Resiliency and preparation characterize Fairweather team By Arie Henry
C
omplex logistics. Unforgiving weather. Bears… These are just some of the major challenges that come with resource development in Alaska. They are also precisely where support service company Fairweather (ranked number eighty-three on this year’s Corporate 100) has excelled for the last forty-five years. There is no question that support services play a vital, necessary role in responsible development in Alaska. And if there is one company that can support industry across the board in this state, it is Fairweather. What began as a weather observation provider for the aviators supporting remote industry sites has grown to include an entire array of services for Alaska’s resource developers. Fairweather—founded in 1976 by pilot Sherron Perry—provides services to clients in the oil and gas, mining, commercial fishing, and construction industries; it even provides support for scientific expeditions. Alaska’s aviation industry has also benefitted greatly from the use of Deadhorse Aviation Center, a facility jointly owned by Fairweather’s parent company Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) and Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation.
“The attitude that [Perry] helped create and that still exists in Fairweather all these years later is about, ‘What does the client need and how can we help achieve their goals in some of these really harsh and challenging places?’” says Rick Fox, CEO and coowner of Fairweather. “That’s where our expertise grew.” As the oil and gas boom helped Alaska’s economy expand, Fairweather did some expanding of its own. The company added exploration and production support activities such as logistics and drilling support, remote medical support, meteorological and oceanographic forecasting, airstrip support, and even bear guard security to its list of offerings. “I think a lot of our growth is in response to hearing what the needs of the clients are and adapting, being innovative, and trying to find solutions for operating in remote Alaska,” says Sally Marinucci, business manager at Fairweather. “And I know now that we have Deadhorse Aviation Center and are part of the Edison Chouest Offshore family of companies, [Fairweather] has obviously grown exponentially to what we are providing today.”
Fox also notes that Fairweather leverages a combination of Alaskan know-how and significant capital investment from ECO. “The Chouest family of companies are an outstanding resource to us. They were a contractor to me when I was at Shell many years ago and I had enormous appreciation for their capabilities,” he says. “They’re a resource for us in many areas, but they also help provide capital for things like the Deadhorse Aviation Center.” Thanks to ECO’s resources, Fairweather can reach out to affiliated companies with other areas of expertise to provide solutions to clients. The affiliations also provide additional benefits to Fairweather employees such as competitive health benefits and insurance options.
In-Demand Services Geographically speaking, Fairweather has served virtually every part of the state, from the Aleutians to the North Slope to the Panhandle. The company’s diverse set of services allow it to serve multiple industries at the same time. Meanwhile, Fairweather’s original aviation support services segment has remained one of its main businesses.
Fairweather
CORP OR ATE 10 0 SPECIAL SEC TION
Faring Well
68 | April 2021
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
