing or other loan programs available?

Not all lenders are equal when it comes to extending credit, McCaffrey says. There are cash flow and assetbased lending institutions, which cater to specific business needs and situations. “As a cash-flow lender, we [KeyBank] are looking at cash flow as the primary source for repayment

on a loan,” she explains. “While some financial providers may be focused on collateral being the source of repayment, we consider collateral as a secondary source of repayment.”

In addition, McCaffrey says businesses should be aware of loan covenant structures that are often inherent in middle-market commercial lending. Financial loan covenants are designed and agreed upon to ensure the borrower remains financially sound for the duration of the loan.

As Alaska businesses seek working capital, it’s important to consider aspects beyond interest rates when evaluating financing alternatives, says Sam Mazzeo, Wells Fargo’s Alaska commercial banking leader. Amortization and loan maturity, for example, are key negotiation points during the borrowing process.

“The additional flexibility and peace of mind

that come with a longer maturity may be worth some pricing concession,” he says. “Similarly, borrowers should focus on the amount and timing of required amortization payments, as these required payments will reduce cash flow available to fund other uses prior to maturity.”

Overall Relationship

Yet borrowing is just part of the equation when it comes to weighing how much value a financial services partner adds to a business, Mazzeo says. “It’s important to think beyond the loan fundamentals,” Mazzeo says. “In more than twenty years of serving Alaskans, I’ve found that many businesses deserve more from their banks than can be found on a term sheet.”

Erica Skiff, treasury management sales manager at First National Bank Alaska, expresses similar views. Interest rates, fees, minimum balances, and loan terms are all important factors, she says, but the overall relationship with a financial institution is just as important when comparing options.

“Determine if the bank understands your business, the local economy, and its unique challenges,” Skiff says. “Can they provide financial services and expertise to help you reach your business goals?

Can you reach your banker quickly when you need help, and will your banker provide personalized support?”

Small businesses need every dollar to get their business off the ground and keep it running, so costs must be affordable, with low rates and flexible loan terms, says Anita Kendrick, vice president of Commercial Lending at Nuvision Federal Credit Union. “Most importantly, a business

Anita Kendrick Nuvision Federal Credit Union

Erica Skiff

First National Bank Alaska

Sam Mazzeo Wells Fargo

owner should fully understand how they spend their money, immediate capital needs, and growth expectations,” she says. “They should also be mindful of fees for account/ product features they believe they'll use the most. This clarity will help them compare products.”

Beyond determining if an institution can meet its needs, a business owner should also focus on other facets, such as a financial institution’s community engagement and sponsorships.

“Finding organizations that invest time in supporting groups and events that the business owner is also passionate about is an additional opportunity for networking by being a volunteer,” says Derek Dykman, vice president of Small Business and Investment Services at Nuvision.

In addition, Steve Lundgren, president and CEO of Fairbanks-based Denali State Bank, says businesses should think broadly when shopping for a financial services provider. They should consider their entire financial needs—whether they are going to accept credit cards for payment, have

employees and need a payroll product, or envision the need to borrow money for working capital. “Generally, if you can package all your financial needs into one institution, that will be easier for you than piecemealing everything out [to different institutions],” he says.

Local Expertise and Trust

When assessing multiple financial institutions, expertise and trust are essential attributes for businesses to consider. National, regional, and community banks, along with credit unions and other financial services companies, have a diverse range of solutions, capabilities, and characteristics.

For instance, First National promotes itself as a “One Solution” bank that can meet its commercial customers’ financial needs through loans, deposit and treasury management services, wealth management, fraud prevention, and corporate credit card services. As the only bank in Alaska providing escrow services, First National acts as an impartial third party to safeguard documents and manage the accounting

for funds paid, according to Treasury Management Manager Sean Brown.

Brown says First National has a committed team of financial experts in communities across the state. “First National’s business bankers make it a point to observe our business customers’ operations firsthand, and they deeply understand the unique challenges facing Alaska businesses from a bootson-the-ground perspective,” he says. “By working closely with our customers year after year, decade after decade— for more than a century—we have become the local experts in meeting the unique financial needs of small, corporate, and enterprise businesses in every industry in Alaska.”

As Alaska’s largest locally owned and operated community bank, First National operates twenty-eight physical locations in nineteen communities.

Sean Brown First National Bank Alaska

2023 Workforce Reports

The bank’s strength lies in more than 600 local financial experts throughout the state, according to Skiff. “We’re not product-pushers,” she says. “We ensure customers have only the valuable services they need and can use.”

With offices across the United States and in Canada, Wells Fargo Commercial Banking delivers local coverage and specialized expertise for a variety of industries, as well as government and institutional clients and real estate investors, according to Mazzeo. Its Alaska commercial banking team provides solutions ranging from lending and treasury management to investment banking and hedging alternatives to help longterm clients and prospective clients achieve their growth goals.

“We take pride in the highly collaborative way in which we serve our clients,” Mazzeo says. “We have over twenty people on our commercial banking team that live and work in Alaska and care deeply about serving and supporting Alaska businesses.”

KeyBank Benson Branch in Anchorage.

KeyBank

Personalized, CustomerFocused Approach

Northrim Bank strives to take a personalized approach to banking, tailoring its offerings to customers’ needs. Its primary focus is to build strong and beneficial relationships by taking the time and care to understand each customer’s unique goals and challenges. “We are more than just bankers,” Gelione says. “We pride ourselves on adding value to our customers’ businesses by listening intently to their needs and being problem solvers.”

Gelione says Northrim places heavy emphasis on leveraging technology and has invested significantly in its digital infrastructure. Recently, the bank enhanced its Treasury Management Services to include purchase cards and integrated payables, which save customers time and money while offering revenue sharing and the latest tools to prevent fraud.

Nuvision views itself as a financial partner in its members' journeys, committed to personalized services

Wells Fargo branch in North Pole.

Wells Fargo

Photo by Sandy Holmes Umialik Employee

and expert advice. “We ensure that every interaction with Nuvision is positive, efficient, and beneficial,” says Commercial Underwriter Joe Steger. “From our accessible member support to our knowledgeable financial advisors, we're here to help your business navigate its financial journey with confidence.”

To address these needs, Nuvision recently launched a Small Business Program for members seeking business loans and lines of credit under $250,000. The program offers tailored and flexible solutions, competitive rates and terms, a streamlined application and approval process, and personalized support and guidance.

A key characteristic that distinguishes Denali State Bank from larger competitors based outside of Fairbanks is its flexibility to deliver

Time Well Spent With Web Content

By Janis Plume, Senior Account Manager

Web ads occupy space on almost every site on the internet. But according to research reported by marketingdive.com, only 4 percent of digital ads are viewed for more than two seconds.

