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ABOUT THE COVER

When he was the subject of an Off the Cuff profile in the August 2021 issue of this magazine, Bill O’Leary revealed that he enjoys cooking in his free time and, in fact, Thug Kitchen was in his reading queue. Since then, O’Leary has become the longest-serving president and CEO of the Alaska Railroad Corporation, a job he was promoted to from COO and CFO in 2013.

Well, technically, Otto F. Ohlson ran the railroad longer, when it was under federal ownership and the boss was called “general manager.” Starting in 1928, Ohlson was arguably more influential during his seventeen years than the territorial governor; his salary was twice as big, at least. A decade later, Ohlson presided over the railroad’s first profitable year. The corporation is still chugging along in the black, a fact which

an accountant by trade, can be proud of.

FROM THE EDITOR

On the list of people I’d like to meet is whoever designed the layout for the Alaska Business Publishing Co. office. We occupy the entire first floor of 501 W. Northern Lights Boulevard in Midtown Anchorage and have done so since we launched in the mid-‘80s.

In what we call the “front office” is a reception area and three traditional offices: a door, four walls, a window or two. The rest of the office was divided into approximate thirds: a middle communal space with a kitchen and a sort of cubicle with multiple entrances and a wall several feet short of the ceiling that we lovingly dubbed “the fishbowl”; a north wing that houses production and editorial staff; and a south wing, occupied by the sales team and storage spaces.

The north and south wings have rooms with walls on three sides. The fourth side is open to a connecting hallway, creating spaces halfway between a cubicle and an office.

The overall effect is a bizarre, unintuitive series of hallways and doors that create a maze-like effect, confusing visitors and new employees alike. Whoever put this plan on paper—I’d love to ask them WHY.

It’s unlikely I’ll ever have the opportunity, a fact I am learning to accept. And, as we speak, our office space is undergoing a transformation. The fishbowl’s walls have been torn down to create space for an open, communal meeting area. Also doors are being added to the two corner offices in the north wing, occupied by myself and our art director.

I’m an advocate for the doors, as they’ll solve some issues we have with how the wing functions (though because of the nature of the hallway, they won’t make the office layout any less weird). But as the framing goes up and the drywall is installed, I am unprepared for how different my office feels. A door is a welcome change, but even so it’s an adjustment.

A door is an obvious metaphor for change and transition, and it seems fitting that one is being installed as we put the finishing touches on this June magazine. The issue unsurprisingly explores many changes, since the special section, which guides the entire publication, is focused on the state’s transportation industry, defined by forward movement. Investment and new leadership in the Alaska Marine Highway System, Span Alaska’s new service center in Fairbanks, Coeur Alaska extending the life of Kensington Mine, and Tongass Federal Credit Union’s merger with ALPS Federal Credit Union—these are all positive developments. The possible closure of the Chinook trolling fishery in Southeast and the literally growing presence of Juneau’s landfill are less so. And right in the middle is the development of artificial intelligence, which is simultaneously exciting and alarming.

Importantly, in this issue we connect with those who are driving economic development, the people who look around, think, “Hey, this could be better,” and then get up to do something about it. Whether advocating for their own business or an entire industry, they face challenges head-on and find opportunities to implement their plans. If they don’t see the door they need, they build their own, establishing a threshold to the change they envision.

VOLUME 39, #6

EDITORIAL

Managing Editor

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

Editor/Staff Writer Scott Rhode srhode@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

Tasha Anderson Managing Editor, Alaska Business

Press releases: press@akbizmag.com

Postmaster: Send address changes to Alaska Business 501 W. Northern Lights Blvd. #100 Anchorage, AK 99503

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Banking on Small

Southeast credit union pairs with communities to provide microsites

By Rindi White

In some Southeast Alaska communities, the pinch of not having a local banking option is significant. Need a vehicle loan or want to take out a small home improvement loan? For the 560 residents of Kake, that might require traveling to Juneau—a $541 round-trip plane ticket— to get to a bank to sign loan paperwork. Add in hotel room, meals, and other sundry costs, and the bank trip quickly escalates to nearly $1,000.

It’s no surprise, then, that residents of the Southeast towns that are home to Tongass Federal Credit Union (FCU) community microsites are excited to share how happy they are that Tongass FCU is nearby.

“We are very glad to have them here. On a monthly basis, I couldn’t tell you how much it saves the community members versus traveling to Juneau,” says Kake Tribal Corporation President Robert D. Mills.

Tongass FCU opened a community microsite in Kake in December 2019. It’s located on the first floor of the Kake Tribal Corporation building, alongside a tourism office, a car rental program, and a coffee shop. The space is offered by the tribal corporation, and two Kake residents work there part-time, year-round.

“Any extra jobs are going to be a big plus in the community right now,” says Ashley Padgett, Kake Tribal Corporation office manager.

The community benefit isn’t just about being able to more easily get a loan, Mills says. It also means members who need to cash a check can keep more money in their pocket—a valuable thing, especially for elders in the community.

“Taking a $1,000 check to the store to get cash, they charge you $80 to cash it; it adds an extra struggle,” he says.

Seeking Sustainability

Helen Mickel, president and CEO of Tongass FCU, says the idea of small community microsites was prompted after Thorne Bay’s Business Association approached the credit union to request a branch.

Tongass Federal Credit Union

Thorne Bay, on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, is home to about 500 people. Mickel says Tongass FCU leaders at the time weren’t sure opening a branch would be sustainable. “We told the community we would need to have a place to go that is either inexpensive or rent-free,” she says.

A member of the Thorne Bay Business Association offered space in his sporting goods store, in his basement. That’s where Tongass FCU opened in 2006, keeping its cash in a gun safe in the store and operating with volunteer help, recording transactions on paper.

Today, Tongass FCU is in space at the city building, where it pays the cost of utilities it uses. It’s the only community site where Tongass FCU pays for the space it uses; other community microsites use donated space.

The CEO at the time did not push to open more community sites, but after Mickel became CEO, she says she looked around for more community microsite opportunities.

A community site opened in Hydaburg in September 2019, with one teller operating in a school. The Kake site opened a few months later, and Hoonah was the most recent location to open in June 2020.

“The goal for our community sites is to provide service where no one else will go. We also want to ramp up and provide community education where we can—Financial Reality Fairs in the high schools, for example. I think it’s really important for a healthy community to have a base where they can go to manage their money,” Mickel says.

She continues, “We also provide loans and services to the communities, including HUD 184 Tribal Lending Loans for tribal members,” which come with special provisions for housing purchases and renovations.

Valuable Services, Valuable Jobs

The microsites have evolved somewhat in the last decade. While space is still donated, the tellers are employees, trained by Tongass FCU.

“The goal for our community sites is to provide service where no one else will go… I think it’s really important for a healthy community to have a base where they can go to manage their money.”

Helen Mickel President and CEO Tongass Federal Credit Union

Members are able to tap into the full range of services at the site, Mickel says. One is set up to handle loans onsite, and most others help members complete the paperwork and send it to the lender. Tongass FCU also offers online banking options and mobile access, including mobile check deposit, and each has an ATM available as well.

“We are unique in that we are the only ones I’m aware of that do something like this,” Mickel says. “It’s not highly profitable, but as a not-forprofit financial cooperative, this is in our wheelhouse. We are here to serve our members. Tongass is rooted in the Southeast.”

And its members and employees share those roots. Carriah Childress, the microsite administrator in Hoonah, says she is thankful to have a yearround job in the community she calls home.

Childress has lived in Hoonah about six years. She grew up in Sitka and moved to Hoonah in pursuit of a tourism job. “I really fell in love with the wildlife and the people and decided not to leave,” she says.

She moved from tourism to teaching before taking some time to stay at home with her son, who was born during the pandemic. By 2021, she was ready to re-enter the workforce. An associate teller job

opened at Tongass FCU in Hoonah, and Childress found she enjoyed it. When the site administrator position became available, she jumped at the opportunity.

Childress says Hoonah was at first dubious about the Tongass FCU microsite. Larger banks had previously opened space in Hoonah but pulled out, sometimes leaving community members in the lurch. The last time that happened was twenty years ago, she says, but frustration remained.

“It took us about six months to earn the community’s trust,” she says. “People tend to be pretty conservative about their money.”

The two-teller Thorne Bay office of Tongass Federal Credit Union, operated by Mikhala Hert and Monica Douglas, was the first community microsite to open. Since it opened in 2006, the credit union has added three additional community microsites and is considering adding more.

Tongass Federal Credit Union

Tongass Federal Credit Union offers banking services many small Alaska communities are unable to get elsewhere in their community. It also offers year-round jobs in communities where most employment is seasonal.

Tongass Federal Credit Union

But people came around, particularly members who had small businesses or were comfortable banking in other communities.

“It’s giving access to financial markets to the villages,” says Hoonah Indian Association Tribal Administrator Nathan Moulton. “This has allowed them to establish an account, to establish credit.”

Hoonah Indian Association provided space in its former canoe shed, where it shares space with SnowCloud Services, the local internet service provider. The two businesses have their own space, with separate locking doors, Childress says.

Moulton says the Hoonah microsite has helped the Hoonah Indian Association directly because it now has faster access to its accounts.

“We’re not… sending deposits through the mail. Sometimes they would take a few weeks to deposit; sometimes they would not even show up,” he says.

Another benefit is the ability to use money (or prepaid) cards, he says. Prior

to Tongass FCU opening in Hoonah, people would get a money card through a large retailer, but those cards often have fees attached.

“[The microsite] allows convenience, less fees, and they’re able to enjoy their money at its fullest versus giving it away to those companies that are sometimes not even in Alaska,” Moulton says.

Shakeup Sparks Strong Support

The growth hasn’t always gone smoothly. Tongass FCU opened a branch at the school in Hydaburg in September 2019; four months later, Mickel says, two young men stole the ATM. Mickel says it caused her to doubt whether the microsites were a good idea or if they posed too much risk.

Don’t Take My Word for It

By Janis Plume Senior Account Manager

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of my work in my life. Throughout my career, I have been able to work for the best companies, and Alaska Business is at the top of my list. I also work for my clients, and I have the good fortune to work with the best advertisers in Alaska. One of the most rewarding aspects of my work is when advertisers share positive feedback with me. Recently a couple of my clients shared their thoughts about the value they find in working with Alaska Business.

“Alaska Business magazine has proven to be an ongoing conduit

for MT Housing to seek the attention of clients and potential clients in the Alaskan marketplace. Every time our advertisements are viewed in the publications, we have an opportunity to potentially build another facility that will benefit an Alaskan client, whether they reach out to us because of the advertisement or later because of the familiarity that was built through the consistent presence through the pages of your magazine.

Thank you for your constant support and efforts to guide us through advertising in the Alaska Business family of publications over the years and your personal efforts to get to know us better so that our investments with you are pinpointed and prioritized to be the most effective.”

Stacy Stoltenow,Vice President, MT Housing Inc.

“Reviewing each issue of Alaska Business magazine provides a market scan. I review new issues to get a sense of who might be expanding and seeking new talent. When I work with

transitioning military personnel, I ask what industry they want to call home when they get a non-military role. In addition to the regular monthly issues, the Power List is a perfect tool for them to learn the major players in each industry.

Thank you and your organization— we provided the 2023 Power List to 2530 attendees and speakers at the 2023 Career Management Workshop. I wish you could have seen the expressions of ‘wow’ on some attendees’ faces! We have military, students, and other community members in the crowd, and that was the target audience we (the WBU SHRM #5583 student leadership group) had hoped to attract.”

Dr. Mary Rydesky, CEO, Transition Management Consulting

If you need to advertise your business and would like to build a positive working relationship with me, drop me a note. I will promise to give you my best. It’s what I strive to do.

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

Employing local residents helps federal credit union members in communities with microsites feel more comfortable with the banking process and also increases employment.

Tongass Federal Credit Union

The men were quickly caught and charged for the incident. Mickel met with the community, who wrote letters, signed a petition in support of the credit union, and spoke at a public meeting, asking Tongass FCU to stay.

Tongass FCU’s board agreed to continue operating in Hydaburg. Security was heightened, yet the upset seemed to cement the community’s loyalty, and the credit union in return appreciated the outpouring of support.

Having bank access and then losing it was an eye-opener to its value to Hydaburg.

“Imagine not being able to go to a bank or even a cash machine in your community,” says Lisa Ka’illjuus Lang.

From Hydaburg, Ka’illjuus is a member of the Sealaska Corporation board of directors and serves as the elected Chief Justice for the Supreme Court, Tlingit and Haida Central Council Indian Tribes of Alaska court system. She is also executive director of the Xaadas Kil Kuyaas Foundation, a Haida nonprofit promoting culture and language.

Economic development in her hometown—and the hometown of her mother and grandmother—is important to her, she says, and she has been an ardent supporter of Tongass FCU since talks of opening the community site in Hydaburg began.

“Before, we would have to drive to the Klawock branch—almost 100 miles round trip—to put a check in the bank,” Ka’illjuus says. “It’s a long trip, especially if you do not have a car. There’s bus transportation, but you’re limited.”

Having a teller station in Hydaburg for three days a week is a game-changer, she says. And the fact that Tongass FCU hires locally, providing Hydaburg residents with help from people they know, helps immensely.

“The community is so appreciative,” Ka’illjuus says. “I’m more than happy to stand up for Tongass. They make you feel like it’s a caring bunch. There really is no measure for how important that is.”

Stronger Together

Tongass FCU recently expanded its membership when it merged with ALPS Federal Credit Union in February.

Combined, the two credit unions have 13,163 members, eight branches (Ketchikan, Sitka, Petersburg, Metlakatla, Klawock, Wrangell, Haines, and Juneau) and four microsites (Hoonah, Hydaburg, Kake, and Thorne Bay).

Both credit unions opened in Southeast and specialized in responsive local service. ALPS was started in 1960 by employees of Alaska Lumber and Pulp because banks at the time were charging enormous loan rates, making borrowing difficult for young families in the Sitka area. Tongass FCU started in 1963 by a group of Ketchikan teachers and public workers whose financial needs were not being met by local banks.

Their similar roots and shared commitment made the merger a natural move, with “Southeast Strong” being shared as the guiding principle.

“We are so pleased to be combining two credit unions with rich histories serving Southeast Alaska since the early ‘60s. Together we are truly stronger. Our expanded resources will continue to enable our members to achieve their financial goals through the friendly, affordable, and convenient services they have come to expect from their local community credit unions,” Mickel says.

ALPS President and CEO Sandi Riggs says the partnership will afford members better service all the way around. “Combining the talented staff at our two credit unions will improve our service to all members and solidify our commitment to providing financial services and support to the membership. We are excited to see what we can accomplish together as we move forward,” she says.

The transition is expected to be complete by the end of July. When that wraps up, Mickel says, Tongass FCU will consider expanding to other sites. On the list of places to consider are Yakutat and Angoon.

“The merger has really added value to our community microsites. The added offices in Sitka and Petersburg provide important access to all our members needing local financial services. Our combined credit union serves twelve communities in the Tongass National Forest,” Mickel says. “We are proud to be ‘Southeast Strong’.”

“We are unique in that we are the only ones I’m aware of that do something like this… It’s not highly profitable, but as a not-for-profit financial cooperative, this is in our wheelhouse. We are here to serve our members. Tongass is rooted in the Southeast.”

Helen Mickel President and CEO

Tongass Federal Credit Union

Troll Fishery Sustains Southeast

Possible closure would have devastating effect

By Dimitra Lavrakas

Trolling and trawling are both methods of catching fish, but don’t mistake one for the other. Trawling involves a net dragged behind one or more boats, at midwater or at the bottom. Individuals rarely, if ever, go trawling, but trolling is something anyone can do. Hang a rod over the boat’s stern, let the line play out with a baited hook, travel at a low speed, and hope for a bite. That’s trolling.

Commercial trolling, then, is a larger boat and more lines and hooks with a capacity to catch many more fish. These boats have four to six main wire lines, each sporting a 50-pound lead or cast-iron sinker or cannon ball on its terminal end, as well as eight to twelve nylon leaders spaced out along its length, each of which ends in a lure or baited hook.

Outriggers prevent the lines from becoming entangled, and the long

poles attached to the boat look like wings. While trolling, downriggers keep the bait or lure at the desired depth (which depends on the species being fished) by means of a weighted horizontal pole.

To bring the fish in, the lines are wound on small onboard spools called hand trollers if they’re operated by hand cranking or power trollers if operated with hydraulic power. A gaff—a long pole with a barbed hook on the end—grabs the fish and flips them onto the deck or hold.

Trolling is one of the most selective fishing methods, resulting in less incidental bycatch because it targets fish that are quick and follow a fastmoving, baited hook. Therefore, trolling is one of the less environmentally damaging methods of fishing.

“Fish are caught one at a time, immediately cleaned and iced or frozen to temperatures approaching

-40°F,” according to the Alaska Trollers Association (ATA), which makes the catch high-quality and in demand by upscale restaurants and discerning fish lovers.

In Southeast, this fishery sustains families and the broader communities with jobs, purchase of supplies and gear, and of course, fresh salmon to eat. Fishing is also an important indigenous cultural tradition.

A Year-round Economic Energizer

The ATA website says, “Seafood is the number one private sector employer in the state of Alaska. The troll fleet is one of the largest in the state, and its permit holders are 85 percent resident.”

Trolling provides more jobs for Alaskans than any other fishery and is especially important to those who live in smaller communities; roughly one

of every forty people in the Alaska Panhandle works on the back deck of a troll boat, according to ATA.

Approximately 1,450 fishermen earn income directly from the fishery, including skippers (permit holders) and crew, as reported in a 2019 McDowell Group study for the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association.

Trolling is essentially a year-round salmon fishery, providing fishermen with consistent revenue and delivering high-quality fresh fish to markets during months when fresh salmon is usually not available.

The fishery is divided into three openings: fall, winter, and spring.

The 2022/2023 winter troll fishery for Southeast Alaska/Yakutat opened on October 11, 2022, and closed March 15, 2023.

The spring troll fishery targets Alaska hatchery-produced Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, with openings of May 1, June 8, or June 15, as Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) manages each troll district individually. Fishing areas

may change from year to year and are announced after the department conducts a series of meetings in several Southeast towns.

The summer troll fishery opens June 15 or July 1, depending on the district, and closes September 30, wherein Chinook salmon may be harvested only during open periods announced by ADF&G.

Trolling is also a fishery that’s easily accessible by those who cannot afford to participate in larger fisheries that have more complex and costly gear and vessels. It also has the least expensive permit.

Marcie Hinde of Alaskan Quota & Permits says a gillnet permit can run as much as $68,000, whereas she sold a power troll permit for $26,000 in December, but she also has one for as low as $9,000.

For More Than a Century

The Southeast troll fishery is not new. According to ADF&G’s “History of the Winter Salmon Troll Fishery in Southeast Alaska/Yakutat” by Pattie Skannes and Grant Hagerman, trolling

Trolling is considered one of the most selective fishing methods, resulting in less incidental bycatch because it targets fish that are quick and follow a fast-moving, baited hook. Therefore, trolling is one of the less environmentally damaging methods of fishing.

began near Ketchikan in 1905 and was open year-round until 1950, when regulations shortened its opening from October or November to closing by late April.

By the ‘20s, Tlingit and Haida fishermen adopted mobile fishing gear that became the economic foundation for most villages.

By 1994, the average winter troll catch had increased to 63,600 fish in the 1992 to 1994 winter seasons, compared to an average of 37,000 from 1986 to 1991. The increased landings spurred new regulations aimed to reduce the troll Chinook salmon harvest, closing some of the most productive areas and introducing guideline harvest levels.

The winter Chinook salmon troll fishery in Southeast is managed in accordance with the Alaska Board of Fisheries Winter Troll Management Plan and the Pacific Salmon Treaty (PST).

In 1985, the United States and Canada agreed to cooperate in the management, research, and enhancement of Pacific salmon stocks of mutual concern by ratifying the PST. It outlines how the two countries

carry out their salmon fisheries and enhancement programs to prevent overfishing, to provide for optimum production, and to ensure both countries receive benefits equal to the production of salmon originating in their waters.

Under the PST, both countries agreed to account for the desirability of reducing interceptions, avoiding undue disruption of existing fisheries, and annual variations in abundance of the stocks.

In 2019, the parties implemented a new ten-year agreement for the treaty that noted concern about the Chinook salmon population.

While the PST stated that many Chinook stocks are healthy and meet the goals for long-term production, others are identified as conservation concerns, including some in the Pacific Northwest listed under the US Endangered Species Act and some in Canada that are assessed to be at increasing risk of extinction.

The treaty fishery management measures are intended to recover, sustain, and protect Chinook salmon stocks in Canada and the United

Chinook from a multitude of streams migrate into the North Pacific, where they live before returning as adults. In Southeast, some may be caught in fisheries. As they return to coastal and inland waters, they may encounter resident killer whales, which prefer Chinook over other species.

NOAA Fisheries

States. They are also meant to respond to changes in productivity of Chinook salmon stocks associated with environmental conditions as well as long-term cumulative effects, particularly by chronic habitat degradation, harmful hatchery practices, cyclic natural phenomena, and large-scale environmental variability that affect marine and freshwater habitats.

