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CONTENTS APRIL 2022 | VOLUME 38 | NUMBER 4 | AKBIZMAG.COM
FE AT UR E S 10 FINANCE
20th Century Babies, 21st Century Customers How financial technology caters to Millennials By Tracy Barbour
42 MANUFACTURING Hot Off the Press
How Alaska Printing is extending its reach By Amy Newman
20 TRANSPORTATION The Way the Wind Blows
Airlines evolve to meet customer needs, changing economics By Vanessa Orr
26 EDUCATION
Think Globally, Teach Electronically UAF eCampus offers a climate course to a worldwide classroom By Rachael Kvapil
32 ENVIRONMENTAL Chasing ‘The Blob’
The aftermath of a marine eco-monster By Isaac Stone Simonelli
38 ENGINEERING
Engineer of the Year Winners
96 HEALTHCARE
The No Surprises Act Fair warning for medical expenses By Isaac Stone Simonelli
102 MINING
Strategic Gateway How Ucore is disrupting China’s ‘stranglehold’ on rare earth elements By Isaac Stone Simonelli
110 OIL & GAS
Point Thomson’s New Operator Hilcorp Alaska brings its efficiency expertise to North Slope gas By Tasha Anderson
114 SCIENCE
Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame 2022 Inductees The brilliant minds behind a brighter future By Nancy Erickson
122 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Verifying Sincerity
A human resources perspective on vaccine mandates By J. Maija Doggett
Kerry Tasker
BALANCED BOUNDARIES 126 ENERGY + CHOICE = POWER By Woodrie Burich
QUICK READS 8 FROM THE EDITOR 130 ECONOMIC INDICATORS 4 | April 2022
130 INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS
134 ALASKA TRENDS
132 RIGHT MOVES
136 OFF THE CUFF
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
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years 1922-2022
For some, it’s expanding operations to a new community. For others, it’s investing in technology to create new opportunities. At First National, shaping tomorrow is our commitment to you. Whether you’re a first-time entrepreneur or an established business, you can count on a century of local experience and innovative solutions to help you succeed today and tomorrow.
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CONTENTS APRIL 2022 | VOLUME 38 | NUMBER 4 | AKBIZMAG.COM
SPECIAL SECTION: CORPORATE 100 50 CORPORATE 100 DIRECTORY
90 ALASKA’S RAREST OCCUPATIONS
72 THE TOP 5 OF THE TOP 100
Or, is there a prosthodontist in the house?
Alaska’s largest private employers put people first
By Scott Rhode
By Alexandra Kay
80 ALASKA AIRLINES’ SUZANNE DRUXMAN
A century of change (and bills) at Alaska’s family-owned bank By Scott Rhode
Southcentral Foundation
84 FIRST NATIONAL PROUD
First National Bank Alaska
By Vanessa Orr
ABOUT THE COVER All the little things combine to make a larger picture. That’s one way to describe the artwork of Ted Kim, creator of this month’s Alaska Business cover. His highly detailed designs, reminiscent of Miyazaki and Moebius, have been exhibited everywhere from Middle Way Café to the Anchorage Museum. Kim has a day job at Hope Community Resources, an organization that few might suspect has more Alaskan employees than Red Dog Mine, Chugach Electric Association, or Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. That’s just one of the surprises lurking in the 2022 Corporate 100 list, ranking private sector employers by the size of their in-state payroll. Illustration by Ted Kim Alaska Business (ISSN 8756-4092) is published monthly by Alaska Business Publishing Co., Inc. 501 W. Northern Lights Boulevard, Suite 100, Anchorage, Alaska 99503-2577; Telephone: (907) 276-4373. © 2022 Alaska Business Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No part of this publication June be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Alaska Business accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials; they will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self addressed envelope. One-year subscription is $39.95 and includes twelve issues (print + digital) and the annual Power List. Single issues of the Power List are $15 each. Single issues of Alaska Business are $4.99 each; $5.99 for the July & October issues. Send subscription orders and address changes to circulation@akbizmag.com. To order back issues ($9.99 each including postage) visit simplecirc.com/back_issues/alaska-business.
6 | April 2022
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U•nite verb: come or bring together for a common purpose or action
Thrive
verb: grow or develop well; prosper; flourish
As one, we can change the story of many. Thank you for your leadership and dedication. 2021 United Way of Anchorage Community Campaign Cabinet Campaign Chair John Sims ENSTAR Natural Gas Company Walt Bass ConocoPhillips Alaska
Michael Huston Northrim Bank
Andy Pennington Anchorage Daily News
Bill Bishop Alaska Communications
Lori McCaffrey KeyBank
Chris Wilson Subway of Alaska
Joseph C. Everhart Wells Fargo
Daniel Mitchell CIRI United Way of Anchorage
FROM THE EDITOR
E
arlier this year I ventured away from my desk to attend two different but equally fantastic events. In February it was economist Neal Fried’s presentation to the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Alaska, in which he talked about his economic forecast for 2022. For those who haven’t had the pleasure of hearing Fried speak, make sure you seize the next opportunity you have. He has a great sense of humor, a charismatic way of speaking, and a vast repository of knowledge about Alaska’s economy. His style of speaking was particularly well suited for the SMPS luncheon, which was a relatively small in-person affair with a streaming component. It allowed Fried to answer questions throughout the presentation, engaging with the audience while still covering the material he planned. About two weeks later, I was back at the Dena’ina center, attending the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation’s Economic Forecast Luncheon. This year marked its return to an in-person event after the onset of the pandemic and featured keynote speaker Richard W. Smith, FedEx president of the Americas and EVP of Global Support. I was among hundreds learning about Anchorage’s potential year, engaging along with the people who will actually build that future. It was refreshing to connect with a small group and sit as one in a crowd. Both forecasts were optimistic about the economy of Alaska in 2022, predicting job growth in almost all sectors. That optimism was reinforced at both events by the fact that we were all gathered there together: we weren’t just being told that there is light on the horizon—we felt it, surrounded physically by our peers. At the SMPS luncheon I happened to run into Tamás Deák, a principal at KPB Architects, who is one of my favorite sources of all time. He’s the kind of source that is so open and enthusiastic about his field that conversations with him can morph a so-so angle into an excellent article. Our interview for “Sustainable Design,” which ran in March 2018, still influences how I think about engineering and architecture. “In my view, sustainability is about stewardship,” Deák said in the 2018 interview. “Basically you inherit what's around you, you get it from your forebears, you take some responsibility to care for it, and then you pass it on.” Sustainability then, to him, is a part of every project, whether it’s billed as “sustainable” or not: “It’s innate… you always look at it.” I’ve reflected many times since then about how I can approach my own work with a similar mindset—searching out how a project can reach its best potential—whatever my specific goals may be. It’s always wonderful in April to focus on jobs in Alaska, because it gives us an opportunity to focus on people, and it is our connections with each other that form us. In-person interviews, small luncheons, and large conventions all present opportunities to connect, and the pandemic has highlighted how critical those opportunities truly are.
VOLUME 38, #4 EDITORIAL STAFF Managing Editor Tasha Anderson 907-257-2907 tanderson@akbizmag.com
Editor/Staff Writer Scott Rhode 907-257-2902 srhode@akbizmag.com
Social Media Carter Damaska 907-257-2910 enews@akbizmag.com
Editorial Assistant Emily Olsen 907-257-2914 emily@akbizmag.com
PRODUCTION STAFF Art Director Monica Sterchi-Lowman 907-257-2916 design@akbizmag.com
Design & Art Production Fulvia Lowe production@akbizmag.com
Website Manager Taylor Sanders webmanager@akbizmag.com
Photo Contributor Kerry Tasker
BUSINESS STAFF President Billie Martin VP & General Manager Jason Martin 907-257-2905 jason@akbizmag.com
VP Sales & Marketing Charles Bell 907-257-2909 cbell@akbizmag.com
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Tasha Anderson Managing Editor, Alaska Business
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FINANCE
20th Century Babies, 21st Century Customers How financial technology caters to Millennials By Tracy Barbour
10 | April 2022
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
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n November, Credit Union 1 (CU1) opened Financial Center South near the Dimond Center mall in Anchorage to give its membercustomers a new way to bank. The sleek, self-service facility has virtual teller machines, multiple advisory suites, open-concept consultation areas, a coffee lounge—and no teller lines. “It’s the cutting-edge of ‘branch’ innovation in our state,” says Interim President/CEO and Chief Technology Officer Mark Burgess. Members of CU1 can use video machines to complete routine transactions, or if they have more complicated needs, they can tap on the screen to get assistance from a local employee, also by video.
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“These machines free up in-branch employees for non-routine service to personally consult on questions or be readily available to facilitate more complex financial arrangements,” Burgess says. Financial Center South combines elements of traditional and virtual banking. It’s emblematic of how CU1, First National Bank Alaska (FNBA), KeyBank, and other institutions are using technology to connect with their largest customer demographic group.
Today’s Thirty-somethings Millennials, the generation of Americans born between 1982 and 2000, represent about 83 million adults and more than one quarter of the nation’s population, according to the US Census Bureau. They are the country’s largest living adult generation—and the group continues to grow as young immigrants expand its ranks. Individuals in this age bracket are also more diverse than the generations that precede them; they are more likely to be foreign-born and speak a language other than English at home.
Today, the Millennial generation is the fastest-growing customer base for financial institutions, and many banks and credit unions are adjusting the way they do business to cater to their banking predilections. For example, when Millennials want to conduct a transaction, they expect to be able to do it quickly and smoothly through a single channel. They generally prefer not to travel to a physical branch, spend time on hold waiting for a customer service representative, or even log onto a financial institution’s website. Research indicates that Millennials want to complete banking activities with minimal fuss, and in the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred more Millennials toward mobile and online banking, according to the American Banker Association (ABA). Since the pandemic began, 55 percent of Millennial customers have used apps on phones or other mobile devices as their top options for managing their bank accounts—an increase from 45 percent pre-pandemic, according to ABA’s October 2021 survey “How Americans Bank: Before and During COVID.” For the survey, Millennials are
Credit Union 1's Financial Center South. Credit Union 1
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No tellers here. CU1's Financial Center South is designed to bring a "tech touch" to in-person interactions. Credit Union 1
defined as individuals born between 1981 and 1996.
Catering to Millennials Millennials constitute about 12 percent of the customer base at FNBA—and they’re growing in number, according to Dustin Hofeling, the bank’s senior vice president and IT systems and support director. “We proudly provide secure and convenient digital solutions our younger customers want and expect while offering a personalized in-person experience to meet their evolving financial needs,” Hofeling says. Over the past ten years, FNBA has seen a substantial shift from traditional online banking to mobile banking. In the banking world, “online banking” typically means using a personal computer and a web browser, whereas “mobile banking” equates to a smartphone app. “Although this trend started with the Millennial group, we see customers of all ages shift to a mobile-only preference,” Hofeling says. “In rising to the challenge, we have taken great strides to develop mobile apps for Apple and Android platforms. Furthermore, we ensure that all of our customer-facing online 14 | April 2022
portals are mobile-responsive. In other words, it is essential for us that the user interface is ‘painted’ to fit any sized screen (from a smartphone to a tablet to a traditional browser).” Extending those digital accommodations into the physical world is even more important for CU1, where 32 percent of its nearly 95,000 members are in the Millennial age range. As Alaska’s only statecharted credit union, 100 percent of CU1’s members must either live or work in Alaska; therefore, according to CU1 Director of Corporate Communications Jessica Gallagher, “This 32 percent is uniquely reflective of an Alaskan demographic.” The Millennial segment at CU1 favors transactions, products, and services that are quick and accessible from anywhere. “We may not have physical branches in every community in Alaska,” Gallagher says, “but our members can access their funds and improve their financial future from anywhere, thanks to our focus on electronic services.” Technology is also a critical piece of today’s loan application process, which credit union members have come to expect. “If you’re ignoring that expectation, you’re not going to delight Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
Nearly one-third of CU1's 95,000 customers are Millennial age, a higher proportion than most other banks. Credit Union 1
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Alaska Business
April 2022 | 15
“We proudly provide secure and convenient digital solutions our younger customers want and expect while offering a personalized in-person experience to meet their evolving financial needs.” Dustin Hofeling Senior Vice President and IT Systems and Support Director First National Bank Alaska
16 | April 2022
your Millennial audiences in particular,” she says. “We take technology a step further by never settling for just the basic services that Alaskans need. We want our tech services to truly meet our members where they’re at in their financial journey—and that means continually innovating and improving what we offer.”
Options Geared for Millennials Members still want the option of inperson visits at times, Gallagher says, so the credit union has brought a “tech touch” to those interactions as well. The virtual teller machines at CU1’s Financial Center South allow for a self-serve, tech-forward experience. Help from an on-screen expert is just a tap away. Customers can use the virtual teller machines like a typical ATM, or they can tap the screen to speak with an expert at CU1’s eService Center. “Millennials are certainly more comfortable with technology than earlier generations, but sometimes that personal touch and human interaction is also highly valued,” Burgess says. “Video interactions are the perfect blend of these two
worlds. Beyond virtual teller machines, our members can access video appointments with a CU1 expert at any time through our online appointment scheduler, and particularly these days, those video appointments are extremely appreciated.” FNBA is also leveraging technology to streamline the loan application process for its customers. The bank provides secure loan origination tools on FNBAlaska.com, where customers can apply for consumer and mortgage loans anytime—which is a convenience everyone can appreciate no matter their age. In late 2021, FNBA launched a new Mortgage Loan Servicing Center, an online portal that provides additional functionality customers have requested. It offers enhanced abilities that include setting up automatic payments from any account, a dashboard with quick access to history and electronic documents, and easy-to-follow reporting capabilities. “We continually enhance our underwriting process and offer new automation tools to create a convenient and secure experience for our customers,” Hofeling says. “Evolving
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technology enables us to continue to provide Millennials the local service they are looking for without visiting a branch.” The bank also offers Zelle, a cashless payment solution. Zelle is quicker than other third-party payment products like Venmo or Cash App, Hofeling says. “If you send money to a friend, they immediately see that money in their bank account,” he explains. “In this sense, Zelle is faster than a traditional wire, especially when using First National’s mobile banking app. Services like Zelle help us keep pace with Millennial banking needs.” KeyBank, which operates fourteen branches in Alaska, also offers Zelle and other digital tools to help customers of all ages manage their finances. The bank’s free EasyUp option allows users to pay down debt with each KeyBank debit card purchase and automatically build a savings account. Other digital options from KeyBank include mobile app, mobile deposit, and mobile alerts.
Changes in banking for today's thirty-somethings become "the old way" for the next generation. Credit Union 1
Enhancing Technology Beyond South Anchorage, CU1 is relying on technology to reach
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Alaska Business
April 2022 | 17
“Millennials are certainly more comfortable with technology than earlier generations, but sometimes that personal touch and human interaction is also highly valued… Video interactions are the perfect blend of these two worlds. Beyond virtual teller machines, our members can access video appointments with a CU1 expert at any time through our online appointment scheduler, and particularly these days, those video appointments are extremely appreciated.” Mark Burgess Interim President/CEO and Chief Technology Officer Credit Union 1
18 | April 2022
Millennials in the most remote parts of Alaska. “This state is widespread, as we all know, and that means some areas of Alaska are underserved when it comes to financial services,” Burgess says. “But at places like Credit Union 1, where we aren’t afraid to step beyond brick-and-mortar facilities, we aren’t limited by the road system or miles between our members any longer. Any Alaskan can join us because MARK BURGESS our technology Credit Union 1 bridges the gap. We can reach any corner of Alaska with the loans people need for a new snowmachine, home repair, travel Outside, et cetera.” Millennial or not, Burgess says, every generation needs to know their financial institution has their back: “When we can’t be together in person— whether due to personal logistics or just personal preference of younger generations—technology makes it possible to maintain a really close and positive relationship as our members grow through all stages of life.”
Changing the Banking Business In many ways, Millennial customers have been instrumental in altering the way financial institutions do business. For example, twenty or more years ago, banking transactions were conducted almost entirely in branches. Although branches still play an important role, banks and credit unions are looking at digital platforms as a parallel to brick-and-mortar banking. “This mindset helps drive both the DUSTIN HOFELING investment and FNBA resources needed to grow this portfolio of products,” says FNBA’s Hofeling. “The term ‘mobile-only’ comes to mind,” he adds. “We are focused on creating and promoting a mobileonly banking environment for our customers. We closely benchmark
our digital offerings through strategic planning, reviewing feedback, and looking at ways to grow and expand this solution set.” As FNBA engages and expands its Millennial customer base, it will continue to foster and implement their feedback, Hofeling says. “In fact, over the next several months, we are excited to implement significant digital and electronic enhancements. Announcements of these changes will be forthcoming very soon.” Millennials are also affecting business processes at CU1. This year marks the credit union’s 70th year of serving Alaskans (originally established in 1952 as the Anchorage Teachers Federal Credit Union), and its business processes and offerings have changed significantly in those years. “Many of our members remember the days of paper “drafts”— aka checks—but we’ve also seen our members embrace the change from cash to plastic debit and credit cards,” Gallagher says. “Today, JESSICA GALLAGHER we’re offering Credit Union 1 digital wallet and tap-to-pay with a whole new level of convenience, and Alaskans welcome those changes as well.” For any technology to be successful, CU1 has to prioritize communication to ensure its members can ask questions, get help, and grow their comfort with a particular service. “But again and again, we see this happen, and our members’ financial lives improve for the change,” she says. To that end, CU1 continues to prioritize the leading edge of technology, according to Burgess. It is always on the lookout for trends and future possibilities to stay ahead of what the next generation—customers born in the 21st Century—will demand. “We want to be building trust and guiding people to the best options for their financial journey—not waiting for gaps to appear,” he says. “Across any age group, this ensures that we’re meeting our goal in this state to lead change, uplift others, and value people in everything we do."
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Alaska Business
April 2022 | 19
T R A N S P O R TAT I O N
The Way the T Wind Blows Airlines evolve to meet
customer needs, changing economics By Vanessa Orr 20 | April 2022
urbulence in Alaska’s aviation industry has forced some course corrections in the last couple of years. In-state air carriers have gone through a lot of changes to meet the needs of passengers, cope with supply chain issues, and adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The pandemic really changed the dynamics of aviation, especially on the 135 side,” says Dan Knesek, vice president of operations for Grant Aviation. Part 135 of Federal Aviation Regulations applies to helicopters, air ambulances, and commuter planes that carry fewer than ten passengers on at least five round trips per week. Part 121 covers larger scheduled airlines, while private general aviation pilots are under Part 91. Knesek explains, “When Ravn filed bankruptcy [in April 2020], they were operating a 121 and a 135 program, and all of a sudden, smaller carriers in the 135 world had to band together to make sure that the citizens of Alaska who had previously been served by Ravn had other options.” The result was a regional division among four remaining carriers:
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Northern Pacific Airways
We Call Alaska Home.
Grant for Southwest Alaska, Bering Air in Northwest, and Wright Air Service in the northeastern Interior. Ryan Air also picked up the slack for cargo deliveries out of Bethel and Aniak. “We’ve all evolved and carry strength within our regions,” says Grant Aviation President and CEO Robert Kelley. “It is better for the state and its communities to not have one large carrier over a majority of the state that has a significant portion of market share. If they fail, it creates a massive hole in the system.” The energy to grow and the resilience to stay airborne remains evident in the COVID-19 era, with expanded airline partnerships, restructured routes, and value-added services to encourage more people to fly. www.akbizmag.com
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during fishing season,” he says. “We will have more aircraft availability for charter work in the King Salmon and Dillingham markets because our partnership will enable us to be less duplicative in service.”
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Northern Pacific Airways
22 | April 2022
Friendly Merger Grant Aviation is securing its market share, not by expanding statewide but by consolidating in its region. Grant acquired Tanana Air Service and Shannon’s Air Taxi at the end of 2021. “Tanana, Shannon’s, and Grant all want what’s best for Bristol Bay communities, and this agreement helps us do just that,” Kelley says. “The combined companies are now able to provide better service to the region.” According to Knesek, part of the reason for Grant’s decision to merge with Tanana and Shannon’s Air Taxi was to meet the needs of customers affected by Ravn's 2020 bankruptcy. As part of the transaction, Grant absorbed the two companies’ assets, and all of Tanana’s employees were invited to become Grant Aviation employees, including the owners. “About 90 percent joined us, though a few took positions with other companies,” says Kelley. There are numerous advantages to the merger, according to Knesek. “One of the things that the merger will allow is better fleet utilization and better scheduling, especially
Grant is in the process of adding those business assets to its FAA operations certificate, which should be completed prior to fishing season. “In the meantime, we have been able to move assets into the market through our other operations to make sure that Bristol Bay communities are well served until these assets are added,” says Knesek. All of Tanana and Shannon’s customers are eligible to join Grant
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Aviation’s Quyana Rewards program, which allows passengers to earn free travel with no expiration dates by accumulating paid flight segments. In addition to passengers, these regional airlines also carry mail, which is an important component of life in western Alaska. “It is the supply chain, and people depend on it for prescriptions, groceries, and supplies,” Knesek says. “A tremendous amount of volume goes through the bypass mail system in Alaska, and 135 carriers are the ones who deliver the last mile of that supply chain.” While most regional carriers have upgraded their equipment to better serve customers, many are frustrated that the state’s infrastructure has not kept up. “One of the ways in which Part 135 aircraft has evolved is that many of us have made huge investments on safety equipment in our aircrafts, including new avionics and autopilots,” says Kelley. “We’re spending millions on upgraded equipment but cannot utilize it to its full potential because we don’t have the support of the federal
government, including the FAA, DOT, and the National Weather Service.” “Alaska lacks a lot in the form of aviation infrastructure; what you see in the Lower 48, you do not see up here,” adds Knesek. “For example, a number of carriers have the equipment to fly IFR [instrument flight rules] but can’t because there is not a weather reporting station that allows you to use it. “While it seems that the funding has been made available to put the system in, there are not the funds necessary to maintain and operate it,” he explains.
Unalaska Express The challenges of the Alaska aviation market are not discouraging a new player from entering. Aleutian Airways is launching nonstop service between Anchorage and Unalaska/Dutch Harbor using Saab 2000 aircraft. The project is a joint venture between longtime investor Wexford Capital, Juneau-based Alaska Seaplanes, and McKinley Alaska Private Investment. According to an August 2021 press release, this service is in answer to customer request.
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Alaska Business
April 2022 | 23
Grant’s large fleet of Cessna 208B Grand Caravans serves communities throughout the Y-K Delta, the Kenai Peninsula, Bristol Bay, and the Aleutians. Grant Aviation
“One of the ways in which Part 135 aircraft has evolved is that many of us have made huge investments on safety equipment in our aircrafts, including new avionics and autopilots… We’re spending millions on upgraded equipment but cannot utilize it to its full potential because we don’t have the support of the federal government, including the FAA, DOT, and the National Weather Service.” Robert Kelley, President/CEO, Grant Aviation
“We have listened closely to input from the Unalaska community and business leaders, and we’re building Aleutian Airways in response to their needs,” says Kent Craford, co-owner of the joint venture. Craford, who is the co-owner and president of Alaska Seaplanes, a Juneau-based commuter airline, will be marketing the flights under the Aleutian Airways brand. Sterling Airways, a Part 121 carrier in Florida and portfolio company of Wexford Capital, will operate the flights. 24 | April 2022
“With a combination of experience, equipment, and financial wherewithal, Aleutian Airways will be well positioned to be the premier airline of Southwest Alaska,” says Wayne Heller, president and CEO of Sterling Airways, adding that the aircraft will be flown by former PenAir Saab 2000 pilots who have signed on to join the Aleutian team.
Touch and Go PenAir used to be Alaska’s secondlargest Part 135 airline and even
expanded to Lower 48 routes in 2016. A year later, PenAir filed for bankruptcy, and its flights were taken over by Ravn Alaska in 2019. Ravn itself folded not long after, due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. Assets of Ravn’s Part 135 operations were auctioned off, and the Part 121 airline (including PenAir) was sold to FLOAT Shuttle, a California company with one airplane. FLOAT’s founder Rob McKinney, now Ravn Alaska’s CEO, was able to resume flights in November 2020, and that’s just a start.
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Northern Pacific unveiled black and silver livery for its growing fleet of secound hand 757's.
Northern Pacific Airways
Northern Pacific Airways
“Right now, we are working on building the Ravn fleet,” McKinney says. “We currently have eleven planes, and we’re looking at bringing on a fifty-seat Dash 8-300 later this summer.” While the company did trim back one route to Dillingham, McKinney says the rest of its routes are in full service, and they are also working on bringing the Ravn Connect brand back for Part 135 service. “It won’t be all over the state, but we are looking at bringing back smaller aircraft with better frequency to more destinations,” he says, adding that the first two aircraft in this program will probably begin flying in late summer. Ravn has also introduced FlyCoin, a completely different type of loyalty rewards program. “As loyalty programs go, they are traditionally pretty similar— you get one point or one mile for some undefined unit,” McKinney says. “Those miles expire, they have blackout dates, and the biggest limitation is that there are very few things people can do with them other than buy future travel. “We asked ourselves how we could improve on this and realized that if we issued actual cryptocurrency, people could trade it on cryptocurrency www.akbizmag.com
exchanges to use anywhere,” he adds. Ravn is currently in talks with Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to discuss if merchants at the airport would be able to accept FlyCoin. “That way, if people wanted to buy a sandwich or a massage in the terminal, they could use FlyCoin, which makes it a valueadded proposition,” says McKinney. Ravn also partners with the Alaska Airlines mileage program to provide traditional miles, so the option is available for passengers to use either. “While it may seem difficult and scary at first, we will show passengers how to earn it, where it can be used, and how to spend and trade it,” says McKinney, adding that the airlines will also create virtual FlyCoin wallets for passengers. “We’re excited to get it into as many hands as possible to encourage quick adoption.” While customers can earn FlyCoin now, they will not be able to redeem it for a few more months until the airline works out all of the details to make it usable on cryptocurrency exchanges. FlyCoin is not currently listed on any exchange.
Over the Top FlyCoin will also be available on Ravn’s baby sister, Northern Pacific Airways, the international carrier that McKinney hopes to start carrying passengers this year. Northern Pacific recently took delivery of a Boeing 757, the first of a fleet that will fly between Asia and the Lower 48 using Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport as a hub. Alaska Business
“We are uniquely located, as transpacific flights go over the top of Anchorage anyway, so we want to encourage passengers to land here instead of in San Francisco, et cetera, where it is easier to clear customs and immigration and there are fewer crowds,” says McKinney. “We also believe that we can offer these flights at lower cost, making us the more affordable solution.” McKinney hopes to encourage passengers to stay in the state for a few days rather than 90-minute layovers. For that, customs and immigration would have to re-establish a permanent presence at ANC’s North Terminal, which has been mostly idle except for seasonal flights. However, the stateowned airport is launching a $6 million renovation to update its ‘90s-vintage décor, thanks to financing from airlines including Northern Pacific. Northern Pacific is in the process of adding a new airplane to its fleet roughly every six weeks. In addition to the former American Airlines planes bought from a desert storage yard, the company is in talks with Icelandair to add three more aircraft in the near future. McKinney’s goal is to have Northern Pacific up and running in fourth quarter 2022, pending government approval. "In business, you're either moving forward or you're moving backward," McKinney says. "You can't really tread water." And in the airline business, as in aerodynamics itself, moving forward is the only way to stay aloft. April 2022 | 25
E D U C AT I O N
Think Globally, Teach Electronically UAF eCampus offers a
climate course to a worldwide classroom
UAF
By Rachael Kvapil
W
ith the click of a red “Enroll” button, anyone with internet access— and who can read and understand English—becomes a student of top experts in climate change based in Fairbanks. The button is on the website edx.org, host of massive open online courses (MOOCs) offered by institutions of higher learning around the world. Berkeley, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are charter members of edX, and so is UAF. For its eCampus initiative, UAF chose edX as its platform for a dozen MOOCs, including two sets of three courses that can, for a relatively small fee, lead to professional certificates in geographic information systems (GIS) and sports business management. One of the newest courses, launched last November, is Climate Change in Arctic Environments. Over four weeks, students watch video presentations from UAF’s world-class climate modelers, biologists, and social scientists to understand the effects of global warming on the atmosphere, land, water, animals, and people of the Arctic region. All that—plus climate
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modeling tools and links to additional materials—free of charge. For an extra a $139, students have access to graded assessments toward a verified certificate issued by edX upon successful completion.
