Alaska Business October 2018 by Alaska Business

TOP 49 ALASKA COMPANIES RANKED BY GROSS REVENUE October 2018

OCTOBER 2018

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CONTENTS OCTOBER 2018 | VOLUME 34 | NUMBER 10 | AKBIZMAG.COM

FE AT UR E S 34 FINANCE Leveraging Construction Financing

The ins and outs of finding the right loan

Spinell Homes

By Tracy Barbour

8 INSURANCE

38 OIL & GAS

Health insurance and the bottom line

Looking downstream at Alaska’s oil

By Tracy Barbour

By Isaac Stone Simonelli

14 HEALTHCARE

46 ALASKA NATIVE

Electronic Health Records Improve One Step at a Time Providers optimistic about future of health communication By Vanessa Orr

18 TELECOM & TECH No Road Necessary

E-commerce provides opportunity to conduct business statewide By Isaac Stone Simonelli

Where Does All That Oil Go?

By Vanessa Orr

By Julie Stricker

122 ENVIRONMENTAL The Best Soil Remediation Tools Available

Prevention, awareness, and innovation By Judy Mottl

126 EDUCATION

Alaska’s plane and barge driven rural shipping industry

What gets workers farther: traditional degrees or the school of life?

4 | October 2018

The benefits of corporate team building

Creative business in rural Alaska

Planning for the Future

By Sam Friedman

Playing the Game

Enterprising Entrepreneurs

26 TRANSPORTATION No Port No Problem

118 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Venture Up

The Exorbitant Cost of Healthcare in Alaska

By Samantha Davenport

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CONTENTS OCTOBER 2018 | VOLUME 34 | NUMBER 10 | AKBIZMAG.COM

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION

98 Q&A

How the Top 49ers Communicate and Collaborate

104 FEATURED 49ER Alaska Village Electric Cooperative

The nation’s largest electric utility retail cooperative By Arie Henry

108 FEATURED 49ER Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram

Miles ahead of the pack By Arie Henry

52 DIRECTORY

ABOUT THE COVER Annually in October we publish our list of Top 49ers, Alaskan-owned companies ranked by revenue. We change the theme from year to year primarily so we can celebrate the many attributes the Top 49ers embody that lead to success (and in part to keep editorial on their toes). With Alaska taking a deep breath and pulling itself out of a down economy, now more than ever we see the need to emphasize the value of teamwork, the importance of talent, and the sweet satisfaction of triumph. Cover by David Geiger

2018 Top 49ers: Teamwork, Talent, and Triumph

94 ON THE FIELD

The 2018 Top 49ers Line Up

96 HISTORICAL REVIEW

112 FEATURED 49ER Koniag

Values first and poised for growth By Tasha Anderson

116 FEATURED 49ER Construction Machinery Industrial Equipping Alaska’s industries By Tasha Anderson

2018 Top 49ers 5-Year Rank & Revenue Review

DEPARTMENTS 7 FROM THE EDITOR

132 EAT, SHOP, PLAY, STAY

130 OFF THE CUFF

136 EVENTS CALENDAR

6 | October 2018

138 BUSINESS EVENTS

142 RIGHT MOVES

140 INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS

144 ALASKA TRENDS

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

VOLUME 34, #10 Published by Alaska Business Publishing Co. Anchorage, Alaska

EDITORIAL STAFF Managing Editor

Kathryn Mackenzie 257-2907 editor@akbizmag.com Associate Editor

Tasha Anderson 257-2902 tanderson@akbizmag.com Digital and Social Media Specialist

Arie Henry 257-2906 ahenry@akbizmag.com Art Director

David Geiger 257-2916 design@akbizmag.com Art Production

Linda Shogren 257-2912 production@akbizmag.com Photo Contributor

Judy Patrick

BUSINESS STAFF President

Billie Martin VP & General Manager

Jason Martin 257-2905 jason@akbizmag.com VP Sales & Marketing

Charles Bell 257-2909 cbell@akbizmag.com Senior Account Manager

Janis J. Plume 257-2917 janis@akbizmag.com Advertising Account Manager

Christine Merki 257-2911 cmerki@akbizmag.com Accounting Manager

Ana Lavagnino 257-2901 accounts@akbizmag.com Customer Service Representative

Emily Olsen 257-2914 emily@akbizmag.com 501 W. Northern Lights Boulevard,Suite 100 Anchorage, Alaska 99503-2577 Toll Free: 1-800-770-4373 (907) 276-4373 www.akbizmag.com Press releases: press@akbizmag.com

ALASKA BUSINESS PUBLISHING CO., INC. 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; © 2018 Alaska Business Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may 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 $3.95 each; $4.95 for the October issue. Send subscription orders and address changes to circulation@akbizmag.com. To order back issues ($8.95 each including postage) visit www.akbizmag.com/store. AKBusinessMonth AKBusinessMonth alaska-business-monthly

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FROM

THE

EDITOR

A Lighter, Brighter Alaska Business W

elcome to the new Alaska Business magazine. The entire Alaska Business team is incredibly proud to present this lighter, brighter design. Take a moment to flip through the pages. Go ahead. It’s beautiful. As you’ve seen, we’ve added breathing room within the text for a more comfortable reading experience. We also added space to make room for additional images of Alaska’s stunning vistas, the unique people who live and work here, and the industries that help support us all. Another exciting addition to the magazine is a new feature called “Off the Cuff,” which, in keeping with our theme of light and bright, offers a more personal, fun look at the lives of some of the state’s most prominent executives. If you’ve ever wondered what your company’s CEO does during his or her off time, you’ll love Off the Cuff. Clearly, it’s been a very busy time for us at Alaska Business and we have no intention of slowing down. In recent months we launched the Alaska Business Monitor, our weekly newsletter featuring exclusive industry insight written by experts from Alaska’s most vital industries, as well as current news affecting the state’s business community (if you haven’t signed up yet, visit akbizmag.com/Sign-up-Alaska-Business-Monitor). And the new design is just one of many extremely exciting changes happening as Alaska Business grows and improves to offer even more in-depth coverage of business in Alaska through a variety of platforms. Along with the magazine redesign, our new feature Off the Cuff, and the Alaska Business Monitor newsletter, our digital edition is getting a major upgrade and the Alaska Business website is receiving a complete overhaul, launching in January. As if all of that weren’t enough to keep us busy, it’s Top 49ers time. Every October we honor the top forty-nine companies that have weathered fluctuating oil prices and a recession while continuing to provide jobs and contribute to the economic health of the state. Through teamwork and talent, each of these companies has triumphed to land on the 2018 roster of Alaskanowned and operated businesses ranked by gross revenue. Congratulations to each 2018 Top 49er—through strong leadership and fantastic teamwork, each company on the list inspires us to strive to be the best at whatever we do. Speaking of which, it took a whole lot of teamwork and talent to produce this triumphant issue and I couldn’t be more proud to be part of this particular team of incredibly hard-working people. From all of us at (the new and improved) Alaska Business magazine… welcome! Alaska Business

Kathryn Mackenzie Managing Editor, Alaska Business

If you’ve ever wondered what your company’s CEO does during his or her off time, you’ll love Off the Cuff.

October 2018 | 7

INSUR ANCE

The Exorbitant Cost of Healthcare in Alaska â&#x20AC;&#x153;Health insurance premiums are usually the second-largest expense an employer has, second only to payroll. It is a difficult balance for an employer and their broker to find the right balance between a good quality, user-friendly plan, and premium. The struggle truly is real.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Lynette Wood, Aurora National Insurance

8 | October 2018

Health insurance and the bottom line

By Tracy Barbour

ver-evolving regulations, escalating costs, and other challenges can make it difficult for businesses to provide health insurance benefits for their employees. The situation is having an adverse effect on their bottom line, leading some employers to forgo offering insurance or to at least consider the possibility of dropping the benefit.

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

A primary factor impacting the cost of health insurance is the high cost of medical care. Alaska has some of the most exorbitant healthcare costs in the country—and world—and employers cover the bulk of that burden. In Alaska, the cost of many medical procedures is twice as high as in the Lower 48 on average, according to Jeff Roe, CEO of Premera, which operates in both Washington and Alaska. “While the consumer price index is about 6 percent higher here, payments to doctors and hospitals in Alaska are 76 percent higher than nationwide averages, and, after accounting for cost of living, are increasing twice as fast as inflation,” Roe said in his July 2018 speech at the 3-Year Outlook Luncheon of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. Over the years, health insurance premiums in Alaska have skyrocketed, making it difficult for some employers to balance offering benefits and paying premiums, according to Anchorage-based Lynette Wood of Aurora National Insurance. “Health insurance premiums are usually the second-largest expense an employer has, second only to payroll,” she explains.

“While the consumer price index is about 6 percent higher here, payments to doctors and hospitals in Alaska are 76 percent higher than nationwide averages, and, after accounting for cost of living, are increasing twice as fast as inflation.”

“It is a difficult balance for an employer and their broker to find the right balance between a good quality, user-friendly plan and premium. The struggle truly is real.” Next to pricing, Wood says, employers have significant concerns about the insurance carrier’s network and how easy it will be to find a provider. They also want their employees to be able to easily understand their benefits, have online access to plan summaries or mobile apps, and to be able to reach customer service without being left on hold for the rest of their lives. Regardless of the cost and other issues,

it is almost essential for companies to provide health insurance for their employees. Health insurance is the primary employee benefit that employees want and need, Wood says. Plus, having insurance in place will mitigate needless worker’s compensation claims, which ultimately cause the employer’s worker’s comp premium to increase. Health insurance is also a pre-tax benefit that employers can use to reduce their overall tax burden. For these and other reasons, it’s not hard to sell most companies on the idea of purchasing health insurance. And

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—Jeff Roe, CEO, Premera

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Alaska Business

October 2018 | 9

“Providing health insurance for our employees is critical for recruiting and retaining our most valuable asset—our employees. We also want our employees to be at their best, and maintaining their health is a critical component.” —Joe Wahl, Chief Human Resources Officer, GCI

Joe Wahl, Chief Human Resources Officer, GCI GCI

some employers are legally obligated to do so because the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires businesses with fifty or more full-time equivalent employees to offer health insurance. “We now have to comply with all sorts of regulations that we didn’t before,” Wood says.

Making Hard Decisions So how are companies large and small navigating the health insurance landscape? Carefully. They’re also taking varied and creative approaches to addressing the issue. For example, Alaska’s largest telecommunications company, GCI, opts to self-insure its 2,000 Alaska-based employees. About 92 percent of these workers are eligible for health insurance, according to Chief Human Resources Officer Joe Wahl. GCI offers two health savings account (HSA)-compatible, high-deductible healthcare plans, both using the AETNA network. It also offers dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, as well as a flexible spending account. “We offer two benefits packages, and the most comprehensive plan is the most popular choice with 90 percent enrolled,” Wahl says. “Providing health insurance for our employees is critical for recruiting and retaining our most valuable asset—our employees. We also want our employees to be at their best, and maintaining their health is a critical component.” GCI also supplements its health plan with additional amenities and services, such as cost and quality transparency tools or travel benefits for surgery. This helps its members find high-quality care, resulting in better outcomes while reducing their outof-pocket costs. In addition, each year GCI 10 | October 2018

conducts a benefits survey that is sent out to all employees. “This helps us find out if the benefits we offer meet their needs and if our benefit partners are providing the excellent care our employees deserve,” Wahl says. “Obviously, cost is a consideration and needs to be part of the discussion. We look at new offerings that are highly requested by our employees but also offer a good return on their investment.” Providing health insurance to employees directly affects GCI’s bottom line. He explains: “As medical costs continue to grow, it forces us to pass on some of those costs to the employees. As a company, we try to absorb about 80 percent of the overall benefits costs, so often we have to find other areas to reduce costs to cover the benefit increases.” However, smaller companies with tighter budgets have fewer options. Some are reluctantly contemplating not offering health insurance coverage to their employees. Their angst is illustrated in poignant comments on the website of Alaskans for Sustainable Health Care, a group of Alaskan employers who are concerned about the current healthcare environment and are working together to help the community understand and find solutions to the drivers that affect rising costs. For example, Kyle D. Mirka of Allen & Petersen and Automated Laundry Systems & Supply expressed these thoughts on the website: “I own two Alaska businesses, which employ nearly sixty employees total. At the end of 2016, I was faced with a decision on whether or not to continue my employer-sponsored healthcare plan because premiums had gone up nearly 40 percent. Discontinuing the plan and simply paying the ACA fine would have been substantially cheaper, but I wanted to be able

to provide my employees with the benefit, so I decided to continue providing the plan to my employees. Sadly, their portions of those premiums went up 40 percent because I could not shoulder the full burden. If a similar price increase occurs at the end of this year, the choice will be very clear: I will no longer be able to afford to have an employer-sponsored plan. Healthcare costs in Alaska are out of control.” Kriss Ossenkop of Northwest Auto Parts said: “It’s to the point where you question whether you can have a health plan at all. In 1983, when we bought this business, there was no deductible, no co-pay, and 100 percent paid by us. It provided cost-effective incentives, which tied employees to us and we felt worthwhile offering the program. It was a no-brainer. Today, we have a catastrophic plan with a high deductible, split co-pay at 60/40, and co-insurance. It’s reaching the tipping point where it’s not economically feasible for us.”

Insurance Trends In terms of trends, most employers that offer health insurance also elect to provide dental coverage. At least, that’s the case with Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska, the state’s largest health insurer. Premera offers three kinds of health insurance: group coverage, individual coverage, and Medicare supplement coverage. Along with each of these types of insurance, Premera offers dental insurance. “We typically will bundle coverage,” says Jim Grazko, president of Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska and senior vice president of underwriting. “Our most popular package is medical with pharmacy, vision, and dental.” At this point, employer-sponsored insurance is the main avenue employees

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October 2018 | 11

Jim Grazko, President, Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska

have to obtain health insurance, says Anchorage-based Grazko. And Premera is fighting every day to try to reduce costs for consumers. That seems to be working, as small group rates have stabilized some. “They’re staying flat, which is a big change from past years where they’ve gone up,” he says. Wood has also witnessed a few interesting trends at Aurora National Insurance. As a full-service broker, Aurora

National Insurance offers all types of health insurance for employers, whether a fully insured plan, a self-funded plan, or minimum essential coverage plans. Most Alaska employers are choosing fully-funded group insurance plans that include medical, dental, vision, group life, and sometimes ancillary voluntary benefits such as disability, accident, or cancer plans, Wood says. Trends are also heading toward self-funded models. “Self-funded plans can be much more affordable for a healthy group, especially a healthy older group. However, they can be denied access to a self-funded plan if they have unacceptable health risks in the group,” Wood says. But there are other options employers can provide outside of traditional health insurance. For instance, Colonial Life offers a “medical bridge” plan, which is a variation of a hospital confinement plan. The plan essentially allows employers to raise the deductible and help employees with their out-of-pocket exposure, according to Pamela Whitfield, a general agent with Colonial Life and president of Whitfield Benefit Solutions. Voluntary benefits such as life and disability insurance are also viable alternatives

and/or supplements to health insurance, Whitfield says. Employees pay the premium, so these plans can be offered at no cost to employers. “It’s not health insurance, but at least they are providing some benefit,” she says.

The Future of Health Insurance So, in an ideal world, what would health insurance look like? Wahl’s response: “I would say in an ideal world, I really wish our healthcare costs would mirror the Lower 48.” And, ideally, employees would have plenty of options to buy insurance on the open market at affordable costs that met their specific family needs. “We’d love to be able to give our employees a set amount of money and give them the free choice to make a selection of the type of insurance that best fits their needs. Right now, the choices are limited and at higher costs than what we can offer our employees,” Wahl says. What will health insurance look like in the future? “That is the $8 million question,” Wood says. “We hope to see more transparency from providers so the insured can make informed decisions on their health insurance services.”

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Pamela Whitfield, President, Whitfield Benefit Solutions Whitfield Benefit Solutions

At this juncture, greater transparency is now more feasible, thanks to an Anchorage Municipal Ordinance (AO 2017-26) that requires healthcare practitioners and facilities in Anchorage to provide cost estimates to patients who request such information. The ordinance, which the Anchorage Assembly passed in February of 2017, also requires healthcare practitioners and facilities to post a sign in patient waiting areas with

specific language regarding requesting cost estimates. Grazko of Premera also favors transparency, but he emphasizes that pricing must be put into context. “You have to know that the pricing in the system is a series of different things,” he explains. “What we pay physicians is one thing, and what they charge is one thing.” Like her colleagues, Whitfield also embraces the idea of transparency and feels it will help lower health insurance costs in the future—particularly with HSA plans. “We don’t have much power with the HSA plan unless we know what that bill will be,” says Whitfield, who is also president of the Alaska Association of Health Underwriters. In addition, Whitfield feels that abolishing what is known as the 80th percentile rule will also help reduce health insurance costs. The 80th percentile rule requires insurers to base their payments for out-ofnetwork claims on the amount at or above 80 percent of what all the providers charge for a specific service in a given area of the state. (This is not, as many Alaskans believe, a requirement that insurers pay 80 percent of the billed charges.) Critics like Whitfield and others think the rule may be contributing to soaring

healthcare spending, partly because providers could increase their charges over time—and insurance payments would have to keep pace. In fact, evidence of this is spelled out in a May 2018 study entitled “How the 80th Percentile Rule Affected Alaska’s Health Care Expenditures.” The executive summary states: “Spending for healthcare in Alaska increased from $1.5 billion in 1991 to $4.8 billion in 2005 and $8.2 billion by 2014… The average annual increase in spending from 2005 through 2014 was $376 million, and the 80 th percentile rule accounted for anywhere from 8 percent to nearly 25 percent of that annual growth.” The study was prepared for the Alaska Office of Management and Budget by the Institute of Social and Economic Research and Department of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Alaska Anchorage. The Alaska Legislature is considering a bill that addresses this issue, SB129. The bill would repeal the 80th percentile rule for determining “usual and customary” charges. In February SB129 was referred for review to the Labor and Commerce and Finance committees, and the outcome of the proposed legislation is pending.

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October 2018 | 13

H E A LT H C A R E

Electronic Health Records Improve One Step at a Time Providers optimistic about future of health communication t’s ironic that “on paper” the idea of electronic health records (EHRs), which provide an easy way for physicians, hospital systems, and patients to keep track of a person’s medical history, makes a lot of sense. In practice, however, the process of creating a database where these records are safely and efficiently available to everyone who should have access (and protected from those who should not) has not been without its share of problems. The good news is that while there have been some difficulties, the majority of health providers in Alaska are moving toward a system that will enable more complete medical information to get into the hands of care providers more quickly while making it easier and more convenient for patients to see test results, pick up prescriptions, and travel around the state without having to carry their medical information with them. “While we went live with our first EHRs in 1998 and still use the same vendor for our main facility, it doesn’t look anything like it did twenty years ago,” says Kirsten Kincaid, RN, manager of clinical applications at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau. “We’ve gone through many upgrades to improve functionality.”

Integration Challenges One of the biggest challenges that healthcare providers face is getting records systems to talk to each other— not just from one hospital or provider 14 | October 2018

Eleven Alaska hospitals are on board Collective Medical Technologies’ Emergency Department Information Exchange (EDIE), which is designed to reduce unnecessary emergency department visits while making sure that patients get the right care in the right place. Collective EDIE is at the core of the Collective platform; the colored hexagons across the middle represent the links between different branches of healthcare and how they work within the platform.

to another but even within their own facilities. For example, Bartlett Regional Hospital uses a “best of breed” approach, utilizing MEDITECH for inpatient and outpatient hospital settings, eClinicalWorks for ambulatory, Plexus for anesthesia, and T-System for the emergency department. “Best of breed is seen at healthcare organizations across the country,” says Kincaid. “While some of the largest organizations may use one vendor, like Epic, smaller organizations, sometimes due to cost constraints or other issues, use a variety of different products.” Even when entities share a domain, such as the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), some information may not be shared among providers if they are not on the same system.

“For example, an oncologist might come to Juneau once a month to visit with your patients—how do you share information with that person’s practice?” asks Peter Apathy, SEARHC IT project manager. “While the interoperability piece is getting better, it’s not quite there for us, though we’re pretty darn close.” Even hospitals that use the same system may have training issues, as different departments may not always see the same screens. “We use Epic software, and while it’s pretty easy to learn, not everyone sees the same menu,” explains Alaska Regional Hospital’s Ethics and Compliance Officer Tom Kent, who formerly served as the healthcare facility’s health information manager. “I may be talking to them about something on-screen, but their view may be different, depending on what department they’re in.”

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Collective Medical Technologies

By Vanessa Orr

Many Pieces to the Puzzle There are so many different facets to EHRs that it’s not surprising that there are still bugs to be worked out. While IT departments in hospitals, outpatient clinics, physicians’ offices, pharmacies, and other healthcare entities are working within their own facilities to upgrade and adapt their systems, state agencies and medical associations are also spearheading efforts to bring EHR adoption to fruition statewide. The Emergency Department Coordination Project—a collaborative project between the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association (ASHNHA), the state of Alaska, and the Alaska Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians—is a prime example. The Emergency Department Coordination Project is in response to Senate Bill 74 Medicaid Reform, which passed in 2016 and includes implementation of an electronic information system to be used in emergency departments. “Right now, we’ve got eleven hospitals on board Collective Medical Technologies’ Emergency Department Information Exchange [EDIE], which is designed to reduce unnecessary emergency depart ment visits while making sure that patients get the right care in the right place,” says Connie Beemer, MBA, PMP, director of member services and operations at ASHNHA. The project—modeled after Washington’s ER is for Emergencies Project—saved Washington state $33.6 million in one year. “We brought this project forward to our members voluntarily as an association, and most all came on board,” Beemer continues. “We’ve had some delays, but not as a result of technology barriers—many of our members have had to go through legal reviews, especially if they are part of larger systems in the Lower 48. But we’re headed in the right direction; we’ve got buy-in.” Once all of the contractual obligations are met, the EDIE will include fourteen critical access hospitals in Alaska, four acute care centers, four community hospitals, and two psychiatric hospitals. Because military hospitals are under the federal system, it is not yet clear if they will be involved. There are many advantages to emergency departments sharing information. Now that the EDIE is connected to the state’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, hospitals will be sent alerts when a patient www.akbizmag.com

Collective Medical Technologies’ platform connects all portions of healthcare to close communication gaps. Collective Medical Technologies

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“This is a big deal for us because we work with a lot of Alaskan patients who don’t live in Juneau and international patients who come in on cruise ships, and they’ll now be able to access their information through their phones or tablets and share it with their providers back home.” —Kirsten Kincaid, Manager of Clinical Applications, Bartlett Regional Hospital

checks into an emergency department and meets certain criteria. “It’s good for physicians to know if a person is on a care plan, or if they have been getting prescriptions from different sources,” says Beemer, adding that previously doctors had to query a data repository instead of receiving automatic push alerts. “The EDIE also provides security alerts that help to protect healthcare workers against violence because it lets them know in real-time if there was a problem with this patient at another facility,” she continues. “Before, a patient might go to multiple emergency departments, and none of them would know if there had been a previous issue.” Beemer says that the system also removes the implicit bias that a provider may have when forced to make a subjective decision about a person’s care. “Before, you would have to look at a patient and try to decide if there was risk,” she says. “Now the system will tell you—it removes that ‘gut check.’” The Emergency Department Coordination Project also includes a patient education component and establishes uniform statewide guidelines for prescribing narcotics in an emergency department. Phase two of the project includes widespread adoption of a portal for other doctors, such as primary care physicians, to input patient care plans into the system. The portal also provides alerts if their patients are seen in emergency departments. In the future, the system might also be used to provide mobile information to emergency medical service workers and to input advance directives. For now, however, the focus is on resolving contract issues to get all of the ASHNHA’s members onto the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. “We’re trying to keep the scope manageable for now,” says Beemer. “We’re taking on small bits of the elephant a piece at a time.” 16 | October 2018

The Alaska Health Information Exchange (HIE), also known as healtheConnect Alaska, is designed to allow healthcare organizations across the state that use EHRs to safely, securely, and quickly share patient medical records. This is especially helpful for patients in rural Alaska, who often have to travel for medical care and need their records to travel with them. In June of 2018, healtheConnect (formerly the Alaska eHealth Network) contracted with NextGate to use its Enterprise Master Patient Index for care collaboration and patient identity management. Once it is fully up and running, the Enterprise Master Patient Index system will enable real-time interoperability and patient matching across health IT systems for more than twenty hospitals and 450 healthcare organizations. The HIE will also give patients access to their own health records in a secure platform. “Right now, the HIE is in the process of being built, so the benefits are still limited,” says Kent, adding that Alaska Regional is a member of the HIE and currently takes advantage of “de-identified” information, such as demographic data required by meaningful use guidelines. “There is no patient-specific information available yet, so you can’t find out, for example, if your patient was treated for pneumonia somewhere else. But as it progresses, more and more information will be added.” Some organizations, like SEARHC and ANTHC, are already working together to share domains and information in order to provide healthcare providers with accurate, real-time information. “[Alaska Native Medical Center] and Southcentral Foundation partnered to purchase the Cerner EHR system six years ago and decided to invite partners into their shared domain, which was pretty unique at the time,” says Apathy. “They extended an offer to SEARHC to join and share records, and we were the third hospital to come on board.”

“The beautiful thing about this from a provider’s perspective is that we send a lot of patients to Anchorage from Southeast for orthopedics, cardiology, and neurology, and their record there is now our record,” he continues. “One of the biggest challenges when you send a patient somewhere else is finding out what happened to them and what the surgeon or anesthesiologist had to say. Now if we want to know, it’s all there in the record.” In addition to helping providers, Apathy says that EHRs benefit patients because they provide continuity of care. “Some of our patients travel quite a bit; they may stay in Anchorage part of the year, then move to Kotzebue in the summer to work at a fish camp,” he says. “They may not always know what medications they’ve been prescribed or have a copy of a CT scan or MRI that they had done somewhere else. With EHRs, the provider can look it up and share that information with the patient.”

Meaningful Use The Medicare EHR Incentive Program, commonly referred to as Meaningful Use, has changed as more healthcare systems have adopted the technology. “I believe that 2017 was the last year of incentives— if you don’t meet Meaningful Use now, you lose a portion of reimbursements,” explains Kincaid. “When we first started Meaningful Use, it was very clear what you needed to do to get incentives, but as time went on, the rules changed, and now incentives are done,” agrees Apathy. “There are no more carrots; only sticks. If you don’t meet meaningful use, you will be penalized.” In 2018, it is mandatory for all participants to meet Stage 3 of Meaningful Use. Among other rules, it requires participants to conduct security risk analyses to determine vulnerabilities in EHR systems that could lead to data breaches; have more than 80 percent of their prescriptions queried

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for drug formulary and be transmitted to pharmacies electronically; provide access to EHRs to more than 80 percent of patients; and work with HIEs to ensure that more than 50 percent of care transition and referrals that include the exchange of healthcare records be performed electronically. “Part of Stage 3 focuses on interoperability, which includes opening up the system for patients to have control of their own data,” says Kincaid. “It puts more of a focus on the communication between patients and providers, as well as makes data accessible in a mobile setting. “This is a big deal for us because we work with a lot of Alaskan patients who don’t live in Juneau and international patients who come in on cruise ships, and they’ll now be able to access their information through their phones or tablets and share it with their providers back home,” she continues. “This type of access wasn’t available before EHRs, and it really supports continuity of care.” As part of Stage 3, healthcare facilities must make sure they have protective measures in place to prevent data from being breached. While this is required to happen this year, patients can take comfort in the fact that healthcare providers are already monitoring and protecting their EHR systems. “We do a lot of audits on multiple levels of access in order to verify that only people who are supposed to have access to certain records are the ones seeing them,” says Kent. “There are a lot of firewalls in place, which sometimes adds a burden to physicians’ offices, for example, who might have to go through a few more screens and firewalls, but we are confident that patients’ records are well protected.” As EHRs continue to develop, providers hope that it will become easier for them to enter and share records and for patients to get the information they need to take control of their own healthcare. “There is still a ways to go; it’s still too hard to find information and it takes too many clicks to get to the right data at the right time,” says Kent. “Medicine is complicated, and it’s hard to build the perfect system that takes into account people’s complexities and conditions and how we all communicate with each other. It’s not like building an ATM.” He adds, “It’s a tall order, but I’m optimistic that it’s getting there.” www.akbizmag.com

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TELECOM & TECH

Alaska-made products, such as Black Espresso Packaroons by Heather’s Choice, can often be easily packaged and shipped as part of an e-commerce business. Heather’s Choice

No Road Necessary E-commerce provides opportunity to conduct business statewide By Isaac Stone Simonelli

he Last Frontier’s massive, transient population of military personnel, its rural geography, and its depth and breadth of artisan products makes it a prime location for the development of e-commerce businesses. “Alaska and Alaska products—particularly quality artisanal products—have cache. 18 | October 2018

This also holds true for cloud funding, tourism, and across other e-commerce platforms,” says Juliet Shepherd, who is currently looking at the scalability of businesses in the Interior as part of her job as the project manager of technologyled development and cold weather testing for the Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation (FEDC). “Everyone and their mother wants to engage with Alaska businesses. Alaska is very high profile right now—and particularly accessible for someone wanting to engage in e-commerce.” The Enterprise Guide to Global Ecommerce anticipates about a 246 percent increase in worldwide ecommerce sales, from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to $4.5 trillion in 2021. Among the mammoths growing the e-commerce

market are familiar names such as Amazon, eBay, Groupon, Etsy, and Shopify. But even on the podium of largest ecommerce platforms one finds a few lesser known names: Jingdong, a Chinese company with more than a quarter billion users, and Alibaba Group, which operates in more than 200 countries. “There are lots of competitive e-commerce channels, channels from other countries such as China and Russia that are worth exploring thoroughly before supplying identifying financial information or business data and metrics,” Shepherd says. “Platforms from these geographic areas may be very interested in Alaska, but might not be good for Alaska businesses. More due diligence needs to be done to better understand these platforms and associated risks—which may not be

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“When you have a brick-and-mortar business, you only reach customers in your immediate area. When you expand into an online marketplace, anyone in the state, Lower 48, or world can be your customer. This creates a great opportunity for Alaska businesses.” —Jeremy Field Regional Administrator for the Pacific Northwest US Small Business Association

immediately apparent to business owners or consumers.” FEDC is making the effort to clarify the risks associated with using foreign e-commerce platforms. It expects to have more information about such options in the near future. With that said, there are other companies that FEDC is far more confident about.

