OFF THE CUFF

AT A GLANCE

What book is currently on your nightstand? The one that I'm most engrossed in right now is a book by Frank Soos, who taught creative writing at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for many years, called Unpleasantries: Considerations of Difficult Questions.

What’s a charity or cause that you’re passionate about? The one that I've probably been most passionate about, going back many years, is supporting our local public radio and television station, KUAC.

What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work? Hockey season's underway—my twelve year old plays hockey, so a lot of my evenings after work are going to be spent at the local hockey rink.

What vacation spot is on your bucket list? Costa Rica is up there—it's a place that I've always wanted to visit—as well as the Mediterranean islands.

If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be? A giraffe: it’s my wife's favorite animal and I think it'd just be cool to have a giraffe. We'd probably have to buy a new house with cathedral ceilings, but just having a giraffe in your yard, that stands out. It'd be cool to be known as the giraffe house: people are given directions somewhere, “Well, you just take a left turn down by the giraffe house.” “Oh, yeah, I know where that is.” [he laughs]

Scott McCrea

Before stepping into the role of President and CEO of Explore Fairbanks in June, Scott McCrea was the director of tourism for the organization for seven years. “[Tourism] is an amazing industry to work in, especially here in Alaska where we have this bucket list destination that people dream of visiting,” he says. “The team here is very good at what they do, and they’re passionate about our destinations, so I feel very rewarded that I get a chance to come in and work with these amazing people each and every day.”

Alaska Business: What do you do in your free time? Scott McCrea: During the summer months, we're big fans of getting outside here and hiking—there’s great hiking here within the Fairbanks area—getting out on the Chena River for canoeing and rafting trips.

AB: Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn? McCrea: I'm new as the president and CEO here at Explore Fairbanks—I'm four months in. So I've been trying to work on getting better at some of those areas that pertain to my job that I didn't really have a lot of experience or knowledge in, just so I can try to be the best I can. It sounds rather boring and mundane, but reading books on board development and nonprofit accounting kind of take up the skills that I'm learning right now.

AB: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done? McCrea: I grew up in logging camps in southeast Alaska as a young person, and one of my first jobs as a young teenager was the camp garbage boy. So that involved picking up the trash from around the trailers at camp and taking them out to the local garbage camp, where, on any given night during the summer, [there] would be five or six grizzly bears there, waiting for their dinner. Then to make it worse, I suppose, I had to dump all the garbage out, back the truck away, and then run back with a can of gas—because we wanted to try to burn the garbage to keep it from spreading out too much. So I'm there, thirteen years old, tossing gas on this big pile of garbage and then making a trail to light it. Between the fire and the bears, I'd say that's pretty daring. AB: What’s your favorite local restaurant? McCrea: You can't ask that question, because I have to love them all [he laughs]. I will say, what's great is that the Fairbanks dining scene is one that's evolved so much over recent years.

AB: Other than your current career, if you were a kid today, what would your dream job be? McCrea: The job that is my dream, going back to even when I was five years old and into adulthood, was to be a writer, some type of novelist.

AB: What’s your favorite way to exercise? McCrea: When I do get out and exercise, I enjoy running.

AB: Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert? McCrea: Bands like Queen; Pink Floyd from when they were touring with The Wall; U2, The Joshua Tree—there's a lot of bands I'd love to have seen when they were touring for a particular album that really kind of defined their career.

AB: What’s your greatest extravagance? McCrea: I would say travel, but I wouldn't even put it in the category of extravagance; I look at travel as an investment. There's just so much about travel that really helps bridge some of the divide we have within the world, learning new cultures, meeting new people, it's just a great experience.

AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute? McCrea: My best attribute is that I'm very much an empathetic person. And I think, in a leadership role, in this day and age when people are having so many struggles and challenges… being understanding, and caring, and empathetic towards other people is an important attribute to have. But, on the flip side, my worst attribute is maybe there's times I can be overly empathetic and let those feelings get in the way of difficult decisions that have to be made. But I'd rather err—with the world we live in right now—on that side of being too caring.