Creating a Comprehensive Course UAF scientists have researched climate change since the late ‘90s through the International Arctic Research Center (IARC). “The warning signals really started showing in the 1990s but have accelerated since 2000,” says John Walsh, IARC chief scientist. “What is happening in the Arctic is a preview to what will happen elsewhere if we don’t get it under control.” Given the expertise of the UAF research faculty and the amount of data accumulated over the years, the IARC communications group figured a MOOC made perfect sense. Walsh emphasizes that the instructors selected for this course are the experts in their field globally. He says these scientists have dedicated their entire careers to studying the Arctic and
the effects of climate change. They provide decision-makers with data, and their reports inform discussions about tackling climate change worldwide. As co-lead instructor, Walsh worked with IARC’s Alaska Climate Specialist Rick Thoman to outline the course. In the videos, Walsh and Thoman introduce each topic and the experts who provide specific instruction. UAF enlisted thirty experts to produce 10-minute video lessons and assist with additional content for the course. Developing the course took longer than most people might expect, Walsh says. From the original proposal in early 2021 until production wrapped in October, the team took about nine months to define the syllabus, identify speakers, draft talking points, ensure that presentations didn’t overlap, film the modules, and complete the design of online activities and reading materials in each module. Unlike a syllabus where the instructor can improvise throughout a semester, a MOOC is entirely frontloaded and finished before students ever show up. Walsh attributes the smooth development of the course to Mike
DeLue, IARC’s science communicator. In addition to assisting Walsh and Thoman with organizing the course structure, DeLue also managed the input from experts and its implementation into the course. DeLue worked with eCampus, the UAF team responsible for the university’s online education program, to create content for each module and ensure deadlines were met. He describes his primary role as the touchpoint between the professors and researchers who were producing the content and the eCampus team who had the expertise in how to build this kind of course, structure it well, and handle both video production and course design. DeLue faced a few challenges during development. He says subject matter experts are extraordinarily busy people, so they graciously took the time to format their research and information in an accessible way. However, some experts were unfamiliar with the MOOC approach. Revising scripts and scheduling video shoots also created obstacles at times. Since the goal of the course is to educate the broadest possible audience,
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April 2022 | 27
Prajna Lindgren, left, with the Geophysical Institute, and Melanie Engram with the Water and Environmental Research Center, demonstrate the release of methane from frozen ponds. The eCampus course Climate Change in Arctic Enviroments is built on such work. UAF
“This course really expanded my understanding of climate change… It’s not just melting sea ice, but about vegetation, food, and the migration pattern of animals. There are so many different changes, and the impact is far-reaching.” Sean Eagan, Student, UAF eCampus
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producers often had to find the right balance between scientific detail and accessible material. “Flexibility is the key in these respects,” says DeLue. “Considering the context both from the course design and learner sides was critical. Support from the individual experts, the eCampus team, and Rick and John also helped smooth out any bumps and motivate us all through the lengthy coursedevelopment process.”
The Learning Experience “The Climate Change in Arctic Environments course complements the other eleven courses currently available from UAF on the edX platform,” says Sean Holland, media and innovation manager at UAF eCampus. In addition to the GIS and sports management certificate programs, those eCampus offerings include the courses Arctic Security Fundamentals; Salmon, People, and Place; and One Health: A Ten-Thousand-Year-Old View into the Future—the core of a nascent Arctic studies curriculum. Holland estimates three to five hours per week for coursework and homework. Since the course is self-
paced, each student's due dates are individually customized. As of the start of the 2022 spring semester, 848 students have enrolled in Climate Change and Arctic Environments. Juneau student Sean Eagan says he took the course because of a personal interest in how Alaska has changed over the years. He found the class more fun than he expected. Though initially skeptical of an online course, he said the edX platform is easy to learn and user-friendly. “This course really expanded my understanding of climate change,” says Eagan. “It’s not just melting sea ice, but about vegetation, food, and the migration pattern of animals. There are so many different changes, and the impact is far-reaching.” Climate is changing in the polar regions more rapidly than in the rest of the world, DeLue says, but changes will eventually ripple through ecosystems across the globe. Glacial and sea ice melt contributes to rising ocean levels, which alters wind patterns that affect weather elsewhere. “Mid-latitude weather in the most recent years has had extreme cold waves and droughts,” says Walsh.
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April 2022 | 29
Rick Thoman (background left) and John Walsh (right) record video introductions for Climate Change in Arctic Environments. UAF
“For us, the impacts of climate change are immediate,” DeLue adds. “Having the best information and the necessary background knowledge can help us all adapt and plan for the future.”
The Final Exam Students who enroll in the course shouldn’t feel intimidated by the complicated math equations or other scientific material, Eagan says. The instructors adequately explain all the concepts and how they apply to climate change. UAF released the course on the edX platform to reach a broad audience. Both UAF and edX share similar goals for online content; one of edX’s mission statements is, "Increase access to high-quality education for everyone, everywhere." edX has a global user base of tens of millions of learners from every country in the world. To ensure 30 | April 2022
that the course is accessible worldwide, the lectures and corresponding material have been translated into Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese, and Zhōngwén Chinese. Thoman says the value of Climate Change in Arctic Environments is that it provides an "up to the minute" overview of what's happening in the Arctic across multiple disciplines. He says the course is more than a "textbook" review, and students hear directly from experts in various related fields while obtaining additional resources for a deeper understanding of the material. “I hope one of the big takeaways is that more people understand that our changing climate has consequences far beyond poor conditions for polar bears,” says Thoman. “From the question of ‘What's for dinner tonight?’, concerns for indigenous communities, and health impacts from
wildfire smoke to increased industrial shipping and national security concerns, our changing environment has caused and will continue to drive rapid changes in the lives of peoples all around the Arctic.” Walsh says he hopes students completing the course realize that changes in the Arctic aren’t confined to the polar region, which could spur them to take action. Fully reversing climate change would take more than 100 years, he says, meaning most people won’t live long enough to see it happen in their lifetime. However, people can limit further damage and stabilize the Arctic if they take drastic action to reach net carbon neutrality as soon as possible. “The goal isn’t so much to get back to where things were,” says Walsh, “as much as making sure things don’t get much worse.”
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April 2022 | 31
E N V I R O N M E N TA L
Chasing ‘The Blob’
The aftermath of a marine eco-monster By Isaac Stone Simonelli
T
he 1958 creature feature The Blob ends (spoiler alert for a movie older than Alaska statehood) with the titular monster frozen in its slimy tracks and airlifted to the North Pole, not dead but at least defeated. “As long as the Arctic stays cold,” quips Steve McQueen’s character. Well, about that…. A blob menaced the Gulf of Alaska in recent years, and the marine ecosystem has yet to fully recover. The Blob is what researchers called the warm water anomaly that persisted in the region from 2014 to 2016. The event was followed by several smaller warm water anomalies in subsequent years. While some elements of the ecosystem have returned to pre-Blob levels, marine heatwaves that triggered the event are expected to increase in severity, duration, and frequency, with unknown consequences for the North Pacific food web and Alaska fisheries. The Blob was tied to huge seabird die-offs, whale mortality events, and declines in fish populations, such as Pacific cod and Chinook salmon, explains Rob Suryan, the Recruitment,
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Energetics, and Coastal Assessment Program Manager at NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “The Gulf seems to be in an alternative state at this point,” Suryan says. “It hasn’t fully recovered to preheatwave conditions, and it’s not in what we’ve seen in prior conditions, but that doesn’t say it still won’t.” Because the Gulf of Alaska is an enormous region—591,900 square surface miles—the metrics of recovery look very different at the Western Gulf near the Alaska Peninsula, across to Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, and even Southeast Alaska. “There are some examples where physical and biological metrics have returned back to baseline, but there are others that have not,” Suryan says. The waters around the Kenai Peninsula, stretching to the Copper River Delta, continue to suffer from a more sustained impact from The Blob than much of the rest of the region.
“The heatwave was very unique, at least in our hindcast, in the sense that it was a multi-year event in which many organisms were affected by warm temperatures,” says Russell Hopcroft, chair of the Department of Oceanography at UAF. “And it was not just the summers; these were temperatures that stayed persistent in the system even during the winters.”
A Simmering Stew Whether or not marine heatwaves are good or bad is all about perspective and colored by cultural, economic, and societal values, explains Hopcroft. “You’re going to see winners and losers as the climate changes,” Hopcroft says. “Some species lose and
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some species that used to be minor components in the ecosystem do well— and depending on their economic value, we as a society make a decision on whether that’s better or worse.” For example, if an ecological regime shift in the Gulf of Alaska suddenly drops the salmon and pollock fisheries to historic lows but, at the same time, Albacore tuna increases, is that a better or worse system? From an economic point of view, Hopcroft says, the answer depends on tuna harvests and how they help balance the books. However, warmer waters are generally less productive. A large part of this is because the warmer the water, the less dissolved oxygen it can hold. Most fish are cold blooded, so in warmer waters they must use more energy for respiration. “That means a bigger percentage of your food goes to those basic costs of living processes and less of it is available for making you grow,” Hopcroft says. Because of The Blob, much of the productivity of the Gulf of Alaska collapsed in 2015, says Nate Mantua, the leader of the salmon ecology team at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center. “That's why you saw things like the Pacific cod stock have a recruitment failure,” Mantua explains, “and maybe even lost older-aged animals because there just wasn’t a lot of food, and warmer water increases the metabolic rates for cold-water fish, so they need to eat more than they did in a cold year.” Not only does warm water require most species targeted by the Alaska commercial fishing fleet to spend more energy foraging—potentially increasing the amount of time they are targeted by other predators—but it also limits the amount of food available in the food web. “The water column needs to be mixed because nutrients that promote phytoplankton growth near the surface [where sunlight penetrates] become depleted, and there are more nutrients down below,” Suryan says. Warming in the Gulf of Alaska hampers mixing in the water column by creating more freshwater from glacial melt and increased rainfall, which is www.akbizmag.com
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April 2022 | 33
WHAT THE BLOB HELPS AND HURTS
C
hanges in temperature affect every environment, aiding or adversely affecting different flora and fauna within it. The Blob, a warm-water phenomenon off the coast of Alaska, was no exception. According to “Most Recent Data Shows Gulf of Alaska Marine Ecosystem Slow to Return to Pre-Heatwave State” by NOAA Fisheries, the “Pacific marine heatwave”— their much more scientific name for the Blob—had a negative effect on phytoplankton, intertidal organisms, forage fish, adult groundfish, and some commercial fish, “especially Pacific cod and sockeye salmon.” But other commercial fish had positive trends while the Blob set up shop in Alaska, including chum salmon, sablefish, coho salmon, and pollock. The report states that phytoplankton bloom timing and size, forage fish growth and condition, and at-sea densities of highly mobile seabirds had no “detectable” response to the increased temperatures, but that lack of response to a large heatwave still provides “important information about resilience in the marine environment.” Though the tendency may be to look at such data as good or bad, ultimately the data are beneficial. As the report states, “Understanding how marine ecosystems respond to cyclical, linear, or random environmental change, or their additive effects, is a key challenge in marine ecology and resource management.”
SOURCE: NOAA Fisheries, "Most Recent Data Shows Gulf of Alaska Marine Ecosystem Slow to Return to Pre-Heatwave State"
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lighter than saltwater, causing it to stay near the surface. “More freshwater helps strengthen that stratification, making it more difficult to break down,” Suryan says. “Heatwaves also warm the surface waters and can create a stronger, stratified water column… Increased water column stratification is one of the predictions of global warming.”
Cycles of Disaster The annual difference in water temperatures in Alaska depends on various factors, including large climate patterns, such as El Niño and La Niña. The Blob itself was strengthened toward the end of its reign by the warming effects of El Niño, while La Niña is currently helping to suppress water temperatures along Alaska’s coastline. “We also see a lot of year-to-year variation because of changes in wind and weather patterns and ocean currents,” Mantua says, noting that within the last six months there has been at least temporary cooling within a few hundred miles of shore. “The temperatures have dropped a lot from where they were from the 2014 to 2021 period… It's not clear how long that'll last,” he says. While nearshore marine ecosystems are getting relief from rising water temperatures, offshore waters have not followed suit. “The North Pacific as a whole is exceptionally warm,” Mantua says. “There is a broad area south of the Aleutians and far offshore where the highest number of marine heatwave events have been.” These offshore areas are important feeding zones for salmon from all around the Pacific, as well as for steelhead trout. “Persistent marine heatwaves have been frequent and disruptive to marine life and fisheries in the North Pacific. Especially in the last eight, nine years,” Mantua says. NOAA Fisheries has numerous recent fishery disaster declarations related to these heatwaves, with six of the eight recent ones connected to Gulf of Alaska fish stocks. These included Copper River Chinook and sockeye salmon fisheries in 2018 and in 2020, Prince William Sound salmon fisheries in 2020, and Pacific cod in 2020.
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“Helping communities to bounce back from the impacts of fishery disasters is essential, and we are working to ensure there is relief coming for impacted Alaskans,” says US Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “Disasters like these, which impact multiple fisheries across Alaska, illustrate how vital sustainable fisheries are to our economy at not only the local level but for the economic health of our nation’s blue economy.”
“Persistent marine heatwaves have been frequent and disruptive to marine life and fisheries in the North Pacific. Especially in the last eight, nine years.” Nate Mantua, Salmon Ecology Team Leader, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Eat or Be Eaten With more than 100 years of ocean temperature measurements, scientists have a respectable picture of changes through known climate cycles. “The amount of heat that's in the oceans has been increasing. It's one of the really clear indications of global warming,” Mantua says. “Ninety percent of the excess heat trapped by the atmosphere, because of the increasing strength of the greenhouse effect, is ending up in the ocean.” Hopcroft points out that, according to nearly all published literature about marine heatwaves, the increase in magnitude and frequency is a direct consequence of anthropogenic causes—that is, humans. “We're going to see our cold, icy waters of the Gulf of Alaska become more like what we see in the Lower 48,” Hopcroft says. While a single marine heatwave is unlikely to shake up in the food web to the scale that it would be considered a regime shift, more persistent changes in the frequency of the events could spark the change. “Every critter in the ocean is playing this game of eat or be eaten—grow fast to get out of these windows where they’re somebody else's food,” Mantua says. In a regime shift, who is best at the game changes dramatically, reshuffling various levels of the food web. “The energy in the system is just going to go through different paths,” Mantua explains. Suryan notes that during The Blob it was very clear that the energy in the Gulf of Alaska system was not being transmitted to the upper trophic levels, when big critters eat smaller critters. www.akbizmag.com
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April 2022 | 35
In 2020 scientists connected the Blob's presence to low numbers of Pacific cod larvae, juveniles, and adults, which resulted in reductions in annual catch limits for Pacific cod in 2018 and a fishery closure in 2020. NOAA Fisheries
“You’re going to see winners and losers as the climate changes… Some species lose and some species that used to be minor components in the ecosystem do well— and depending on their economic value, we as a society make a decision on whether that’s better or worse.” Russell Hopcroft Chair UAF Department of Oceanography
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The Blob led to a decline in krill, capelin, and sand lance—three major forage species for transmitting energy up the food chain. “That's a pathway that's important for predators, including salmon, sea birds, and mammals,” Mantua says. Lack of energy making it to these top predators can lead to mortality events and, in the case of salmon, smaller fish returning to spawn, which could affect the tonnage of the commercial harvest and therefore the value of the fishery.
Fighting Back Less energy churning in the marine food web demands more energy expended by fishermen and processing plants to adapt. Even the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) must beware The Blob. “With Alaska fisheries being wildcapture only by law, they are always going to be subject to environmental impacts,” says John Burrows, the seafood technical director at ASMI. “The state and federal authorities managing these fisheries monitor a wide variety of environmental variables, and they are paying increasing attention to these temperature trends. For them, wellbeing of the fisheries is a top concern, but the health of the ecosystem and species is the priority.”
When there is a regime change, very little can be done but adapt. It’s happened before: prior to the ‘70s, the Gulf of Alaska harvest was dominated by shrimp and bottom feeding fish. That all changed, and fishermen were forced to change with it. One of the major theories for the cause of the ‘70s regime change was that more food was staying higher up in the water column instead of ending up on the seafloor, favoring salmon and other midwater fishes. “It's poorly understood because we didn't have enough of these longterm observation programs in place at the time,” Mantua says. “Scientists are inherently cautious about trying to talk about a system changing until it's pretty black and white. We can expect that things are going to be changing and maybe changing more rapidly in the future than what we've seen in the past.” In the movie The Blob, the final image is the words “The End” changing into a question mark. Uncertainty likewise surrounds the North Pacific blob: Where did it come from? Will it happen again? What will survive? Can it be stopped? Forewarned by the first Blob, researchers now know what to watch for, just in case of a sequel.
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ENGINEERING
The 2021 Engineer of the Year Winners The cream of Alaska’s
E
ngineers Week is a nationwide event founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1951; the goal of the weeklong focus on engineering is to ensure a “diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers.” The Alaska engineering community works toward this goal, in part, by recognizing local engineering professionals and projects that demonstrate the best that engineering can be. Below are brief descriptions of the deserving winners in Anchorage and Fairbanks.
engineering crop
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Fairbanks In Fairbanks, three engineers are honored for their accomplishments: Engineer of the Year, Young Engineer of the Year (35 years of age or younger), and Student Engineer of the Year. Engineer of the Year: Dr. Dan White is the UAF chancellor, a role he has fulfilled for five years, but he joined the faculty at UAF in 1995 as a professor of civil and environmental engineering. White has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Colorado College and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Washington University, as well as a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Notre Dame. According to nominator Jeff Putnam, “As an engineer, he represents our industry at a high level within Alaska and draws attention to the extraordinary capabilities that engineers have.” Over the course of his career, White Dan White has contributed UAF
more than fifty journal articles on professional and engineering related topics, such as the effect of climate change on water supply and quality. In addition to his professional accomplishments, White has invested heavily in the Fairbanks community, currently serving on boards for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, Great Northwest Athletics Conference, Alaska Sea Life Center, Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation, Cold Climate Housing Research Center, Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, and the UAF Foundation; in the past he served on boards for the Monroe Foundation, Catholic Schools of Fairbanks, Rotary International– Fairbanks Downtown Club, American Water Works Association, and the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center, among others. Young Engineer of the Year: Emily Winfield is the lead mechanical engineer for Design Alaska, which she joined in 2014. She was promoted in 2019 to lead the company’s mechanical engineering department, managing multi-discipline projects for the entire organization, an advancement that nominator
Chris Miller attributes to “hard work, mentoring, organizational abilities, and technical skills.” Winfield’s experience includes designing commercial plumbing, utilidor piping, medical gas, HVAC, hydronic, and seismic protection systems, and she has particular interest in environmentally sustainable design that can function efficiently in northern climates. She provided significant technical authorship for the Emily Winfield Corps of Engineers Design Alaska developed Guide for Resilient Thermal Energy Systems Design in Cold and Arctic Climates. According to Miller, “Emily’s advanced knowledge in current trends in technology in engineering and construction, Revit, and standards development allows her to keep the mechanical department continuously growing and producing projects that fit current industry standards.” Winfield has contributed to the professional community in numerous ways, including currently serving as
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the president of the Alaska Society of Professional Engineers–Fairbanks Chapter. She also participates in ElevateHER, a nationwide industry mentoring group that helps improve diversity in the engineering community. She is a graduate of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada with a degree in mechanical engineering, and prior to studying engineering she received a bachelor of arts from St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia. Student Engineer of the Year: Cate Whiting is an “exceptional engineering student,” says David Barnes who, along with Reggie Dallaire, nominated her for the award. Whiting completed her bachelor of science degree in civil engineering at UAF with a 3.98 GPA and is now Cate Whiting, pursuing a master of science degree, also in civil engineering at UAF. Barnes was her undergraduate advisor and one of her professors. “She worked hard to learn and understand the fundamental principles of the topics being taught and put extra effort into her assignments,” he states. “Of all the students I have advised, Cate stands out in both academics and outside academics.” In addition to her scholarly pursuits, Whiting participated on the volleyball team and served as team captain during her last season of competition. “She is a leader,” Barnes says. “I watched her many times rally her team from behind to win games, showing her skills as a leader.” Last summer, Whiting interned at RESPEC (formerly PDC Engineers), working on the Moose Creek Water Expansion project. Dallaire, who collaborated with her on the project, says her performance was “exemplary.” Her duties included onsite quality assurance/quality control of multiple crews and subcontractors. “Despite long fourteen-hour days spent on her feet and in all kinds of weather, Cate never complained, was always on-time, and ensured that each day’s site observation report was detailed and complete,” he says, continuing, “Cate’s optimism, hard work, thoroughness, and attention to detail guarantee her success after graduation and throughout her life.”
Anchorage In Anchorage, the community celebrates and Engineer of the Year, as well as a project of the year with the Engineering Excellence Award. Engineer of the Year: Olga Stewart is a senior environmental engineer for Geosyntec Consultants with more than thirteen years of experience with site characterization of contaminated sites, conceptual site model development and refinement, and site cleanup. She came to Alaska in 2007, seeking out adventure in her Saab hatchback, after earing her business degree in 2005 and materials science engineering degree in 2006, both from Lehigh University. In 2021, Stewart helped execute three large field projects: a PCB cleanup in Delta Junction, a heavy metals risk assessment on Ogliuga Island, and a fuel site characterization on Great Sitkin Island. She excels at utilizing data and data visualization to develop forwardthinking, strategic, risk-based remedial approaches for clients. Stewart says she’s had great mentors over her career and pays that for ward through outreach to students through programs such Olga Stewart as Dimond High’s Geosyntec Consultants Smart Girls Rock, Anchorage School
District’s Gifted Mentor Program, and SWE’s High School Scholarship Program. Engineering Excellence Award: RESPEC is the 2022 Engineering Excellence Award winner for its work addressing groundwater contamination at Moose Creek, which was discovered in the area in 2014. Poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are used for firefighting at airfields, had leaked from nearby Eielson Air Force Base. The US Air Force took immediate steps to address the problem and began treating 200 water systems, giving users granulated activated carbon filters. Since that solution was unsustainable long term, the Air Force looked at other options and determined to extend the water system from the City of North Pole at a cost of $37 million. RESPEC, working as PDC Engineers, estimated the water demands of Moose Creek, evaluated North Pole’s water system capacity, and reviewed land status to inform their expansion of the design. Then they designed well upgrades, a water treatment plant and pumphouse, a steel storage tank, and 18 miles of transmission and distributions mains. The project went from concept to submittal to permitting in fifteen months, and the project is slated for completion in 2022, allowing the residents of Moose Creek to once again have access to clean water.
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M A N U FAC T U R I N G
Hot Off A the Press How Alaska Printing is extending its
dam Williams has a plan: consolidate Anchorage’s printing industry and expand the services at his commercial print shop. It’s admittedly ambitious, especially considering that when he purchased Alaska Printing three years ago, he had zero experience in the industry. “I didn’t know anything about printing,” he says with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Isn’t printing dead?’” He quickly learned that it’s neither dead nor dying. Instead, printing
is evolving, and Williams intends to evolve with it. While the industry as a whole is growing, certain segments are driving that growth more than others. The label and packaging services segment, which includes product labels and package design (think boxes emblazoned with company logos), is forecast to grow 3 percent annually. Traditional printing services, by comparison, is projected to grow more slowly, at 1 percent to 2 percent annually.
reach
Kerry Tasker
By Amy Newman
42 | April 2022
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
Williams’ consolidation plan has already begun, as he finalizes the purchase of Northern Printing, which has provided commercial printing services across Alaska since 1967. The merger increases Alaska Printing’s capacity to meet its clients’ needs and expands the scope of services available to Northern Printing’s clients. Like his purchase of Alaska Printing in 2019, Williams’ acquisition of Northern Printing is the result of an opportunity presenting itself at the right time.
A Deal-breaker Brings a Silver Lining Williams’ entry into the printing industry was a combination of circumstance and an opportunity that ticked all the right boxes. He’d worked as a materials coordinator and food purchaser on the North Slope for fifteen years when his employer announced an intent to move to a 4/2 schedule. The change was a dealbreaker for Williams. “I didn’t want to be away from my wife for eight months,” he explains. Williams’ solution was to go into business for himself. Rather than start from scratch, his wife suggested they purchase an existing business. The couple created a list of criteria that would make the plan feasible: annual revenue of at least $1 million and $150,000 to $200,000 in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization); a manager who could teach Williams and help run day-to-day operations; established clientele with an 80 percent to 90 percent repeat customer base; and room to grow through consolidation. What checked every box was Alaska Printing, a commercial print shop whose owner was ready to move on after more than forty-five years in the business. Despite his lack of experience in the printing industry, Williams moved quickly. “From when we started to finalize the deal to when we closed on the business was two months,” he says. “That’s pretty darn fast.” His training was just as fast, and more “trial by fire” than the in-depth training he’d hoped for. “When I bought [Alaska Printing], I was supposed to get three weeks www.akbizmag.com
Alaska Business
April 2022 | 43
of training from the previous owner,” Williams says. “But he ended up hurting his ankle and was getting on a flight out of state to leave for three months. So basically, I ended up getting six days’ worth of training, and he slapped me on the back and said, ‘If you need me, call me!’” The timing of his decision to leave the North Slope and the swiftness of the deal turned out to be fortuitous. “We purchased the business, and then three months after, we found out my wife had terminal cancer,” Williams says. “Three months later COVID hit, then three months later she moved to a nursing home.” Williams’ wife died five months later. If he’d had any uncertainties about his decision to quit his job and go into business for himself, her diagnosis confirmed for him that it had been correct. “I feel blessed every single day because I was able to see my wife every single day,” Williams says. “I honestly believe everything happens for a reason, and if I had still been working on the North Slope, I wouldn’t have been able to spend time with my wife and do the things that I needed to do. That was a very, very good blessing.”
Kerry Tasker
Kerry Tasker
Right Place, Right Time
44 | April 2022
Although Williams’ long-term goal is to consolidate Alaska’s printing industry, the acquisition of Northern Printing is, again, more the result of being in the right place at the right time than a calculated move. He unknowingly planted the seed for the merger while cooperating with Northern Printing co-owner Rob Nuss on a job in early 2021. Most of Alaska’s commercial print shops are small operations that provide similar services across the state. After decades in business, many of those owners are looking to retire, Williams says. Northern Printing coowners Nuss and David Brown were two of them. “He’d been wanting to sell for a while, and it was just a conversation that we had kind of in passing, where I mentioned that what I’d like to do is consolidate the industry up here,” Williams says. Because he wasn’t actively looking for a second business to buy, Williams
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says he didn’t give much thought to the conversation. But two months later, Nuss called to gauge his interest in purchasing Northern Printing. “It was the right opportunity and the right circumstances,” Williams says. “Everything kind of just fell into place, and if there’s anything the universe has taught me it’s that if everything falls into place, get the ball and run.” On paper, Northern Printing is being swallowed whole by Alaska Printing. Williams says he’ll close Northern Printing’s office in Midtown Anchorage and move their equipment about a mile and a half north to Alaska Printing’s Arctic Boulevard location. “You don’t need to pay for two buildings,” he says. “It doesn’t make any sense.” Aside from location, there will be little outward change. He intends to keep the Northern Printing name and all their current employees. Northern Printing’s clients have been informed of the merger, and Williams has already purchased a new printing press to accommodate the additional anticipated workload. Williams believes that investing in the new equipment and, more importantly, Northern Printing’s staff are key to a successful, seamless transition for both the company and clients. “The employees are the greatest assets that came with that [purchase], no ifs, ands, or buts,” he says. “Second is the clientele. As long as there’s no interruption with the clients and the employees are happy, then I will consider it a success.”