The Amazon Effect “Amazon has made a concerted effort to engage Alaska businesses. Part of this is through Amazon Exclusives, which makes it much easier for businesses to signup and reach more customers,” Shepherd says. Through Amazon Exclusives, one of the company’s programs available to small and medium-sized businesses, sellers can have their products featured on Amazon, potentially garnering a great deal more

traction. Amazon Exclusives is designed to give customers access to innovative products from up-and-coming brands in several categories. However, sellers who are part of Amazon Exclusives can only sell on Amazon, on their own websites, and in physical stores. In some ways, Amazon Exclusives magnifies the primary advantage of e-commerce: the ability to increase a business’ reach beyond a local community or the tourist that may pass through a traditional brick-and-mortar establishment. “With Amazon Marketplace, anyone, anywhere in Alaska with a product to sell has the opportunity to instantly reach hundreds of millions of Amazon customers worldwide,” says Brian Bailey, head of brand consulting at Amazon. “Amazon Marketplace removes many of the unique geographical challenges

“We are encouraged by the responses we have heard from small business and entrepreneurs in Alaska about the opportunities that e-commerce brings for them, and we’re excited to continue engaging with the community. There are also a great variety of Alaskan businesses selling on Amazon already, such as handcrafted items, that bring even more selection to Amazon customers.” —Brian Bailey, Head of Brand Consulting, Amazon

20 | October 2018

that Alaska-based businesses face with services like Fulfillment by Amazon.” Fulfillment by Amazon allows businesses to add products to the Amazon catalogue and then send bulk amounts of the products to Amazon’s fulfillment centers, which will then pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service for the products. “Working with the Small Business Administration and the Small Business Development Center [SBDC], we’ve been able to meet with local small business owners and entrepreneurs and help them get started selling on Amazon,” Bailey says. “We are encouraged by the responses we have heard from small business and entrepreneurs in Alaska about the opportunities that e-commerce brings for them, and we’re excited to continue engaging with the community. There are also a great variety of Alaskan businesses selling on Amazon already, such as handcrafted items, that bring even more selection to Amazon customers.” Currently, there are more than 1,400 Alaska-based small businesses selling on Amazon. “We see opportunity to have more Alaskan businesses join the marketplace. Small- and medium-sized businesses add unique products to Amazon, which is also a win for Amazon customers looking for great selection and prices,” Bailey says. “Small businesses in Alaska, whether they’re in larger or smaller communities, have the opportunity to reach more than 300 million active customer accounts worldwide by selling on Amazon.”

Opening Sales Channels Shepherd concurs that e-commerce opens the door to much larger markets outside of Alaska.

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“This is often necessary to reach critical market share for businesses to grow and scale—particularly with locally manufactured and Alaska goods.” Shepherd notes that there are a large number of micro-businesses in Interior Alaska that FEDC understands broadly utilize e-commerce. “As e-commerce has become the norm for many large corporations, we’re seeing more small businesses explore e-commerce as a new way to connect with customers,” explains Jeremy Field, the Pacific Northwest regional administrator for the US Small Business Administration (SBA). “With some of the businesses we’ve met, it’s an opportunity to exponentially expand their customer base. When you have a brick-and-mortar business, you only reach customers in your immediate area. When you expand into an online marketplace, anyone in the state, Lower 48, or world can be your customer. This creates a great opportunity for Alaska businesses,” he says. However, the question of whether an Alaska business should jump into the e-commerce market is something Field says is left to a discussion with advisers at the Alaska SBDCs. “Every business is different and has different goals, target audiences, and strategies for success. Determining if your business is more suitable for e-commerce or brick-and-mortar is a great discussion to have with one of our SBDC advisers,” Field says, noting that SBA partially funds SBDCs so they can provide one-on-one business advising at no cost. One of the things the SBA has done to help small businesses access ecommerce resources is bring in experts from industry leaders, such as Amazon. “In fact, Anchorage was the first city to have free e-commerce training for small businesses provided by the SBA and Amazon,” Field explains. “We like to connect small businesses with the experts and resources they need to be successful so they can start, grow, and expand their business,” he adds.

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Testing the E-Commerce Waters Among Alaska businesses taking advantage of e-commerce are three Anchoragebased companies: Heather’s Choice Meals for Adventuring, LiquidAlaska Design, and The Ulu Factory. www.akbizmag.com

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October 2018 | 21

Heather Kelly founded the startup food company Heather’s Choice in Alaska, taking full advantage of the e-commerce business model. Heather’s Choice

Heather’s Choice is “a backpacking food startup company dedicated to making delicious, ultralight, nutrient-dense meals and snacks for adventurers,” and Ulu Factory produces the iconic Alaska allpurpose knife, which was traditionally used by Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut people. Another entrepreneur is Dennis Zaki of LiquidAlaska Design, which designs e-commerce websites, among numerous other services. “The most important factor for a good e-com site is one that has good navigation and a simple checkout. This is from years of my own research, client feedback, and customer feedback,” Zaki says. “The easier it is for a visitor to get in and out, the more likely they are to purchase and return again. We all have developed the attention span of a mosquito when we go online. We know what we want and we want it right now.” Zaki notes that with Alaska’s current economic crisis, it’s become even more important for businesses to reach beyond the Last Frontier’s borders to grow. Zaki founded LiquidAlaska in 2002 after a long career as a chef. “I wanted a job that I could work when I wanted to work and not just five days a week and a rigid schedule. Now, I work one hundred [hours] a week and I couldn’t be happier. We’ve built more than 400 websites since 2002 and about 25 percent 22 | October 2018

of those are e-coms,” Zaki says. The flexibility that Zaki found when he established LiquidAlaska is often the same attribute that attracts entrepreneurs to e-commerce. There is also the ability to easily monitor the business during the day and remain untethered, Shepherd explains. “With the military being the largest economic driver in the Interior, service men and women have spouses often who have e-commerce businesses, which can remain constant as they change locations. Also, with a high percentage of government jobs [federal, state, and local] where workers are limited to traditional hours and forty-hour workweeks, many are able to supplement wages with side businesses which tend to be micros,” Shepherd says. However, part of the increase in ecommerce in the 49th State is because of its vast variety of unique products, especially with regard to the Chinese market. “China is expressing increased interest in Alaska since the governor’s trade mission, which effectively brought Alaska, Governor [Bill] Walker, and Alaska Gasline Development Corporation into the living rooms of most Chinese households,” Shepherd says. Joining Walker on the ten-day Opportunity Alaska: China Trade Mission were twenty-six Alaska businesses and groups, including the e-commerce com-

“Everyone and their mother wants to engage with Alaska businesses. Alaska is very high profile right now—and particularly accessible for someone wanting to engage in e-commerce.” —Juliet Shepherd Project Manager of Technology Led Development and Cold Weather Testing, Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation

pany Bambino’s Baby Food, as well as brick-and-mortar establishments such as Chena Hot Springs Resort and Holdings. “I was honored to lead this trade mission and watch so many Alaskan leaders work to grow their businesses and bring jobs home,” Walker said. “Perhaps what impressed me most was the consistent push to build an Alaska brand that makes the world

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realize the quality of our fresh seafood, the natural beauty of our state, and our many opportunities for economic growth.” Shepherd strongly cautions e-commerce businesses that want to jump into the deep-end with Chinese platforms. “In an era of ever increasing cybersecurity risk, ensuring transactional and data security is a must. Understanding the political, economic, and business climate, as well as the cultural, regulatory, and language barriers in doing business across borders—before linking accounts, sharing data, or engaging in e-commerce—is critical,” Shepherd says. Nonetheless, Shepherd recognizes that even access to a small share of these large markets has the potential to result in sizable returns. But even when dealing with acceptable risk, there are statewide implications of the growth of e-commerce. “While e-commerce has turned up the heat on nearly all retail categories, it’s hit a boiling point for some. The electronics and appliances category has lost ground with the state recession, but it’s taken a bigger beating from online purchasing,” writes state economist Neal Fried in a 2018 April Economic Trends by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Nationally, e-commerce is up about 5 percent in all retail sales, from 4 percent in 2008. By 2020, conservative estimates put the online share at about 12 percent. “While there are no data for Alaska, its e-commerce trends are likely similar. Even without knowing the specifics, it’s safe to assume that if the Internet didn’t exist, Alaska retail employment would have grown more during the past decade and recession-related losses would have been smaller,” Fried writes. Despite the impacts on brick-andmortar businesses, Amazon is optimistic about the positive impacts e-commerce will have in Alaska, saying that the Last Frontier is “full of opportunity.” “As I mentioned, we have collaborated with great organizations to-date and talked about how technology can empower small businesses. The Small Business Administration and the Small Business Development Center are great resources, for example, and are doing great things to build the Alaska economy,” Bailey says. “We will continue to find ways to engage with the Alaska community and innovate on their behalf.”

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

T R A N S P O R TAT I O N

A Ruby Marine barge at Ruby on the Yukon River in 2014. Richard Murphy | Ruby Marine

No Port No Problem Alaska’s plane and barge driven rural shipping industry

By Sam Friedman

he prices for fuel and food surprise many first time visitors to rural Alaska towns. In Fort Yukon, on the upper Yukon River 135 miles northeast of Fairbanks, a gallon of heating oil cost $6.35 this fall. A dozen eggs at Fort Yukon’s Alaska Commercial Company store cost $5.99. But these prices seem less remarkable in light of all the work, fuel, and logistics it takes to transport these goods to remote Alaska towns and villages. This time of year, the barges have finished their season traveling the Yukon

26 | October 2018

River. Barge business Ruby Marine, the only major barge company on the Upper Yukon, serves Fort Yukon with three barge deliveries each summer in June, July, and August. By October, even if it’s been warm and the river is far from freezing, it’s not practical to operate large barges. “The end of the season has stretched. Septembers and Octobers have been pretty damn nice, but it doesn’t help with water levels,” says Ruby Marine President Matt Sweetsir. “Whether it’s nice out or not, the mountains are freezing, so the runoff from the Tanana River stops about mid-August, end of August. Water levels are in steady decline from that point on. It’s really running out of water that drives us home.” Items such as eggs and other groceries are mostly delivered by air cargo companies, which work all winter. But even for these companies, summer is

the busy season because that’s when fishing and construction jobs are taking place. Air cargo allows people to get things delivered in as short a window as one day. “Time sensitive items are needed all the time. We’re shipping boat motors, four-wheelers, household goods, and drill rigs,” says Lee Ryan, vice president of Ryan Air, a major Western Alaska air cargo company that serves seventy-three villages from seven hub communities. “We’re really busy in the summertime. And then when it freezes up, we’re [continuously] busy through PFD season.” Getting the cargo to rural communities takes a network of jet and large turboprop mainline carriers like Alaska Airlines and smaller downline providers like Ryan Air. The downline airlines can deliver to bush communities and even remote camps with small piston-driven airplanes.

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BLACK FOX STRATEGY Designing Strategy to Manage Risk and Optimize Resilience

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Erin Sedor, Owner of Black Fox Strategy

ou might say Erin Sedor has a superpower: seeing what others cannot. As the owner of Black Fox Strategy, Sedor can effectively identify seemingly unrelated elements that either trigger or combine to undermine strategic business objectives. “Designing strategy to manage risk and optimize resilience requires an understanding of more than just ﬁguring out where you want to go,” Sedor says. “You need to really understand what you are capable of doing.” That’s where Sedor excels. As a board and CEO advisor specializing in the reﬁnement of strategy design and execution, she helps clients properly assess interrelated issues to successfully achieve their goals. “The foundation of my practice is based on a balanced approach to strategy, risk, and resilience to ensure that organizations successfully achieve their mission while generating growth and ensuring survival through sound resilience and continuity practices,” Sedor says.

Born and raised in Alaska, Sedor has a depth of knowledge and experience in strategic risk identification that applies to all industries, sectors, and organizational sizes. This gives her a unique perspective of what kind of planning and monitoring practices will actually work. It’s unusual for a strategy consultant to have Sedor’s multifaceted background: operational risk and strategy experience with legal, finance, and organizational management degrees. With twenty-five years of experience as a risk strategist, Sedor has an MBA in operational risk, a bachelor’s in finance, a bachelor’s in organizational management, and a certificate in paralegal studies. This has given her an exceptional foundation to work from and is what allows her to perform the kind of analysis that is of value to her clients. “I am not your typical consultant,” she says. “The solutions I design are as unique as my clients because they have to be in order to work.” Black Fox Strategy has the expertise clients need and the experience they want—right here in Alaska. Typical projects of the Wasilla-based firm encompass strategy gap analysis and strategic planning facilitation (for boards and management), strategic performance alignment, and 360 mission-critical assessments. Key products of Black Fox Strategy include Essential Strategy Approach, Essential Strategy Blueprint, and Edge Strategy Executive Series, an educational problem-solving resource. “With Edge, I hope to build a dynamic network of executives having relevant discussions about cutting-edge strategies,” Sedor says.

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The Ruby Marine tug MV Yukon and barge at Huslia on the Koyukuk River in 2014. Richard Murphy | Ruby Marine

For communities with no road or icefree sea access, air freight is the only practical way to bring in supplies during the winter. When rivers freeze and barge service stops for the year, plow trucks keep busy clearing runways at the dozens of state-owned airports around Alaska.

The Barge Business At Ruby Marine’s home port in Nenana, Sweetsir sounds matter-of-fact and not even particularly bitter as he talks about how air cargo has taken most of the rural cargo market share from the river barge industry in his lifetime. Sweetsir has been in the river barge business for thirty-nine years. He founded Ruby Marine in 2006. The business started with three barges; it now has enough business for about one or two barges, he says. To get a sense of how dominant the aviation industry is in rural Alaska, Sweetsir recommends going to Fairbanks International Airport to count the Cessna 208 Grand Caravans out on the apron. The grand Grand Caravan is a ninepassenger airplane popular in rural Alaska. Fairbanks air carrier Wright Air, for example, operates eleven of these planes as part of a twenty-one-airplane fleet. 28 | October 2018

“When you figure each one of those costs about what I pay for a tug, you know how well aviation is doing relative to how we’re going,” Sweetsir says. From the sternwheeler boats of the early 20th century to the barges Sweetsir operated in the first years of his career, riverboats used to carry a year’s worth of supplies to Bush businesses. Stockpiles of goods were warehoused all winter until they were needed. Barge businesses like Ruby Marine were traditionally located in Nenana because it was the main Yukon River system port on the Alaska Railroad line. Today it remains a good location for a barge be-

cause it’s on the Parks Highway and is a more convenient access point than the Dalton Highway Bridge for the trucks that carry most of the barge cargo. But the importance of barge cargo diminished in the early 1980s with developments in the US Postal Service bypass mail system, which is a subsidy for bulk air cargo in Alaska. Under bypass mail, rural Alaska stores can order bulk cargo though the mail system that would be too heavy to count as mail in the rest of the United States. It’s called bypass mail because, although shippers pay postal service rates that are below the cost of shipping, the packages never enter United

The Ruby Marine tug MV Yukon and barge on the Koyukuk River in 2014. Richard Murphy | Ruby Marine

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

“The end of the

SEATAC MARINE SERVICES

season has stretched. Septembers and Octobers have been pretty damn nice, but it doesn’t help with water levels. Whether it’s nice out or not, the mountains are freezing, so the runoff from the Tanana River stops about mid-August, end

MARINE TERMINAL  BARGE TRANSPORTATION BULK LOGISTICS  CARGO OPERATIONS 6701 Fox Avenue, South Seattle, WA 98108 Tel: 206-767-6000 Fax: 206-767-6015

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of August. Water levels are in steady decline

BUSINESS. MEDICAL. ENVELOPE. PACKAGE. ANYWHERE.

from that point on. It’s really running out of water that drives us home.” —Matt Sweetsir, President, Ruby Marine

www.akbizmag.com

AMS

URIER

States Postal Service offices. The cargo bypasses the US Postal Service entirely, traveling from the large mainline planes to small bush planes to the door of the recipient. Air cargo subsidies allowed rural business owners to order inventory as they needed it, Sweetsir says. “In the past... a large part of what these barge lines did was groceries and staples,” Sweetsir says. “But that’s gone away because just-in-time inventory is cheap. And that’s good business. They [rural stores] made the right decision—I totally agree with them.”

Alaska Business

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Pilot Mike Gray, Lee Ryan, and Andrew Angstman ship dog food to Bethel musher Pete Kaiser. Ryan Air

In Fort Yukon, today a town of 583 people, bed-and-breakfast owner and former teacher Ginny Alexander remembers the way the arrival of bypass mail changed the way people ate in the community. Bypass mail meant fresh fruits and vegetables became affordable for the first time. Alexander has lived in Fort Yukon since 1968 and worked part time in different jobs at the town Alaska Commercial Co. store from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. Before bypass mail the Alaska Commercial Co. was a general store that sold bulk dry goods. Fewer people lived within the city then, but area trappers would come in to the store to sell their skins and buy supplies. People ate mostly meat and fish. Vegetables were available, but only periodically and at especially high prices. At that time, Fort Yukon only had air service three days a week. 30 | October 2018

“When they did get a box of lettuce or some tomatoes or something like that, the store manager would call the school and all the teachers would run down and buy fresh fruits and vegetables,” Alexander says. Today prices at the Fort Yukon Alaska Commercial Co. store remain higher than in Fairbanks or Anchorage, but the store is set up more or less like a city grocery store with fruits and vegetables regularly available.

The Fuel Supply Chain The one commodity that largely hasn’t moved over to air cargo is fuel. Liquid petroleum fuels like heating fuel, diesel for vehicles and power plants, and gasoline for cars, ATVs, and snowmachines are still largely transported by boat. Ruby Marine barges on the Yukon River carry a variety of cargo on their

decks, including construction materials, vehicles, and heavy equipment. But the main cargo is below deck, where there’s space for 186,000 gallons of liquid fuel. Generally a community of 200 people needs about 200,000 gallons of fuel per year, although demand for fuel varies enormously based on factors such as the efficiency of the community power plant, whether the community has a long road system, and whether people frequently travel long distances to hunt or fish, Sweetsir says. Ruby Marine’s sixteen employees have a variety of maritime navigation qualifications, but all are certified as tankermen, which qualifies them to transfer the liquid cargo on the barges. In the last six years, rural Alaska’s fuels have come mostly from oil refineries in Asia. That’s because most US refineries aren’t making fuels in the summer that Alaska villages can use in the winter, says Walt Tague, director of commercial operations for Crowley Fuels Alaska. Crowley Fuels Alaska is the largest fuel distributor in the state. With 300 employees, it delivers fuel to more than 280 communities statewide. Crowley—part of the larger Crowley Maritime headquartered in Florida—has operated in Alaska since the 1950s. In the summer months, the federal Environmental Protection Agency regulates the Reid vapor pressure of gasoline, the tendency of gasoline to evaporate and cause a type of pollution called ground-level ozone. In the summer, oil refineries in the Lower 48 usually produce lower vapor pressure gasolines that don’t evaporate as much. But these gasolines don’t work well in the cold, especially not the extreme cold of Alaska winters, Tague says. To get fuel to remote locations in Alaska, Crowley first loads it onto ocean-going tankers that travel across the Pacific Ocean. Crowley then uses its fleet of seven tugboats and ten barges to deliver fuel to remote locations during the threemonth summer season. Coastal barges travel up into the Arctic Ocean to reach Utqiaġvik and Kaktovik in Alaska’s far northeast corner. Other barges travel inland, heading up the Kobuk, Kuskokwim, and Yukon Rivers. The company estimates 62 percent of the cost of its fuel at rural Alaska retail locations is the product cost, 29 percent is the distribution cost, and 9 percent is

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A CASA 212 lands at Deadfall, an exploratory camp on the North Slope. Ryan Air

overhead costs including employee salaries and the company’s profit margin. Travel gets harder farther upriver. To reach McGrath, a town of about 300 people on the upper Kuskokwim River, Crowley carries between 250,000 and 300,000 gallons in a convoy of four barges so that the fuel can be transferred between barges at “crossings,” shallow spots in the river that are difficult to navigate, says Tague. “You have to consolidate fuel on one barge, position an empty barge above the crossing, and then move fuel on a smaller barge,” he says. “It’s kind of like portaging.” For the Upper Yukon River, Crowley has gotten out of the fuel transportation business over the last two years, instead subcontracting delivery to towns including Galena and Fort Yukon to Ruby Marine. The Upper Yukon and the section of the Tanana River used to access the Yukon River are particularly challenging to navigate because they’re rocky and prone to flooding, says Tague. “Ruby is comfortable operating in that river and has great assets to do the things to operate in that river that we don’t currently have. We had a fleet that we operated in the upper river and it was getting old and costly to maintain,” he says. “We made the commercial decision to go with Ruby.”

Air Freight in the Amazon Era One revolution in rural Alaska Bush mail began with the start of bypass mail in 1972. Another big change is happening today with the growth of Amazon orders in rural Alaska. Ryan of Ryan Air is a third generation pilot at his family’s business. Ryan says the use of Amazon to order household items like dog food and deodorant has taken off in the last two years as 3G mobile Internet service has become more available in rural Alaska. Ryan describes Internet shopping as the biggest change he’s seen in the business since he became a pilot in 2001. “When we first saw Prime and Amazon, people were slow getting on to it and the people who used it loved it. Now everybody uses it and loves it,” Ryan says. For about $120 a year, Amazon Prime members receive free shipping on many Amazon purchases, which can be a dramatic saving for frequent shoppers in towns with high shipping costs. However, even growth from Amazon packages hasn’t made up for an overall 32 | October 2018

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lag in the Alaska and rural economies, he adds. Rural air cargo volume dropped across the industry in 2015, 2016, and 2017, which Ryan attributes to a slowdown in big construction projects. Freight volumes have started to stabilize this year, he says. In the Lower 48, two-day shipping is the standard free shipping for Amazon Prime members. When Prime first emerged in rural Alaska it was just a day or two behind the Lower 48 delivery speeds, Ryan says. These days free Prime delivery in rural Alaska often takes significantly longer, although users can still get faster delivery if they pay for it. “If you pay for two-to-three days it’ll get there in two-to-three days. If you hit Prime, it could take up to seven days. In Anchorage it could go to another distribution center and get put in the mail system. I’ve been seeing that a lot more lately. Then it’s the regular mail delivery time,” Ryan says. “Our goal is, as soon as we see that package, for it to be delivered as soon as possible,” he adds. One theoretical criticism of Amazon is that it could potentially use low delivery prices to undercut local stores and then

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A Nome crew loads a John Deere for STG, Inc. at White Mountain. Ryan Air

raise delivery prices once local shops have shuttered. But Ryan says so far people seem to be supplementing their local store purchases with Amazon shopping, not replacing their local shopping habits with Amazon. He says he hasn’t heard of any rural stores closing because of the arrival of Amazon.

Alaska Business

But rural stores are watching. In Fort Yukon, Alexander says the Alaska Commercial Co. store completed a renovation last year. While staff used to talk about Fred Meyer in Fairbanks as their main competition, they now talk about Amazon, she says.

October 2018 | 33

Leveraging Construction Financing

FINANCE

Bathroom of a home at Woodhaven Preserve subdivision, developed by Spinell Homes.

The ins and outs of finding the right loan By Tracy Barbour

Spinell Homes

owners are also using construction financ- Lutan says. “Only after the construction ing to facilitate major remodeling projects. is completed and stabilized do revenues For example, First National lends begin and cash will flow.” However, Lutan points out that Alaska’s money for the construction of commercial buildings for owner-occupied use and commercial and institutional builders— also investment property. The bank those who primarily erect schools, office works with a wide variety of partners, such buildings, malls, and warehouses—are as the Small Business Administration, highly sensitive to state government United States Department of Agriculture, spending and the capital budget in particand Alaska Industrial Development and ular, which help fund new construction Export Authority, to provide the best and repairs to existing buildings, utilities, financing options for its customers, and vehicles. They’re also sensitive to the economy. “Due to Alaska’s reaccording to Assistant Vice cent recession, we saw few, if President and Loan Officer any, large construction projLigia Lutan. The construction loans that ects cropping up in Alaska,” First National facilitates are she says. “Most construction driven by the private sector activity has been comprised of and range between $1 million projects in the middle-market and $25 million. The funds range such as senior housing are used equally for new conprojects, low-income housLigia Lutan, Assistant Vice struction and remodeling. ing, and refurbishing of older President and Loan Officer, Today, construction loans structures for modern office First National Bank Alaska are a common tool for many use.” First National Bank Alaska developers and owners of Lutan adds: “The construccommercial projects. Typically, developers tion industry is a market-driven system, like to obtain funds to bridge the time and financing for construction projects between realizing expenses goes hand in hand with it. It is clear that and obtaining revenues. The Alaska has experienced a significant key reasons that borrowers economic downturn and further uncerprefer to finance construction tainties will continue through 2018.” projects are limited cash reIn general, the demand for new conserves and low interest rates. struction financing is definitely down from Substantial costs are incurred a few years ago, says Wells Fargo Alaska during construction, and fi- Commercial Real Estate Manager Patti nancing can alleviate the situ- Bozzo. Wells Fargo provides construcAndre Spinelli, Vice ation. “After the land purchase, tion financing for a variety of commercial President of Design and planning, and design, cash projects, including office, warehouse, Development, Spinell Homes can be depleted significantly, and multi-family housing. Typically, the requiring bank financing,” bank’s commercial construction projects Spinell Homes

onstruction financing is extremely important to Spinell Homes. As Alaska’s largest home builder, the company has erected 3,200 homes through out Southcentral Alaska since 1987. “Almost every house we build is financed through our favorite local bank, Northrim Bank, and the exceptions are built for people with either their own cash or are larger projects where the owners have their own financing,” says Andre Spinelli, vice president of design and development. “We also obtain loans for the development of subdivisions and commercial projects as well.” Recently, Spinell Homes completed the thirteen-lot Woodhaven Preserve subdivision near O’Malley Road and Huffman Road and the 79th Street GarageTown facility at the corner of 79th and Petersburg. Both Anchorage projects were financed through Northrim by Spinell Homes or the subsidiary 79th Street GarageTown— although Woodhaven Preserve was done with minimal financing due to cash on hand at the time of development. Spinell Homes also just closed on a land purchase and development loan that was used to buy the land and build the roads of Phase 9 of The Terraces Subdivision. The company anticipated beginning construction in August.

Who’s Receiving Financing and Why Construction financing is critical to helping companies like Spinell Homes complete new projects in Alaska. Project 34 | October 2018

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interest. Nugent received “mini-perm” financing that automatically converted to a permanent loan, so only one loan was involved. He used the funds for 75 percent of the total project costs, which included site acquisition, building construction, and site improvements. Wells Fargo’s financing was important to completing a successful project. “Without a construction loan, the return on cash would not have supported a reasonable lease rate,” Nugent says. Today, leasing is going well. As of early August, the medical office building had just 3,000 square feet of shell space available for tenant improvement. Low interest rates have helped make financing reasonable for Connie Yoshimura, the owner/broker of Dwell Realty. In her last development project three years ago, Yoshimura received financing for land acquisition and horizontal development (for roads, water, sewer, and storm drains) for the Huffman Timbers subdivision. The South Anchorage project, located at Huffman Road and Lake Otis Parkway, featured forty-three lots, which have since been filled with energy-efficient, craftsman-style homes. “We would not have been able to complete the project without the loan,” Yoshimura says. “It was always our intention to finance the land and horizontal construction.” Having worked in residential land development for twenty- Leveraging Financing plus years, Yoshimura has witnessed significant changes in For the right terms on a loan, the industry. Some of these developers and business ownchanges have not been posiers will often borrow money to tive. She explains: “Today the facilitate their project, Bozzo only people who should be in says. That describes the sitPatti Bozzo, Alaska residential development are uation with Todd Nugent, Commercial Real Estate people who own the land or president of Howdie, Inc., a Manager, Wells Fargo builders who buy land. At this mid-size commercial general Wells Fargo particular juncture, there is contractor who also offers development services primarily in the no profitability in being just a residential booming medical industry. As a developing land developer who buys the land, puts in contractor, Nugent often obtains con- sewer, water and roads, and puts lots up struction financing to help limit his funding for sale. You have to own the land freeinto a project. He says: “The less cash the and-clear… It’s not profitable if you have developer and owner has in a project, the to pay fair market value for a piece of dirt.” As a general observation about conbetter return on the investment… It’s not that we don’t have the cash available, it’s struction financing, Spinelli emphasizes that local companies that offer financjust that we’re looking for a higher return.” That’s why Nugent sought financing to ing tend to rely on local boards and construct the two-story, 28,000-square- committees when making decisions. foot Meridian Park Medical facility in This is important in Alaska, he says, beWasilla. Completed last fall, the $7 million cause sometimes the local economy project was financed by Wells Fargo with does not make sense to a loan coma twelve-year loan at less than 5 percent mittee in Texas. For example, when encompass “ground-ups,” tenant improvements (for extensive renovations or conversion from one use to another), and affordable housing low-income tax credits. Bozzo says a mixture of borrowers seek financing for their projects, from Native corporations to developers constructing medical offices to retail establishments mostly renovating existing buildings. While entities like Providence Health or Walmart generally don’t source traditional financing for construction projects, the average developer is prone to secure some type of financing. “It’s good to use a bank loan, as opposed to their own cash,” Bozzo says. “They feel they can get a good return by borrowing money.” Incidentally, when it comes to a construction project, a developer can wear one or two hats. Construction developers can be just project owners or both the owner and contractor of a development project. In the construction industry, a developer is usually considered to be a person who develops land through construction and who, to this end, becomes an owner of the developed land. The developer seeks a profit from the development of the land, either by selling a development—such as a tract of residential homes, a shopping mall, or an office building—or by holding the developed property to reap a return on the investment.

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Kitchen in a home at the Woodhaven Preserve subdivision, developed by Spinell Homes. Spinell Homes

the housing bubble burst down south, Spinell Homes wound up losing its longtime source of construction financing. “What followed was an extremely stressful eight-month scramble until we could shift our financing to Northrim, which is now the best relationship we have ever had with a bank,” Spinelli says. However, he says, almost more important to the business of selling houses is the long-term financing that buyers receive. Spinelli explains: “Without this, I doubt many people would be able to save enough money to purchase a home, thus reducing our customer base and our total output drastically.”

How the Loan Process Works A construction loan can be granted to fund all or part of the soft and hard costs required to build and otherwise develop a new project. Often the borrower will be required to inject 25 percent to 30 percent of the overall cost. Equity in the land can reduce the out-of-pocket cash injection. The construction loan process begins when a developer or a business owner submits a request for a loan. Lutan explains: “During the underwriting process, we will evaluate the proposed project’s viability by looking at the following elements, among others: the construction budget, the local market October 2018 | 35

conditions, the development team, and financial capacity of the guarantors. We also generally review and evaluate any other risks inherent in the loan request.” Typical documents required in the underwriting process include borrower/ guarantor tax returns, financial statements, a schedule of real estate owned and contingent liabilities for the guarantor(s), the proposed project’s pro-forma, construction loan sources and uses, cost estimates, full project plans, engineering specifications, and, in general, any other documentation that can support the loan request. The credit approval process is similar to other commercial loans, but because of the additional risks inherent in construction loans, further consideration is given to the development team and general contractor, as well as the prevailing market conditions. Upon completion of underwriting and approval, a loan then moves into the closing process, which can take on a life of its own. Commercial construction loan closings are complex and involve a large quantity of documentation, Lutan says. A construction loan can be granted to fund all or part of the soft and hard

costs required to build and otherwise develop a new project. In almost every construction loan, the borrower uses the land and proposed building as collateral. And depending on the project, land may be a bigger portion of collateral. “Almost always, lenders will require the owner(s) to provide personal guarantees, wherein they agree to personally pay back the loan should the project run into insurmountable obstacles,” she says. Traditionally, two loans are required to finance a real estate development project: short-term construction financing and long-term permanent financing. Short term financing funds the construction and lease-up phase of the project. After a project achieves “stabilization” and leases up to the market level of occupancy, the short-term construction loan is paid off by the long-term financing. Sometimes, these two loans can be combined into one for the borrower’s convenience. This is known as a construction to permanent loan, which is the type of financing Nugent received for Meridian Park Medical. “This option allows the construction loan to automatically convert to the permanent financing terms upon construction com-

pletion and stabilization, depending on the use of the property,” Lutan explains. During construction, loan funds are disbursed in direct proportion to the percentage of completion after project inspections and certification of draw requests. In most cases, the borrower will make interest-only payments during construction—meaning, once construction is complete, they will pay the full principal amount of the loan plus the interest. “The faster the construction is completed, the less interest they will have to pay,” Lutan says. Like First National, Wells Fargo has a detailed method for processing construction loans. In addition to collecting all the appropriate financial information, Wells Fargo closely scrutinizes the project sponsor or owner of the property being built. “We look to see if they have the financial strength to cover cost overruns or other issues during the building process,” Bozzo says. Wells Fargo also evaluates the contractor to determine if he or she has the financial resources to meet the inherent obligations. It’s ideal to choose a general contractor who is reputable and can provide a fixed-price contract where an

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AlaskaBusiness 36 | October 2018

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amount is stipulated for the work to be done. This can help minimize the risk of cost overruns—and the risk to the bank. Typically, Wells Fargo uses a single-close or advancing term loan. The construction financing piece and a permanent loan are underwritten at the same time, so that there is one loan.