Under the management provisions of the treaty, ADF&G announced at the end of March that the preseason all-gear catch limit for Southeast is 206,027 Chinook salmon for 2023. Of that, 149,100 goes to the troll fishery. This year's target includes a 2 percent reduction from the treaty catch limit that will serve as a buffer to avoid exceeding the all-gear limit and the treaty’s pay back clause, which doesn’t allow Alaska to go over its allocation.

Closures and a Legal Challenge

ADF&G has closed several Alaska commercial fisheries due to low numbers of the resource, including the first-time ever closure in October of the Bering Sea snow crab harvest and the

“It's incomprehensible that the Wild Fish Conservancy is looking 1,000 miles up the coast to place the blame on the Southeast trolling fishery when there are many other fisheries between Washington and Southeast marine waters.”

Amy Daugherty, Executive Director, Alaska Trollers Association

second consecutive year of closure of the Bristol Bay red king crab season, as well as the closure of the east side of the Cook Inlet set net fishery and the Kenai River and Cook Inlet to sport fishing for king salmon. Closures massively affect the lives of fishermen, their families, and their communities.

Even in California, in response to crashing Chinook salmon populations, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council has preliminary plans to close this year’s ocean salmon commercial fisheries in all areas from the Oregon/ California border to the US/Mexico border, given the low abundance forecasts for both Klamath and Sacramento River fall Chinook.

Last year, the Wild Fish Conservancy Northwest, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington State, filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming that the Southeast troll fishery was endangering Puget Sound orca whales because it catches too many of the orcas’ favored prey. The court ruled the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) had violated the Endangered Species Act and

Troll fisherman Joe Emerson in the hold of his boat the F/V Tommy L II smiles after a successful troll.

Joe Emerson

Joe Emerson

the National Environmental Policy Act in approving salmon harvests in the Southeast troll fishery. Ironically, Puget Sound Chinook salmon are also considered an endangered species.

The Wild Fish Conservancy Northwest argued that 97 percent of the fish caught in Alaska don’t originate there, while ADF&G says that only 2 percent of the fish caught in Southeast originate in Puget Sound.

Legal pushback followed, with lawyers for Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski and Representative Mary Sattler Peltola filing an amicus brief in March in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. The Alaska House of Representatives also passed a joint resolution in support of the Southeast Alaska troll fishery.

Local governments in Juneau, Wrangell, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Petersburg also passed resolutions to oppose the lawsuit.

In response, Emma Helverson, executive director of Wild Fish Conservancy Northwest, issued a statement of sympathy. “I want to emphasize that Alaskan fishers are not to blame for NOAA’s chronic mismanagement of this fishery, and we are sympathetic to the burden this decision may pose on Southeast Alaskan communities,” Helverson said.

Amy Daugherty, executive director of the Alaska Trollers Association, told Juneau radio station KINY, “It's incomprehensible that the Wild Fish Conservancy is looking 1,000 miles up the coast to place the blame on the Southeast trolling fishery when there are many other fisheries between Washington and Southeast marine waters.”

Daugherty added, “Our allocation through treaty has diminished over 50 percent in the last three treaties that we signed with Washington, Oregon, and Canada.”

For Juneau troll fisherman Joe Emerson, the suit brings frustration and uncertainty to the future of his fourgeneration livelihood. “I question their good faith,” says Emerson, referring to the Wild Fish Conservancy. “It’s attacking the number one Chinook salmon advocates on the West Coast.”

Emerson adds, “Before the suit, they never contacted the Alaska Trollers Association—not once—but immediately sued us.”

On May 2, Judge Richard Jones of the US District Court of Western Washington issued an order that vacates the Incidental Take Statement that governs the Southeast summer and winter fisheries.

In a press release, the Alaska Trollers Association stated it is working with its attorney, the State of Alaska, and the National Marine Fisheries Service on the next steps, including appealing the ruling and likely asking for a stay of the order.

Fresh Fish to the Lower 48

Shoreline Wild Salmon in Pelican, population eighty-six, was founded by Marie Rose in 2016 when she was working as an activist for the conservation organization Salmon Beyond Borders, a nonprofit that aims to protect the transboundary rivers between Canada and the United States.

Rose met Emerson and another fisherman, Keith Heller, and the three had an idea to offer sustainable trollcaught wild Alaska fish for sale to the Lower 48. Their fish are sold in fifty stores and through their Shoreline Wild Salmon website. The company was recognized in April by Good Housekeeping as one of the ten best seafood delivery services of 2023 (Anchorage-based Alaskan Salmon Company is also among the top ten).

Shoreline Wild Salmon sells Chinook in quantities of five pounds at $35.99 per pound, ten pounds for $32 per pound (free shipping), and fifteen pounds at $28.99 per pound (free shipping).

Shoreline Wild Salmon is just one of countless examples of how the troll fishery touches the lives of Southeast residents and beyond, providing not just employment but a healthy, sustainable food to fish lovers everywhere.

Joe Emerson holds a Chinook fresh off the hook.

Construction of Span Alaska’s Fairbanks Service Center (FSC) is nearly complete. When it opens, our new FSC will be one of the most technologically modern, efficient, and purpose-driven transportation facilities ever built in Fairbanks.

Span’s FSC will increase our capacity, improve security, offer customizable storage areas, and streamline freight handling — all to ensure faster, smoother, and more consistent delivery of your product to its final destination.

To schedule a pickup or find the Span location nearest you, call 1-800-257-7726 or visit us at spanalaska.com

Ren fair hails thirty years as a self-supporting nonprofit

By Scott Rhode

Venetian glass came to Alaska during the European Renaissance. Blue beads discovered in 2005 at archaeological sites in the Brooks Range were dated to the mid-1400s, having changed hands along the 10,000-mile trade route from Italy, through Eurasia, and across the Bering Strait. The artifacts are a tangible connection between where we live now and Venice from 500 years ago.

I tell this story to patrons who visit the Three Barons Renaissance Fair (3BRF). Or rather, the character I portray shares this tale with New Worlders partaking of the festival in Hillshire.

This summer is my third as a performer at the fair, which has existed in Anchorage for the last thirty summers. The organization has stood as a self-supporting nonprofit, offering two weekends of outdoor entertainment and an enthusiastic market for independent vendors.

Welcome to Hillshire

Before the Plague Year, the fair’s record attendance was 13,336 during the first two weekends of June 2019. My castmates and I had begun rehearsals in 2020 when the fair was canceled for the first time in its history. The 2021 event was downsized to a two-day “Crown’s Market” with free admission, to keep the hearth warm.

When the full fair (and full fare) returned in 2022, so did more than 15,000 patrons. “That really kind of blew our minds, that we blew past our high day. Almost 2,000 over it, and people were just excited to get out,” recalls Kevin Hall, president of the 3BRF board of directors.

Entering the gate transports fair patrons to the fictional village of Hillshire, about 500 years ago. Attractions include the Crooked Toad Tavern for grown-up entertainment and the Twisted Tadpole for toddlers, games of skill at the Crimson Dove Inn or with the Tomato Wives, puppet shows by the Alchemist’s Guild, roving improv by the Fools, living history demonstrations, a mind-bending maze, and plenty of vendors and food trucks.

And, of course, the eponymous barons from the Blue, Green, and Red Courts. “We're the person you want to meet. Want to get your picture taken with the baron and the baroness? Come and visit us in our pavilions,” says Shane Mitchell, who has portrayed the Blue Baron at every fair since 1993. “We send them on quests, we grant them

special favors and ribbons and tokens of esteem, we open and close the fair, we officiate at the Fight Show, and the baronesses officiate the costume contest. You know, the titular heads of the fair.”

Mitchell’s character within the fiction of Hillshire, Ali Akbar Mohammed elMutamin the Magnificent (supposedly the descendant of a real-life 11th century Andalusian emir), mediates the neutral ground between the cruel and greedy Green Baron from Elizabethan England and the kind and honorable Red Baron from the Serene Republic of Venice.

As production director within the 3BRF, Mitchell mediates for real among the courts, guilds, and other subgroups that rehearse their separate parts, to “produce a single unified desired effect,” he says. “Basically, my job is to make sure that all of those people are communicating, to be the liaison from that body of people to the board of directors.”

The volunteer cast of 300 to 400 sets 3BRF apart from the summer’s other markets, fairs, and festivals.

“Everybody loves the Girdwood [Forest] Fair. Everybody loves the State Fair. The Highland Games are wonderful,” Mitchell says, “but the performance aspect gives us a Disneyland feel, gives us that quality of stepping into a completely different world. It's not just an opportunity to buy and eat and have a pleasant day out in the sunshine, as wonderful as those things are. It's a chance to interact in a fantasy realm.”

Pre-Barons Fair

Anchorage has had a Renaissance fair since the early ‘70s, not long after such things were invented in the ‘60s. At first, the state arts council hosted it at Campbell Creek Park.

Mitchell was there at age 13. “The fair had a different vibe,” he recalls. “It was very much a craft fair. Queen Elizabeth was there with a limited court, and they had a stage, but very often the music that was played was folk music.” As the fair cast more actors, Mitchell joined as a 17-year-old attendant to the queen.

He has seen the fair through its darkest days. “One year in the mid‘80s, it rained every day of the fair. Every. Day. And it became financially insolvent,” Mitchell says.

The statewide economic crash didn’t help, either. Greater Anchorage, Inc., the organizer of Fur Rendezvous, came to the rescue. After about three years, though, some fair veterans split over artistic differences. They formed a for-profit corporation, Iron Hat, and conceived the original Three Barons storyline, which Mitchell describes as a blend of Shakespeare, Brothers Grimm, and Arabian Nights. He recalls, “When the Three Barons fair started, it was a mammoth undertaking. None of us

knew how big of a mouthful we had bitten off.”

The first site was on the slopes at Hilltop Ski Area (hence, “Hillshire”). “It was quite a workout,” says Hall, who visited as a patron in 1993. “I paid the extra money to go up on the chairlift and walk down, as opposed to walk up.”

The previous fair competed with the new one for a few years, until Iron Hat was the lone survivor. Iron Hat re-incorporated as 3BRF, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with an educational mandate.

Coin of the Realm

Mounting the fair costs about $80,000 annually, according to Hall. Security is the single largest budget item, and 3BRF also pays for site rental and insurance. The organization owns, stores, and maintains most of the stages, tents, pavilions, and other scenery.

Performers’ costumes are off budget; the cast buys their own clothing. When I joined as a performer in Red Court, I paid a couple hundred dollars for a puffy shirt, linen breeches, stockings, shoes, and a dagger, plus a couple hundred more to a local seamstress for a bespoke doublet (outer jacket) and capelet. Now I’m committed to Red Court for several more years, to amortize my investment.

Core revenues for 3BRF are from ticket sales: $10 for ages 13 and up, $9 for seniors and military, $5 for kids. Items sold at 3BRF-owned vendors, such as games at the Crimson Dove

or alcohol at the Crooked Toad, also yield some proceeds. The only other source of income is vendor fees, which vary according to space, with discounts for seniority.

Hall says 3BRF hosts about seventy vendors, and there is a wait list. When selecting vendors, 3BRF prefers handmade wares. “We try to make sure that we favor those things that are more unique to history, the Renaissance, or even just Alaska,” Hall explains. “We're not closed off to modern items for sure, but you know the audience is looking for that Renaissance fair experience, so it's going to be dragons, it's going to be Harry Potter, people dressed as hobbits, and things like that.”

Chester Mainot, owner of Get Scent, sells homemade candles. His first year as a vendor was 2022, and he is returning for 2023. He decorates his booth, dresses in costume, and offers special merchandise to fit the theme.

“I created special edition Three Barons

candles,” Mainot says. “That sold out fast! Also, I did some interactive games for customers with a chance to win a free candle or special discounts.”

Of all the markets where Mainot sells candles, he says 3BRF is his secondmost profitable, after the Girdwood Forest Fair. “In terms of time and labor, it is very convenient since they have it for two weekends and I do not have to break down and set up every day, like other vendor markets I have that are one-day events,” he says.

Intimate Interactions

For some, it’s not about the money. “Many of our vendors,” Mitchell observes, “choose to be at the Three Barons Fair even though it's less lucrative. They choose two weekends a year to not be at Saturday Market but instead to be at the fair, because of the performance, because of the environment, just because of the vibe of the place.”

Smiles all around at Peasant Dancing and pretend violence at Fight Show, two of the eighteen performances staged each day of the fair.

Tony D. Batres

Vendors at the Three Barons Renaissance Fair mainly sell handmade goods, whimsical goods, or whimsical handmade goods.

Tony D. Batres

When the cast does its job properly, patrons linger for an average of four hours. The more time they spend, the more money they spend, and hopefully vendors go home with no unsold inventory.

Hall considers commerce to be the most “intimate” interaction patrons can have. “We can laugh with them, we can tell a joke, we can do improv, we can teach them a skill, and sometimes that's very passive,” he says. “But the fact that they reach into their purse or their wallet, pull out money for the vendors’ wonderful handmade products—I think that's a real powerful thing.”

One of the few booths by a physical store is Bosco’s. The comic book shop sells plastic swords at the fair, after selling 3BRF tickets at its Spenard and Dimond Center locations.

Bosco’s also hosted “open casting” in February, like a job fair where 3BRF guilds and courts recruit new members. Bosco’s owner John Weddleton watched with a big smile, calling 3BRF a “fantastic group” and noting that the audience has a “90 percent overlap” with the shop’s clientele.

Despite that synergy, Bosco’s is not a corporate sponsor. Indeed, 3BRF has zero formal sponsorships. It does benefit from business-to-business donations, such as Alaska Sand & Gravel dumping a truckload of rock in the fair’s marshy areas, and Hall says these informal relationships are important. However, “We have not actively pursued any outside grants or supports like that,” he says, adding that the founders believed in being self-sustaining.

One exception is some proceeds from this year’s Fur Rendezvous Outhouse Races, where a friend of the fair named 3BRF as a beneficiary. Hall says that extra cash was donated knowing that a big expense is coming soon: a change in location.

Peaceful Alliances

Years ago, heavy snow at Hilltop Ski Area forced Hillshire to move, first to University Lake and then to Tozier Track, home of the Alaska Sled Dog & Racing Association (ASDRA). Hillshire will move again now that ASDRA is developing a new track along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. However, it’s

not ready for 3BRF this summer, so the old site is hosting one last fair.

Next year, Hall expects disruption. “We talk about the fact that we'll lose patrons because it's not, ‘I know exactly where to go,’ though it is only about a quarter mile down the road,” he says. The new site will also require reconfiguration from the long, narrow 10 acres at Tozier Track to a 20acre square.

Hall is grateful for ASDRA’s accommodation, just as 3BRF benefits from alliances with other nonprofits.

One partner is TBA Theatre, which Mitchell co-founded twenty years ago. Unlike other 3BRF courts and guilds, Blue Court is essentially a coproduction of TBA, which owns its scenery. Merchant booths at Blue Court are fundraisers for TBA, helping to pay for annual field trips to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.

Two other nonprofit allies are the Historic Recrudescence Guild (HRG) and the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), Barony of Eskalya.

HRG is Hall’s bailiwick. In modern day, he runs a graphic design company, but HRG lets him dwell in the past. “I do carpentry, so I teach people what different tools were and what they used them for,” he explains. Within 3BRF, HRG populates a medieval village and demonstrates crafts, etiquette, cooking, and everyday life skills.

A slightly more violent variation is SCA’s domain. Full-contact combat is only one aspect of SCA’s living history, but it is the flashiest.

Thom Bates dons riveted lamellar armor as Baron Gavin Woodward, titular head of the local SCA chapter. The group meets almost every week, he says, practicing archery, songs, and other antique activities. The two weekends at the fair are SCA’s highest visibility. “The Three Barons Fair is our most successful time for recruitment,” says Bates. “It’s kind of ‘our people,’ if that makes sense… I usually frame it as, ‘Is two weekends not enough? Do you want to do more stuff like this year-round?’”

No money changes hands between SCA and 3BRF; the fair allots

demonstration space free of charge, and SCA holds its own fundraisers to pay for storing its gear.

Bake sales, car washes, or auctions are common avenues for nonprofits to earn cash, but not for 3BRF. The only fundraiser is the fair itself.

Paid in Joy

My castmates in Red Court begin rehearsals in February. By the end of May, we meet nightly, our efforts focused on the first two weekends of June.

Hall says 3BRF is open to holding events around the calendar. “We have some concepts going forward,” he says. “As we move locations, what can we do? There's been some experiments in the past, before my time, with midwinter feasts and things like that.”

Any chance for the cast to stick together. Mitchell says, “To the audience perspective, it seems that Red, Green, and Blue are in competition. But in reality, it's collaboration and, you know… that feeling of ‘one cast, one show’ has remained.”

Hall has witnessed the camaraderie, too. “When someone asks to help raise

a 30-foot by 20-foot canvas tent or lift an amazingly heavy bridge, everyone jumps in,” Hall says. “That's young men and young women, old men and old women. Everyone is welcome at the fair, so our cast has a huge cross section of our community.”

Paid staff from Drogon Security get into the act, wearing tabards they made themselves. “To blend in, right?” says Hall. “They're not frivolous; they're enforcing the rules. But they recognized that they can have a lot more fun with it, and it makes for a better fair experience.”

For volunteers, “There is only one coin we're paid in, and that is joy,” Mitchell says. “As the production manager, when I speak to directors, I'm going, ‘If your cast is not experiencing joy, then you're not paying your cast.’”

We are paid another way, I remind him.

“Plus T-shirts and the occasional barbecue,” Mitchell acknowledges.

That’s one more item in the 3BRF budget. Hall says, “People loved the fact that they could get a shirt that said ‘Cast’ on it. They earned it, for sure.”

As a separate nonprofit, the Historic Recrudescence Guild provides educational content at the Three Barons Renaissance Fair and other events throughout the year.

Tony D. Batres

In character at the 2022 Three Barons Renaissance Fair, the author offers a Venetian glass bead as a souvenir to a young patron.

Tony D. Batres

Cloud and As-a-Service Solutions

Bypassing IT hardware supply chain headaches

By Tracy Barbour

Persistent supply chain problems are especially challenging for organizations that struggle to obtain information technology (IT) equipment. With IT hardware lead times, it can take months instead of the more traditional weeks to procure firewalls, servers, workstations, laptops, and other critical components. Gartner research indicates that lead times for network hardware will be prolonged until mid-2023 and then gradually decline during the rest of the year.

However, organizations can leverage various cloud and as-a-service options to avoid some technology-related supply chain issues. Unlike traditional IT, which requires upfront purchase or licensing, cloud and cloud-enabled as-aservice solutions can reduce the need to maintain physical servers. This can help companies save time and money while improving efficiency and competitiveness. It can also allow businesses to minimize the effects of supply chain disruptions and strengthen their IT resilience.

Cloud infrastructure provides almost instant access to computing and storage as well as a multitude of application services that can be leveraged to deliver business value, according to Roger Joys, vice president of Enterprise Cloud Platform at GCI. “The key here is that infrastructure is ‘ondemand’ and only limited by a company’s budget,” he says. Public cloud eliminates concerns over procuring, receiving, installing, and bringing on-premise services into service. With pricing being consumption-based, organizations do not have to go through forecasting exercises or other capacity exercises.

However, this technological advantage comes at a cost. “Public cloud is usually more costly to run and is treated as operating expenses as opposed to the traditional capitalization treatment given on premise hardware,” Joys explains.

Public cloud is a type of architecture for implementing cloud services. Public clouds are owned and operated by third-party providers, which deliver computing resources like servers and storage over the internet. With public clouds, the provider manages all the hardware, software, and other supporting infrastructure.

In Joys’ view, on-demand consumption is the most attractive model in the public cloud space to foster innovation and reduce or eliminate an on-premise lab or innovation center. “As business solutions become institutionalized, most public cloud providers will offer some form of subscription or similar to make a ‘consumption commit’ at both the micro and macro level,” he says.

The kind of cloud an organization chooses comes down to its specific requirements. “Any company, including GCI, does face the reality of physics, where even with highspeed fiber connections to the Lower 48, there is inherent latency,” Joys says. “Thus, public cloud is not always the right choice for a company such as GCI when real-time processing is required. The public cloud for infrastructure or hosted business solutions is, however, an excellent choice for business applications that are not as sensitive.”

Businesses can also opt to deploy cloud services using private cloud and/or hybrid cloud. Private cloud is cloud computing that is dedicated solely to an organization, and hybrid cloud is an environment that employs a combination of public and private clouds.

Common Cloud Services

Some of the most frequently used cloud computing services are

infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS). The most basic category is IaaS, which is cloudbased provisioning of computing resources over the internet. With IaaS, companies rent IT infrastructure— servers, virtual machines, storage, networks, operating systems—from a cloud provider on a pay-as-you-go basis. Their IT teams manage operating systems, databases, applications, functions, and data, allowing for greater control and flexibility than other service models. Common examples of IaaS include Amazon Web Services, Google Compute Engine, and Microsoft Azure.