Printing Anchorage and Beyond Alaska Printing does commercial print work not just in Anchorage but across Alaska. It even serves some small businesses in the Lower 48. Williams says most services Alaska Printing offers are similar to those available in other local commercial print shops. “We offer a lot of the same products as most every print shop in town; there’s really nothing that one shop does over the other,” he says. “Everybody does color printing, wideformat, envelopes.” The bulk of Alaska Printing’s business is lithography, or offset www.akbizmag.com
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Kerry Tasker Kerry Tasker
printing: business cards, letterhead, and annual reports, all of which can be printed in five-color. Alaska Printing also offers thermography printing, color banners, window and car decals, magnetic signs, magazines, and booklets. One service that sets Alaska Printing apart, Williams says, is the ability to print labels in-house using an advanced, high-tech label machine rather than outsourcing the design to a print shop in the Lower 48. Williams estimates that custom labels comprise 10 percent of his business—many of the COVID-19 vaccination stickers handed out by the State of Alaska and Southcentral Foundation came from Alaska Printing—and the machine can print labels in any shape or size quickly and cost effectively. Two designers work with clients to either create the artwork and label design or help move their original artwork from concept to final product. “If we design the labels, that’s design time, and design time is not cheap,” he explains. “What I tell people is, if you’re just getting 500 labels, it’s not worth it at all to have my guys design it for you.” Williams says a well-designed, high quality label can transform a product and open doors that were previously closed for a business. One client, he says, saw an immediate impact after working with designers to create a new product label. “The minute they changed their labels, they were able to get into places they’d been trying to get in for five years, including Wal-Mart,” Williams says. “The look on your package has a lot to do with your success.”
The Future of Printing in Alaska Though he’s a printing neophyte, Williams believes consolidation is the key to keeping the industry competitive with commercial printers in the Lower 48. Outside shops can typically complete large jobs for less than Alaska printers due to the cost of materials, even including the cost of shipping. Consolidation means a larger share of the local market, which means more competitive pricing with the Lower 48. 46 | April 2022
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“If consolidation in the industry up here does not happen, you’re probably going to see a lot [of local printers] go out of business,” Williams says. Though he’s not actively seeking new print shops to buy, he’s not averse to purchasing another under the right circumstances. “My intention is to keep consolidating with other businesses, provided it’s the right opportunity at the right time,” he explains. “It’s better than businesses going under and employees getting laid off. It’s good for business, and I don’t want to see a shop shut down.” A robust local industry is also good for businesses that utilize commercial print services. Being able to collaborate with designers in person, rather than via e-mail, means more control over the final product. That makes consolidation a win/win for everybody. “If you support a local business, that’s good for the community, it’s good for the state of Alaska, it’s good for Anchorage,” he says. “So, what I’m trying to do is preserve the old businesses and preserve the employees and preserve the talent.” Those are Williams’ long-term goals. In the short term, his focus is on the Northern Printing merger and expanding the label-making segment, “because it’s a growing market and you go where the money is.” He’d also like to expand into packaging and pouching, an area that continues to grow with the increase of e-commerce. Though he’s been able to expand in a relatively short period, Williams’ foray into the printing industry wasn’t without its trials. “Having to deal with COVID, get the financing and run a business that I’ve never owned, have my wife go through everything she went through, and still keep our head above water was extremely challenging,” Williams says. “But I have a tenacity to never give up on anything. You find a way to do it regardless of the challenges.” And he’s having more fun than he imagined he would when he and his wife first decided to buy Alaska Printing three years ago. “I absolutely love it,” he says. “I never thought I would, but I do.”
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Ranked by number of Alaskan employees
A
laska Business’ Corporate 100 Special Section is an annual recognition that people drive business. From sole proprietorships to sprawling international operations, at every level people make the difference. It’s exciting that the Alaska Business editorial team prepared this year’s special section with optimism in the air. Three forecasts for 2022—from economists Neal Fried and Mouhcine Guettabi and the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC)—anticipate job growth in Alaska. According to Guettabi, “There are job gains in just about every sector, with the exception of oil and gas.” Fried’s forecast calls for 9,800 additional jobs statewide, which is approximately 3.2 percent job growth. And the 2022 AEDC Employment Forecast report states, “AEDC expects Anchorage to regain 2,400 more jobs in 2022 but remain below prepandemic employment levels. The pace of recovery is likely to match that of 2021.” The numbers of employees reported by the Corporate 100 this year matches this optimism. When surveyed in January, those who made the ranks of the Corporate 100
reported a total of 75,541 Alaskan employees and 2.1 million worldwide employees, compared to 74,654 Alaskan and 1.5 million worldwide employees reported in 2021. Some of the change in worldwide employees reflects mergers, acquisitions, and new parent companies, but it’s still an indication of the overall health of these companies as they find and pursue new opportunities. It's not just one sector that experienced the first signs of regrowth in 2021. In fact, newcomers to the Corporate 100 ranks in 2022 represent a range of industries: Ace Hardware (retail), Capstone Clinic (healthcare), Coastal Villages Region Fund and Silver Bay Seafoods (fisheries), Delta Constructors (construction), and JAG Alaska (marine repair, maintenance, and building). This year Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, which has long held the position as Alaska’s largest company as ranked by revenue, moved into the Top 5 of Alaska’s largest private employers, though competition remains fierce and the Native corporation has a way to go to overtake Providence Alaska, which again tops the Corporate 100 list. This year Providence Alaska reported
1
PROVIDENCE ALASKA Preston Simmons, Chief Exec. 3760 Piper St., Ste. 3035 Anchorage, AK 99508
providence.org/alaska 907-212-3145
nana.com 907-442-3301
Resource development; land management; federal contracting; engineering and design; surveying and mapping; food and facilities management; camp services; security; industrial and commercial fabrication and installation; drilling services. Year Founded 1972 Y ear Founded in AK 1972 Employees (Worldwide) 14,831 E mployees (AK) 4,832
tridentseafoods.com 206-783-3818
Trident Seafoods, 100 percent American-owned and privately held, is a seafood harvesting and processing company. The company employs more than 8,000 people and serves hundreds of independent harvesters annually. Year Founded 1973 Y ear Founded in AK 1973 Employees (Worldwide) 10,000 E mployees (AK) 4,077
Providence, Renton, WA
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NANA REGIONAL CORPORATION John Aġnaqłuk Lincoln, Pres./CEO PO Box 49 Kotzebue, AK 99752 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
TRIDENT SEAFOODS CORPORATION Joe Bundrant, CEO PO Box 66 Girdwood, AK 99587 SEAFOOD 50 | April 2022
5,000 Alaskan employees, a figure that holds steady from 2021. Wherever an organization places on the list (and if yours isn’t in the ranks and you think it should be, please reach out to editor@akbizmag.com; the only required qualification is an Alaska business license), the jobs that it provides for Alaskans strengthen communities across the state, without exception. In this special section, in addition to the official Corporate 100 ranks, Alaska Business explores many aspects of being employed in Alaska, from unique positions in “Alaska’s Rarest Occupations” to the special experience of “Alaska Airlines’ Suzanne Druxman,” who has been with the airline for two decades. We also celebrate the 100th anniversary of our long-time partner First National Bank Alaska, which has deliberately crafted an award-winning environment for its workers. Alaska’s economic experts are optimistic about 2022, and so are we. We’re looking forward to an even bigger and better tourism season, high oil prices, and an infusion of federal infrastructure dollars that might lead to even higher record numbers for the 2023 Corporate 100.
Healthcare provider serving Alaskans in six communities: Anchorage, Eagle River, Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Kodiak Island, Seward, and Valdez. Providence Alaska includes Providence Alaska Medical Center. Year Founded 1859 Y ear Founded in AK 1902 Employees (Worldwide) 119,000 E mployees (AK) 5,000
HEALTH & WELLNESS
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CO R P O R AT E 10 0
The 2022 Corporate 100
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
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Rex A. Rock Sr., Pres./CEO PO Box 129 Utqiaġvik, AK 99723
asrc.com 907-852-8633
ASRC is the largest Alaskan-owned and operated company and has six major business segments: government services, petroleum refining and marketing, energy support services, industrial services, construction, and resource development. Year Founded 1972 Y ear Founded in AK 1972 Employees (Worldwide) 14,656 E mployees (AK) 3,165
fredmeyer.com 907-267-6778
Retail grocery, clothing, household, and general merchandise with pharmacy, liquor, and fuel. Year Founded 1922 Y ear Founded in AK 1975 Employees (Worldwide) 39,000 E mployees (AK) 3,132
carrsqc.com 907-339-7704
Retail food, drug, and fuel. Year Founded 1901 Y ear Founded in AK 1950 Employees (Worldwide) 286,000 E mployees (AK) 2,839
907-966-3110
Seafood processing. Year Founded 2007 Y ear Founded in AK 2007 Employees (Worldwide) 2,600 E mployees (AK) 2,500
southcentralfoundation.com 907-729-4955
Alaska Native-owned nonprofit healthcare organization serving nearly 65,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna Valley, and fifty-five rural villages. SCF is home to the award-winning Nuka System of Care. Year Founded 1982 Y ear Founded in AK 1982 Employees (Worldwide) 2,500 E mployees (AK) 2,500
obiseafoods.com 907-486-5791
Seafood processor. Year Founded 1910 Y ear Founded in AK 1960 Employees (Worldwide) 2,700 E mployees (AK) 2,400
gci.com 907-265-5600
GCI delivers communication and technology services in the consumer and business markets. GCI has delivered services in Alaska for forty years to some of the most remote communities and in some of the most challenging conditions in North America. Year Founded 1979 Y ear Founded in AK 1979 Employees (Worldwide) 1,900 E mployees (AK) 1,900
foundationhealth.org 907-452-8181
Foundation Health Partners is a nonprofit community-owned healthcare system based in Fairbanks that operates the Tanana Valley Clinic, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, and a long-term care facility, the Denali Center. Year Founded 2017 Y ear Founded in AK 2017 Employees (Worldwide) 1,862 E mployees (AK) 1,862
alaskaair.com 907-266-7200
Alaska Airlines and regional carrier Horizon Air provide passenger and cargo service to 115 destinations in Alaska, Belize, Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, and the Lower 48. Year Founded in 1932 Y ear Founded in AK 1932 Employees (Worldwide) 23,000 E mployees (AK) 1,800
ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
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FRED MEYER Holly Mitchell, District Mgr. 2000 W. Dimond Blvd. Anchorage, AK 99515 RETAIL/WHOLESALE TRADE The Kroger Co., Cincinnati, OH
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CARRS SAFEWAY Stephanie Kennedy, District Mgr. 5600 Debarr Rd., Ste. 100 Anchorage, AK 99504 RETAIL/WHOLESALE TRADE Albertsons Companies, Boise, ID
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SILVER BAY SEAFOODS 208 Lake St., Ste. 2E Sitka, AK 99835 SEAFOOD
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SOUTHCENTRAL FOUNDATION April Kyle, Pres./CEO 4501 Diplomacy Dr. Anchorage, AK 99508 HEALTH & WELLNESS Cook Inlet Region, Inc.
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OBI SEAFOODS Mark Palmer, CEO 621 Shelikof St. Kodiak, AK 99615
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SEAFOOD
GCI Ron Duncan, CEO 2550 Denali St., Ste. 1000 Anchorage, AK 99503 TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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FOUNDATION HEALTH PARTNERS Shelley Ebenal, CEO 1650 Cowles St. Fairbanks, AK 99701 HEALTH & WELLNESS
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ALASKA AIRLINES Ben Minicucci, CEO 3600 Old International Airport Rd. Anchorage, AK 99502 TRANSPORTATION Alaska Air Group, Seattle, WA
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April 2022 | 51
CO R P O R AT E 10 0
ARCTIC SLOPE REGIONAL CORPORATION
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Luke Saugier, Sr. VP 3800 Centerpoint Dr., Ste. 1400 Anchorage, AK 99503
hilcorp.com 907-777-8300
Oil and gas operator/producer. Year Founded 2012 Y ear Founded in AK 2012 Employees (Worldwide) - E mployees (AK) 1,400
searhc.org 907-463-4000
SEARHC is a nonprofit health consortium that serves the residents of Southeast Alaska. Providing essential healthcare services in twenty-seven Southeast communities, SEARHC is one of the oldest and largest Native-run health organizations in the country. Year Founded 1975 Y ear Founded in AK 1975 Employees (Worldwide) 1,330 E mployees (AK) 1,330
bbnc.net 907-278-3602
Industrial services, government services, construction, seafood, and tourism. Year Founded 1972 Y ear Founded in AK 1972 Employees (Worldwide) 4,311 E mployees (AK) 1,187
AlaskaUSA.org 907-563-4567
Alaska USA Federal Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial institution that adds service, value, and convenience to everyday finances. A commitment to members’ financial well-being makes every Alaska USA experience one that’s better than banking. Year Founded 1948 Y ear Founded in AK 1948 Employees (Worldwide) 1,964 E mployees (AK) 1,176
OIL & GAS
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Hilcorp Energy, Houston, TX
SOUTHEAST ALASKA REGIONAL HEALTH CONSORTIUM Charles Clement, Pres./CEO 3100 Channel Dr., Ste. 300 Juneau, AK 99801
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
BRISTOL BAY NATIVE CORPORATION Jason Metrokin, Pres./CEO 111 W. 16th Ave., Ste. 400 Anchorage, AK 99501 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
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HILCORP ALASKA
ALASKA USA FEDERAL CREDIT UNION Geofferey S. Lundfelt, Pres./CEO PO Box 196613 Anchorage, AK 99519 FINANCIAL SERVICES
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Tom Enlow, Pres./CEO PO Box 920008 Dutch Harbor, AK 99692
UniSea.com 907-581-7300
UniSea’s largest Alaska operations are state of the art processing facilities in Dutch Harbor. UniSea processes surimi and fillets from pollock and processes crab, cod, and halibut. Year Founded 1974 Y ear Founded in AK 1975 Employees (Worldwide) 1,250 E mployees (AK) 1,150
cpgh.org 907-714-4404
CPH is a community-owned acute care hospital offering emergency medical care, surgery, family birth center, imaging, laboratory, physical therapy, inpatient detox, addiction rehabilitation, and behavioral health. Year Founded 1971 Y ear Founded in AK 1971 Employees (Worldwide) 1,100 E mployees (AK) 1,100
lynden.com 907-245-1544
The Lynden family of companies provides transportation and logistics solutions in Alaska, Canada, the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, and around the world. For more than a century, Lynden has been helping customers get the job done. Year Founded 1906 Y ear Founded in AK 1954 Employees (Worldwide) 2,595 E mployees (AK) 1,080
alaskaregional.com 907-276-1131
24-hour ER department, Family Birth Center, Alaska Regional Imaging Alliance, Center for Surgical Robotics, cancer center, cath lab, diagnostic imaging, heart center, orthopedic and spine, rehab unit, and nurse residency program. Year Founded 1963 Y ear Founded in AK 1963 Employees (Worldwide) 1,000 E mployees (AK) 1,000
SEAFOOD Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Tokyo, Japan
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CENTRAL PENINSULA HOSPITAL Rick Davis, CEO 250 Hospital Pl. Soldotna, AK 99669 HEALTH & WELLNESS
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LYNDEN Jim Jansen, Chairman 6520 Kulis Dr. Anchorage, AK 99502 TRANSPORTATION
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ALASKA REGIONAL HOSPITAL Jennifer Opsut, CEO 2801 DeBarr Rd. Anchorage, AK 99508 HEALTH & WELLNESS HCA, Nashville, TN
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UNISEA
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Erec Isaacson, Pres. AK 700 G St., PO Box 100360 Anchorage, AK 99501
conocophillipsalaska.com 907-276-1215
An independent exploration and production company. We are Alaska’s largest oil producer and have been a leader in oil and gas exploration and development in the state for more than fifty years. Year Founded 1952 Y ear Founded in AK 1952 Employees (Worldwide) 9,900 E mployees (AK) 952
colaska.com 907-273-1000
Colaska is a heavy civil contractor and part of the worldwide Colas Group. Colaska’s operating companies cover all of Alaska and include QAP, Secon, Southeast Roadbuilders, Exclusive Paving, AGGPRO, Emulsion Products Company, and University RediMix. Year Founded 1999 Y ear Founded in AK 1999 Employees (Worldwide) 57,000 E mployees (AK) 800
alaskacommercial.com 907-273-4600
Rural Alaska’s largest retailer of food, apparel, and general merchandise with continuous service since 1867. Year Founded 1867 Y ear Founded in AK 1867 Employees (Worldwide) 6,939 E mployees (AK) 800
fedex.com 800-463-3339
Air cargo and express-package services. Year Founded 1973 Y ear Founded in AK 1988 Employees (Worldwide) 500,000 E mployees (AK) 750
alaskarailroad.com 907-265-2300
Freight rail transportation, passenger rail transportation, and real estate land leasing and permitting. Year-round employees 590610; seasonal (summer) employees 125-135; total employees 700+. Year Founded 1914 Y ear Founded in AK 1914 Employees (Worldwide) 752 E mployees (AK) 750
coastalvillages.org 907-278-5151
CVRF is a Community Development Quota company. CVRF takes profits from our Bering Sea commercial fisheries operations and helps foster economic development for its twenty member communities. Year Founded 1995 Y ear Founded in AK 1995 Employees (Worldwide) 973 E mployees (AK) 749
threebearsalaska.com 907-357-4311
Retail grocery and convenience stores, general merchandise, sporting goods (hunting, fishing, and camping), pharmacy, package stores (beer, wine, and spirits), and fuel. Year Founded 1980 Y ear Founded in AK 1980 Employees (Worldwide) 800 E mployees (AK) 742
kinross.com 866-561-3636
The Fort Knox mine is located 25 miles from Fairbanks. We are a leader in responsible mining, employing approximately 700 Alaskans. We take deep pride in being part of the Golden Heart community since 1996, putting people and the environment first. Year Founded 1996 Y ear Founded in AK 1996 Employees (Worldwide) 730 E mployees (AK) 730
calistacorp.com 907-275-2800
Calista Corporation is the parent company of 30+ subsidiaries in the industries of defense contracting, construction, real estate, environmental services, natural resource development, marine transportation, oil field services, and heavy equipment. Year Founded 1972 Y ear Founded in AK 1972 Employees (Worldwide) 2,600 E mployees (AK) 700
OIL & GAS ConocoPhillips Company, Houston, TX
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COLASKA Jon Fuglestad, Pres. 4000 Old Seward Hwy., Ste. 101 Anchorage, AK 99503 CONSTRUCTION Colas USA, Morristown, NJ
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ALASKA COMMERCIAL CO. Kyle Hill, Pres. 3830 Old International Airport Rd. Anchorage, AK 99502 RETAIL/WHOLESALE TRADE The North West Company, Winnipeg, MB Canada
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FEDEX EXPRESS Dale Shaw, Mng. Dir. 6050 Rockwell Ave. Anchorage, AK 99502 TRANSPORTATION FedEx Corp., Memphis, TN
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ALASKA RAILROAD CORPORATION Bill O’Leary, Pres./CEO PO Box 107500 Anchorage, AK 99510 TRANSPORTATION
Alaska Dept. of Commerce, Community & Economic Development, Juneau, AK
COASTAL VILLAGES REGION FUND Eric Deakin, CEO 711 H St., Ste. 200 Anchorage, AK 99501
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SEAFOOD
THREE BEARS ALASKA David A. Weisz, Pres./CEO 500 S. Triple B St. Wasilla, AK 99623 RETAIL/WHOLESALE TRADE
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KINROSS FORT KNOX Anna Atchison, External Affairs Mgr. Kinross AK PO Box 73726 Fairbanks, AK 99707 MINING Kinross Gold Corp., Toronto, Canada
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CONOCOPHILLIPS ALASKA
CALISTA CORPORATION Andrew Guy, Pres./CEO 5015 Business Park Blvd., Ste. 3000 Anchorage, AK 99503 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
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CO R P O R AT E 10 0
We’ve Got Your Back
N
o matter what industry you’re in, it’s critical to focus on people—the people you serve and employ. People are the glue that binds Alaska Executive Search and Bradison Management Group, which recently merged to offer executive recruitment and business consulting services under one roof. The resulting entity—People AK—enables clients to capitalize on forty-plus years of recruitment experience augmented by practical business expertise. “There were so many things in common with both businesses that it was a natural fit and pairing,” says Founder and CEO Paula Bradison, a fourth-generation Alaska business owner. People AK strives to highlight and amplify what is unique and strong about a company, starting with its employees. People AK is not an HR or marketing firm—although it emphasizes internal and external communications and often collaborates with marketing agencies on behalf of clients. “When you think about the whole continuum of the services we offer, we truly are an engagement firm,” Bradison says.
Promoting Smart, Competitive Recruiting People AK’s recruitment, temp to hire, and temporary staffing services represent three distinct solutions. So it’s important for clients to focus on the problem they’re trying to solve versus the job description in their HR files. The key is to cast the widest possible net and then look for transferable skills.
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“You don’t want to recruit for the same person you just lost,” Bradison says. “You’re really recruiting for the effort that needs to be made on behalf of your business.” Whether through its recruitment services or certified business coaching, People AK helps clients address their most pressing needs while fostering strength-building staff development and engagement. Employment engagement is important because it allows companies to continue grooming current staff—and makes it easier to recruit the next batch of employees. Engagement also enhances workplace safety and data security, which is critical since more than 90 percent of breaches are caused by human error.
Importance of Being Proactive People AK differentiates itself by assessing market challenges and opportunities and anticipating clients’ needs in advance of a crisis. This allows the company to constantly seek out potential job candidates—even before clients have vacancies. Employee turnover is expensive and challenging, but companies can mitigate this by being realistic and proactive. Bradison advises, “Look for that talent before you need it because you know it’s going to come.” People AK concentrates on the entire employee experience, from attracting the right talent to succession planning. It offers objective, nonlegal support for succession planning,
Alaska Business
which can result from employee retirements, terminations, resignations, and promotions, as well as company closings and mergers. “We’re not attorneys,” Bradison clarifies. “We’re a functional solution during times of transition.” The company is also a dependable solution for staff, clients, and job candidates. People AK endeavors to place individuals in positions they want and help employers benefit from that level of engagement from the very first day. Bradison explains, “We have their back; we ensure employees are towing the line in a way that is healthy and productive.”