Alaska Business has an online alternative that engages visitors for longer: Spotlight Digital Profiles are an effective advertising tool featured on our homepage and throughout our website. Eye-catching photo and graphic tiles lead the web visitor to the “meat and potatoes” of the Spotlight Digital Profile, which is well-organized content that’s presented cleanly and professionally. The advertiser has a digital forum to present messaging from company leadership, helpful information about products and services offered, and all critical contact information to company management. What completes this circle of effective digital advertising is the ability to include

stunning photography and captivating video content that grabs and retains the viewer’s attention. While the written word is a vital tool, there’s nothing like still and moving images to convey a brand’s strength and a company’s personality.

The Spotlight Digital Profile combines copy honed to improve SEO performance with graphics, photos, and video, resulting in an average 1.36 minutes of read time—a vast improvement over a fleeting few seconds. The result is that the viewer becomes more likely to recall your business and reach out to your company to explore more business possibilities. This is truly time well spent!

If you want to engage more effectively with your present and future customers, give me a call or send me an email. Together, we can explore how a Spotlight Digital Profile can inform your target audience and augment your business’s

digital presence. I promise you that our discussion will be time well spent!

A smile is worth a thousand words

Before joining Alaska Business, Janis was a ‘jack of all trades’ in Alaskan advertising for over two decades, working at some of Alaska’s best ad agencies. While he is pretty capable with a camera and loves photography and graphic art, he’s quick to say, “I’m not a graphic designer, and I don’t play one on TV.” He is, however, pretty handy at working one on one with clients seeking advertising solutions in Alaska Business. Janis is a product of the UAA JPC program and believes the pursuit of knowledge and professionalism are lifelong endeavors. When not helping advertisers, Janis celebrates his love for fish and music with a guitar in one hand and a fly rod in the other.

JANIS PLUME

907-257-2917 | janis@akbizmag.com

Nuvision’s business team; in the middle is Derek Dykeman, vice president of Small Business and Investment Services at Nuvision Federal Credit Union.

Nuvision Federal Credit Union

Joe Steger

Nuvision Federal Credit Union

localized and tailored decisions. “We have all the flexibility in the world— subject to what we are restricted from doing by our bank regulations,” Lundgren says. “We can give someone a loan for thirty days, a year, or for thirty years. We can structure the interest rate. We have a variety of payment terms and can look at different types of collateral. We don’t have a fixed loan product that we try to fit everybody into.”

Relationships and Recommendations

Branch

Fairbanks. Below: The First National Bank

National Bank Alaska “SUPER UTILITY VEHICLE” Jeep Wagoneer

Above: FINAL CLEARANCE on NEW ‘23’s!

McKinley Alaska Growth Capital Approved for Coveted Small Business Lending Company License

By Tracy Barbour

Ba nks or credit unions are not the only options for businesses seeking financial services.

Recently, McKinley Alaska Growth Capital was approved to receive the US Small Business Administration’s Small Business Lending Company (SBLC) license—in the first expansion of the SBLC program in forty years.

With the addition of McKinley Alaska Growth Capital, along with Arkansas Capital Corporation and Funding Circle, there are currently seventeen SBLC licenses nationwide. The SBLC license allows approved non-depository lenders to use government guarantees when underwriting small business loans to lower the risk to the lending organization and cost to the borrower. The licenses support SBA’s efforts to give business owners in underserved communities greater access to affordable capital.

The SBLC license will not alter how McKinley Alaska Growth Capital conducts business in Alaska, but it will allow the firm to begin providing SBA loans outside the state. “While many financial institutions that do business in Alaska regularly consolidate operations outside of the state, McKinley Alaska Growth Capital will be doing the opposite—serving our markets outside of Alaska from our entirely Alaska-based lending team, something that is important to me and that I am very proud of,” says President and CEO Logan Birch.

McKinley Alaska Growth Capital will begin offering loans in markets outside Alaska—starting with Hawaii, Washington, and Montana—as soon as the SBA finalizes administrative activities related to issuing the three new licenses. “We will be up and running sometime in the first quarter,” Birch anticipates.

McKinley Alaska Growth Capital, formerly a unit of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, is now part of the McKinley Management family of companies. It has provided small business loans and technical assistance since it was established in 1997. The company provides SBA 7(a) loans up to $5 million, financing that many banks are not willing or able to provide. “Our biggest differentiating factor is our hands-on approach in support and helping our borrowers through the SBA loan process,” Birch says. “We are a leader in providing business acquisition financing, as this is a particular area of expertise of ours and the SBA 7(a) loan program works very well for these transactions.”

A solid relationship with a banker from the outset provides a foundation for ongoing support that can be critical in times of need, according to Steger. “A banker who has been with your business through its various phases, understanding its ups and downs, becomes more than a financial advisor; they become a trusted partner. Their knowledge of the business' history and the intangible qualities of the owners and leadership team can be invaluable— especially in challenging times. For instance, when applying for a loan during a difficult period, a banker who knows your business' track record and potential can advocate more effectiv ely on your behalf.”

Given how impactful banking relationships are to success, companies should consider these connections to be just as vital as any other business partnership. “Being a trusted advisor is important to the success of all our clients,” McCaffrey says. “As a financial institution, we need to understand the client’s business; we need to have that business expertise and a skillset to navigate through good and bad times to help a business a chieve their goals.”

McCaffrey recommends that business leaders meet with representatives of the institutions they are considering. This will afford them an opportunity to discuss their needs, pose questions, and gauge the institutions’ willingness to work with them. “Interview the bank,” she says. “This is a business partnership. You want to like who you’re doing business with and trust them. Trust is critical to the success of all relationships.”

To ascertain the soundness of a financial institution, businesses can examine relevant financial statements, annual reports, industry ratings, and customer reviews. They can also request referrals directly from the institution as well as recommendations from fellow business owners, industry peers, and professional networks. Hearing others’ experiences with a bank or credit union can provide valuable insights and help business owners and leaders make an informed selection decision.

We Bank On Alaskans

At Northrim, we focus on serving the unique needs of Alaska and our neighbors who live here. We provide customized solutions to power your business, including specialized products such as fully FDIC insured sweep options and competitive analyzed accounts.

See how a Northrim expert can help your business achieve more.

The Future of Care in Rural Alaska

Innovations for remote communities

By Mikel Insalaco

Fo r many Americans, a quick trip to the local urgent care or emergency room when the need for care arises is a standard expectation. This convenience, however, is not guaranteed for those in Alaska's remote communities.

The implications can be profound: delayed treatments, limited access to specialized care, and a heavy reliance on self-care and community support.