SaaS is a method for delivering software applications over the Internet, typically on a subscription basis. With SaaS, cloud providers host and manage the software application and underlying infrastructure. They also handle maintenance, including software upgrades and security patching. Popular SaaS business applications are email, customer relationship management software,

Roger Joys GCI

cloud-based file storage, and collaboration software. PaaS, on the other hand, provides the tools and environment to build, manage, and run software applications.

Another popular option for implementing cloud services is hardware-as-a-service (HaaS). This solution involves hardware—such as servers, computers, and other devices— that companies borrow rather than purchase. A managed service provider installs the hardware at the client’s site under a contract that spells out the terms, including the subscription costs, replacement, and monitoring and maintenance responsibilities.

Organizations have been increasingly implementing as-a-service options as part of the broader everything-asa-service (XaaS) model. XaaS—also known as anything-as-a-service— encompasses all the products, tools, and capabilities that are digitally delivered to users as services. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of XaaS, and servicebased technologies are likely here to stay, according to the 2021 Deloitte Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) Study. In particular, adopters were leveraging XaaS to access cutting-edge features and technologies, accelerate innovation, and get their products and services to market faster. More than eight out of ten respondents in Deloitte’s survey said their companies were using SaaS, IaaS, and/or PaaS.

Easing Supply Chain Pain

In Alaska and elsewhere, most companies have focused their initial cloud use cases for back-office and development/innovation use cases, Joys says. SaaS-based solutions for business applications are often the fastest time to value, with a fast follower of hosting solutions on public cloud infrastructure. PaaS platforms continue to get more adoption, but at a glacially slow pace. “Companies

lean toward either SaaS solutions or leveraging public cloud infrastructure or application services,” he says.

Currently, GCI is taking advantage of Microsoft Office tools, inclusive of remote conferencing, document management, email, and general collaboration. “These solutions historically have been hosted on premise and require both a capital investment and staffing to simply keep the applications healthy,” Joys says. “Public cloud services have allowed teams to focus on the value proposition of the application as opposed to routine operations.”

When it comes to HaaS, most of the predominant public cloud providers offer dedicated hardware hosting. Other players in this area host and maintain hardware and middleware— which acts as a bridge between an operating system or database and applications—for a company. “There are a multitude of options available, and companies contemplating this should clearly define their requirements and expected outcomes in order to find the right model,” Joys says.

Alaska Communications (ACS) also offers cloud-based solutions that can help organizations reduce the impact of supply chain delays. The company’s Technology-as-a-Service option provides business customers a holistic environment that includes servers and hardware equipment for

“Public cloud is usually more costly to run and is treated as operating expenses as opposed to the traditional capitalization treatment given on premise hardware.”

Roger Joys Vice President of

Enterprise Cloud Platform, GCI

Transporting equipment to Alaska's off-the-road locations, such as Sitka, was expensive and time consuming even before the pandemic affected supply chains. Cloud and as-a-service options allow businesses in any community access to computing and storage solutions without investing in all of the required IT equipment.

Monica Sterchi-Lowman | Alaska Business

a monthly fee. One of the benefits to the customer is it moves capital expenditures into operating expenses, according to ACS Director of Managed IT Cindy Christopher.

Benefits of Cloud Services

There are significant advantages to using cloud-based solutions. As an on-demand, self-service environment, the cloud can significantly help businesses achieve digital transformation and efficiency. “When you move to the cloud or a SaaS solution, you eliminate the need for hardware, like servers and replacement items, which are sometimes difficult to receive in a timely manner due to supply chain constraints,” Christopher says.

Moving to the cloud also has additional hardware benefits. For instance, organizations can reduce their need for bulky, expensive laptops. And with all their data, files, and programs in the cloud, they can select budget-friendly, end-user computing options. In general, Christopher says, a cloud-based infrastructure

x reduces risk of lost data;

x minimizes the chance of downtime (with less hardware that can fail); x increases geographic diversity, with data stored in more than one location (if one site goes down, another site backs it up); x and offers advantages for remote or distributed work environments.

When leveraged appropriately, public cloud enables companies to focus on extracting value from the application itself and defocus on the daily operational considerations, Joys says. With cybersecurity threats increasing, for instance, IT shops are spending more time on patching and security hardening for on-premise applications. “Public cloud does not in any way eliminate this; however, if done well and with a thoughtful plan, [it] can mitigate this,” he says.

Public cloud is also a good choice for companies focusing on innovation. Being able to experiment with new technologies and services in a secure

enclave on the public cloud enhances innovation while reducing the cost.

Joys explains, “In many cases, it can also eliminate ‘double paying’ supply chain, where companies purchase lab or small-scale hardware to experiment in a cost-effective manner, then, if the solution is viable, repeat the supply chain exercise.”

Another area that benefits greatly from public cloud services is data science. Historically, hosting solutions like Apache Hadoop require a significant investment in both hardware—which has to be maintained—and staffing for specialized skills. “Public cloud providers have democratized these large data science platforms, enabling increased focus on solving business problems,” Joys says.

Partnering with a Managed Provider

Although there are numerous benefits from cloud solutions, Christopher wishes to rebut a common

Cindy Christopher Alaska Communications

myth: “Moving to the cloud will not eliminate your need for in-house IT professionals or IT support through a managed provider,” she says.

In addition, Christopher says organizations should keep in mind that the value of cloud computing can only be realized through successful migration. “Working with experienced cloud experts will help your businesses smoothly transition to the cloud,” she says.

Having a smooth transition was crucial for the Alaska Department of Administration’s cloud migration project. Alaska Communications is supporting the state’s digital transformation. The executive branch had long been using SaaS applications when it began executing the largescale migration, according to Bill Smith, chief information officer at the State of Alaska.

Smith says the rapid migration to cloud-based computing represents an important part of the state’s ongoing

work to take full advantage of worldclass security features to protect Alaskans’ data, modernize state IT systems, and dramatically improve the state’s response to unexpected disruption. Following this rapid migration, applications will continue with standard life cycle improvements to take advantage of the full range of cloud native features.

The state’s cloud adoption strategies range from IaaS, which is being used to rapidly move on-premise resources, through SaaS and modernized cloud native applications that offer enhanced features and replace onpremise systems.

“Through this far-reaching project, the State of Alaska will see enhanced security and benefit from the scale, performance, and innovation that comes with cloud computing without many of the limitations imposed by ongoing supply chain concerns,” Smith says.

On a smaller scale, Alaska Communications has provided similar services for business customers. Many of its retail customers use a cloud environment to support point-of-sale operations and the ability to do business anywhere, Christopher says.

When capitalizing on cloud solutions, it can be advantageous for organizations to partner with a managed service provider like Alaska Communications or GCI. Alaska Communications, for instance, helps its customers identify, transition, and manage their cloud subscription services. “Although cloud solutions can minimize supply chain risk and disruptions, it is important to evaluate the business needs of our customer,” Christopher says. “Our first step is to evaluate their environment and advise if they are a good candidate to move to the cloud.”

A primary benefit of using a managed service provider is economies of scale and buying power, Christopher says. “We have experience and relationships with multiple manufacturers and frequently craft creative solutions for securing equipment for our customers,” she says. “As an example, we work with

customers in the resource industry where seasonal networks are needed at man camps in remote areas. We work with them on their timeline to design the network and secure equipment. Last year was the most challenging year I’ve experienced due to supply chain issues. We worked with multiple vendors to secure equipment to meet our customers’ business needs.”

Important Considerations

Not every organization will find success operating in the cloud, Christopher cautions. Some businesses can do everything in the cloud; others opt for a hybrid approach; and some still have on-premise needs. For example, businesses that need to frequently access and modify large data files would probably not want to use a solely public cloud solution, as they could incur hidden costs with ingress/egress fees. “Another aspect to keep in mind is end-user experience if your business has a remote or hybrid workforce,” she says. “The end user’s experience is dependent upon internet connectivity at their location, which sometimes isn’t sufficient to support the necessary file upload and download speed to support productivity.”

Therefore, companies should think about what their end users—their employees—will be doing in the cloud and how that will affect the customer experience. Another important consideration: whether the business is a good candidate for operating in the cloud. It’s also essential to consider the costs associated with migration and maintenance. “Businesses that felt priced out of a cloud solution a few years ago may now find it more attractive with rising equipment/ hardware costs and supply chain concerns,” Christopher says. “A lot has changed in the last few years.”

Christopher recommends that businesses reach out to a managed provider for a consultation: “A trusted managed provider who understands your network can provide counsel on what type of cloud solution is best for your business and your goals.”

“When you move to the cloud or a SaaS solution, you eliminate the need for hardware, like servers and replacement items, which are sometimes difficult to receive in a timely manner due to supply chain constraints.”

Cindy Christopher Director of Managed IT Alaska Communications

Bill Smith State of Alaska

Laying Tracks

America, young but vast as countries go, considers 100 years to be a long time but 100 miles to be not so far—in contrast with Europe, especially England. So goes the oft-made observation. That aphorism applies with greater force to Alaska, where the next town is 100 miles downriver or up the road, and many extant institutions have marked their first centennials only recently.

The Alaska Railroad has covered those 100-mile spans steadily for a long American time, since Warren Harding drove the golden spike at Nenana in 1923. On the occasion of the anniversary, this month’s special section highlights the railroad and its peers in the transportation industry.

Like the railroad, the Alaska Marine Highway System is a public facility—a division of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) rather than a state-owned enterprise. “Opening Up the World” checks in with the state ferry fleet, and “DBEs and OJT” explores another mission of DOT&PF, namely support of local contractors and their workforces.

Non-governmental organizations are spotlighted in “Know Your Associations,” a quick overview of industry groups that give voices to land, sea, and sky transportation. And “Golden Heart Hub” previews the new Fairbanks Service Center that Span Alaska built for its trucking operations.

Outside of this special section, flip to Alaska Trends for more about the Alaska Railroad. The state’s other operating railway is featured in “White Pass & Yukon Route.” And fleet safety is the subject of this month’s column from Sean Dewalt.

The whistle is blowing. All aboard for transportation!

100 Years of Passengers, Freight, and Real Estate

The Alaska Railroad’s centennial

By Amy Newman

Catch a glimpse of the Alaska Railroad snaking its way south to Seward or crossing Hurricane Gulch between Talkeetna and Denali Park, its passengers snapping photographs from a glass-domed car or open-air viewing platform, and you’d be inclined to think the railroad is just another piece of the Alaska tourism puzzle.

But the Alaska Railroad, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, is so much more. The last fullservice railroad in the country, it’s a vital piece of infrastructure that literally and figuratively keeps Alaska moving. Each year, the railroad transports tourists and residents, delivers freight, and develops its vast real estate holdings to benefit both the railroad and Alaska’s economy.

“The railroad is a big, big deal all around for residents of Alaska… the passenger and freight and real estate sides,” says Alaska Railroad Corporation President and CEO Bill O’Leary, who in 2013 became the first lifelong Alaskan to hold the position. “It’s really critical for Alaska to have this infrastructure in place.”

The infrastructure, which supports the railroad’s combined passenger and freight service, includes 656 miles of track; 170 bridges and culverts; 793 freight and passenger cars; rail yards in Seward, Whittier, Anchorage, and Fairbanks; 10 rail depots; and 36,000 acres of land.

“People have a tendency to think about railroads as, ‘How quaint, how 19th century,’ but so much of this is driven by cutting-edge type technology now,” O’Leary says. “It’s quite incredible what modern railroads are about. It’s not your grandfather’s railroad anymore.”

Quasi-Public Corporation

The Alaska Railroad was officially born on July 15, 1923, when President Warren G. Harding drove the golden spike in Nenana, signifying the end of construction. But the history of the tracks stretches to 1903, when the Alaska Central Railway built the first railroad in Southcentral. Headquartered in Seward, the railroad extended 50 miles north; seven years later, it was renamed the Alaskan

Northern Railway Co. and extended another 21 miles to Kern Creek, near Girdwood.

In 1914 the federal government, looking to access Interior mineral deposits while skirting a private

“The tough thing about being 100 years old is we have some of the original infrastructure… It’s been maintained well, but a lot of care and feeding goes into that, so that’s been our focus of late and going forward.”

Bill O’Leary, President and CEO, Alaska Railroad Corporation

railroad out of Cordova, authorized $35 million to construct and operate the Alaska Railroad. The project extended the tracks from Seward to the Tanana Valley Railroad yard in Fairbanks and relocated headquarters to Ship Creek, which became the town of Anchorage.

The railroad’s first profitable year was 1938, and World War II saw profits continue to grow as the railroad hauled military and civilian supplies and materials. Car-barge service out of Whittier began in 1962, followed by train-ship service in 1964. Trainship service, managed by Lynden Alaska Marine Lines, enables rail cars to be transferred directly from train to barge in Seattle for transport to the railroad’s Whittier dock; the rail cars are then loaded directly from the barge to the railroad for delivery to any destination along the railroad’s route.

In the ‘70s “the railroad was in really bad shape, it was falling apart,” says Jim Kubitz, vice president of real estate and

facilities at the Alaska Railroad. “The feds wanted to get rid of it.”

The state, however, “recognized the railroad’s importance as a key piece of infrastructure,” O’Leary says, and in 1985 bought it from the federal government for $22 million.

The quasi-public Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) oversees railroad operations and management. Headed by a seven-member board of directors appointed by the governor, the ARRC is tasked with ensuring the railroad provides safe, efficient, and economical transportation and real estate services that grow and support development opportunities. State law mandates that the ARRC operates as a self-sustaining entity, which means it is solely responsible for its legal and financial obligations.

“It’s designed to smell, taste, and feel like private industry, but it is still very much owned by the state,” O’Leary says. “By and large we make our money the old-fashioned way—we go out and earn it.”

The railroad earns its revenue through a mix of freight and passenger

Being a full-service railroad means AKRR handles both passengers and freight. No other rail company in the country still does both.

Glenn Aronwits | Alaska Railroad

“It’s designed to smell, taste, and feel like private industry, but it is still very much owned by the state… By and large we make our money the oldfashioned way—we go out and earn it.”

Bill O’Leary, President and CEO Alaska Railroad Corporation

services, its real estate holdings, and federal grants.

Freight from the Lower 48

When it comes to revenue, the railroad’s cash cow is its freight service. In 2022, the railroad earned $110 million, or 44 percent of its annual revenue, transporting 3.7 million tons of freight. Freight service is provided from the railroad ports in Whittier, Seward, Anchorage, and Fairbanks.

Alaska Railroad (AKRR) operations budget analyst Scott Winther explains, “It’s groceries and dry goods, supplies to Home Depot and Lowe’s, that type of freight, as well as other project freight,” which can include goods like lumber, heavy machinery, and rebar.

The Alaska Railroad also transports materials directly from the Lower 48 through the Alaska Rail-Marine Service. Working in partnership with Lynden Alaska Marine Lines, materials purchased in the Lower 48 are delivered to the railroad’s Seattle dock and loaded onto the barge via Lynden’s rail barge. The patented system allows rail cars to roll between train and barge, which improves efficiency and increases the amount of cargo that can be shipped.

“The barge can hold fifty rail cars on a good day,” O’Leary says. “It’s a tremendously efficient and costeffective way of transporting heavy bulk cargo.”

Materials for the mining industry and chemicals for the oil fields are the major commodities shipped via rail barge, Winther says. Kubitz adds, “We haul a lot of powdery cement. People just don’t realize how many common things the railroad transports.”

The railroad’s freight service also makes it possible to deliver items that would be impossible to move by any other mode of transportation.

“If it wasn’t for the railroad, there wouldn’t be a windmill farm up in Healy,” Kubitz says. “The wind turbine arms were carried in special rail cars that were long and arched in the middle.”

There are secondary benefits to the railroad’s freight business as well. One train can carry the equivalent of hundreds of truckloads. Winther says trailer companies typically move between 150 to 200 trailers per week

ARRC Major Land Reserves

between Anchorage and Fairbanks and another 50 per week out of Whittier. Minimizing the number of trucks on the road reduces wear and tear on Alaska’s highways, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and eliminates the challenges of transporting freight during the winter.

Combined with passenger services, which reduces the number of motorcoaches transporting tourists across the state each summer, railroad service translates to fewer headaches for motorists traveling by car.

“Anybody who has ever been stuck behind a convoy of buses heading down to Seward or up to Denali knows that rail is a tremendously efficient way of moving passengers,” O’Leary says. “It’s a tremendously efficient and costeffective way of transporting heavy bulk cargo.”

The Last Flag and Whistle Stop Service

The railroad’s passenger service is its most visible and second most profitable; in 2022, the half million passengers it served brought in $45 million, or 18 percent of its annual revenue.

The railroad serves independent travelers who want a leisurely, scenic way to travel anywhere from Seward to Fairbanks. It also partners with the cruise ship industry to transport passengers from the cruise ship docks in Seward to its train depots, including those in Anchorage, Talkeetna, and Denali National Park and Preserve.

But not all the railroad’s passengers are tourists. Special holiday and event trains during the off-season cater to locals, and the train’s flag and whistle stop service, the last of its kind in the country, provides Alaskans access to remote locations.

“Flagstop and whistle stop service refer to operating a train on a loose schedule without really standard scheduled stops,” explains Meghan Clemens, AKRR marketing communications manager. “We will bring the train to a stop when a passenger asks the conductor to let them off at a given post, and we’ll bring the train to a stop if we see someone standing along the tracks, flagging them down. It allows homesteaders with properties off the

Alaska Railroad

road system to access their cabins and get to properties they couldn’t get to otherwise.”

Railroad partnerships also provide unique opportunities to access some of Alaska’s more remote locations, such as its partnership with Chugach National Forest to provide whistle stop service to Spencer Glacier, Clemens says. Passengers from Anchorage disembark at the Spencer Glacier stop, where a mile-long trail, built and maintained by the US Forest Service, leads directly from the train station to the edge of Spencer Lake.

“That’s a pretty unique opportunity that we’re able to offer locals and visitors,” she says.

Real Estate Development

If freight is the railroad’s bread and passengers are the butter, its real estate holdings are the mid-afternoon snack that help tide it over. In 2022, the railroad’s real estate development accounted for 10 percent of its operating revenue.

“That land base is something that’s been really critically important to the railroad,” O’Leary says. “The passenger and the freight business, like any business, has its ups and downs. It really buffers the vagaries of those cycles. It’s been a steady, consistent performer for us.”

The state’s purchase of the railroad included 36,000 acres, which includes property in Ship Creek, Chena Landings in Fairbanks, the Seward cruise and freight docks, and land adjacent to the Seward airport, Kubitz says. Of that real estate, 41 percent is devoted to railroad operations, including track beds, rights-of-way, and rail yards. The remaining 59 percent is available for development and long-term leases and permits, which are leaseholds with a term of less than five years.

Twenty-five years ago, the railroad earned $5 million a year from its leases; today, it’s approaching $26 million annually. Several factors account for the increase, Kubitz says.

“Part of that is the railroad got organized with its leases,” he says. “When the railroad was part of the [US] Department of the Interior, the leases were not necessarily done at fair market value. It was a hodgepodge.

When the state took over, there was a pretty big effort to organize and enforce the leases and charge fair market value.”

The railroad also benefited from increased land values and interest in development, particularly in its Ship Creek holdings, “the high-value money in our land,” Kubitz says.

One of those recent developments was with The Petersen Group, which entered a 99-year lease to develop twenty-two townhome-style condominiums on railroad land in Ship Creek, on the edge of Downtown Anchorage. Called Downtown Edge, the development is part of a larger mixed-use project in the Ship Creek Redevelopment zone that will include retail and restaurant space, parks, and trails connecting to the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.

The railroad’s real estate also “provides an unknown communications amenity to the State of Alaska that people don’t think about,” Kubitz says, by granting utility companies permits to lay fiber optic cables, pipes, and other conduits along the corridor’s 200-foot right-of-way.

There are no restrictions placed on the railroad’s land development, but O’Leary says decisions are guided by its overarching goal of supporting and growing economic development opportunities for the state.

“It’s not something we do from a ‘build it and they will come’ approach,” O’Leary says. “We want to be there for our customers, and we want to be there for the state of Alaska. Almost everything we do falls into that category.”

The bank of the beautiful Chena River, on which the Alaska Railroad Corporation owns Chena Landings. Chena Landings is currently zone MFO, or Multiple Family Office, and the railroad is accepting offers for residential lots, most of which have Chena River frontage.

ClaudineVM | iStock

“The passenger and the freight business, like any business, has its ups and downs. [Real estate] really buffers the vagaries of those cycles. It’s been a steady, consistent performer for us.”

Bill O’Leary, President and CEO Alaska Railroad Corporation

Golden Heart Hub

Span Alaska’s new Fairbanks Service Center

By Vanessa Orr

For more than forty-five years, Span Alaska, an LCL/LTL (less than container/truck load) to full load container and flatbed logistics company, has been serving the Alaska market. In addition to its corporate office in Auburn, Washington, the company has service centers in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla, Soldotna, and Kodiak.

In 2019, the company made a roughly $30 million investment to expand its Anchorage Service Center, and in spring of 2022, Span Alaska initiated work on a new, state-of-theart facility in Fairbanks that will replace its current service center.