For more information, contact: People AK Paula Bradison, Founder and CEO 1600 A St., Suite 105 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 (907) 276-5707 www.peopleak.com
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Robert Brewster, CEO 5201 E. Tudor Rd. Anchorage, AK 99507
thealaskaclub.com 907-337-9550
The Alaska Club has fourteen statewide locations offering group fitness classes, state-of-the-art equipment, personal training, swimming, youth activities, amenities, and more. Providing fitness options for everyone in a safe and clean environment. Year Founded 1986 Y ear Founded in AK 1986 Employees (Worldwide) 700 E mployees (AK) 700
alyeskapipeine.com 907-787-8700
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company has operated the Trans Alaska Pipeline System since 1977 and delivered more than 18 billion barrels of oil. Focused on safe operations, employees are committed to environmental protection and TAPS sustainability. Year Founded 1970 Y ear Founded in AK 1970 Employees (Worldwide) 719 E mployees (AK) 681
alyeskaresort.com 907-754-2111
Alyeska Resort is Alaska’s premier year-round destination featuring over 300 rooms, many fine dining experiences, a saltwater pool, ski mountain, and more. Whether summer or winter, Alyeska is the perfect base camp for endless adventure and relaxation. Year Founded 1994 Y ear Founded in AK 1994 Employees (Worldwide) 668 E mployees (AK) 667
FNBAlaska.com 907-777-4362
Alaska’s community bank since 1922, First National, with assets of $5.5 billion and twenty-eight locations in nineteen communities, helps Alaskans shape a brighter tomorrow with banking services to meet their needs across the state, the nation, and around the world. Year Founded 1922 Y ear Founded in AK 1922 Employees (Worldwide) 609 E mployees (AK) 609
HEALTH & WELLNESS
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Partnership Capital Growth, San Francisco, CA
ALYESKA PIPELINE SERVICE COMPANY Brigham McCown, Pres. PO Box 196660, MS 542 Anchorage, AK 99519 OIL & GAS
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ALYESKA RESORT Sacha Jurva, GM PO Box 249 Girdwood, AK 99587 TRAVEL & TOURISM Pomeroy Lodging, Grande Prairie, AB Canada
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THE ALASKA CLUB
FIRST NATIONAL BANK ALASKA Betsy Lawer, Board Chair/CEO/Pres. PO Box 100720 Anchorage, AK 99510 FINANCIAL SERVICES
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Gail R. Schubert, Pres./CEO 3301 C St., Ste. 100 Anchorage, AK 99503
beringstraits.com 907-563-3788
Bering Straits was established by ANCSA in 1972. It is owned by more than 8,000 Alaska Native shareholders and actively pursues responsible development of resources and other business opportunities. Year Founded 1972 Y ear Founded in AK 1972 Employees (Worldwide) 1,955 E mployees (AK) 599
essalaska.com 907-865-9818
Restaurants, lounges, espresso. Catering services; remote sites; short- or long-term, including offshore platforms, camp janitorial, and other employee staffing and leasing, in-flight services, governmental agency support services. Year Founded 1986 Y ear Founded in AK 1986 Employees (Worldwide) 548,143 E mployees (AK) 597
Matson.com 1-877-678-SHIP (877-678-7447)
Matson provides twice-weekly vessel service to Anchorage and Kodiak and weekly service to Dutch Harbor, linking domestic and international cargo with seamless rail and trucking connections to the Kenai Peninsula, Valdez, Fairbanks, and Prudhoe Bay. Year Founded 1882 Y ear Founded in AK 1964 Employees (Worldwide) 2,000 E mployees (AK) 594
doyon.com 907-459-2000
Doyon, Limited operates a diverse family of companies in the areas of oil field services, utilities, construction, information technology, natural resource development, tourism, laundry, real estate, and wireless telecommunications. Year Founded 1972 Y ear Founded in AK 1972 Employees (Worldwide) 945 E mployees (AK) 594
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ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
ESS SUPPORT SERVICES WORLDWIDE Marq Couey, VP North America 201 Post Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
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Compass Group PLC (North America), Charlotte, NC
MATSON Bal Dreyfus, Sr. VP AK 1717 Tidewater Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501
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TRANSPORTATION
DOYON, LIMITED Aaron Schutt, Pres./CEO 1 Doyon Pl., Ste. 300 Fairbanks, AK 99701 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
Building Alaska for over 40 years
• Heavy Civil • Oil Field • Marine Transportation • Camps
PALMER: 907.746.3144 | DEADHORSE: 907.670.2506 | KENAI: 907.283.1085 | ONLINE AT CRUZCONSTRUCT.COM www.akbizmag.com
Alaska Business
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BERING STRAITS NATIVE CORPORATION
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Ryan Smith, CEO 4300 Bartlett St. Homer, AK 99603
denaliuniversal.com 907-522-1300
Operational support including catering, housekeeping, facility maintenance, and security. Year Founded 1946 Y ear Founded in AK 1946 Employees (Worldwide) 625 E mployees (AK) 540
hopealaska.org 907-561-5335
Providing services and support to Alaskans who experience an intellectual, developmental, or other physical disability; a traumatic brain injury; or a mental health challenge. Year Founded 1968 Y ear Founded in AK 1968 Employees (Worldwide) 535 E mployees (AK) 530
nsrltd.com 907-895-2841
Northern Star Resources Limited is a top ten global gold producer with mines in Western Australia and North America. In 2018, the company acquired Pogo Mine, 30 miles northwest of Delta Junction. Year Founded 2000 Y ear Founded in AK 2018 Employees (Worldwide) 3,092 E mployees (AK) 525
alaskacommunications.com 907-297-3000
Alaska’s leading provider of managed IT services, high-speed internet, data networking, and voice communications. Year Founded 1999 Y ear Founded in AK 1999 Employees (Worldwide) 556 E mployees (AK) 512
peacehealth.org/ketchikan 907-225-5171
In 1923 the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace opened the Little Flower Hospital in Ketchikan. Today, it is a 25-bed critical access hospital, in partnership with the City, providing medical services to support the health and wellness of Southeast Alaska. Year Founded 1890 Y ear Founded in AK 1923 Employees (Worldwide) 16,000 E mployees (AK) 500
chugach.com 907-563-8866
The Chugach family of companies provides government services, facilities services, and energy services. Chugach also manages a diverse portfolio of investments and land/resource development opportunities. Year Founded 1972 Y ear Founded in AK 1972 Employees (Worldwide) 5,000 E mployees (AK) 500
worldsleadingcruiselines.com 907-264-8043
Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn own and operate eight hotels, twenty railcars, and more than 200 buses and motor coaches in Alaska in addition to supporting port operations to the cruise business. Year Founded 1873 Y ear Founded in AK 1947 Employees (Worldwide) 30,000 E mployees (AK) 475
chugachelectric.com 907-563-7494
We provide safe, reliable, and affordable electricity through superior service and sustainable practices, powering the lives of our members. Year Founded 1948 Y ear Founded in AK 1948 Employees (Worldwide) 460 E mployees (AK) 460
HEALTH & WELLNESS
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DENALI UNIVERSAL SERVICES Maria Bourne, Pres. 11500 Sukdu Way, Ste. 100 Anchorage, AK 99515 INDUSTRIAL SERVICES
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Sodexo, Paris, France
HOPE COMMUNITY RESOURCES Michele Girault, Exec. Dir. 540 W. International Airport Rd. Anchorage, AK 99518 NONPROFIT
NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LIMITED (POGO MINE) Michael Eckert, GM PO Box 145 Delta Junction, AK 99737 MINING
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ALASKA COMMUNICATIONS Bill Bishop, Pres./CEO 600 Telephone Ave. Anchorage, AK 99503 TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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ATN International
PEACEHEALTH KETCHIKAN MEDICAL CENTER Dori Stevens, Chief Administrative Officer 3100 Tongass Ave. Ketchikan, AK 99901 HEALTH & WELLNESS
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PeaceHealth, Vancouver, WA
CHUGACH ALASKA CORPORATION Sheri Buretta, Chairman of the Board 3800 Centerpoint Dr., Ste. 1200 Anchorage, AK 99503 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
PRINCESS CRUISES, HOLLAND AMERICA LINE & SEABOURN Stein Kruse, Group CEO 720 W. Fifth Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 TRAVEL & TOURISM Carnival Corporation, Miami, FL
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sphosp.org 907-235-8101
Medical and surgical inpatient hospitalization; general and orthopedic surgery; diagnostic lab services; rehabilitation; SART/SANE, home-health, primary care, visiting specialists, infusion clinic, behavioral health, and long-term care. Year Founded 1956 Y ear Founded in AK 1956 Employees (Worldwide) 575 E mployees (AK) 575
SOUTH PENINSULA HOSPITAL
CHUGACH ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION Hal Halpern, CEO 5601 Electron Dr. Anchorage, AK 99518 UTILITY
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William Odom, Vice Chairman/Exec. VP 6300 Changepoint Dr. Anchorage, AK 99518
odomcorp.com 907-272-8511
Licensed wholesale alcoholic beverage distributor. Franchised soft drink distributor. Year Founded 1934 Y ear Founded in AK 1934 Employees (Worldwide) 1,814 E mployees (AK) 455
Northrim.com 907-562-0062
Northrim Bank is an Alaska-based community bank with seventeen branches statewide, serving 90 percent of Alaska’s population. The bank differentiates itself with its detailed knowledge of Alaska’s economy and its “Customer First Service” philosophy. Year Founded 1990 Y ear Founded in AK 1990 Employees (Worldwide) 481 E mployees (AK) 440
business.att.com 800-764-8592
AT&T provides more than 100 million US consumers with entertainment and communications experiences across TV, mobile, and broadband. Plus, it serves high-speed, highly secure connectivity and smart solutions to nearly 3 million business customers. Year Founded 1876 Y ear Founded in AK 1971 Employees (Worldwide) 230,000 E mployees (AK) 415
anchorageconventioncenters.com 907-279-0618
Sporting events, concerts, conventions, family shows, and miscellaneous events. Year Founded 1977 Y ear Founded in AK 1999 Employees (Worldwide) 61,000 E mployees (AK) 411
RETAIL/WHOLESALE TRADE
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The Odom Corporation, Bellevue, WA
NORTHRIM BANK Joseph Schierhorn, Chairman/Pres./CEO PO Box 241489 Anchorage, AK 99524 FINANCIAL SERVICES
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AT&T Bob Bass, Pres. AK 505 E. Bluff Dr. Anchorage, AK 99501 TELECOMMUNICATIONS AT&T, Dallas, TX
ASM GLOBAL
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THE ODOM CORPORATION
Greg Spears, GM 1600 Gambell St. Anchorage, AK 99501 TRAVEL & TOURISM ASM Global, Los Angeles, CA
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Les Yesnik, GM 2525 C St., Ste. 310 Anchorage, AK 99503 MINING
teck.com/reddog 907-754-6170
One of the world's largest producers of zinc concentrates. Year Founded 1986 Y ear Founded in AK 1986 Employees (Worldwide) 558 E mployees (AK) 392
coeuralaska.com 907-523-3300
Kensington Mine is an underground, hard rock gold mine located in the Berners Bay Mining District about 45 miles northnorthwest of Juneau. The mine is owned and operated by Coeur Alaska, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Coeur Mining. Year Founded 1987 Y ear Founded in AK 1987 Employees (Worldwide) 391 E mployees (AK) 391
Ravnalaska.com 800-866-8394
Ravn Alaska offers scheduled passenger, cargo, and mail service to twelve destinations throughout Alaska and growing. Our charter operations fly to any destination with acceptable landing conditions and facilities. Year Founded 1948 Y ear Founded in AK 1948 Employees (Worldwide) 390 E mployees (AK) 388
nac.aero 907-243-3331
Northern Air Cargo, Alaska’s largest all-cargo airline since 1956, offers multiple service options that help Alaskans find solutions to all of their shipping needs. The people of Alaska have established NAC as their preferred precious cargo carrier. Year Founded 1956 Y ear Founded in AK 1956 Employees (Worldwide) 410 E mployees (AK) 375
Teck Resources Limited, Vancouver, BC Canada
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COEUR ALASKA KENSINGTON MINE Mark Kiessling, GM 3031 Clinton Dr., Ste. 202 Juneau, AK 99801 MINING
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Coeur Mining, Chicago, IL
NORTHERN PACIFIC AIRWAYS, INC dba RAVN ALASKA Rob McKinney, CEO 4700 Old International Airport Rd. Anchorage, AK 99502 TRANSPORTATION Float Alaska , Anchorage, AK
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NORTHERN AIR CARGO Gideon Garcia, GM/VP 3900 Old International Airport Rd. Anchorage, AK 99502 TRANSPORTATION Northern Aviation Services, Saltchuk Aviation, Anchorage, AK, Seattle, WA
Graphic design Signs Direct mail Mailing services Online ordering Marketing services Tradeshows & events Wall graphics Promo products Fulfillment services Training materials List management services Office and lobby decals Rebranding signage and decals Campaigns and consultation ADA and wayfinding signs Vehicle graphics and wraps Manuals and catalogs Postcards Brochures Window graphics Banners Posters Floor graphics Labels
WeDo www.akbizmag.com
Your Solutions Partner Call one of our sales professionals today! 907-274-3584 • pipalaska.com
Alaska Business
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TECK ALASKA INCORPORATED-RED DOG MINE
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Joe Towslee, Pres./CEO 939 W. Fifth Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501
captaincook.com 907-276-6000
The Hotel Captain Cook is a 546-room luxury hotel with four unique restaurants and an athletic club. Centrally located in downtown Anchorage. Year Founded 1964 Y ear Founded in AK 1965 Employees (Worldwide) 375 E mployees (AK) 375
beaconohss.com 907-222-7612
Beacon provides turnkey health and safety solutions for our clients' workforces, including remote medical, occupational medicine, safety staffing, COVID mitigation/care, and training solutions. Year Founded 1999 Y ear Founded in AK 1999 Employees (Worldwide) 375 E mployees (AK) 375
crowley.com/alaska 866-770-5587
Crowley is a leader in the Alaska fuel industry, selling and distributing petroleum products to more than 280 communities across the state. Crowley serves its customers via 76 million gallons of storage, 160 delivery vehicles, and a fleet of vessels. Year Founded 1892 Y ear Founded in AK 1953 Employees (Worldwide) 6,800 E mployees (AK) 361
cu1.org 907-339-9485
As a full-service financial institution that serves 93,000+ Alaskans, Credit Union 1 is proud to help foster thriving, happy communities by always putting people first. We achieve this goal by offering low-cost loans, cutting edge technology, & more. Year Founded 1952 Y ear Founded in AK 1952 Employees (Worldwide) 369 E mployees (AK) 337
capstoneclinic.com 907-357-9590
We are a multispecialty medical clinic, offering medical care treatments for family medicine, OB/GYN, GI, dermatology, endocrinology, employer health, and urgent care services throughout Alaska. Year Founded 2003 Y ear Founded in AK 2003 Employees (Worldwide) 361 E mployees (AK) 335
afognak.com 907-486-6014
Afognak Native Corporation, Alutiiq, Afognak Commercial Group, and their subsidiaries offer exceptional government and commercial services worldwide: leasing, timber, retail, engineering, security, logistics, and facility support. Year Founded 1977 Y ear Founded in AK 1977 Employees (Worldwide) 3,817 E mployees (AK) 326
ahtna.com 907-822-3476
Construction, engineering, environmental, facilities management, surveying, security, military training, janitorial, healthcare & medical records management, government contracting, land management, resource development, oil & gas pipeline services. Year Founded 1972 Y ear Founded in AK 1972 Employees (Worldwide) 1,114 E mployees (AK) 321
EvertsAir.com 907-450-2300
Everts Air Cargo provides scheduled cargo service to eleven hubs within the state of Alaska (using C-46, DC-6, and MD-80 aircraft), and on-demand air charter services to domestic and international destinations. Year Founded 1995 Y ear Founded in AK 1995 Employees (Worldwide) 364 E mployees (AK) 321
graniteconstruction.com 907-344-2593
Public and private heavy civil construction, design-build/ alternative delivery, construction aggregates, recycled base, warm and hot mix asphalt, road construction, bridges, piling, mine infrastructure and reclamation and sitework. Year Founded 1922 Y ear Founded in AK 1974 Employees (Worldwide) 8,500 E mployees (AK) 300
TRAVEL & TOURISM
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Hickel Investment Company, Anchorage, AK
BEACON OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY SERVICES Amanda Johnson, CEO 701 E. Tudor Rd., Ste. 110 Anchorage, AK 99503
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
CROWLEY Rick Meidel, VP/GM 201 Arctic Slope Ave. Anchorage, AK 99518 TRANSPORTATION
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CREDIT UNION 1 Mark Burgess, Interim Pres./CEO/Chief Technology Ofc. 1941 Abbott Rd. Anchorage, AK 99507 FINANCIAL SERVICES
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CAPSTONE CLINIC Dennis Spencer, CEO 3122 E. Meridian Park Lp. Wasilla, AK 99654 HEALTH & WELLNESS Medical Network of Alaska, Wasilla, AK
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AFOGNAK NATIVE CORPORATION Greg Hambright, Pres./CEO 300 Alimaq Dr. Kodiak, AK 99615 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION Afognak Native Corporation, Kodiak, AK
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AHTNA, INC. Michelle Anderson, Pres. PO Box 649 Glennallen, AK 99588 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
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EVERTS AIR CARGO Robert Everts, Pres./CEO PO Box 61680 Fairbanks, AK 99706 TRANSPORTATION Everts Air Cargo & Everts Air Alaska, Fairbanks, AK
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THE HOTEL CAPTAIN COOK
GRANITE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY Derek Betts, VP/Reg. Mgr. 11471 Lang St. Anchorage, AK 99515 CONSTRUCTION Granite Construction, Watsonville, CA
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CO R P O R AT E 10 0
Proud of our past. Ready for the future.
Each day, we live our mission to help members achieve their financial goals by focusing on excellent service and value. We are Alaskans helping Alaskans, and we’re proud to do so.
cu1.org / 907.339.9485 www.akbizmag.com
Insured by NCUA Alaska Business
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Terry Howard, Pres. 1800 E. First Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501
carlile.biz 907-276-7797
Transportation and logistics company offering multi-modal trucking and logistics services across Alaska and North America. Year Founded 1980 Y ear Founded in AK 1980 Employees (Worldwide) 400 E mployees (AK) 300
uicalaska.com 907-852-4460
Commercial civil and industrial construction, architecture, engineering, surveying, environmental, marine logistics, real estate, land, natural resources, IT, maintenance and manufacturing, tundra transportation, and Arctic science support. Year Founded 1973 Y ear Founded in AK 1973 Employees (Worldwide) 3,168 E mployees (AK) 295
flygrant.com 888-359-4726
An Alaska airline known for a strong track record of safety and commitment to customer service. Provides scheduled and charter passenger, mail, freight, and air ambulance services in the YK Delta, Bristol Bay, the Aleutian chain, St. George, and Kenai. Year Founded 1971 Y ear Founded in AK 1971 Employees (Worldwide) 288 E mployees (AK) 288
mtasolutions.com 304-610-9415
As a key player in the economy of Southcentral Alaska, MTA provides residential and business technology solutions to empower member-owners and patrons to live a connected life. Today, MTA remains as one of the largest technology co-ops in the US. Year Founded 1953 Y ear Founded in AK 1953 Employees (Worldwide) 287 E mployees (AK) 287
gvea.com 907-452-1151
GVEA provides service to more than 44,948 meters in Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Nenana, Healy, and Cantwell. 3,296 miles of power lines; 35 substations, including mobile; 8 generating facilities; 381 megawatts of capacity; 5,973-square-mile service. Year Founded 1946 Y ear Founded in AK 1946 Employees (Worldwide) 278 E mployees (AK) 278
heclagreenscreek.com 907-789-8100
Hecla’s 100%-owned and operated Greens Creek mine in Southeast Alaska is one of the largest and lowest-cost primary silver mines in the world. Year Founded 1989 Y ear Founded in AK 1989 Employees (Worldwide) 464 E mployees (AK) 270
hccontractors.net 907-488-5983
HC Contractors is a local heavy civil contractor specializing in road, airport, airfield and building site construction and reconstruction, including paving, bridges, utilities, and concrete construction. Year Founded 1993 Y ear Founded in AK 1993 Employees (Worldwide) 266 E mployees (AK) 266
Goldbelt.com 907-790-4990
Tourism, hospitality, transportation, security services, 8(a) government contracting. Year Founded 1974 Y ear Founded in AK 1974 Employees (Worldwide) 1,417 E mployees (AK) 258
acehardware.com 907-333-6648
Paint, sundries, custom paint matching and mixing, power tools, hand tools, electrical, plumbing, heating, hardware, fasteners, lawn & garden, outdoor living, BBQ, housewares, key cutting, special orders, online orders, business-to-business services. Year Founded 1924 Y ear Founded in AK 1969 Employees (Worldwide) 59,469 E mployees (AK) 253
TRANSPORTATION
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Saltchuk Resources, Inc., Seattle, WA
UKPEAĠVIK IÑUPIAT CORPORATION (UIC) Delbert J. Rexford, Pres./CEO PO Box 890 Utqiaġvik, AK 99723
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ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
GRANT AVIATION Robert Kelley, Pres./CEO 6420 Freyholtz Ln. Anchorage, AK 99502
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TRANSPORTATION
MTA Michael Burke, CEO 1740 S. Chugach St. Palmer, AK 99645
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
GOLDEN VALLEY ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION John Burns, Pres./CEO PO Box 71249 Fairbanks, AK 99707 UTILITY
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HECLA GREENS CREEK MINING CO. Brian Erickson, VP/GM PO Box 32199 Juneau, AK 99803 MINING
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Hecla Mining Company, Coeur d'Alene, ID
H C CONTRACTORS Bill Hoople, Pres. PO Box 80688 Fairbanks, AK 99708 CONSTRUCTION
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GOLDBELT, INCORPORATED McHugh Pierre, Pres./CEO 3025 Clinton Dr. Juneau, AK 99801 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
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CARLILE TRANSPORTATION
ACE HARDWARE John Venhuizen, Pres./CEO 240 Muldoon Rd. Anchorage, AK 99504 RETAIL/WHOLESALE TRADE
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CO R P O R AT E 10 0
Ranked No. 1 Hospital in Alaska You bring out the best in us. Thanks to the great work of all our caregivers, providers and community partners, enabling us to serve our community with award-winning care.
Ranked among the top 50 out of 4,523 hospitals in the specialty treatment area of urology.
Providence Alaska Medical Center, a nationally recognized trauma center and Magnet hospital, provides full-service, comprehensive care to all Alaskans, a role unmatched by any other in Alaska. Providence Alaska includes the state’s only children’s hospital and a complete array of cancer services so patients can receive care close-to-home. Learn more at alaska.providence.org. | www.akbizmag.com
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Jason Totah, Pres. Odyssey International Svcs./Odyssey AK 5025 Van Buren St. Anchorage, AK 99517 TRANSPORTATION
odysseylogistics.com 907-248-5548
Ocean freight forwarding, freight consolidation of all kinds, LTL/ LCL, full loads and single shipments, temperature protected, dry vans, specialized equipment, heavy haul, project logistics, intrastate trucking, warehousing, and distribution. Year Founded 1984 Y ear Founded in AK 1988 Employees (Worldwide) 2,500 E mployees (AK) 250
tdxcorp.com 907-278-2312
Industry leader in diverse energy and alternative power solutions, electric utilities, power plant construction and operations. Government and construction services worldwide, remote power O&M and switch gear development, environmental services. Year Founded 1973 Y ear Founded in AK 1973 Employees (Worldwide) 598 E mployees (AK) 250
deltaconstructors.net 907-771-5800
Delta Constructors specializes in project management, procurement, fabrication, self-perform construction, commissioning, and integrated EPF&C project delivery. We primarily focus on industrial clients in oil and gas, as well as the mining industry. Year Founded 2007 Y ear Founded in AK 2007 Employees (Worldwide) 545 E mployees (AK) 225
ncmachinery.com 907-786-7500
Caterpillar dealer. Equipment sales, parts, service, and rental. Cat engines for marine, power generation, truck, petroleum, and industrial applications. Sales and rental of Cat & other preferred brands of rental equipment and construction supplies. Year Founded 1926 Y ear Founded in AK 1994 Employees (Worldwide) 1,100 E mployees (AK) 221
mea.coop 907-761-9300
A member-owned electric cooperative that serves more than 54,000 members across nearly 4,500 miles of power lines in the Mat-Su & Eagle River areas. MEA’s mission is to provide safe, reliable energy at reasonable rates with exceptional member service. Year Founded 1941 Y ear Founded in AK 1941 Employees (Worldwide) 210 E mployees (AK) 210
nuvisionfederal.com 907-257-7200
Complete financial services for our members throughout Alaska and the world. Nuvision has nearly thirty branches in five western states, as well as 5,000 shared branches and 30,000 shared ATMs to serve members. Year Founded 1935 Y ear Founded in AK 1948 Employees (Worldwide) 525 E mployees (AK) 200
enstarnaturalgas.com 907-277-5551
ENSTAR is a regulated public utility that delivers natural gas to 150,000 customers across Southcentral Alaska. For sixty years, ENSTAR has heated homes and businesses with clean-burning and efficient natural gas. Year Founded 1961 Y ear Founded in AK 1961 Employees (Worldwide) 200 E mployees (AK) 200
subwayak.com 907-563-4228
Feed the whole group with subs, signature wraps, and salads prepared in front of you. Order at subway.com, on the Subway app, or at any Anchorage, Eagle River, or Girdwood Subway restaurant. Third-party delivery and curbside service also available. Year Founded 1988 Y ear Founded in AK 1988 Employees (Worldwide) 200 E mployees (AK) 200
ryanalaska.com 907-562-2227
From Platinum to Kobuk, from Gambell to Mt. Village, we know the challenges of transportation in Alaska. Ryan Air operates twenty aircraft out of seven hubs across Alaska to serve more than seventy villages. Year Founded 1953 Y ear Founded in AK 1953 Employees (Worldwide) 165 E mployees (AK) 165
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AFF Global Logistics, Fife, WA
TDX (TANADGUSIX) CORPORATION Christopher Mandregan Jr., CEO 3601 C St., 10th Fl. Anchorage, AK 99503
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ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
DELTA CONSTRUCTORS Ed Gohr, CEO 351 E. 104th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99515
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CONSTRUCTION
N C MACHINERY CO. 6450 Arctic Blvd. Anchorage, AK 99518 INDUSTRIAL SERVICES
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Harnish Group Inc., Tukwilla, WA
MATANUSKA ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION Tony Izzo, CEO 163 E. Industrial Way Palmer, AK 99645 UTILITY
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NUVISION CREDIT UNION ALASKA Roger Ballard, CEO 440 E. 36th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99503 FINANCIAL SERVICES Nuvision Credit Union, Huntington Beach, CA
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ENSTAR NATURAL GAS John Sims, Pres. PO Box 190288 Anchorage, AK 99519 UTILITY AltaGas, Calgary, AB Canada
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SUBWAY OF ALASKA Steve Adams, Pres./Co-Founder 1118 E. 70th Ave., Ste. 200 Anchorage, AK 99518 FOOD & BEVERAGE Subway World Headquarters, Milford, CT
RYAN AIR
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ODYSSEY LOGISTICS
Lee Ryan, Pres. 6400 Carl Brady Dr. Anchorage, AK 99502 TRANSPORTATION
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Josh Norum, Pres. 600 Driveways St. Fairbanks, AK 99701
Sourdoughexpress.com 907-452-1181
Freight transportation services, logistics, moving, and storage services. Steel Conex container sales/lease. Year Founded 1898 Y ear Founded in AK 1902 Employees (Worldwide) 160 E mployees (AK) 160
capefoxcorp.com 907-225-5163
It is the mission of Cape Fox Corporation to grow and maintain a strong financial foundation by profitably managing financial and land resources to provide immediate and long term economic, education, and cultural benefits for shareholders. Year Founded 1973 Y ear Founded in AK 1973 Employees (Worldwide) 971 E mployees (AK) 158
udelhoven.com 907-344-1577
Commercial and industrial construction, oil & gas operations and maintenance, procurement, fabrication, FCO, commissioning, automation systems, mechanical and electrical inspections. Year Founded 1970 Y ear Founded in AK 1970 Employees (Worldwide) 219 E mployees (AK) 158
koniag.com 907-486-2530
Alaska Native Corporation representing the Kodiak region. Koniag owns several subsidiaries in multiple business lines, including government services, information technology, natural resources, tourism, oil field services, and real estate. Year Founded 1972 Y ear Founded in AK 1972 Employees (Worldwide) 2,741 E mployees (AK) 155
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CAPE FOX CORPORATION Chris Luchtefeld, CEO PO Box 8558 Ketchikan, AK 99901 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
UDELHOVEN OILFIELD SYSTEM SERVICES Jim Udelhoven, CEO 184 E. 53rd Ave. Anchorage, AK 99518
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INDUSTRIAL SERVICES
KONIAG Ron Unger, Chairman/CEO 194 Alimaq Dr. Kodiak, AK 99615 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
A subsidiary of Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation
M A R I N E S E RV I C E S Remote Project Mobilization and Demobilization Linehaul Cargo Service Live-aboard Lodging and Dining Project Support Services Inland River Barging Ocean Lightering GEO Survey Work Fiber Optic Cable Installation and Repair Emergency Response
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SOURDOUGH EXPRESS
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Joseph E. Usibelli Jr., Pres./CEO 100 Cushman St., Ste. 210 Fairbanks, AK 99701
usibelli.com 907-452-2625
Alaska's only operational coal mine and its affiliate companies. Year Founded 1943 Y ear Founded in AK 1943 Employees (Worldwide) 182 E mployees (AK) 155
fairweather.com 907-346-3247
Fairweather offers highly specialized services supporting oil and gas and mining operations. These services include remote medical and HSE support, drilling program management & support, weather forecasting, bear guards, aviation, & airstrip services. Year Founded 1976 Y ear Founded in AK 1976 Employees (Worldwide) 176 E mployees (AK) 153
santos.com 907-375-4600
Among the top two oil and gas leaseholders on Alaska’s North Slope and operator of the Pikka Unit located east of the Colville River and seven miles northeast of Nuiqsut. Santos expects first production from Pikka in 2025. Year Founded 1954 Y ear Founded in AK2018 Employees (Worldwide) 2,000+ E mployees (AK) 150
conamco.com 907-278-6600
General construction contractor specializing in design and construction of oil and gas facilities and pipelines, mining facilities, water and sewer facilities, and other remote infrastructure projects. Year Founded 1984 Y ear Founded in AK 1984 Employees (Worldwide) 200 E mployees (AK) 150
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FAIRWEATHER Rick Fox, CEO 301 Calista Ct. Anchorage, AK 99518
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SANTOS Bruce Dingeman, EVP/Pres. AK PO Box 240927 Anchorage, AK 99524 OIL & GAS
CONAM CONSTRUCTION
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USIBELLI COAL MINE
Mike Colombie, Pres. 301 W. Northern Lights Blvd., Ste. 300 Anchorage, AK 99503 CONSTRUCTION Quanta Services, Houston, TX
wise counsel DORSEY ATTORNEYS HAVE SERVED AS TRUSTED COUNSEL TO ALASKA CLIENTS FOR OVER 20 YEARS With over two decades of history in the Anchorage community, Dorsey & Whitney provides full-service legal counsel to clients in the Alaska market and beyond. Backed up by the resources of an international law firm with over 550 attorneys across 20 offices, we offer global reach, local resources, and productive relationships. All with a deep understanding of our clients’ businesses, the risks they face, and the goals that drive them. Making us a wise choice for smart businesses everywhere.