A Distinctive Type of Financing Construction loans are distinctive from other types of commercial financing in a number of ways. The biggest difference is the risk associated with construction financing because unexpected things can happen. “You don’t always know what you’re going to get as you start your project,” Bozzo says. Lutan of First National agrees. From a lender’s perspective, a construction loan is a short-term and high-risk investment. To help mitigate this risk, lenders follow firm procedures to ensure there is a reasonable relationship between the outstanding loan balance and the value of the collateral. “First National usually also requires the construction loan borrower to provide, in advance, a permanent financing commitment issued by us or another lender, stating that a loan amount will be funded by the permanent financing lender by a certain date after the construction is completed.” One of the most notable differences between a commercial construction loan and other types of commercial financing is that with a construction loan there is no operating history to analyze and factor into the loan decision. “The economics of the project, and thus the valuation of the property, is based solely on the real estate pro-forma projections,” Lutan says. Commercial construction financing is also more complicated than standard business loans. That’s due, in part, to the required documentation, combined with close and consistent monitoring of the project. “Due to their multiple-stage nature, and the sometimes [unpredicatble nature] of construction work, commercial construction loans can quickly become complex and difficult to underwrite and secure,” Lutan says. “But understanding how construction loans work and how commercial developments are evaluated can help streamline the construction financing process.”

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OIL & GAS

38 | October 2018

Where Does All That Oil Go?

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he Last Frontier is far more than a raw resource extraction point for North Slope crude oil, according to a manager of one of the three Alaska in-state oil refineries. “Much of Alaska’s crude oil remains in state and is refined into commercial and residential product used across the state,” says Cameron Hunt, who is the vice president of and manages the Andeavor Kenai Refinery. “The remaining crude oil can be shipped elsewhere, such as refineries and other sources along the West Coast of the United States and around the world.”

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“Much of Alaska’s crude oil remains in-state and is refined into commercial and residential product used across the state. The remaining crude oil can be shipped elsewhere, such as refineries and other sources along the West Coast of the United States and around the world.” —Cameron Hunt Vice President Andeavor Kenai Refinery

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1969, is the largest oil field in North America. It is now operated by BP, which partners with ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips Alaska. The working interest owners include BP, Conoco Phillips, ExxonMobil, and Chevron. “It has funded up to 90 percent of the state’s unrestricted General Fund revenues in most years and has accounted for over $180 billion in total revenue since statehood. Even at today’s low oil prices, oil revenues account for approximately 67 percent of unrestricted General Fund revenues in FY 2017,” according to the

Alaska Resource Development Council, a nonprofit, membership-funded organization of individuals and companies from the state’s oil and gas, mining, timber, tourism, and fisheries industries. Once extracted, the crude oil begins an 800-mile journey from Prudhoe Bay down the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) to the northernmost ice-free port in North America in Valdez. TAPS was constructed and continues to be operated by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, a consortium comprised of BP Pipelines (Alaska), ConocoPhillips

Andeavor’s Kenai refinery is configured to process Alaska crude oil as well as specific foreign or Lower 48 crude oil types. Andeavor

Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA) President and CEO Kara Moriarty explains that a variety of products are made from Alaska oil at in-state refineries. “Our in-state refiners create jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, heating fuel, kerosene, asphalt base oil, marine diesel, turbine fuel, ultra-low sulfur diesel, JP-8, and JP-5,” she says. “All of the products created by our refineries are essential to Alaskans. The products heat homes, motorize cars, fly planes, operate boats, support the military, and are key in road construction.” Before crude oil even begins the transformative process of becoming the fuel that runs the nation’s economy and the products that its citizens often take for granted, it undergoes a long journey—in Alaska, that’s at least 800 miles.

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In-State Oil Since the discovery of black gold on the North Slope, oil extraction companies have removed more than 12.5 billion barrels from the Prudhoe Bay oil field alone. Prudhoe Bay, discovered in 1968 by Richfield (ARCO) and Humble Oil (ExxonMobil) and confirmed by BP in www.akbizmag.com

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Transportation Alaska, ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, and Unocal Pipeline Company. Built in 1977, TAPS hit peak flow eleven years later, when eleven pump stations moved 2.1 million barrels of oil daily. In 2016, an average of 517,868 barrels was moved through the pipeline daily, marking the first increase in TAPS throughput since 2002. Throughput increased again in 2017 to 527,323 barrels a day, according to Alyeska. Even with the increase, TAPS is still operating at only one-third of its capacity, having seen a 39 percent decline in the past ten years, according to AOGA.

The recent trend of increasing flow down the pipeline is expected to continue with ConocoPhillips marking its best exploration season in more than a decade. In the next five years, ConocoPhillips is on track to add 100,000 barrels a day to the system, about an 18 percent increase. Alaska refineries are part of a broader market that includes West Coast and Asian refineries, according to a 2016 AOGA report. And even the recent uptick in flow will not be enough to fulfill the needs of refiners in that market. That difference for refineries in Alaska is made up with crude oil purchased on the world market.

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Refineries in Alaska In addition to the Andeavor refinery in Kenai, there are two other refineries in Alaska: they’re operated by Petro Star, one in North Pole and the other in Valdez. All three are relatively small compared to the typical West Coast refinery, according to AOGA, with Andeavor processing less than 100,000 barrels a day and the combined work of Petro Star’s refineries amounting to less than that. Despite their relatively small size, refineries in Alaska add value and provide jobs. “Alaska crude oil is transferred from production sites to refineries by pipelines, ships, and trucks. The location of the production site relative to the refinery determines that mode of transportation,” Hunt says. Once at the refinery, the crude oil is transformed. “There are multiple steps in the refining process. Most importantly, we always work to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient operations and to always comply with environmental and safety regulations,” Hunt says. “The process begins with heating crude and distilling into different fractions, some of which are finished products.” A forty-two-gallon barrel of crude oil yields about forty-five gallons of petroleum products due to the refinery processing gain, explains the US Energy Information Administration. The products made from a 2017 barrel of crude would break down to about twenty gallons of gasoline, two gallons of hydrocarbon gas liquids, one gallon of heavy fuel oil, four gallons of jet fuel, eleven gallons of ultra-low sulfur distillate, six gallons of other products, and less than one gallon of other distillates (heating oil). “We then remove sulfur and other contaminants from those fractions by hydrotreating, filtering, washing, and/or separating. We can also further modify fractions by breaking molecules apart [hydrocracking] or by rearranging or combining molecules [reforming and isomerization]. The final step is to blend components to meet government specifications and test those at our onsite lab,” Hunt says. Because not all crude oil is the same— there are differences in quality and composition depending on the oil field it comes from, and this can even change with time—not all refineries are set up in the exact same way.

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“Our in-state refiners create jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, heating fuel, kerosene, asphalt base oil, marine diesel, turbine fuel, ultra-low sulfur diesel, JP-8, and JP-5. All of the products created by our refineries are essential to Alaskans. The products heat homes, motorize cars, fly planes, operate boats, support the military, and are key in road construction.” —Kara Moriarty, President and CEO, AOGA

For example, crude oil can be classified as “light” or “heavy.” Oil is comprised of an enormous amount of tiny plants and animals, such as zooplankton and algae, which over mil-

lions of years were exposed to pressure and heat; the amount of pressure and heat determines how light the oil is. The more heat, the lighter the oil, and this has an impact on what refinery can process it.

“Refineries are generally configured to run different types of crude quality,” Hunt says. “Our Kenai refinery is configured to process Alaska crude, as well as some specific foreign or Lower 48 crude types. We are configured primarily to produce clean gasoline to supply the Alaska market, maximize jet fuel for Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, and produce ultra-low sulfur diesel. We also produce propane and asphalt for the local market.” Different chemical engineering processes are used to create different products, Hunt explains. The process of crude distillation is used to make gas blending components, as well as jet fuel and marine gas oil, while hydrocracking takes gas oil and produces jet fuel, gas blending components, and LPG. Another process, diesel desulfurization, is used to create ultra-low Sulfur diesel (#1 and #2), while vacuum distillation produces asphalt and gas oils.

Alaska Oil in Other US Refineries US refineries included in the same broad market as Alaska—and that process Alaska crude—can be found in Hawaii, California, and Washington. There are two refineries

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October 2018 | 43

“Alaska crude oil is transferred from production sites to refineries by pipelines, ships, and trucks. The location of the production site relative to the refinery determines that mode of transportation.” —Cameron Hunt Vice President Andeavor Kenai Refinery

in Hawaii, twelve in California, and five in Puget Sound, Washington. A major out-of-state refinery handling Alaska crude is BP’s Cherry Point in Blaine, Washington. The facility first opened in 1971 with the primary purpose

of refining crude oil brought by tanker ships departing Valdez North Slope oil. “Since then, the refinery has diversified its capabilities, and today it accepts and refines crude oil from around the world. Its close proximity to rail, shipping, and

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44 | October 2018

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

pipeline infrastructure helps Cherry Point move its products swiftly to market,” BP explains. About 90 percent of the approximately 236,000 barrels of crude oil the Cherry Point facility processes each day ends up as transportation fuel. The refinery provides the majority of jet fuel used at international airports in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Vancouver, British Columbia. The remaining 10 percent is converted into anode-grade calcined coke, which is then sold to aluminum smelters worldwide. The production of aluminum requires up to half a ton of carbon, specifically anode-grade calcined coke, for every ton of the versatile metal produced. In addition to the Cherry Point facility, BP has US-based refineries in Whiting, Indiana, and Toledo, Ohio. “They produce a wide range of fuels, petrochemicals, and lubricants to serve America’s highway, air, and rail transportation needs; for home, commercial, and institutional heating; and for power generation and use by industry,” BP says. The refined products are sold under the brands of BP, Amoco Ultimate, and Castrol.

“BP’s US refining strategy focuses on operating sophisticated, feedstockadvantaged refineries tied to strong logistics and fuels infrastructure. BP has completed a number of major investments in its US facilities to increase production and boost efficiency,” the company says. Another refinery operating in Puget Sound that turns Alaska crude into fuel is Phillips 66’s Ferndale Refinery, which houses a fluid catalytic cracker, an alkylation unit, hydrotreating units, and a naphtha reformer. Like Alaska refineries, Ferndale Refinery mostly produces gasoline and diesel. These products are then distributed by pipeline and barge to US markets in the northwest. Another Andeavor refinery putting Alaska crude oil to work is the Los Angeles Refinery, near Port of Long Beach. It’s designed to process heavy crude from California’s San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles Basin, as well as crudes from the North Slope and international sources. There is a reason why so many US refineries focus on the production of gasoline and distillate fuel oil (diesel fuel and heating oil): they’re the two most

consumed petroleum products in the nation. “In 2016, motor gasoline consumption averaged about 9.3 million barrels per day (391 million gallons per day), the largest amount recorded and equal to about 47 percent of total US petroleum consumption,” the EIA reports. In 2016, distillate fuel oil consumption comprised about 20 percent of the total US petroleum consumption. Back in-state, where value added at the refineries trickles into the communities, Andeavor stands by its commitment to the Last Frontier. “For more than forty-nine years, Andeavor has been committed to utilizing Alaska crude—and refining it in-state—to produce the fuels that consumers within the state need to keep their lives moving,” Hunt says. “We rely upon our uniquely- talented team members and contractors, some of whom are multi-generational employees, to meet that challenge 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our team holds a steadfast dedication to operating safely, reliably, and in an environmentally sensitive manner. Andeavor is committed to Alaska, to our employees, and to the communities in which we operate.”

TOURISM WORKS FOR ALASKA IN TOTAL, TOURISM PUMPED $4.17 BILLION INTO ALASKA’S ECONOMY Including $82.9 million in tax revenues to local municipalities AND supplied 1 in 11 jobs in Alaska* tourismworksforak.org

* Alaska’s Visitor Industry 2014-15 update, prepared by the McDowell Group for the State of Alaska, April 2016

www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

October 2018 | 45

A L A S K A N AT I V E

Enterprising Entrepreneurs Creative business in rural Alaska By Julie Stricker

ne of the first things most people notice when they meet Holly Mititquq Nordlum are the distinctive tattoos on her chin. Nordlum, an IĂąupiaq from Kotzebue, is a graphic designer and artist in Anchorage who is successfully melding traditional art with contemporary ideas.

Holly Mititquq Nordlum, Naniq Design

46 | October 2018

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

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“I love Anchorage. It’s the biggest Native village in Alaska. Now, with the traditional tattooing that I do, and talking about it being part of who you are and your identity, I get to travel all over the state.” —Holly Mititquq Nordlum, Owner, Naniq Design

Art and Tradition Nordlum opened her graphic arts studio, Naniq Design, in 2004 and specializes in work for Alaska Native corporations

and events. “It’s kind of great for me,” she says. “I love Anchorage. It’s the biggest Native village in Alaska. Now, with the traditional tattooing that I do, and talking about it being part of who you are and your identity, I get to travel all over the state.” “It’s kind of awesome that it’s taking off so well,” Nordlum says. “We’re tattooing people every day. “I started the program here in Alaska to revive the old techniques,” she says. She estimates that she or one of her trainees has tattooed hundreds of people, mostly women, around the state. Nordlum has found a niche that taps into her cultural heritage and her love of art. Just as the Alaska Native regional and village corporations are reshaping the state’s economy, businesses owned by Alaska Natives are making a difference on a village and personal level. In many ways, the corporations help to pave the way for new businesses by providing educational and vocational scholarships, job training, mentorships, and, in some cases, direct funding. Corporations are also investing in businesses within their regions, such as tourism destinations, hardware stores,

and oilfield services. These businesses provide local jobs and enhance the local economy. In return, shareholders gain knowledge and experience and are better prepared to start their own businesses down the line. Nordlum’s primary business is graphic design and artwork, but she’s captivated by the tradition behind the tattoos. While they serve as a marker in a woman’s life, the tattoos’ specific meanings are hard to describe, says Nordlum, who is working on a documentary. “It’s a complicated answer,” she says. “Traditionally it meant one thing, which we’re still trying to recognize. In contemporary times, it’s about identity and standing up against the tone of the times, which we’re kind of fighting back with racial relations. It’s a step forward with our heads up for our identity as women in our culture. “Sometimes I just say my greatgrandmother had them and a thousand generations before her.” Nordlum’s childhood was spent at her parents’ Iditarod sled dog kennel a few miles from Kotzebue. She went to boarding school at age fifteen and moved to Anchorage. For the past twenty years,

Strengthening Alaska Through Our Values

48 | October 2018

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

she has embraced both her cultural roots and Anchorage’s urban lifestyle. “I think living like that you just end up doing things more traditionally,” she says of growing up in rural Alaska. “You don’t call them traditional, you call it survival. You just make things work. I was lucky to grow up like that, but that’s not the lifestyle I wanted. It’s so much work and it’s so expensive.”

Creating Economic Opportunities Life in rural Alaska is expensive, with little infrastructure, limited Internet access, high energy costs, and little to no access to banking services. But cultural and family ties are strong, and residents seek out ways to stay in the communities they’re from so they can participate in the subsistence lifestyle. They often have to create their own economic opportunities. Would-be business owners in rural areas can also have a hard time finding financing. In some cases, the village and regional corporations have business incubators that directly fund startups, such as the Bristol Bay Development Fund. A subsidiary of Bristol Bay Native Corporation, the fund has helped shareholders buy boats, barges, and a marina, as well as to expand a family farm whose owners wanted to invest in a hydroponic system so they could grow vegetables year-round. The fund was created in 2014 with the goal of infusing $5 million into the Bristol Bay economy over an eleven-year period. It isn’t limited to shareholders but is open to investments that benefit Bristol Bay shareholders, either via ownership, job creation, quality of life, or by providing a financial return. The fund also shares tips on such things as tax preparation, accelerator programs, managing seasonal income, and negotiating state and federal regulations. One-size-fits-all regulations are not practical in rural Alaska. That’s one of the challenges Nordlum has been facing. State regulations were written to manage modern tattoo methods. “We don’t use machines,” she says. “We do all the health and safety stuff; however, because there’s no machine and no splatter issues, it’s a real quiet and simple process.” The state also requires site visits, she notes. “In the villages, that isn’t even realistic to have the DEC come out and inspect every place we tattoo.” www.akbizmag.com

T H E E YA K C O R P O R AT I O N Investing in our communities, our people, and our culture

Photo: David Little

615 E. 82nd Ave., Suite 300, Anchorage, Alaska 99518 w w w.eyakcorporation.com Alaska Business

October 2018 | 49

“I try to take traditional stuff and make it new. Mostly my stuff is kind of looking at our lives now and what we’ve become. Reclaiming the stuff we’ve lost that I think might help us as people.” —Holly Mititquq Nordlum, Owner, Naniq Design

Another ubiquitous issue in rural locations is the cost of energy, a big factor in the sustainability of a new business in Kotzebue. In 2016, Kikiktagruk Iñupiat Corporation, the village corporation for Kotzebue, launched a subsidiary that provides fresh, locally-grown vegetables to a grocery store. Arctic Greens farm uses a hydroponic system designed by Vertical Harvest to grow lettuce, kale, herbs, and other vegetables year-round in the community of 3,200 located thirty-three miles above the Arctic Circle. While the cost is comparable to vegetables flown in to the village, the quality is much better. However, because of the high cost of energy, margins are thin. The hydroponic system, which relies on artificial light eight hours per day and heating around the clock, uses a lot of electricity—in Kotzebue this is primarily provided by expensive diesel generators. Kikiktagruk Iñupiat Corporation is looking at the potential of using solar or another alternative energy source as a way of lowering costs. Another Kotzebue business has managed to survive decades in the far north: the Rotman family opened a grocery and general goods store in Selawik more than fifty years ago. A second Rotman Store was later opened in Kotzebue. Both stores are still in the same family, says Sally Gallahorn, who today heads the business, which caters to the specific needs of local residents. “We’re not a big store like the stores in Anchorage,” Gallahorn says. “I guess you can find anything you want here.” Nordlum says Rotman Store is a local landmark. “What’s lovely about the Rotmans is they’re still there,” she says. “You go to towns like Nome or Bethel and I don’t know that there’s a family-run store there. It’s so lovely to walk in and see everybody. I’m happy they’re still making it work. As a business owner, I know it’s not easy.” Entrepreneurship runs in the family: Gallahorn’s son Bish co-owns Kobuk Cab, a popular restaurant, and other Kotzebue businesses.

Regional Development by Regional Corporations Many of the corporations include lists of shareholder-owned businesses on their websites and look for ways to help them, directly and indirectly. Afognak Native Corporation, the village corporation for Afognak and Port Lions, 50 | October 2018

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

runs a business directory on its website and works with shareholder-owned businesses for lodging, transportation, and other services, says Executive Vice President Alisha Drabek. The corporation is also working with communities to expand small business support services through a grant proposal. “Afognak Native Corporation also provides career enhancement opportunity scholarships for adults looking to participate in career-relevant trainings or conferences, which has been utilized by small businesses,” Drabek writes in an email. “Before I was employed by the corporation, I had a small business and received this type of support, which was extremely helpful to me.” Sealaska shareholders own a range of businesses in Alaska and across the Lower 48 that include construction, Native dancing, real estate, fishing, advertising, bed and breakfasts, gift shops, charters, and many more.

cup of coffee that’s available in town. We also have the world’s best cookies—an old family secret recipe.” The café is seven miles from Ketchikan’s downtown tourist district. Its coffee beans are roasted on premises, with brews such as Sasquatch Coffee, “my number one seller”; Killer Whale, “like a breakfast blend”; Snappy Rockfish, “a blend of different African beans”; and Alaska Black Wolf—“if you drink too much of that, you’ll howl at the moon.” His advice to an aspiring entrepreneur is simple: “Just do it.”

Success comes with hard work. “You’ve got to be open every day or you don’t get any customers,” he says. “I get up at 4 a.m. We’re open every day, 365 days a year. No vacation.” Nordlum prefers to work out of her home, so she can pick and choose which projects she wants to work on. “I try to take traditional stuff and make it new,” she says of her artwork. “Mostly my stuff is kind of looking at our lives now and what we’ve become. Reclaiming the stuff we’ve lost that I think might help us as people.”

One Village Corporation Strong Family of Businesses

“You’ve got to be open every day or you don’t get any customers. I get up at 4 a.m. We’re open every day, 365 days a year. No vacation.”

Serving Customers with Quality Products & Services from the Iditarod Finish in Nome Across the Great State of Alaska & US

—Steve Krontz Owner The Green Coffee Bean Company

One is The Green Coffee Bean Company, a coffee roaster and café just outside Ketchikan. Owner Steve Krontz grew up in Washington and moved to Alaska to work in the logging industry. “We did a great job—all the trees are gone,” he says, sardonically referring to the industry’s collapse. When the bottom of the logging industry fell out, he started roasting coffee “as an experiment,” and business is steady sixteen years later. “I was a real good consumer [of coffee] before I started,” he says, noting that he is a self-taught businessman whose goal is “producing and serving the best www.akbizmag.com

October 2018 | 51

| DIRECTORY | SUBJECT TOPTOP 49ERS 49ERS SPECIAL SPECIAL SECTION SECTION

2018 Top 49ers: Teamwork, Talent, and Triumph

ongratulations are in order for Alaska’s 2018 MVCs—Most Valuable Corporations. Every year Alaska Business scouts for contenders to vie for top ranking in the Top 49ers, which are at least 51 percent Alaskan-owned. These companies are home-grown heroes in Alaska’s economy, providing jobs, supporting communities, and making the plays that keep Alaskans on their feet. It’s been widely speculated in the business community that 2018 signals the end of the slow bottoming out of Alaska’s economy, and there’s optimism around the state for new projects, new contracts, and new areas of exploration in 2019. Construction is building in the Interior, many eyes are taking a long look at the newly-opened ANWR, and the state has hit several mining milestones.

Alaskans are tough, and across the Last Frontier people have shown their grit and determination to make it work. And it is working. Captaining those efforts are the Alaska Business Top 49ers, who through practice and intense training (maybe not always in a football field) prepared themselves to thrive; over the past few years many have managed to grow or maintain profit margins despite economic troubles, found solutions to keep as many people at their desks or in the field as possible, and set aside time and money to keep Alaska’s communities in the game. Alaska Business is thrilled to be your biggest fan.

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation PO Box 129, Barrow AK 99723 | 907-852-8633 asrc.com | ASRCExternalAffairs@asrc.com | WeAreASRC ASRC_AK | ArcticSlopeRegionalCorporation

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2,697,862,000

2016

2,371,164,000

2015

2014

2013

2,515,377,000

2,663,540,000 2,525,615,000

49ers Seasonal Movement

Services/Products: Government contract services, petroleum refining and marketing, energy support services, industrial services, construction, resource development. Recent noteworthy events: After nearly forty years of effort by ASRC and other key Rex A. Rock Sr. President/CEO supporters, including our AK Delegation and VOICE, the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was opened to responsible oil and gas development by way of a provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed by President Donald J. Trump.

Change in Rank No Change from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972 52 | October 2018

13.8%

Worldwide Employees 11,301

Alaska Employees 3,715

Alaskan Workforce 33%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

OUR STRENGTH Netiye’ means ‘our strength’ in Ahtna Athabaskan

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Bristol Bay Native Corporation 111 W. 16th Ave., Suite 400, Anchorage AK 99501 | 907-278-3602 bbnc.net | info@bbnc.net | BristolBayNativeCorporation @BristolBayToday | bristol-bay-native-corporation

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

1,659,345,000

2016

2015

2014

2013

1,525,181,000

1,512,022,000

1,736,084,000

1,835,894,000

49ers Seasonal Movement

Services/Products: Construction, government services, industrial services, and tourism. Recent noteworthy events: BBNC and Dillingham-based village corporation Choggiung Ltd. announced their Jason Metrokin President/CEO groundbreaking partnership, where Choggiung has acquired a majority ownership of the Bristol Alliance of Companies, a group of construction, environmental, and professional service companies formed by BBNC in 1994.

Change in Rank No Change from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972

ď&#x192;&#x2021;9.8%

Worldwide Employees 3,860

Alaska Employees 1,550

Alaskan Workforce 40%

At home in the Arctic Construction Logistics Overland Transportation Remote Oilfield Support Remediation

Wainwright, AK Anchorage, AK Annandale, VA www.olgoonik.com

54 | October 2018

907.562.8728

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

PO Box 49, Kotzebue AK 99752 | 907-442-3301 nana.com | news@nana.com | nanaregionalcorporation NANACorporation | 2853774

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

1,354,000,000

2016

1,300,000,000

2015

1,600,000,000

2014

1,600,000,000

2013

Services/Products: NANA has operations in thirty-eight states, fifteen countries, and across five continents in our core areas of resource development/mining, federal and commercial. Wayne Westlake President/CEO

1,700,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank No Change from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972

www.akbizmag.com

ď&#x192;&#x2021;4.2%

Worldwide Employees 12,251

Alaska Employees 4,796

Alaska Business

Alaskan Workforce 39%

October 2018 | 55

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

NANA Regional Corporation

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Lynden 6441 S. Airpark Pl., Anchorage AK 99502 | 907-245-1544 lynden.com | information@lynden.com | LyndenInc LyndenInc | lynden-incorporated

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

950,000,000 925,000,000 975,000,000

1,000,000,000

2013

875,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1954

Services/Products: Lynden is a family of transportation companies with capabilities including truckload and less-than-truckload services, scheduled and charter barges, scheduled and charter cargo aircraft, worldwide freight forwarding, heavy haul and oversize services, intermodal bulk chemical hauls, and multi-modal logistics.

Jim Jansen Chairman

Recent noteworthy events: Winner of Logistics Management’s 2018 Quest for Quality Awards for the Western Regional LTL Carriers and Air Freight Forwarders categories. Alaska Trucking Association Driver of the Year in 2018 (Jack Sorensen), 2017 (John Schank), 2016 (Brian Ambrose), and 2014 (John Schank).

1 2.7%

Worldwide Employees 2,600

Alaska Employees 950

Alaskan Workforce 36.5%

The Leading Provider of remote camps on Alaska’s North Slope Rapid Camp Deployment & Setup Large Remote Camp Inventory Variable camp sizes; one & two story Turn-key Camp Operator Ranked #1 in Customer Satisfaction Home-Style Amenities Gourmet Quality Food Service Executive Suites to Single & Double-Status Rooms Guest-Centered Services National Safety Council Perfect Record Award Recipient Flexible Schedule & Rates Manufacture & Build-To-Suit

56 | October 2018

www.afognakleasing.com 907-350-2746

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Chugach Alaska Corporation 3800 Centerpoint Dr., Suite 1200, Anchorage AK 99503-4396 | 907-563-8866 chugach.com | communications@chugach.com | chugachalaskacorporation linkedin.com/company/chugach

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

920,000,000

2016

2015

2014

626,000,000

2013

609,000,000

842,000,000 758,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

Gabriel Kompkoff

CEO Recent noteworthy events: Chugach is monetizing ANCSA land assets for the benefit of our shareholders and region for generations to come, including sale of the ‘below-ground’ coal rights in the Bering River Coal Field and pursuit of a carbon offset project.

1

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972

Services/Products: Government services, facilities services, energy services, investments, land and resource development.

9.3%

Worldwide Employees 6,400

COMPANIES

Alaska Employees 1,000

BUILDING ALASKA FOR MORE THAN MARINE LLC

ENERGY SERVICES LLC A CIRI COMPANY

Alaskan Workforce 15.6%

A CIRI COMPANY

3 7 years

ENER

Experts in Resource Development and Heavy Civil Construction

CONTRUCTION, INC

Cruz Construction | Specialized Transport & Rigging Alaska Interstate Construction | Cruz Energy Services | Cruz Marine A CIRI Company

Option 1 www.akbizmag.com

Option 2 Alaska Business

A CIRI Company

Original October 2018 | 57

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Chenega Corporation 3000 C St., Suite 301, Anchorage AK 99503-3975 907-277-5706 chenega.com | info@chenega.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

876,000,000 927,000,000

882,000,000 885,000,000

1,044,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1974

2 5.5%

Services/Products: Federal contracting: technical and installation services, military, intelligence and operations support, environmental, healthcare, facilities management, and information technology. Commercial Services: communications, home health, food services, contract staffing, advanced analytics, and software engineering.

Charles W. Totemoff President/CEO

Recent noteworthy events: Two golf tournaments raised $88,000 for the Wounded Warrior Program. Donations to AFN’s annual conference including $5,000 sponsorship and $47,000 for Chenega Elders to travel and stay for the week. Plus Tatitlek’s Heritage Week, Alaska Native Heritage Center, Native Village of Eyak, and $150,000 to Chugach School District.

Worldwide Employees 5,600

Alaska Employees 219

Alaskan Workforce 4%

Reaching for the Future—at the Speed of Light. Quintillion’s fiber network is transforming northern Alaska communities. And that’s just the start.

From telemedicine to virtual classrooms and on-line training programs, isolated communities from Nome to Utqiagvik are starting to leverage Quintillion’s new 1,200-mile subsea fiber-optic system to the benefit of their patients, students and consumers. The first-ever submarine cable system in the North American Arctic provides access to Gig-E and higher services to telecommunications providers while reducing the cost of backhaul infrastructure compared to existing satellite and microwave technologies. Quintillion has connected these communities by building a new 500-mile terrestrial fiber system from Fairbanks to Deadhorse. And we’ve added capacity and diversity for the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. We’re not done yet. Quintillion is exploring opportunities to connect other remote Alaska communities. In the near future, we plan to extend to Europe and Asia, providing diversity for the flow of information in and out of Alaska–and creating new opportunities, including advanced systems to support our national defense and a North American Arctic data center in this fast-developing part of the world. The future is bright–and fast. And we’re just getting started.

Internet at the Speed of Light. Powered by Quintillion.

Qexpressnet.com.

58 | October 2018

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

300 Alimaq Dr., Kodiak AK 99615 907-486-6014 afognak.com | alutiiq.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

608,104,000 474,271,000 457,569,000

505,346,000

526,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016

11001 Calaska Circle I Anchorage, Alaska I 99515 I Ph: 907-279-1400 I Fax: 907-279-1405

Established 1977

Services/Products: Afognak Native Corporation, Alutiiq, and their subsidiaries provide an exceptional track record of services in the government and commercial sectors worldwide, including leasing; construction; timber; engineering; security; logistics, operations and maintenance; oilfield; and youth services.