“Over the past few years, we have made an incredible investment in the state of Alaska, putting money into our infrastructure, facilities, and our people,” says Joan Johnson, Fairbanks sales manager. “Everyone knows the importance of shipping and logistics to this state, and as the hub of logistics in the Interior, we wanted to create a state-of-the art facility to help our customers run profitable and successful businesses, whether they work in retail,

fabrication, manufacturing, oil and gas, or other industries.”

Building a Legacy

Span Alaska was founded in 1978 by Ray Landry, who steadily built the operation into one of the largest freight companies serving the state. After he retired in 1990, the business remained in the family until 2014, when it was acquired by majority shareholder Evergreen Pacific Partners of Seattle. The next year, the company purchased Pacific Alaska Freightways, which it integrated into the business, and in August 2015, the company was acquired by Matson Logistics, one of the leading logistics and supply chain providers in the nation.

Now a Matson Logistics subsidiary, Span Alaska transports more LCL, volume LCL, and full loads to and from Alaska via vessel, barge, highway, and air transportation than any other forwarder. The company receives and loads shipments twice weekly from its headquarters in Auburn, near the Port of Tacoma, to send to its service centers throughout the state.

“We handle everything from A to Z—nuts, bolts, widgets, oil and gas equipment, construction materials, animal food, groceries, mining and mechanical parts, flooring materials, as well as freeze and chill,” says Johnson. “Anything you can imagine, we ship.”

Today, Span Alaska and its subsidiaries ship more than 400 million pounds of freight annually to the 49th state and employ more than 200 people. In addition to the vast volume of shipments from the Lower 48 to Southcentral, the company also offers intra-state service from Anchorage to Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula, and it provides LTL service via barge from Tacoma to Southeast.

“With the increased amount of business we’ve been seeing, we are definitely bulging at the seams, so we needed to invest in larger facilities,” Johnson says.

The New Fairbanks Service Center

The original Fairbanks Service Center was built in 2001, and it was considered

state-of-the-art in its day. The new facility will grow from 5 acres to 12 and will be fully fenced and secured, and office space will increase from 1,500 square feet to 4,500. The new facility will also provide parking for nearly 100 trailers.

“Our warehouse is currently over 6,000 square feet, and we’re going to increase that to more than 16,000 square feet of space,” says Johnson. “This will give us the ability to service not only our dry commodities and KFF [keep from freezing] services in the wintertime but to also offer freeze and chill service.”

According to Johnson, the goal of the new facility, which is expected to cost upwards of $13 million, is to make Span Alaska’s operations more seamless and transparent. “It will also increase efficiencies as we handle, receive, load, and deliver shipments to the Interior and the [Fairbanks] North Star Borough, and provide more accessibility to our clients,” she says. “New technology will also make it easier to track and identify the exact location

of products and commodities, increasing the service level that we can provide to our customers.”

Span Alaska is expecting to move into its new location, located between Richardson Highway and Old Richardson Highway, by the end of June. The building was designed by Bettisworth North and built by Watterson Construction.

“We have been very fortunate in that construction has been seamless; we’ve been working with a great contractor who has done an incredible job,” says Johnson.

Span Alaska plans to hire new staff, including a full-time mechanic to do general maintenance on the company’s tractors in the new mechanic shop in the facility, and additional staff to maintain the service center as the company continues to grow.

According to Tim Erickson, CEO of pet supply store Cold Spot Feeds, the expansion couldn’t come at a better time. For more than twenty years, his company has worked with Span Alaska and has seen it grow well beyond its current facility.

“It’s actually amazing when you go to see their current building; it’s crazy what they get accomplished there, because they outgrew it probably fifteen years ago,” Erickson says. “But the great thing about Span is that they are very, very good stewards of time and space, and they were able to take care of what we needed very efficiently, regardless of the building that they were in.”

As a client, Erickson was granted a tour of the new service center. “Compared to what they now have, you can’t even say it’s in the same universe,” he says with a laugh. “It’s beautiful, it’s eco-friendly, and everything has been thought out. It’s absolutely stellar and, in my opinion, sets standards for a facility like Fairbanks has never seen.”

Putting People First

While Span Alaska’s new service centers make it easier and more efficient for freight to move in and out of the state, the company isn’t changing everything about the way they do business.

“What has made us such a success is the relationships that we’ve built with our customers,” says Johnson. “Our crew, many of whom have years

of service at Span, have created bonds and relationships, some of which go back more than thirty years.”

Long-time relationships assure clients that Span Alaska is working together for a common goal. “Customers know that they can rely on you and count on you to provide the services that they need,” Johnson says. “They trust that you understand the importance of their freight being delivered on time and in good condition.”

Cold Spot Feeds has worked with Span Alaska for the past two decades, and Erickson says it has stayed with the company because of this work ethic. As one of the largest stand-alone pet supply stores in the United States, Cold Spot works with 265 different manufacturers and distributors that ship their goods to Auburn, where Span Alaska takes care of getting the freight to Fairbanks via Matson vessel, train, and truck.

“I’ve been in retail for thirty years, and I have to say that Joan Johnson is one of the best logistics reps I’ve ever worked with,” says Erickson. “If there are any issues, delays, or damaged products, Span is always on the forefront of communicating with us. We hear it from them first; we don’t have to call to find

out where our merchandise or shipments are. They are out in front of everybody else.”

According to Johnson, this commitment to customers includes answering them when they call, instead of forwarding callers to an automated system.

“There’s no ‘push 1 for this or push 2 for that,’ or trying to get the computer to translate why you’re calling. When customers call, they have a person they can actually talk with who can fix their problems,” says Johnson. “One of my customers even calls me his ‘issues resolutions manager.’”

Johnson says logistics providers are thrown curveballs all the time: “Sometimes things that we could never have imagined.” However, “Our customers can reach out to us and communicate their needs, and we’ll get any issues resolved promptly. We’ve been told numerous times that customers are amazed by how fast we take care of things.”

Span Alaska’s investment in the new Fairbanks service center is one more way to prepare for the unexpected.

Johnson says, “We see a very positive future for the state, and we knew that the Interior and Alaska needed this resource to grow.”

The previous service center in Fairbanks was state of the art when it was built in 2001. The new warehouse is more than double the size.

Span Alaska

The new Fairbanks Service Center triples office space from 1,500 square feet to 4,500, partly to accommodate additional staff.

Span Alaska

Bowhead Transport Company

We Are of the Sea

“We Are of the Sea” is more than an idiosyncratic tagline for Bowhead Transport; it conveys the unique expertise that has distinguished the company’s nearly forty years of service in Alaska. Bowhead Transport has a profound understanding of the sea and Alaska’s environment, which translates into specialized transportation solutions for its clients. “Our management team all come from the marine industry,” says Chris Palle, who directs Strategic Planning and Business Development. “They are dedicated professionals who know the Alaskan seas and the marine business.”

A subsidiary of Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation (UIC), Bowhead Transport uses its expertise, experience, and technologically advanced marine vessels to move freight statewide—including completing extremely shallow water operations and beach landings in remote regions of Alaska. The Anchoragebased company transports cargo, equipment, and other goods for customers in a variety of industries, such as the federal government, construction, environmental, science, technology, and oil and gas. Bowhead Transport is passionate about providing marine transportation solutions that meet clients’ unique needs. “We believe in what we are doing, this brand, and the energy behind it,” Palle says. “This is something we truly enjoy.”

ALL-ENCOMPASSING SUPPORT SERVICES

Bowhead Transport also relishes offering comprehensive

support solutions, such as hotel ship/project support and other specialized charter services. These additional services range from planning and logistics for coastal projects to the mobilization of equipment and supplies into isolated sites. For example, Bowhead Transport’s hotel and dining services offer clients an expedited base of operations to begin their near shore or upland project. “It allows them to immediately get to work, rather than trying to set up camps, housing, and everything else associated with working in a remote area,” Palle explains.

While operating in a remote site can be challenging for clients, Bowhead is well equipped to lend broad project support. This often entails leveraging the capabilities of other UIC subsidiaries to provide a turnkey solution from start to finish. As an Alaskan Native Corporation and Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) certified business, Bowhead Transport can offer unique, flexible, and streamlined solesource procurement options to its government customers.

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

Whether providing marine transportation or project support, Bowhead Transport adheres to their official policy: We never use the word “impossible.” There is always a creative solution—even for the most challenging situation. Along with maintaining a can-do business philosophy, Bowhead Transport focuses on improving services and building client relationships while developing its presence statewide. The

company is enhancing services on the North Slope to meet the growing needs of Arctic businesses, which will also support a key long-term goal: taking its brand of service to the entire Pacific. “A big part of our planning in developing these regions of Alaska is to further expand our knowledge and expertise in remote areas,”

Palle says. “That understanding will allow us to go anywhere Pacific wide and recreate the model we specialize in here in Alaska.”

Regardless of where customers are located, Bowhead Transport is committed to providing quality services to help them achieve their goals.

Photo by James B Williams

Opening Up the World Improvements ahead for the Alaska Marine Highway System

By Vanessa Orr

Anew skipper is at the helm of the state ferry fleet. After twenty years as general manager of the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS), Captain John Falvey retired in January. Falvey weathered budget constraints, equipment failures, and new vessels that failed to live up to their promises. His successor in the renamed position of Marine Director, Chris Tornga, must chart a course for the fleet’s nine ferries as construction begins on a new class of ship.

Since AMHS started providing essential transportation to Alaska’s coastal communities in 1963, it has been a critical part of the state’s infrastructure. AMHS connects thirty-five communities—most of which are not on the road system—and provides a means for coastal Alaskans to receive shipments of groceries and other

goods. It also provides the opportunity for school children to travel for sports tournaments and social events, and it allows those needing healthcare to travel to urban centers.

In 2023, the Alaska Marine Highway System is undergoing changes to help serve coastal communities more efficiently. In January, the Federal Transit Administration awarded more than $285 million to improve the reliability and service of Alaska’s ferry system. The funds will be used to replace aging vessels, modernize four vessels, procure an electric ferry, design a new mainliner vessel, upgrade ferry dock infrastructure, and generate sustainable operations that could include the construction of a new ferry terminal in Juneau. This funding was made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“The Marine Highway is a uniquely Alaskan transportation network that supports the economies of coastal Alaska and connects our communities to other coastal communities and to our greater highway network,” says Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) Deputy Commissioner Katherine Keith.

Unfortunately, she adds, reinvestment has not kept up with the system’s needs. “Aging vessels and older docks are contributing to expensive repairs, unreliable schedules, and a general decline in service, and reinvestment is critical to the long-term strength of the system and economy of coastal Alaska as a whole,” Keith says. “We are at a unique time in our state’s history in which we have strong support from the governor, legislature, and congressional delegation, as well as funding opportunities to help us revitalize the system and reconnect with the communities we serve.”

Developing Cascade Point

One of the bigger items on the state’s agenda is the possible development of a new ferry terminal facility in Juneau at Cascade Point. In March, Governor Mike Dunleavy signed a memorandum of understanding between DOT&PF and Goldbelt, Inc., Juneau’s urban Native corporation, to explore the feasibility of building a new terminal on Goldbeltowned land.

In effect, Cascade Point is an alternative to the Juneau Access Project, a proposed terminal at the north end of Glacier Highway to shave 50 miles off the ferry ride between Juneau and Haines or Skagway. State and federal authorities sidelined the project in 2016 and 2018, respectively, preferring no action. Cascade Point is 20 miles closer to the existing terminal at Auke Bay, but subtracting 30 miles from the boat trip would still be significant.

DOT&PF Communications Director Shannon McCarthy figures Cascade Point would shorten the ferry route by about two hours in each direction, saving about 500 gallons of ferry fuel. “The shorter route would reduce operating costs and enhance revenue, and result in a cost savings to customers,” she says.

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with the Defense Logistics Agency.

The savings of time could translate to more service. “When we have heavier volume, the ferry could potentially offer two trips a day instead of one, which would increase our ability to handle more traffic and earn more income,” McCarthy adds. Because the new terminal would work in conjunction with the Auke Bay terminal instead of replacing it, the ability for travelers to get in and out of Juneau would be enhanced.

“If the Alaska-class ferries, sister ships MV Tazlina and MV Hubbard, were doing the Cascade Ferry Terminal route, that would free up our mainliners—the MV Aurora and MV LeConte —to provide additional service to Auke Bay,” says Sam Dapcevich, public information officer for DOT&PF’s Southcoast Region. “Those ships could do short runs to other communities, which would greatly increase our capabilities.”

Goldbelt is beginning feasibility studies that will include environmental work and permitting. DOT&PF will conduct an engineering evaluation and put together cost estimates for the terminal and upland development

areas, to be completed in approximately fourteen months.

A public comment period will follow after DOT&PF and Goldbelt determine whether the terminal makes financial sense and if they can meet any environmental or other challenges.

“There are a lot of different viewpoints about developing a new ferry terminal, even among AMHS staff,” says McCarthy. “It’s such a heavily used route that there is real interest in how much time it could save and whether it’s worth the investment.”

A Big Win

While the addition of a ferry terminal at Cascade Point could save travelers— approximately two-thirds of whom are local—both time and money, there are even more important reasons to provide a stable, efficient mode of transportation, according to Goldbelt CEO McHugh Pierre.

“When you look at the transportation needs for this region, the avenues for people and goods and services to move from one place to another have shrunk or been eliminated from

our communities,” Pierre says. “What people who don’t live in Southeast Alaska don’t realize is that people in Angoon, Hoonah, Haines, and Skagway have to get to Juneau for medical appointments, and if they can’t physically fly, they need to take the ferry.”

Pierre calls transportation an amenity that any American should have. “The fact that our elders can’t get to medical appointments is unacceptable,” he says.

While providing communities with more access is the main reason that Goldbelt chose to pursue a new ferry terminal, Pierre suggests that it could have other advantages as well. “I don’t expect that the new route will be a big money-maker, but by providing this opportunity, more people and goods and services will be moving, and that helps to grow the economy across the region,” he says.

“If we have a link to the main road system, we can truck goods in from Canada or Seattle every day,” he adds. “That means fresher and lower-cost produce and dairy, lower-cost building

supplies, all brought here more rapidly. It also opens up export possibilities for seafood as well. That would be a big win for the community.”

While local users are expected to make up the bulk of new terminal traffic, if the project comes to fruition, it may also become an option for tourists as well. “We haven’t calculated what the tourism impact would be, but if it allows people to get around more easily, including to other villages, that would be great,” says Pierre. “Especially if it lowers the cost for locals traveling in Lynn Canal.”

According to Dapcevich, these shorter runs have the potential to reduce fares.

While there is no current estimate of the cost, it was estimated in 2020 that the new terminal would cost $36 million. This includes extending Glacier Highway out to reach Cascade Point—a distance of roughly a quarter mile—but does not include the addition of a breakwater for year-round use.

“The original estimate was between $27 million for just summertime operations and $40 million if the state

The MV Lituya (bottom) is the smallest vessel in the Alaska Marine Highway System fleet and the only one dedicated to a single route: shuttle service between Ketchikan and Metlakatla. The MV Tustumena (top) was constructed in 1964 and will be in service next year for its 60th birthday; although plans are in the works to replace Tustumena, construction of the replacement vessel is scheduled for completion in 2025.

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities

wants to build out and include the breakwater,” says Pierre. “Of course, since then, prices for commodities have drastically increased.”

A new ferry terminal at Cascade Point would require some form of transit into Juneau proper, 27 miles south of the site. “We’ve heard from some people who are concerned about the location being this far from town and wondering how walk-on passengers would get to downtown Juneau,” says Pierre. “Goldbelt currently services the Kensington Mine with a catamaran and bussing service, and we could do that with ferry passengers as well.”

He suggests that walk-on ferry passengers would have a bus ticket into town, and the bus would have multiple drop-off points, such as Auke Bay, the airport, and downtown.

If the project moves forward, DOT&PF would enter into a long-term lease with Goldbelt and be responsible for the terminal and all aspects of upland development, including the parking area. To this end, some state money could be available to help finance the project.

“We talked to the Transportation Committee over the last couple of legislatures, and everyone seems generally supportive,” says Pierre. “The concept is there, but we need to make sure the final details support the overall concept. Everyone agrees that we need to do something to improve the ferry system, as it’s a vital part of our transportation network.”

Maintenance and Other Improvements

As part of the reinvestment in the fleet, MV Tustumena, which was built in 1964, is being replaced. Funding has been approved for a future electric ferry that would likely run between Ketchikan and Metlakatla.

“The Tustumena is sixty years old and operates in some of more challenging conditions in Alaska,” says Dapcevich. “We’re also looking at the feasibility of replacing the Matanuska in the near future, which we may do along with the Tustumena, since they are similar in design.”

DOT&PF plans to secure a shipyard this summer to begin construction of the Tustumena replacement vessel,

While the Alaska Marine Ferry System provides opportunities for tourism, it is a critical service for residents in Southeast.

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities

A nighttime view of the deck of MV Columbia, the largest vessel in the Alaska Marine Highway System fleet.

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities

The view from the prow of MV Kennicott, built in 1998 and designed to transform into a command center for emergency teams responding to an oil spill, an essential asset in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities

RELIABLE SHIPPING. TRUSTED PARTNERS

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which is estimated to run in the $200 million to $300 million range. “Both ships are nearing the end of their service life; sixty years is very uncommon for a passenger vessel in the maritime industry,” says Dapcevich.

“The Tustumena replacement vessel and the new electric ferry will help with system reliability, and a reliable fleet of ferries benefits all of coastal Alaska—families and businesses can rely on AMHS costs and timeline to do the work they need to do—and get to where they need to go,” says Keith, adding that this reliability will also enable communities to promote their events in conjunction with the AMHS schedule, increasing the success of their events.

AMHS is also replacing or upgrading ferry terminals, including those in Pelican and Prince William Sound. “We are moving toward more interchangeable dock facilities so that we have the flexibility to have a wider variety of vessels able to serve any

given community,” Keith says. “Our goal is truly ‘all vessels, all communities.’”

In March, AMHS also renewed its agreement with the Alaska State Troopers for protection on ferries, which will result in Alaskans seeing an increased law enforcement presence when traveling. The AMHS Ride-Along program provides troopers and their spouses with complimentary travel when they are traveling for personal reasons on a space-available basis.

Connecting Communities

While AMHS hasn’t always received the attention that its users wish it would, the state’s emphasis on improving and enhancing this vital transportation link is expected to position the marine highway to better serve Alaskans now and into the future.

“The importance of Alaska’s coastal highway can’t be overstated,” says McCarthy. “It is used for everything— transporting vehicles, sports teams, households, school groups. While

it connects coastal communities in terms of economics, it also connects them by community. People travel to music fests, athletic events, and access shopping, healthcare, and education by using the ferry system.”

To this end, DOT&PF is working hard to engage with Alaska residents to get their input on the ferry system and to be transparent with its plans. Its website Charting the Course is a place where residents can provide feedback, and DOT&PF is also working on a year-round baseline schedule that will be published in the near future.

“Southeast and Southwest communities have grown up around the ferry system over the last six decades, and when you talk to people in Alaska who lived here before AMHS began, you can see what a vital part of their lives it is,” says Dapcevich. “When those first three ships went online in 1963, it opened up the world.”

Inspecting MV Columbia’s propeller. When Columbia was built in 1973, it was the fastest vessel in the fleet and held that distinction until 2004.

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities

More than oil

DBEs and OJT

How DOT&PF drives Alaska business

development

Roads, harbors, and airports are economic engines, not just because of the commerce they convey but thanks to the capital invested in their construction. For this reason, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is, perhaps surprisingly, one of the more robust business development agencies in the state. With millions, and sometimes billions, of state and federal dollars to spend on contractors, DOT&PF wields enormous leverage that it uses to help small firms grab a piece of the infrastructure pie.

Among the eleven divisions within DOT&PF, the Civil Rights Office (CRO) has the potential to benefit small businesses through its affirmative action programs. These programs are designed to provide small businesses owned and operated by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals with a fair opportunity to compete for federally funded transportation contracts.

Leveling the Playing Field

In 1980, the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) created

By Rachael Kvapil

a flagship program to remedy discrimination by attaching conditions to federally funded highway, transit, and airport contracts. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other nondiscrimination statutes provided the framework for financial assistance programs. The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program has four main objectives: to let DBEs compete for federally-funded transportation projects, to verify that only eligible firms participate as DBEs, to ensure that contractors comply with DBE laws and requirements, and to provide assistance so that companies can eventually compete outside the DBE program.

Aaron Nickols, business development and On-the-Job Training (OJT) program manager for DOT&PF, says applying as a DBE is a multi-step process. First, an applicant must meet specific criteria such as business status (including size), social and economic disadvantage, ownership, independence, and management and control. Though there are general guidelines defining these criteria, Nickols suggests speaking with a CRO representative or another

support partner, such as the Alaska Small Business Development Center, Alaska APEX Accelerator (previously the Alaska Procurement Technical Assistance Center), or the US Small Business Administration.

“We always recommend that you look at the application and talk to us,” says Nickols. “The application process is not easy and requires a lot of documentation. The Civil Rights Office and our partner organizations can help with the process.”

DBE certification is awarded once a company completes the application and eligibility is determined. At that point, a DBE company qualifies for transportation-related contracts with federal funding, and information about a certified firm is listed in the DBE directory. To maintain eligibility, participating businesses must update their certification annually by providing an affidavit that no changes in their circumstances affect their DBE status.