When medical issues arise and a local healthcare facility lacks the capacity, equipment, or specialized expertise to

address it, the reality for families in rural communities can be stark. It disrupts family life, imposes logistical challenges, and strains emotional and financial resources. Being away from familiar surroundings and loved ones during times of medical need can exacerbate stress and anxiety or exact an emotional toll. Children and other dependents at home may face disruption in their own care and routine, adding to the family's overall stress.

The financial burden on residents of Alaska's remote communities, stemming

from the need to travel for healthcare, extends beyond the direct costs of transportation and accommodation. Crucially, it involves significant time away from work, leading to lost wages and productivity. This can also often result in disruption to subsistence activities like hunting, fishing, or harvesting. The time spent traveling for healthcare means less time for these essential activities, impacting not only individual financial stability but also the economic health of the entire community.

Recognizing the challenges, community and tribal organizations

are investing in improving healthcare infrastructure.

Better Technology for Southeast

Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau is undertaking a significant advancement in healthcare delivery with the replacement of its CT and MRI equipment. Incorporating the latest imaging technology, Bartlett Regional Hospital aims to increase its capacity and capability for advanced diagnostic care. This improvement is crucial, particularly in a region where timely

access to sophisticated medical imaging is essential for quality patient care.

By upgrading these facilities, Bartlett Regional Hospital is taking a proactive step in reducing the need for patients to travel farther for crucial diagnostic services. It underscores the hospital's commitment to ensuring that, even in less accessible regions, residents can benefit from stateof-the-art medical imaging, thereby improving overall healthcare outcomes in these communities.

In May 2023, the hospital took another step forward in patient

Gabriel Kahlstrom, superintendent at Cornerstone General Contractors, stands in front of a new MRI suite completed as part of the wider diagnostics upgrade project at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau.

Mikel Insalaco

Pictured is the portable imaging suite used during construction of the imaging diagnostics project at Bartlett Regional Hospital.

Mikel Insalaco

care, signing a lease agreement with Intuitive for the da Vinci Xi Surgical System, making it the first hospital in Southeast to offer minimally invasive, robotic-assisted surgeries.

The system was immediately put to good use; Nicholas Newbury, the hospital’s chief of surgery, performed the hospital’s first surgery with the system on May 5, 2023. “This is just the start of what we can do for surgery in Southeast,” said Newbury last May. “Other surgical specialties will be able to leverage the robot for advanced and complicated procedures.”

Bartlett Regional Hospital’s CEO, David Keith, sees the system’s potential to improve care in Southeast in several ways. “This new technology is critical to attracting new and skilled surgeons, as young doctors expect robotic capabilities in hospitals,” Keith stated in May. Additionally, “This investment will also allow Bartlett to offer new surgical service lines in the future that typically require travel to the Lower 48.”

Expanded Care for Elders in Nome

The Norton Sound Health Corporation is undertaking an essential expansion of its eldercare facilities at Quyanna Care Center in Nome, showcasing its commitment to improving community healthcare. This project, designed by Architects Alaska, is scheduled to begin construction this summer and targeted for completion in spring 2025.

Enhancements to the facility include a large outdoor balcony, spacious resident bedrooms, and modernized restrooms. The addition of twelve new beds is a crucial aspect of this expansion, addressing the increasing need for comprehensive eldercare services in Nome. The design focuses on enhancing social interaction and engagement among residents, aligning with the broader goal of improving their overall wellbeing. These improvements aim to significantly enrich the quality of life for elders in the community.

“Addressing the challenges of rural healthcare requires a combination of the heart and head,” says Stephen Henri, principal architect of Architects Alaska. “Meeting most of the needs of elders and community members can be accomplished with technology

“New technology is critical to attracting new and skilled surgeons, as young doctors expect robotic capabilities in hospitals.”

David Keith, CEO, Bartle tt Regional Hospital

and careful planning and design of facilities. However, part of the equation needs to be making the users feel heard and understood. They need to know that you are taking care to create the best environment possible for healing and wellness.”

Careful planning and execution are critical in navigating the challenges of remote construction. Addressing the unique construction challenges posed by Nome's distinct environmental and logistical conditions is paramount. Cornerstone General Contractors, serving as the construction manager and general contractor, is instrumental in this endeavor. As with all contractors performing remote work, responsibility encompasses managing

logistics and adhering to strict deadlines—essential for the seamless advancement of the project.

Versatile Care in Shaktoolik & Wales

For many residents in remote areas like Shaktoolik and Wales, access to primary and preventative care services can be limited. Recognizing this challenge, Norton Sound Health Corporation and Architects Alaska worked together and innovatively addressed these needs by establishing state-of-the-art, flexible facilities in these communities. These clinics, each encompassing an area of about 3,500 to 4,000 square feet, are based on an evolved design initially conceptualized

for a clinic in Nome. This design was meticulously tailored to suit the unique requirements of the local populations. Key features of these clinics include comprehensive dental facilities, emergency treatment units, various examination rooms, and dedicated staff areas. An added consideration is the inclusion of residential suites to accommodate visiting patients or staff, providing a semblance of home comfort in challenging times.

Constructed on multipoint foundations, these clinics are uniquely engineered to protect the underlying permafrost, a crucial consideration in Alaska's severe climate. This design also helps reduce snow buildup around the structures. The use of

Above: The Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital’s mother/baby ward, pre-renovation. Below: Shaktoolik Clinic is operated by Norton Sound Health Corporation. Community members gather for the opening of Shaktoolik Clinic. Architects Alaska

structural insulated panels in the walls, floors, and roofs ensures not only rapid assembly but also maximum energy efficiency and a comfortable interior ambiance, which is vital in the harsh Alaska environment.

The Shaktoolik Clinic, completed in 2019, exemplifies resilience with its enhanced structural features designed to withstand the harsh elements, including wind-driven seawater. Its strategic location at the edge of town incorporates necessary extensions for water and electrical utilities, addressing the community's land erosion concerns. The Toby Anungazuk Sr. Memorial Health Clinic, on course for completion in 2024, follows in these innovative footsteps.

Better Birthing in Utqiaġvik

Unlike urban centers with myriad birthing options, Utqiaġvik's choices are considerably limited. This constraint becomes more pronounced when complications demanding medical intervention arise, often compelling mothers to undergo extensive hospital stays far from home. A typical scenario might involve a mother needing a cesarean section, requiring the mother to remain near the hospital for weeks before and after her due date to ensure proper care.

The Arctic Slope Native Association is making significant strides in addressing this issue at Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital by expanding the mother/baby ward. This expansion includes a hybrid surgery suite capable of procedures previously referred outside of the hospital. This development is particularly crucial in a region like Utqiaġvik, where the nearest facility equipped for such specialized care can be hundreds of miles away.

