ALASKA TRENDS

The annual Corporate 100 list is not a competition. Organizations can be proud of signing the most paychecks, but so can lean operations that get the most bang for their payroll buck. And employees themselves compose the bulk of the numbers, so any medals could be hung on their collective shoulders. If this were a race. Which it isn’t.

But if it were, this edition of Alaska Trends shows which Alaska employers were on a hot streak, climbing the most spots. We don’t dwell on which businesses dropped in rank or disappeared from the list, if only because the reason might be as prosaic as they didn’t respond to the survey this year.

Fewer than one-third of the Corporate 100 appear on the Alaska Business Top 49ers list, and not just because there are half as many slots available. This month’s list is not restricted to Alaska-based companies, which is the sine qua non for a Top 49er; in the Corporate 100, top employers include out-of-state firms that contribute to the state economy. Conversely, healthcare nonprofits and smaller utilities that employ a considerable number of Alaskans don’t handle the gross revenue to qualify for the Top 49ers, whereas some businesses rake in massive revenue with relatively few personnel, particularly automotive dealerships and equipment rental companies.

Sifting through the Corporate 100 survey, we also learn which companies have a massive worldwide workforce and only a small fraction in Alaska, while others have exactly zero workers out of state, putting all of their employment eggs in the Alaska basket.

On your marks, get set, go… see what else the Corporate 100 survey reveals.