Greg Hambright President/CEO

Recent noteworthy events: On June 28, 2018, Afognak Native Corporation hosted the 3rd Annual Afognak Youth Charity Golf Tournament at the Anchorage Golf Course.

ď&#x192;&#x2021;1 ď&#x192;&#x2021;28.2%

Worldwide Employees 5,185

Alaska Employees 158

Alaskan Workforce 3%

Our outstanding management team specializes in providing design, pre-construction and construction services on all types of civil, commercial and industrial projects. For a complete listing and more information visit our website www.rogerhickelcontracting.com

www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

October 2018 | 59

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Afognak Native Corporation

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Calista Corporation 5015 Business Park Blvd., Suite 3000, Anchorage AK 99503 | 907-275-2800 calistacorp.com | calista@calistacorp.com | calistacorporation calistacorp | calistacorporation

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

480,200,000

2016

492,200,000

2015

2014

2013

460,100,000

401,900,000

Services/Products: Defense contracting; construction; heavy equipment sales, rental, service; real estate; environmental services; marine transportation; oil field services; fiber optic services. Recent noteworthy events: Brice Environmental adds drone imagery services.

Andrew Guy President/CEO

368,914,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972

1 2.4%

Worldwide Employees 3,000

Alaska Employees 800

Alaskan Workforce 26%

We Work Where You Work Premium Products, Signature Service, Exceptional Value

www.shoresidepetroleum.com

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

PO Box 890, Utqiaġvik AK 99723 907-852-4460 uicalaska.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

470,425,629

2016

424,300,000

2015

424,426,000

2014

356,781,000

2013

320,716,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank No Change from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1973

Services/Products: Providing services to clients in a variety of industries, including operations in Barrow, construction, architecture and engineering, regulatory consulting, information technology, marine operations, logistics, and maintenance and manufacturing.

Delbert Rexford President/CEO

Recent noteworthy events: The US Army Corps of Engineers awarded UIC Science the 2018 ICEX project for the US Navy— this project involved the construction of a temporary camp located 150 nautical miles north of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Three nuclear submarines (two US and one British) participated in this project.

10.9%

Worldwide Employees 4,450

Alaska Employees 605

Alaskan Workforce 13.5%

ACHIEVE YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS, FASTER Because we’re a different type of financial institution that’s owned by its Alaskan members, you get a piece of the pie. Better rates, lower fees, and money that works for YOU! Find out more at cu1.org. INSURED BY THE NCUA www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

October 2018 | 61

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Cook Inlet Region, Inc. PO Box 93330, Anchorage AK 99509-3330 | 907-274-8638 CIRI.com | info@CIRI.com CIRInews | @CIRI

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

439,349,000

2016

2015

2014

2013

289,048,000 222,810,000

304,421,000 214,930,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972

62 | October 2018

Services/Products: CIRI’s financial strength and expertise spans diverse business segments which primarily include real estate, oilfield and construction services, land and natural resources, energy and infrastructure, environmental services, government services, and private equity.

Sophie Minich President/CEO

Recent noteworthy events: Completed the acquisition of Portage, Inc., a former competitor to the North Wind Group, specializing in environmental remediation for the energy and defense sectors.

2 52%

Worldwide Employees 1,384

Alaska Employees 284

Alaskan Workforce 20.5%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

3301 C St., Suite 400, Anchorage AK 99503 | 907-563-3788 beringstraits.com | info@beringstraits.com GoBSNC

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

357,900,000

326,000,000

304,404,000 229,482,000

242,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972

Services/Products: Logistics, aircraft and airfield services, base operations support services, special training and security, administrative services, IT services, communications, construction, environmental services, and distribution. Gail R. Schubert

President/CEO Recent noteworthy events: BSNC shareholders will vote on approving the proposed Beringia Settlement Trust at the 2018 Annual Meeting in October. A Trust can provide tax-free dividend distributions to shareholders in future years, increased shareholder and descendant benefits, and increased dividends.

1 9.8%

Worldwide Employees 1,447

Alaska Employees 337

Alaskan Workforce 23.2%

DOWNTOWN ANCHORAGE

The only Alaskan place to stay for charm, culture and cuisine. Featuring four distinctive restaurants, full-service espresso bar, 12 shops as well as separate men’s and women’s athletic clubs.

907.276.6000 939 W 5th Ave., Anchorage, Alaska www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

October 2018 | 63

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Bering Straits Native Corporation

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Sealaska One Sealaska Plaza, Suite 400, Juneau AK 99801-1276 | 907-586-1512 sealaska.com | webmaster@sealaska.com | sealaskacorporation Sealaska | sealaska-corporation

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

293,400,000

2016

2015

2014

2013

145,500,000

Services/Products: Sealaska businesses drive success and utilize the wisdom of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian ancestors. We are a group of companies working together toward healthier oceans and waterways. Anthony Mallott President/CEO

109,440,000 121,540,000

164,950,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

10

Change in Revenue 101.6% from 2016 Established 1972

Worldwide Employees 300

Alaska Employees 50

Alaskan Workforce 16.6%

BDO CONGRATULATES THE

TOP 49ers

Thank you for your contributions to the Alaska business community.

Jim Hasle Audit Office Managing Partner jhasle@bdo.com

Kevin Van Nortwick Tax Office Managing Partner kvannortwick@bdo.com

BDO USA, LLP 3601 C Street, Suite 600, Anchorage, AK 99503, 907-278-8878

Accountants and Advisors

www.bdo.com

64 | October 2018

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

1 Doyon Pl., Suite 300, Fairbanks AK 99701-2941 | 888-478-4755 doyon.com | communications@doyon.com | doyonlimited doyonlimited | 68337

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

290,548,000

2016

2015

2014

2013

305,412,000 378,288,768 362,816,481 318,552,461

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972

www.akbizmag.com

ď&#x192;&#x2C6;2

Services/Products: Doyon has business lines in oil field service contracting, including oil rigs, camps and services, engineering and design, and pipeline construction; government contracting including utility management, construction and information technology; resource development; telecommunications; and laundry.

Aaron Schutt President/CEO

Recent noteworthy events: The 2017 Family Friendly Workplace - Large Business award from the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce; Kantishna Roadhouse received Gold LEED Certification; and Doyon Drilling drilled a penta-lateral well in the Kuparuk field on the North Slope.

ď&#x192;&#x2C6;4.9%

Worldwide Employees 888

Alaska Employees 591

Alaska Business

Alaskan Workforce 66.5%

October 2018 | 65

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Doyon, Limited

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Koniag, Inc. 194 Alimaq Dr., Kodiak AK 99615 | 907-486-2530 koniag.com KoniagInc

Services/Products: IT services, government contracting services, energy and water, tourism, natural resource development, and real estate.

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

270,769,000

2016

2015

267,460,000

2014

211,493,000

2013

251,588,000

202,616,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972

Recent noteworthy events: Koniag Ron Unger Interim CEO has completed a successful leadership transition bringing on Chairman Ron Unger as Interim CEO to work with President Shauna Hegna to advance company goals such as sustained growth. As part of this strategy, Koniag acquired Glacier Services, Inc. and incorporated it into its Energy & Water operations.

1 7.6%

Worldwide Employees 753

Alaska Employees 59

Alaskan Workforce 7.8%

ALASKA An Alaska Corporation NORTH DAKOTA · TEXAS

We Influence Results CONSTRUCTION · PROJECT MANAGEMENT · FABRICATION OPERATION & MAINTENANCE · COMMISSIONING 66 | October 2018

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

3201 C St., Suite 700, Anchorage AK 99503 907-562-8728 olgoonik.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

260,200,000

2016

2015

2014

231,900,000

2013

215,200,000

241,800,000

260,600,000

Services/Products: Construction, logistics, oilfield support, security, and remediation. Recent noteworthy events: Completed acquisition of FPM Group Ltd. and FPM Remediations, Inc. in 2018, growing our capacity for environmental services and building our capacity for geophysics and military munitions response programs.

Hugh Patkotak Sr. President/CEO

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1973

www.akbizmag.com

1 7.6%

Worldwide Employees 834

Alaska Employees 114

Alaska Business

Alaskan Workforce 13.6%

October 2018 | 67

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Olgoonik Corporation

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Ahtna, Inc. PO Box 649, Glennallen AK 99588 | 907-822-3476 ahtna-inc.com | news@ahtna.net | Ahtna.Inc ahtnainc | ahtna-inc.

Services/Products: Ahtna’s principle activities include construction, engineering, environmental, facilities management, surveying, security, military training, janitorial, healthcare and medical records management, government contracting, land management and resource development, and oil and gas pipeline services.

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

238,000,000

2015

2014

2013

217,700,000

188,400,000 185,000,000

200,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

No change

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972

Michelle Anderson President

Recent noteworthy events: Ahtna is dedicated to its mission of providing economic, cultural, and social benefits to its shareholders. Ahtna is currently involved in a carbon offset program in our region which complements Ahtna, Incorporated that mission.

9.3%

Worldwide Employees 1,380

Alaska Employees 309

Alaskan Workforce 22%

Goldbelt, Incorporated 3025 Clinton Dr., Juneau AK 99801 | 907-790-4990 Goldbelt.com | info@goldbelt.com Goldbelt

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

229,389,285

2015

236,747,520

220,276,480

2014

2013

Services/Products: Goldbelt has a strong foundation in the federal market serving many different agencies performing work across the country and overseas. The tourism market in Southeast Alaska is growing and offering more employment for shareholders in the Capital City. This is driving larger corporate investment.

Elliott Wimberly President/CEO

169,063,557

146,033,239

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1974 68 | October 2018

2 3.1%

Worldwide Employees 1,500

Alaska Employees 250

Alaskan Workforce 17%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Chugach Electric Association 5601 Electron Dr., Anchorage AK 99518 | 907-563-7494 chugachelectric.com | Chugach Electric @chugachelectric

Services/Products: Electric utility.

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

224,689,000

2016

2015

2014

2013

197,747,579

Recent noteworthy events: Voter approved acquisition of Municipal Light & Power. Lee Thibert CEO

216,421,152 281,318,513

305,308,427

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1948

1 13.6%

Worldwide Employees 302

Alaska Employees 302

Alaskan Workforce 100%

CELEB RAT E the 32nd Annual Alaska Business Hall of Fame Laureates Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center Thursday, January 24, 2019 5:30 p.m. Reception Dinner/Ceremony 6:30 p.m.

2019 Honorees

Connie Yoshimura, DWELL Realty John Binkley, Alaska Cruise Association Richard Strutz, Wells Fargo Rick Morrison, Morrison Auto Group

GIVE THEM THE POWER TO UNLEASH THEIR POTENTIAL. Think of those people who changed your life. You can do that as a JA Volunteer.

AlaskaBusiness

It’s easy for you. And life-changing for them.

Call Flora Teo at 907-344-0101 to reserve a table or go to alaska.ja.org for more information 70 | October 2018

EMPOWER THE FUTURE® Learn more at alaska.ja.org

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

4000 Old Seward Hwy., Suite 300, Anchorage AK 99503 | 907-561-4300 aleutcorp.com | info@aleutcorp.com Aleut Corporation | @AleutCorp

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

211,837,206

2016

171,655,823

2015

2014

2013

137,942,098

Services/Products: Federal contracting; O&M; instrumentation for oil and gas industry; mechanical contracting; radiological laboratory analysis; field testing; land remediation; commercial and residential real estate; fuel sales and storage; oil well testing services; information technology; and construction services.

Thomas Mack President/CEO

120,307,293

116,260,627

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

ď&#x192;&#x2021;1

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1972

ď&#x192;&#x2021;23.4%

Worldwide Employees 929

Alaska Employees 184

Alaskan Workforce 19.8%

Engineering Results for Alaskan Communities Since 1979 Energy Efficiency Industrial Hygiene Engineering Design Environmental Remediation Hazardous Materials Management

Regulatory Compliance Support Certified Inspection Services HSE Program Development Contingency Planning Tank Inspections

FAIRBANKS ANCHORAGE JUNEAU JUNEAU FAIRBANKS ANCHORAGE 907-452-5688 907-222-2445 907-222-2445 907-586-6813 907-452-5688 907-586-6813

NORTECH has acquired ARCTOS Alaska. Learn more at www.nortechengr.com www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

October 2018 | 71

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Aleut Corporation

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Three Bears Alaska, Inc. 445 N. Pittman Rd., Suite B, Wasilla AK 99623 907-357-4311 threebearsalaska.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

187,029,540

2016

2015

2014

161,254,283

2013

136,632,222

173,169,699

175,279,992

Services/Products: Retail grocery, general merchandise, sporting goods (hunting, fishing, and camping), pharmacies, package stores (beer, wine, and spirits), fuel stations, hardware, and motel. Recent noteworthy events: Opened a new store located in Healy.

David A Weisz President/CEO

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

1

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1980

8%

Worldwide Employees 690

Alaskan Workforce 91.8%

First National Bank Alaska PO Box 100720, Anchorage AK 99510-0720 | 907-777-4362 FNBAlaska.com | customer.service@FNBAlaska.com @FNBAlaska | @FNBAlaska

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

152,325,000

150,499,000 142,215,000

132,305,000 131,005,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

No change

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1922 72 | October 2018

Alaska Employees 634

1.2%

Services/Products: Friendly, knowledgeable Alaskans offering the convenience, service, and value of a full range of deposit, lending, investment management and trust services, and online and mobile banking. With branches in eighteen communities and assets of more than $3.6 billion, we believe in Alaska and have since 1922.

Betsy Lawer Chair/CEO

Recent noteworthy events: Alaska Business readers voted the bank the “Best of Alaska Business” in the Best Place to Work category for the third year in a row and Best Corporate Citizen for the second. Microsoft News named First National the most admired company in the state. Shareholders agreed to 10-for-1 stock split.

Worldwide Employees 651

Alaska Employees 651

Alaskan Workforce 100%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

Only pay for the speed you need... Dynamic Routing! SM

On time and on budget. At Lynden, we understand that plans change but deadlines don’t. That’s why we proudly offer our exclusive Dynamic Routing system. Designed to work around your unique requirements, Dynamic Routing allows you to choose the mode of transportation – air, sea or land – to control the speed of your deliveries so they arrive just as they are needed. With Lynden you only pay for the speed you need! lynden.com | 1-888-596-3361

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Matanuska Electric Association PO Box 2929 Palmer AK 99645 907-761-9300

Services/Products: Alaska’s oldest existing and second largest electric cooperative, serving more than 51,000 members and 4,500 miles of power lines in Eagle River and the Matanuska Susitna Borough. MEA also buys and sells power with other utilities when it is economic for our members.

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

148,701,932

142,549,343

2013

137,279,126

116,570,742

105,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

1

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1941

Tony Izzo General Manager/CEO

Recent noteworthy events: MEA has made great strides in developing systems to more cost effectively produce and distribute power. Recent modeling shows this can save millions of dollars for consumers. Due to the financial strength of the organization, the MEA board voted to return to capital credit payments by the end of 2018.

8.3%

Worldwide Employees 195

Alaska Employees 195

Alaskan Workforce 100%

Sitnasuak Native Corporation PO Box 905, Nome AK 99762 | 907-387-1200 snc.org | communications@snc.org | Sitnasuak SitnasuakNC | sitnasuak-native-corporation

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

134,138,330

2016

2015

130,210,466

Services/Products: Tactical apparel, financial services, fuel distribution, real estate. Recent noteworthy events: This is the third successive year of positive growth. Roberta “Bobbi” Quintavell President/CEO

116,912,297

2014

88,128,089

2013

93,147,344

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1973 74 | October 2018

1 3%

Worldwide Employees 871

Alaska Employees 91

Alaskan Workforce 10%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Davis Constructors & Engineers, Inc. 6591 A St., Suite 300, Anchorage AK 99518 | 907-562-2336 davisconstructors.com | admin@davisconstructors.com davis-constructors-&-engineers-inc.

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

120,084,328

2016

2015

65,497,161

108,023,675

2014

2013

136,117,019

163,639,861

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

14

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1976

Services/Products: Davis Constructors & Engineers is able to provide pre-construction consulting services, constructability reviews, construction management services, CM@ Risk Services, design/build, civil and general construction, estimating services (civil and vertical), VE/LCC analysis, and CPM scheduling.

Josh Pepperd President/CEO

Recent noteworthy events: The Haskell Corp. Davis Constructors JV was selected by Lockheed Martin to construct the Long Range Discrimination Radar Launch Equipment Structure in Clear AFS, Alaska. This program is the backbone of the MDA’s layered defense strategy to protect the US homeland from ballistic missile attacks.

83.3%

Worldwide Employees 100

Alaska Employees 50

Alaskan Workforce 50%

Cruz Companies Alaska 7000 E. Palmer Wasilla Hwy. Palmer AK 99645 907-746-3144

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

Services/Products: Heavy civil construction and resource development.

120,000,000

2016

2015

2014

2013

183,717,140

213,518,131

191,860,803

Recent noteworthy events: We recently wrapped up forty miles of construction on the Dalton Highway and more than 6 million tons of select fill placed in the last year.

Dave Cruz President

116,798,739

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1981 76 | October 2018

7 34.7%

Worldwide Employees 289

Alaska Employees 200

Alaskan Workforce 69%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

Back: Le� to right: Blake Beemer, Bud Millard, Barbara Balogh, David Thibault, Harry McFarland, Jason Smedley Front: Le� to right: Robin Hager, Greg Mar�n, Lori McVay, Butch Lewis

ARCTIC OFFICE PRODUCTS

Alaska’s largest full-service office products dealer

ith about seventy-five years in business, Arctic Office Products has forged a long, rich history in Alaska. Yet, surprisingly, many people do not know that the Alaskan-owned and –operated business carries copiers. In fact, Arctic Office Products is Alaska’s largest private company that sells copiers, and it represents four of the country’s eight major copier manufacturers: Canon, Sharp, Toshiba, and HP. Arctic Office Products also sells an array of other office machines to meet the needs of businesses large and small. Its product offerings range from enterprise HP printers, wide-format printers, and standard printers to digital white boards, postage equipment, binding equipment, laminators, shredders, calculators, and even high-end massage chairs. With locations in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Kenai, Arctic Office Products serves customers statewide and services all of the products it sells. The company has an extensive parts inventory and sixteen technicians on staff to facilitate prompt repairs. “When a customer’s machine breaks, they can call for service and talk to someone who works here, not someone in India,” says Vice President Greg Martin. “We can show up—often within hours—with the part in hand and get you up and running.” FURNITURE AND SUPPLIES In addition to carrying a vast number of machines and parts, Arctic Office Products also maintains a furniture division, supported by a complete design and installation team. However, the company is also widely known for its award-winning supply division, which is one of the largest in the state. Customers can order everything they need online—including items for breakrooms—and receive same-day delivery if they order in the morning. “We pretty much carry everything an office needs to operate effectively,” Martin says.

Earlier this year, Arctic Office Products had the distinction of becoming one of the few HP premier dealers in the country. The company, which is Alaska’s first and foremost Canon dealer, also recently garnered a Canon Outstanding Dealer award. And as further testament to its expertise, Arctic Office Products is a certified technician training facility for Canon and Sharp copiers. Martin explains: “Our on-staff instructors often hold technician training classes. Upon successful class completion and testing, the technicians are factory-certified.” PRIORITIZING CUSTOMERS While Arctic Office Products focuses on providing highly trained staff and high quality products, perhaps nothing is more vital to the business than delivering a positive experience for customers. The company’s 100 employees— many of whom are long-term staffers—concentrate on customer service. “We all have the same goal: taking care of the customer,” Martin says. That attitude underscores a core value of Arctic Office Products, a home-grown business whose distinctive Anchorage location occupies the former site of Anchorage’s original sports arena, which has hosted countless old-time hockey games and rock and roll concerts. The company prides itself on being local, honest, and here for the long haul. Martin says, “We’re here because we want to be here, and this is where our focus is.”

For more informa�on about Arc�c Oﬃce Products, call (907) 279-4359 or visit www.machines.arc�coﬃce.com.

AlaskaBusiness Profile – PA I D A D V E R T I S E M E N T –

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

MTA 1740 S. Chugach St., Palmer AK 99645 | 907-745-3211 mtasolutions.com MatanuskaTelephone

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

116,648,000

100,000,000

2015

99,200,000

2014

2013

97,100,000

97,300,000

Services/Products: Internet, MTA Stream, DTV, landline, business telecommunication systems, IT support, and outsourcing. Recent noteworthy events: MTA rolled out new broadband products in 2017 that offer the Michael Burke CEO lowest broadband price point in the market and deployed 150 miles of fiber optic cable, along with another 150 miles of innerduct that can handle future fiber deployments.

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

2

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1953

16.6%

Worldwide Employees 385

Alaska Employees 385

Alaskan Workforce 100%

Tanadgusix Corporation 3601 C St., Suite 1000, Anchorage AK 99503 | 907-278-2312 tanadgusix.com | info@tanadgusix.com TanadgusixCorporation

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

111,700,000

122,200,000 139,500,000

2014

N/A

2013

N/A

Services/Products: Hotels, parking, tours, wind power, microgrids, power utilities ownership including North Slope Generating, bulk and retail fuel, range operations, global remote site O&M support, horizontal and vertical construction, environmental remediation, cable and fiber, engineering.

Ron Philemonoff CEO

Recent noteworthy events: More than $100 million in contracts awarded in the last ninety days.

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

1

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1973 78 | October 2018

8.6%

Worldwide Employees 639

Alaska Employees 281

Alaskan Workforce 44%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

4300 B St., Suite 405, Anchorage AK 99503 | 907-243-2944 kuskokwim.com | info@kuskokwim.com The Kuskokwim Corporation

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

104,276,146

2016

88,719,545

2015

2014

2013

86,423,567 73,122,018

36,578,105

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1977

6

Services/Products: Investments; real estate rental; government contracts related to heavy civil construction, aviation, and IO&T services; energy-efficient lighting solutions; helicopter maintenance, repair, and overhaul services; Part 145 repair station; and environmental, restoration, and compliance services.

Maver Carey President/CEO

Recent noteworthy events: TKC is heavily focused on our shareholders and our region. We have utilized partnerships to bring job training to our villages, recently held a first of its kind Middle Kuskokwim Tribal Gathering, and developed a Natural Resource Policy that balances development with conservation and traditional use.

17.5%

Worldwide Employees 180

Alaska Employees 13

Alaskan Workforce 7%

MEDICAL • SAFETY • TRAINING

WE KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES SAFE, HEALTHY AND ON THE JOB Beacon provides all the services your company needs for healthy, well-trained employees. • • • •

Safety services Training Occupational medicine Remote/on-site medical services

• Drug and alcohol testing • Confined Space Rescue Teams

www.beaconohss.com Tel: 907-222-7612 800 Cordova Street Anchorage, AK 99501

www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

October 2018 | 79

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

The Kuskokwim Corporation

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Bethel Native Corporation PO Box 719, Bethel AK 99559 | 907-543-2124 bethelservices.com krose@bncak.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

99,197,518

2016

2015

2014

33,096,622

2013

49,318,000

71,771,183

54,275,351

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

38.2%

Worldwide Employees 125

Alaska Employees 50

Alaskan Workforce 35%

Homer Electric Association 3977 Lake St., Homer AK 99603 | 907-235-8551 homerelectric.com | facebook.com/homerelectricassociation twitter.com/HomerElectric

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

99,000,000

2016

95,000,000

2015

2014

92,000,000

2013

92,000,000

97,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017 Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1945 80 | October 2018

Recent noteworthy events: Bethel Native Anastasia Hoffman President/CEO Corporation, through its principal subsidiaries Bethel Solutions, Bethel Contracting, and Bethel Environmental Services, expanded business operations beyond Alaska to Hawaii, Washington, and California in 2017. The company now has offices in Bethel, Anchorage, Seattle, and Honolulu.

8

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1973

Services/Products: General contracting, environmental remediation and consulting services, commercial properties investor, property management, theater operations.

Services/Products: Homer Electric Association, Inc. is a member-owned, notfor-profit, electric cooperative serving the Southern Kenai Peninsula. Recent noteworthy events: Exploring the feasibility of a Community Solar Program as Bradley Janorschke a result of our members’ growing interest General Manager for more renewable energy opportunities. Launching a new member benefit, Co-op Connections Car, offering discounts on products and services from participating local and national businesses.

2 4.2%

Worldwide Employees 138

Alaska Employees 138

Alaskan Workforce 100%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

5400 Homer Dr., Anchorage AK 99518 907-563-3822 cmiak.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

98,500,000

98,000,000

105,000,000 127,000,000

Services/Products: Sales, rentals, parts, and service for construction and mining equipment.

Recent noteworthy events: Added Kubota engines, engine parts, and generators and Extreme forklifts product lines.

Ken Gerondale President/CEO

134,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

2

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1985

0.5%

Worldwide Employees 105

Alaska Employees 105

Alaskan Workforce 100%

nightly & extended stay... Large Suites with Fully-Equipped Kitchens

Personalized Guest Service Great Restaurant & Bar Near Airport - Corporate Discounts

FREE: Airport Shuttle • Fitness Facility • Internet Access

Call direct • 800-528-4916 Locally Owned & Operated in Fairbanks

www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

October 2018 | 81

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Construction Machinery Industrial

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Center 2601 E. Fifth Ave. Anchorage AK 99501 907-276-1331

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Services/Products: Sales and service of Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram cars and trucks.

90,546,881 79,853,962 Corey Meyers President

89,313,811

97,752,543

85,550,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

4

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1963

13.4%

Worldwide Employees 100

Alaska Employees 100

Alaskan Workforce 100%

PenAir 6100 Boeing Ave., Anchorage AK 99502 | 800-446-4228 penair.com info@penair.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

Services/Products: Scheduled passenger service.

87,500,000

89,900,000

2015

2014

2013

Danny Seybert CEO

89,952,112

79,700,000

78,300,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

No change

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1955 82 | October 2018

2.7%

Worldwide Employees 739

Alaska Employees 351

Alaskan Workforce 47%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

Pouch 340012 Prudhoe Bay AK 99734 907-659-3198

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

87,479,056

96,299,358

132,986,277 125,690,815

105,600,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

Recent noteworthy events: Modified Transport to increase efficiency. Added vertical integration from Brooks Supply to Colville, Inc. and from Transport to Colville, Inc.

9.2%

Worldwide Employees 186

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Dave Pfeifer President/CEO

3

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1981

Services/Products: Colville’s group of oil field support and retail companies operate safely, reliably, and efficiently from Prudhoe Bay to the Kenai Peninsula. Our suite of capabilities include fuel and supply chain management, transport and tow services, waste management, aviation support, and camp services.

Alaska Employees 186

Alaskan Workforce 100%

Ketchikan Come Discover the Faces of

Ketchikan’s small fishing town charm, relaxed pace of life, and rich Tlingit culture make it the ideal vacation, day trip, or business destination in Alaska. Come discover our living heritage – come discover the Faces of Ketchikan.

907.225.8001

907.225.4421

907.225.5163

Village Store 907.225.4421

907.225.4885

FacesofKetchikan.com

Lodging • Shops • Tours • Restaurants • Totems • Art • Hiking • Fishing Alaska Business

October 2018 | 83

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Colville

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Delta Constructors 3000 C St., Suite 202, Anchorage AK 99503 907-771-5800 deltaconstructors.net

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

81,550,000

121,228,363

179,492,000 166,419,000 $

42,110,089

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

8

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 2007

Services/Products: Delta is a general contracting company. We provide construction management, direct hire construction, and maintenance services in Alaska, North Dakota, and Texas. We are team minded, innovative, and results driven. Our commitment to safety, quality, costs, and schedule performance defines our mission.

Recent noteworthy events: 2017-2018 awarded the contract to install the ConocoPhillips Alaska GMT-1 and Hilcorp Alaska Moose Pad facilities. Delta now has the capability to fabricate truckable modules in Anchorage. Delta recently mobilized the HESS Petroleum Blue Butte Compressor Station project in ND.

32.7%

Worldwide Employees 600

Ed Gohr CEO

Alaska Employees 225

Alaskan Workforce 37.5%

Usibelli Coal Mine 100 Cushman St., Suite 210, Fairbanks AK 99701 | 907-452-2625 usibelli.com | info@usibelli.com facebook.com/UsibelliCoalMine | twitter.com/Usibelli

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

80,000,000

2015

86,000,000

2014

2013

79,000,000

97,000,000

103,000,000

Services/Products: Usibelli Coal Mine supplies the five power plants in Interior Alaska with affordable and reliable ultra-low sulfur coal. Recent noteworthy events: Usibelli Coal Mine celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The company hosted an open house for the public to celebrate the milestone and published a 128-page historical book documenting the company’s history. In July the mine achieved 500 days without a lost time accident.

Joseph E. Usibelli Jr. President/CEO

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

1

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1943 84 | October 2018

1.3%

Worldwide Employees 176

Alaska Employees 141

Alaskan Workforce 80%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

1689 C St., Suite 219, Anchorage AK 99501 | 907-272-0707 tyonek.com | sdeemer@tyonek.com tyoneknativecorporation | tyonek-native-corp

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

78,000,000

89,000,000

101,000,000

120,000,000

2013

N/A

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

4

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1973

12.4%

Services/Products: Tyonek Native Corporation is the parent company to a variety of subsidiary businesses including defense manufacturing and engineering, aircraft maintenance, information technology services, and construction. The company owns over 200,000 acres of land, primarily on the west side of the Cook Inlet.

Leo Barlow CEO

Recent noteworthy events: TFab Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Tyonek Manufacturing Group, Inc. and Tyonek Native Corporation, was recognized by Sikorsky as Black Hawk Supplier of the Year. The recognition comes in addition to the company achieving Sikorsky Supplier Gold status for the second year in a row.

Worldwide Employees 729

Alaska Employees 37

Building Alaska’s Future CM/GC • Design/Build • Bid/Build

Alaskan Workforce 5%

Most businesses overpay for workers’ compensation insurance. Does yours? Contact us to ﬁnd out.

907-276-7667 www.chialaska.com

Southcentral Foundation • Nuka Wellness and Learning Center info@wccak.com WattersonConstruction.com www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

Alaska Owned & Operated Since 1979 October 2018 | 85

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Tyonek Native Corporation

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Roger Hickel Contracting, Inc. 11001 Calaska Cir., Anchorage AK 99515 | 907-279-1400 rogerhickelcontracting.com contact@rhcak.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

69,514,855

2016

2015

53,447,999

2014

2013

50,787,881

65,585,188 67,963,073

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

30.1%

Worldwide Employees 78

Alaska Employees 58

Alaskan Workforce 74%

Credit Union 1 1941 Abbott Rd., Anchorage AK 99507 | 907-339-9485 cu1.org | membermail@cu1.org @creditunion1 | @OneForAllAlaska | #creditunion1

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

60,879,254

2014

58,634,026

2013

65,811,947

64,618,093

52,618,949

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

No change

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1952 86 | October 2018

Recent noteworthy events: RHC continues its commitment to improving educational Mike Shaw President facilities and public works. It recently completed a $40 million elementary school in Washington as well as being awarded multiple Anchorage School District projects as well as waste water and water treatment facilities for AWWU.

8

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1995

Services/Products: Roger Hickel Contracting, Inc. provides design, pre-construction, and construction services on all types of civil and building projects.