By bringing essential services closer to home, Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital is not just elevating the standard of maternal care; it is substantially alleviating the logistical and emotional challenges faced by families in Utqiaġvik. This initiative represents a significant step in ensuring that mothers in Utqiaġvik have access to the necessary medical care within their community, thereby reducing the need for stressful and lengthy journeys to distant hospitals for vital birthing services.

The 2024 Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame

Building on foundations into new directions

By Alexandra Kay

Th ree exceptional Alaskans are the newest inductees in the Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame. The Alaska State Committee on Research is honoring Tim Collett, Billy Connor, and Christine Resler for their work in hydrocarbons, transportation infrastructure, and innovation itself.

The committee is an advisory board formed within the University of Alaska system to promote “research and development as an enterprise and as an engine for economic development in Alaska.” To further that goal, it established the Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame in 2014, celebrating both individuals and inventions that “contribute to the state’s growing culture of ingenuity.”

“Innovation goes with the Alaska spirit; the frontier challenges, risk, and reward have always been great, so innovation has always been good there. Challenges are embraced and appreciated, and that leads to innovation.”

Tim Collett, Research Scientist, US Geological Survey

Billy Connor

Over the past decade, other honorees have included inventors who used spent brewing grains to power a steam boiler, one who invented a self-recording snow-depth probe, a man who created an innovation competition, and more.

A decade after the first nominees were inducted, the committee recently announced the class of 2024. Collett, Connor, and Resler were formally inducted at the Innovation Summit in Juneau last month.

Critical Research into Methane Hydrates

Tim Collett, a research scientist for the US Geological Survey since 1983, is recognized for his expertise in methane hydrate, a form of natural gas encased in ice crystals. Mark Myers, principal of Myenergies, nominated Collett, noting in his nomination packet that Collett’s decades of work have led to global and North Slope-specific advancement of the understanding of methane hydrates as both a future energy source and as an important environmental component to ocean, terrestrial, and atm ospheric processes.

Myers writes: “Tim’s ongoing work has led to much more accurate assessments of the amount and distribution of methane hydrates and the economic viability of producing a transitional lower carbon energy source as well as the potential environmental impacts of methane hydrate dissociation during

production and natural processes and a better understanding of the carbon cycle feedback loop caused by the increased dissolution of methane and associated CO2 from hydrates trapped beneath warming oceans and permafrost.”

According to Myers, “Tim’s innovative work on gas hydrates is truly interdisciplinary, crossing the fields of geoscience, chemistry, physics, engineering, and environmental science. Notably for Alaska, Tim has played leadership roles in both the first resource assessments and hydrate drilling tests on the North Slope of Alaska. This includes the world’s first long-term flow test of methane hydrates, which is ongoing at Prudhoe Bay.”

When asked how he views himself as an innovator, Collett says, “In my case it’s building upon a foundation, but it’s basically doing something for the first time. In this case the topic of natural gas hydrates, it’s still unique today. An innovator takes the ability to build upon what’s there, but in this case there is very little. My master’s thesis had only two references, so to me it’s the ability to build on knowledge but particularly the ability to build on knowledge from other fields to advance the knowledge of something that’s very poorly known.”

Of the predecessors whose work he built upon, Collett says, “The list is long. It’s always a long list when you look at Alaska because of the legacy nature of some really unbelievable contributions of people, but to highlight the single individual I’d call a true mentor, I’d have to say it would be Alaskan geologist Ken Bird.”

Collett recalls, “I was kind of unique. I came to the US Geological Survey right after I left Alaska. I was only 23, and Ken is really the person who taught me how to be a scientist and how to advance in the responsibilities you have as a scientist—but particularly in Alaska. He still does this today and is well into his eighties.”

Collett notes that the innovator spirit is particularly important in Alaska. He says, “Alaska truly is the frontier. Innovation goes with the Alaska spirit; the frontier challenges, risk, and reward have always been great, so innovation has always been good there. Challenges

are embraced and appreciated, and that leads to innovation.”

Transportation Infrastructure Research

Billy Connor, director of UAF’s Arctic Infrastructure Development Center, was nominated by William Schnabel, dean of the UAF College of Engineering and Mines. In his nomination, Schnabel writes that Connor has a long and storied career in transportation and infrastructure research, particularly in arctic and sub-arctic conditions.

“Over the course of his career, Billy has fostered innovative approaches and practices related to arctic infrastructure,” says Schnabel. “One example of such innovation is the development of a testing kit and methodology for assessing the effectiveness of palliative treatments for road dust. Dust control is a persistent challenge along unpaved roadways throughout Alaska, especially in remote regions. Not only does fugitive dust result in the loss of surface aggregate and require more frequent maintenance, but the emissions themselves restrict sight distances and diminish the air quality proximal to the roadways. In other words, dusty roads are more than a mere annoyance in rural Alaska; they represent a persistent challenge that has budgetary and potential health impacts.”

According to Schnabel, over the course of several years, Connor “worked with collaborator Dave Barnes to develop a methodology for testing palliative treatments intended to combat fugitive dust emissions. That methodology, called the Dustfall Column test, is now being used by the ADOT&PF [Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities] and remote communities in a broad effort to combat fugitive dust emissions across the state.”

Dust control isn’t the only example of Connor’s innovative excellence. Schnabel adds, “[H]e has championed innovation more broadly in numerous related engineering applications. Recent examples include techniques for insulating roadway and airport embankments, development and testing of low-cost remote weather information systems, improved techniques for

Tim Collett is recognized for his expertise in methane hydrate, a form of natural gas encased in ice crystals.

Tim Collett

constructing roads and airfields on permafrost, and co-creation of a design manual for ice road construction.”

Schnabel’s commendation ends by saying, “In his role as a research leader, Billy Connor has developed his own innovations, as well as championed innovation in his research teams. The fingerprints of his body of work will be scattered throughout Alaska’s infrastructure for decades to come.”

Building an Innovation Culture

Christine Resler, the president and CEO of ASRC Energy Services (AES), was nominated by Gwen Holdmann, associate vice chancellor for research, innovation, and industry partnerships at UAF. In her nomination, Holdmann calls Resler “an esteemed visionary and trailblazer within the energy industry.”

Holdmann writes, “Christy has played a pivotal role in shaping Alaska's business and innovation landscape through her transformative leadership, embodying a narrative of inspiration and significant contributions. Furthermore, her unwavering dedication extends beyond her professional endeavors, as demonstrated by her role as an adjunct faculty member at UAF, where she imparts her invaluable insights and expertise through the highly acclaimed course, the Art of Innovation.”

Holdmann, a Hall of Fame innovator herself, goes on to note that Resler’s leadership at AES is “about shaping the future of energy in Alaska and ensuring

“We have to think about how to stay alive during a thousand-mile dog sled trip or in a place with no backup energy… Our location means we have to be innovative, and we also have to be creative to keep the economics of the state strong.”