Though DOT&PF runs the DBE program, Nickols says participating companies include more than just contractors and construction companies. He says the business categories that participate in the

Joshua Lowman

program consist of transportation companies, manufacturers, supply companies, administration services, retail and food establishments, vehicle rentals and repairs, consultants, and more. Since these business categories aren’t the type to bid on highway construction projects, contracts are sometimes written to require a percentage of DBE involvement, whether by allocating a percentage of funds to hire DBE firms or another requirement. Most of all, DBEs hired under these agreements must perform a “commercially useful function,” meaning that the company is responsible for a distinct scope of work outlined in the contract; carries out its responsibilities by actually performing, managing, and supervising the scope of work involved; and furnishes its own supervision, labor, tools, equipment, materials, and supplies necessary to perform that distinct scope of work. It’s the responsibility of the contractor to maintain DBE compliance.

Government vs. Commercial Contracting

Alaska APEX contract specialist Jody King says the DBE program is often small businesses’ first step into government contracting. Alaska APEX’s primary mission is to help businesses navigate all aspects of the government contract process, including the DBE program. As a partner organization with the CRO, they help promote the DBE program and assist applicants and existing certified companies. By working with an APEX representative, King says businesses can save a lot of time and frustration understanding the differences between working with government agencies and commercial businesses.

“In all aspects, we provide assistance from start to finish,” says King. “We are an educational bridge.”

King says the biggest hurdle businesses face when getting started is understanding the multi-step, indirect process of government contracts versus the more direct process of commercial contracts. With commercial contracts, a business

“The language of government contracts is daunting, and many people say there is too much red tape. But once businesses become familiar with the process and the language, they find it much easier.”

Jody King Contract Specialist Alaska APEX

builds a relationship with another person or company, provides a service quote, and negotiates an agreement. The person or business receiving the service has the financial authority to commit to a contract because funds come from private and commercial sources like banks and investors. However, a government contract requires more stringent requirements and additional steps because taxpayer money is involved. Only businesses certified for government contracts can enter the competitive procurement process before receiving a contract award. Eligible businesses do this by submitting proposals as part of a bidding process.

“The language of government contracts is daunting,” says King, “and many people say there is too much red tape. But once businesses become familiar with the process and the language, they find it much easier.”

As a publicly funded organization, services provided by Alaska APEX are free. King says it’s a great way for businesses to receive assistance and acquire resources without paying a small fortune.

Accomplishments and Potential Changes

At the 20th annual DBE and Subcontractor Conference held in March, the CRO highlighted several accomplishments from 2022. At the top of the list was a program participation rate of 9.5 percent, which exceeded the office’s annual goal of 8.3 percent. Furthermore, the CRO officially became one of seven race-neutral programs in the country, meaning that DBEs are able to procure prime or subcontracts that do not carry specific DBE contract goals. Additional 2022 accomplishments include thirty new DBE firms, hiring additional program staff, and increased outreach efforts by the CRO and its multiple partners.

“We track all participation in the DBE program,” says Nickols. “This includes direct interaction and work with a company in addition to the degree they experience success in the program.”

Nickols adds that there are potential changes to the program on the horizon. Last year, the Biden-Harris administration and the USDOT issued

a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to modernize the DBE and Airport Concession DBE program regulations. Though nothing is yet set in stone, some of the proposed updates include increased personal net worth limits from $1.3 million to $1.6 million and excluding retirement assets from the calculation; amending overly prescriptive ownership and control certification eligibility requirements; simplifying the interstate certification process; and reducing reporting requirements for some of the Federal Transit Administration funding recipients.

Ultimately, a business can exceed the parameters of the DBE program, whether through increased receipts beyond the limit, a change in ownership, or some other factor that results in ineligibility. Nickols considers it a significant success when a business becomes strong enough to thrive outside the program.

Other DOT&PF Programs

Though the DBE program is top of the list for the CRO, they also offer other programs that benefit Alaska businesses. One frequently used by contractors is DOT&PF’s OJT program, which provides minorities and women with increased participation in the highway construction industry. The program is implemented through contractors of selected federally funded highway projects that provide the necessary training to OJT apprentices. DOT&PF approves training programs before the contract award, and contractors are encouraged to work with the CRO after the contract award to ensure that training continues to meet the federal guidelines for their selected project. Since the OJT program is part of the contractor’s affirmative action requirements, the outcomes are further reviewed during the federal contract compliance process.

“We want to increase access and job opportunities for women and minorities while we also increase the labor pool in the construction industry so we can meet future demands,” says Nickols.

Other proposed changes include formally adopting COVID-19 flexibilities such as virtual on-site visits, allowing certified firms to better market themselves through expanded state directories, proactively removing obstacles that may hinder small businesses from participating in Federal Aviation Administrationassisted airport projects, and strengthening prompt payment monitoring and oversight requirements. The comment period on these proposals ended October 31, and there is no definitive timeline for integrating any of the proposed updates.

Though the DBE and OJT programs have specific criteria for women, minorities, and other socially and economically disadvantaged populations, Nickols says that all of Alaska benefits when small businesses can compete fairly for government contracts: “When we’re able to grow Alaska’s economy and provide job opportunities that keep our residents from moving out of state, then it is a win for everybody across the board.”

Information about both the DBE and OJT programs is available on the DOT&PF Civil Rights Office webpage: dot.alaska.gov/cvlrts. For further information about multiple ways to get started in government contracting, visit the APEX website: ptacalaska.org.

“We want to increase access and job opportunities for women and minorities while we also increase the labor pool in the construction industry so we can meet future demands.”

Aaron Nickols Business Development and OJT Program Manager Alaska DOT&PF

The Lynden Family of Companies

Connecting the entire state of Alaska

The Lynden family of companies provides an array of transportation and logistics solutions that connect Alaska communities with the supplies they need by air, land, and sea. As a truly multimodal enterprise, Lynden focuses on delivering a high level of services to more than 100 Alaska communities— including remote North Slope Borough villages like Kaktovik. “We serve all regions of Alaska,” says Lynden Air Cargo President Scott Hicks, a 26-year Lynden veteran. “There are few parts of the state that we do not provide service.”

Lynden serves Alaska's core industries, including energy, seafood, mining, construction, retail, and manufacturing. Its companies have the expertise, equipment, and other resources to help organizations meet Alaska’s unique geographical challenges. As such, Lynden is well-equipped to help customers—whether they are small individual clients, large industrial businesses, or government entities— successfully transport everything from groceries and cars to oversized construction materials.

For instance, Lynden Air Cargo offers scheduled and on-demand flights with L-382 Hercules aircraft that can carry up to 48,000 pounds of freight and, if necessary, operate on unpaved runways and shorter airstrips in remote locations.

Lynden Transport has an extensive trucking network throughout Alaska and to the Lower 48. And Lynden’s marine

transportation company, Alaska Marine Lines, employs tugs and barges to bring supplies to towns and villages along Alaska’s vast coastline.

This translates into taking a can-do approach to solving challenging assignments. “We’re not accustomed to saying no; we are yes people here,” Hicks says.

really care about getting the job done,” Hicks says. “We are vested into the communities, and I think that helps drive the success of the organization.”

Lynden’s companies provide customers with flexible solutions for meeting their unique and complex needs. Hicks explains: “Often times, there are different ways to accomplish the mission; then it boils down to timing. We try to offer both economical and time-sensitive options.”

Lynden is also extremely customer-focused when it comes to completing projects.

Hicks ascribes much of Lynden’s success to its focus on customers, diverse service offerings, response to complex challenges, ability to thrive in difficult times, and having great partners. In fact, Lynden often relies on its partners, which include customers, to execute efficient and successful transportation services. Having amazing employees—who are the very core of Lynden— has also been critical to its century of success. Many of Lynden’s 1,000 Alaska-based employees reside and shop in the communities where they work, and they know Lynden’s customers. “This translates into better service and people who

Lynden’s customer-driven, quality-focused approach to providing transportation services permeates all its enterprises. “We want to provide the highest value to our customers,” Hicks says. “We are 100 percent committed to Alaska, our customers, and employees.”

Lynden’s companies offer multi-modal transportation and logistics solutions in Alaska, Canada, the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, and around the world. Contact Lynden to learn more about how your organization can leverage these capabilities.

Many of Lynden’s 1,000 Alaska-based employees reside and shop in the communities where they work, and they know Lynden’s customers.

Know Your Associations Voices for land,

sea, and sky

transportation

By Alexandra Kay

On the roads, over the water, and in the air, businesses compete to provide the best transportation services to customers across Alaska. Where these rivals have common interests, though, they can set aside competition and unite for the improvement of all. The Alaska Trucking Association, the Alaska Air Carriers Association, and the Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators represent members who move products where they need to be.

Alaska Trucking Association

“Even when fuel comes in by barge and it’s got to get to remote villages, a truck still has to get it to the airport,” says Joe Michel, executive director of the Alaska Trucking Association (ATA). “If you got it, a truck brought it. That’s important for Alaskans to know.”

The ATA has been working “to foster and promote the interests of the trucking industry in Alaska” for more than sixty years, according to its mission statement. The association carries out that mission in five key ways.

Positively influencing government and regulatory agencies. “We work

Michel

hard with state and federal regulators to educate them on the logistics of trucking in Alaska,” says Michel. “We maintain cordial relationships with our regulators. They know exactly who to call to make sure everyone is being a good steward of our transportation infrastructure.”

One of the association’s current goals is the addition of multicolored delineators (reflective strips) on the Dalton Highway. “Truckers could stay within those colors and stay safe while they’re driving up north,” says Michel. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is overseeing the testing and installation, based on feedback from the trucking community.

Another issue the association has worked on involved an exemption to a February 2022 set of criteria for licensing commercial drivers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration implemented a requirement for merging onto a highway at 60 miles per hour that doesn’t apply to rural drivers in Alaska, so the ATA worked to get those drivers a two-year exemption while it continues to look further into how to get rid of the requirement for drivers to whom it does not apply.

Promoting highway and driver safety. What’s good for truckers is often good for everyone else sharing the road. Thus, the ATA advocated that state funds be used for the creation of bike and walking paths. “In Alaska, it’s the ATA’s stance that money for a bike path gets bikes where they need to go and not in the roads. We encourage bike and walking paths for safety,” says Michel.

The association is also advocating for infrastructure and speaking to legislators about the need for road maintenance funds. “Without good road maintenance, it becomes a hazard for the women and men who are trying to get stuff to the people who need it,” says Michel.

“In Alaska, it’s the ATA’s stance that money for a bike path gets bikes where they need to go and not in the roads. We encourage bike and walking paths for safety.”

Joe

Executive Director, Alaska Trucking Association

Assisting member companies in managing change. When regulations are updated, the ATA works with its members to institute changes with as little disruption to companies and drivers as possible. Additionally, the association maintains a member page that offers resources and links on a number of topics, including US Department of Transportation registration numbers, obtaining permits, weight restrictions, help with Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) tasks, and more.

Positively promoting the industry image. Each year the association promotes the trucking industry by holding a truck championship where 100 drivers compete in different types of trucks and run a course. “It’s always fun to celebrate truck drivers,” says Michel. “And we have a safety fair at the championship as well.”

Providing education through seminars and conferences. The association is dedicated to getting the word out about careers in trucking and to providing general education about the industry itself. The ATA visits

elementary schools and hands out Safety Bears while educating young children about trucks and trucking. It also has a Teens and Trucks program, which teaches young drivers how to be safe with trucks on the roads. This includes educating them on trucker blind spots and stopping times.

Alaska Air Carriers Association

Where trucks can’t roll, much of Alaska’s needs are met by aviation. The Alaska Air Carriers Association (AACA) represents that sector in matters of advocacy, cooperation, and education.

“We just experienced a leadership change,” says Executive Director Will Day. “Our prior executive director retired last fall, and I stepped into that role.”

At the same time, the association has been recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and recently had its convention in person again for the first time since 2019. “We were really excited to bring a large number of stakeholders into Anchorage,” Day says. “That’s the activity we are most

proud of because it indicates the industry’s commitment to growing in the wake of the pandemic.”

The annual trade show and convention was held in March. AACA also advances its mission year-round.

Advocacy. AACA works to promote the passage of good federal and state regulations that affect the association’s membership. At the same time, it challenges any regulations that it

“We take anyone involved in commercial aviation and we bring them to a consensus; we say this change would have this impact on our community and it would have this impact on the people we serve, and this is what we would like to request.”

Will Day Executive Director Alaska

Air Carriers Association

determines would hurt its members’ business or threaten safe operations.

One recent issue that would affect Alaska air carriers is the push to remove lead from aviation fuel. Day would, for example, work with the Federal Aviation Administration to inform the agency how Alaska operations are different from those in the rest of the country. “So many of our aircraft in Alaska run on piston-driven engines which require [leaded] fuel,” he says. “That’s not something people in other states really have to deal with, so I work with them to explain what type of impact that would have on our operations which drive so much of the Alaskan air business.”

Cooperation and education. As an advocacy organization, the AACA’s membership comprises operators and other aviation stakeholders. “Our role is to provide a unified voice,” says Day, who says his job is to notify the association’s membership of any statewide or regulatory issues he comes across.

The association then conducts surveys and lets its membership know how any upcoming changes might affect them. “Then we take their comments and unify them and present them to whichever body is proposing the change,” says Day. “We take anyone involved in commercial aviation and we bring them to a consensus; we say this change would have this impact on our community and it would have this impact on the people we serve, and this is what we would like to request. We do our best to work with the involved stakeholders.”

Growth. The industry took a bit of a hit in terms of membership during the pandemic and is actively working on regrowing its membership. “So many of our operators were negatively impacted and had to disconnect from our association, whether it was financially or simply not being available to answer us,” says Day. “So we are rebuilding our membership and talking to carriers and exposing them to what we do.”

According to Day, the AACA is involved in a one-to-three-year period of growth. “Currently much of our trajectory is based upon building a strong foundation we can leverage to

have a stronger voice in those decisionmaking moments,” he says.

Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators

With marine transportation, the Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators (AAHPA) plays a vital role. Recently AAHPA advocated for House Bill 19, which is an exemption for commercial fishing vessels from needing to register with the state DMV if they are already registered with the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission. It had not completed committee hearings, as the legislative session was winding down.

Some of the areas in which the association works include environmental stewardship, ports and harbors stewardship, and education.

Environmental stewardship. AAHPA is the sponsor/host organization for the Alaska Clean Harbors program, which it’s been promoting for more than a decade. The program facilitates best practices for harbors, such as how to handle used batteries, waste oil, garbage, and other waste that comes off vessels. It also advocates for how harbors are used. “Bringing that into focus has been a priority for us,” says Bryan Hawkins, AAHPA president and harbormaster and port director for the City of Homer. “We saw it as a grassroots effort towards improving environmental stewardship for the water and the harbors, and if it’s consistent statewide, they know what to expect.”

The program was adopted from the Clean Marinas program in the

Lower 48, which started on the East Coast before moving to the West Coast. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and US Coast Guard wanted to implement it in Alaska, says Hawkins. Homer was the test inlet and therefore the first clean harbor in the state.

Ports and harbors stewardship. In the late ‘90s, Alaska’s ports and harbors were in relatively bad shape, according to Hawkins. At that time, the state deeded them to the various cities based on location, and those cities became responsible for upkeep. For instance, Homer Port & Harbor was deeded to the City of Homer for $1, and similar sales happened across the state.

Because of the tremendous amount of maintenance needed, AAHPA worked with DOT&PF to develop a grant program that provides a 50/50 match. To apply for a grant, communities put up 50 percent of the total amount, and there is a $5 million maximum payout. Applying communities also need complete plans for construction, as well as a maintenance program with longterm funding, “recognizing that these facilities have to be managed in a way that has to be sustainable,” says Hawkins. “So what is your plan for when that float system wears out in thirty or forty years? The state won’t be there for you, then, is basically the message.” Hawkins points out that AAHPA has helped recognize these management challenges, and the association advocates for funding every year.

Education. The association has a scholarship program that it funds through several avenues, including a raffle at its annual conference in the fall, as well as direct contributions from more than sixty member organizations. This year AAHPA has three $2,500 scholarships for students pursuing any maritimerelated degree and one $5,000 award for a student pursuing a science, technology, engineering, and mathrelated degree.

“We’ve been doing this for about eight years now,” says Hawkins. “It’s been really rewarding to be involved with that and get applications from the Alaska students and realize there’s an awesome generation applying.”

“We saw [the Alaska Clean Harbors program] as a grassroots effort towards improving environmental stewardship for the water and the harbors, and if it’s consistent statewide, they know what to expect.”

Bryan Hawkins President

Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators

Coeur Investments

Kensington Mine readies for tailings expansion

By Tara O’Hanley

Above the northwest side of Berner’s Bay and at the foot of Lion’s Head Mountain in the Tongass National Forest, 45 miles north-northwest of Juneau, Coeur Alaska’s Kensington Mine has grown to become the second-largest private employer in Southeast since it began operations in 2010.

Coeur Alaska’s parent company, Chicago-based Coeur Mining, is a well-diversified and growing precious metals producer. In addition to Kensington, it also operates mines in Nevada, South Dakota, and northern Mexico, as well as an exploration project in British Columbia. But the company says it is “all in” on Alaska.

Coeur’s 2022 annual report states the company has invested approximately $245 million in exploration, leading to increases of approximately 21 percent and 49 percent in company-wide gold and silver reserves, respectively, over the five-year period.

These investments are already paying off in Alaska, too. Coeur’s year-end 2022 Mineral Reserves and Resources report noted a 56

percent

year-over-year increase in Kensington’s gold reserves: geologists identified several areas with highgrade gold mineralization that could potentially support new mining operations, adding 1.5 years to the life of the Kensington Mine. “That’s the first time since 2017 that we’ve had an increase in reserves and only the second time since modern mining started in Kensington, when we began commercial production in 2010,” says Stephen Ball, the mine’s general manager.

In 2022, Coeur Alaska received a final record of decision from the US Forest Service for its Plan of Operations Amendment 1 (POA 1). Coeur Alaska has been undergoing a permitting process to expand waste rock and tailings storage capacity to reflect its positive exploration results and continuous operational improvements.

“Getting the increase of reserves was an important milestone to continue with our multi-year drilling and development plan,” says Ball. “It required a bit of forethought with the permitting, as we needed the

additional storage capacity before we could push an aggressive exploration program to build additional reserves.”

Under the approved plan, Coeur intends to raise the height of Kensington’s existing tailings dam by 36 feet, which would increase tailings storage capacity by an additional 4 million tons. The company will also construct a 40-foot “back dam” between the Lower Slate Lake tailings treatment facility and Upper Slate Lake, as well as expand three existing waste rock storage facilities and build one new waste rock storage facility, for a total waste capacity increase of 5 million tons.

A Major Contributor

Kensington has been playing a vital role in the Southeast economy for decades. Today, in addition to ranking as the second-largest private employer in the City and Borough of Juneau (after Hecla’s Greens Creek Mine on Admiralty Island), Coeur also holds the honor of being the secondlargest property taxpayer. “We’re proud of that standing,” says Rochelle

Lindley, Coeur Alaska’s community and government affairs manager. “And, in fact, mining holds the top two spots for largest employers and taxpayers in the region.”

Expanding on this point, Ball adds, “Two of the six major operating mines in the state of Alaska are here in Juneau…. It’s an important part of our economy here. We are key purchasers for power, diesel, goods, and services, which helps to support a lower cost of living here in Southeast Alaska—not only in Juneau, but throughout the different villages.”

Coeur Alaska has been part of life in the Upper Panhandle since arriving in 1987. “We’ve been a member of this community for thirty-six years,” Ball explains. “When the Kensington mine began commercial operation in 2010, there were 1.4 million ounces of reserves and a 10-year mine life. Well, we’ve passed that milestone, and we still have reserves and mine life. Really, what we’re trying to do is expand that and continue to be a major contributor to the livelihood of this community here in Juneau and in Southeast Alaska.”

Giving Back

Coeur’s impact on local quality-oflife reaches beyond the nearly 400 employees on its roster, the goods it purchases, and the contractors supporting its operations. “We’re very active in the community,” Lindley says. “We try and participate and show up to as many things as we can. In 2022, we invested just under $400,000 into community giving. We’re really proud of what we can give back.”

One of these initiatives includes a longtime partnership with United Way through the Learn United Reading Tutor Program. The program launched in 2012 and places tutors in local elementary schools, helping to improve literacy before the third grade. The program has logged 485 volunteer hours in the past six months alone. In addition to volunteering, Coeur Alaska also supports that program financially, with a $10,000 direct donation last year.

The company also works closely with Alaska Resource Education, a nonprofit organization that provides education about resources and

“[It’s] the first time since 2017 that we’ve had an increase in reserves and only the second time since modern mining started in Kensington, when we began commercial production in 2010.”

Stephen Ball, General Manager, Kensington Mine

resource development to teachers and students across the state. And it assists with shorter-term but equally impactful projects, as needs arise, which last year included helping the Kax - digoowu Héen Elementary School to develop new signage after it adopted a new Tlingit name.