1.8%

Services/Products: Credit Union 1 offers a full suite of financial service to Alaskans, including low-cost loan options and cutting edge electronic services. Employees also fundraise for local causes each month, volunteer their time to nonprofit organizations, teach financial education, and more, all across the state.

James Wileman President/CEO

Recent noteworthy events: In 2018, Credit Union 1 created the #CU1LUV Community Fund for Alaskans facing hardship. Nonprofits that identify a client whose food, shelter, or health is at risk can apply to this fund for aid. To promote the fund’s growth, CU1 has pledged to donate $1-$10 for each loan they finance.

Worldwide Employees 389

Alaska Employees 376

Alaskan Workforce 97%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

184 E. 53rd Ave., Anchorage AK 99518-1222 | 907-344-1577 udelhoven.com cduxbury@udelhoven.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

97,181,224

Recent noteworthy events: 2017 complete year without a loss time accident. Jim Udelhoven CEO

148,746,045

2013

65,016,912

Services/Products: Oilfield services, electrical, mechanical and plumbing, QA and QC.

198,377,193

166,229,644

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

10

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1970

33.1%

Worldwide Employees 332

Alaska Employees 322

Do you avoid smiling? Do you often cover your mouth when smiling or laughing? Do you lack confidence in the appearance of your teeth (smile)? Are you tired of the ‘denture’ look? Do you suffer from frequent headaches or jaw pain?

Alaskan Workforce 97%

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October 2018 | 87

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Udelhoven Oilfield System Services

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Tatonduk Outfitters Ltd./DBA Everts Air Cargo PO Box 61680, Fairbanks AK 99706 | 907-450-2300 EvertsAir.com info@EvertsAir.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

63,800,000

2016

2015

2014

2013

54,135,000 57,140,000

Services/Products: Everts Air Cargo provides scheduled and charter (domestic & international) air freight services using MD80, DC-9, DC-6 and C-46 aircraft. Everts Air Alaska provides passenger, freight, and charter service out of Fairbanks using Pilatus and Caravan aircraft.

Robert Everts CEO/Owner

53,150,000

51,950,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

4

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1978

17.9%

Worldwide Employees 353

Alaskan Workforce 93%

Cape Fox Corporation PO Box 8558, Ketchikan AK 99901 | 907-225-5163 capefoxcorp.com | info@capefoxcorp.com | Cape-Fox-Corporation-434485000093440 twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=Cape%20Fox%20Corporation

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

60,632,693 63,532,532

65,471,442

2014

N/A

2013

N/A

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

1

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1973 88 | October 2018

Alaska Employees 330

Services/Products: Federal government contractor with core capabilities in medical services, professional staffing, information technology, human resources, training support, communications and media, and administrative support. In addition, the commercial division focuses on hospitality, tourism, and retail services.

Chris Luchtefeld CEO

Recent noteworthy events: The Federal Contracting Group added two new 8(a) subsidiaries and was awarded $72 million in new contracts in 2017. Our employees and services spanned forty-one states and countries, with Alaska having the highest number of Cape Fox employees per state.

4.6%

Worldwide Employees 748

Alaska Employees 172

Alaskan Workforce 23%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Seekins Ford Lincoln 1625 Seekins Ford Dr., Fairbanks AK 99701 | 907-459-4000 seekins.com | sales@seekins.com @SeekinsFordLinc

Services/Products: New/used auto sales, service, parts, and body shop.

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

58,946,067 52,554,917

69,690,934

Recent noteworthy events: Opening of offsite Seekins Quick Lane, a maintenance and light repair facility, at Eielson AFB.

Ralph Seekins President

68,469,689

67,581,913

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

4

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1977

12.2%

Worldwide Employees 100

Alaska Employees 100

Alaskan Workforce 100%

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907-257-2911

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www.mpfcak.com #1 Best of Alaska for Medical Clinics

Alaska Business ABM DCC AD_4.625 x 4.875_522.indd 1

October 2018 | 89 5/22/18 10:12 AM

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Denali Federal Credit Union 440 E. 36th Ave., Anchorage AK 99503 | 907-257-7200 denalifcu.org | info@denalifcu.com Denalifcu | denali-federal-credit-union

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

55,828,077

2015

2014

52,984,258

2013

57,973,581

49,011,797

44,900,000

Services/Products: Complete financial services to members—loans, deposits, mortgage, and investments. Online and remote services allow secure account access to Denali worldwide. Robert Teachworth

President/CEO Recent noteworthy events: Denali’s Business services department serves members with complete financial services suite: business deposits and loans, online banking, merchant services, and more.

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

2

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1948

3.7%

Worldwide Employees 311

Alaska Employees 304

Alaskan Workforce 98%

Airport Equipment Rentals 1285 Van Horn Rd., Fairbanks AK 99707 | 907-456-2000 airportequipmentrentals.com aerinc4@alaska.net

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

55,100,000

2016

2015

2014

63,212,586

2013

55,000,001

54,361,000 75,624,000

Services/Products: Largest construction/ industrial heavy equipment dealer/rental company in Alaska. Providing rentals, sales and service for the construction and oil and gas industries. Recent noteworthy events: Paid off CAT train used for seismic exploration on the North Slope.

Jerry Sadler Owner/President

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

1

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1986 90 | October 2018

1.4%

Worldwide Employees 100

Alaska Employees 100

Alaskan Workforce 100%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

113 W. Northern Lights Blvd., Suite 200, Anchorage AK 99503 | 907-278-6700 vitus-energy.com sales@vitusmarine.com

Services/Products: Fuel and freight services.

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

54,500,000

2016

2015

63,000,000

2014

69,000,000

2013

Recent noteworthy events: Added two tugs and one barge to the fleet.

55,000,000

Justin Charon CEO

89,600,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

3

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 2009

0.9%

Worldwide Employees 70

Alaska Employees 70

Alaskan Workforce 100%

Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc. 4831 Eagle St., Anchorage AK 99503 | 907-561-1818 avec.org mkohler@avec.org

Services/Products: Electric service.

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

46,500,000

2016

49,500,000

2015

58,600,000

2014 2013

Recent noteworthy events: Installed two additional wind projects in 2018, serving five communities.

Meera Kohler President/CEO

N/A $

42,206,045

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

2

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1967 www.akbizmag.com

6.1%

Worldwide Employees 140

Alaska Employees 140

Alaska Business

Alaskan Workforce 100% October 2018 | 91

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Vitus Energy

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | DIRECTORY

Watterson Construction Co. 6500 Interstate Cir., Anchorage AK 99518 907-563-7441 info@wccak.com

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

41,000,000

52,000,000

104,000,000

2014

88,000,000

2013

90,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

No change

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1981

21.2%

Worldwide Employees 95

Alaska Employees 95

Alaskan Workforce 100%

Cornerstone General Contractors, Inc. 4040 B St., Suite 200 Anchorage AK 99503 907-561-1993

SCORECARD

5 year Revenue Review 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

40,439,104

29,041,000

38,481,000

54,400,000 89,000,000

49ers Seasonal Movement Change in Rank from 2017

N/A

Change in Revenue from 2016 Established 1993 92 | October 2018

Services/Products: Commercial general contractor, building commercial, civic, education, retail, office, government, military, and light industrial projects. Specializing in alternate delivery systems: design/build; construction manager/general contractor (CM/ Bill Watterson GC); and construction manager at risk (CM@R). President Recent noteworthy events: Watterson & Callahan Construction have established a Mentor Protégé arrangement. Major Awards: Mech. Elec. Building #4 Ft. Greely and several projects for the Eielson AFB F-35A Bed Down. Recently completed Kendall Anchorage Audi Volkswagen Porsche dealership and ANTHC Childcare & Education Center.

Services/Products: Cornerstone specializes in collaborative project delivery methods for new commercial construction and the precision renovation of existing facilities. We offer a comprehensive selection of general contracting and construction management services for projects across the state.

Joe Jolley President

Recent noteworthy events: Cornerstone has recently completed several high profile projects including the new Mt. Edgecumbe High School Aquatic Center in Sitka. Recent awards include the 2017 AK Governor’s Safety Award, 2017 AGC Excellence in Construction Award, and 2017 AGC Excellence in Safety Award.

39.2%

Worldwide Employees 25

Alaska Employees 25

Alaskan Workforce 100%

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | ON THE FIELD

49 47

Cornerstone General Contractors, Inc.

Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Airport Equipment Rentals

The 2018 Top 27 25

Tanadgusix Corp. (TDX)

Cruz Companies Alaska

43 41

Seekins Ford Lincoln

Tatonduk Outfitters Ltd.

Credit Union 1

37 35

Tyonek Native Corporation

Bering Straits Native Corporation

23 21

PenAir

31 29

Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation (UIC)

Sitnasuak Native Corporation

3 1

First National Bank Alaska

NANA Regional Corporation

19 17

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation

Aleut Corporation

Goldbelt, Incorporated

7 5

Afognak Native Corporation

Delta Constructors LLC

11 9

15 13

Chugach Alaska Corporation

Olgoonik Corporation

Doyon, Limited

Construction Machinery Industrial, LLC

Bethel Native Corporation

94 | October 2018

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

28 26

The Kuskokwim Corporation

12 10

Watterson Construction Co.

Vitus Energy

Denali Federal Credit Union

MTA

Sealaska

Cook Inlet Region, Inc.

24 22

Davis Constructors & Engineers, Inc.

4 2

48 46

Matanuska Electric Association

Lynden

20 18

Bristol Bay Native Corporation

Three Bears Alaska, Inc.

8 6

Chugach Electric Association

Calista Corporation

42 40

Cape Fox Corporation

Udelhoven Oilfield System Services

Roger Hickel Contracting, Inc.

36 34

Usibelli Coal Mine

Colville

Chenega Corporation

16 14

Ahtna, Inc.

Koniag, Inc.

Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Center

Homer Electric Association

www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

October 2018 | 95

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | ON THE FIELD

ERS 49 Line up

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | HISTORICAL REVIEW

2018 Top 49ers 5-Year Rank & Revenue Review Rank 2017 Rank 2016 Rank 2015 Rank Company 2018 Revenue 2017 Revenue 2016 Revenue 2015 Afognak Native Corporation 7 $608,104,000 8 $474,271,000 8 $457,569,000 7 Ahtna, Inc. 16 $238,000,000 16 $217,700,000 18 $188,400,000 18 Airport Equipment Rentals 45 $55,100,000 44 $54,361,000 39 $75,624,000 44 Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc. 47 $46,500,000 49 $49,500,000 - Aleut Corporation 19 $211,837,206 20 $171,655,823 28 $137,942,098 28 Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Center 32 $90,546,881 36 $79,853,962 30 $89,313,811 30 Arctic Slope Regional Corporation 1 $2,697,862,000 1 $2,371,164,000 1 $2,515,377,000 1 Bering Straits Native Corporation 11 $357,900,000 10 $326,000,000 11 $304,404,000 12 Bethel Native Corporation 29 $99,197,518 37 $71,771,183 45 $54,275,351 Bristol Bay Native Corporation 2 $1,659,345,000 2 $1,525,181,000 3 $1,512,022,000 2 Calista Corporation 8 $480,200,000 7 $492,200,000 7 $460,100,000 8 Cape Fox Corporation 42 $60,632,693 41 $63,532,532 - Chenega Corporation 6 $876,000,000 4 $927,000,000 5 $882,000,000 5 Chugach Alaska Corporation 5 $920,000,000 6 $842,000,000 6 $758,000,000 6 Chugach Electric Association 18 $224,689,000 17 $197,747,579 16 $216,421,152 13 Colville 34 $87,479,056 31 $96,299,358 25 $132,986,277 26 Construction Machinery Industrial 31 $98,500,000 29 $98,000,000 30 $105,000,000 25 Cook Inlet Region, Inc. 10 $439,349,000 12 $289,048,000 14 $222,810,000 11 Cornerstone General Contractors, Inc. 49 $40,439,104 - 48 $38,481,000 47 Credit Union 1 39 $65,811,947 39 $64,618,093 42 $60,879,254 46 Cruz Companies Alaska 25 $120,000,000 18 $183,717,140 17 $213,518,131 17 Davis Constructors & Engineers, Inc. 24 $120,084,328 38 $65,497,161 28 $108,023,675 22 Delta Constructors 35 $81,550,000 27 $121,228,363 19 $179,492,000 Denali Federal Credit Union 44 $55,828,077 42 $57,973,581 46 $52,984,258 49 Doyon, Limited 13 $290,548,000 11 $305,412,000 10 $378,288,768 9 First National Bank Alaska 21 $152,325,000 21 $150,499,000 23 $142,215,000 23 Goldbelt, Incorporated 17 $229,389,285 15 $236,747,520 15 $220,276,480 19 Homer Electric Association 30 $99,000,000 32 $95,000,000 34 $97,000,000 34 Koniag, Inc. 14 $270,769,000 13 $251,588,000 12 $267,460,000 15 Lynden 4 $950,000,000 5 $925,000,000 4 $975,000,000 4 Matanuska Electric Association 22 $148,701,932 23 $137,279,126 22 $142,549,343 29 MTA 26 $116,648,000 28 $100,000,000 33 $99,200,000 31 NANA Regional Corporation 3 $1,354,000,000 3 $1,300,000,000 2 $1,600,000,000 3 Olgoonik Corporation 15 $260,200,000 14 $241,800,000 13 $260,600,000 14 33 $87,500,000 33 $89,900,000 35 $89,952,112 38 PenAir Roger Hickel Contracting, Inc. 38 $69,514,855 46 $53,447,999 47 $50,787,881 42 Sealaska 12 $293,400,000 22 $145,500,000 27 $109,440,000 27 Seekins Ford Lincoln 43 $58,946,067 47 $52,554,917 40 $69,690,934 41 Sitnasuak Native Corporation 23 $134,138,330 24 $130,210,466 26 $116,912,297 35 Tanadgusix Corp. (TDX) 27 $111,700,000 26 $122,200,000 - Tatonduk Outfitters Ltd. 41 $63,800,000 45 $54,135,000 44 $57,140,000 48 The Kuskokwim Corporation 28 $104,276,146 34 $88,719,545 37 $86,423,567 39 Three Bears Alaska, Inc. 20 $187,029,540 19 $173,169,699 20 $175,279,992 21 Tyonek Native Corporation 37 $78,000,000 - 32 $101,000,000 Udelhoven Oilfield System Services 40 $65,016,912 30 $97,181,224 21 $148,746,045 16 Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation (UIC) 9 $470,425,629 9 $424,300,000 9 $424,426,000 10 $80,000,000 38 $86,000,000 32 Usibelli Coal Mine 36 $79,000,000 35 Vitus Energy 46 $54,500,000 43 $55,000,000 41 $63,000,000 40 Watterson Construction Co. 48 $41,000,000 48 $52,000,000 31 $104,000,000 36 Totals $649,104,000 $526,271,000 $561,569,000 96 | October 2018

2014 Revenue $505,346,000 $185,000,000 $63,212,586 $120,307,293 $97,752,543 $2,663,540,000 $229,482,000 $1,736,084,000 $401,900,000 $885,000,000 $626,000,000 $281,318,513 $125,690,815 $127,000,000 $304,421,000 $54,400,000 $58,634,026 $191,860,803 $136,117,019 $49,011,797 $362,816,481 $132,305,000 $169,063,557 $92,000,000 $211,493,000 $1,000,000,000 $116,570,742 $97,100,000 $1,600,000,000 $231,900,000 $79,700,000 $65,585,188 $121,540,000 $68,469,689 $88,128,089 $53,150,000 $73,122,018 $161,254,283 $198,377,193 $356,781,000 $97,000,000 $69,000,000 $88,000,000 $593,346,000

Rank 2014 7 18 47 29 39 1 14 2 8 4 6 12 30 25 16 38 38 28 21 11 26 23 35 17 5 31 33 3 15 40 42 20 43 34 49 24 19 10 32 37 36

2013 Revenue $526,000,000 $200,000,000 $55,000,001 $116,260,627 $85,550,000 $2,525,615,000 $242,000,000 $1,835,894,000 $368,914,000 $1,044,000,000 $609,000,000 $305,308,427 $105,600,000 $134,000,000 $214,930,000 $89,000,000 $52,618,949 $116,798,739 $163,639,861 $318,552,461 $131,005,000 $146,033,239 $92,000,000 $202,616,000 $875,000,000 $105,000,000 $97,300,000 $1,700,000,000 $215,200,000 $78,300,000 $67,963,073 $164,950,000 $67,581,913 $93,147,344 $51,950,000 $36,578,105 $136,632,222 $166,229,644 $320,716,000 $103,000,000 $89,600,000 $90,000,000 $616,000,000

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | Q&A

How the Top 49ers Communicate and Collaborate

he Top 49ers are ranked on gross revenue; while earning money is one obvious indication of success, it certainly isn’t the only

one. And in meeting with and learning from our Top 49ers over the years, we know that they all measure success broadly to include happy employees, satisfied clients, and healthy communities. It’s not just about the money, though that is a vital component of operating any company and for the health of the economy as a whole. Put all the parts together and ultimately it’s about becoming a team. And every successful team shares one trait: great teamwork. The Alaska Business Top 49ers have some of the best teams around, so for 2018 we asked them, “What initiatives or policies have been most effective at your business to improve communication and teamwork?” This year’s Top 49ers share their secrets to successful synergy in the workplace. ASRC Since its incorporation nearly fifty years ago, ASRC has been guided by our Iñupiaq values to be a foundation for all business decisions we make. As Iñupiat, we rely on the teachings of our ancestors and live by the values passed on through countless generations. Our core values are the cornerstone of our success as a community and corporation. They are combined with disciplined business practices to deliver high levels of performance and returns. Jacob Adams Sr., former ASRC President and CEO, explains this in our Emmy-winning documentary True North, the Story of ASRC: “If you’re a whaling captain and you’ve got a crew working together, you’re successful. We took those values that we have (as Iñupiat) and transferred them into the corporation. We work together.” You can learn more about ASRC’s history and reliance on Iñupiaq values by watching True North, the Story of ASRC on www.asrc.com.

Afognak Native Corporation Afognak Native Corporation, Alutiiq, and their subsidiaries maintain the www. afognak.com and www.alutiiq.com websites as their primary marketing vehicles beyond direct proposals 98 | October 2018

for government and commercial contracts. Their reputation is built on innovative partnerships while providing comprehensive, high quality services to customers. Afognak Native Corporation is rooted in the core Alutiiq values of harmony, respect, efficiency, communication, trust, Elder knowledge, commitment to community, and heritage. As an Alaska Native Corporation, employees and shareholders are united in this shared value system. A leader in service contracting in Alaska and beyond, they rely on past performance as their most successful communications strategy.

an internal website called Infonet that allows employees, no matter where they’re located, to access BBNC news, resources, tools, and training.

Bering Straits Native Corporation With BSNC’s continued growth comes a need for established companywide policies and procedures. BSNC’s policies and procedures promote consistency and compliance throughout the company, preserve institutional knowledge, and help new and existing employees know where to find information and perform their work more efficiently. BSNC also has an internal newsletter that seeks to engage employees with fun, social content as well as notify employees of external and internal changes.

Bethel Native Corporation Bethel Native Corporation has focused on its core competencies of industrial construction, environmental engineering, and real estate investing. The company re-organized around these business lines in 2017 to focus on efficiencies and improve internal coordination.

Calista Corporation Provide appropriate departments with a preview of announcements before they are distributed publicly.

Cape Fox Corporation Ahtna, Inc. The employees at Ahtna work together as “One Team, One Ahtna” toward a unified mission and vision. They also uphold our company values of respect, unity, safety, quality, and integrity.

Personnel policies are established corporate-wide to promote unity between all Cape Fox Corporation subsidiaries. The Employee Guidebook details individual responsibilities as an employee and outlines the policies developed by the organization.

Airport Equipment Rentals Having an experienced management team who work independently in their area of responsibility yet still work closely together to maximize inventory and profit.

BBNC BBNC’s family of companies utilizes

Chenega Corporation Yammer: It allows teams to collaborate across distances using shared documents, video conferencing, and applications that tie it all together in one virtual location, creating efficiencies while heightening morale.

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | Q&A

Chugach Alaska Corporation Creating connections: Adopting the latest technology makes it easier for the corporation to serve our thousands of shareholders and descendants. In 2017, we launched social media channels and a new Shareholder Portal, built specifically for Chugach shareholders and descendants to access the latest news, events, and opportunities with the corporation. Internally, we are undergoing a digital transformation to help our employees to interact more seamlessly using the latest technologies.

Chugach Electric Association Implementation of the My Account member portal.

Colville Town hall meetings led by the executive team. Safety focus and safety challenges.

Cook Inlet Region, Inc. CIRI has enhanced its Intranet site and other internal communication tools to keep employees informed of developments and events of interest to them. Increased use of video conferencing and other technology for meetings with subsidiaries outside of Anchorage and out of state.

Cornerstone General Contractors, Inc. Our open-door policy has allowed us to create a warm and inviting atmosphere that encourages clear communication and maintains workplace comfort for our employees, clients, and industry partners.

Credit Union 1 As a not-for-profit financial institution that serves more than 84,000 Alaskans, Credit Union 1 is proud to help foster thriving, happy communities by always putting people first. Our credit union calls this homegrown passion #CU1LUV, and it inspires everything we do. Our employees are empowered to live each and every day with the mission to lead change, uplift others, and value people. With this mission in mind, communication and teamwork flourish in a uniquely “people-first” environment.

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | Q&A

to make decisions that best benefit our business.

Davis Constructors & Engineers, Inc. Davis finds that team consistency and integrity build trust and improve both communication and teamwork.

Delta Constructors Implemented a new single location program where safety training and compliance records are maintained. This offers greater transparency and ease of access.

Initiated a 2018 finish strong safety and quality campaign to increase awareness across all regions to help improve a One Delta Safety and Quality Culture. Implemented Samsara GPS equipment trackers. The benefit is improved safety and effective communication on status and location of equipment on an as-needed basis. Initiated a multi-regional cross talk process designed to encourage personnel to pick up the phone and talk with their counter parts. This improves teamwork and creativity and allows individuals to be introduced to each other.

Denali Federal Credit Union Email communications to members. Two-way credit union member communications via employee Facebook page.

Doyon, Limited Doyon conducted an employee survey to learn what is working well and what could be improved at Doyon. In 2017, we had a 75 percent participation rate across the family of companies.

First National Bank Alaska Bank initiatives go through the Go4 process. Nearly all require a crossdivisional team, incorporating different perspectives and ideas. A Cultural Blueprint details the behaviors to encourage a common First National culture. FIRST Summit quarterly sessions help management foster inspiring workplace results through shared beliefs and values.

Goldbelt, Incorporated Migrating internal systems to the cloud has improved collaboration across time zones, allowing employees to accomplish work with great effectiveness.

Homer Electric Association Homer Electric takes pride in an award-winning member newsletter, Facebook page for outage notifications and information, website, and other member involvement such as hosting community meetings and a New Energy Technology workshop each year.

Koniag, Inc. Koniag recently conducted a survey of its shareholders which resulted in the highest survey participation in the history of the corporation. This input has assisted greatly in directing the corporation toward initiatives that the shareholders find important. For instance, based on shareholder input, this year Koniag is implementing a new Elder Benefit and increased the Youth Scholarship Award amount from $500 to $750 per student. Likewise, Koniag surveyed its employees this year and also periodically does a short pulse survey of its staff. The input from these surveys assists management in developing initiatives that make Koniag 100 | October 2018

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | Q&A

a great place to work. Finally, Koniag holds quarterly board and subsidiary meetings to ensure the board, management, and subsidiary leadership are synchronized on corporate goals and initiatives.

MEA The recent focus of internal and external process improvements has provided employees the opportunity to work collectively in search of ideas to better serve the membership. We are also actively improving collaboration and communication with our utility colleagues throughout the region as we work toward a cost effective electric system that can serve as a platform for economic growth.

MTA MTA hosts “Lunch and Learn” sessions for employees to learn and ask questions about new services and product offerings.

NANA Regional Corporation NANA incorporates a core traditional philosophy into all of our corporate actions. This core philosophy is called the Iñupiat Ilitqusiat. Iñupiat—the real people. Ilitqusiat—that which makes us who we are.

Olgoonik Corporation As an Alaska Native Corporation, taking time to listen to our shareholders at open format community meetings around Alaska has helped us rework our internal programs to better benefit the 1,300-plus shareholders in Alaska and beyond.

Roger Hickel Contracting, Inc. Our organization fosters teamwork and communication with a build up, trust, and respect mentality. Our managers lead by example and encourage socialization with field and office workers to hear their struggles and achievements. We cultivate open communication, clearly outline roles and responsibilities, and encourage our employees to work in teams.

Sealaska Working together for a common purpose can help employees reach their full potential and help communities be self-sufficient. www.akbizmag.com

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Seekins Ford Lincoln Continuing to focus on customer service initiatives and best practices in an ever-changing market climate and recessed Alaska economy.

Stakeholder meetings to encourage interface communications between departments.

The Kuskokwim Corporation The Kuskokwim Corporation has just twelve people at the parent company level to provide services to nearly 4,000 TKC shareholders. TKC’s staff has been working to better understand our core drives and communication preferences with the help of the PACE Palette to become a more cohesive team. It has been through close collaboration and teamwork that we are accomplishing our service and business goals and meeting the needs of our shareholders.

Three Bears Alaska, Inc. Regular meetings at all levels of the company and a true open-door policy.

Tyonek Native Corporation Communication with both employees and shareholders is a priority at Tyonek Native Corporation. We utilize a mix of internal communication meetings, newsletters, websites, social media, and worksite postings to educate our employees and shareholders of news and events that are important to them.

Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation For the last three winters, the corporation has showcased Barrow’s

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Usibelli Coal Mine UCM operates 24/7 with a unique and diverse workforce. We utilize a variety of tools to communicate effectively at all levels. We have an open door policy and encourage two-way feedback and face-to-face communication as much as possible with all employees. Roles and responsibilities are defined so that accountability for tasks are placed with the most appropriate person alleviating unclear instructions or miscommunications. We focus on teamwork, communicate company expectations, and leverage the strengths of employees to foster a collaborative work atmosphere.

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Watterson Construction Co. Watterson has been incorporating the Procore project management platform into our projects. We have found this to greatly increase information sharing among all project team members. www.akbizmag.com

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | Q&A

strategic circumpolar location by hosting the UIC Arctic Business Development Tour (ABDT), which originally began in 2016. With so many other conferences and seminars regarding the future of the Arctic, UIC wanted to lead efforts by hosting one of the few business development tours (above the Arctic Circle) that highlights local traditions and customs. UIC’s home and place is in the circumpolar Arctic, and the corporation believes in maintaining the potential for business relations in various markets that have shown an interest in Alaska’s far north. ABDT conference presenters and guests have discussed responsible Arctic infrastructure development, circumpolar sea routes, Arctic deep-draft port concepts for Barrow’s Elson Lagoon, and business opportunities that ranged from marine transportation to Internet broadband technology. The ABDT also provides UIC the opportunity to showcase the Barrow Arctic Research Center and its close proximity to the Charles Etok Edwardsen Jr. Environmental Observatory and how both these instruments assist in modern day Arctic science.

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | AVEC

Alaska Village Electric Cooperative The nation’s largest electric utility retail cooperative

By Arie Henry

hile the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) provides power to just more than 4 percent of Alaska’s population, its service map stretches over a remarkably large portion of the state—from as far northeast as Kivalina to as far southeast as Yakutat. So how does a small electric co-op, employing less than 160 full-time and part-time employees throughout the state, manage to thrive as the largest of its type in the nation? Part of the explanation can be found in the cooperative spirit that characterizes rural Alaska. AVEC was first incorporated in 1967 and officially began operations in 1968. The first three member villages were Hooper Bay, Nulato, and Old Harbor. Today, as AVEC celebrates its 50th anniversary, that membership has bloomed into fifty-eight villages consisting of a combined population of more than 33,000. As geographically, economically,

“The sustainability of rural Alaska is number one. The cultures there are so special that for me, to think about losing one of those cultures really is painful.” —Meera Kohler, President and CEO, AVEC

104 | October 2018

AVEC’s automated power plant, bulk fuel tank farm, and four wind turbines in Chevak. AVEC

and culturally diverse as this base is, the common thread tying them together is a close-knit sense of community. “When your heart is in the right place, [the villages] absolutely open their arms and absorb you into the extended family there. That sense of community and belongingness is something you don’t get in any urban setting—I don’t care where that urban setting is,” says Meera Kohler, AVEC’s president and CEO. Kohler experienced this firsthand when she emigrated from her native India to the United States with her then-fiancée. Their first stop: Cordova, Alaska. “I was accepted. I was different, I was a lot darker then, I had a thick accent. I looked different, I spoke different, I thought different. And yet I was immediately a part of the family. You get that anywhere you go in rural Alaska.” Kohler became the first bookkeeper of a newly formed cooperative in Cordova that had recently acquired the assets of the city’s electric utility. It sparked a lifelong career in electricity. She became that co-op’s CFO, was then recruited as the CEO of Naknek Electrical Association, became general manager for Anchorage’s Municipal Light & Power, and was attracted back to the electric co-op world a couple of years later when AVEC’s CEO position opened. For Kohler, it was an ideal fit. “Most of my electric career really has been in rural Alaska. I don’t live in rural Alaska now, but my heart is in rural Alaska; I raised my kids in rural Alaska. So to me, the sustainability of rural Alaska is

number one. The cultures there are so special that for me, to think about losing one of those cultures really is painful. I think that everyone in Alaska should treasure those cultures and recognize that is what makes Alaska, Alaska. “As far as the electric utility is concerned, electricity is the underpinning of all economic life. Without reliable, affordable electricity, nothing will happen. It’s not an entitlement, but it is a must-have if you’re going to thrive in any way—in any community. I just see this natural connection with electricity and rural Alaska. It could be because of my unique perspective but nonetheless it’s a very important thing we’re doing out there.”

Historical Currents Prior to AVEC’s service offerings, incorporating modern amenities like electric power into village life proved difficult at best. “In the 1960s, virtually no villages had central station electricity. It was very much still a subsistence-dependent lifestyle and families would still burn whale or seal oil for light. You had no sanitation [services], so illness and other constraints were more prevalent. So a task force was appointed by the Governor of Alaska, Walter Hickel, during his first term as governor, to look into what could be done to bring electricity to rural Alaska.” This task force explored different options, including private, investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, and cooperatives.

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It has looked to a renewable source of energy that Western Alaska has in abundance: wind power. Matanuska Electric Association (MEA) was the first co-op to emerge in the state. “I believe that MEA truly had that pioneer spirit. Their board and management were very supportive of helping other co-ops become co-ops. I think it was with their help that quite a number of co-ops started up in Alaska,” says Kohler. The first inherent challenge when forming electric co-ops in Alaska’s villages was that no single community was large enough to be a viable location for a self-sustaining utility. As a result, an amalgamated model was required. However, the subsequent challenge with employing such a model had to do with geography—these disparately located communities could not feasibly be connected to the same grid; each village would need to generate its own power. Fortunately, a $5 million loan from the federal government’s Rural Electrification Administration (now called the Rural Utilities Service) was granted to AVEC to accomplish the task of building generation systems to serve each member community. In the 1960s, according to Kohler, it cost approximately $90,000 to build a generation system. For the purpose of centralized and efficient administrative operations, the co-op established its headquarters in Anchorage. In late 1968, its first three villages (the aforementioned Hooper Bay, Nulato, and Old Harbor) were energized. AVEC membership proceeded to expand at breakneck speed as it energized ten to fifteen villages a year. “It’s fun to plow through the minutes from the meetings held in those early years. We’re talking ten to twelve hours a day of board meetings that would last for days.” Despite rapid growth, AVEC’s first decade tested its resilience. The cost of electricity paid by customers was not enough to cover AVEC’s total cost of operations. The oil embargo of 1973 only made things more difficult, as the price of diesel—a chief ingredient in rural Alaska’s generation of electricity— www.akbizmag.com

skyrocketed. The co-op entered into an agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which at the time governed village school systems, that guaranteed AVEC a certain amount of revenue each

Alaska Business

month. These long-term contracts made it possible to provide electricity to residential users at a slightly lower rate, but AVEC was still on the brink of bankruptcy many times throughout the 1970s.