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Kate Sprout, Dir. Sales/Marketing 500 W. Third Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501
hiltonanchorage.com 907-272-7411
Newly renovated guest rooms. More than 23,000 square feet of flexible function space. 24-hour fitness center, indoor pool, business center. Centrally located in Downtown Anchorage. Year Founded 1927 Y ear Founded in AK 1927 Employees (Worldwide) 150 E mployees (AK) 150
davisconstructors.com 907-562-2336
In Davis Constructors’ forty-plus year Alaska history, we have completed almost 550 projects totaling almost $2.5 billion throughout Alaska. We are currently performing work in Bethel, Clear SFS, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Seward, and Kodiak. Year Founded 1976 Y ear Founded in AK 1976 Employees (Worldwide) 150 E mployees (AK) 150
colvilleinc.com 907-659-3198
Colville’s family of companies provides essential supplies and services across the entire state, from the North Slope to the Kenai Peninsula. Our services include fuel, aviation, solid waste, transport, industrial supply, camp/hotel, and office space. Year Founded 1981 Y ear Founded in AK 1981 Employees (Worldwide) 145 E mployees (AK) 145
hunatotem.com 907-789-8500
Owned by over 1,500 Alaska Native shareholders from Hoonah and Glacier Bay, Huna Totem has investments in tourism, government contracting, natural resource management, and an investment portfolio. Winner of Seatrade’s Port of the Year Award for 2020. Year Founded 1973 Y ear Founded in AK 1973 Employees (Worldwide) 203 E mployees (AK) 142
TRAVEL & TOURISM
DAVIS CONSTRUCTORS & ENGINEERS Luke Blomfield, Pres./CEO 6591 A St., Ste. 300 Anchorage, AK 99518
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COLVILLE Dave Pfeifer, Pres./CEO Pouch 340012 Prudhoe Bay, AK 99734
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HUNA TOTEM CORPORATION Russell Dick, Pres./CEO 9301 Glacier Hwy., Ste. 200 Juneau, AK 99801 ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION
THE SOLUTIONS COMPANY Full facility removal, asbestos, remediation, waste management, demolition and site work
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HILTON ANCHORAGE
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Ed Gravley, CEO 1020 S. Bailey St. Palmer, AK 99645
mvfcu.coop 907-745-4891
Building better financial futures for people who live, learn, work, or worship in the state of Alaska and the Waipahu, Hawaii, Neighborhood Board #22. MVFCU offers a full range of financial services to all eligible members. Year Founded 1948 Y ear Founded in AK 1948 Employees (Worldwide) 150 E mployees (AK) 142
grtnw.com 907-452-5617
Heavy highway civil construction, utilities, paving, landscaping. Year Founded 1976 Y ear Founded in AK 1976 Employees (Worldwide) 140 E mployees (AK) 140
homerelectric.com 907-235-8551
Homer Electric Association is a member-owned electric cooperative serving more than 24,600 members on the western Kenai Peninsula from Soldotna, Kenai, Homer, and remote communities across Kachemak Bay. Year Founded 1945 Y ear Founded in AK 1945 Employees (Worldwide) 132 E mployees (AK) 132
lifemedalaska.com 907-563-6633
Your Alaskan-owned medevac company. Statewide air ambulance services with bases in Anchorage, Bethel, Dutch Harbor, Fairbanks, Juneau, Kodiak, Palmer, Soldotna, and Kodiak. Anchorage-based ALS ground ambulance services. CAMTS Accredited. Year Founded 2008 Y ear Founded in AK2008 Employees (Worldwide) 130 E mployees (AK) 130
cruzconstruct.com 907-746-3144
Experts in resource development and heavy civil construction. Year Founded 1981 Y ear Founded in AK 1981 Employees (Worldwide) 126 E mployees (AK) 126
totemaritime.com 907-265-7248
TOTE's Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro/Ro) cargo ship provides twiceweekly, reliable service between Washington and the Port of Alaska. TOTE has served Alaska since 1975 and continues to invest in the people, assets, and community. Year Founded 1975 Y ear Founded in AK 1975 Employees (Worldwide) 125 E mployees (AK) 125
jagalaska.com 907-224-3198
Ship repair serving private, commercial & governmental entities. Full in-house blast & coating, marine electrical, mechanical, machine shop, piping, structural and joiner departments. 5,000T synchro-lift, 5 berths on rail system. 100T Grove Crane. Year Founded 2018 Y ear Founded in AK 2018 Employees (Worldwide) 125 E mployees (AK) 125
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GREAT NORTHWEST John Minder, CEO/Pres. PO Box 74646 Fairbanks, AK 99707
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HOMER ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION Bradley Janorschke, GM 3977 Lake St. Homer, AK 99603
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LIFEMED ALASKA Russ Edwards, CEO PO Box 190026 Anchorage, AK 99519
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CRUZ CONSTRUCTION Dave Cruz, Pres. 7000 E. Palmer Wasilla Hwy. Palmer, AK 99645 CONSTRUCTION
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TOTE MARITIME ALASKA Alex Hofeling, Pres. 2511 Tidewater Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501 TRANSPORTATION TOTE Group, Jacksonville, FL
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MATANUSKA VALLEY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
JAG ALASKA Tim Jagielski, EVP PO Box 969 Seward, AK 99664 INDUSTRIAL SERVICES
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LET’S TALK BUSINESS. BUSINESS BANKING. Business checking and money market accounts Cash management services Business and commercial lending Merchant services
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GIVE US A CALL TODAY! 907-646-6670 500 W. 36th Ave, Suite 400 Anchorage, AK 99503 www.alaskausa.org/business www.akbizmag.com
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The Top 5 of the Top 100
Alaska’s largest private employers put people first By Alexandra Kay
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Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
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Alaska Business
75,541 jobs reported by the 2022 Alaska Business Corporate 100.
Providence Alaska With 5,000 employees in Alaska (adding to its parent network’s 119,000 worldwide), Providence Alaska is number one on the list once again. The largest private sector and nonprofit employer in the state, the healthcare provider serves Alaskans in six communities: Anchorage, Eagle River, Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Kodiak Island, Seward, and Valdez.
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rovidence Alaska leads the Corporate 100 pack once again—with NANA Regional Corporation, Trident Seafoods Corporation, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), and Fred Meyer rounding out the top five largest private employers in Alaska. Over the past year, the top five collectively provided jobs for more than 20,000 people, despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic. These companies lead by example and represent about 27 percent of the
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Some of the caregivers from the Day Surgery Team at Providence Alaska Medical Center. Providence Alaska
“As the largest private employer in Alaska, Providence offers many amazing career opportunities that deliver on our mission and meet the needs of our patients, their families, and our communities throughout Alaska.” Florian Borowski, Chief Human Resources Officer Providence Alaska
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The company’s mission is one of the top reasons why employees say they work for Providence, which provides care for the poor and vulnerable, regardless of ability to pay. The company cares about its employees just as much and is dedicated to helping them gain skills and opportunity. To better support their caregivers’ learning and growth, Providence recently started using a self-paced virtual learning platform to allow its employees “to reinvent themselves one skill at a time.” The company also brought on LinkedIn Learning as part of that platform and increased its tuition reimbursement to $5,250 to help support caregivers who are pursuing external education. Providence is accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center Program’s Transition to Practice for all nursing hires, which is designed to ease a nurse’s path into practice through things like didactic cases, precepting, and mentorship. Other employees are hired into structured residency development programs (doctors and nurses), into positions that require specific license (Certified
Nurse Assistant), or into positions that provide on-the-job training (Food Service or Environmental Services). The company continues with its incredible track record of success by attracting the best hires—and by providing the right training and tools to make sure their employees are successful, have room for growth, and can participate in team decision making. Even when things are difficult— for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic—Providence caregivers provide compassionate care to the people who need it. The first Sisters of Providence arrived in Nome in 1902 to provide care for people who had come to the state during the Gold Rush. That commitment to providing care for the poor and vulnerable continues today. “As the largest private employer in Alaska, Providence offers many amazing career opportunities that deliver on our mission and meet the needs of our patients, their families, and our communities throughout Alaska,” says Florian Borowski, Chief Human Resources Officer for the Alaska Region.
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
Once again, the Alaska Native regional corporation for Northwest Alaska comes in at number two in the Corporate 100. Founded in 1972, NANA is owned by more than 14,500 Iñupiaq shareholders or descendants, and its subsidiaries range from construction and engineering to information technology, telecommunications, logistics, and facilities management. NANA has employment opportunities for everything from entry-level jobs to highly skilled positions. NANA’s mission is to improve the lives of its people by maximizing economic growth, protecting and enhancing its lands, and promoting healthy communities. The company extends hiring preference to NANA shareholders, their spouses, and descendants—to the extent that is allowed by law. While NANA was staggered by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, the corporation received $32.8 million in federal relief funds from the CARES Act and distributed the money to shareholders and aid organizations. Providing direct financial benefits to shareholders is a key part of NANA’s mission, said CEO and President John Aġnaqłuk Lincoln in October 2021, soon after becoming the corporation’s top officer. In the same statement, Board Chair Linda Lee said, “NANA has had many successes despite the challenges of the pandemic.” For instance, in September 2021, NANA Vice President of Lands Elizabeth “Liz” Qaulluq Cravalho was appointed by President Biden to serve on the US Arctic Research Commission as an industry member through 2024. Also, the corporation announced a 2021 shareholder dividend of $10.75 per share, for a total distribution of $18.49 million. Beyond those dividends, NANA brings value to its shareholders through the social and cultural contributions it makes as well as economic development, cultural initiatives, and other programs.
Image courtesy of Dan Butts.
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Trident Seafoods Trident Seafoods moved up two spots in this year’s Corporate 100, coming in at number three, with 4,077 Alaska www.akbizmag.com
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ASRC President and CEO Rex A. Rock Sr. (left) and ASRC Chairman Crawford Patkotak (right). ASRC
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employees (and 10,000 worldwide). The 100 percent American-owned and privately held seafood harvesting and processing company started in 1961 and remains a family business today. Though the company lost co-founder and chairman Chuck Bundrant in 2021, three generations of Bundrant’s children and grandchildren are committed to keeping his dream alive. After forty years in business, Trident is an integral part of ten coastal communities, and the company says on its website that it’s “committed to the long-term health of each one.” The company also says it puts the wellbeing of future generations above short-term profit. Trident operates its own fleet of fishing vessels (trawlers, trawl catcher/ processors, floating processors, crab catchers, freighters, tenders), and it also partners with thousands of independent Alaskan fishermen. The company credits its employees as the foremost reason for its success, which allows it to be the leader in the seafood industry. Trident also operates shoreside processing facilities and fleet support along the coast from “Ketchikan to Kodiak… from Sand Point to St. Paul.” The company’s website mentions its “culture of innovation,” as it was the first company to catch and freeze Alaska king crab on board a fishing vessel. Sustainability is also at the core of the company’s beliefs. “It’s why we invest in and support the local communities where we fish,” notes the website. The company partners with organizations like the Seafood Nutrition Partnership, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers, and the National Fisheries Institute to help “ensure a responsible stewardship of Alaskan seafood for generations to come.” Finally, Trident notes that the company strives for a higher standard of achievement and is “committed to providing exceptional operating conditions and an environment of dignity and respect,” adding that “[the] success of our business is dependent on the trust and confidence we earn from our fishermen, employees, and customers over the long run.” In light of these beliefs, the company Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
Arctic Slope Regional Corporation ASRC comes in at number four on this year’s Corporate 100 with 3,165 Alaskan employees (14,656 worldwide). The company represents the business interests of approximately 13,000 Iñupiat shareholders. While second to NANA among purely Alaskan-owned corporations in terms of in-state and worldwide payroll, ASRC dominates on the revenue side. For the past twentyseven years, ASRC has held the title of the largest Alaskan-owned and operated business by gross revenue. ASRC President and CEO Rex A. Rock Sr. attributes the company’s continued success to the long lens its early leaders used to guide their decisions. Recognizing decisions made in the corporation’s infancy would have impacts decades down the road, leadership chose to forgo short-term gain and instead focused on longterm viability. “The approach of making decisions for the long term is a pillar of ASRC’s stability and continues to be the foundation of ASRC’s business strategy,” says Rock. Stability in both earnings and leadership has created an environment that attracts and retains talented employees who are dedicated to ASRC’s mission. The company provides the very best resources to attract, retain, and develop future generations of leaders across Alaska, says Rock. To do this, ASRC offers some of the best health and retirement plans in the state, including medical, dental, vision, pet, legal services, life insurance, and identity theft, as well as a 401(k) contribution match and more. ASRC offers training, professional development, and education programs to its workforce as part of the company’s long-term efforts to promote from within. The company also hosts a leadership program for employees, who are selected for the year-long program based on their demonstrated commitment to the corporation and their potential as a leader. The leadership program’s www.akbizmag.com
“The approach of making decisions for the long term is a pillar of ASRC’s stability and continues to be the foundation of ASRC’s business strategy.” Rex A. Rock Sr., President and CEO, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation
GENERATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES. BUILT RESPONSIBLY.
NOVAGOLD.COM/SUSTAINABILITY
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contributes to several charitable organizations and invests in the local communities where it fishes and works.
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“Fred Meyer has always been a customerfirst company, so our growth and the direction we take comes directly from what we learn from our customers… We develop new innovations and change our model to be what the customer wants and needs.” Holly Mitchell Alaska District Manager Fred Meyer Stores
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goal is to give future ASRC leaders greater insight into the corporation’s operations and strategic vision and to foster leadership development throughout the company. At ASRC, Iñupiaq values like respect, high performance, stewardship, relationship, resolution of conflict, and integrity are critical elements in the company’s continued success. “The tone is set from the top with emphasis on teamwork and unity,” says Rock. “The message is genuine and personally understood by ASRC leadership, who often wear multiple hats in their communities—president and CEO, chairman, director— but also whaling captain, hunter, and basketball coach. These roles embody teamwork, unity, and trust: principles that are carried over into the workplace.”
regardless of their role within the company, says Mitchell. Finally, the company also credits its success to its customers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fred Meyer took steps to protect health and safety, such as adjusting store hours and using physical distancing and advanced cleaning. The company also expanded associate benefits. “Fred Meyer has always been a customer-first company, so our growth and the direction we take comes directly from what we learn from our customers,” says Mitchell. “We develop new innovations and change our model to be what the customer wants and needs.” One
Fred Meyer Fred Meyer rounds out the top five of the Corporate 100, with 3,132 Alaska employees (39,000 worldwide, nearly one-tenth of the workforce for parent company Kroger). The one-stop shop for groceries, apparel, housewares, pharmacy, home electronics, and more credits its success to the company’s great benefits, culture, and the many opportunities available to its employees. “You can come for a job and stay for a career,” says Holly Mitchell, Alaska District Manager for Fred Meyer Stores. “In fact, many of our company leaders started their careers working in the stores.” Mitchell further notes that company associates are “like family,” and that Fred Meyer strives to incorporate its stated purpose—feeding the human spirit— into everything they do. “One of the best ways to describe our work culture is through observing our honesty, integrity, respect, diversity, safety, and inclusion,” she says. Fred Meyer helps its employees advance by providing multiple forms of training. Associates are eligible for competitive wages, health and wellness benefits, associate discounts, ongoing education, and more. The company’s leadership team is committed to maintaining a healthy environment for employees and has ways for associates to be successful and make meaningful contributions
Holly Mitchell is the Alaska District Manager for Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer
example of this is the Pickup service, which Fred Meyer began offering years before COVID-19 made it a lifesaving necessity for some vulnerable customers. The company continues to adapt to meet its consumers’ needs. “We love Alaska, and we are proud of our heritage here,” Mitchell says. “We are excited to continue to serve our customers and be part of the community.”
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Celebrating 50 years of Alaska Native strength.
Nana Regional Corp 1pg
nana.com www.akbizmag.com
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Alaska Airlines’ Suzanne Druxman S
uzanne Druxman recently celebrated her 20th year with Alaska Airlines, where she works as a trainer and concierge in the Alaska Lounge at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Despite everything that has happened over the past two decades—including 9/11, the pandemic, huge upheavals in the airline industry and even a personal battle with breast cancer—she is still excited to be working with the guests she loves. “I really enjoy helping our most frequent travelers and members; because they travel all the time, we get to know them and there’s always someone you recognize when you walk into the lounge,” she says. “My job is to welcome them and to assist them in any way that I can, whether that’s helping them change an airline seat or bringing them something to eat or being a master barista or mixologist. “We wear many hats in the lounge,” she laughs. “We do it all.”
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Druxman first joined the airline in 2001 after working as the manager of a fine jewelry store for many years. Single when she moved to Alaska, she got married and had three children and decided to take some time off before going back to work. “My friend Barbara Zipkin had been employed with Alaska Airlines for two years, and she said that it was the most fun place she’d ever worked,” says Druxman. “So I decided to follow in her footsteps and become a customer service agent.” During her tenure at the airline, Druxman worked in the front ticket area checking in passengers, on the concourse getting flights out, in cargo accepting packages, and as a trainer for customer service agents. “As a customer service agent, it’s crazy what you see,” she says. “I remember one customer checking in who had a service animal—a cat in a soft-sided kennel. Then she had another kennel with two cats—one was a service cat for the other cat who was blind.“ “We’ve also had people want to fly with their pet snakes,” she continued. “Haven’t you ever seen Snakes on a Plane, for gosh sakes? This really should be a reality show.” Druxman says that she found her home six years ago when she started working in the lounge— one of her favorite places when she used to be a frequent flyer herself.
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
Alaska Airlines
By Vanessa Orr
how to improve. “We asked what was most important, and they said ‘Be on time, on time, and on time—and if my bag could get there with me, that would be good, too,’” laughs Druxman. She credits Alaska Air Group CEO Ben Minicucci and former CEO Brad Tilden with improving efficiency at the airline, and the Alaska Airlines’ staff with being able to adjust no matter what the situation. “You have to be prepared to change from day to day; when we get a bulletin from the FAA or a government
directive, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been doing things a certain way, there’s no discussion; you make the change,” she says. “In early 2020 with COVID, we might get a new rule every day,” she adds. “It wasn’t always easy but we did it. But there aren’t really any words to describe how awful, horrible, and crazy the pandemic was, but what can you do but get through it?” Alaska Airlines closed their lounges for about four months as a result of COVID, and when they reopened, it
Business Trip Essentials!
Flexibility Is Key When dealing with hundreds of passengers every day, it’s important to be able to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. And that ability became even more important during the pandemic. “We have a saying: The only thing constant in the airline industry is change,” says Druxman. “From when I first started working in 2001, things are incredibly different from what they are now. “Back then, we would plan to depart at 8 a.m., but it was really more of a suggestion than an actual departure time,” she laughs. “We had handwritten tickets that we counted to match the passengers on board, and passengers could easily go standby, switch flights, and get on board with or without bags—it was a lot simpler in those days.” September 11, 2001 changed everything, and Druxman, who was called into work that day, remembers watching the world change. “It was as unbelievable as you might imagine— everything was shut down, and people were driving up on the ramp to find out what was going on. We were watching the news like everyone else,” she says. The airline made a lot of changes, not only in security but in efficiency, asking their most frequent guests for input on www.akbizmag.com
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“I was a business traveler for ten years before this job, and I was a member of the lounge,” she says. “Some of my best meals were on Alaska Airlines’ flights. Back in the 1980s and ‘90s, you could get Chateaubriand and broiled salmon in first class; that sure beat the frozen dinners I was eating at home!” In addition to her role as a concierge, Druxman also trains concierge and hospitality hosts and says that she is looking forward to the next new-hire class. “When I first started working, someone had to leave before you could get a job in the lounge; in ten years, there was never an opening,” she says. “But we’ve had a number of people retiring in the past two years and others are moving into flight attendant positions as we’re ramping up and looking for more in-flight crew. So we have lost some people, but it’s for good reasons because we’re expanding.”
CO R P O R AT E 10 0 Regional Manager of Lounges Jennifer Freeberg-Huss and Seattle concierge Melissa Schug, with Suzanne Druxman at the Beyond Service Award dinner in 2017. Suzanne Druxman
required an intensive week of retraining staff as well as cleaning the rooms. “We literally put gloves on and started deep cleaning—not everything in this job is glamorous,” Druxman laughs. She noted that the airline did offer lounge and customer service employees the option to take time off or the opportunity to work elsewhere in the company. “None of us were furloughed; we could take a threemonth leave, keeping our benefits, or if we wanted to work, they found a job for us,” she says. As things have gotten closer to "normal," Druxman is happy to see people flying, though travel, especially 82 | April 2022
in the time of COVID, can be even more stressful than usual. “Thankfully, over the last twenty years, Alaska Airlines has given me a lot of training in defusing situations and handling difficult guests and turning problems into positive situations,” she says. “When someone comes in angry, I don’t know if it’s something we did or if something happened at home. But when someone has a problem, I want to hear it. I want them to tell me. “We want people to have a good experience; I want everyone I talk to each and every day to walk away with a smile,” she adds. “I want them to have a good day and if that means telling
them a corny dad joke, or offering an apology, I will. I have things I can pull out of my toolbox to help.” Druxman’s positive attitude, bubbly personality, and ability to keep customers happy resulted in her being honored with the 2021 Alaska Airlines Legend Award, something given to only ten airline employees each year. “There are so many amazing people in our organization that I felt so honored by that; I’m actually crying thinking about it,” she says, adding that 2020-21 was a rough year for a number of reasons. “I discovered that I had breast cancer during my time off during COVID, and luckily they found it early. I am the poster child for women to get their mammograms every year." “Being a legend is a big deal for us, and there are so many people here who deserve it,” she adds. “One passenger was in Anchorage for a doctor’s appointment and her flight was cancelled, so a customer service agent let her stay in her extra bedroom. To be compared to people like that is really an honor. And to do something you love and get an award for doing it is pretty amazing.” Druxman also appreciates that the airline gives her the opportunity to participate in numerous charitable causes that are dear to her heart. “While I can’t even imagine not doing this job, I think I’ll get involved in some kind of charitable volunteer work if I ever do retire,” she says. “This type of activity is really encouraged here; if I give $100 to the Food Bank of Alaska, the airline matches it. If I donate time, they donate that amount of money to the organization from my hours. Like me, they really believe in giving back to the community and in assisting others who need help.” In the meantime, Druxman will continue to bring smiles to the people that she serves every day. “Traveling today is challenging with all the hassles of TSA, luggage, security, parking, the mask mandate and more— we just want you to take a breath, relax, and let us know how we can make your day better,” she says. “We do everything with an eye to safety and getting flights out on time, but if we can do that while having fun, it’s a better experience for all of us.”
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
CO R P O R AT E 10 0 Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF) participates and invests in the Bering Sea commercial fishing for pollock, cod, crab and other fish species. Commercial fishing activities and the resulting sales of seafood products drive company earnings and provide Coastal Villages residents and communities with programs like Youth to Work, People Propel®, Pollock Provides® Heating Oil Program and many others. CVRF does not rely on grants or donations; instead, money for our communities is earned through the hard work of fishing fleet employees and crew who work on CVRF vessels in the Bering Sea.
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First National Proud
A century of change (and bills) at Alaska’s family-owned bank
First National Bank Alaska
By Scott Rhode
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he fireworks display over Anchorage on January 30 was too late for New Year’s Eve, too early for Fur Rendezvous. What was it for? The fact that it happened at Cuddy Family Midtown Park is a clue, for those who know the history of the Cuddy family and what happened on that day 100 years earlier. The Cuddy family has run First National Bank Alaska (FNBA) since 1941, and the institution was already nineteen years old by then. Started on January 30, 1922, as The First National Bank of Anchorage inside a furniture store at 4th Avenue and G Street, FNBA has grown and prospered over the last century while other banks have fallen by the wayside or been absorbed by larger institutions. Don’t confuse FNBA with National Bank of Alaska (NBA), started in Skagway in 1916. Led by the Rasmuson family, NBA used to be Alaska’s largest bank, but it never marked its hundredth birthday. Wells Fargo bought NBA in 2000, a couple years Cheri Gillian after the San Francisco-based Gold Rush bank was itself bought by Minneapolis-based Norwest Corporation, a bank that will celebrate its centennial in 2029. First National changed its ‘A’ in 2001. “I was here when the bank transitioned from The First National Bank of Anchorage to First National Bank Alaska,” says Chief Administrative Officer Cheri Gillian. “When Wells Fargo purchased NBA, we were like ‘Okay, now we get to be First National Bank Alaska.” Given that NBA did not obtain a national charter until 1950, FNBA has a strong claim to really be the first national bank in Alaska. “First” has been part of its identity, says Board Chair Betsy Lawer and CEO Betsy Lawer. FNBA had the first drive-through window and computerized banking in Alaska, both in 1960. A year later,
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Family Values The first countertop at FNBA’s flagship location in downtown Anchorage was a slab of marble from a candy kitchen. Winfield Ervin furnished his new bank with salvage from his candy factory in Idaho. Across that counter slid assets from Ervin’s early customers: railroad workers, fur trappers, and gold miners. Lawer recalls seeing gold nuggets weighed on a scale in the bank. “Then the gold would be put in the vault as collateral, along with pelts. The challenge was the pelts were often stinky,” she says. “We don’t have pelts as collateral anymore.” The branch at 4th and G didn’t make it to the hundredth anniversary. “It was not our choice,” Lawer says. In 2020, the metro branch relocated a few blocks west because FNBA had to
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divest itself of the building. “Banks are not allowed to own real estate,” Lawer explains, “and with technology, the bank’s footprint downtown had gotten small enough that they [the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] felt we were not occupying enough of the building, using it as a bank, that it was considered a real estate investment.” For now, the old FNBA building is as empty as the 4th Avenue Theater next door. That theater was built alongside the bank in 1941, the same year FNBA changed hands from Ervin to a new owner. Warren Cuddy, a former federal prosecutor in Valdez, acquired a controlling interest. When he died ten years later, his wife, Lucy Hon Cuddy, became the new board chair and his son, Dan “D.H.” Cuddy, became president. In 1982, J.P. Pfeifer became president while D.H. Cuddy stepped into the role of chairman of the board. His son, David Cuddy, became president in 1992, with David’s sister Betsy as chief operating officer. Betsy Lawer figures her involvement in the family business began around age 2. “Pop would periodically take one of us on his Saturday morning business
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calls, and I always behaved because I thought they were fascinating,” she says. “From an early age, I realized what banking could do for people because I was tagging along with my dad in the morning and talking to these old-time Alaskans and hearing their stories and their business plans.” Lawer earned a degree in economics from Duke University, and her first job was as secretary for her father. “Never any other place where I wanted to work,” she says. As board chair since D.H. Cuddy died in 2015, as CEO since 2018, and once again as bank president upon the retirement of Doug Longacre soon after the centennial, Lawer has created a culture that invites others to think of FNBA as if it were their own. Ryan Strong “I didn’t have a family member working here,” says Chief Banking Officer Ryan Strong, “but my parents did a lot of banking with the bank, so they were familiar with Mr.
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it opened the first branch in Bethel, the only bank for an area the size of Montana. The first bank branch inside a US federal building was FNBA’s in Anchorage in 1980. And FNBA ranked first in the nation for return on assets in 1984, 1985, and 1986. That’s a lot of firsts.
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The first drive-through window at an Alaska bank in 1960, one of FNBA's many firsts. First National Bank Alaska
Cuddy and Betsy Lawer… It’s probably no coincidence I got a summer job there for a couple summers between college, so when I came home to Alaska with a finance degree… First National was the natural spot for me.” Gillian, originally hired by Lawer in the ‘80s as an artist in a two-person marketing department, credits FNBA with having accessible leaders. “I’m not going to fool myself and say every front-line person knows who Betsy is or knows who I am or has an appreciation that we’re making decisions on a daily basis that we think will lead to the best possible workplace, but I think a lot of people do,” she says. Strong appreciates it. “I’ve worked a few places [and] I’ve never seen a leader who cares genuinely as much for the employees of the organization,” he says of his boss. That’s the loyalty that brought about 350 employees out to the park on a winter night for the centennial celebration. Chief Credit Officer Darren Franz was wowed by the pyrotechnics, as well as the camaraderie. “I’ve celebrated every day I’ve been over 86 | April 2022
here because, I gotta tell ya, if you work for somebody that doesn’t care about people… you hugely appreciate working in a place where you’re valued and your opinion matters,” he says.
A Century of Success On the cover of volume 1, issue 1 of Alaska Business Monthly in January 1985, there’s D.H. Cuddy with his skewed smile. His portrait is framed by FNBA’s signature color (some call it maroon; others are sure it’s burgundy) and underscored by the headline, “First National’s Cuddy cashes in on conservatism.” From the beginning FNBA and this magazine have had a close relationship. For six years running, FNBA has topped the category of Best Place to Work, 250+ Employees in our Best of Alaska Business awards. Lawer says that achievement is among her proudest, next to FNBA’s national rankings, such as being named a “Best Bank to Work For” by American Banker magazine. The success of the bank depends on the success of its people. Strong says, “We’re always looking for ways to turn
banking for our employees from a job into a career,” and every other officer interviewed for this article voiced a similar sentiment. FNBA’s mission statement also hitches the bank’s success to its customers and community. As Strong puts it, “We only succeed if our customers succeed, if our communities succeed, if the state succeeds. If none of those succeed, we’re out of business, basically.” One of those customers is Mike Mortenson, president of Alaska Rubber Group. When the Anchoragebased industrial supplier acquired five new locations in Washington, FNBA expressed reservations about lending for an out-ofstate venture. But Mortenson says the bank had faith, based on the history of the business— which in some Mike Mortenson Alaska Rubber Group ways paralleled FNBA’s own scrappy beginnings. “It was the hometown bank that really saw something in us from the very
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“From an early age, I realized what banking could do for people because I was tagging along with my dad in the morning and talking to these old-time Alaskans and hearing their stories and their business plans.” Betsy Lawer, Board Chair and CEO, First National Bank Alaska
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beginning, jumped on board, and has been with us every step of the way,” Mortenson says. When Alaska Rubber Group transitioned to an employee-owned business, FNBA helped navigate the transaction. And when the COVID-19 pandemic cut off revenue, Mortenson says FNBA handled the paperwork for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). “We at no time had any concern that we were gonna have to lay off people,” he says. Nearly one out of every three PPP loans in Alaska passed through FNBA. “Out of all the initiatives we’ve done, that stands out to me the most,” says Franz. He explains that FNBA processed approximately 5,500 PPP loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars, sometimes before the federal government figured out how to reimburse the bank. “It definitely stretched us financially,” Franz says. “It was out of our purse, so to speak… But it worked out. They honored their word, and as the loans were made, within a few weeks of them being made, we would get funding for them.” Franz says FNBA came together as a team because the bank recognized that PPP was vital to helping cu s to m e r s — b u t it was tense. He thought, “’Good grief! I don’t want Darren Franz to tank the bank before it’s a hundred years old, if we do something wrong here.’ We all knew we had to try to make this work.” A similar “across-the-organization effort” prepared FNBA’s computers for the Y2K transition, Gillian recalls. “This bank will adapt and thrive,” she says. “That’s what I know. Because the heart of the bank, the values of the bank, they’re unmatched almost across the nation… We’ve overcome many a challenge.” Those challenges include the 1964 earthquake. FNBA’s headquarters building was damaged, but D.H. Cuddy pledged to rebuild even taller as a signal of confidence. “My father always believed in Alaska, something he instilled in all of his kids,” says Lawer. “It’s the culture of the bank today.”