Christine Resler, President and CEO, ASRC Energy Services

Christine Resler is recognized for research, innovation, and industry partnerships at UAF.

Christine Resler

a sustainable and innovative path forward.” She adds, “Over the past five years, Christine has led an inspiring effort to define AES's business culture, involving over a thousand employees in a three-phase workshop experience. The result? A genuine and coworkercurated set of values that earned AES the 2019, 2020, and 2021 Global Supplier Award from ConocoPhillips. Her focus on collaboration and continuous improvement has been the bedrock of AES's sustained growth in a competitive environment.”

Resler says that, while there are many people who have been mentors of sorts over the years, if she had to choose one person who inspired her, it would be Mike Pearce, president of Smith International, a drill bit company owned by SLB (formerly Schlumberger). “I thought about Mike as a leader—a really good leader—and I realized over time that he wasn’t just a leader. He was an innovator, and he taught me how to give people a seat at the table in order to cultivate innovation,” says Resler.

Resler doesn’t think of innovation as a product. “For me it’s about creating a procedure, a process, or a product— it’s something that creates value or benefit,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be a product. It can be a way of working or creating a process, and that’s the way I position innovation in the class that I teach at UAF.”

Resler notes that innovation is particularly important in Alaska in part because of the state’s remote location and its limited electrical grid and infrastructure. “There are few places with as many people and as much industry that don’t have those things. We have to think about how to stay alive during a 1,000-mile dog sled trip or in a place with no backup energy,” she says. “Our location means we have to be innovative, and we also have to be creative to keep the economics of the state strong.”

Resler says that people need to be both open-minded and more comfortable with the idea of failure as a means to move on to the next idea. “We also have to do more to recognize and celebrate innovators and to realize that the core industries of oil and gas can be innovative,” she says. “We do these things better up here, and I think Alaska deserves credit for that.”

Billy Connor is recognized for innovative approaches and practices related to arctic infrastructure.

Billy Connor

ENGINEERED FOR THE HARSHEST CONDITIONS, CRAFTED TO KEEP YOU GOING

We set the standard for reliable heat on the North Slope. Designed to power through extreme conditions, ESI’s Alaska-made heaters are your solution to keep projects running year-round. Give us a call to learn about our lineup.

Create Inevitable Progress

Direction for developing in managerial roles

By Brian Walch

Yo ur role as a manager is dynamic and complex. You deliver business results, improve processes, and keep everyone productive. You’re also expected to recruit the right people, train them, keep them engaged, and prepare them for the next step in their careers.

We have substantial opportunities here in Alaska, which is encouraging, but we risk not having enough people to capitalize on them. We need great managers, and it is essential work, but it’s a lot! Many managers want to succeed and grow in their roles but aren’t sure how to do that.

Maybe that’s you.

Your role is unique, and you can’t count on others to give you the proper training, support, or mentoring to

succeed. That doesn’t need to slow your progress or growth.

You can use the following process to create clarity and direction for your role. As you progress and master becoming a manager, you’ll be able to use this process to help your employees create self-directed plans for development.

If you make the implied explicit, the hidden visible, and the elusive achievable, progress is inevitable. You experience success, your employees progress, the organization grows, and Alaska continues to thrive.

Understand Where You Are Development

within a role isn’t linear nor easily measured by clear milestones. It is a continuum and

happens unevenly and incrementally. Progress is often unrecognized or unacknowledged, but it doesn’t have to be. You can be a successful manager if you understand what is required and gain the necessary abilities.

I’ve defined three stages I call the 3 Ps of Progression. You can use these to understand how far you’ve developed within your role and create reasonable expectations for yourself and others.

The 3 Ps of Progression are Practice, Perform, and Pioneer.

The Practice stage is when you learn about the role, how things work, and how to perform. You are expected to ask questions, gain understanding, and make some mistakes at this stage.

Once you know the basics of your role and understand what is required

for success, you are in the Perform stage. This is where you get good at your role. As a manager, mastering this stage means you can effectively delegate tasks, easily handle unforeseen situations, and confidently articulate to others why you are successful. People at the end of this stage can feel like they’ve plateaued and may start looking for a new job. However, there is a third stage.

The Pioneer stage is where you do something special in your role. This is the stage where you improve operations, contribute meaningfully, and help the organization advance.

Pick the stage you think you’re at for your current role. If you’re new to the role, you’re probably in the Practice stage. Maybe you’re getting a handle on things and feel ready to move into the Perform stage for your role. Or maybe you recognize you’re comfortable and need to consider your Pioneer stage.

Now that you know where you’re at, start planning to master that stage and progress to the next.

Define Areas for Development

To be considered for a promotion, you must master your current role, which means you need to know where to focus your development efforts. The job description from human resources (HR) may provide some guidance, but most of the time, it is written for administrative or legal reasons and isn’t helpful.

You need something specific to your position and the stage you’re at. You need a personalized development plan which you can create for yourself.

There are four domains to include in your development plan. These are Skills, Results, Systems, and Relationships. For each domain, brainstorm some of the elements needed in your role to master your current stage.

For example, if you’re at the Practice stage, what essential skills do you need? Who do you need to build relationships with? What systems must you understand? What results are you responsible for?

As you brainstorm, some of your items won’t make sense for the stage you’re at. Plug them into the appropriate stage, even if it isn’t the one where you are. Eventually, it will be helpful.

The elements you include for each domain will be unique to your role, but here are some ideas for a generic manager role.

Practice Stage:

• Skills: communication, time management

• Results: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (team productivity, efficiency, retention, and engagement)

• Systems: HR systems, accounting systems

• Relationships: boss, employees

Perform Stage:

• Skills: delegation, project management, decision making

• Results: organizational and industry KPIs

• Systems: people and processes, integrated systems

• Relationships: customers, executive team, peers

Pioneer Stage

• Skills: change management, negotiation

Results: defining, validating, and delivering on new KPIs

• Systems: personal systems, creating new systems, enterprise tools

• Relationships: executive sponsors, key employees, strategic network

Commit to Consistent, Small, Incremental Steps

Now that you have items to focus on in each domain, it is time to set goals, take action, and progress in your role. For each domain, pick one item and decide on the next action you can take to move forward.

For example, if you’re in the Practice stage and need to develop a relationship with your boss, your next action might be, “Get feedback from my boss about my skill development plan.” Or, if you’re building

relationships with your employees, it is, “Have a weekly check-in with ea ch of my employees.”

Try to set only one goal in each domain. It is tempting to want to select multiple goals for each area, but you risk diluting your focus and priorities. Ask yourself, “What is the highest value thing I could do in this area?” and constrain your goal to that.