October 2018 | 105

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | AVEC

AVEC is on the leading edge of micro-hybrid technology in rural Alaska.

TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | AVEC

A major turning point came with the introduction of the state’s Power Production Cost Assistance program in 1980, which helped offset the high cost of the diesel component of electric power, meaning AVEC could charge a reasonable rate to its members while still being able to pay for operations. Over the next few years, the program morphed into today’s Power Cost Equalization program, which now accounts for approximately one-third of AVEC’s revenue. “It has really made all the difference to make [electricity] affordable,” says Kohler. AVEC has also focused on achieving greater efficiencies. In 1990, it was selling approximately 10 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per gallon of diesel. Today, it sells about 13.5 kWh per gallon, a 35 percent efficiency improvement.

Winds of Change In recent years, AVEC has maintained its goal to decrease diesel dependence. In fact, AVEC is on the leading edge of micro-hybrid technology in rural Alaska. It has looked to a renewable source of energy that western Alaska has in abundance: wind power. AVEC currently boasts eleven wind farms

AVEC President and CEO Meera Kohler watches one of the company’s first fuel delivery vessels embark on its first trip— the same day AVEC christened and blessed their new ships. AVEC

in the state with a combined thirty-four wind turbines, the largest fleet in Alaska. “In some communities with an excellent wind regime, we displace almost 40 percent of the diesel fuel that would otherwise be required for electricity. That’s very remarkable. That’s about the highest penetration you can achieve in a system.” Two more turbines are being installed, and they are big. Last year AVEC purchased two 900 kW turbines that were installed this summer in Bethel and St. Mary’s. Nome, Kotzebue, and Delta Junction are the only other rural communities in Alaska with similar turbines. That is not to say that AVEC plans to cut ties with fossil fuels altogether; in 2010 it made the decision to construct two tug and barge sets. The vessels were built in Texas and subsequently chartered to Vitus

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Energy Services to provide fuel delivery to Western Alaska. The move resulted in a deeper pool of fuel transportation competition in a region where there is little to none. According to Kohler, the Vitus alternative has saved AVEC approximately $0.5 million to $1 million annually. Another by-product of this endeavor is the introduction of a new type of skilled workers to fall under the AVEC umbrella. And when it comes to its people and the skills they possess, the co-op recognizes its brightest spots.

Steadily Shining More than physical capital, Kohler points to AVEC’s human assets as a source of brilliance. AVEC strives to foster growth in its constituents, especially future generations. Accordingly, it offers a scholarship program to help students from rural Alaska access secondary education or vocational training opportunities that will lead to a reinvestment in the community. Applicants who can describe how their learned skills will benefit rural Alaska are awarded up to $5,000 to be applied toward their studies. Students have pursued numerous and relevant vocations ranging from welding to aviation to nursing. As for stakeholders that are already employed by AVEC, their abilities remain highly valued and recognized at every level of the co-op. It’s because of their efforts that AVEC is on the Alaska Business Top 49ers list for the second consecutive year. “I think that we’ve sort of just been a quiet, on-the-sidelines, ‘put your head down to the ground and just push’ [kind of company], and I think that is an attitude that is inherent within AVEC. We’re just quiet, hard workers, and we try and do the best that we can for our members at a practical cost.” As Kohler sees it, that kind of scrappiness and can-do attitude is a definite point of pride within AVEC’s ranks. “I never fail to marvel at what my guys can do with ‘bailing wire and bubblegum.’ It’s just incredible,” she laughs. Drawing on a spirit of resiliency forged in rural Alaska’s stern—yet rewarding— environment, the co-op has not forgotten the reason for its continuing efforts. “We have a very strong, innate sense of pride in what we do and who we do it for. I don’t think you’ll find one AVEC employee that doesn’t absolutely respect rural Alaska and the folks that we serve out there.”

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | ANCHORAGE CHRYSLER

Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Miles ahead of the pack

By Arie Henry

laska is a rugged place. Its landscape is rugged, its people are rugged, and it takes rugged tools to get the job—whatever job that may be—done. It comes as no surprise, then, that the state’s roads are dominated by large pickups, four-wheel drive SUVs, and hill-traversing Jeeps. Alaska terrain calls for vehicles built with power and maneuverability. Enter Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, which prides itself as “Ram Truck Territory and Alaska’s Jeep Headquarters.” As recently as 2014, the State of Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles records contained more registrations of Chrysler, Dodge, and Ram vehicles than any other automobile brand (compared to ownership of brands such as Ford, Chevrolet, or Toyota). According to Anchorage Chrysler President and General Manager Corey Meyers, there are very few states in a similar situation, perhaps only one other. “We’re the top dealer, so we’re the biggest contributing factor to those numbers,” he points out. As a result, Anchorage Chrysler has long enjoyed its position at the top of the list of dealerships selling the aforementioned brands. For years, it has also enjoyed a spot among the Top 49ers, a list that includes only one other automobile dealer.

A History of Success Even Anchorage Chrysler’s beginnings fifty-five years ago embody that rugged Alaska resilience. Founded in 1963 by then-owner Ken Davis, the dealership survived the earthquake of 1964 that devastated much of Anchorage, including the downtown area where Anchorage Chrysler is still located today. When its original building didn’t survive the quake, the dealership simply moved next door and resumed business as usual. “This [current] building is a mirror image of that one,” explains Anchorage Chrysler Vice President Calvin Towns, 108 | October 2018

who Meyers points to as a wealth of information about the dealership’s history. Towns recalls a slightly different makeup of brands sold by the dealership when he first started in 1976. “Back then we had Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge—which sold Dodge trucks at the time—and Mitsubishi. And as we’ve evolved, Dodge trucks turned into Ram, they took Plymouth away, and brought Jeep onboard. So we’re still back to the four brands.” “And we’ve always been the biggest dealer in the state on the Chrysler level,” Meyers adds. “When we took on Jeep, we became the biggest Jeep dealer, as well.” Ray Sutton took over ownership in the late 1970s, followed by Rod Udd in 1990. Under Udd, Anchorage Chrysler embarked on a new phase that propelled it forward as a household name. “When Rod took over, things kind of changed in the area because there became more competition. First, we were the only Chrysler dealership. Then, all of a sudden, they allowed the Lithia store in. A lot more imports came into town, as well. Alaska got a lot more choice, so [Anchorage Chrysler’s] numbers were a lot harder to keep up.” Despite the increase in competition, Anchorage Chrysler reported record sales numbers in the mid-1990s, a testament to Udd’s leadership. “Rod [had] done quite well with this dealership when it came to competition,” says Meyers. As more Fortune 500 companies began to make their way into Alaska’s auto dealership market, Anchorage Chrysler leaned on its reputation of being a locally-owned hometown dealership that customers could trust. To this day, it continues to brand itself as Alaska’s “Hometown Dealer.” Not long after Anchorage Chrysler introduced Jeep vehicles to its list of offerings it became Alaska’s top-selling dealer for that brand as well. In fact, it took less than half of a year: Anchorage Chrysler officially had an available inventory of Jeeps in August 2010 and by the end of the year it was leading the state in Jeep sales.

2018 Iditarod Champion Joar Leifseth Ulsom is presented a truck from the dealership in Nome. Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram

The Customer Is Key In a retail business, customer satisfaction is a lynchpin to a store’s success. As customer needs and the level of available knowledge about automobiles have evolved, so has Anchorage Chrysler’s ability to meet those needs. “Everything’s changing,” notes Towns. “With the Internet, customers are way more informed than they’ve ever been. So when they come here, they usually have a good idea of what they’re already looking for. But when you have 500-plus cars out here, it’s easy for them to have too many choices.” Addressing ever-evolving customer needs calls for ongoing staff training, which Anchorage Chrysler consistently provides. That training is a part of how the dealership builds a positive customer experience. “We try to treat customers like family, so hopefully that’s what we’re known for,” Meyers emphasizes. “We meet and greet the customers, treat them with respect, and we really don’t try to do any highpressure sales events where dealerships try to fleece you out of your money and your car. Before you know it, they’ve taken the keys to your trade-in and thrown them on the roof and you can’t get out of there.”

Steady Hands on the Wheel Alaska’s recent economic troubles hit the retail sector hard, and auto dealerships are no exception. To maintain business,

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | ANCHORAGE CHRYSLER

Towns says Anchorage Chrysler has to maintain a ready supply of merchandise. “You have to have the right product and you have to have inventory. Even though the market may be on a little bit of a downturn, you’ve still got to have choices for your customers. And we have a pretty good selection of vehicles out there,” Towns says. “In fact we have 764 available right now in just new vehicles,” Meyers adds. “It’s about double of what our competition has.” With a large inventory and a track record of sales success, Anchorage Chrysler maintains a solid relationship with its manufacturing suppliers. Another benefit of Anchorage Chrysler’s sales model is the reduction in wait time for customers to drive away with the vehicles they want. When inventory is small, one of the largest barriers to purchasing an automobile is how long a customer sometimes has to wait after making the decision to buy. “Typically, on order, you’re looking at up to 120 days before actually seeing the vehicle,” Meyers says. “Shipping is usually thirty to forty-five days of that, sometimes longer. That’s why our dealership makes sure we have a rather large inventory. In the Lower 48, they do not do that practice.” While the cost of carrying that many vehicles is higher, Meyers says that it makes sense in Alaska. “What works in Alaska is that people don’t have to wait the 120 days to have one built because typically we have it.” It’s this mindset of considering the details (such as customer wait time) that has allowed Anchorage Chrysler to weather the economic storm and manage to keep its share of the market. As Meyers notes, “The pie got smaller, but not our slice of the pie.” “Before the Lower 48 was out of its [2008] recession, we were actually doing quite well back then in Anchorage. Year-over-year, virtually every month, we come out 10, 15, 25 percent ahead of the next year four or five years in a row, to where the numbers get so high that it’s almost impossible to improve on. We were recognized as one of the few dealerships back then that actually got there,” he continues. “And then all of a sudden Alaska, of course, went into [its own recession] when oil [prices] went way down. Things changed—not dramatically—for us, and

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | ANCHORAGE CHRYSLER

it got a little tougher doing business. But we’re still one of the big swingers with Chrysler, that’s for sure.” To illustrate Meyers’ point, Anchorage Chrysler owns more than 50 percent of the combined Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep market share in Alaska.

Community-Driven One of Anchorage Chrysler’s most notable contributions to the Alaska community is its yearly involvement with the Iditarod. In fact, Udd underwrote the cost to create the Joe Redington Sr. Iditarod Champions Trophy.

While that’s a great conversation starter for Iditarod trivia buffs, the dealership is probably best known for a more visible contribution: after the first place victor crosses the finish line in Nome, Anchorage Chrysler presents him or her with a brand new vehicle. The winner can choose any vehicle from the dealership’s selection. Cash is another alternative Anchorage Chrysler offers, but why opt for cash when a Dodge Charger is on the table? Anchorage Chrysler is one of a lofty list of Iditarod Principal Partners, which also includes Donlin Gold, GCI, and Exxon Mobil.

“We’re rubbing elbows with billion-dollar companies, and we’re not a billion-dollar company,” Meyers proudly states. Anchorage Chrysler also contributes to another racing community: the Alaska Raceway Park in Palmer is a motorsports complex that holds races throughout the summer. The dealership is a sponsor and even has a lane on the park’s quarter-mile drag strip in its name. “They call it the Anchorage Chrysler Lane and it’s on the right-hand side,” says Meyers. On its website, the dealership mentions several local nonprofits to which it contributes, including the Intervention Help Line, Boys & Girls Clubs, Habitat for Humanity, Fur Rendezvous, Alaska Veterans Foundations, and many more. “Rod used to make it a point to give back to the community,” he says.

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The generosity Anchorage Chrysler extends to its customers and the community comes from within its own company culture. Without hesitation, Meyers and Towns point to the Anchorage Chrysler employees as their most valuable assets. The dealership’s culture and reputation for employee retention contribute to a positive environment. “It’s noted that we’re rather fair, not only in the wages that we pay but also the time off that our people get,” Meyers says. Working at a car dealership does not typically consist of a nine-to-five schedule, especially in sales. However, one unique perk Anchorage Chrysler offers is every other weekend off in addition to a day off every week. “When other people like trainers see our schedules, they’re dumbfounded because ours are really fair to our employees, which is probably the reason why we get some of the best employees from other dealerships.” “We’ve got employees that have been here for decades,” adds Towns. Meyers first joined the dealership in May of 1989, working his way through the ranks in nearly every position before Udd chose him to be the dealership’s president. Even with that kind of tenure, Meyers still does not consider himself a grizzled veteran by any means. “I’ve been here nearly thirty years, and I’m still a cheechako.”

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | KONIAG

Koniag Values first and poised for growth

By Tasha Anderson

his marks the fifth consecutive year of profitability for Koniag, a record of success that Senior Director of Shareholder Services Stacey Simmons attributes to the effort of Koniag’s Board of Directors and leadership team to work together to make informed decisions, weighing industry data and research with the input and opinions from the regional corporation’s shareholders. “Koniag does a phenomenal job communicating with our shareholders, but we are always looking to do more,” Simmons says, an endeavor that she facilities through her role on a daily basis.

Born into Koniag Simmons is a shareholder and the daughter of two of Koniag’s original shareholders; as a youth she spent time in Anchorage, Old Harbor, and Sitka, where her father was a commercial fisherman. While in Sitka she connected with an international leadership program called Up With People, through which she traveled across the United States and to international locations including Canada, Europe, Mexico, and Japan. “[The tour group] was about 150 people representing twenty-two different countries, and it was this great force of young voices from all over the world that came together… promoting peace and understanding.” Like many who feel the subtle tug of the Last Frontier, while on the road she realized that she wanted to end up living on Kodiak Island. “When traveling I knew I wanted to come home,” she says. After returning to Alaska, she worked for the Kodiak Area Native Association and the Sun’aq Tribe before pursing an education with the aid of a scholarship from the Koniag Education Foundation, graduating from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a bachelor’s degree in rural development. Shortly thereafter her current position at Koniag became 112 | October 2018

available. “I was so excited at the opportunity. I’ve been at Koniag for three years and this is definitely a role that I take a lot of pride in. I feel like this was a long journey that started at birth and came full-circle.” As the senior director of shareholder services, the majority of Simmons’ daily work revolves around building, improving, and maintaining various lines of communication with Koniag’s shareholders. She organizes informational meetings for shareholders, attends shareholder committee meetings, organizes and attends events like holiday parties and picnics, oversees shareholder records, and coordinates community service projects within the region. On top of that, she manages Koniag’s social media presence, website, and newsletters. Essentially, Simmons ensures there’s a strong conduit of communication between Koniag’s leadership, shareholders, and communities as a whole. “Listening to shareholders is job number one for me.”

Sharing the Catch An area of focus for Koniag is its effort to strengthen its connection to young shareholders and those who live outside of Alaska, making sure they know “they are a part of Koniag and that they’re important to all of us.” The company took concrete action earlier this year by distributing a survey to its shareholders. The survey asked shareholders about what potential benefits they’re interested in, what their priorities are, and how they view the corporation and the board: “The survey helped us get a sense of how they’re feeling about Koniag and

what they want to see for the future,” Simmons says. The survey ran from February to mid-April, and more than 40 percent of Koniag’s shareholders responded, which is an exceptional participation rate. “Everyone was excited to get their information and ideas to us,” she says, and Koniag’s leadership was eager to determine priorities and make decisions based on the feedback. One result? Koniag will offer its first Elder distribution on November 1. “Our Elders have paved the way for us, and now we’re able to give back to them. We’re sharing the catch, and that’s exciting,” Simmons says. The inaugural benefit is $500, and the timing of the distribution is fortuitous, as it could be used for the holiday season, to supplement heating costs, to purchase much needed (and sometimes hard to come by) fresh produce or supplies, or, as one Elder communicated to Simmons, to cover car insurance for a year. “We announced [the distribution] at an Elder’s banquet… and they were just so thankful. It was very humbling, and I’ll be excited when those checks hit our Elders’ mailboxes.” Another direct result of shareholder feedback is that Koniag is increasing the amount of money available for scholarships for youth to attend cultural camps and other programs from $500 to $750 per child per year. “We were also able to lower the age of eligibility so preschool students can participate,” Simmons explains. “This all centers around sharing the catch.” Sharing the catch is actually one of Koniag’s six core values—the other five are “planning for the long term, honoring our heritage and our culture, embracing

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | KONIAG

diversity, being open and honest, and having pride in our work.”

Honoring Heritage and Culture For the last three years Simmons coordinated community service projects that directly speak to how Koniag honors its history and people. The first year’s project was in Larsen Bay, and included building and installing crosses, cleaning up grave sites, and inviting a priest to bless the cemetery site. The next year, in Old Harbor, volunteers went to the village’s culture camp, Nuniaq Camp, to clean up the site (including tearing down an old kitchen while preserving the wood) and build a portable smokehouse. This year the service project was in the community of Port Lions and included picking up fallen crosses, building and installing new crosses, building flower boxes, and other maintenance at the cemetery. “Our board of directors and our leadership team went down… and we rolled up our sleeves and got in there and got dirty,” Simmons says. To highlight the project and connect with the other regional corporations, the Koniag team initiated a lip sync challenge as part of the community project. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we were there for a great reason and we had a lot of fun connecting with the community. Maybe this will inspire other regional corporations to do something similar.” A music video of the lip sync challenge is currently available through Koniag’s website and Facebook page, and Bristol Bay Native Corporation has already accepted the challenge.

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Pride in One’s Work Simmons says that while the leadership and employees at Koniag don’t take themselves too seriously, they do take their work seriously, demonstrating a deep drive to do good work on behalf of their shareholders and communities, through good times and bad, and in the midst of changes. Koniag experienced a significant change last December when then-CEO Elizabeth Perry resigned to relocate to the Lower 48 to be closer to her family. Board Chairman Ron Unger stepped up as interim CEO and Shauna Hegna took on the role of president. “With Shauna and Ron, we’ve obviously come out of that transition in a strong position,” Simmons says, referring to the company’s fifth year of profitability. www.akbizmag.com

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | KONIAG

Volunteers construct flower boxes for the graveyard in Port Lions, 2018. Stacey Simmons | Koniag

“Koniag is great at encouraging employee passion,” she says. “When I came onboard I was teaching at a cultural camp, and I asked if it was something I could continue. They said ‘of course’ and really supported me.” Simmons is currently the president of the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce and the co-chair of Discover Kodiak, the island’s convention and visitor bureau. Through supporting employee efforts as well as pursuing its own community initiatives, “Koniag does a really good job of uniting for a purpose and working together to get the best outcome for our region and the state,” Simmons says.

Planning for the Long Term “Shauna is phenomenal—she just makes things happen... She’s doing a great job, and it’s because of where her heart is. She loves our people and she has that passion and drive to get things going.” And Unger’s long history with Koniag has been an asset during and after the transition. “Ron has been our chairman for a number of years and has a deep working knowledge of everything that’s going on. They’re both very personable and work

114 | October 2018

really hard for our corporation.” Hegna and Unger’s pride and passion for their work has set the tone companywide. “At Koniag, we respect all people that work for our company or walk through our doors. We value productive employees, and happy employees are productive,” Simmons says. The corporation also focuses on giving employees opportunities for education and growth, both at work and in their personal lives.

And a significant way that Koniag contributes to the good of its community and the state as a whole is through contributions to the state’s economy, finding fiscal success as a corporation. “We have a diverse portfolio, and we look to grow our companies through acquisitions and partnerships,” Simmons states. Specifically looking at growth in Alaska, Koniag recently acquired Glacier Services, Inc. This Anchorage-based company offers “support for data analytics, implementing and insuring process safety and cyber security, and development of custom software applications when commercially available options do not meet a client’s criteria.” Glacier Services’ range of offerings marry well with another Koniag subsidiary, Dowland-Bach Corporation, which “has set the standard in excellence for control systems, process modules, and stainless-steel fabrication,” according to the company. Another exciting acquisition for Koniag has come in the form of a new team member. In August the longtime CEO for Koniag’s Government Services Sector retired, and Kevin Wideman joined the company in late August to take over the position. Wideman has more than thirty years of experience leading govern ment contracting organizations and is “expected to play a critical role in [Koniag Government Services’] next phase of strategic growth.” Simmons says, “Koniag is poised for continued growth to create more benefits for our shareholders, and we look forward to partnering with companies in Alaska or across the country that are profitable and that share in our values.”

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | CMI

Construction Machinery Industrial Equipping Alaska’s industries

age ourselves, we can make all of our decisions in Alaska,” Gerondale says, meaning there’s no waiting for decisions to come down the line from out-of-state ownership or out-of-state interests interBy Tasha Anderson fering with the decision-making process. CMI carries Volvo construction equipur number one priority is product support to the equipment ment, Hitachi shovels and excavators, that we sell and rent,” says Epiroc underground drills and trucks and Construction Machinery Industrial (CMI) aboveground large drills, and Link-Belt cranes, along with various other smaller President and CEO Ken Gerondale. “Product support includes providing product lines. The company provides services parts; it also includes the service, whether it’s the service for warranty or longer- primarily to the oil and gas, mining, and term maintenance; and then prod- construction industries, as well as local, uct support can also include having a state, and federal government. One large enough inventory of equipment contributing factor to the company’s in the state of Alaska to provide rental commitment to always pick up the equipment or standby equipment in phone is its understanding that the case a piece of equipment goes down.” industries it serves operate almost without Ultimately CMI strives to be available pause. “Myself and the other managers with the right tools, the right people, and here, we lead from the front. As the the right parts, anytime and anywhere owner I’m fully committed to this company, in the state. On the company’s website and I work every day. Working with the there are phone numbers and email mines and oil patch [companies] where addresses listed for employees at each it’s seven days a week and in a lot of cases of CMI’s four branches, along with this twenty-four hours a day, we have to have simple reassurance: “Branch numbers the attitude that we are responsible and available.” answered 24/7.” Gerondale’s hands-on attitude and This commitment to product support is what Gerondale believes sets experience with operating heavy equipCMI apart. He says that most heavy ment has been a boon in his endeavors as equipment on the market, sold either a dealer, and he looks for hard-working by CMI or others in the industry, is of a and honest employees with experience good quality. The difference is how each in mining, construction, or oil and gas. dealer works with their customers and “Our parts manager in Anchorage [Scott clients to make sure they get the most Stowell] retired from Usibelli Coal Mine; out of that equipment. “You hire good our branch manager in Fairbanks [Wade salesmen, and the salesmen will sell the Gies], he’s worked for Fairbanks Gold equipment the first or second time—but Mining, for Pogo Mine, and he worked when you’re selling it the fifth, sixth, and in Africa for Kinross; so we attract and seventh time, you’re selling it because hire people that are specialists in the the support behind that equipment is industries we support.” Gerondale also makes himself available what the customers are looking for.” Gerondale got his start in the industry to customers and his employees in a conrunning heavy equipment and ran and crete way. His favorite part of the job: “Getmanaged heavy equipment until he was ting out of the office,” he laughs. “Going about twenty-eight. “I was fully vested in to branches and visiting the customers at the operating engineers union, and it was all the different sites. I’ve flown since I was at that time I started selling equipment.” sixteen years old, and there isn’t a week In 1985 he founded CMI with two that goes by that I’m normally not in a partners. Today it continues as a family plane at least for one day.” CMI has facilities in Anchorage, company, with Gerondale as the majority owner and a few other individuals owning Fairbanks, Juneau, and Ketchikan, all of which provide parts, service, salespeople, smaller shares. “Since we’re family owned and man- and rental fleets, but the company

“O

116 | October 2018

Ken Gerondale, President and CEO, Construction Machinery Industrial CMI

provides services across the state and is no stranger to operations in remote areas with little connecting infrastructure, as that’s where the majority of oil and gas and mining operations take place. In addition to sharing a rural “workplace,” CMI has in common with those industries a significant challenge: operating within a state with a highly fluctuating tax structure and little predictability. “Predictability in any business is important, but in Alaska we’re really a very small economy; we only have 700,000 people, so if you don’t have predictability it’s a very challenging place to do business. We as business owners, to make decisions for the future, need to have a fairly good idea on what is going to take place from a tax standpoint and from a government attitude toward business and development standpoint.” Next to that, Gerondale says that while moving equipment around the state requires planning, a more notable hurdle is product support—getting people and parts to the right places once the equipment is delivered. “I don’t care what dealership you are, that’s the difference between success and failure: the support of the equipment that you sell.” Gerondale says another significant challenge is finding qualified technicians, but that isn’t unique to CMI or even Alaska. It’s a nationwide problem for the industry. Advancing technology has made it even more difficult to find quality technicians.

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consistent. That remained true over the last few years, when many industries and companies lost a significant number of jobs. “Our employees have been stable because we do not just sell equipment, we maintain it. We sell parts, we sell service, we sell rentals. When the economy comes down, especially with mines, they still have to mine, so what do they do? They can’t buy equipment so they have to maintain the equipment that they own, therefore they buy more parts, and they need more service support,” he says. Another highlight and testament to CMI’s stability is the fact that the company has always made a profit, since its first year in business. The company has a strong balance sheet and has developed robust partnerships with several longterm customers. “There’s a rule in most business called the 80/20 rule: you do 80 percent of your business with 20 percent of your customers, and that holds true for us,” Gerondale says. “I like to think we’re known for the support that we provide to people that purchase or rent equipment from us, but as important as that, we are very

involved in the different communities around the state,” he continues. CMI supports local education and youth programs, which provide opportunities for the youth and strengthens small communities. “As business owners we have to be willing to help younger people find jobs and get trained. At the high school level, there’s a very small percentage of effort put into career planning for people that just want to work with their hands.” Many students (and adults for that matter) still associate blue-collar work with low wages and dangerous work environments. Rather, Gerondale says, “In Alaska there are so many highpaying jobs in the craft business. We’re not focusing on providing enough people for blue-collar type work.” At CMI, he sees an opportunity for young people to enter an industry that he’s invested in since his own youth. “That’s what we are here, from myself—who owns the company—on down. We’re just a simple, blue collar company,” he says with a smile.

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TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION | CMI

He likens it to the automobile industry. “Anybody who has a modern car that they bought in the last ten years cannot go out and tune up that car themselves. You have to hook it up to a computer and you have to have the diagnostic information and the software to repair that vehicle. All of our equipment is managed by computers. We can even communicate with them through satellites and cell phones to troubleshoot them; they’re very complicated. Now technicians have to go out on the jobsite with tools in one hand and a computer in the other, and that’s really changed our industry.” In particular, sourcing young people with long careers ahead of them is difficult, but technicians of any age are in high demand. Still, CMI generally tries to recruit employees within Alaska. “Any business owner will tell you, if you recruit outside of Alaska, your chances of that employee being with you in five years are not very good.” So the company focuses its efforts on finding and developing local talent. CMI regularly reaches out to connect with high school students who are considering careers as technicians, mechanics, or related positions. The company also has an internship program and hires entry-level trainees to give interested young people an opportunity to gain experience. “One thing that we’ve done pretty successfully is hire some kids that grew up in the Bush. They come in and get trained and we’ll hire them for two or three years.” Gerondale says it’s a pretty common for those young people to return to their village or community after a few years, but he sees that as a benefit, not a problem. “What we like about that is they’re used to maintaining and working with our equipment and they know the type of company we are, so that in itself also helps with our market share and being able to do more and more business all the time with the Bush communities.” It’s also a benefit to rural communities that may lack local residents with these kinds of technical skills. CMI’s pool of employees has remained relatively stable for the last ten years or so, Gerondale says, from 105 to 110 employees. In the summer the company hires approximately 10 temporary workers, but otherwise the numbers remain fairly

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Corporate teams play one of Venture Up’s most popular games—DB Cooper: Who am I?

Playing the Game The benefits of corporate team building

By Vanessa Orr

etting people to work together as a team can be a challenge, especially if those people have different learning styles or don’t process information the same way. Trying to find a way to teach employees how to respect each other’s differences while maximizing each team member’s individual strengths isn’t a game—but maybe it should be. 118 | October 2018

What many business owners have learned—and what team-building companies promote—is that learning should be fun. “When employees feel that something is an obligation, like a lecture or listening to a keynote speaker, they tend to zone out,” says Todd Rice, director of THEY improv. “But when something is more interactive, they open themselves up to it; they have fun, they are engaged, and their brains are working at peak efficiency. “In many cases, it instills confidence in people, especially when they feel like they are part of a team,” he continues. “Many of our workshops are comedic in nature, so people get applauded for

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laughing and joking. That positive feedback is so vital in learning; it makes them feel that they are doing something right.”

Playing Is Learning Team building can take many different shapes—employees may perform improv, work together to get out of an escape room, build robots, try to best each other in races, take a ropes course, or even work together for charity. Depending on what a client wants, games can be designed to meet specific learning goals or to provide tailored experiences. Venture Up, which has been offering team building services for more than

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Venture Up’s strategic games build collaboration among team members. They also offer competitive games and charity-based activities. Venture Up

thirty-five years, offers clients a choice of three different categories of activities: strategic games, competitive programs, and charity-based events. “Our strategic games, which can be held in any conference room or meeting space, are designed to build collaboration,” explains David Lengyel, managing director of Venture Up. “Teams split and re-split, which creates different dynamics and encourages cross-collaboration.” Venture Up’s newest release, CaseBased Training, is a good example of a

strategic team-building exercise. “This is a reverse escape game-type challenge, which is great for all abilities and can easily be set up in a general session conference room, utilizing a two- to threehour window,” says Lengyel. “Instead of trying to break out of a room, teams try to break into locked cases, and this ultimately brings everyone together while they are sharing information.” The company’s competitive games include Amazing Races, which take place in downtown Anchorage, and Minutes

to Win It/Teams Survivor, which can be played in a conference room, meeting space, or park. Charitable games include a case-based game called The Turing Challenge, which was inspired by the computer science pioneer who helped crack the German enigma code in WWII. When the game ends, teams donate laptops or computer notebooks to local schools. Corporate teams may also build bikes to donate to local children, create 3D-printed hands for disabled kids,

Left: The THEY improv team: (left to right) Todd Rice, Maryann Tatum, Ethan Smith, Valerie Zach, James Carrey, Andrew Sottilare, and Ed Zeltner. Above: THEY improv team: (left to right) Valerie Zach, Andrew Sottilare, Ethan Smith, and James Carrey. THEY improv

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Alaska Business

October 2018 | 119

or build canned-good sculptures before donating food to a local shelter or food bank. “These challenges show employees that it’s not just about the company—all of us are connected directly or indirectly,” says Lengyel. “And when you do things for others, it promotes social responsibility.”