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Of D.H. Cuddy's six kids, Betsy Lawer says she's the one who wanted to work at the bank for the long haul. First National Bank Alaska
About 350 FNBA employees gathered at Cuddy Family Midtown park to celebrate the bank's 100th birthday. First National Bank Alaska
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The Next Hundred “Change in the banking world has never been going as fast as it is now, so the delivery methods and the way banking is done continues to evolve at a very fast pace,” Strong says. “We have the ability to provide all the products and services and keep up with that change.” From pelts to computerized punch cards to video conferencing, FNBA has been through a lot. Lawer has been directly involved for 70 percent of the bank’s centennial. Remember when banks used to shut the doors at 3 o’clock? She does. “In a sense, it was good because you were totally focused on customers until 3 o’clock, and then you could focus on the paperwork after 3 o’clock,” Lawer says. “Right now, you’ve got customers and paperwork that you’re doing at the same time.” Franz has been with FNBA for only 2 percent of its existence, but his career extends further back. “When I started on a teller line, we had stamps and everything was paper oriented. We didn’t even have computers at every teller window. A lot more manual processes thirty years ago than they do now,” he recalls. “Maybe a hundred years from now, I bet there’s no such thing as a teller.” Franz figures that the commercial banker, normally backstage at the neighborhood branch, will retain the front-facing customer service function. Assuming a human has the job at all; might artificial intelligence take over? Lawer says no. The relationship between banker and customer can’t be automated. “We do enough complex things to provide value added for our customers,” she says. As rapidly as business changes, some things must remain the same. Will FNBA remain, as well? Banks fail almost as often as restaurants, Franz observes, yet FNBA has survived this long thanks to a combination of caution and luck. Can it last another century? “I would hope so,” Lawer says. “If we keep hiring great people; if we embrace innovation and change, like we have for the last hundred years; and if we continue to provide value-added services for our customers, I don’t see any reason why not.” Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
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Alaska’s Rarest Occupations Or, is there a prosthodontist in the house? By Scott Rhode 90 | April 2022
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good prosthodontist is hard to find. Only three such specialists may be currently working in Alaska, depending on how “semi” some semi-retired dentists might be. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), prosthodontist is among the rarest occupations in the country. As of May 2020, BLS counted 530 nationwide. Only private household cooks and wood patternmakers are fewer in number. All are craft-related occupations, observes Dr. Joseph Macy, who prepares dental prosthetics at Southcentral Foundation (SCF) in Anchorage. “As a society, I don’t think we tend to financially reward craftsmen,” he says. “I think we tend to reward production.” Prosthodontics focuses on replacing missing teeth and fabricating appliances to replace function for cancer or trauma patients who have lost sections of their jaw or palate. Macy and his colleagues at SCF, Dr. Tiffany Lee and Dr. Bridget DeYoung, trained for an extra three years in the specialty, learning alternatives to the standard approach most dentists know. “Prosthodontics in its very essence, if you want to be good at it, you have to know which are the right questions to ask,”
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nationwide rarity. BLS counts 1,750 Americans making a living that way, slightly more than the number of professional geographers. Multiplied by 0.22 percent, Alaska should have no more than 4. “Here in Kodiak there’s 4 that I know of,” says Dave Wright, a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302. As with prosthodontists, the tiny headcount of declared specialists doesn’t capture the full picture of trained workers capable of doing the
job. “I don’t know hardly anybody that just does one thing in 302,” Wright says. “Most journeymen have learned to do whatever needs to be done, from running a loader or dump truck to cranes or excavators, the whole list. An experienced operator has probably touched quite a few of those things.” Wright has done most of those things as an operating engineer with Pacific Pile & Marine for the last eleven years. He doesn’t operate cranes or graders, but he has experience with just about any other excavation equipment. That
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Scraping the Bottom Rare as they are, having three prosthodontists is more than Alaska’s share. Given the state’s 0.22 percent share of the US population, the same proportion of the 530 prosthodontists would be exactly 1. Alaska is likewise relatively rife with dredge operators, despite their www.akbizmag.com
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Macy says. “More than anything else, my training was moving me toward asking the right questions.” Their expertise is a scarce resource. “The busy-ness here is incomprehensible and insatiable,” Macy says. “Every day, every appointment is filled months in advance, not days in advance. The need is well surpassing what we’re able to provide.” Not that SCF is the only place for prosthetic dentistry in Alaska. General dentists do it every day, too, but Macy says, “Those general dentists who are seeking to refer out to a prosthodontist as opposed to doing it themselves now have to refer out of state if they want to seek someone who did specialty training.” One other prosthodontist used to work in Alaska: Dr. Mark Williams. In fact, Macy was Williams’ first associate when Macy arrived in 1992. However, Williams retired in 2019. He continued to take patients at his practice, Advanced Dental Solutions in Anchorage, until early 2022. Now he’s gone for good, sailing his boat on the Pacific Ocean. Dr. Dale Burke, a partner at Williams’ practice since 2017, has training in advanced general dentistry and experience in prosthodontics, but he is not a specialist. Even so, Williams left the practice to him. “I must say, I am not a lone ranger, and my team is a very large part of what we provide,” says Burke. “They know all the techniques, equipment, and supplies required for these large cases, and they are unmatched in Alaska.” Like SCF, Advanced Dental Solutions is incredibly busy, even considering that the largest cases, such as postsurgical appliances for defects in the jaw or palate, must be referred to specialists in Seattle. But Burke says he’s not hunting for a replacement prosthodontist. At least, not until it’s time to sell the practice.
CO R P O R AT E 10 0 The type of dredging done in Alaska overlaps the skills used for land-based excavation, such that most workers with that training fall under the more general category of operating engineers. Pacific Pile & Marine.
includes working as a deck engineer on a dredging barge. “My last dredge job was at the new harbor in Valdez,” he says. “Using a Hitachi 1200 with a hydraulic clam bucket. Loading it on a hopper barge for disposal.” Wright has also worked at the Port of Alaska, helping with the construction of the cement and petroleum dock. Anchorage’s port has a constant need for dredging, due to silt flowing down Knik Arm. Manson Construction has that contract, yet their dredging barge requires only two operators on board. And that’s seasonal work; for the winter, Wright says his Pacific Pile crew in Anchorage have been busy with a job off the coast of Antarctica. BLS counts a broader category of Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators. Wright figures that’s what most skilled dredge operators call themselves, which accounts for the 2,680 in Alaska. Within that category, dredge operators hide in plain sight, outside of the narrow BLS definition.
Void of Space Within a state, BLS has no reliable figures for occupations with fewer than thirty employed, so the actual number 92 | April 2022
in Alaska is guesswork for any job less common than, say, professional historians, archivists, or bookbinders. Among all states, BLS counts 1,910 professional astronomers—only slightly more numerous than the category of dredge operator. Again, Alaska’s share should be approximately 4, yet in this case the state seems to have a shortage. Dr. Travis Rector is a professional and an astronomer—astrophysicist, specifically—but as a professor and chair of the physics and astronomy department at UAA, BLS puts him in a different category: Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Science Teachers, Post Secondary. Rector definitely does astronomy, though. “Most of my research lately is in star formation, studying how stars are forming out of clouds of gas inside our galaxy.” For that, Rector collects data from telescopes in Chile, taking images of gas clouds using special filters to see the kinds of light produced by newborn stars. That work could qualify Rector for an entirely different BLS category: Atmospheric and Space Scientists, of which Alaska has 180, mostly clustered around the UAF Geophysical Institute. Yet teaching is still integral to his occupation.
“I love teaching, and really they go hand in hand,” he says. “Most of my research projects, I have students working with me on them, so it’s great to have the two combined.” The only other plausible candidate for an Alaskan astronomer Rector can think of is his colleague Dr. Erin Hicks. In addition to publishing her research on galaxy formation, Hicks is the planetarium director at UAA. Every other astronomer must be counted in another category. There’s no reason Alaska shouldn’t have its fair share of astronomers. “The nice thing about astronomy is you can do it from literally anywhere on Earth,” Rector says. “For the most part, astronomers either travel to the telescopes that we use, or what’s becoming more and more common is we can control them remotely. When I use my telescopes in Chile, I log in over the internet and control them from my kitchen.” For his research, Rector must reserve time on a telescope. If its managers approve his project, the instrument collects data that belongs to him exclusively for a year and a half. After he finishes his analysis, his proprietary observations become public for others to use.
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Whatever BLS considers his job to be, Rector loves it. “It’s amazing that the research I get to do is so much fun,” he says. “I love working with students. A highlight of my job is to get students involved in my research and help launch their careers. Many of my students have gone on to work in astronomy as well.” Just not in Alaska, as far as BLS is concerned.
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Fading Out No excuses for the occupation that is, for the moment, slightly more numerous than astronomers. Motion Picture Projectionist is rare and getting rarer. BLS counts 2,270 nationwide, but the way technology is changing movie exhibition, it won’t be long before they fall to the bottom of the list. Alaska’s share of the BLS total should be approximately five for the whole state. Whoever they are, they don’t have much to do anymore. “There are still people who work at cinemas that start movies, and that could very well be described as a projectionist,” says Aaron Suring in Juneau. “But there’s no film anymore, so there’s no building or breaking down films or, really, upkeep of the projection systems.” Suring, an on-call projectionist for Gold Town Nickelodeon, says movies are distributed digitally via systems like Proludio. “They have a box that they send to you, and you can upload and download films,” he explains. “It sends out the signal to the projector, a digital projector mounted somewhere. It’s the secure way to transmit movies.” Distributors can also send an entire movie stored on a hard drive, with no download necessary. Back in 1994, when Suring started working at the now-defunct Valley River Cinemas in Eagle River, film reels arrived in heavy octagonal shipping containers. Assembling them on a large platter so the entire show could run continuously was a prized job for teenaged theater employees otherwise tasked with sweeping floors, ripping tickets, or popping corn. “That was always the dream,” Suring says. “That was the job that you wanted the best because it was the most fun and the most interesting.” He worked his way up to the projection booth. “We built and broke www.akbizmag.com
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CO R P O R AT E 10 0 The telescope Travis Rector uses in Chile can be operated from his home in Alaska, but sometimes he travels south to give it hands-on attention. Travis Rector
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down films and did previews. Swapped out the big, expensive, likely-toexplode bulbs and all that stuff. I’m not sure if that’s something I’d trust with a high schooler, looking back on it, but that’s what they did,” Suring recalls. “And we never really screwed things up that badly.” Even then, Suring was never what BLS would consider a full-time projectionist. During college, his experience got him a summer job in Juneau as a projectionist and assistant manager for Gross Alaska, owners of the 20th Century Theater. He moved to Juneau after graduation and was recruited by Gold Town founder Lisle Hiebert. “He was kind of surprised that I was better at building up and breaking down films than he was, and he was happy to have me do that part of the job,” says Suring. Gold Town mainly shows independent movies that aren’t commercial enough for Gross Alaska theaters. It’s been drivein only during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a 35 mm print of Little Women played there in 2020. When the theater reopens, management plans another 35 mm show, and Suring is waiting for the call. Until then, his occupation is video production, museum exhibit design, and co-owning the Alaska Robotics Gallery comic book shop. Not even the Bear Tooth Theatrepub in Anchorage uses film anymore, converting to digital for its art-house offerings. Suring understands the business case; digital systems are mostly foolproof. Mostly. “If things go wrong, they go more drastically wrong. Probably not actually see anything on screen rather than before, when there’d be shutter problems or the frame would jump,” he says. “That was stressful times. That all happened to all of us.” Projection booth disasters afflict fewer workers, but that also leaves a dwindling remnant who mastered a Hollywood dream cannon. “We took a lot of pride in making it seamless, in not flipping the shutter before you should or making sure that the sound is working,” Suring says. “You want it to be flawless and you prided yourself on that.” A craft occupation generally ignored by society: while motion picture projectionists are shrinking as a guild, they have plenty of company at the bottom of the employment statistics. Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
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H MEI N A ILT NG HCARE
The No Surprises Act Fair warning for medical expenses By Isaac Stone Simonelli
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health emergency is already an unwelcome surprise; an unexpected medical bill only adds to the injury. Take, for example, the cost of an ambulance or the enormously expensive air transport off Alaska’s road system or to out-of-state hospitals. “That's where we see the biggest delta and kind of the most expensive billing situations,” says Tiffany Stock, vice president of marketing and client relations at RISQ Consulting in Anchorage. To alert consumers to medical expenses they might not be able to afford, Congress passed the No Surprises Act in late 2020. Its ban on unexpected bills from out-of-network providers, out-of-network facilities, and out-of-network air ambulance providers took effect at the start of 2022. The result is an end to surprise billing—also referred to as balance billing—in private insurance for most emergency care and many instances of non-emergency care, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Balance billing is when a patient is stuck with the difference between the amount a provider bills and the amount the patient’s insurance pays. “In general, unexpected healthcare expenses could have a huge impact on someone's life,” says Jim Grazko, Premera’s senior vice president of the Alaska market and chief underwriting officer.
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A report by DHHS found that such bills, common among privately insured patients, could average more than $1,200 for services provided by anesthesiologists, $2,600 for surgical assistants, and $750 for childbirthrelated care. In a variety of situations, especially emergencies, patients have little to no options of what air ambulance service they use, what facility they end up at, or what physicians carry out a procedure— even if these services are out of network. When it comes to elective care, a patient does not typically get to choose their anesthesiologist, assistant surgeon, or other ancillary providers. “The biggest one we see is when someone has a planned in-hospital procedure at their in-network hospital, and they have an anesthesiologist— but you don't get a choice of the anesthesiologist—and they're not contracted with any insurance carrier,” Stock says. “So, we've seen a lot of balanced bills in those situations.” Many people who walk into a hospital don't understand the complex relationship between all the different providers that handle their case, explains Amy Miller, the CFO for Providence Alaska. “Not every physician that works within the Providence Hospital is a Providence employee. In fact, most of them are not,” Miller says, noting that type of arrangement is an industry standard. “The providers that work in any of these hospitals have their own businesses. They get to make their own choices around being contracted with insurance companies or not.” Miller says an unwritten upside to the law might be that it encourages out-of-network providers to become in-network. Either way, even before the No Surprises Act took effect this year, Providence hospitals already had a practice in place not to balance bill. “Even when we don't balance bill, patients still have responsibilities for deductibles and coinsurance and all of those things,” Miller says. “Those elements are not part of what this bill covers.” The Act also does not touch public insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, because those already include protections from balance billing. www.akbizmag.com
“I think every patient has a need to understand an estimate of what their bill is. We believe no patient should be caught in the middle of coverage disputes or surprise medical bills.” Amy Miller, CFO, Providence Alaska
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“Our part is making sure our employer clients and the individual clients we work with understand when they’re protected but also understand that they could still be balance billed in scenarios that are not covered by the No Surprises Act,” Stock says. “This bill did not totally wipe out surprise medical bills.”
Cost Control In 2004, Alaska attempted to tackle surprise billing with what is known as the 80th Percentile Rule. Put in place by the Alaska Division of Insurance, the rule established a minimum amount that insurance companies must pay when Alaskans with private insurance plans are treated by out-of-network providers. The rule requires the insurer to base payments for out-of-network procedures at or above 80 percent of what all providers in a given area of the state charge for the specific service. Stock explains that because most Alaskans who don’t work for larger organizations have fully insured health plans, they have been somewhat protected from huge disparities in billed versus allowed charges because of the 80th Percentile Rule.
Grazko argues that the No Surprises Act voids the need for the 80th Percentile Rule. “Now that Congress, at the federal level, is intervening… we think it's time to finally get rid of the cost-increasing 80th Percentile Rule once and for all,” Grazko says. “We feel that that is a constant cost driver and no longer needed with this federal No Surprises Act.” Grazko points out that in Alaska, with a small number of certain specialty providers, it’s easy to drive the cost of a service up 20 to 30 percent, forcing the 80th percentile to float up with it. “It provides a disincentive to providers to want a contract to begin with because they know that if they say, ‘Hey, we're not going to do a contract at a reasonable rate with a payer like Premera, then we'll get the 80 percentile, so why should we even come to the table?” Grazko says. “It’s a really bad fit for Alaska.” Stock points out that often the biggest differences in prices between innetwork and out-of-network providers are created because the insurance company and the out-of-network provider couldn’t agree on what an
allowable rate for a service should be. “In some cases we've seen [out-ofnetwork cost] two to three times more than the in-network charge,” Stock says. Stock says the new law could drive down costs of healthcare over the long term, “but I think it's a little bit too soon to tell.” Insurance rates are roughly calculated by adding together in-network payment and out-of-network payments, then projecting them forward with trends, Grazko says. “If we ended up paying less overall, then it could bring down premiums, as well as cost-sharing for the members,” Grazko says. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the law will reduce commercial insurance premiums by up to 1 percent. This would save taxpayers $17 billion over ten years and save consumers about $34 billion in reduced premiums and cost-sharing.
Estimates and Arbitration In addition to tackling balance billing, the new law also requires providers and hospitals to publish rates and give patients good faith estimates for
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procedures as part of what Premera Blue Cross describes as a multi-year trend toward increasing transparency in medical billing. “I think transparency is a good thing. We support transparency,” Grazko says. “I see benefits really all accruing to the member at this point, with regard to how the member is made aware of costs.” Miller agrees. “We continue to see legislation coming with an intent to protect consumers, which I always think is a good thing,” Miller says. “I think every patient has a need to understand an estimate of what their bill is. We believe no patient should be caught in the middle of coverage disputes or surprise medical bills.” Even before the law took effect, Providence had a process that provided estimates to patients when requested. The new rule requires it to provide them nearly automatically for uninsured patients. “You don't even have to ask for it,” Miller says. “If you're uninsured, we will simply provide it as long as you have a reasonable window between when you schedule and when the appointment is. Our ongoing efforts to help patients
Surprise! The anesthesiologist at an in-network hospital is not necessarily in the same network. That could add $1,200 to the bill. Wavebreakmedia | iStock
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“One of the big strengths that we see in this bill is that it basically takes the member out of the middle so that providers can no longer bill the patient for the difference in cost for out-of-network services... It basically takes it off their plate. One less thing to think about at a time when they're sick and they need to seek care.” Jim Grazko Senior Vice President of the Alaska Market Premera Blue Cross
understand healthcare costs and plan for their care are in line with the requirements of the No Surprises Act.” The complexity of medical procedures, however, can make it difficult to provide accurate estimates, Stock explains. These good-faith estimates are based on the diagnostic codes the provider expects to relate to a procedure. “We use that in relationship with the patient's stated insurance to tell us, on average, what are we seeing for reimbursement,” Miller says, noting that once the procedure is underway things may change. Miller explains that as more and more estimates are created for various procedures with patients covered by various insurance providers, the accuracy of those estimates will get better and better. “If we're able to provide patients with estimates and get them to understand their own responsibility as early as possible, we’re able to help with payment plans,” Miller says. “For some people, these services, even the highcost services, are necessary to sustain a quality of life.” The No Surprises Act also creates a new final-offer arbitration process to determine how much insurers must pay out-of-network providers. “One of the big strengths that we see in this bill is that it basically takes the member out of the middle so that providers can no longer bill the patient for the difference in cost for out-ofnetwork services,” Grazko says. “It basically takes it off their plate. One less thing to think about at a time when they're sick and they need to seek care.” In cases where a provider or facility receives a payment denial notice or an initial payment from a health plan for certain out-of-network services, any of the parties can choose to open a 30-business-day negotiation period. If the parties can’t agree on a payment amount, they can begin the new, independent dispute resolution process through a certified dispute resolution entity. This entity selects a final, non-negotiable payment amount.
Slow to Roll Out The No Surprises Act has not come without opposition. In December, the 100 | April 2022
American Hospital Association (AHA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) filed a joint lawsuit against DHHS, among other defendants, challenging what it characterized as a “narrow piece of the implementation of the No Surprises Act.” The suit targets the independent dispute resolution process, claiming that, as implemented, it favors commercial insurance companies. “The skewed process will ultimately reduce access to care by discouraging meaningful contracting negotiations, reducing provider networks, and encouraging unsustainable compensation for teaching hospitals, physician practices, and other providers that significantly benefit patients and communities,” the AHA states in a December news release. The organizations are clear that the lawsuit is not aimed at the core ideas of the No Surprises Act. “The AHA and AMA strongly support protecting patients from unanticipated medical bills and were instrumental in passing the landmark No Surprises Act to protect patients from billing disputes between providers and commercial health insurers,” AHA states. While the implementation of some of the law is disputed, the rollout of other aspects of the No Surprises Act have been delayed, says Stock. “I think that is why there’s a lot of confusion on how exactly this is impacting patients,” Stock says. “Because many parties are still waiting on regulations to be released to implement the other pieces that will connect it all.” Miller urges Alaskans to take advantage of financial counseling services. “Our financial counseling team is trained to sit with patients—virtually or in person—and look at all the available options,” Miller says. At Providence, financial counseling for those experiencing hardship is available at any point throughout a patient’s care, and eligible patients may have their costs reduced or completely covered. “I'm so thankful for the team we have in financial counseling, as they know how to access way more than you ever thought possible,” Miller says.
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U
MINING
Strategic Gateway
How Ucore is disrupting China’s ‘stranglehold’ on rare earth elements
Ucore
By Isaac Stone Simonelli
core Rare Metals would like to break ground on its Strategic Metals Complex (SMC) sometime this year. In about two years, the facility could be cranking out rare earth oxides, materials prized for their special properties of magnetism, luminescence, and strength. Currently, about 80 percent of rare earths imported to the United States come from China, according to the US Geological Survey. Therefore, the Biden administration zeroed in on a domestic supply chain as part of its climate and technology policy. Ucore’s business plan is in lockstep with that national strategy. “Ucore has a very definitive vision and plan for an independent and comprehensive North American rare earth element supply chain," Ucore Chairman and CEO Pat Ryan says. "To accomplish this, the fundamental component is the ability to have—first and foremost— operating commercial-scale rare earth separation plants. The ability to separate rare earth elements into oxides does not exist in North America today and is, therefore, the central objective of Ucore." Rare earth elements (REE) are not rare. Some of the seventeen metals in that stretch of the periodic table are more abundant in the Earth’s crust than nickel or tin, which have been used to craft human technology for thousands of years.
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The “rarity” arises from two attributes, one physical and one economic. First, the properties of the elements prevent them from clumping in commercial quantities, and they are difficult to chemically separate from ore. Second, the overwhelming bulk of rare earth oxides are produced by China. “That production of individual oxides, that's where the margin is… that's where all the money is,” Ryan says. “You've got to have that centerpiece, that midmarket, in order to take on the challenge of beating the stranglehold that China has and the upper hand they have over North America. So that's why we're focused on that.” Ryan says that a failure to secure the supply chain for REE necessary for the electrification of the automobile sector could mean that jobs tied to North America’s combustion engine plants would eventually migrate to China. The same goes for wind turbines, defense systems, smartphones, and other 21st century technology, he adds. “If you don't have that on home soil, you lose the jobs,” Ryan says.
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Like Nowhere on Earth Ucore has three main goals in its battle plan: commercialize its proprietary separation method, identify US-allied feedstocks, and develop downstream customers. Those three lines of attack converge in Ketchikan, where Ucore intends to build its SMC to process rare earth concentrates into marketable oxides. Ucore signed a memorandum of agreement with Southeast Conference to develop a natural resource development campus, and the anchor tenant would be the SMC. “Ideally, we would be able to potentially break ground towards the end of this year,” says Ucore Vice President and COO Michael Schrider. Construction could be complete by the end of 2023. “And then begin production of individual rare earth oxides by the first half of 2024,” Schrider says. Southeast Conference Executive Director Robert Venables is working with the Ucore team to identify the best place to put the facility. Several target properties have been identified. www.akbizmag.com
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Ucore's Bokan-Dotson Ridge REE project, still in the exploration and development phase, is located on Prince of Wales Island, just across Clarence Strait from the proposed Strategic Metals Complex. Ucore
“We're also looking at the permitting and consultation aspects of this to make sure that it's fully integrated with the community of Ketchikan,” Schrider says. “Our desire is to make sure that this plant is built in Ketchikan, but we're also going to make sure that we work with the community there.” The technology that will set the SMC apart from separators in China and elsewhere in the world is the RapidSX process, which is a huge upgrade to conventional solvent extraction methods, Ryan says. RapidSX was developed by Innovation Metals Company (IMC), which Ucore acquired as a subsidiary in 2020. In February, IMC’s top three executives announced their resignation, staying on with Ucore over the next few months to transition from “white coat science” toward commercialization. “We are in the throes of engineering right now for the Alaska SMC facility,” Schrider says. “The IMC team is focused 104 | April 2022
on the engineering development for the RapidSX portion of the plant.” Ucore describes RapidSX as more environmentally friendly than conventional solvent extraction. The column design, which replaces traditional mixer/settler units, essentially has no moving parts, which cuts down on energy consumption, Schrider says. “The RapidSX plant is much smaller than a conventional SX plant because it is so much more efficient than conventional SX,” Schrider says. “Because the chemistry is the same, but it's applied in a much more efficient manner, you have much less organic chemicals than you do in a conventional SX plant.” The main selling point of RapidSX, though, is its output speed. Conventional solvent extraction typically involves mixing “pregnant leach solution” with solvents through hundreds of mixer/settler units. With
RapidSX, the time to get a solution to equilibrium, when REE are separated out, can happen in days rather than the several weeks associated with a traditional solvent extraction plant, Ryan explains. “Then your extraction rate, which is the ability to extract a particular element from solution, is in the magnitude of ten times quicker,” Ryan says. “The chemistry is the same, but the physics and how the process works makes it all different.” How does the process work, exactly? That’s a secret. “You don't want to put anything out there that's published and noteworthy that has any hints that the Chinese could possibly get their hands on from an IP [intellectual property] standpoint,” Ryan says. The Innovation Metals’ team decided against filing a full process patent that would describe the unique aspects of RapidSX in detail.
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“It’s a bad idea because then someone can take the process patent, read exactly what's gone on, go into their back shop, and do exactly what you explained in your process,” Ryan says. “And never tell us that’s what they’re doing, and you never know because you'd never get into their building.”
Necessity Makes Allies While RapidSX is at the heart of the SMC, additional processes flank either side of the production line. A Bostonbased engineering team, Mech-Chem Associates, is working on both preseparation and post-separation. The pre-processing of concentrate is the same as conventional preparation of pregnant leach solution, Schrider explains. At the end of the RapidSX process, the individual element solutions are turned into oxides that can be shipped to customers. One of the reasons Ucore decided to bring Mech-Chem on board is the company's expertise in chemical closed-loop systems and reuse of chemicals, Schrider says. “We're going to recycle, reclaim, and
recapture virtually everything that we're using in the plant,” Schrider says. “And that's not necessarily done in other areas of the world.” There are economic benefits to this system as well, as it means lower costs for shipping REE concentrates to Ketchikan and minimal costs to dispose of process chemicals, since they will be reused in the plant. “It certainly makes sense overall from our best value position that we're going to do what makes most sense economically,” Schrider says. “But more importantly, we're doing what makes most sense environmentally and for the community.” While the Ucore team is in the trenches of designing the SMC in Ketchikan, construction is already underway on a demonstration plant in Kingston, Ontario. Originally slated to be finished in the first quarter of this year, supply chain issues for highly specialized pumps, valves, and other parts are pushing the completion date back to early in the second quarter, says Ryan. When bringing something as unique as the RapidSX technology to market,
companies typically start at a lab scale, grow it through the pilot and demonstration plant levels, and then move into the production plant. “The reason you want to have a commercial demonstration phase is because you want to collect further data at scale,” Ryan says. “You're collecting enough additional data to then comfortably go ahead and develop and design your commercial plant.” The data collected will be used to further optimize the construction of the commercial plant. “And, of course, once you get a commercial plant up and running, it's always about continuous improvement,” Ryan says. Another benefit is that the demonstration plant allows Ucore to test the feedstocks that will be used at the Alaska facility, adds Schrider. “The US-allied feedstock is crucial,” Ryan says. Ucore has signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will lead to a definitive supply agreement with Vital Metals, which operates a rare earth element mine in the Northwest Territories. “Our relationship is to grow with Vital Metals,” Ryan says. “They have
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a very complementary growth plan to ours going forward.” Ucore is in the process of developing two other relationships with upstream suppliers, but the negotiations were under a nondisclosure agreement at the time of writing. “All total, we'll have at least three US-allied feedstocks that feed into the Ketchikan Strategic Metals Complex, and that's a pretty good mix,” Ryan says.