Then, once you complete a goal in a domain, set another one. That’s how you create momentum and mastery of your role. Regularly evaluate yourself and where you are within the stage. As you get closer to transitioning, start reviewing the elements in the next stage and continue building your development plan.

Seek Support, Get Input, and Refine

Creating this development plan will give you insights and guide your growth. It also becomes a tool you can use to seek support.

Ask others who have been in the role what they think is necessary to master each stage of progression. Get their input on the elements they would include in the domains. Then review the development plan w ith your supervisor.

You will refine what is needed at each stage as you use the development plan and get feedback from others. Over time, the matrix of elements for each domain and stage will become more stable. Then it can become a development tool f or the organization.

Get Ready for What’s Ahead

If you can implement this yourself, you will develop and achieve more as a manager. You will be successful,

which is what your employees, your organization, and Alaska needs.

You can use this same process to hire and retain staff as your organization grows. When you have development plans for the different roles on your team, you improve your ability to recruit and retain great talent.

When you can articulate a plan for employee development to candidates, you become a more attractive employer. If you are confident that you can support someone through the Practice stage and even accelerate the process, you can hire from a broader pool of applicants.

When you provide a roadmap for an employee to Perform in their role, you will improve retention because they can consistently progress and grow. By articulating a Pioneer stage in a role, you give your employees a chance to make a difference, stretch themselves, and be proud of contributing something significant.

It starts with you, progresses to you helping your employees, and then they help others. This is how Alaska meets the challenges ahead. People step up, figure out what is needed, take action to meet the need, and bring others with them.

Brian Walch is an executive coach, consultant, and speaker on leadership development. He uses his extensive experience in people and systems to provide tools and services to empower managers to lead themselves, their teams, and their organizations. Learn more at shiftfocus.com.

Development within a role isn’t linear nor easily measured by clear milestones. It is a continuum and happens unevenly and incrementally. Progress is often unrecognized or unacknowledged, but it doesn’t have to be. You can be a successful manager if you understand what is required and gain the necessary abilities.

FEATURING

•

•

•

•

INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS

Global Credit Union

The former Alaska USA Federal Credit Union isn’t stopping its growth through acquisition since merging in 2022 with the Spokanebased credit union that gave the co-op its new name. Global Credit Union is extending its reach by purchasing another Washington credit union, Renton-based First Financial Northwest Bank. The $231 million transaction is anticipated to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals, approval by shareholders of First Financial Northwest Bank, and other customary closing conditions. First Financial Northwest Bank has fifteen branch locations in the Seattle-Tacoma area. globalcu.org

Tyonek Native Corporation

A subsidiary of Tyonek Native Corporation closed on the purchase of a 68,000-square-foot hangar in Huntsville, Alabama. Tyonek Services Group is using the facility for maintenance and modification of fixed-wing and rotor aircraft. The company has leased the hangar at Huntsville International Airport since 2018. Stephen Peskosky, CEO of the Upper Cook Inlet village corporation, says, "The completion of this acquisition is a key milestone achievement supporting our longerterm objectives and positions us well for continued growth in the aircraft maintenance services segment." tyonek.com

Doyon, Limited

A decade after forming a joint venture to provide oil field engineering services, Doyon Anvil is splitting up. Doyon, Limited exited the venture with Washingtonbased Anvil Corporation, selling its ownership stake. The Alaska Native corporation for the Interior region had partnered informally with Anvil prior to the joint venture through its Doyon Emerald subsidiary. During

the ten-year joint venture, Doyon Anvil helped begin construction at the Pikka project on the North Slope. doyon.com

McKinley Capital Management

One unit of the McKinley Management family of companies changed hands to a new majority owner, putting McKinley Capital Management under Alaska Native leadership. Denali Advisors, a San Diego-based institutional investment management firm, is led by Bob Snigaroff, a shareholder of The Aleut Corporation. He says of the acquisition, “Denali is a minorityowned Indigenous asset manager, which provides access to business channels not currently available to McKinley Capital.” McKinley Management retains a minority stake in McKinley Capital Management, and its other business units are not affected by the transaction. mckinleycapital.com | denaliadvisors.com

CBRE Valuation & Advisory Services

A Texas-based real estate services and investment firm is expanding its presence in Alaska by acquiring the team from an Anchorage appraisal company. North Pacific Advisors is dissolved as its founder, Greg Wing, becomes a senior vice president for CBRE Valuation & Advisory Services. Wing has owned North Pacific Advisors since 2007; he previously founded the commercial appraisal firm Howard & Wing in 1997. Mike Gibson, who worked with Howard & Wing for four years as an appraiser and general contractor, is also joining CBRE, as is Shane Smith, both as senior appraisers. CBRE Valuation & Advisory Services is part of CBRE Group, which has served as a broker for commercial properties in Alaska. cbre.com

Alaska Energy Metals

Results of exploration last summer at the Nikolai prospect near Paxson

were positive, according to Alaska Energy Metals CEO Greg Beischer. The company spent about $5 million on exploration in 2023, and Beischer told Delta Junction residents in January that he expects to spend at least $15 million this year. His preferred objective is to define the nickel deposit, increasing the value of the project so it can be sold to a larger developer. The only domestic nickel producer, Eagle Mine in Michigan, is expected to shut down in 2027, while the metal is in greater demand as a component for lithium-ion batteries.

alaskaenergymetals.com

Black Gold Transport

Ore from the Manh Choh mine near Tok is being processed at Fort Knox mine north of Fairbanks. In December, a few Black Gold Transport trucks per day began hauling material stored since operations began last summer. A route through Fairbanks was adjusted by court order, avoiding Mitchell Expressway, Peger Road, and Johansen Expressway and instead exiting the Richardson Highway at Steese Highway. The larger loop was meant to avoid a Chena River bridge that can’t hold 80-ton loads, but the 95-foot trailers are too long for Peger Road without a permit. bgtalaska.com

Alaska Airlines

More flight paths to the East Coast open this summer. While United Airlines adds the only nonstop route from Anchorage to Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. on a seasonal basis, Alaska Airlines is connecting Anchorage to JFK Airport in New York City thanks to longer range aircraft. The Seattle-based carrier welcomed its first Boeing 737-8 in December and announced seasonal nonstop service for its longest regular route starting June 13. Alaska Airlines also ordered 737-10s, scheduled for delivery in 2025. alaskaair.com

RIGHT MOVES

Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation

· The Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) appointed Kristy Clement as CEO. Clement currently chairs the Afognak Native Corporation board of directors. Clement was raised in Port Lions, one of Afognak’s component villages. Clement earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Alaska Pacific University and an Executive MBA from the University of Washington.