Skill Building while Team Bonding According to Lengyel, most companies share similar issues that can be improved through team building. “No matter what industry you’re in—real estate, healthcare, law—there are a number of common areas where companies have difficulties,” he says. “Communication is one—when there’s a lot on the line, like a job, people can become very rigid communicators. But bosses can’t read minds. “Certain people also tend to solve problems in the same way every time, which is counterproductive to innovation,” he adds. “Playing these types of games can encourage employees to take risks, so that even a person who is resistant to change can begin to realize that opening up to new ideas results in new solutions.” When teams are separated by divisions or even locations, it’s also a great way to introduce them to each other and to get them to work together, which creates efficiency and encourages everyone to learn from each other. Lengyel gives the example of a senior employee and a younger employee on the same team. “The younger employee

Alaska Escape Rooms’ games are designed for many different thinking styles. Alaska Escape Rooms

may think that the senior is a dinosaur, and the older employee may not respect his coworker’s lack of experience,” he explains. “But working together gives them the opportunity to discover each other’s strengths, create innovative ideas, and even develop a friendship.” While so many diverse opinions can cause conflict, Lengyel doesn’t see this as a negative. “We all like people to agree with us, but if a company does not respect diverse opinions, it won’t be very innovative,” he says. “Conflict and discussion are good; it drives ideas. Just because someone is a Type A or in senior management doesn’t mean that their ideas are always best.”

What Type of Team Building? THEY improv offers team-building workshops as well as murder mystery events Teams gain selfconfidence when they solve an Alaska Escape Room puzzle. Alaska Escape Rooms

120 | October 2018

during which employees work as teams to interrogate subjects and solve crimes. While most of the improv’s groups have ranged from 20 to 100 employees, THEY improv recently put together an experience for 12,000 people at a racetrack in San Antonio, Texas. “Through our workshops, participants learn presentation skills, overcoming objections, conflict resolution, and simple salesmanship,” says Rice, who worked as a CEO at a tech company before starting THEY improv. “They also develop the ability to have empathy, or the emotional intelligence that is required in any field, really, to be successful. Sometimes they learn by osmosis, just by participating, but we occasionally also hit them over the head, saying, ‘This is what you learned today.’” THEY improv has worked with ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and companies all over the world and will travel to clients to custom-make a team-building experience. “For one of our oil and gas companies, we created a Family Feud-style experience focused on safety,” says Rice. “We asked questions like, ‘Name a safety device that you wear on your person,’ and made it entertaining, which is what you need to do to make sure that people are paying attention. “Workers tend to become numb to things going on around them—you can only look at a gauge for so long,” he continues. “And when one accident can cost a company millions of dollars, you need to figure out how to offer a refresher course that they’ll remember.” While the cost of a course like this may range from $2,000 to $4,000, other pro-

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Working together helps teams bond and learn about each other’s strengths. Alaska Escape Rooms

grams can cost up to $20,000, depending on the amount of people involved and the program’s length of time. “When a client calls us, we ask about how much time they have, the dynamics of the employees involved, and what they’re trying to accomplish,” says Rice. “We want to know whether they’ve done team building before and whether the group knows each other or not.” Alaska Escape Rooms opened in Anchorage in June 2017, and, from the very beginning, designed its games to offer value to corporate clients. Prices range from about $35 per person, and companies can rent the facility for full or half-days. Many have taken advantage of its Alaska location, including the Municipality of Anchorage, GCI, Wells Fargo, and the Alaska Railroad. “When we were building our escape rooms, we spent a lot of time researching different thinking styles in order to figure out how to build puzzles and sequences to pull out the attributes that companies were looking for,” says CEO Graeme Deishl. “Because people approach problems in different ways— some are linear thinkers, while others are associative or visual learners, for example—we built our games with respect for different thinking styles. “We also built in leadership opportunities so that if someone sees the bigger picture, or maybe a faster way to do www.akbizmag.com

it, they can lead the team forward,” he adds of the games that promote idea sourcing, communication, and respect. “There’s no way to prepare for these games, so it puts the janitor and the CEO on the same playing field.” Not only do games like these help already established employees gel, but they can be used to see how potential hires might fit in. “We’re building in metrics now that will allow us to report back to a company’s human resources department about how a person engaged with a scenario,” says Deishl. “Our software will show who solved which types of puzzles, how people worked together, and give employers a deeper view of their staff’s interactions.” According to Deishl, the results of these experiences are not what everyone expects. “One of our groups was made up of engineers who had very spatial and linear thinking styles,” he explains. “They brought their receptionist along, and she solved more puzzles than anyone else because she thought differently than they did. There are a lot of ways to be smart. Companies benefit from diversified teams that can idea source together.” Steve Rader, the general manager of the Hilton Anchorage, took a group of managers and supervisors to Alaska Escape Rooms to help them bond. “So many of our people have different roles Alaska Business

and work different shifts that it’s hard to get them all together,” he explains of the group that included front desk, food and beverage, and housekeeping employees, among others. “It was so cool to watch them work together toward a common goal. “They all brought different skill sets to solving different puzzles, and it was really a surprise, because you have a preconceived notion of what people are good at,” he continues. “It helped uncover a lot of talents that maybe were not what you would expect; overall, it was an incredibly positive experience.” In addition to bringing people closer together, it also helped instill a sense of pride in the teams when puzzles were solved. “When people are out of their element like this in a foreign environment, it shows them how essential teamwork really is,” adds Rader. According to Lengyel, creating strong teams can only benefit a company’s bottom line. “People like to stay with teams that they enjoy working with; for most employees, it’s not just about the money,” he explains. “People leave companies because they don’t feel valued, and it’s much easier for a company to keep a good employee than to replace them. We help to create alignment, and that makes businesses more successful in the long run.” October 2018 | 121

E N V I R O N M E N TA L

Ariel view of the junkyard site at Wrangell taken August 19 that shows two-thirds of the stockpile of treated soil has been removed; the removed soil was transported to an Oregon landfill. Shane O’Neill | NRC Alaska

The Best Soil Remediation Tools Available Prevention, awareness, and innovation

By Judy Mottl

f about 7,600 contaminated sites in Alaska, some 70 percent have been cleaned up with 2,300 remaining that require additional remediation. The bulk of those sites, about 73 percent, are contaminated by petroleum, the most common toxic matter in landbased spills statewide, according to Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials and remediation specialists.

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“We are in a much better place [with regard to land-based spills] than we were back in March 1989,” says Graham Wood, program manager of the DEC’s Prevention Preparedness and Response Program, which was launched following the Valdez oil spill in 1989. “The state was in a position where it thought it had things under control [in terms of spill response and prevention] and it clearly didn’t. So out of that came what we have today with our response regulations,” he says. “We’ve been making steady progress in the world of prevention.” His view is echoed by environmental geologist Tim Shaw, who works for Environmental Contracting Solutions (ECS), a Kodiak-based company that

provides an array of remediation-related services including site investigation, spill response, and soil remediation. “Having been in the environmental services and consulting field for over twenty-seven years, I have seen an increase in prevention plans, strategies, and contingencies for spills,” says Shaw. “In my opinion, much of this is self- induced by the companies to lower their risks. There is sufficient history now that most companies have seen what the high financial costs and long-term environmental impacts can be from poor environmental controls. Also, the older generation which did things the old way have retired or passed on. The newer generations are more environmentally savvy.”

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strategy “depends on the situation,” notes Wood, and costs can run high. For example, when burning soil there are labor, equipment, and transport costs that arise from taking the soil from the contaminated site to a facility and then back to the site as clean fill.

Overview of the staging area and barge loading site in Wrangell for hauling bagged, treated soil off-island. Shane O’Neill | NRC Alaska

Long-Term Remediation

Spill Prevention, Quick Response Some of that savviness may be the result of state outreach and education efforts to teach companies how to prevent land-based spills. Program leaders meet with businesses and communities about prevention strategies as well as federal agency counterparts to talk about spill reporting notification requirements and basic prevention actions, such as a tank farm having transfer procedures in place, an incident plan on hand, and remaining onsite during a transfer activity. DEC encourages new businesses dealing with oil, gas, and chemicals to communicate with the organization about remediation plans and prevention strategies. “We’re always happy to talk to companies about how best to prevent potential spills. It’s free advice. When you spill oil, it’s not free advice.” Once notified of a spill, Wood’s program serves in an oversight capacity regarding cleanup and remediation, working with the responsible party. “We are not in the response business; we are in the oversight business, and our interest is in making sure contamination is remediated immediately or as soon as possible,” he explains.

Traditional Remediation Strategies The strategy for remediating land-based spills is tied to three elements: time, cost, and space, says ECS’s Shaw, and traditional approaches involving manual labor and shovels are still prevalent. “After the 1988 Exxon Valdez spill there was an explosion in remediation methods, ideas, and tools. But the preferred method www.akbizmag.com

remains to be removal of contaminated materials; however, that is not always a possibility due to excessive costs, accessibility, or the fact that more damage to the environment will be done through removal than leaving soil in place,” he explains. Cost is a major factor when it comes to soil remediation. Shaw says he’s seen removal costs in remote sites reach in excess of $2,000 per cubic yard—about ten times that of a remediation effort located along a road system. Today’s in situ remediation systems have matured, and basic methods remain the same—moving air in and out of soil to enhance naturally occurring microbes and to remove volatile vapors.

When a land-based spill can’t be remediated in a short time to meet state acceptable levels, the DEC’s Contaminated Sites division steps into action. “We deal with the longer term cleanups,” explains John Halverson, the agency’s contaminated sites program manager. In many instances contaminated soil and water monitoring is set up to determine the full impact of the spill and best cleanup approach. DEC works with the responsible party, providing oversight and approving the remediation plan. Soil remediation on large sites often requires excavating soil and transporting it to a private treatment facility for thermal treatment. One such facility is Alaska Soil Recycling, a subsidiary of Anchorage Sand & Gravel (AS&G), which was the first state-approved, off-site treatment facility to offer thermal desorption. The facility can store up to 30,000 tons of soil for treatment, according to Brad Quade, Alaska soil recycling manager for AS&G. Land farming is a common alternative,

“We’re always happy to talk to companies about how best to prevent potential spills. It’s free advice. When you spill oil, it’s not free advice.” —Graham Wood, Program Manager, DEC Prevention Preparedness and Response Program

Ex-situ remediation can include soil removal and thermal desorption (burning contaminated dirt), land filling, or land farming. Land farming is when a shallow layer of contaminated dirt is placed within a lined, protected “cell” that can be covered to keep water out but allows a rototiller into the cell to till and aerate the soil. This takes space and time but minimizes costs, notes Shaw. No one remediation approach is cheaper or easier than any other as each spill presents its own challenges. A remediation Alaska Business

but the slow natural attenuation of contaminates (because of Alaska’s climate) typically requires more resources and much more time, says Quade. A remediation approach is often determined by spill location and size. “With many of the remote sites, there is a lack of infrastructure and equipment to do things easily on site,” he says. Alaska state regulations require that any release of oil to land in excess of 55 gallons be reported as soon as a person has knowledge of the discharge; any release in excess of 10 gallons but less October 2018 | 123

than 55 must be reported within fortyeight hours. While the majority of spills involve a responsible party, a remediation effort can also be initiated by the state. In that scenario DEC is not only the overseer but serves as the remediation project manager.

Remediation costs for a former junkyard in Wrangell hit more than $6 million. Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

Byford Junkyard DEC served as the remediation lead for the cleanup of the former Byford Junkyard in Wrangell. The site housed large piles of metal and improperly stored hazardous materials, from batteries and tanks to drums and tires. An assessment revealed extremely high levels of contamination, including elevated levels of lead, and the federal government deemed the site an imminent risk to human health and the environment. In 2014 DEC approved a $3.9 million spending plan to perform an emergency cleanup with a DEC contractor. While no new contaminants were found, the volume of material requiring treatment was much greater than the original assessment estimate, which boosted cleanup costs to $6.5 million. The original plan was to remove soil

and transport it to a hazardous waste facility in Oregon. But the escalated costs led the state to devise a new plan to treat and store the soil onsite. But that plan was then altered because of the cost associated with building a facility to house the soil. The final solution is to treat soil onsite with Ecobond, a compound that reduces solubility of lead, and then dispose of

18,500 cubic yards of soil at the Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, Oregon. The soil being shipped out is loaded into flexible intermodal bulk containers for transport, and as of mid-August, one barge of soil had left Alaska “with a few more barges to go,” Halverson reports. DEC anticipates site restoration work will be completed and the remaining soil will be off-island by mid-October.

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On the Horizon While various soil remediation approaches are in play, some new technology and tools are in use and on the horizon. Discovery Drilling, a geotechnical and environmental drilling services company based in Anchorage, is using an optical image profiler (OIP) geoprobe for identifying and monitoring certain contaminates in a quicker, easier, and more cost-effective fashion. The device features a camera and uses UV light to locate gas, diesel, or motor oil in real time. “Before, if we wanted to drill and do a soil sample, it was a long process: you take a sample, send it to the lab, and then wait for results. Sometimes a sample would show nothing [and] then you would have to take more samples. With this [OIP] we know right away what’s there,” says Keeter Brown, Discovery Drilling vice president. Environmental engineering firms often engage Discovery Drilling to investigate the extent of a spill and provide soil sampling and groundwater testing services. The geoprobe is one of several new technologies that was presented by Discovery Drilling during a recent

“With many of the remote sites, there is a lack of infrastructure and equipment to do things easily onsite.” —Brad Quade, Alaska Soil Recycling Manager, AS&G

brown-bag workshop with DEC officials. Others include hydraulic conductivity and electromagnet conductivity. The OIP, says Brown, presents a compelling option given its capabilities and time savings. “The OIP, in the right conditions, can get spill delineation and site characterization results at up to three times the rate of traditional soil sampling. It doesn’t take the place of traditional soil sampling methods but can definitely reduce the amount of sampling required.” As the industry strives to reduce costs and manpower involved in spill remediation, innovative spill prevention and remediation options will continue to evolve, says ECS’s Shaw. “As long as people keep using their imagination there will be new

remediation tools, some worthy of use, others not much more than a get rich quick idea,” he says. “The best remediation tool will always be prevention. “Developing new areas for mining, drilling, and industry in keeping Alaska strong can be accomplished safely and effectively within the existing regulations as long as the attitude of the management of those developers have the knowledge, respect, awareness, and understanding of the short and long term effects of environmental impacts,” he says. “The human factor means that spills will occur, but environmental professionals like myself are there to respond to spills, minimize further environmental impact, and restore the contaminated area as close to original as practical.”

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E D U C AT I O N

The University of Alaska Anchorage’s College of Business and Public Policy is located inside Rasmuson Hall. Eric Terry

Planning for the Future What gets workers farther: traditional degrees or the school of life? By Samantha Davenport

here is an array of degrees training workers for Alaska’s business community. From business administration to human resources, each individual is an important piece of the whole. Paula Bradison is the owner and managing director of staffing agency Alaska Executive Search. She obtained her associate’s degree in small business administration from the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and is a fourth generation Alaskan business owner. While the company recruits some potential employees from the Lower 48, the

126 | October 2018

majority of individuals who use Alaska Executive Search’s services are from Alaska, ranging from Bethel to Nome to Kotzebue. Bradison says that the top three positions in high demand in Alaska are accounting, IT services, and human resources. Having a degree is important in those fields.

Education and Work Balance “I think a four-year degree is very helpful to especially the sort of younger population. That’s a fine balance with actual practical experience… In accounting, IT— those kind of things—the degrees and the certifications are absolute. We can’t get past go without those,” Bradison says. Bradison encourages students interested in accounting, IT, and human resources to obtain a degree of some kind, as does Sander Schijvens, president and CEO of Wostmann Associates. Wostmann Associates is an IT consulting business that was founded in 1984 with the ultimate goal of improving IT in Alaska

through technical innovation. Its clients are primarily state and federal agencies, but the company also works with local government agencies and private businesses. IT is a unique degree, Schijvens says, since people couldn’t major it in thirty years ago. People who have been in the industry for a long time might not have a degree, but today individuals working in or entering the IT field usually have a degree or certificate of some kind. Schijvens says that their clients oftentimes request individuals who have years of experience in computer science as well as a degree. “In essence, for us, 80 percent of the work we do, having a computer science bachelor’s degree is pretty much the standard,” Schijvens says. Schijvens went to school in Europe and earned the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in business engineering. He says that the most valuable degree to his business is computer science, but as the chair for the

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UA Statewide Though in different parts of the state, Bradison and Wileman both earned degrees in the University of Alaska (UA) system, as did Mary Pete, who graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a bachelor’s in anthropology and master’s in cultural anthropology. She is the dean of the College of Rural and Community Development at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel. Pete describes her current role as halftime dean and halftime director. Pete says there are around 540 to 570 students at the Kuskokwim Campus. The

“An MBA comes into play especially when you’re wanting… upper mobility within an organization and [want] to become a leader.” —Terry Nelson Graduate Programs Director UAA College of Business and Public Policy

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Connected

Southeast in Juneau. He later went on to obtain a diploma from Western CUNA Management School.

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University of Alaska Southeast Advisory Council, education in any field is valuable. “I absolutely believe in [the] university system, big time. I think having an associate’s or bachelor’s degree is [an] absolutely fantastic value for people’s broader perspective and therefore for businesses,” Schijvens says. Bradison and Schijvens encourage those entering the workforce to obtain a degree in higher education—an important part of a resume that attracts employers. But it’s not the only part of the equation. In fact, Terry Nelson, graduate programs director for the College of Business and Public Policy (CBPP) at UAA, recently published a paper that highlighted the importance for a job candidate to have universal skills like good communication, the ability to be a team player, problem solving and decision making, critical thinking, creativity, innovation, and leadership. James Wileman agrees education is important, but it’s not everything. As the president and CEO of Credit Union 1, which has been in business since 1952, Wileman oversees nearly 400 people at thirteen regular branches in Alaska. “Degrees demonstrate a desire to learn, and they also demonstrate the ability to finish a long term commitment. But degrees are not the end-all, be-all,” Wileman says. “I think it’s great when people have a degree, especially if they have a passion for a particular field and they want to pursue a career in that field of study. What is also valuable is the ability to learn in the most traditional of all schools: the school of hard knocks, where the lessons learned have real impact and mean just as much, if not more, than the classroom.” Wileman obtained an associate of arts degree from the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka campus and a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from University of Alaska

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majority, about 500, are distance students that go to school part-time because they are also working part-time or full-time. “Often, I don’t see them until they walk across the stage to graduate,” Pete says. It is rare for a student to take all classes off-campus. A more typical schedule is comprised of a mix of in-person and online classes. “This allows them to keep going on with their lives in the villages and raise their families and work and engage in subsistence activities and be there for significant family events,” Pete says. The most popular degree out of the Bethel campus is an associate of arts degree, according to Pete. At the Kuskokwim campus, students can obtain a certificate in applied business management, information technology, or rural human services, to name a few. They can also earn an associate of arts degree or an associate of applied science degree. While students can obtain a degree in the UA system throughout rural Alaska, the UAA campus boasts the largest population of students, approximately 14,308, according to data from 2017. At UAA, students can earn a plethora of degrees, including an associate degree of applied science and a bachelor’s in business administration. UAA’s MBA program is in the middle of transitioning from a face-to-face program to a hybrid program. Half of the classes will be conducted in person and the other half will be offered online. Nelson believes that this format will align with working professionals’ busy schedules. The CBPP has also launched a master’s degree program for global supply chain management offered completely online. These types of programs provide inclass interactions with fellow students and local leaders, which can be good networking opportunities for the working student. “An MBA comes into play especially when you’re wanting… upper mobility within an organization and [want] to become a leader,” Nelson says.

Christina McDowell is an interim associate dean of accreditation and assessment and an associate professor in the CBPP who received her undergraduate degree in communication with an emphasis on advertising and public relations, as well as a business certificate. She received her master’s in corporate communication. Her PhD is in rhetoric with an emphasis on interpersonal/organizational communication and communication ethics from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Both women have been at UAA for five years, and while Nelson and McDowell highly value education in their lives, they both agree that it’s difficult to say what level of degree is important in a general sense. “The importance of a degree, it depends on the individual, and [the decision] should be tailored [to] not whether somebody should say, ‘Having a degree is important’; it’s about personal attainment and the goals that you want to set forth. So, maybe it is going for a four-year degree, maybe it’s a two-year degree. Maybe it’s a PhD, maybe it’s a master’s, maybe it’s going into a trade, and that’s all okay. When it comes to schooling and saying, ‘How important is it to have a degree?’ I think it really needs to be a reflection of the self,” McDowell says. Nelson agrees. “Whatever someone does, they need to be passionate about it to be successful. That’s my opinion. I found my passion in teaching. I have worked for two Fortune 500 companies, I was a senior VP, but it wasn’t until I started teaching at the college level that I—there’s a passion

that I didn’t have for those other positions,” Nelson says. The goal of CBPP’s new Dean Karen Markel is to connect the college to the Alaska community, giving students more opportunities, including working on real- world community projects. In her undergraduate classes, McDowell incorporates community engagement projects, providing students the chance to work with real clients. Nelson brings in community leaders to help solve real world problems, engaging in community and starting a dialogue. She hopes to incorporate more of an Alaska component into the MBA program. Education is important, but so is how one gains experience after graduation. Bradison says that individuals just entering the workforce are typically really driven to find their dream job, which can translate to “job hopping.” She recommends staying at a job for at least two years. “When you see somebody job hopping, that makes you a little bit leery… if you want to job hop, why don’t you come on board as a temp and work three to six months at any given job, and you can try five or six different places out until you really find the one that’s a great fit,” Bradison says. “Then, you can go back and reapply at that particular employer, because you know that’s the place that you want to work.” Ultimately, Schijvens says the best job is the one someone can be passionate about. “You find work in the field that you’re happy in. And if it doesn’t excite you, keep looking,” Schijvens says.

Students can obtain a degree in the UA System throughout Alaska, including Fairbanks and Southeast; UA’s Anchorage campus has the highest population of students at approximately 14,308. Eric Terry

Passion Plays a Part Nelson is the Graduate Programs director for the College of Business and Public Policy (CBPP) at UAA and an associate professor. She received her undergraduate degree and MBA from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with an emphasis in marketing and business. She received her PhD in management from the University of Memphis. 128 | October 2018

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AT A GLANCE What book is currently on your nightstand? The last book I read was the autobiography of Tommy Franks [American Soldier by General Tommy Franks]. What movie do you recommend to everyone you know? Doctor Strangelove. It’s the best movie… ever. Peter Sellers is phenomenal. If you could not live in Alaska, where would you live? I would explore the Southeast US States—the coastal area. I like the water. But my home is Alaska. I’m not going anywhere. If could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be? A white Russian sable.

130 | October 2018

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OFF THE CUFF

Aves Thompson A

ves Thompson has served as Executive Director at the Alaska Trucking Association

and slept in a truck. We traveled all over Minnesota and the last summer we went to Oklahoma and I hitchhiked all the way home.

(ATA) for the past twelve years. Prior to joining ATA, Thompson served as chief and director of the State of Alaska Division of Measurement Standards. This year he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Conference on Weights and Measures. Alaska Business: What is your favorite pastime? Aves Thompson: I like to travel. I like to fish, though I don’t as much as I should. I’m on the executive committee of my Veteran’s group and I’m still doing volunteer work there. The 2nd Infantry Division has a memorial on Constitution Avenue in Washington DC that was erected in 1936 as a memorial to the deceased from the 2nd Infantry Division in WWI. It was modified in 1962 to recognize WWII deceased veterans and Korean War deceased veterans. As we came upon the 100th anniversary of the 2nd Division it seemed important to recognize the fallen veterans from DMZ Korea (post 1953), Iraq, and Afghanistan. So I was able to work with our congressional delegation, Don Young, Lisa Murkowski, and Dan Sullivan. After about three years we finally got authorization to modify the memorial to include these veterans. You know how some people say, “Oh that would take an act of Congress to get done.” Well, this took an act of congress. I was told it would never get done, but it’s in the works. And it doesn’t cost the government anything; we’ll raise the money. All we needed is the permission do it. It’s very exciting. And it’s pretty much what I’ve been doing in my spare time.

AB: Other than your current career, if you were a kid today, what would your dream job be? Thompson: A four-star general. AB: Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform in concert today? Thompson: Elvis Presley. I have serious regrets about not going to see Elvis Presley live in Las Vegas. AB: What is your greatest extravagance? Thompson: Foie gras, Napoléon brandy, and travel. AB: What are your best and worst attributes? Thompson: My worst attributes are probably tidying up after myself, not necessarily at home, but at work. I can do it, but I just don’t really like to. I need someone to keep me on the straight and narrow. My best attribute is that I am a good leader. I’m a good team guy and like to work with others, but I like to make things happen.

AB: Is there a skill or talent you’ve always wanted to learn? Thompson: I’m thinking about buying a piano. I took piano lessons as a kid and I always regretted not following up on those. AB: What’s your go-to comfort food? Thompson: Peanut butter and toast. Skippy Chunky. AB: What is the most daring thing you have ever done? Thompson: When I was sixteen I went to work for a concessionary at the carnival. I made $40 a week www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

October 2018 | 131

EAT

SHOP

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BEER!

Oktoberfest T

he world’s biggest and oldest Oktoberfest runs for more than two weeks every year from late September to early October in Munich. Taking place annually since 1810, this beer festival and fair sees more than 6 million attendees. Communities around the world have since initiated their own fall festivals that pay homage to Oktoberfest and celebrate food, fun, community, and (naturally) beer. As Alaska’s local brewing industry has skyrocketed in the last few years, there’s never a short supply of new, local, and unique brewed options for Alaskans to sample and love throughout the fall across the state.

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On Saturday, October 6, the Great Alaska Beer Train is hitting the tracks. Relax and enjoy the beautiful Turnagain Arm while tasting an array of brews and bites from Glacier Brewhouse aboard the Great Alaska Beer Train. Departing from the Anchorage Historic Depot, the train delivers an Alaskastyle Oktoberfest celebration filled with specialty brews and seasonal fare that fellow beerlovers can enjoy together. alaskarailroad.com At the Eagle River Brewfest on October 5, sample a variety of Alaska beers, including selections from Arkose Brewing, Broken Tooth Brewing, Denali Brewing, Double Shovel Cider, Glacier Brewhouse, Midnight Sun Brewing, Odd Man Rush, Resolution Brewing, and 49th State Brewing, all at the Eagle River Lions Club. Complimentary appetizers

and non-alcoholic drinks will also be served. Proceeds benefit the Eagle River Boys & Girls Club. anchorage.net Last year at the Goldstream to HooDoo Half Marathon, just about 600 runners, walkers, and joggers signed up, making the HooDoo Half the largest half marathon in Interior Alaska. This year HooDoo Brewing Co. teamed up with the experts at Goldstream Sports to present the “hoppiest” footrace around on October 13. The race starts at Goldstream Sports and finishes at HooDoo Brewing, which hosts the post-race beer festival with craft brews, food vendors, awards ceremony, and door prizes. hoodoobrew.com The Alaska Farmland Trust and the Musk Ox Farm present the fourth annual OxToberfest Farm-to-Table Feast, Brew Fest, and Polka

Bash on October 6, a joint fundraiser for the two Alaska nonprofits. Feast on brats made with Alaska grown locally sourced meat, Palmer cabbage in the sauerkraut, Mat-Su grown potatoes in the German potato salad and chips, Alaska grown mustard, and even local wheat in the buns. Six of Alaska’s top brewers will be on hand offering the best selection of seasonal ales and brews to keep the polka toes hopping. The music features a twelvepiece lederhosenclad brass oompah band. oxtoberfest. brownpapertickets.com At the Mighty Matanuska “Boo” Fest on October 28, guests can sample beers from breweries around

Alaska and the world, voting for their favorite. Taking place at the Alaska State Fairgrounds, the “Boo” Fest also includes live music, dancing, a raffle, costume contest, and beer-friendly food starting at 6 p.m. alaskastatefair.org Petersburg celebrates Octoberfest throughout the month with concerts; gallery walks; Beat the Odds, a race against cancer; Octoberfest Artshare, an arts and crafts fair featuring handmade items by artists and crafters around the state; the Rain Country Quilters Quilt Show; and other events and activities. petersburg.org

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October 2018 | 133

EAT

SHOP

PLAY

STAY

alloween in Alaska can be tricky, as end-of-October weather ranges from cold and dry to wet and slippery, and there’s no telling if one will be balancing on ice or trekking through several feet of snow. But Alaskans know these challenges, and there are events in every community that promote safe and fun (and sometimes warm) Halloween and fall activities.