“They have a new name. They have a new mascot,” Lindley says. “It’s an honor from the Lingít people from this area. And we were honored to be able to donate funds so that they can create new signage to represent their new title. Kax - digoowu Héen is the closest elementary school to our offices in Juneau, so it’s definitely a special project for us.”

Getting There

Alaska’s mining industry has been the focus of renewed interest since the 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. At the time, Brett Watson with UAA’s Institute of Social and Economic Research said that the $370 billion package has the potential to bring a “renaissance” to Alaska mining—but only if the state can find a way to circumvent hurdles that often slow down mining projects. Those include long timelines for exploration and construction in addition to a lack of roads and ports and high energy costs.

In the case of Kensington, these considerations are front and center. The mine’s remote location, nestled within the largest national forest in the United States, is accessible only

by boat, plane, or helicopter. This has made it necessary for the operator to invest heavily in infrastructure—both to house the approximately 250 workers living on site at any given time and to generate the required power to operate a ball mill and crusher, provide power for electric drills, and treat and pump water within the facility.

Some logistic support may be on the horizon, however, in the form of a possible new ferry terminal on undeveloped land at Cascade Point. Talks are still in early preliminary stages, but if Goldbelt, Juneau’s urban Native corporation that owns the land, and state transportation official can establish feasibility and reach an investment decision, a shorter ferry route may result in lower transportation costs for goods and improved shuttle services for mine workers.

“It would be a benefit for us,” Ball explains. “Distance on the water is a safety concern. Lynn Canal can be extremely rough. It also has the potential to help our employees that live in Haines by providing more options for getting down to Kensington because it allows the Alaska ferries to go to a day trip.”

Expansions and Improvements

In the meantime, Kensington is busy implementing recommendations laid out in the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision associated with POA 1. Specifically, under the US Forest Service’s Final Record of Decision, the

mine will utilize third-party consultants to conduct independent Ecological Risk Assessments to perform ongoing evaluations of mine activities and establish an Independent Engineering Review Board to monitor the design, construction, operation, performance, and risk management of the planned expansions to the tailings treatment facility and dams.

The Final Decision of Record also provides an opportunity to improve fish habitat that was not possible under the original plan. Restoration activities are set to improve Dolly Varden spawning habitat by constructing deltas and stream channels, as well as converting the tailings treatment facility to a functioning lake with 28 feet of water cover at the mine’s eventual closure.

The fish habitat enhancement design stems from several investigations that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game undertook at Kensington during the review process. As a result of the dam raise and planned inundation of the lake and tributaries at closure, the fish will gain 0.2 miles more spawning habitat and 0.7 miles more rearing habitat compared to current conditions. The decision states that, under the Selected Alternative, there is a high likelihood that the tailings treatment facility—formerly Lower Slate Lake—will be restored to longterm fish habitat after closure of the mine. The result will be a net increase in wetlands in the area, long after operations have ceased.

Last year Coeur Alaska helped a local school develop signage after it adopted its new Tlingit name: Kaxdi goowu Héen Elementary School.

Coeur Alaska

A Coeur Alaska employee in the field supporting exploratory drilling.

Coeur Alaska

Carbon Credits, Offsets, and Sequestration

By Chris Slottee

California implemented a mandatory carbon credit program in 2006 targeting power plants, natural gas utilities, and other large industrial facilities or production sites. As of 2019, approximately $370 million worth of carbon credits have been sold by Alaska landowners or ANCs into the California market.

Boasting no fewer than 125 million forested acres (approximately 35 percent of the state’s territory), Alaska has supported a robust timber industry for more than 100 years. The forests are concentrated primarily in Southeast, home to the Tongass rainforest. However, since the ’90s, the timber harvest volume in Alaska has dropped, challenged by volatile global markets, logistical challenges, and lack of producible timber. Now, landowners across the state, particularly Alaska Native corporations (ANCs), have identified a new means of using timber resources for economic benefit. With renewed focus on combatting climate change with new technology, Southeast is favorably positioned to reap the benefits of carbon programs and initiatives. Here are four things that Southeast ANCs and landowners need to know.

Carbon Credit Economy

One area of focus has been investment in the development of carbon credits and sale to competitive markets, most notably the state of California. California implemented a mandatory carbon credit program in 2006 targeting power plants, natural gas utilities, and other large industrial facilities or production sites. As of 2019, approximately $370 million worth of carbon credits have been sold by Alaska landowners or ANCs into the California market. For example, Sealaska, Ahtna, and Chugach Alaska Corporation have piloted successful carbon credit programs since 2016.

However, the mandatory carbon credit economy is not a panacea for Alaska landowners or ANCs. There are limits on the generation of carbon credits and their sale, and the number of mandatory regulatory systems that Alaska carbon credits can be sold to is finite. Similarly, there is risk and substantial financial commitment. As a condition of creating the carbon credits, the landowner must agree to largely preserve their timber resources for up to 100 years and must conduct expensive timber surveys. Moreover, some carbon markets require participants to contribute “buffer credits” to a self-insurance pool designed to insure against loss of forest resources. Due to the marked increase in the number of forest fires in the past years, some studies have identified a risk. For example, the self-insurance pool for the California carbon credit program is depleted and may not have enough credits to cover future losses. If a landowner sells carbon credits and then loses all or part of their forestry resources, the landowner may be required to obtain new carbon credits to cover the loss. It is a financial uncertainty that landowners will have to accept.

Not only that, but there is a limited market for mandatory carbon credits. While carbon credit systems have been in place in Europe and California for many years, they haven’t been adopted at the federal level. Nor does the United States appear likely to implement one any time soon, as federal and state initiatives have been stymied. For example, Pennsylvania’s

participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) was blocked in 2022, when a state court determined there was a possibility that participation in the RGGI may result in the levy of an unlawful tax.

The ESG Effect

That being said, the United States and other countries have seen a marked rise in the last ten years of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations and policies at national, state, and municipal levels. ESG policies encourage companies to consider the impact of their actions on a variety of stakeholders, including the global environment. Significant debate remains over the efficacy of ESG programs, but their impact is clear in the increased interest of companies in adopting voluntary carbon credit programs. This is either for community goodwill or because third parties provide economic incentives to companies that are “net zero.”

Accordingly, some Alaska entities are exploring the sale of carbon credits for use with voluntary carbon credit programs, known as carbon offsets. These carbon offsets are purchased to meet self-imposed goals, such as by airlines and oil producers, to reassure consumers of the entity’s commitment to reach “net zero” emission status. Voluntary carbon credit purchase has become so widespread that services such as Terrapass allow individuals to purchase carbon offsets to “neutralize” their air travel, commutes, and even home energy consumption.

Carbon Offset Benefits for Landowners

Landowners benefit from carbon offsets by having more opportunities to generate revenue from forest and other resources, such as peat. Landowners also have more freedom to structure their agreements with better terms compared to selling carbon credits into stateregulated systems.

Southeast could especially benefit. While some of its forests are eligible for sale in the California market, the voluntary carbon credit market is more flexible in terms of the type of land that can be used and the agreements that can be used to generate the

credits. Companies operating in Southeast, such as cruise lines, may find it appealing to buy “local” carbon credits as part of a voluntary carbon credit offset program. For example, Carnival Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line have announced corporate policies aimed at reducing their carbon emissions through a variety of means, including the purchase of carbon offsets. They might be interested in purchasing voluntary carbon credits from Southeast landowners to reduce their carbon impact where they operate locally.

However, while both types of carbon credits offer opportunities to Alaska landowners, there are significant questions about the actual utility of carbon credits that are generated through agreements not to harvest forest resources. There is little to no net benefit to the environment in paying landowners to not harvest their timber if it wasn’t going to be harvested to start with. Carbon credits also pose the risk of de-incentivizing carbonintensive industries from pursuing alternative energy sources, such as hydrogen, solar, wind, and optimized electricity. Accordingly, the utility of carbon credits for landowners may face an uncertain future.

Carbon Sequestration

Companies and governments are looking at a new opportunity called “carbon sequestration” to address carbon emissions. Carbon sequestration is the capturing of carbon from an industrial source and injecting it into porous rocks or other geological formations. This is an expanding field of science and potentially offers more effective and permanent means of reducing carbon in the environment. It also avoids the risk of programs that compensate landowners for doing something that they were already doing. Rather than paying a landowner not to do something, carbon sequestration leases carbon storage from the landowner.

This technology poses a potential new opportunity for landowners in Southeast who do have access to the carbon credit markets or, like some ANCs, have rights to a subsurface estate that cannot be economically developed

for natural resource extraction. Carbon sequestration operations are already underway in Iceland, where Carbfix’s Coda Terminal project is on track to reach full annual capacity, mineralizing 3 million tons of greenhouse gasses from mainland Europe by 2031.

The State of Alaska is also looking to be on the cutting edge of carbon sequestration. This year, Governor Mike Dunleavy proposed legislation that he hopes will further monetize state-owned oil and gas basins by offering them for carbon sequestration. The governor’s proposed legislation, HB 49 and HB 50 and their companion bills, SB 48 and SB 49, would authorize the state to license and lease the state’s subsurface property for carbon storage. The bills would also create a regulatory regime for injection wells, carbon storage facilities, and transportation of captured carbon to geological storage facilities. If passed into law, this legislation could put Alaska on the forefront of carbon sequestration using geological formations and provide a potential model for landowners to generate economic return.

Chris Slottee is an attorney with Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt. With more than fifteen years of experience, his practice focuses on Indian Country, Alaska Native Corporations, and Natural Resources. This article summarizes aspects of the law and does not constitute legal advice.

As a condition of creating the carbon credits, the landowner must agree to largely preserve their timber resources for up to 100 years and must conduct expensive timber surveys. Moreover, some carbon markets require participants to contribute “buffer credits” to a self-insurance pool designed to insure against loss of forest resources.

Capitol Disposal Landfill

By Scott Rhode

Juneau adorns the margin between Gastineau Channel and the Boundary Range like a string of pearls. The pendant in the middle is Lemon Creek, a residential neighborhood that also includes the Costco and Home Depot stores, the state prison, and the midtown industrial hub. The jewel in that pendant, though, clashes with the capital city’s gorgeous setting: it’s the town dump.

“Southeast is a lousy place to try to develop a landfill,” says Richard Stokes, a retired solid waste specialist. “In most places, you don't have the soils. You don't have the cover material. And there are sensitive streams close by.”

Stokes is amazed that, in fifty years, Capitol Disposal Landfill (CDL) has never posed a crisis for Lemon Creek or the wetlands at the stream’s mouth, just outside the fence. Which is fortunate because alternatives are limited.

“If not in Lemon Creek, where else do you put it?” he asks. “The general area that kept coming up for discussion (although vaguely, in most cases) was farther up the Lemon Creek Valley, more out of sight—which I always thought was a terrible idea because it's almost impossible to not have a water quality problem with the garbage.”

Juneau has to put its garbage somewhere

The purity of Lemon Creek Valley is vitally important to Dominic Di Laurenzio, owner of Alaska Pure Mountain Spring Water. Bottling water from a source upstream of the landfill, Di Laurenzio tests the quality weekly. “It's just regular artesian spring water, so you don't have to do anything to it except just filter it,” he says. “Make sure all the crud is out of it.”

The bottling plant in the Lemon Creek industrial zone is conveniently close to CDL. “I just did a dump run last Friday. Loaded it up, and then it was like a two-minute drive to the landfill,” Di Laurenzio says.

Yes, he does notice the smell. “From the highway, probably as bad or worse than over where my water plant is,” he says.

Lisa Daugherty also owns a business in the Lemon Creek neighborhood. “There are certain times of the year when you're coming to the Vanderbilt intersection where it stinks and it's embarrassing,” she says. “But it's like, that's where the landfill is. Nobody made that decision yesterday.”

Who Made That Decision?

Lemon Creek has been home to Juneau’s landfill since before the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) existed to regulate it. When DEC formed in 1971, Stokes was there, first as a pesticide specialist and switching to solid waste in 1975.

“The way it was done was, you know, dump it somewhere,” he says, referring to the early practice of dumping on the beach. “That was not uncommon. I don't think that people gave much thought to garbage dumps.”

News reports in the Alaska Daily Empire circa 1916 corroborate Stokes’ recollection. Rhys Coffee of Juneau, who is compiling a master’s thesis on solid waste management for the University of Washington, unearthed historic articles that describe trash piled on the beach. One proposed solution was to haul the load offshore and dump it in deeper water. Coffee says it’s unclear if that ever happened.

Also unclear, due to lack of records, is exactly when the Lemon Creek landfill was established. Coffee discovered that waste was burned on Juneau’s south

“We’re always working to improve our operations—to ensure we meet environmental requirements and to be the best neighbor that we can be.”

Jim Denson Regional Environmental Protection Manager Waste Management

side prior to the ‘60s. DEC’s earliest record for the landfill dates to 1972, by which time Acme Disposal Service had owned the site for years. The first permit was issued in 1974.

By the ‘80s, CDL was operated by the Tonsgard family, who also own Channel Construction, parent company of Skookum Sales & Recycling across the street from the landfill. William R. Tonsgard II was responsible for adding an incinerator, in the interest of waste reduction.

Stokes shared a memo from January 1985, when he recommended approval for the incinerator, concluding it gave reasonable assurance of meeting air quality standards. “Will the use of the proposed incinerator be to the overall environmental benefit to the

T.R. Merrell

Lemon Creek valley and to Juneau in general? A resounding YES,” says the memo, emphasis included. “Use of the incinerator will solve problems with birds, flies, smells, blowing litter, and unaesthetic views of garbage at the landfill… Without the incinerator a new site must be found this year, and I quite frankly don’t see it being done.”

Juneau’s incinerator was retired in 2010 due to age, and current federal regulations make siting a new one impractical.

Out of the Loop

“I don't blame the landfill for being there,” says Daugherty. “We all need the landfill. Where is our garbage gonna go? But it is unfortunate that it is in the middle of town.”

Anyone driving between downtown Juneau and, say, the Fred Meyer store by the airport can see the landfill from Egan Drive.

“Something unique about Juneau is that the landfill is right off the main road,” says Dianna Robinson. “You can see it growing, so I think people in town are a little more aware of solid waste than other communities I've worked with because landfills typically are kind of tucked away and not obvious.”

Robinson is an environmental project specialist at the Engineering and Public Works Department of the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ). She notes another unique factor in Juneau: the city does not hold a “certificate of convenience and necessity” for solid waste. In Anchorage, for example,

“Something unique about Juneau is that the landfill is right off the main road… so I think people in town are a little more aware of solid waste than other communities I've worked with because landfills typically are kind of tucked away and not obvious.”

Dianna Robinson Environmental Project Specialist City and Borough of Juneau

An aerial view of Glacier Highway near the mouth of Lemon Creek in the early ‘60s, before the private landfill was established in the area (and before Egan Drive became the straighter main thoroughfare).

the municipality owns and operates the landfill and transfer stations, and the city’s Solid Waste Services does curbside pickup in some parts of town; private companies haul the rest.

Not in Juneau. Customers contract with Alaska Waste for hauling, and CDL is privately owned. “Practically, this means that we're not the ones that control what happens to our residents' waste,” Robinson says. “We're not in the mix at all.”

The landfill was sold in 1999 to Waste Management (WM), a Texas-based company with operations throughout Alaska, which controls CDL to this day.

“So we were kind of out of that loop,” Robinson adds. “We're not in there negotiating [rates] on behalf of the city.”

100 Tons Per Day

Rates increased in February from $180 per ton to $198 per ton for household garbage. The minimum charge rose from $49.50 for most residential users to $141.19. According to WM, higher rates pay for two recent capital improvements: a methane management system and replacing the

old scale at the entrance with a new, longer scale to make visits easier for commercial customers.

Robinson says, “The increased fees were kind of a catalyst for this most recent public interest in the landfill and how solid waste is managed here in Juneau.”

Along with higher rates, WM drastically reduced hours. Commercial customers can dump Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and residential customers are limited to Saturdays, 8 a.m. to Noon. Robinson understands that the new hours are for safety. “Most landfills, the public is not allowed to go up to the working face and dump their trash, right? That's what was happening in Juneau. That creates a lot of safety concerns for everyone involved,” she says.

On the hauling side, Alaska Waste is trying to expand curbside collection so that customers don’t need to interact with the landfill at all. On the WM side, the company’s regional environmental protection manager Jim Denson acknowledges that the changes were a difficult decision. “We’re always working

to improve our operations—to ensure we meet environmental requirements and to be the best neighbor that we can be,” Denson says.

Stokes gives WM some credit. “I've not been a big fan of Waste Management, but they have done a much better job” than the landfill’s previous owners, in his opinion, “but it's a losing job. I mean, they can't keep up with it, obviously.”

Juneau’s landfill receives about 100 tons of trash each day. DEC estimates CDL will last approximately twenty more years, with a closing date anytime between 2037 and 2046.

Plausible, but Stokes has heard it before. “I have laughed about this,” he says. “Over the years, it always seemed to be, ‘Five more years and the landfill is filled.’ And of course, I don't think any of us in our wildest imagination envisioned the mountain that has been created.”

Greens and Browns

The landfill’s lifespan has been extended, and may be extended further, thanks to efforts to dispose of

material in other ways. Robinson says, “People are becoming more conscious of what they're putting in the trash. People are composting more, people are recycling and just being a little more conscientious.”

Composting is Daugherty’s bread and butter, as owner of Juneau Composts. “When you look at the piece of the pie of what goes in a landfill, organic things that are compostable make up the largest wedge. It includes food scraps, it includes yard debris, it includes paper,” Daugherty says.

She points to documents since 1990 that recommend the city start composting, yet it never happened. “That's why I started this business,” she says. “I was just tired of hearing at endless meetings, ‘Oh, the city should compost.’ So I just started it.”

Compost is a mix of nitrogen and carbon. “Greens and browns is what everyone calls it,” Daugherty says. “We're using food scraps for our greens, and we're using woodier things like wood chips, sawdust,

shavings, manure, and bedding for our carbon sources.”

Businesses and residents pay Juneau Composts to collect food scraps, so raw material is not an expense. But labor is intensive. “It's not the same as a landfill where you just stack it, drive over it, and the next day you stack it and drive over it,” Daugherty says. “We have to process that material time and time again. We touch every piece of material probably twenty times before it is going out the door as a manufactured, finished product.”

Those value-added products— potting mix, seed starting mix, and raised bed mix—are sold to home gardeners and local garden retailers. “There's a few farmers in Juneau, and they buy their composts from us, too. We do ship some to other Southeast communities,” Daugherty says.

Robinson, as a member of the gardening club, is a customer too, but she says CBJ is not. “Our parks and recreation department, they have to import a lot of material every year because they have their

greenhouse,” says Robinson. “Also our streets department uses it for any kind of remediation along the side of the road.”

City Composting

A pilot project on the horizon would expand composting. CBJ recently received $2.5 million in federal funds to construct a facility; the city is also updating a 2016 feasibility study.

City action is what Daugherty has been waiting for. “If the city were to divert the 20 million pounds a year that is potentially compostable from the waste stream,” she says, “I could see that being a sustainable model for being able to sell that amount every year.”

However, Juneau Composts could hardly compete with a taxpayer-funded service. “In the beginning, it was pretty clear that I was going to get put out of business through, basically, them setting up their own compost facility adjacent to my compost facility and possibly offering services for free and offering finished composts for free,”

Bear cubs frolic in the Lemon Creek wetlands along Vanderbilt Hill Road, just outside of Capitol Disposal Landfill.

Carter Damaska | Alaska Business

Daugherty says. “It’d be unfortunate if all of [Juneau Compost’s] work got swept away because they got some federal money and decide to start their own program from scratch.”

According to Robinson, CBJ plans to contract with a third party to operate the city compost facility. Whether that’s Daugherty or someone else, no one can say. Until then, “I'm in this limbo for the next three or so years,” Daugherty says. “Can I invest in my business or not? Am I going to be put out of business or not?”

While her long-term business decisions are paralyzed, Daugherty is carrying on. “To me, composting is a simple solution to solving landfill problems, and that's why I do it,” she says.

Put a Lid on It

While the private sector handles Juneau’s waste, CBJ’s main involvement is through RecycleWorks, a division of Engineering and Public Works. RecycleWorks has an agreement with WM, which provides a drop-off location, bales the recyclable material,

and ships it to a WM facility in Tacoma, Washington. RecycleWorks also coordinates with Skookum to handle junk cars and other scrap metals.

Alaska Pure Mountain Spring Water is bringing more aluminum to Juneau to be disposed of by its neighbors at Skookum. Di Laurenzio started canning his water last summer, but with a twist. Or rather, an un-twist: the lids have a resealable tab, which he sources from Germany.

“It'd be great for the tourist season, when they're used to getting little plastic bottles with the screw tops on them,” Di Laurenzio says. “I was thinking if they had cans, the regular pop-top lids would be kind of hard to go on hikes or adventures, you know? So I thought it'd be pretty dang perfect to utilize those lids.”

His aunt and uncle, who owned the company before him, previously tried single-use plastic bottles. “It made money, but it wasn't good for the landfill or the environment. I'm kind of the next generation that's looking after those types of things, and these cans are completely recyclable,” Di Laurenzio

says. The plastic tab is shredded with the rest of the can and separated. Allaluminum twist-tops exist, but he says they don’t fit in his canning line without expensive upgrades.