Special Olympics Alaska

· The board of Special Olympics Alaska (SOAK) chose the interim chief executive, Sarah Arts, as the organization’s CEO and President. Arts began as a college intern with SOAK in 2006 and worked her way up as school program manager, director of Sports & Programs, and vice president/COO. Arts earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UAA and an Executive MBA with an emphasis in strategic leadership from Alaska Pacific University.

RurAL CAP

· Rural Alaska Community Action Program (RurAL CAP), a statewide nonprofit to empower low-income Alaskans, named Selena Bailey its Chief Financial Officer. Bailey joins RurAL CAP with more than sixteen years of experience

in accounting, most recently as CFO at Catholic Social Services in Anchorage. Bailey studied accounting at UAA and obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota. She later worked for KPMG, Alaska Waste, and Bristol Bay Industrial.

Credit Union 1

· Credit Union 1 (CU1) selected Erika Smith as its next Chief Operating Officer. As the COO, Smith oversees branch operations, the e-services and call centers, and the facilities and branch expansion teams. Smith joined the CU1 team in November 2022 as chief retail officer with nearly seventeen years of financial industry leadership experience. Smith was raised on the Kenai Peninsula and now lives in Anchorage. She earned her bachelor’s degree in education and teaching from Southwestern Assemblies of God University.

Matanuska Electric Association

To confront changes in gas supply, growing opportunities in clean energy, and evolving member needs, Matanuska Electric Association (MEA) restructured its executive leadership team.

· Julie Estey was promoted to Chief Strategy Officer. In this new role, Estey oversees development and execution of MEA's longterm strategic initiatives and leads external efforts regarding legislation, partnerships with

stakeholders, and collaboration with other Railbelt utilities. Estey has been with MEA for ten years, most recently as Senior Director of External Affairs and Strategic Initiatives, where she also oversaw the Public and Member Relations Division. She serves as the organization’s representative of the Railbelt Reliability Council.

· Ed Jenkin, who has been an integral part of MEA's leadership team for nearly ten years, is now Chief Energy Transformation Officer. In this role, Jenkin leads MEA's efforts to explore and implement cutting-edge technologies and sustainable energy solutions, navigate the ever-evolving energy landscape, and reduce its environmental footprint. Jenkin was previously chief operating officer. Prior to joining MEA in 2014, Jenkin spent twenty-five years at Chugach Electric Association.

· The new Chief Operating Officer is Tony Zellers, responsible for both the Power Supply and Power Delivery divisions. In his nineteen years of experience at MEA, Zellers has worked in dispatch, power restoration, and as senior director of Power Supply. Zellers played a key role in the construction and commissioning of the Eklutna Generation Station, providing project management for the 170 MW power plant.

· Justin Patterson was promoted to Chief

RIGHT MOVES IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY NORTHERN AIR CARGO

Clement

Arts

Bailey

Zellers

Patterson

Smith

Estey

Jenkin

Administration Officer, overseeing human resources, safety, process improvement, and member services. Patterson joined MEA in 2018 after spending more than twenty years in the telecommunications industry. Patterson holds a MBA degree and is a certified human resources professional.

Corps of Engineers

Two staffers at the US Army Corps of Engineers-Alaska District help strengthen ties to small businesses and tribal organizations.

· Sean O’Donnell assumed duties as Tribal Liaison, advising district leadership on Alaska Native topics pertaining to consultation, policy, and federal trust responsibilities. Previously, O’Donnell was a regulatory specialist in the district’s Regulatory Division. Originally from Chicago, O’Donnell studied wildlife biology at UAF and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He has worked as a county parks manager, wildlife enforcement ranger, US Forest Service program specialist, a ranger at Denali National Park and Preserve, and program coordinator for the Alaska Office of Children Services.

· The district’s Small Business Professional is Ryan Zachry, responsible for advising district leadership on matters that affect small businesses and advising small businesses how to work with the government. Zachry previously served as a business opportunity specialist at the US Small Business Administration, Alaska District office. A US Army veteran,

Zachry graduated from the US Army Command and General Staff College and Army Logistics Management College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Wyoming and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Louisville.

R&M Consultants

· Josh Bourgouin recently joined R&M Consultants as a Staff Engineer in the firm’s Site Development Group. In this position, Bourgouin assists with site layout, grading and drainage, stormwater analysis and management, access, signing and striping, and utility connections. Bourgouin has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Mississippi State University. He comes to Alaska from Houston, Texas.

Great Alaskan Holidays

The largest RV rental, sales, and service business in the state added several yearround staff. “With our housekeeping, reservations, RV Tech, and accounting departments now more strongly staffed than ever before, we are ready for a promising 2024 season,” says Bob Johnson, director of marketing for Great Alaskan Holidays.

· Tammi Wiese is newly promoted to full time, having been with Great Alaskan Holidays for a few years. Wiese is now one of Great Alaskan Holidays’ lead housekeeping technicians.

· Cory Gampon, having been with Great Alaskan Holidays for a few years in a part-time role, is now a part of the fulltime housekeeping team.

· Ethan Korpi Love is now the organization’s Lead Dispatcher. In that role, he is an integral part of seasonal vehicle flows, especially critical during Alaska’s peak tourism season.

· Jessica Bowen fills the newly created position of Online Parts Associate. Bowen is primarily responsible for an online presence the company had never deployed in previous years.

· Makayla McCarthy is the organization’s new Bookkeeper. Previously the office manager for the Carpenters union, McCarthy is also pursuing her bachelor’s degree in finance at UAA.

· Anna Eldridge is new to the company, hired as a Reservations Specialist in the reservations department. Eldridge was previously a barista with Common Grounds and Spenard Grinds.

· Joel McDonald was previously employed part-time with Great Alaskan Holidays. He returns with a promotion to Apprentice RV Technician. In that position, he plays a critical role keeping all the company’s motorhomes safe for traveling customers.

· David Short joins the ranks of Apprentice RV Technician, having been employed previously part-time with Great Alaskan Holidays. He fills out an already robust and highly skilled team.

Zachry

Wiese

Korpi Love

O’Donnell

Gampon

Bowen

McCarthy

McDonald

Short

Eldridge

Bourgouin

ALASKA TRENDS

In this month’s article “Big Valley Welcome" about the 2024 Arctic Winter Games, the general manager of the MatSu Host Society notes that pin trading is the unofficial 21st sport. Contingents likewise trade apparel and other accessories; anything from Greenland is especially prized. In a very real way, the event is as much about exchange as it is about competition.