Drilling at the Bokan-Dotson Ridge REE site. Ucore
A Stone’s Throw The reason Ucore selected Ketchikan as a strategic location isn’t just because Alaska’s First City is a 90-mile boat ride from the Canadian railhead in Prince Rupert. Closer at hand is an REE resource that Ucore is also developing: the Bokan-Dotson Ridge prospect on Prince of Wales Island, just across Clarence Strait from the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. Ucore’s plan to import feedstock from third-party suppliers is a step toward making the SMC a destination for its own Alaskamined REE. Ucore anticpates the Strategic Metals Complex will have capacity to separate
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2,000 tonnes at a time, with room to grow to a 5,000-tonne plant. “You're better off having a smart finance plan with a smart business plan that allows you to take on customers in increments and grow with them,” Ryan says. “If you came out of the starting blocks as a 15,000- or 20,000-tonne plant… How are you going to make your way into the market?” The idea ties into having a competitive capital expense plan, something in the tens of millions rather than hundreds of millions of dollars, Ryan explains. “That's a good start point to take on the Chinese market,” Ryan says of the current plan. “You want to be able to build like Lego blocks. You want to be able to expand your plant effectively.” Part of the current engineering process is gathering all the information required for the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program’s comprehensive application, Schrider says. “Our expectation is that we will be able to submit an application sometime in the first half of 2022.” In conjunction with the application, Ucore is working on other arrangements to finance the facility. “Some of that financing is going to come through pre-purchase supply agreements with offtake partners,” Schrider says. Ryan explains that his background—a mechanical engineer and founder of a tier one automotive company about twenty-six years ago—puts him in a good position to understand the needs of the transportation sector and ensure Ucore is able to meet them. “What we are doing here with this rare earth supply chain is positioning this crucial part of the mid-channel and making sure that it delivers the specifications for products that the end user, i.e. the automotive company, will ultimately want in the permanent magnet that goes into their electric motor,” Ryan says. “This Alaska SMC that's being designed and built is to actually address customers at the end,” he adds. “You can't just build it and they will come. You’ve got to build it and have a sense of what the customer wants at the end of the day.” Ryan and Schrider are keenly aware of the Made in China 2025 plan, the 108 | April 2022
The last drilling program at the BokanDotson Ridge REE project was completed in 2014, but Ucore continues to conduct additional mineralogy and metallurgical studies. Ucore
Communist country’s ten-year plan to transition from factory labor to more technological innovation. While Ucore’s officers recognize that the US government is making moves to control vital supply chains, they agree that the country is moving too slowly. “China put out its fourteenth fiveyear plan in 2021 precisely building on the previous plan… Whereas the United
States plan is, ‘Let's wait until this next election cycle and we'll see what the president wants to do,’” says Ryan. For a more preemptive defense, Ryan points to the need to have technology in place, feedstocks lined up, and customers ready to buy. “An Alaska plant that's up and running in 2024. That's what you need,” Ryan says. “You need to move quick.”
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OIL & GAS
Prudhoe Bay Seawater Treatment Plant
Prudhoe Bay Central Power Station
Hilcorp
Hilcorp
Point Thomson’s New Operator Hilcorp Alaska brings its efficiency expertise to North Slope gas By Tasha Anderson
T
he corporate neighborhood on the North Slope has changed significantly in recent years. Long-term anchor residents BP, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips formed an exploration and production foundation that held steady for decades as other oil and gas entities moved in— and more often than not moved out. These three international oil giants held the major interests in Prudhoe Bay and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., and over the years have paid millions upon millions of dollars to the state in royalties and taxes. Nothing lasts forever. BP marked forty years of operating Prudhoe Bay in 2017, celebrating the milestone with a goal to “go forty more,” and in early 2019 BP crews were approximately halfway through a 455-square-mile seismic survey in Prudhoe Bay to “help really sustain a longer-term drilling program,” said
110 | April 2022
then-BP Alaska President Janet Weiss. The long-term was quite a bit shorter than BP was publicly sharing at the time, as in August 2019 it announced its intentions to sell its Alaska assets to Hilcorp. Founded in 1989 in Texas, Hilcorp took its first step into the far north in 2012 in Cook Inlet, acquiring assets from Chevron and adding assets acquired from Marathon to its Cook Inlet portfolio the following year. Hilcorp continued to build its Alaska assets in Cook Inlet and on the North Slope over the last ten years, and today its profile includes nearly 1 million gross acres, more than 1,700 producing wells, and more than 1,500 employees, all of which contribute to delivering more than 340,000 gross barrels of oil per day. The company invested $340 million in the state in 2019 alone and paid almost $160 million in state taxes and royalties in that same year.
BP accepted $5.6 billion in exchange for its Alaska assets, and the agreement included Hilcorp taking over operations of Prudhoe Bay, which it did in June 2020. Roughly half of BP’s employees accepted positions with Hilcorp at the time of the transition. Two years later and Hilcorp has once again taken on employees from another North Slope player and operations of an additional site: Point Thomson. As of January, Hilcorp is operating Point Thomson, which holds an estimated 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 200 million barrels of natural gas condensate. At present, gas condensate is the only product exported from Point Thomson; a 22-mile pipeline connects the field to TAPS, which then carries approximately 10,000 barrels per day of gas condensate south to Valdez. The site’s onshore facilities also produce natural gas, but it’s stranded—there’s currently no way to deliver it to market.
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Instead, two injection wells work in tandem with a production well to cycle 200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The condensate is shipped out; the gas is reinjected into the reservoir. ExxonMobil began producing gas condensate at Point Thomson in 2016 (after developing the site at a cost of approximately $4 billion) and was the field’s operator until January. Even as it leaves operatorship behind, ExxonMobil is retaining its 62 percent ownership stake in the field. Hilcorp already owns a portion of Point Thomson, acquiring a 37 percent stake in the field as part of its acquisition of BP’s Alaska assets (for those doing the math, other parties collectively own less than 1 percent). Operations are changing hands, but the ownership split is remaining the same, and neither party is paying or receiving cash as part of the agreement. ExxonMobil’s Point Thomson employees were offered opportunities with Hilcorp, which many took. So if there’s no cash payments, no change in ownership, and an additional cost in payroll, why is Hilcorp taking on the responsibility of operations? The short answer is it’s what Hilcorp does. Examining the company’s portfolio, it has very few assets that it owns and doesn’t operate, and for good reason, considering its legacy of smart operations. “At Hilcorp, we pride ourselves on enhancing production and driving efficiencies of the legacy oil and gas assets we take over,” says Luke Saugier, senior vice president of Hilcorp Alaska. Hilcorp has demonstrated that skill multiple times in Alaska since it moved in. In 2012, approximately half of its $230 million Cook Inlet investment was spent on remediation, repair, and replacement of old equipment, and in its first year Hilcorp was able to boost oil production from its fields by 36 percent. In 2020, Hilcorp was able to double production at Milne Point, a field it acquired in 2014. At the time of the announcement about the accomplishment, Hilcorp Energy Company President Jason Rebrook said, “By empowering our employees closest to the wellhead, driving efficiencies, and innovating, we’re increasing production at Milne Point and putting more oil in TAPS. Our goal www.akbizmag.com
is to apply these successes at Prudhoe Bay and beyond.” Is Point Thomson that “beyond”? According to Saugier, “ The handover of Point Thomson operatorship has gone smoothly, and we are excited about the future opportunities at the field.”
A Future for Natural Gas What are the opportunities at Point Thomson? It’s a different asset than the oil platforms in Cook Inlet, the Milne Point field, or even Prudhoe Bay, which
have clear and established routes to get their commodity to market. While gas condensates have value and Hilcorp may have plans increase their production, or at least produce them more efficiently, the real potential for Point Thomson is its massive gas reserves. But that natural gas, for the last eight years, has been stranded on the North Slope, subject to an endless cycle of moving above ground just to be shoved back down. According to the Progress Report and Plan of Development for January
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Point Thomson is only the newest operation for Hilcorp in Alaska; it operates other units on the North Slope, such as Prudhoe Bay. Hillcorp
1, 2022 to December 31, 2023 (filed by ExxonMobil in late 2021), “the preferred future development for the [Point Thomson] Unit is an MGS [Major Gas Sale] project, such as the Alaska LNG [liquified natural gas] Project or the Qilak LNG Project. The Unit will continue to evaluate the facility modifications and development activities necessary to support any MGS project.” Alaska LNG (AK LNG) is a pipelinebased LNG export project under development by the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC), which has recently announced two positive reports. An update to a 2016 report by research firm Wood Mackenzie delivered to AGDC in February predicts that AK LNG can, in fact, be profitable. At the time of the 2016 report, AK LNG had an estimated cost of $11.70 per metric million British thermal until 112 | April 2022
(mmbtu); however, at that report’s recommendation, AGDC reworked the project’s financing structure to reduce the cost to $6.7/mmbtu. The February update predicts that LNG prices in Japan will be $8/mmbtu, allowing AK LNG to earn a profit under its new financing structure. Even better, the $6.7/mmbtu price point is lower than peer projects in the Gulf of Mexico, which have higher shipping costs to markets in Asia, making it even more competitive. AGDC also released Greenhouse Gas Lifecycle Assessment: Alaska LNG Project, a report that documents how AK LNG would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Asia by providing a cleaner source of fuel than coal. According to an AGDC release about the report, “eliminating 77 million metric tons of carbon emissions is the
annual equivalent of taking nineteen coal-fired power plants offline or 16.8 million passenger cars off the road for a year.” It continues, “The report also compares Alaska LNG emissions to equivalent LNG projects in Louisiana and Australia that have undergone similar lifecycle analyses, and documents that the production and delivery of Alaska LNG provides 50 percent lower greenhouse gas intensity compared to these projects.” It's all good news that will hopefully attract investors to the project, which still has an estimated capital cost of $38.7 billion. An alternative proposal from Qilak LNG would export LNG directly from the North Slope, building a liquefaction facility offshore and loading LNG directly onto ships for transportation to Asian markets. Because this proposal avoids constructing an 800mile pipeline, the estimated costs is significantly lower at about $5 billion. However, since the project announced its intentions in 2019, there’s been little released as to its status, though the Point Thomson Plan of Development states that the field’s operator engaged in confidential discussions with Qilak LNG and received periodic updates from Qilak LNG on the status of project feasibility studies in 2020 and 2021. The Wood Mackenzie update delivered to AGDC forecasts peak LNG demand in 2040, but that there will be a global shortfall of LNG supply in 2028. Were either of these projects to move forward, they would be able to take advantage of those potential gas markets. Of course, they aren’t the only ones eyeing these windows of opportunity, and other projects that are further along in development or funding may secure supply contracts before either project liquifies a single drop of gas. While it’s no sure thing that stranded North Slope gas will ever find its way to Japan or other Asian markets, Point Thomson, under the operatorship of a company known for finding efficiencies and opportunities, sure has a lot of potential. As Saugier says, “Our roughly 1,550 Hilcorp Alaska employees are focused on operating safely and responsibly and driving economic growth for decades to come.”
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SCIENCE
Alaska Innovators I Hall of Fame 2022 Inductees The brilliant minds behind a brighter future
nnovation comes when and where it’s least expected; if it were obvious, it wouldn’t be new. Honoring innovation in Alaska is itself relatively new, with the Alaska State Committee on Research starting its Innovators Hall of Fame as recently as 2014. The stated mission is “to celebrate and honor outstanding individuals who put Alaska on the map as leaders in innovation and to contribute to Alaska’s growing culture of innovation.”
By Nancy Erickson
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Robert Merritt was born in 1924, an only child of a miner and a schoolteacher. He earned his engineering degree from Oregon State University and joined the military during World War II. While in the service, he found himself working on communications almost before he knew it, his son says.
Robert Merritt
Past honorees include the ancient creators of the Tlingit fishhook and Alutiiq angyaq skin boat; discoveries in ecology, aurora physics, and hibernation medicine; engineers of bridges and oil field facilities; promoters of the Gold Rush, television, alternative energy sources, peony horticulture, and innovation itself; and a vast array of inventors, often of measuring devices but also consumer products such as pack rafts, fat bikes, and fish oil tablets. The class of 2022 inducted at a ceremony in Juneau in March is relatively small, with just three individuals, yet they represent the diversity of innovation: new computer software, new ways to communicate, and new ways to heal a wounded spirit.
Professor Robert Merritt “I never heard anybody say less than… that he was a genius,” says Bruce Merritt of his father, posthumous Hall of Fame inductee Robert P. Merritt. “His hands-on mechanical ability to shape things and fix things and even invent things was beyond the scope of most of us.”
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In his nomination letter, 2015 Hall of Famer Alex Hills writes that Merritt became an expert in two fields of electrical engineering: power transmission and radio. “He knew about receivers, transmitters, and— most important in Alaska—the behavior of radio waves,” says Hills. “Bob could
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build just about anything—and then make it work.” Merritt and his wife arrived in Alaska from Oregon in 1949 to take positions at UAF. At that time, healthcare in Alaska villages was provided by specially trained health aides who consulted with physicians remotely via shortwave radio. However, active aurora borealis could sever communication for days at a time. “People literally died waiting for Alaska to get its satellite technology up and running,” says Bruce Merritt. The elder Merritt saw an opportunity to change that when NASA launched a series of experimental communication satellites in 1966 that used VHF radio, which is less sensitive to atmospheric conditions than shortwave. Merritt and his students modified 100-watt taxicab radios to build an experimental health aide communication system, and they also designed a special antenna. Bruce Merritt traveled to villages with his father in the ‘70s to help install the antennas, giving health aides reliable access to medical advice and support.
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Robert P. Merritt, a family man, developed communications technology that improved healthcare in rural Alaska. Robert Merritt
Although Robert Merritt’s work in the ‘60s and ‘70s helped transform telecommunications in rural Alaska, his son says his father’s passion was education. “If he couldn’t have been teaching, everything else he did probably wouldn’t have been as significant,” he says. “He and the students in his classroom were the
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love of his life—besides his wife and family.” Two years before he died in 1999, Merritt was named Engineer of the Year by the Alaska Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. His gold pan plaque reads: “In recognition of outstanding contributions and innovations in
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the field of telecommunications, extraordinary commitment to the education of electrical engineers, which has profoundly impacted the profession in Alaska, and exemplary dedication to the IEEE of Alaska Section.” For additional recognition by the Innovators Hall of Fame, the letters nominating Merritt read like a Who’s Who of engineering, telecommunications, and satellite technology—each noting his skill to fix anything he put his mind to.
Dr. Stacy Rasmus As an anthropologist, Dr. Stacy Rasmus may not exactly fit the stereotype of an innovator. “Innovation isn’t necessarily trying something new,” she says. “Sometimes an innovation starts with trying something old and applying it in new ways.” Rasmus is an Indigenous health disparities scientist whose research tackles the issues of suicide and substance abuse in Alaska Native and American Indian communities by emphasizing cultural strengths and community partnerships.
Alaska Native youth are often pulled between traditional ways of life and the Western lifestyle. The problem is compounded by Western treatment methods that emphasize risk factors, with the side effect of portraying Native communities as helpless and burdened by disease. “It was frustrating seeing our young people not helped by this [Western] system when traditionally our indigenous ways had a system to teach our children at a young age to lead a healthy life based on our traditions,” writes Emmonak Community coinvestigator Billy Charles in her nomination letter. “The Western model of substance abuse and suicide prevention was not working for our youth. The youth need something they could relate to, rooted in their own culture.” The approach Rasmus took identifies strengths and reasons for living in youth and then helps communities build and implement programs to foster those strengths. Rasmus grew up in the Pacific Northwest and attended the Northwest Indian College and Western
Washington University, where she obtained her degree in anthropology. Her introduction to the strength-based approach to suicide and substance abuse came when she attended a talk at Northwest Indian College by the late Dr. Gerald V. Mohatt, a professor at UAF. Mohatt presented his “cultural intervention” called The People Awakening Project: Exploring Alaska Native Pathways to Sobriety. Rasmus was hooked. She transitioned to Alaska twenty years ago and obtained her PhD from UAF. “I have lived in rural communities and served in both clinical and research capacities, making efforts to reduce the unacceptable burden of suicide that disproportionately impacts Alaska Native people,” says Rasmus. Rasmus’ work with the People Awakening Project led to development of the Qungasvik (Tools for Life) projects—the beating heart and foundational model for all other projects in her research program at the Center for Alaska Native Health Research at UAF. The Qungasvik research has served as a model for other Indigenous
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A boy from Scammon Bay "island hops" as he searches for wild bird eggs. Rasmus says he was leaping for the sheer joy of being out on the land after COVID-19 lock down. Stacy Rasmus
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“Innovation isn’t necessarily trying something new… Sometimes an innovation starts with trying something old and applying it in new ways.” Dr. Stacy Rasmus
communities seeking strength-based strategies to promote well-being and reduce disparities in suicide and substance abuse disorders, including the opioid public health crisis. Efforts are underway to apply findings from Qungasvik work to address these same issues facing military service members and veteran populations of Alaska. Elders in the Yup’ik communities of the Bering Sea where Rasmus has done most of her work often say, “We used to have to survive the weather and our hunger, but today young people have to survive their feelings. We had to work on living every single day, and that’s what we need to give our young ones: reasons to live every day.” “It’s learning to apply these tools to address these new problems that is the innovative aspect of our suicide prevention research,” Rasmus says.
Piper Wilder Piper Wilder was an entrepreneur in renewable energy long before she set foot in Alaska. While living in Colorado, Wilder served as vice president of Amatis Controls, a state-of-the-art lighting controls company based in Aspen. She also served as board chair of the Colorado Solar and Storage Association. Upon moving to Alaska in 2015, she soon formed 60Hertz Energy, a small firm that developed www.akbizmag.com
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Piper Wilder (top right) is the founder of 60Hertz Energy, which provides maintenance software for electricity assets; she now has twenty employees. Piper Foster Wilder
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maintenance software for electricity assets—from microgrids to fleets of diesel generators and portfolios of renewables. The Computerized Maintenance Management Software is used by, among other utilities, the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC), the largest rural Alaska electric cooperative, serving more than fifty remote communities. “Piper’s product has allowed them to move away from disjointed handwritten logs to a centralized software platform that is easy for power plant operators to use and allows easy tracking by AVEC to manage their assets, improve system efficiency, and avoid maintenance issues,” says UAF assistant professor Jeremy VanderMeer in his nominee letter. The software captures rich data that helps supervisors miles away have more awareness and control of expensive, remote assets, says Wilder. “Supervisors can message with the field tech to quickly answer questions or resolve issues.” 60Hertz’s customer base has broadened to include power and water utilities in Alaska and Canada. Wilder and her team are also working in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Benin through a contract with the US Department of Defense Office of Naval Research. This company has been a labor of love from its beginnings at a start-up weekend to a PowerPoint presentation, says Wilder. “I fell head over heels in that first weekend with this vision and it’s grown since. We now have twenty employees all over the globe and thirty customers.” Wilder says she deeply cares about climate change and sustainable energy, so she feels it’s her calling to focus on maintaining these assets through her software. She also values listening carefully to what people wish would make their lives better. “I ask a potential customer, ‘If you had a magic wand, what would make the difference?’ There’s wistful gazing and then a lot of rich insights,” she says. “I think—particularly in start-up companies—that’s the meat of creating a product that will really serve the market—just by asking.” www.akbizmag.com
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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Verifying Sincerity A human resources perspective on vaccine mandates By J. Maija Doggett
Y
ou can say I am a card-carrying, dyed-in-the-wool, devoted human resources professional. I got my bachelor’s degree in business management, with an emphasis in human resource management, from UAA in 1998. I passed the Human Resource Certification Institute’s Professional in Human Resources Exam and, two years later after completing the required work experience, I had earned the privilege of officially calling myself a PHR. Early in my HR training I was taught in no uncertain terms that religious and medical discussions do not belong in the workplace. It was ingrained in me! At every company I have worked for, I’ve coached managers on the virtues of steering clear of those topics—and the risks of NOT avoiding them. I’ve handled complaints from employees about colleagues who engage in the prohibited discussions. Essentially, I’ve been the bouncer keeping those inappropriate religious and medical discussions out of the workplace. But now I’m leading discussions on those very topics with employees who are not going to get vaccinated.
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These discussions are not new. Vaccine mandates are not the first time anyone has requested a religious exemption from a company policy or an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accommodation for a medical condition in the workplace. Some employers probably have more experience than others, but most employers have at one time or another fielded a request for religious exemption from working on Saturday or an ADA request for accommodation to have a service animal at work. I’ve certainly been there. But COVID-19 vaccine exemption requests come with the threat of job loss for my coworkers.
As an employer representative, sometimes I feel absolutely clueless about what I’m supposed to do to help my company be compliant.
Deputized by Government Whether I agree with the vaccine mandate or not, as an HR professional for my employer I’m an agent of the government tasked with forcing people to take the COVID-19 vaccine or else spill their guts to me about their personal religious beliefs or medical conditions. And if the gut-spilling is not successful (meaning they aren’t approved for exemption), I’ll need to terminate their employment. This is also not new. HR has been deputized by government for decades. Businesses are charged with enforcing immigration law, for example, and they delegate that enforcement task to HR. HR also ensures businesses don’t violate labor laws, wage and hour laws, or anti-discrimination laws. HR is the watchdog that ensures businesses don’t fire pregnant people for being pregnant. HR forces employers to allow employees to take benefitprotected leaves of absence when they need to and, when they’re well enough, have a job to come back to. HR also ensures employees only take the amount of job and benefit protected leave they’re entitled to. We make sure our employers give all workers a fair chance to be considered for employment and that all of our workers are paid what they’re supposed to be, how they’re supposed to be, and when they’re supposed to be. We even police American citizens to ensure they have health insurance as required by law. All the laws imposed on businesses by the government are vague, www.akbizmag.com
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My exemption request process puts this card-carrying, dyed-in-the-wool HR professional in the position of probing my coworkers for information about their deepest personal religious beliefs and details about their medical conditions which they say prevent them from taking the COVID-19 vaccine.
conflicting, and at times unreasonable. These laws often have fits and starts. But in my twenty-four-plus year HR career, none have had the conflicts or fits and starts to the degree that these vaccine mandates have. As an employer representative, sometimes I feel absolutely clueless about what I’m supposed to do to help my company be compliant.
Some Clues Here’s what I do know. On September 9, 2021, President 124 | April 2022
Biden issued an executive order, EO 14042, that requires federal contractors to verify that all employees are fully vaccinated, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At this writing the most recent deadline for compliance was January 18, 2022. If you are a federal contractor, all of your employees must be vaccinated except in limited circumstances where an employee is legally entitled to an accommodation. On November 5, 2021 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued an Emergency Temporary Standard, known as the OSHA ETS, which applies to employers with 100 or more employees and mandates COVID-19 vaccination for each employee, except those “(i) For whom a vaccine is medically contraindicated; (ii) For whom medical necessity requires a delay in vaccination; or (iii) Who are legally entitled to a reasonable accommodation under federal civil rights laws because they have a disability or sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances that conflict with the vaccination requirement.” Both rules require businesses to carry out the federal government’s mission to get all US residents vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, except those who are entitled to a religious or medical accommodation. In addition, the OSHA ETS requires paid leave to obtain COVID-19 vaccination as well as weekly testing for employees who are not vaccinated. Records of weekly testing must comply with certain rules pertaining to type of test (think molecular versus antigen), confidentiality, and availability upon government request. HR professionals know this means we need to develop a method for tracking tests for applicable employees (i.e. those with exemptions) in a way that we can protect the data according to the privacy standards of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, more commonly known as HIPAA. Employers subject to the OSHA ETS needed to comply with part of it by December 5, 2021 and the rest of it by January 4, 2022, but a week later the US Supreme Court granted a
stay. The OSHA ETS was withdrawn as an enforceable standard but not as a proposed rule.
Between Two Orders or None Whether a business falls under EO 14042, the OSHA ETS, or both determines what actions to take to comply. The firm I work for employs more than 100 employees, spread among more than half a dozen states, and we are a federal contractor. Some of the states where we have employees have made it illegal for an employer to require vaccination. Others have joined in legal actions to block EO 14042 and the OSHA ETS. Based on the legal advice we’ve received: • Federal law trumps state or local law, so if federal law requires us to ensure our employees are vaccinated, that we must do regardless of a state law prohibiting the practice. • We do not have to comply with both EO 14042 and the OSHA ETS. Federal contractors, regardless of employee headcount, must comply with the EO. • Once the EO was enjoined from taking effect, my firm was required to comply with the OSHA ETS. • Once there was a stay on the OSHA ETS, we were advised to cool our jets but be ready to comply with whichever law comes out on top. At this writing, my firm’s “limbo” regarding which of these mandates we’ll need to comply with has ended. The US Supreme Court stayed the OSHA ETS on January 13, 2022, which means no one needs to comply with it. Now we are waiting to find out if we’ll ever need to comply with EO 14042. Thus far in the life cycle of these two vaccine mandates, my firm has hit these milestones: • Decided to comply with EO 14042 in order to retain our status as a federal contractor, remain in business, and provide livelihoods for our employees and their families. • Wrote a policy to comply with the mandate. • Took the plunge and communicated this new policy to all our employees. • Created two crucial processes to aid our compliance: A process for verifying and tracking employee vaccine status.
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This was based on a similar process I’d created earlier in the year on a smaller scale to comply with mask mandates in Oregon and Washington. The mask mandates applied to non-vaccinated individuals, and therefore my company was required to verify vaccination status for employees in those states before we could allow them to go maskless in our offices. A process for managing employee requests for religious or medical exemptions to the vaccine mandate. This process needed to be compliant with applicable laws, consistently applied, trackable, and reportable. • Began verifying vaccine statuses of employees who volunteered to be verified. • Began adjudicating exemption requests from employees who want to keep their jobs but will not become vaccinated. While we wait to see whether EO 14042 remains in force, employees are continuing to verify their vaccine status and request exemptions. Smart
moves in case we suddenly become subject to the EO. Thus, I continue to process requests. [EDITOR'S NOTE: On January 21, 2022 a US District Judge in Texas extended the nationwide injunction, finding that plaintiffs were likely to prevail on constitutional grounds.]
How Sincere Is Sincere? The process I developed for managing exemption requests, with huge help from legal counsel, was no small feat. It involved configurations I made to my human capital management system in order to keep track of requests and their progress, as well as to provide regular reporting to senior leadership. We retained legal counsel to review every request and help with communications back to employees and their managers. My company’s attorney and I have become rather close as a result of this project. (Hi Mike!) I devised a system of intake and triage: when a new request comes in, I assign it to either myself or one of my HR partners, complete with a script to use in our conversations with
employees and managers about these requests. My exemption request process puts this card-carrying, dyed-in-the-wool HR professional in the position of probing my coworkers for information about their deepest personal religious beliefs and details about their medical conditions which they say prevent them from taking the COVID-19 vaccine. All this via Microsoft Teams because our employees are spread out among numerous locations or working remotely. It’s a rather impersonal way to conduct a very personal conversation: “Oops—I missed that. You froze… last thing I heard was ‘The Holy Spirit compels me to…’ Compels you to what?? Oh wait, you’re still frozen. Teams me back when you can talk more about God.” J. Maija Doggett, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CEES, is People Department Operations Manager for an engineering firm with hundreds of employees and operations in several states.