Engineering and Public Works has plans for its own upgrades. Robinson says, “There are a lot of different things we're looking at, and we've dedicated more funding to that planning, but that won't begin until July, when our next fiscal year starts.”

The city must proceed cautiously or risk backlash, as with February’s rate and hour changes. Stokes says, “Any sort of change in a garbage site has always been really controversial. I mean, a large part of my career was going to public hearings, where the only thing people could agree on was that I was the one at fault.”

An unchanging status quo makes garbage easy to ignore. “You put it in your trash can, it goes away,” Robinson says. “You don't think about it, but there are so many moving pieces to it. I've been working in solid waste for about eight years, and there's still things I learn all the time.”

White Pass & Yukon Route

Alaska’s oldest railway is Skagway’s main attraction

By Gretchen Wehmhoff

On one side of the valley north of Skagway, the Klondike Highway follows the Skagway River, climbs to the 2,865foot summit between British Columbia and Alaska, and then drops down in flowing curves around scenic mountain lakes and majestic peaks. The road passes Carcross, Bennett Lake, and the headwaters of the Yukon River on its way to the Alaska Highway a few miles east of Whitehorse, Yukon. Further west, the highway continues north to Dawson City, the historic gold rush town on the Yukon River.

On the other side of the valley, a winding train track cuts into dangerously steep mountain sides, sometimes disappearing around a bend or through a tunnel before meeting up with the Klondike Highway in Fraser, British Columbia. Intimidating peaks tower above the area, some exceeding 7,000 feet in a valley just miles from sea level. These tracks started their journey in 1898, the peak of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Thousands of gold seekers climbed the treacherous Chilkoot trail, making multiple trips with the required one ton of gear. Captain William Moore,

a founder of the new city of Skagway on Chilkoot Tlingit land, and First Nation guide Keish (Skookum Jim Mason) believed there was an easier route north. They made the arduous trek to Bennett Lake over what is now White Pass, named for the Canadian Minister of the Interior, Sir Thomas White.

Both the Chilkoot and White Pass trails were plagued with injury, hardships, and death, yet folks with dreams of gold kept coming. In this constant stream of people, two ambitious men saw an opportunity.

Michael J. Heney, a railroad contractor, met Sir Thomas Tancrede in Skagway. Tancrede represented London investors. Money, experience, and vision led to the formation of White Pass Railroad. In May 1898, work on the railroad to Whitehorse began, and construction crews from the north and south met in Carcross in July 1900. By that point, the venture had been acquired by London-based White Pass & Yukon Railway Company (WPY). A golden spike marked the completion of the railroad, which employed more than 35,000 workers during its construction.

In 2018, WPY was purchased by Klondike Holdings, an ownership group formed of majority partner Survey Point Holdings, its affiliates and longtime partners based in Seattle, and Carnival Corporation (parent company of Holland America-Princess) as a minority partner.

Modern Day, Historic Design

WPY is a narrow-gauge short-line, or Class III railway. In contrast, the Alaska Railroad is built on standard gauge rail. The amount of blasting needed to lay standard gauge 56.5inch steel tracks on sheer mountain sides would’ve slowed the progress of the WPY, so builders chose 36inch gauge track to move the project along.

About ninety-five parlor cars, forty seats each, wait in the White Pass rail yard. Named after lakes, the cars came from various railroads. The Emerald Lake, built in 1883, is the oldest car. During peak season, all of the cars are utilized. Most have been refurbished or repaired to maintain the vintage decor.

Until recently, locomotives dating to the ‘50s and ‘60s doubled up to pull

Schwabe Ports and Maritime lawyers know the business and have experience in the field. Because spotting industry trends and navigating turbulent waters can’t happen from behind a desk. Experience

Some lawyers work documents, others know the docks.

White Pass Collection

the train up the steep grade. During the past three years, WPY brought on six new locomotives. The newer models are more fuel efficient and quieter.

Mark Taylor, superintendent of rail operations, told The Skagway News. in 2020 that the locomotives, with 3,300 horsepower, can pull more weight, thus saving fuel costs by using fewer engines per train.

The bridges connecting the mountainsides resemble the original crossings, but they have been rebuilt over the years. WPY has its own rail and bridge inspection routine beyond the federal requirements. When updating a bridge, attempts are made to aesthetically match the intricate structures of joists and timbers used in the historic construction. In a few cases, reconstruction includes more aggressive safety designs with retaining walls.

A Family Affair I know every engineer on every train

All of their children, and all of their names

Roger Miller, “King of the Road”

Tyler Rose, executive director of human resources and strategic planning, has been with WPY for twenty years.

“Willi Scheffler, our Canadian roadmaster, has worked with us for over sixty years. He worked with my grandpa, he worked with my dad, worked with me, my brother. I am

not unique in that way at all. We have many multi-generational families,” Rose says.

Rose shares the names of a dozen Skagwegians with generations of White Pass history.

“Interwoven families like Mahle, Tronrud, and Hunz, who’ve worked here for generations; and people like Brad Thoe, the longtime spike driving champion and 47-year operator,” he says.

“We have families that stretch back working here for almost over 100 years for some,” Rose says, referring to Carl Mulvihill’s family. Mulvihill’s dad was the chief dispatcher, and Carl worked briefly with White Pass.

Jacqui Taylor-Rose, WPY manager of marketing and product development, and her cousins and family have been working with WPY for generations. Taylor-Rose’s grandfather, Marvin Taylor, was president of the railroad; their uncle was also a president. TaylorRose is married to Rose.

“The Lawson brothers work here. Lars is the car shop foreman. Reid is a carman. Their dad, Grant, and their grandfather, Malcolm Lawson, both worked here. The list really does go on and on and on when you get into it,” Rose says.

New Locomotives with No Place to Go

In 2019, WPY served a million passengers. Skagway tourism numbers continued to climb with an expected 2020 visitor count to exceed 1 million.

At the time, WPY managed the Port of Skagway. In addition to rail crew, WPY employed dock workers, passenger expediters, and others. During the off season, WPY supported about 25 year-round employees. When the tourists come to town, the staffing jumped to more than 125 local and seasonal workers.

In March 2020, the town of Skagway felt the winds of a faraway virus. The municipality held a town hall meeting to caution businesses and residents that there was a chance the cruise ships wouldn’t show up, and if they did, traffic might be minimal. The mayor advised businesses to warn their out-of-town seasonal workers to stay put and not come to Skagway. This pandemic was looking to be worldwide.

Line by line, cruise companies sent notice that they were taking ships out of operation. The town of about 800, which depends mostly on tourism and cruise passengers, saw the harbinger of a season dead in the water.

“In the early pandemic, we were still very hopeful that we’d be able to run. But as time wore on, we realized that, you know, without the customer base to come in and support our enterprise, we weren't going to be able to open,” Rose says.

“We were trying to, for lack of a better term, hold on for as long as we could to the hope of operating our business, like so many businesses. It was very, very challenging for us; financially, emotionally. I mean, it's a really tough thing,” Rose adds.

White Pass Collection

Robert May

into

On March 21, 2020, the border between Canada and the United States was closed. There would be no individual travelers. WPY parked the trains.

“It was devastating,” says Rose. “I think when you go to zero revenue for that type of period of time—particularly with a railroad, which is a very capital intensive business, in and of itself—and to not have the revenue and be able to support that and still have obligations as far as safety and the maintenance of infrastructure, because you know, you're going to reopen.”

For the first time since 1982, when metals prices dropped, closing mines to the north, the railroad did not run.

It's Always Something

A short season in 2021 saw some businesses open, mostly local owners. WPY ran a few summit routes. In 2022 the season started to resemble pre-pandemic numbers and crowds. Streets were filled with visitors, and four to five ships were making port daily in Skagway. Everything was back to normal… until rocks started to crumble.

In summer 2022 a series of rockslides occurred on the cliffs above the railroad dock. The forward berth of the railroad dock was closed, and Skagway immediately lost 25 percent of its cruise traffic as ships diverted to other ports.

Experts were brought in; WPY and the municipality met frequently. The slide area has been graded, and large attenuators and sheets of webbing form a defensive block against future rockslides. Cruise lines have examined the slide area and plan to dock in Skagway this season.

In March 2023 the fifty-five-year contract for port operations between Pacific and Arctic Railway and Navigation Company and Skagway ended. WPY still operates the railroad dock, but the overall port is now under direct municipal control.

Open for Business

This summer WPY has a full menu of options for train travelers. Routes offer hikers destinations such as Denver Valley Trail (Denver Glacier is part of this hike) and Chilkoot Trail service. Passengers can travel to Carcross, Fraser, and Whitehorse to make connections to motorcoach

or tour buses. WPY coordinates with cruise lines to transfer passengers to and from motorcoaches as part of the cruise line package. Of course, there is the staple route that kept things going over the last few years: the White Pass Summit Excursion.

Residents, businesses, and the municipality are watching the cruise schedules. On one pre-season day, Skagway residents were abuzz about one ship that decided to skip the port. Every ship counts when you’ve had a rough few years.

“The tourism industry, specifically the cruise industry, is the lifeblood of the community. It's what we do. Having that dock open and available to receive the larger ships and receive our passengers in a safe and effective manner is critically important to the economy in the community,” Rose says.

“Right now we're working very hard to get as many ships as we can in and move our guests quickly and safely so they can have a great experience in Skagway.”

Content Contest

How ChatGPT and DALL-E measure up against human creativity

By Tasha Anderson

In late December 2022, Dan Kreilkamp, who used to write and edit for Alaska Business before moving on to lend his exceptional talent to ARM Creative, texted me: “So what do you make of this new chat bot?” My highly informed response was: “Chat bot?... I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I sure do now. At the time, ChatGPT was building renown, and within days of Kreilkamp planting the bug in my ear I was seeing mentions of the text-generating AI (artificial intelligence) program everywhere I looked.

Seeing the rise of an AI text generator that was much more proficient than many of its predecessors just added to conversations we were already having internally at the magazine about AI generated images. In fact, when we were planning our December 2022 issue in October of that year, we had an article for which an AI-generated image might have made sense. Ultimately, questions about who really owns an AI-generated image and how to appropriately credit it (legally and ethically) prevented us from taking the plunge into AIgenerated art.

It seems like AI-generated content has been a topic of conversation unceasingly in 2023, with people both excited about its potential and concerned about its effect on, well, everyone—from eliminating creative jobs to removing the humanity from everyday conversations to hindering skills development in youth and students.

The first consequence, the loss of creative jobs, would apply to this magazine significantly, as many of our staff are employed to provide creative copy and design. So we thought we’d test its current capabilities and share the results with our readers.

Within this feature you’ll find two prompts, each one assigned to both a long-time Alaska Business freelancer and to ChatGPT, resulting in four short-form articles. We have presented them here side by side so that you can see how AI stacks up against professional writers; however, we’ve obscured the byline so you can form an unbiased opinion.

Things to consider: What’s the quality of the writing, and how well did the respondent understand and follow the assignment?

We then took all four short-form articles and crafted prompts that were fed into DALL-E (an AI image generator) and given to our production team, resulting in eight images, which you will also find published here.

Things to consider: Is the image on topic, is it visually stimulating, and do you think there’s a better image option?

To find out who or what wrote each short-form article; who or what sourced the images; and details about the editing and image sourcing process, flip your magazine footer-side-up.

While we have drawn our own conclusions about our job security, they're under wraps until the end of this article (page 87) to better allow you the space to contemplate the creative potential of AI.

Writing Prompt: Write 250 words about an exciting cultural tour in Southeast Alaska.

Cape Fox Tours’ Immersive Cultural Adventure in Southeast Alaska

Great fun; good family event; great historical site; must see; and well worth the visit. That’s how enthusiastic reviewers on Viator’s booking platform describe the Saxman Native Village, Ketchikan Highlights, and Lumberjack Show. The four-hour excursion operated by Cape Fox Tours creates an exciting, multi-faceted experience for Alaska visitors. And it’s a prime example of how cruise passengers, independent travelers, and other tourists can immerse themselves in Southeast Alaska’s rich culture and history.

“The Saxman Native Village, Ketchikan Highlights, and Lumberjack Show highlights the logging history of Ketchikan with a onehour, axetion-packed lumberjack show where guests can watch athletes compete in twelve timber events,” explains Adrianna Oliva-Parks, manager of tour development and transportation at Cape Fox Tours.

After the lumberjack competition, tour guests embark on a scenic drive to Saxman Native Village—established in 1894 and located about three miles south of Ketchikan—to learn about Tlingit culture and Native Alaskan customs. While exploring the area, they can enjoy an elaborate performance of tribal songs and dances in the communal Beaver Clan House. The excursion also includes an up-close view of local carvers meticulously crafting totem poles commissioned from around the world.

An Imaginary Tour of Southeast Alaska

Southeast Alaska is a land of immense natural beauty, with its pristine wilderness, towering glaciers, and mist-shrouded mountains. However, it is also a region that is steeped in rich cultural heritage, with fascinating stories and traditions that have been passed down through the generations. An exciting cultural tour of Southeast Alaska would take visitors on a journey through this history, showcasing the diverse cultures and lifestyles that have thrived in this region for thousands of years.

The tour would begin in Juneau, where visitors can learn about the indigenous Tlingit people at the Sealaska Heritage Institute. Here, they can explore the stunning totem poles, carvings, and other artifacts that tell the story of the Tlingit people's way of life and their deep connection to the land and sea.

From Juneau, the tour would head to Sitka, where visitors can immerse themselves in the Russian influence that shaped much of Alaska's history. At the Sitka National Historical Park, they can witness a reenactment of the 1804 Battle of Sitka, where the Russian colonizers fought the indigenous Tlingit people for control of the region.

Next, the tour would take visitors to Ketchikan, known as the "Salmon Capital of the World." Here, they can experience the art and culture of the Tsimshian people at the Totem Heritage Center and learn about the traditional fishing

There’s also a guided, narrated walkthrough of Saxman Totem Park—which boasts the world’s largest collection of standing Native American totem poles. Guests are educated about the cultural significance of each of the majestic poles erected at the historic site.

“This tour offers the ultimate Alaska vacation adventure for those wanting to experience history in action,” Oliva-Parks says. 

practices that have sustained this region for centuries.

Finally, the tour would end in Haines, where visitors can witness the breathtaking natural beauty of the Chilkat Valley and learn about the culture and traditions of the Chilkat Tlingit people. Here, they can attend a traditional dance performance and witness the artistry of the Chilkat blanket, a masterpiece of weaving that has been passed down through generations of women.

With its rich cultural heritage and natural beauty, Southeast Alaska is truly a one-of-a-kind destination. 

Image Prompt: Tlingit artist carving totem poles in Southeast Alaska.

Image Prompt: Tourists experiencing the breathtaking natural beauty of the Chilkat Valley in Haines.

| Generation Attempts: 5 | Versions: 2

Image B: Dall-E

Image A: Stock art sourced by Monica Sterchi-Lowman

| Minutes to Edit: 4.5

Headline Provided: Yes

Author: Tracy Barbour | Words Submitted: 250

Image D: Stock art sourced by Monica Sterchi-Lowman

Generation Attempts: 6 | Versions: 1

Image C: Dall-E |

Headline Provided: No | Minutes to Edit: 6

Author: ChatGPT | Words Submitted: 337

Enhancing Aircraft Safety with ADS-B

Aviation safety is a top priority in the airline industry, and continuous innovations are being made to improve safety measures. One significant innovation in aviation safety is the implementation of the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system.

ADS-B is a surveillance technology that uses GPS to track an aircraft's position, altitude, and velocity. Unlike traditional radar systems, ADS-B does not rely on ground-based radar and transponders but instead broadcasts information directly from the aircraft to air traffic control and other aircraft equipped with ADS-B receivers.

This innovation in aviation safety has numerous benefits. One significant advantage is that ADS-B provides more accurate and realtime tracking of aircraft, enabling air traffic controllers to monitor and manage air traffic more effectively. This system also enhances safety in areas with limited radar coverage, such as mountainous regions or over the ocean, where radar coverage is scarce.

ADS-B also enhances safety by improving situational awareness for pilots. The system provides pilots with real-time traffic and weather information, enabling them to make more informed decisions and avoid potential hazards. Additionally, ADS-B can detect and alert pilots of nearby aircraft, even if they are not visible, enhancing collision avoidance capabilities.

New GPS-based Routes for Alaska Pilots

Alaska has about six times as many pilots per capita than other states, according to the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities’ Statewide Aviation Division, and about sixteen times as many aircraft. More than 400 Alaska communities rely on aviation for year-round access, with planes often taking the place of cars, buses, trucks, and even ambulances.

With the necessity of travel even in harsh weather and through remote mountain passes, pilots often rely on instrument flight rules (IFR) to navigate when clouds are less than 1,000 feet above the ground or visibility is less than three miles.

One challenge with IFR flying in bad weather is that flying at higher elevations can cause icing conditions on aircraft. Pilots sometimes fly at lower elevations to keep from icing, but that can be dangerous in mountainous terrain. Additionally, flying too low puts pilots outside of radio range and out of contact with air traffic control.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in September released thirteen new IFR routes— with plans to release twenty-three more soon— that incorporate GPS-based data to update instrument navigation information. The new routes provide lowest-possible minimum en route altitudes (MEAs), often creating completely different routes than regional pilots used in the past.

The implementation of ADS-B has been a game-changer for aviation safety. It is a significant step toward achieving the goal of a safer, more efficient, and sustainable aviation industry. With this innovation, pilots, air traffic controllers, and passengers alike can be assured that their safety is the top priority in every flight. 

The FAA collaborated with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Alaska Airmen’s Association, the Alaska Air Carriers Association, and other stakeholders to create the new routes. The collaboration will continue as the group uses highly detailed maps to update IFR routes throughout Alaska. 

Versions: 0

Image F: DALL-E | Generation Attempts: 2 |

Image E: Stock art sourced by Monica Sterchi-Lowman

Headline Provided: No | Minutes to Edit: 6

Author: Chat GPT | Words Submitted: 245

Image H: Stock art sourced by Monica Sterchi-Lowman

Versions: 1

Generation Attempts: 7 |

Image G: DALL-E |

Headline Provided: Yes | Minutes to Edit: 6

Words Submitted: 244

Author: Rindi White |

Image Prompt: A prop plane flying in low-visibility conditions.

Image Prompt: An air traffic controller monitoring air traffic.

‘In Conclusion’

Many have observed that ChatGPT has a tendency to include “in conclusion” at the end of whatever it’s writing. In fact, before we edited “An Imaginary Tour of Southeast Alaska,” that phrase was present, but even with the desire to run the response as close as possible to what ChatGPT wrote, we just couldn’t publish it.

It’s not a phrase you’ll see much in journalism or other contemporary professional writing. The general preference is to craft a conclusion (when a piece requires one) in such a way that the words “in conclusion” aren’t necessary. The phrase “in conclusion” should be relegated as a tool to help developing writers.

That’s our take on the AI generated short-form articles: they read like an amateur following a template, have no depth, and don’t meet our standards for publication. For example, in “An Imaginary Tour of Southeast Alaska” we did not cut ChatGPT’s assertion that visitors can witness a reenactment of the 1804 battle of Sitka, although according to Editor Scott Rhode’s

research, while a reenactment took place in 2017, he didn’t find any evidence it’s an ongoing activity. In the same article, ChatGPT failed to mention how one would actually travel from Juneau to Sitka, which—as any Southeast resident knows—isn’t something to take for granted.

In the aviation short-form article, note how Rindi White includes dates pertaining to the safety innovation she selected; they communicate to the reader why it matters to cover this topic now. The AI did not. In all fairness, the prompt didn’t include a request for dates, but that’s also the point—ChatGPT did what it was asked while our writers took the initiative to do more.

On the image side, according to Art Director Monica Sterchi-Lowman, most of the AI-generated images were off in various ways: some were blurred, like a filter had been applied. Others seemed to be a great image at first glance but upon closer inspection had issues like a thumb missing its nail or glasses missing a part of the frame.

Overall, the production department had the same reaction we did: the work that AI produced was amateurish, like a new designer practicing applying filters without any real attention to whether or not the final result was good.

Sourcing AI-generated images took Sterchi-Lowman and our web manager Patricia Morales about 1.5 hours, compared to the 15 minutes Sterchi-Lowman spent looking for stock images. That said, all of the prompts did generate some kind of result in DALL-E, while SterchiLowman had to adjust one of the image prompts to find an appropriate stock image. The AI generated images came in at about one-third of the cost of the stock images, though neither comes close to the cost of an original editorial image.

So is the Alaska Business team celebrating at our next budget meeting because we’ve found low- to no-cost copy and image solutions? No. But we might raise a glass to the idea that our jobs are safe—at least for now.

Fleet Risk Management

Preventive maintenance under the hood and in the cab

By Sean Dewalt

Whether you own a few company vehicles or a large number of tractortrailers, fleet risk management should always be on your mind. Understanding the exposures of vehicles on the roads in Alaska is less about knowing the chances of a crash and more about the consequences of those occurrences should they happen.