Afognak Leasing, LLC.............36 afognakleasing.com Afognak Leasing, LLC...........106 afognakleasing.com Airport Equipment Rentals ..................................131 airportequipmentrentals.com Alaska Communications Systems.....................................3 acsalaska.com

Alaska Earth Sciences ............73 alaskaearthsciences.com

Alaska Executive Search (AES)..........................113 akexec.com

Alaska Railroad ....................... 17 akrr.com

Altman, Rogers & Co..............19 altrogco.com Anchorage Chrysler Dodge ...................................119 anchoragechryslercenter.com Anchorage Sand & Gravel......55 anchsand.com

Arctic Information Technology.............................23 arcticit.com

AT&T........................................15 att.com

Carlile Transportation Systems...................................97 carlile.biz

Central Environmental Inc.....94 cei-alaska.com

Colville, Inc.............................37 colvilleinc.com

Conam Construction Co .....117 conamco.com Conrad-Houston Insurance Agency ....................................12 chialaska.com

Construction Machinery Industrial...................................2 cmiak.com

Cook Inlet Tug & Barge Inc....93 cookinlettug.com cowork by RSD .......................53 coworkbyrsd.com Credit Union 1.........................13 cu1.org Crowley Fuels .........................65 crowley.com Cruz Companies ....................95 cruzconstruct.com

Delta Constructors.................81 deltaconstructors.net

Donlin Gold ............................46 donlingold.com Dorsey & Whitney LLP.......... 111 dorsey.com Equipment Source, Inc ..........31 esialaska.com

First National Bank Alaska........ 5 fnbalaska.com

Foss Maritime .........................61 foss.com

Fountainhead Development..........................45 fountainheadhotels.com

GCI ..........................................49 gci.com HC Contractors ......................85 hccontractors.net

HDL Consulting Engineers ..107 hdlalaska.com Hecla Greens Creek Mining Company ................................73 hecla-mining.com Holmes Weddle & Barcott .....83 hwb-law.com

JAG Alaska ..............................75 jagalaska.com JENNMAR ...............................57 jennmar.com Kinney Engineering, LLC......103 kinneyeng.com Kinross Fort Knox ...................61 kinross.com

Leonardo DRS ........................69 leonardodrs.com/alaska Lynden ..................................132 lynden.com Material Flow & Conveyor Systems, Inc............................28 materialflow.com

MT Housing Inc. .....................35 mthousing.net MTA - Matanuska Telephone Association .............................21 mtasolutions.com

Nenana Heating Services, Inc........................... 44 nenanaheatingservices.net New Horizons Telecom, Inc. ..........................................74 nhtiusa.com

Nortech Environmental & Engineering ............................84 nortechengr.com Northern Air Cargo ..... 124, 125 nac.aero

Northrim Bank..........................9 northrim.com NorthStar Supply LLC.............83 northstarsupplyak.com NOVAGOLD ............................59 novagold.com Oxford Assaying & Refining Inc.............................63 oxfordmetals.com

Pacific Dataport .....................25 pacificdataport.com Pacific Pile & Marine.............123 pacificpile.com Parker Smith & Feek ................. 7 psfinc.com Petro Marine Services ............91 petromarineservices.com PIP Marketing Signs Print.....110 pipalaska.com PND Engineers Inc. ................47 pendengineers.com Power Brokers LLC.................79 progen1.com Providence Health & Services Alaska ......................................87 providence.org

Quintillion Networks............130

R & M Consultants Inc..........103 rmconsult.com

RESPEC....................................51 respec.com Renewal by Andersen ............39 renewalbyandersen.com Resolve Marine Group ...........93 resolvemarine.com

Resource Development Council ................................... 71 akrdc.org Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt..................................101 schwabe.com/locations-anchorage-alaska SmithCo Side Dump Trailers..89 sidedump.com Span Alaska Transportation LLC.................66 spanalaska.com Stellar Designs Inc..................19 stellar-designs.com T. Rowe Price........................115 alaska529plan.com Teck Alaska Incorporated ......77 teck.com

The Plans Room ...................117 theplansroom.com TorcSill Foundations ..............99 torcsill.com

Tutka, LLC ...............................29 tutkallc.com

UA Local 375 Plumbers & Pipefitters..............................105 ualocal375.org United Way of Anchorage....121 liveunitedanc.org US Ecology .............................33 nrcc.com

Usibelli Coal Mine ..................54 usibelli.com

West-Mark Service Center.....12 west-mark.com

Yukon Equipment Inc.............43 yukoneq.com

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