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BALANCED BOUNDARIES
Energy + Choice = Power By Woodrie Burich
O
ur work worlds are evolving. With shifts towards hybrid work, sweeping technological advances, ever more global teams, and generational shifts bringing both Millennials and Gen Zers to leadership tables, we are undergoing some serious changes in our corporate spaces. A central theme alongside all this includes conversations about work stress, work/life balance, and how we will manage all the changes. I’m most inspired by the conversations that are shifting into more honest dialogue about what individual and corporate wellness really is—finally, we are having much needed conversations around work boundaries.
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It’s about time. We’ve needed work boundaries for decades. We’ve tried all sorts of stress management, time management, and efficiency improvers—and none of it has truly worked. It’s time to start identifying the crux of the matter: we are doing too much and we need to set some boundaries. The challenge is that the majority of us have never had formal boundary training or even really know the difference between our limits and our boundaries. Within our corporate environments, we don’t even know what this would look like. To start, it’s always helpful to have a model to follow, something to ground us and align our intentions as we move forward. This is the model I’ve used personally and with clients for over a decade: Self-Care + Awareness = Boundaries (SC+A=B). Another way I like to look at this model is as follows: Energy + Choice = Power. Self-care cultivates energy. Awareness cultivates our ability to see reality, and as a result, directly impacts our choice. Boundaries are the authentic representation of our inner
Yes, our inner No, and all the nuanced answers in between. Power arises when we commit and set our boundaries, because that’s how we fully align our values, voice, and actions. Here’s why the model works: • Continuously Strengthens the Self/ Individual: Each part of this model (Self-Care + Awareness = Boundaries) strengthens the individual. Resilient organizations are built by resilient individuals. When we strengthen our team members, their work outcomes reflect this strength. Whether that is enhanced creativity, increased engagement, stronger connections and empathy skills in leadership, or the ability to make sound decisions in complex and stressful situations, strengthening the individuals who run our organizations is always good business. • Simple & Deepens Through Application: The strongest tools are simple to follow but powerful in application. Tools that cut through to the essence of a teaching provide massive leverage and potential for impact. This model is that. As I grow, so does my understanding and
connection to each aspect of this model. It’s ongoing learning and a never-ending opportunity to renew and recommit myself to the impact my actions have through my work. • Can Be Used Anywhere: It doesn’t matter if I’m heads down in Excel spreadsheets, focused on meeting a project deadline, or folding laundry with dinner on the stove while my dog whines to be let out—it’s all work. There is value in leveraging a model that integrates our personal needs and the needs of the moment, whether that moment is at work or home. Personal. Professional. Intermixed. It’s this blending of worlds we need to become adept at, and we need tools that work in both environments. As we look a bit closer into this model, we can break it out into each of its components:
Self-Care (Energy) Self-care is such a buzzword these days, likely because we are in deep need of what if offers. Yet I often find self-care is misunderstood. It can sometimes feel like self-care is
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something one has to “do.” One more thing to add to the plate. One more action to complete for the day. This is completely counter to what selfcare actually is. If anything, we need less actions, less to-dos. Self-care should be just that: care. It should feel rejuvenating. Revitalizing. Energizing. And if it doesn’t, it’s not self-care. Case Study #1*: A client once stated: “I run after work to release stress. Sometimes though, my runs feel like they aren’t really self-care. I have to do them to be healthy, but they don’t always feel good. Sometimes, I have physical pain afterwards. They feel more like a ‘to do’ instead of a support.” First off, kudos to the client for their inner awareness in this space. Second, my question was this: “What did your body and mind need at the moment you decided to go on that run?” Often, we “think” we need something, when in reality our body is requesting something else—like rest. Or a walk. Self-care is not an action we perform—it’s a mindset we live. Learning to listen and act from a place of true caring for ourselves is powerful, as it provides us what we need at a much more foundational level. This client started incorporating alternative physical exercises and more selfcare throughout the workday to help relieve stress.
Awareness (Choice) Awareness is that ability to focus and be reflective. Done well, it requires honesty, along with a good dose of humility and compassion. Strategizing, critical decision making, and creative problem solving all fall under this category. Ultimately, it ties back to the old adage of our inability to see “the forest for the trees.” The strength and importance of awareness is really seen in the decision itself. The ability to understand and access a multitude of choices in any moment is the heart of creativity and the core of innovation and critical problemsolving skills. The stronger our awareness skills—internal, external, environmental—the better decisions and outcomes we’ll have. Case Study #2*: This client had recently been assigned a new role and was assuming new responsibilities. He 128 | April 2022
and his direct supervisor recognized the need to support him at a foundational level, as he stepped into higher leadership positions. His first focus was incorporating more self-care throughout his workdays. Over time, this increased his energy levels and gave him more stamina. His approach to work became more sustainable as his commitment to self-care grew. What was most exciting for him, though, was when he started applying his newfound strength from self-care towards building awareness. That’s when things really started to shift. He started to gain insights about the impact that his energy levels had on his work outcomes. Specifically, he noticed how his increased energy enhanced his attention—which directly impacted his choices and decisions. After recognizing this, he doubled down on his boundaries. As a result, this opened up a wealth of inner resources, and the impacts started playing out professionally.
Boundaries (Power) Boundaries are a path to power. When our energy levels are strong, and we have access to choice, we can more easily align our values with our actions. This is the core of personal leadership and impact. This is the power of boundaries. Case Study #3*: An entrepreneur and CEO of a small firm contacted us to get some practical tools and coaching around boundaries. Her todo list was overflowing, and she was routinely feeling tired, a bit frazzled, and frustrated. These feelings were starting to seep into her family life, which she worked hard to defend and protect from her busy work life. We followed our model and started focusing strongly on self-care. In time, she reported feeling recharged and more energized during her days. Once strengthened, she dove deep into her mindset and habitual patterns around “striving.” She recognized that many old belief patterns and work approaches which had led to her professional success were now stifling and no longer supportive. She began integrating strategic downtime for herself. The pauses and reflections strengthened her awareness, both personally and
professionally. As a result, she learned to support her energy levels and found new clarity for decisions—which led to better outcomes personally and for her company.
Context and Commitment Boundaries are often classically defined in binary terms such as Yes/No or What’s OK/What’s Not OK. There are times this view of boundaries is necessary. However, largely boundaries are a bit more nuanced than that. They arise first from an understanding of ourselves, our needs, and our ability to express our needs (and in instances of supervision, the needs of others) in each moment. Each moment changes. Each circumstance is different; context is key. Working with boundaries takes time and requires commitment. It requires unpacking mindsets and belief patterns that keep us stuck and silenced. It’s not easy work, yet the challenge and difficulty in setting boundaries is exactly what makes boundary work so powerful. When implemented well, the leverage boundaries provide for individuals and organizations is massive. Newfound energy we get to take home to our families and communities. Energy that can be applied towards engagement, creativity, and growth. Clarity of choice leading to better decision making, improved problem solving, and composure in complex and stressful situations. The opportunities are immense. Energy + Choice = Power. Welcome to the wellness revolution. *Case studies altered slightly to maintain confidentiality of clients.
Woodrie Burich is a national speaker, executive coach, and owner of the Integration Group, which empowers professionals to create sustainable and thriving work lives that enable them to enjoy more, stress less, and connect with their communities in positive and meaningful ways.
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INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS The Cordova Times The Native Village of Eyak is unloading its ownership interest in the Cordova Times, asking for no money in return. If a new operator cannot be found, the weekly paper will have to end publication. Started in 1914 as the Cordova Daily Times, the newspaper was purchased by Eyak in 2016. Bid proposals are due May 1. It’s up to the Eyak tribal council to choose a qualified candidate from among the potential owners. thecordovatimes.com
Coeur Alaska The Kensington Mine near Juneau can extend its operations for another ten years. The US Forest Service approved mine owner Coeur Alaska’s plan to expand the main tailings dam, raising it by 36 feet, and doubling the rock waste storage that was projected to be filled to capacity as early as this year. By filling two lakebeds, the mine can increase its daily production rate by 50 percent to 3,000 tons per day. Kensington has been operating since 2010. coeuralaska.com
Think Office Think Office acquired BiNW of Alaska, strengthening its position in the field of business interiors. Think Office is the exclusive Knoll dealership in Alaska, and BiNW of Alaska was the exclusive Herman Miller dealership. The company has absorbed employees that were working for BiNW of Alaska. Think Office is a veteran-owned and -operated business furniture and architectural products dealership
based in Anchorage and serving all of Alaska. thinkofficellc.com
Koniag The Alaska Native regional corporation for Kodiak Island expanded its IT portfolio to include Texas-based cloud services provider Stratum, folding it into its Open Systems Technologies (OST) subsidiary. “This acquisition with OST is a strategic move to better serve our customers as demand grows for cloud, IoT, healthcare-focused cloud deployments, and managed services,” says Stratum CEO and cofounder Ryan Trimberger. koniag.com
Doyon | Huna Totem A joint venture of Fairbanks-based Doyon, Limited and Huna Totem, the Native village corporation for Hoonah, is now the 80 percent owner of Alaska Independent Coach Tours. The 50/50 venture, called Na-Dena’, is meant to combine both corporations’ experience in marketing and operating tourism businesses in the Interior and Southeast. doyon.com | hunatotem.com
CVRF | NSEDC | Maruha Nichiro Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF), Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation (NSEDC), and the world’s largest seafood company, Maruha Nichiro (owner of Westward Seafoods), are expanding their pollock partnership. The three are buying nine vessels, which add 4 percent of the Bering Sea pollock quota to the 4 percent the partners already acquired with six vessels in
2011. The new fleet can operate in both the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, thanks to investments made by the previous owners. coastalvillages.org | nsedc.com | maruha-nichiro.com
ACDA A deluxe hotel on top of the Downtown Anchorage Transit Center is one step closer to development. The Anchorage Assembly in January approved a ground lease between the Anchorage Community Development Authority (which owns the parking structure) and the private venture 6th Avenue Center LLC, which aims to add a 156-room hotel, 32 residential apartments, restaurant, and retail spaces. Construction is scheduled to begin in October 2022 with an estimated completion date of September 2023. acda.net
Copper Valley Electric Association Could the first civilian nuclear reactor in Alaska power the Copper River Valley? That’s what the region’s electric utility wants to find out. Copper Valley Electric Association (CVEA) is collaborating with Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) of Seattle on a feasibility study for a 10-megawatt generator. USNC has a trademark design for a Micro Modular Reactor energy system, the size of two 40-foot shipping containers, which would be loaded with a 20year supply of uranium fuel. The study, to be completed by July, is meant to determine if nuclear energy can reduce CVEA’s dependence on diesel-fired generators. cvea.org | usnc.com
ECONOMIC INDIC ATOR S ANS Crude Oil Production 484,659 barrels -4.0% change from previous month
ANS West Coast Crude Oil Prices $97.92 per barrel 7.5% change from previous month
Statewide Employment 352,100 Labor Force 5.7% Unemployment
2/27/22 Source: Alaska Department of Natural Resources
2/28/22 Source: Alaska Department of Natural Resources
12/1/21. Adjusted seasonally. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
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Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
RIGHT MOVES The Eyak Corporation Eyak, the Alaska Native village corporation for Cordova, is replacing their outgoing longtime CEO with one plucked from a Mack Native regional corporation. Thomas Mack is the new CEO of The Eyak Corporation, upon Rod Worl’s retirement after seventeen years as CEO. Mack previously worked with The Aleut Corporation, first as president and the last four years as CEO. Mack was raised in King Cove and earned a master of business administration degree from Alaska Pacific University.
Colville, Inc. Oil and gas logistics firm Colville, Inc. has a new Chief Operating Officer. Kelly Droop takes over day-to-day management Droop of the company’s statewide facilities and tanker truck fleet. Colville operates year-round hauling and storing fuel, provides industrial supply and retail automotive parts through its Brooks Range Supply and NAPA stores, and owns and operates Brooks Camp in Deadhorse, all primarily for oil and gas industry customers. Droop comes to the company from Worley, where she was vice president of Alaska field services. She is also the current president of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance.
Bristol Wave Seafoods Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) and Bristol Bay Alaska Seafoods (BBAS)
appointed Joel Peterson to serve as President of Bristol Wave Seafoods, a subsidiary of BBAS. Bristol Wave manages the sales and operations Peterson of BBAS’s nine-vessel fleet, which was formed in 2019 when Clipper Seafoods and Blue North Fisheries merged their operations and BBNC acquired a majority interest in the combined company. Peterson started his new role on January 11, 2022, working alongside David Little, who serves as CEO. Little, founder of Clipper Seafoods, has served as president of the operating companies since the 2019 merger. Peterson graduated with an MBA from the University of Washington Foster School of Business. He fished on Clipper Seafoods vessels for more than ten years and has been working in sales since 2015.
Tlingit & Haida The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska brings in two new managers, one of them in a newly formed department. Lindoff Tlingit & Haida’s Tribal Operations division welcomed Anthony Lindoff as the new Food Security Manager. One of the department’s efforts is to get Southeast Alaska Native foods into a tribe-wide distribution program. Lindoff’s Tlingit name is Khaakhootee and he is Kaagwaantaan (Eagle Wolf) from the Gooch Hit (Wolf House of Klukwan). Lindoff earned a degree in international business from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado in 2008, and he owns and operates Kaawu Shellfish Co., an oyster
farm near Hoonah. Since 2013, Lindoff has been a member of the Huna Totem Corporation board of directors. Jamie “JC” Cowan Cowan comes aboard as Business & Economic Development Manager with the Tribal Development division. Cowan's responsibilities include collaborating to bring in grant funding, coordinating on the initiation of capital projects, and developing entrepreneurship programs in tribal communities. Cowan was born in Oakland, California and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She holds a bachelor of science degree in applied management from Grand Canyon University. Cowan recently worked for Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium as a seniorlevel executive assistant and provider recruitment coordinator.
Fidelity Title Agency Fidelity Title Agency of Alaska brought in Barbara Clements as Senior Title Officer. Clements was previously at Alyeska Title Clements Guaranty Agency as chief title officer. With more than thirty-five years in the title industry, Clements is experienced in all aspects of examining property titles throughout the state for both residential and commercial customers.
Mt. McKinley Bank Mt. McKinley Bank in Fairbanks promoted Jenny Mahlen to Senior Vice President, Commercial Lending. Mahlen
RIGHT MOVES IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY NORTHERN AIR CARGO
Keeping Alaska Open for Business 132 | April 2022
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
joined Mt. McKinley Bank two years ago but has been a fixture in the banking community in Interior Alaska for thirty years. In addition Mahlen to her vast experience in the financial industry, she is a UAF graduate and completed the Pacific Coast Banking School graduate program. Her understanding of the local market, positive relationships with her customers, and exceptional work ethic have quickly made her a critical part of the team.
Alaska USA Federal Credit Union Alaska USA Federal Credit Union selected one new executive and promoted five current executives. Dan Byron is the new Vice President, Payment Technologies. Byron joins Alaska USA Federal Credit Union with more than twelve Byron years of experience in the payment and card technologies industry and holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Metropolitan State University. Clinton Hess has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Business Intelligence. Hess has been with Alaska USA for more Hess than fourteen years, most recently as vice president, Financial Analysis. Hess holds a bachelor’s degree from UAA, as well as a master’s degree in business administration from Alaska Pacific University. David Vanzant has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Enterprise Security. Vanzant has been with Alaska USA for more than five years, most recently as
vice president, Enterprise Security. Vanzant holds a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Eastern New Mexico University Vanzant and a master’s degree in homeland security/strategic studies from Marine Corps University. Julie Moore has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Mortgage Operations. Moore has been with Alaska USA for more than Moore twelve years, most recently as vice president, Mortgage Administration and Compliance. Moore holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis on accounting and a master’s degree from Eastern Washington University. Leisa DeYarmon has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Special Credits. DeYarmon has been with Alaska USA for more than DeYarmon eight years, most recently as vice president, Special Credits Collections. Athar Nazir has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Consumer Lending Operations. Nazir has been with Alaska USA for more than nine years, most recently as vice president, Special Nazir Credits Operations. Nazir holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in finance.
ARM Creative Anchorage-based marketing agency ARM Creative has a new Creative Director. George Meyer brings decades of experience, renowned for his awardwinning print, television, and radio spots. A lifelong Alaskan, Meyer has a degree from
the Art Institute of Seattle. He worked with just about every major ad agency in the state, and he’s designed some of the most recognizable logos in town (including ARM’s).
Meyer
Alyeska Resort Sacha Jurva brings decades of international hospitality management experience to his new role as General Manager for Alyeska Resort. Most recently, he oversaw a $20 million refurbishment of the Warwick Jurva Hotel in Denver, an experience that will benefit Alyeska as it opens a 50,000-square-foot Nordic Spa and other resort renovations. "Alaska already feels like home to my family,” says Jurva. “It’s remarkably similar to my hometown in Finland, with the cold winters and beautiful outdoors year-round."
Anchorage Police Department A veteran of the Anchorage Police Department (APD) is its new Chief. The Anchorage Assembly confirmed Mayor Dave Bronson’s choice of Michael Kerle to lead APD. Kerle’s law enforcement career started Kerle at APD as a recruit in 1996. He has worked in the department’s Patrol Division, Special Operations, and Crime Suppression. He rose through the ranks to become Deputy Chief in February 2020. Kerle completed the Police Executive Leadership Graduate Program at the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville.
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April 2022 | 133
ALASKA TRENDS
T
he lack of available, skilled workers is a common topic of conversation among Alaska’s business and community leaders. Many see the COVID-19 pandemic as a significant contributor to the lack of able-bodied, willing-to-work persons: the workforce directly suffered from the virus, they’ve been tempted away from working by heightened unemployment benefits, or they’ve been motivated by the global pandemic to rethink their skills and their careers. What’s obvious, it seems, is that COVID-19 is the reason the labor force is shrinking—if there were seven dwarves working before the pandemic, we now only have four or five picking up their pickaxes. In this case, though, the virus isn’t to blame. In an excellent economic forecast for the Society for Marketing Professional Services in February, state economist Neil Fried spoke on Alaska’s falling labor force participation, which is the percentage of the working age population (ages 15 to 64) who are either working or actively looking for work. While the rate did abnormally dip during the pandemic, it was already on a downward trend for decades—and that trend is national, not unique to Alaska. In Alaska Trends this month, we show twenty years of the labor force participation rate and the employment to population ratio, a statistic that measures the currently employed civilian labor force against the total working-age population of a region, which is also on a decades-long decline. Why? According to Fried, no one really knows, though theories abound. Examine the data, ask around, and feel free to let us know your take on why people are opting out of the workforce. SOURCES: Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development, Research and Analysis, “Alaska Economic Trends January 2022”; US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization, Alaska–2021”
23,900 Alaskans residents were unemployed in 2021
10,800 Alaskans worked part time for economic reasons in 2021 which categorized them as “involuntary part time"
THERE WERE LESS THAN
9,800
additional jobs are projected for Alaska in 2022
CONTINUING UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS
HALF as many as 1 year ago.
4,600 Alaskans were marginally attached (looked for work but not recently) to the labor force in 2021
134 | April 2022
1,200 of the marginally attached were discouraged workers (believed no jobs were available)
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
Moving On? Moving Up? Where are all the dwarves going? Labor Force Participation Has Fallen for a Decade Labor Force Participation Rate
70
65
60
55
50 2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
ALASKA’S JOB OPENING RATE OF
9.3% AT THE END OF 2021 WAS HIGHER THAN ANY OTHER STATE
Alaska closed out 2021 at a
PRE-PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE of
5.5%
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Extended Unemployment Benefits for Alaskans
EXPIRED DEC. 11, 2021
Alaska Business
April 2022 | 135
What book is currently on your nightstand? David: Sharpe’s Assassin by Bernard Cornwell. Jon: Alaska: An Empire in the Making by John J. Underwood [no relation]. Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert? David: U2. Jon: Led Zeppelin. What’s your favorite local restaurant? David: Used to be Pasta Bella, but since they changed hands I don’t really have a favorite. Jon: Thai House in downtown Fairbanks. What charity or cause are you passionate about? David: Love INC [now known as Helping Alaska]. Jon: I’m kind of passionate about trails, and I love all kinds of trail recreation. If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
Image © Sarah Lewis
David: I enjoy watching birds, so some kind of bird. Maybe a raptor or something. Jon: Maybe a moose. I’d love to see one of them be useful instead of just chasing me around in the woods.
Jon Underwood (Left), David Underwood (Right)
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Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
OFF THE CUFF
David & Jon Underwood A
nimals gotta eat. That fact of nature has kept David and Jon Underwood, the Co-Owners
of Alaska Feed Co. in Fairbanks, busy during the COVID-19 pandemic—and kept the family
side of that is that some people say that I’m stubborn. David: Me, I think I can be self-centered sometimes, especially when I’m hungry. Jon: [laughs] AB: Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn? Jon: [His brother says “welding,” and both laugh] I’m really trying to develop my GIS skills for trail mapping. David: I bought a pretty high-end electric guitar about a year ago. I’ve been trying to learn lead guitar instead of playing chords all the time.
business going since statehood. Established in 1959, the Underwoods’ father Dick took over management in 1974 and became owner in 1980. David worked at the shop more than Jon, yet by 1992 they both took over management
AB: What’s your greatest extravagance? David: Hopefully this doesn’t get back to my wife, but I like to collect knives. I’ve got way too many knives. I can never use all of them, but I just for some reason have a fascination with knives. Jon: Probably travel. We travel a lot and I’ve never regretted spending money on it.
and then bought the company from their dad. It’s been a “good, solid occupation,” they say. Their main customers are pet owners and people keeping a little livestock, say a horse or some goats. More “backyard farmers” have sprouted during the pandemic, as the brothers have observed a trend toward gardening, raising chickens, and “homey things.” David is the elder brother by two years, though Jon is the nominal president of the company.
AB: Have you ever had a supernatural experience? Jon: I would say I have, typically related to my own Christian faith. David: I feel God’s pleasure. I think that’s a quote from Chariots of Fire. I do feel God’s pleasure whenever I sing Christian music, and I’m privileged to do that every Sunday. AB: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done? David: Besides getting married? Probably have kids. Close second. Having kids is scary. Both turned out pretty good, if I say so myself. Jon: Buying a trail dozer at the age of forty and jumping into a completely new career.
Jon also runs a side project, designing and building trails around the state. David’s son works there, rather than at the feed store, so the next generation of the family business might
AB: Other than your current career, if you were a kid today, what would your dream job be? David: I’m still a child at heart… Playing in a band somewhere and going on tour. Jon: I’m in my dream job as a trail designer and builder. Really grateful to have the opportunity.
continue along that lateral (and literal) track. Alaska Business: What do you do in your free time? David Underwood: I do a lot of music. I lead the music at our church [Shannon Park Baptist Church]. I enjoy doing that a lot. I do like to ski. Jon Underwood: I do a lot of reading, outdoor activity. My wife and I own a cabin in the Alaska Range. We like to go there. AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute? Jon: Do we get to cross-check each other? [he laughs] David: How long do we have? I enjoy reading about conflict, but I usually try to avoid conflict, try to communicate, work things through. I don’t know if that’s my best attribute. Jon: A lot of times your best attribute is also your worst. My best one is that I’m very persistent; of course, the other www.akbizmag.com
Alaska Business
April 2022 | 137
ADVERTISERS INDEX 3-Tier Alaska Civil Engineering & Surveying............................................... 39 3tieralaska.com/tpeci.com Ahtna, Inc.................................................. 59 ahtna.com Airport Equipment Rentals..................... 139 airpor tequipmentrentals.com Alaska Air Cargo - Alaska Airlines............... 9 alaskacargo.com Alaska Airlines........................................... 91 alaskaair.com Alaska Mergers & Acquisitions, LLC......... 12 Alaska Pacific University......................... 119 alaskapacific.edu Alaska Procurement Technical Assistance Center..................................... 93 ptacalaska.org Alaska Roof Restorations.......................... 33 alaskaroofrestorations.com Alaska USA Federal Credit Union............. 71 alaskausa.org Altman, Rogers & Co.............................. 125 altrogco.com Anchorage Sand & Gravel...................... 106 anchsand.com Arctic Encounter Symposium.................. 29 arcticencounter.com Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.......... 35 asrc.com ASTAC - Arctic Slope Telephone Assoc...................................... 15 astac.net
Credit Union 1........................................... 63 cu1.org
Northern Air Cargo......................... 132, 133 nac.aero
Cruz Companies....................................... 57 cruzconstruct.com
Northrim Bank............................................ 3 nor thrim.com
Delta Constructors................................... 97 deltaconstructors.net
NOVAGOLD.............................................. 77 novagold.com
Denali Universal Services - Sodexo......... 45 denaliuniversal.com
Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corp...................................... 95 odysseylogistics.com
Dorsey & Whitney LLP.............................. 68 dorsey.com Enstar Natural Gas Co.............................111 enstarnaturalgas.com First National Bank Alaska.......................... 5 fnbalaska.com Fountainhead Development.................... 43 fountainheadhotels.com
Great Originals Inc................................. 103 greatoriginals.com
People AK.................................................. 55 peopleak.com
Hecla Greens Creek Mining Company...................................... 75 hecla-mining.com
PIP Marketing Signs Print.......................... 61 pipalaska.com
Hotel Captain Cook.................................. 17 captaincook.com Huna Totem Corporation......................... 52 hunatotem.com JEFFCO Inc............................................. 121 jeffcogrounds.com Junior Achievement............................... 117 ja-alaska.org Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP.............. 127 lbblawyers.com
Avis Rent-A-Car........................................ 22 avisalaska.com
Lynden....................................................140 lynden.com
Bering Straits Native Corp........................ 73 beringstraits.com
Material Flow & Conveyor Systems, Inc............................................ 115 materialflow.com
Central Environmental Inc....................... 69 cei-alaska.com Chugach Alaska Corporation................... 23 chugach.com Coastal Villages Region Fund................... 83 coastalvillages.org
Parker, Smith & Feek................................. 31 psfinc.com PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center......................................... 56 careers.peacehealth.org
Leonardo DRS......................................... 129 LeonardoDRS .com/Alaska
Cape Fox Shared Services........................ 81 capefoxcorp.com
Pacific Pile & Marine............................... 131 pacificpile.com
GCI............................................................ 41 gci.com
AT&T.......................................................... 19 at t.com
Business Insurance Associates Inc........... 15 businessinsuranceassociates.com
Oxford Assaying & Refining Inc.............. 109 oxfordmetals.com
Matson Inc.............................................. 123 matson.com Medical Park Family Care, Inc.................. 99 mpfcak.com MICROCOM.............................................. 27 microcom.tv MTA - Matanuska Telephone Association..............................11 mtasolutions.com
Providence Health & Services Alaska....... 65 providence.org Ravn Alaska............................................... 21 ravnalaska.com Seatac Marine Service............................ 116 seatacmarine.com Span Alaska Transportation LLC............... 16 spanalaska.com Stellar Designs Inc.................................. 121 stellar-designs.com T. Rowe Price............................................ 37 alaska529plan.com Teck Alaska Incorporated......................... 87 teck.com The Odom Corporation........................... 85 odomcorp.com Think Office............................................ 101 thinkofficellc.com TOTE Maritime Alaska LLC....................... 49 totemaritime.com Udelhoven Oilfield System Services, Inc.............................................. 60 udelhoven.com Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation................ 67 uicalaska.com United Way of Anchorage...........................7 liveunitedanc.org
Color Art Printing, Inc............................... 47 colorar tprinting.com
MTA - Matanuska Telephone Association............................................... 89 mtasolutions.com
Colville, Inc............................................... 45 colvilleinc.com
Nana Regional Corp................................. 79 nana.com
University of Alaska-Fairbanks eCampus................................................... 13 ecampus.uaf.edu
Conrad-Houston Insurance Agency..... 125 chialaska.com
NCB........................................................... 12 ncb.coop
Usibelli Coal Mine................................... 107 usibelli.com
Construction Machinery Industrial............ 2 cmiak.com
Nenana Heating Services, Inc.................. 93 nenanaheatingservicesinc.com
Visit Anchorage....................................... 113 anchorage.net
Cook Inlet Tug & Barge Inc...................... 75 cookinlet tug.com
New Horizons Telecom, Inc..................... 53 nhtiusa.com
Westmark Hotels - HAP Alaska.............. 119 westmarkhotels.com
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