While the majority of commercial drivers and average drivers operate their vehicles safely, the fact is that there are more than 6 million car accidents in the United States every year. Road crashes are still one of the leading causes of death in the

country, and they are the leading cause of death during work hours.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), in 2020 there were 4,444 fatal crashes involving trucks and 101,000 other crashes involving injuries. Last year, large-truck-involved fatalities rose 13 percent to the highest level in almost twenty years. In 2020, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 35,766 fatal vehicle crashes, the most since 2007.

The key to safe, profitable operation of your commercial fleet is hiring the most experienced commercial operators and providing those drivers

with the best maintained vehicles possible. While this is likely evident to any company, what is not discussed often enough is the liability that inexperienced or unqualified drivers pose. This includes risk to a company’s reputation when a mishap makes headlines in the news.

Behind the Wheel

Decisions made by a driver reflect the company’s risk tolerance and culture. While the shortage of competent, experienced professional drivers continues to affect the industry in Alaska, settling for a less-thandesirable driver to achieve company

Sean Dewalt | Umialik Insurance Co.

goals can have detrimental effects. For instance, hiring a driver with a previous DUI conviction, reckless driving record, or other serious infractions who is then involved in a crash will likely face heavy scrutiny. If the cause of the crash is determined to be the fault of the driver and the driver tests positive for drugs or alcohol, this could be construed as a negligent hire or negligent retention, which can give rise to a lawsuit. This would be extremely costly from a liability standpoint. Add to this a hardening commercial auto market, and the company’s ability to remain profitable becomes even more difficult.

Due diligence goes beyond having a complete FMCSA driver’s file, and a once-a-year review of motor vehicle records is not enough. One solution to keep on top of this is continuous monitoring of driver records by a third party. Alerts are provided to administrators on adjudicated court cases, providing real-time information that helps evaluate a driver’s potential liability to the company. It is also important to ensure thorough background checks, making sure to include out-of-state records for operators where necessary.

Retaining top-quality operators is also important. With the current demand for safe, experienced drivers, this is likely the greatest challenge for any fleet management program. The keys for retention of good drivers are wages, benefits, flexibility, and culture. A positive work environment, where written policies support constructive coaching for improvement, tends to resonate with most drivers; continual support and a balanced work schedule are also important to today’s workforce. Ample paid time off for rest and relaxation away from work is another critical benefit in retention.

A culture of safety that rewards good behavior and sensible decision-making often yields the best results, especially if peer-to-peer positive pressure is applied. One way to accomplish this is rewarding employees who meet or exceed goals in the safest manner possible. Also, company functions that enhance bonds among workers outside of the workplace can aid in retention. Drivers who enjoy the work they perform, their coworkers,

and the company they work for will often stay, as opposed to leaving for another opportunity. Kyle Petty, former NASCAR driver, once said, “The driver that you have to sell on safety shouldn’t be driving.” That is a fact.

Driving Data

One innovative solution for fleet safety is telematics, which has been a part of fleet safety for a decade or more. The term “telematics” is a combination of “telecommunications” and “informatics.” A fleet telematics system enables a commercial vehicle fleet to share information such as speed, location, fuel consumption, and driving events to a central location for collection and interpretation. These tools vary greatly, but most include GPS analytics, wireless data transfer, satellite communications, or in-vehicle storage through an OBD-II port. The cost and return on investment for each of these approaches vary greatly.

Next-generation technologies include forward- and driver-looking cameras that leverage artificial intelligence “machine vision” to detect and alert drivers and managers to unsafe or risky driving behavior. One benefit of cameras in commercial vehicles that companies and employees can both agree on is driver exoneration. When a dash cam captures an event where another party is at fault, it is not just the monetary costs of the incident that is saved; drivers will have a sense of relief when they are deemed not responsible for the cause of the incident. That internal support enables an employee to know that the company has their back. It also might get a premium discount from the commercial insurance carrier. Be sure to ask your insurance agent about credits for dash cameras.

Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) is described by FMCSA as a “data-driven safety compliance and enforcement program designed to improve safety and prevent commercial motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and fatalities.” CSA scores are updated through the FMCSA's Safety Measurement System (SMS) each month.

The individual variables in the calculation are called the BASIC scores, which stands for Behavior Analysis

and Safety Improvement Categories. These include frequency and severity of crashes, controlled substances/ alcohol, unsafe driving, driver fitness, hours of service, hazardous materials compliance, and maintenance. Each carrier has a CSA score that represents how well they have maintained that road safety. The score is for the company, not the driver, and the SMS groups carriers by BASIC with other carriers that have a similar number of safety events and then ranks carriers and assigns a percentile from 0 to 100 (the higher the percentile, the worse the performance) to prioritize them for interventions.

Proactive Measures

Maintenance of commercial vehicles is the cornerstone of fleet safety. A solid preventative maintenance plan can also decrease costs and downtime, increase efficiency, extend vehicle life, and improve customer retention. Brakes and tires are crucial points of failure, and they often top the list of infractions. Pre-inspections should be conducted before every trip and crosschecked by company professionals for accuracy.

Formalized maintenance schedules extend way beyond road safety and will often come into play when a driver pulls into a scale house or mobile scale on an Alaska roadway. Since all Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities inspections are listed publicly on Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website, citations and history are viewable to anyone looking at a company’s operations.

The best bet to keep on top of fleet safety is by being proactive. Take some time to assess your fleet operations, and never stop asking: “What can we do to improve fleet safety?” Good fleet risk management is continuous, and it often has a return on investment much quicker than you might think.

Sean Dewalt is a Senior Loss Control Consultant for Umialik Insurance Company in Anchorage. Dewalt has been working in safety and risk management in Alaska since 2000.

Northern Pacific Airways

The new trans-oceanic carrier using Anchorage as its hub launches this month, except the inaugural route doesn’t pass through Anchorage and is entirely over land. Northern Pacific Airways carries its first passengers on June 2 on a one-hour hop to Las Vegas from Ontario International Airport, inland from Los Angeles. The round-trip route departs on Fridays this summer and returns from Las Vegas on Sundays, enabling the startup airline to earn revenue. Routes through Anchorage, to the East Coast, and to international destinations in Japan and South Korea are in the planning stages at press time.

np.com

Three Bears Alaska

The twentieth location in the Three Bears Alaska chain is a former liquor store in Ester, west of Fairbanks. The supermarket took over Gold Hill Imported Beer and Fine Wines in March and is planning a “full facelift” this summer into a gas station convenience store, similar to recent renovations in Trapper Creek and Ninilchik.

threebearsalaska.com

Peter Pan Seafood

Peter Pan Seafood is taking over Trapper’s Creek Smoking Co., maker of salmon jerky, hot- and coldsmoked fish, and gift packs under the Copper River Smoking Company, Alaska’s Best, and Eat Like a Grizzly brands. From its smokehouse near midtown Anchorage, Trapper’s Creek also makes custom packages for fresh-caught salmon, halibut, or crab. Trapper’s Creek Smoking Co.’s current owner Andi Wahry is staying on as an advisor during the transition. The acquisition further integrates Peter Pan Seafood with an additional channel for value-added products. ppsf.com

ASRC Federal

A subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) is acquiring

the logistics arm of a Virginiabased military contractor. Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) signed an agreement to sell its logistics and supply chain management business to ASRC Federal. The $350 million cash transaction adds supply chain management and logistics capabilities for US Department of Defense agencies to ASRC Federal’s current procurement and warehousing services at military locations nationwide. asrcfederal.com

Tlingit & Haida

A hotel and café in downtown Juneau are now under tribal ownership. The Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska purchased The Driftwood Hotel and Sandpiper Café, across the street from Tlingit & Haida’s Andrew Hope Building and two other commercial office buildings acquired in 2021. The area is designated the Aak’w Village District, an ongoing effort to develop the neighborhood while sustaining local arts and culture. “This acquisition checked all of the boxes for the tribe’s strategic plans for growth and economic sovereignty," says Tlingit & Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson. Tlingit & Haida will continue running the Driftwood Lodge as a hotel, so occupants should not notice any change in service. ccthita.org

Cordova Telecom Cooperative

Cordova Telecom Cooperative selected a New Jersey-based contractor, Pioneer Consulting, to oversee the engineering and design phase of a new submarine cable. The 171-mile system will connect Cordova and Seward, with branching units for additional connectivity to Johnstone Point and Chenega. The project is called Fiber Internet Serving Homes in Alaska (FISH). Pioneer Consulting previously assisted with the project’s initial feasibility study in 2021, which

informed a successful application for grant funds from the US Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect Loan and Grant program. ctcak.net

Quintillion

An Anchorage company trying to build a fiber optic cable from Asia to Europe via Alaska is now under out-of-state ownership. The executive team of Quintillion and its holding company, QSH Parent Holdco, approved an acquisition by Washington, D.C.-based private investment firm Grain Management. Founded in 2015, Quintillion constructed and operates a fiberoptic cable network that provides high-speed broadband services to Northern Alaska. A planned three-phase subsea cable system would connect Asia to Western Europe through the Arctic Ocean. "Our partnership with Grain will expedite closing the digital divide and accelerate the pace with which we connect more Alaskans to each other and to the rest of the world,” says Quintillion CEO George Tronsrue III.

quintillionglobal.com

Mat-Su Health Foundation

The co-owner of Mat-Su Regional Hospital is the largest Alaska beneficiary of charitable giving from billionaire philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. She donated $15 million to MatSu Health Foundation in 2022. CEO Elizabeth Ripley describes the gift as a way to invest in smaller initiatives throughout the Mat-Su Borough. As the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Scott is the third-wealthiest woman in the United States. healthymatsu.org

[EDITOR’S

NOTE:

Economic Indicators has moved to akbizmag.com: starting June 1, find daily updates on oil and gas prices and production, as well as Employment Update (published monthly), on our homepage.]

MULTI-MODAL TRANSPORTATION WITH ALASKAN GRIT.

RIGHT MOVES

Alyeska Pipeline

 The operator of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) has a new boss. The major North Slope producers that own TAPS conducted an executive search and selected John Kurz as the next President and CEO of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. Kurz most recently worked as COO for Santos and Oil Search in Papua New Guinea, but he has deeper roots in Alaska. He served as Senior Operations Manager for Greater Prudhoe Bay, and he earned a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Alaska. Kurz is the thirteenth president to lead Alyeska Pipeline since its formation in 1970. He succeeds interim president Betsy Haines, who retired in 2021 but returned to lead the company during the search and transition.

Shee Atiká

The urban Native corporation for Sitka has appointed Tim Castro as President and CEO. Castro has been working for Shee Atiká since June 2019, first as president of its subsidiary, Alaska Northstar Resources, and then as president of Shee Atiká Government Services. Under his leadership, the holding company comprising four 8(a) government contractors grew its portfolio from startup to more than $40 million in revenue. Having served in a shared role as Interim Senior Executive since September 2022, Castro is responsible for strategic planning, management, and operations

across Shee Atiká’s business platforms.

Castro graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems.

ANMC

A nationwide search for a new top Administrator at Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) found the winning contender close to home. Alan Vierling has been the hospital’s interim administrator for the past several months. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Southcentral Foundation, as joint managers of ANMC, concluded that Vierling stood out from a field of more than 230 candidates. Vierling has more than forty years of healthcare experience, including a variety of clinical areas such as emergency departments, surgical services, critical care, pediatrics, behavioral health, and oncology. As administrator, Vierling oversees ANMC’s strategic and annual operating plans, manages day-to-day operations at Alaska’s largest tribal health facility, and updates leadership on hospital operational and financial matters.

North Star Behavioral Health System

North Star Behavioral Health System named William “Ross” Newcombe as its new CEO and Managing Director. Newcombe previously served as COO of Providence Alaska Medical Center for more than four years after five years as CFO. Newcombe is a

twenty-year veteran of the US Army. He served as an aeromedical evacuation pilot and then graduated from the Army Medical Department’s comptroller internship program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Newcombe is also a graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff College. He earned his bachelor’s degree in animal science from the University of New Hampshire and his master’s in business administration from Webster University in St. Louis. North Star Behavioral Health System interim CEO Patrick Wilder is staying on during the transition.

Alaska Communications

Anchorage-based telecom Alaska Communications (ACS) promoted three members of its executive team.

Patrick Bergt is now Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. In this role, Bergt oversees the legal, compliance, regulatory, real estate, and risk management functions of the company, as well as human resources. Bergt was Anchorage’s municipal attorney last summer when he resigned to join ACS. He is a lifelong Alaskan, graduating from Service High School.

Kathleen Redmond is promoted to Vice President, Strategy and Operations. Redmond has been with Alaska Communications for almost nine years and has served in the sales department and most recently as senior director strategy and operations. Redmond has more

RIGHT MOVES IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY NORTHERN AIR CARGO

Kurz Castro

Vierling

Newcombe

Bergt

Redmond

than thirty years of experience in the Alaska telecommunications industry, beginning with Executone of Alaska and also spending time at PMC Telecom, ASRC Communications, MTA, Alcan Electrical & Engineering, and GCI. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Montana and an EMBA in information communication technology from Alaska Pacific University.

Heather Cavanaugh becomes ACS’ Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, overseeing internal and external communication, government relations, community relations, and crisis communications.

Cavanaugh is accredited in public relations, with twenty years of experience.

Cavanaugh has been with ACS for more than thirteen years, leading communications for all corporate transactions, including an acquisition, joint venture, divestiture, and most recently the July 2021 acquisition of ACS by ATN International of Beverly, Massachusetts.

Cavanaugh earned a master’s degree in business from UAA.

Northrim Bank

Northrim Bank promoted Jason Criqui to Executive Vice President - Chief Lending Officer. In this role, he joins the bank’s Executive Group, which also includes Chairman and CEO Joe Schierhorn; President Mike Huston; EVP – CFO Jed Ballard; EVP – COO Amber Zins; EVP – CIO Ben Craig; and Mark Edwards, EVP - Chief Credit Officer and Bank Economist. Criqui has been with Northrim Bank since 2014, most recently

as senior vice president, commercial lending manager. He has more than twenty-five years of experience in banking throughout Alaska and the Lower 48. Criqui holds a bachelor’s degree from Emporia State University and is also a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School.

FNBA

First National Bank Alaska (FNBA) welcomed Morgan Neff as the bank’s Wealth Management Director and Senior Vice President. In this role, Neff directs all wealth management and trust activities for the bank to help meet the financial needs of Alaskans. Neff brings more than twenty years of executive-level investment, operational, and financial experience. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Alaska Marine Highway System

The state ferry system has a new skipper in charge. Craig Tornga has been appointed as the new Marine Director of the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). The position, formerly known as the AMHS General Manager, was left vacant in January when Captain John Falvey retired after leading the service for nearly twenty years. Tornga started his maritime career aboard Crowley’s ocean-going vessels and spent more than twenty years working his way up through Crowley’s Marine Services Division. Since 2017, Tornga has served as the Senior Vice President for Kirby Offshore Marine in Houston, Texas.

Alaska DOT&PF

Christopher Goins is the new Southcoast Regional Director for the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF). In that position, he oversees a region that spans 1,800 miles from Ketchikan to Adak. Goins started at DOT&PF in 2014 working on infrastructure projects after nearly a decade of engineering experience in Oregon. He is a licensed engineer and earned his degree from Oregon State University in 2006. He lives with his family in Juneau.

USACE

Sara Longan assumed duties as Chief of the Regulatory Division for the US Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District (USACE) in March. In her new position, she is responsible for administering and enforcing the USACE regional regulatory program within the Alaska and Honolulu Districts. Since January 2022, Longan served as the deputy chief of the Regulatory Division. Prior to joining USACE, Longan served as deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, overseeing the Division of Oil and Gas, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Office of Project Management and Permitting, and Trust Land Office. Longan has a bachelor’s degree in preveterinary medicine, a master’s degree in environmental toxicology, and a doctorate in epidemiology from Oklahoma State University.

For more information, please visit us at www.nac .aero.

Northern Air Cargo is committed to getting your cargo where it needs to be, on time, so you can worry about what really matters.

Criqui

Cavanaugh

Tornga

Neff

Goins Longan

ALASKA TRENDS

Two railroads currently operate in this state: the Alaska Railroad, covered in this month’s “100 Years of Passengers, Freight, and Real Estate,” and the White Pass & Yukon Route. But let’s pause to remember a third railroad that shaped Alaska’s history.

In 1906, J.P. Morgan and Simon Guggenheim formed the Alaska Syndicate that purchased the Kennecott Copper Corporation and built the Copper River and Northwestern Railway to transport ore to Cordova. The tracks crossed the Miles Glacier Bridge, also called the Million Dollar Bridge, over the Copper River. It was completed in 1911 and operated until 1938.

The syndicate’s control of the corridor to the Interior prompted the federal government, in its efforts to develop the territory, to choose an alternate route. Thus, the Alaska Central Railway, built out of Seward in 1903 (later extended to Turnagain Arm as the Alaska Northern Railroad), became the roots of a new railway to connect with the Tanana Valley Railroad yard in Fairbanks.

In one view, the Alaska Railroad has always been a government venture meant to outcompete private enterprise. In another view, the public utility opened opportunities for entrepreneurs that the Morganheim syndicate thwarted. This view, championed by the territory’s delegate to Congress, James Wickersham, prevailed.

The Alaska Railroad survives as one of about two-dozen Class II regional railroads in the United States, while the White Pass & Yukon Route is considered a Class III narrow-gauge short line. Both are isolated from other rail systems. The Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corporation formed in recent years to build a 1,600-mile connection from Delta Junction to a railhead at Fort McMurray, but work was suspended in 2021 amid financial shenanigans.

This edition of Alaska Trends visualizes the state-owned railroad’s bottom-line data summarized elsewhere in this issue. As it shows, the trend is up.

Sources: ARRC Annual Report 2022, ARRC Freight Fact Sheet 2022

5 Year Net Income

64% Increase in Gravel

In 2022, construction along the Railbelt drove a 64% increase in gravel volume over 2021, although gravel tonnage was still 15% shy of 2019 volumes.

Freight by Type

3x the Coal

1 hopper railcar hauls 3x more cubic yards compared to a 40-foot side-dump truck.

2.5x the Petroleum

1 rail tanker car holds 2.5x that of a trank truck.

3.7M Tons of Cargo

were hauled in 2022, growing by 48% from 2021 and 6% from 2019.

38% More Railcars

flowed through the Whittier dock in 2022, primarily due to North Slope oil field activity.

$110M in Freight

revenues broke freight revenue records in 2022.

4x the Gravel

1 railcar has 4x the load capacity of a 40-foot side-dump truck.

Freight Hauled Over Time

131% Growth in Ridership

AKRR transported 461,949 passengers in 2022, compared to 200,381 passengers in 2021.

Ridership Over Time

What book is currently on your nightstand?

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy on Kindle. I seriously doubt I’ll actually read it, but I’m considering it.

What charity or cause are you passionate about?

AWAIC [Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis] & STAR [Standing Together Against Rape].

What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?

Feed my children. I have three children.

What vacation spot is on your bucket list?

Egypt and Japan.

If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?

Maybe something cuddly… I would love a koala that just sort of hangs off you. I have held them before, and they’re very fun to hold.

Photos by Monica Whitt

Candice McDonald

Salmon Berry Travel & Tours punches above its weight class. For two years in a row, Alaska Business readers ranked it as the top travel and tour company in the state, above global cruise titan Holland America & Princess. Ironically, founder Candice McDonald started in the tourism industry by working for Holland America. In 2005, she spun off her own venture, offering bite-sized day trips out of Anchorage.

Mandy Garcia manages sales and marketing while McDonald handles operations. Running a fleet of tour vehicles is a natural fit for McDonald, whose family was in the trucking business.

That first year, McDonald and her mother made salmonberry jam for each customer. That perk turned out to be unsustainable, but it’s the kind of hands-on detail that McDonald loves. She’d like to run a restaurant, too, but she’s too busy with Salmon Berry’s affiliated hotel, the Copper Whale Inn, originally a historic house in Downtown Anchorage.

The inn is a heavy hitter, too, ranked shoulder to shoulder with the Hotel Captain Cook and Alyeska Resort among the best Alaska lodgings.

The key to success, McDonald says, is a whole lot of patience and cheerfulness.

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

Candice McDonald: I do a lot of things that my kids want to do. There seems to be a minimum of two birthday parties every weekend.

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

McDonald: Parenting [she laughs]. I always wish I had it handled.

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

McDonald: I’ve done the Kilimanjaro climb… That was a bit above my athletic skill level. I’ve also done a trek in Machu Picchu.

AB: What are you superstitious about?

McDonald: I’m a bit superstitious about Mercury being in retrograde. I try to blame all of my immense frustrations on whether that is going on or not.

AB: What’s your favorite local restaurant?

McDonald: South Restaurant… That one has the best gin and tonic menu.

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

McDonald: Elton John.

AB: What’s your greatest extravagance?

McDonald: I do spend an exorbitant amount of money on travel, and I do a lot of late-night Amazon shopping, which maybe is normal but I know mine might be at an abnormal level.

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

McDonald: I think my best attribute is friendliness. I really like to get along with everyone, and I try to be as outgoing as possible, though that is sometimes hard. My worst attribute is holding a grudge… The “letting it go” skill is something I’m working on.

Thank You Alaska!