By hosting, the Matanuska-Susitna community is exchanging approximately $7.2 million in operating costs for an estimated economic impact of $10 million. Is that realistic? According to an economic impact summary of the 1996 Arctic Winter Games hosted by Eagle River-Chugiak, regional incomes increased by $4.3 million. Adjusted to current dollars, that’s worth a bit more than $8 million. However, the 1996 Games had 1,600 participants compared to 2,000 this year. If the economic impact scales linearly with participation, then Mat-Su can expect 25 percent more, ceteris paribus, and the estimate is not outside the realm of possibility.

This year's Arctic Winter Games reuse some venues that hosted events in 1996, such as the ski trails at Kincaid Park in Anchorage and the rink at the Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center in Eagle River. Without those amenities, neither Anchorage nor the Mat-Su Borough could invite world-class winter athletes to compete. Further investments in the MatSu, such as the Skeetawk ski area, make hosting possible, yet those assets contribute extra value year-round by improving the quality of life for residents.

This edition of Alaska Trends salutes the state’s neighbors around and across the polar north, whether they come as competitors or traders. These games are serious business.

1994

Nicole Johnston of Nome broke the female record for the TwoFoot High Kick with a 77'' kick.

~$1.9M

1984

1970

Alaska, Yukon & Northwest Territories had a budget of $400k to stage the first Arctic Winter Games.

1974

Anchorage hosted for the first time.

Team Alaska arrived in the first Boeing 747 ever to land at host city Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

1982

Fairbanks hosted for the first time. Participants were housed at Fort Wainwright.

was spent by visitors and participants in host city Slave Lake, Alberta.

1990

The Arctic Winter Games budget grew to ~$1.2M.

1988

Fairbanks hosted for the 2nd time. Team Alaska broke 3 records: Brian Randazzo, Two-Foot High Kick, 104''; Nick Randazzo, TwoFoot High Kick (Jr. Male), 94''; Rodney Worl, Knuckle Hop, 2,302''.

1996

Chugiak/Eagle River hosted at facilities around the Anchorage area.

$4.3M

in economic impact was generated for the area.

2002

Jesse Frankson from Point Hope broke the Alaskan High Kick record with a 94" kick.

SOURCES: arcticwintergames.org; arcticwintergames.net; nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/self-reliant_alaska_athletes_pay_their_own_way; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Arctic_Winter_Games; alaskapublic.org/2013/04/26/apaay-campbell-shatters-20-year-old-kneel-jump-record

145 Medals in 2023

Team Alaska brought home 58 Gold medals, 44 Silver medals, and 43 Bronze medals for a total of 145 medals in 2023. That's 12 more than in 2018.

$38.7M Impact

The economic impact for Northwest Territories for hosting in 2018 was $38.7 million (capital and operations).

27,000 Individuals

Since 1970, more than 27,000 young northerners have attended and been positively impacted by the Arctic Winter Games.

2020

2006

The Kenai Peninsula Borough hosted at venues in Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, and Seward.

2004

John Miller

III of Barrow broke the record for the Jr. Male One-Foot High Kick with a 113" kick.

2010

2014 Fairbanks hosted again after a twenty-six-year hiatus. Apaay Campbell from Gambell set the Female Kneel Jump record with a 54.75'' jump.

Alice Renee Strick from McGrath broke 2 records, the TwoFoot High Kick (Jr. Female) with a 74" kick & the One-Foot High Kick (Jr. Female) with a 90" kick.

$7.3M in income was generated by the 2010 Games for Grand Prairie, Alberta.

The 50th anniversary Arctic Winter Games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2022 games were postponed by one year.

2018

Stuart Towarak from Unalakleet set the One-Foot High Kick record with a 115" kick.

2024

The Mat-Su Borough is hosting for the first time.

High Kick

A regulation basketball hoop hangs 10' (120'') above the court, and the average height of an NBA basketball player is 6'5" (77'').

9 record holders can kick over the head of an average NBA player.

J. Frankson 94"

S. Towarak 115"

B. Randazzo 104"

What book is currently on your nightstand? I’m more of an e-audio absorber. I listen to a lot of Bott Radio as my spiritual component, as well as positive affirmations and LinkedIn Learnings.

What charity or cause are you passionate about? Iḷisaġvik College Foundation… First Alaskans Institute. What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work? Change to comfortable clothes. What vacation spot is on your bucket list? The Philippines.

If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be? Maybe a polar bear.

Photos by Patricia Morales

OFF THE CUFF

Justina Wilhelm

Her background seems far from where she is now, yet Justina Wilhelm fits right in.

She aimed for a career in healthcare and started working for the North Slope Borough, eventually becoming deputy director of behavioral health. Her administrative experience led to a job at Iḷisaġvik College, although she was concerned that she might not be helping as much. “But it’s definitely a different type of help, and it’s still rewarding,” she says.

Half Italian and half Filipino, Wilhelm was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. At age 8, her family moved to Barrow (as it was then called), where her grandmother was living. She went to Hawaii for college and thought she’d never return to Utqiaġvik, “but then I met my partner,” she recalls. As a whaling captain’s wife, or imiun, she’s in charge of shoreside affairs while the crew is at sea. “You can’t do it, one without another. You have to be a team,” she says.

While serving as college president, Wilhelm was elected to the Utqiaġvik City Council. “This is my home,” she says, “and I probably know more Iñupiaq than I know my own two cultures.”

Alaska Business: What do you do in your free time?

Justina Wilhelm: Family time and subsistence. Put those two together and there’s a lot of hard work, depending on what season it is.

AB: Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn?

Wilhelm: Professionally, working on my public speaking.

AB: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?

Wilhelm: I did jump on the blanket [at last summer’s Nalukataq festival]… My husband and son kept saying, “You’re not doing it! We’re not letting you do it!”… It’s been over twenty-five years since I’ve jumped on the blanket.

AB: What are you superstitious about?

Wilhelm: I’m not much of a believer with superstitions.

AB: What’s your favorite local restaurant?

Wilhelm: East Coast Pizza [in Utqiaġvik]… In Anchorage, we like Kumagoro.

AB: Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert?

Wilhelm: Living: hands down John Legend. Dead: Johnny Cash.

AB: What’s your greatest extravagance?

Wilhelm: Ivory jewelry [she laughs]. Bracelets, earrings, necklaces, barrettes. I would take ivory over gold any day.

AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute?

Wilhelm: I do well with listening, communicating, and sharing; I believe there’s no such thing as over-sharing or being open… The negative: work-life balance and making sure I’m not working too much.

John

Only pay for the speed you need... Dynamic Routing!

On time and on budget.

At Lynden, we understand that plans change but deadlines don’t. That’s why we proudly offer our exclusive Dynamic Routing system. Designed to work around your unique requirements, Dynamic Routing allows you to choose the mode of transportation – air, sea or land – to control the speed of your deliveries so they arrive just as they are needed. With Lynden you only pay for the speed you need.

1-888-596-3361 | www.lynden.com