HALLOWEEN EVENTS ANCHORAGE

OCT Kid’s 27 Halloween Train Join the Alaska Railroad for the Halloween family fun: a ride on the rails complete with costumes, crafting, and tasty treats. The train travels 2.5 hours round-trip from Anchorage to Indian. Passengers enjoy monster-size fun, including a magician, crafts, balloon animals, Halloweenthemed bingo, a raffle, and coloring contest. alaskarailroad.com

OCT Trick or 27 Treat Street Trick or Treat Street is a free and fun event for families and children to trick or treat from business to business in downtown Anchorage in a safe and friendly environment from Noon to 4 p.m. anchoragedowntown.org

FAIRBANKS

OCT Creamer’s 27 Creepy Critters Enjoy kid’s crafts and activities and learn

about creatures thought to be “creepy” at the Creamer’s Field Farmhouse Visitor Center. friendsofcreamersfield.org

OCT Trick or Treat 27 Town For this event forty acres of Pioneer Park are transformed into Trick or Treat Town, a whimsical, family-friendly “spook”tacular place. Activities include trick-or-treating, free steam engine train rides around the park, a photo booth, face painting, carnival games, balloon animals, costume contests, a hay bale maze, and visits from beloved characters. pioneerpark.us

OCT Halloween 31 at the Museum

of the North Costumed superheroes, zombies, and scary monsters of all kinds are invited to see bones and bugs, bats and birds in the museum’s research labs and explore the galleries at the Alaska Museum of the North. Admission is free, but

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attendees are encouraged to bring a donation for the Fairbanks Food Bank. uaf.edu/museum/

JUNEAU

OCT MASK-erade 20 Party Fancy, silly, glitzy, or gruesomeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;put on a mask and join the Friends of the Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museum for a fun evening of food, music, and dance at the Alaska State Museum from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. foslam.org

SKAGWAY

OCT Halloween 27 Carnival The whole family is invited to fun and festivities at the Halloween Carnival, taking place at the Skagway Recreation Center from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. skagwayrecreation.org

WASILLA

OCT Old Town 20 Autumn Harvest Old Town Autumn Fest is hosted by the Wasilla Museum. All ages are

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invited to this free event to do some trick-or-treating in the Historic Town Site at the Wasilla Museum & Visitor Center. The evening also includes wagon rides, kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; activities, and hot cider and cookies from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

OCT Night at the 31 Museum At this ghoulish and fun-filled event, participants are invited to trick-ortreat amidst historic and Halloween characters as well as take a trip through the Haunted Historical Whitney Section house or visit the spooky train from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry. museumofalaska.org

WRANGELL

OCT Pumpkin Patch 6 Festival This annual festival kicks off the fall holiday season with games, costume contests, food, and picking pumpkins, all at the Downtown Pavillion. wrangellchamber.org

Alaska Business

October 2018 | 135

EAT

SHOP ANCHORAGE

In its thirtieth year, this festival features more than 120 booths showcasing arts, crafts, food products, jewelry, produce, and homegrown products from artisans ranging from Utqiaġvik to Ketchikan. Entry to the festival at Dena’ina Center is free to the public. makeitalaskanfestival.com

OCT Portugal. 26-27 The Man Fresh off a Grammy win for best Pop Duo/Group performance for the smash single “Feel it Still,” Portugal. The Man will return to their Alaska roots for two shows at the Alaska Airlines Center, presented by the Moose’s Tooth. alaskaairlinescenter.com

OCT Go Winter! Expo 6-7 This event focuses on winter: how to get through it safely and

STAY

sanely while having fun. This year will include the Interior Alaska Gun show, as well as indoor and outdoor activities, food, and information about winterization, home care, and travel ideas, all at the Carlson Center. fairbanksevents.com/go-winter-expo/

OCT Make It Alaskan 5-7 Festival

FAIRBANKS

PLAY

OCT City Sampler 18 Fairbanks Resource Agency (FRA) hosts a “delightful and delicious” evening offering an array of Fairbanks’ finest food from local restaurants and caterers, as well as live music and door prizes. It’s the organization’s premier fundraising event; proceeds help FRA achieve its mission to support Alaskans with disabilities, including the growing senior population with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia and other frail and disabling conditions. City Sampler is held in the Westmark Gold Room. fra-alaska.org OCT International 20 Friendship Day Celebrate diversity with performances

“Ideal Protein changed my life”

The UAF Arctic Innovation Competition (AIC) is Alaska’s original idea contest launched in 2009. AIC is run by the UAF School of Management and currently awards $30,000 in cash prizes to winners in three divisions: AIC Main, AIC Jr., and AIC Cub. Finalists are invited to present at the Wedgewood Resort at the Final Competition on October 20 to compete for first, second, third, and fourth places. arcticinno.com

HAINES

OCT Chilkat Chef 6 Competition This local cuisine competition celebrates salmon and is a fundraiser for Lynn Canal Conservation. Starting at 6:30 p.m., several teams of three to four chefs square off to see who can create the best salmon dinner using fresh Coho and mystery ingredients. visithaines.com/events

This event features live music from Fire on McGinnis and others, a pasta buffet for carb loading, a no-host bar, and non-alcoholic drinks. Participants will receive a race-day T-shirt and a 0.0 sticker to highlight their lack of achievement, all at the Hangar on the Wharf ballroom. jahc.org

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and ethnic food booths at the Pioneer Park Centennial Center from Noon to 5 p.m. explorefairbanks.com

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OCT Music & Arts 5-7 Festival The theme of this year’s festival is “Wilderness” and was inspired by the art of Rockwell Kent. This exciting conclusion to the busy summer season includes live music and dance performances along with local artisan craft and food vendors. The festival is held at the Dale R. Lindsey Alaska Railroad Intermodal Facility, which is heated and indoors. sewardfestival.com

SITKA

OCT Alaska Day 10-18 Festival This festival commemorates the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States at Sitka in October 1867. This year’s theme is “Museums Preserving History.” The Alaska Day ball is on Tuesday, and other events include special lectures, exhibits, and displays; receptions, luncheons, and food sales; interpretive programs at museums and parks; and races and games. alaskadayfestival.org

SKAGWAY

OCT Fall Festival 19-21 Fall Festival is a celebration of art, music, and life in the North that includes art and craft classes, zombie walks, fund raisers, burger feeds, a cribbage tournament, and other activities. skagway.com

WASILLA

OCT-NOV Nightfall with 19-4 Edgar Allan Poe Presented by Valley Performing Arts, Edgar Allan Poe stands alone in the flickering darkness of his mind, trying desperately to convince himself (and the audience) that he’s not mad. The spell he weaves creates a highly theatrical adaptation of four tales Poe himself considered his best: “The Raven,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” valleyperformingarts.org

OCT-NOV The Gentleman’s 19-4 Guide to Love

and Murder In this comedy, when the lowborn Monty Navarro finds out that he’s eighth in line for an earldom in the lofty D’Ysquith family, he figures his chances of outliving his predecessors are slight and sets off down a far more ghoulish path. Can he knock off his unsuspecting relatives without being caught and become the ninth Earl of Highhurst? And what of love? Because murder isn’t the only thing on Monty’s mind. glennmassaytheater.com

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

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BUSINESS EVENTS OCTOBER OCTOBER 8-11

ATIA Annual Convention & Trade Show Fairbanks: T he Alaska Travel Industry Association is the leading nonprofit trade organization for the state’s tourism industry. The theme for this year’s conference is “The Great Escape.” alaskatia.org

is the 61st annual convention. akforest.org

education and the exchange of best practices, the chance to network with other peers, and to recognize accomplishments through the ARPA Awards Ceremony. alaskarpa.org

OCTOBER 18-20

Alaska Federation of Natives Annual Convention

NOVEMBER

Seward: T his is the annual conference of the Alaska Association of Harbormasters & Port Administrators. alaskaharbors.org

Dena’ina Center, Anchorage: The Alaska Federation of Natives Convention is the largest representative annual gathering in the United States of any Native peoples. Delegates are elected on a population formula of one representative per twenty-five Native residents in the area, and delegate participation rates at the annual convention typically exceed 95 percent. nativefederation.org

Sitka: P resented by the Sitka Sound Science Center, WhaleFest is a science festival that celebrates marine life. The core of the festival is a unique science symposium blending local knowledge and scientific inquiry concerning the rich marine environment of our northern oceans. sitkawhalefest.org

OCTOBER 11-14

OCTOBER 23-25

NOVEMBER 4-10

All-Alaska Medical Conference

Alaska Chamber Fall Forum

Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage: A continuing medical education conference organized by the Alaska Academy of Physicians Assistants, providing up to twenty-five CMEs. akapa.org

Westmark Fairbanks: O pen to the public, the Alaska Chamber’s Annual Conference is the state’s premier business conference. The conference draws 200 to 225 attendees and features keynote speakers, panel discussions, and breakout sessions on issues of statewide concern to Alaska business. alaskachamber.com

Alaska Miners Association Conference

OCTOBER 8-12

AAHPA Annual Conference

OCTOBER 17-19

Alaska Forest Association Annual Convention Hotel Captain Cook, Anchorage: The Alaska Forest Association can be characterized as a high profile industry trade association. Its members hold in common general business interests in Alaska’s timber industry. This year

OCTOBER 23-25

Alaska Recreation & Park Association Conference Fairbanks: T he focus of the conference is threefold: opportunities for continuing

NOVEMBER 1-4

Sitka WhaleFest

NOVEMBER 8-11

AASB Annual Conference T he mission of t he Association of Alaska School Boards is to advocate for children and youth by assisting school boards in providing quality public education, focused on student achievement, through effective local governance. aasb.org NOVEMBER 12-13

AAMC Conference Hotel Captain Cook, Anchorage: The Alaska Association of Municipal Clerks is an organization that focuses on providing educational training and mentoring and professional growth opportunities. alaskaclerks.org NOVEMBER 14-15

Dena’ina Center, Anchorage: The fall convention includes technical sessions, short courses, a trade show, and networking opportunities. alaskaminers.org NOVEMBER 7-10

AGC of Alaska Annual Conference Hotel Captain Cook, Anchorage: The mission of AGC of Alaska is to advocate for their members and the Alaska construction industry; to provide educational opportunities for their members; and to make the public aware of their members’ skills, responsibility, and integrity. agcak.org

RDC for Alaska Conference R DC’s purpose is to link various industries together to encourage a strong, diversified private sector, and grow Alaska through responsible resource development. akrdc.org DECEMBER DECEMBER 2-5

ALASBO Annual Conference Anchorage: A nnual conference of the Alaska Association of School Business Officials. alasbo.org

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138 | October 2018

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INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS Office of the Governor Governor Bill Walker signed the following into law:  SB105—Improves medical transparency in Alaska, requiring healthcare providers to publicly post cost of services and provide good-faith estimates. It also improves billing for marital and family counseling.  HB267—Allows local governments to confirm that hunting and fishing activities subject to taxes within their jurisdictions are being accurately reported.  HB135—Gives Alaska school districts more time and flexibility to provide the local match required under the School Construction Grant Program, loosening the existing threeyear deadline; it can now be extended by the Commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development to a maximum of seven years.  HB212— Expands Alaska’s rural school construction fund so that major maintenance projects at existing schools can qualify for money, instead of funding only the construction of new schools.

SEARHC

 HB197—Helps establish community seed banks; creating repositories for seeds that have been tried and tested for success in Alaska will help improve opportunities for Alaskans to grow food, grains, fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other commercially viable plants. Walker and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs announced the selection of a veterans’ cemetery site at Mile 344 of the Parks Highway, an ongoing project since the 1970s. In August First Lady Donna Walker christened the M/V Tazlina in Ketchikan; it will enter service in May 2019. gov.alaska.gov

GCI More than 1,700 Mat-Su homes will gain access to 1 GIG internet speeds as GCI expands its fiber network into the Meadow Lakes area. The $4 million project covers sixty square miles and brings Meadow Lakes’ residents the same speeds they’d enjoy in major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles or Atlanta. Also in the Valley, GCI’s Wasilla store will get a complete remodel and expansion this year. The new design revamps and streamlines the customer experience and includes space where GCI small business customers can receive personalized service. gci.com

Office of the Governor

UAF Graphite Creek deposit pre-feasibility study. graphiteoneresources.com

Sitka Physical Therapy and SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) are preparing to affiliate. Combining Sitka Physical Therapy with SEARHC will provide improved access to quality physical therapy services for all Sitkans and enhance the sports medicine services offered to SEARHC patients. The affiliation will also strengthen the Consortium’s staff and service portfolio in delivering pain management, rehabilitation, and longterm care services. searhc.org

Lynden Transport was awarded its sixth consecutive No. 1 ranking and its 22nd overall award in the 35th annual Logistics Management Quest for Quality Awards, receiving the highest scores among less-than-truckload western regional carriers in the ontime performance and information technology categories and topping the overall weighted scores. lynden.com

Graphite One

NOVAGOLD

Graphite One Resources commenced its summer 2018 Field Program at its Graphite Creek deposit located near Nome. The 2018 Field Program is a significant step in the company’s ongoing field work in support of its

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a single Federal Record of Decision (ROD) for the Donlin Gold project following completion of the federal National

140 | October 2018

Environmental Policy Act process, the first action of its kind for both agencies nationwide. Along with the ROD, USACE issued a combined permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. Additionally, BLM issued the Offer to Lease for the right-of-way for those portions of the natural gas pipeline that would cross federal lands. novagold.com

Lynden

The University of Alaska Fairbanks established a new Department of Military and Veteran Services (DMVS) to support veterans, military students, and their families. The DMVS provides a variety of coordinated services for veterans during their time at UAF. Those efforts include help with educational benefits earned through military service, peer mentoring, and paperwork. The department also gives veteran students a place to connect with other veterans. The University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Management is offering two new undergraduate degrees starting this fall: the bachelor of applied management degree offers students with degrees or certificates an opportunity to develop their management skills and the bachelor of sport and recreation business degree is designed for students interested in pursuing careers in sports, recreation, and tourism. uaf.edu

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

RIGHT MOVES Office of the Governor The Anchorage Superior Court will welcome Una Gandbhir, Tom Matthews, and Josie Garton to the bench.  Gandbhir has practiced law in Alaska for twenty-four years, after law school at Northeastern and an internship with Alaska Legal Services.  Matthews has practiced law in Alaska for thirty-two years, after graduating from Lewis & Clark Law.  Garton has practiced law in Alaska for more than seventeen years. She graduated from Lewis & Clark Law before moving to Alaska to clerk for Chief Justice Warren Matthews. The Bethel District Court also welcomes Will Montgomery to the bench.  Montgomery graduated from William Mitchell College of Law in 2010.

Teck  Teck appointed Leslie (Les) Yesnik as General Manager for Red Dog Operations in Northwest Alaska. Yesnik brings to the role more than twenty-five years of experience in mining, as well as in maintenance, milling, mine operations, and business improvement. He holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Saskatchewan.

Ravn  Deke Abbott, an airline operations, safety, and regulatory expert, joined Ravn Air Group’s leadership team. Abbott joins Ravn from the Federal Aviation Administration. He holds a bachelor of

arts from Brown University and a MBA from the University of New Hampshire.

Credit Union 1  Credit Union 1 promoted Anna Phommalinh to Branch Manager of its DeBarr Branch in Anchorage. In her new Phommalinh position, Phommalinh will be responsible for the daily operations of Credit Union 1’s DeBarr Branch and oversee the branch’s standards for quality in providing service to its members while ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations and internal policies.  The credit union also promoted Faye Lindsay to Branch Manager of its Downtown Branch in Anchorage. In her new Lindsay position, Lindsay will be responsible for the daily operations of Credit Union 1’s Downtown Branch and oversee the branch’s standards for quality in providing service to its members while ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations and internal policies.

Ahtna Ahtna, Inc. announced several new hires and promotions within its subsidiaries.  Greg Jarrell joins Ahtna Engineering Services (AES) as the Alaska Regional Director with twentyone years of professional Jarrell business management and project execution experience throughout Alaska. As the new Alaska Regional

Director, Jarrell will manage all Alaska business operations for AES and its sister subsidiaries, Ahtna Environmental (AEI) and Ahtna Global (AGL). Jarrell earned his master’s in geologic engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and his bachelor’s in geology from the University of Montana in Missoula.  Lori Kropidlowski, CPSM, CPS/CAP, has been promoted to Business Development Manager at AEI. Kropidlowski Kropidlowski has twenty-six years of experience in business development and marketing. She is responsible for all business development and marketing activities for AEI as well as two of its sister subsidiaries, AES and AGL.  AGL welcomes Jeremy Blei, PE, to the role of Senior Program Manager responsible for overseeing the firm’s extensive Blei portfolio of work with the Federal Aviation Administration. Blei’s professional background includes twenty years of professional engineering and consulting experience, primarily in Alaska. Blei earned his bachelor of science in civil engineering from the University of Alaska Anchorage.  After four years of successfully managing construction programs at Ahtna, Ron DesGranges has been promoted to DesGranges Director of Construction at AGL. DesGranges has nineteen years of project management, construction, and estimating experience for a wide array of

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both horizontal and vertical construction projects in Alaska. DesGranges is especially skilled with the execution of projects located in remote locations requiring complex logistic coordination.  Daniel Caldwell has been promoted to Construction Manager and Estimator at AGL. Caldwell has twentyone years of construction Caldwell experience during which he managed major mixed-use commercial, civil, environmental, and infrastructure development projects throughout local and remote areas of Alaska, the contiguous United States, and Canada requiring logistics management expertise.

RE/MAX Dynamic Properties  RE/MAX Dynamic Properties welcomes Gary Kutil, an award-winning REALTOR with twenty-fiveplus years of experience in Kutil real estate sales. He began his career at Jack White Real Estate.  The company also welcomed Cheryl Myers, who has a background in sport and orthopedic physical therapy with a long Myers history of caring for her clients. She is expanding her career path to include real estate sales. As a RE/MAX sales associate, Myers is committed to working hard to meet her clients’ real estate needs.

Merrick Alaska  Tyler Burton, PhD, joined Merrick Alaska’s Anchorage office as technical services director. Burton will lead the

firm’s technology related projects in the oil and gas, geomatics, and federal sector markets. He holds several degrees, including engineering bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Alaska and a PhD from the Center for Energy, Mineral, and Petroleum Law and Policy (UK).

Taylored Restoration  Taylored Restoration hired Bob Manwaring as Business Development Manager. Manwaring was most recently the CEO of Manwaring the Alaska Association of REALTORS. His previous positions include four years as the business development officer for Stewart Title of Alaska and fourteen years as customer relations liaison with Alaska Multiple Listing Service.

Shannon & Wilson  Shannon & Wilson added Schylar Healy to its Anchorage office technical staff as an Environmental Scientist. Her previous Healy professional experience includes serving as a wetlands mapping specialist and wetlands ecology technician in Fairbanks. Healy is a 2015 graduate of James Madison University in Harrisburg, Virginia, with a bachelor’s degree in geographic science.

AAPCS  The Alaska Association for Personal Care Supports Board voted unanimously to hire Allison Lee as part-time Executive Director. Lee has been a long-standing leader within the association and has worked

passionately to support the viability, integrity, and access to Personal Care support in Alaska for the last sixteen years.

AGC  The Associated General Contractors of Alaska (AGC) welcomes new Executive Director, Alicia Siira. She comes to AGC from the Siira Alaska Miners Association where she most recently served as Deputy Director. Siira received her undergraduate degrees at the University of Idaho in both public relations and communication and completed the MBA Program at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Wells Fargo  Wells Fargo named Becky More as Alaska Community Relations Consultant. She will oversee the company’s Alaska More charitable contributions program, employee giving campaign, and volunteer engagement efforts. More holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Alaska Pacific University and Certified Fundraising Executive professional designation.  Mary Michaelsen has been named Wells Fargo At Work Program Manager for Alaska. She has more than ten years of financial Michaelsen services experience in Alaska, Iowa, and Louisiana. Michaelsen earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from Iowa State University, and she is pursuing a master’s degree in strategic leadership from Alaska Pacific University.

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October 2018 | 143

ALASKA TRENDS

Top 49ers: Impact at Home and Beyond Total TopTop 49ers Revenue more than $15.5 Billion Total 49ers revenue $15,504,784,506

n Alaska Native Corps $12,245,273,807 ■ Alaska Native Corps $12,245,273,807

n Industrial $426,095,968 ■ Services Finance $273,965,024

n Transportation $1,155,800,000 ■ Retail/Wholesale $336,522, 488

n Construction & Engineering $352,588,287 n Mining $79,000,000 ■ Construction & Engineering $352,588,287 ■ Industrial Services $426,095,968 n Finance $273,965,024 Alaska Native Corporations Afognak Native Corporation Ahtna, Inc. Aleut Corporation Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Bering Straits Native Corporation Bethel Native Corporation Bristol Bay Native Corporation Calista Corporation Cape Fox Corporation Chenega Corporation Chugach Alaska Corporation Cook Inlet Region, Inc. Doyon, Limited Goldbelt, Incorporated Koniag, Inc. NANA Regional Corporation Olgoonik Corporation Sealaska Sitnasuak Native Corporation Tanadgusix Corp. (TDX) The Kuskokwim Corporation Tyonek Native Corporation Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation (UIC) Alaska Native Corporations total

2017 Revenue

n Retail/Wholesale $336,522, 488 ■ Mining $79,000,000 Change 2018 Change 2018 Change from Alaskan from worldwide from 2016 Employees 2017 Employees 2017

$608,104,000 28.2% $238,000,000 9.3% $211,837,206 23.4%

158 309 184

4.6% -17.4% -2.1%

5,185 1,380 929

10.6% -2.3% -12.9%

$2,697,862,000 13.8%

3,715

0.8%

11,301

-0.1%

9.8%

337

-36.9%

1,447

-7.6%

$99,197,518 38.2%

-16.7%

125

0.0%

$1,659,345,000 8.8% $480,200,000 -2.4% $60,632,693 -4.6% $876,000,000 -5.5%

1,550 800 172 219

20.0% 1.5% 49.6% -23.7%

3,860 3,000 748 5,600

-11.9% 3.4% 30.1% -6.5%

$920,000,000 9.3% $439,349,000 52.0% $290,548,000 -4.9% $229,389,285 -3.1% $270,769,000 7.6%

1,000 284 591 250 59

25.0% 0.4% 10.1% 0.0% 7.3%

6,400 1,384 888 1,500 753

6.7% -1.4% 6.9% 0.0% 60.6%

$1,354,000,000 4.2% $260,200,000 7.6% $293,400,000 101.6%

4,796 114 50

-9.4% 12.9% -2.0%

12,251 834 300

-13.1% -16.7% 13.6%

$134,138,330 3.0% $111,700,000 -8.6%

91 281

-9.0% 99.3%

871 639

-8.3% 11.7%

$104,276,146 17.5%

-13.3%

180

33.3%

$78,000,000 -12.4%

729

84.1%

$470,425,629 10.9%

605

132.7%

4,450

78.0%

15,665

10.1%

64,754

11.2%

$357,900,000

n Utility $635,538,932$1,155,800,000 ■ Transportation

$12,245,273,807 13.2%

Construction & Enginneering Cornerstone General Contractors, Inc. Davis Constructors & Engineers, Inc. Delta Constructors LLC Roger Hickel Contracting, Inc. Watterson Construction Co. Construction & Engineering Total

Finance Credit Union 1 Denali Federal Credit Union First National Bank Alaska Finance total

Industrial Services Airport Equipment Rentals Colville Construction Machinery Industrial, LLC Cruz Companies Alaska Udelhoven Oilfield System Services Industrial Services total

Mining Usibelli Coal Mine Mining total

■ Utility $635,538,932 2017 Revenue

Change 2018 Change 2018 Change from Alaskan from worldwide from 2016 Employees 2017 Employees 2017

$40,439,104 39.2%

0.0%

$120,084,328 83.3% $81,550,000 -32.7%

50 225

-51.9% 350.0%

100 600

-3.8% 71.4%

$69,514,855 30.1% $41,000,000 -21.2%

58 95

-10.8% 26.7%

78 95

-2.5% 26.7%

$352,588,287 19.7%

453

62.8%

898

18.4%

2017 Revenue $65,811,947

Change 2018 Change 2018 Change from Alaskan from worldwide from 2016 Employees 2017 Employees 2017 1.8% 376 4.7% 389 1.0%

$55,828,077 -3.7% $152,325,000 1.2% $273,965,024 -0.2%

304 651 1,331

2.7% -2.1% 1.8%

311 651 1,351

-9.1% -2.1% -3.4%

Change 2018 Change 2018 Change 2017 from Alaskan from worldwide from Revenue 2016 Employees 2017 Employees 2017 $55,100,000 1.4% 100 0.0% 100 0.0% $87,479,056 -9.2% 186 -13.5% 186 -13.5% $98,500,000 0.5% $120,000,000 -34.7%

105 200

0.0% 17.6%

105 289

0.0% 27.9%

$65,016,912 -33.1% $426,095,968 -15%

322 913

3.2% 1.5%

332 1,012

-1.8% 2.52%

Change 2018 Change 2018 Change 2017 from Alaskan from worldwide from Revenue 2016 Employees 2017 Employees 2017 141 -4.7% 176 -3.8% $79,000,000 -1.3% $79,000,000 -1.3% 141 -4.7% 176 -3.8%

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Alaska Employees by Industry 2018 by Industry 2018 n Construction

& Engineering 453

22,198

■ Alaska Native Corps 15,665

■ Construction & Engineering 453

Total

■ Finance 1,331

■ Industrial Services 913

n Finance 1,331

■ Mining 141

■ Retail/Wholesale 834

n Mining 141 n Retail/ Wholesale 834

n Transportation 1,701

n Utility 1,160

n Industrial ■ Utility Services 1,160 913

■ Transportation 1,701

Worldwide Employees by Industry 2018

■ Alaska Native Corps 64,754

74,003

n Transportation 3,762

n Finance 1,351

■ Finance 1,351

Total

■ Industrial Services 1,012

n Utility 1,160

■ Mining 176 15

■ Retail/Wholesale 890

09/01/2008 01/01/2006

ANS Production barrel per day 473,837 Aug. 30, 2018

05/01/2003 09/01/2000

400,000

800,000

1,200,000

ANS West Coast Crude Oil Prices 08/30/2018

09/01/2012

■ Transportation 3,762

Change 2018 Change 2018 Change from Alaskan from worldwide from 2016 Employees 2017 Employees 2017

$90,546,881 13.4% $58,946,067 12.2% $187,029,540 8.0% $336,522,488 11.2%

100 100 634 834

-4.8% -2.9% 19.8% 4%

100 100 690 890

-4.8% -2.9% 20.2% 4.2%

Change 2018 Change 2018 Change 2017 from Alaskan from worldwide from Revenue 2016 Employees 2017 Employees 2017 $950,000,000 2.7% 950 0.0% 2,600 -7.1% $87,500,000 -2.7% 351 -12.3% 739 5.6% $63,800,000 17.9% 330 11.5% 353 8.3% $54,500,000 -0.9% 70 0.0% 70 0.0% $1,155,800,000 4.3% 1,701 -0.2% 3,762 1.7%

2017 Revenue

Change 2018 Change Change 2018 Alaskan from worldwide from from 2016 Employees 2017 Employees 2017

140

-12.5%

140

-12.5%

$224,689,000 13.6%

302

0.7%

302

0.7%

138

0.7%

138

0.7%

195 385 1,160

2.6% 9.4% 0.2%

195 385 1,160

2.6% 9.4% 0.2%

$99,000,000

4.2%

$148,701,932 8.3% $116,648,000 16.6% $635,538,932 7.3%

ANS West Coast $ per barrel $76.83 Aug. 30, 2018

09/01/2004

09/01/2000 $0

$20

$40

$60

$80 $100 $120 $140 $160

SOURCE: Alaska Department of Revenue Tax Division

-5

Lorem ipsum 20

Revenue Gain/Loss by Industry

Statewide Employment Figures 10/1976—7/2018 Seasonally Adjusted 07/01/2018

Labor Force 359,850 July 2018 Employment 334,928 July 2018 Unemployment 6.9% July 2018

01/01/2010 10

$46,500,000 -6.1%

09/01/2008

Industrial Services -15%

2017 Revenue

Alaska Native Corporations 11.2% Construction & Engineering 18.4% Finance -3.4% Industrial Services 2.52% Mining -3.8% Retail/Wholesale 4.2% Transportation 1.7% Utility 0.2%

■ Utility 1,160

05/01/2004 09/01/1998 01/01/1993

-5

-10

-15

Mining -1.3% Retail/Wholesale 11.2% Transportation 4.3% Utility 7.3%

Utility Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc. Chugach Electric Association Homer Electric Association Matanuska Electric Association MTA Utility total

Worldwide Employees Gain/Loss by Industry

Alaska Native Corporations 13.2% Construction & Engineering 19.7% Finance -0.2%

Transportation Lynden PenAir Tatonduk Outfitters Ltd. Vitus Energy Transportation total

05/01/2011

SOURCE: Alaska Department of Revenue Tax Division

■ Construction & Engineering 898

n Industrial Services 1,012

Retail/ Wholesale Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Center Seekins Ford Lincoln Three Bears Alaska, Inc. Retail/Wholesale total

01/01/2014

Outside Employees -10 by Industry 2018

n Retail/ Wholesale 890

n Construction & Engineering 898

ANS Crude Oil Production 08/30/2018

n Mining 176

n Alaska Native Corps 64,754

Alaska Employees Gain/Loss by Industry

Alaska Native Corporations 10.1% Construction & Engineering 62.8% Finance 1.8% Industrial Services 1.5% Mining -4.7% Retail/Wholesale 4% Transportation -0.2% Utility 0.2%

Alaska Native n Alaska Employees Corps 15,665

05/01/1987 09/01/1981 01/01/1976 0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

SOURCE: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Research & Analysis Section; and US BLS

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ADVERTISERS INDEX Advanced Dental Solutions............... 87 Afognak Leasing LLC........................... 56 Ahtna Inc................................................ 53 Alaska Air Cargo - Alaska Airlines.. 115 Alaska Communications........................3 Alaska Crane Ltd................................114 Alaska Executive Search (AES)......... 97 Alaska Mergers & Acquisitions LLC.87 Alaska Miners Assoc.........................100 Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium...................................... 47 Alaska Pacific University (APU)......129 Alaska Process Industry Careers Consortium.................................... 111 Alaska Railroad Real Estate Division............................................102 Alaska Travel Industry Assoc............ 45 Alaska USA Federal Credit Union.... 12 ALSCO..................................................... 50 Altman Rogers & Co............................ 17 American Marine / Penco...... 144, 145 AMS Couriers........................................ 29 Anchorage Chrysler Dodge.............132 Arctic Chiropractic.............................134 Arctic Energy Inc.................................. 65 Arctic Office Products........................ 77 Arctic Slope Regional Corp. (ASRC)................................................ 48 Arctic Technology Conference......... 40 Arctos/Nortech Environmental & Engineering.................................. 71 AT&T........................................................ 23

Avis Rent-A-Car..................................133 BDO......................................................... 64 Beacon Occupational Health & Safety Services............................ 79 Black Fox Strategy............................... 27 BP ............................................................. 41 Brilliant Media Strategies................... 13 Bristol Bay Native Corp....................147 Calista Corp.........................................110 Cape Fox Corp...................................... 83 Carlile Transportation Systems......139 CBI Media Group...............................135 Central Environmental Inc. (CEI)....125 Chugach Alaska Corporation............ 62 CIRI.........................................................138 Colville Inc.............................................. 39 Conrad-Houston Insurance Agency............................................... 85 Construction Machinery Industrial (CMI)...................................2 Cornerstone Advisors......................... 75 Cornerstone General Contractors....................................113 Credit Union 1...................................... 61 Cruz Companies................................... 57 Davis Constructors & Engineers Inc............................... 37 Delta Constructors.............................. 66 Denali Federal Credit Union...........103 Doyon Limited....................................101 Fairbanks Memorial Hospital............ 15 First National Bank Alaska....................5

Fountainhead Hotels........................... 81 GCI.........................................................148 Great Originals Inc............................... 17 Hecla Greens Creek Mining Company.........................................113 Historic Anchorage Hotel................135 Hotel Captain Cook............................. 63 ICE Services Inc.................................... 24 Judy Patrick Photography................146 Junior Achievement of Alaska.......... 70 Lynden Inc.............................................. 73 Matson Inc............................................. 31 Medical Park Family Care Inc........... 89 MFCP - Motion & Flow Control Products, Inc..................109 NCB......................................................... 49 Nenana Heating Services Inc............ 81 New Horizons Telecom Inc.............105 Northern Air Cargo................. 142, 143 Northrim Bank...................................... 21 NRC Alaska..........................................124 NU FLOW Alaska................................. 43 Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker LLP....................................106 Olgoonik Corp....................................... 54 Pacific Pile & Marine.........................141 Parker Smith & Feek............................ 11 Pathfinder Aviation............................117 PenAir...................................................... 33 Personnel Plus.....................................134 Petro 49 Companies............................ 32 PIP Marketing Signs Print.................103

Port of Alaska........................................ 69 Quintillion Networks........................... 58 Resource Development Council (RDC).................................. 44 RISQ Consulting......................................9 Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers........... 42 Roger Hickel Contracting Inc............ 59 Seatac Marine Service........................ 29 Security Aviation.................................. 55 Shoreside Petroleum........................... 60 Siemens Building Technologies........ 93 Sitnasuak Native Corp........................ 51 Span Alaska Transportation LLC...... 25 Stellar Designs Inc.............................135 T. Rowe Price.......................................107 The Eyak Corp...................................... 49 The Lakefront Anchorage................102 Thomas Head & Greisen.................... 36 Udelhoven Oilfield System Services Inc...................................... 67 United Way of Anchorage................. 19 University of Washington Foster School of Business..........127 Vitus Marine........................................113 Voyager Inn............................................ 99 Watterson Construction.................... 85 Webb Chiropractic - Ideal Protein...136 Wells Fargo Bank Alaska..................137 West-Mark Service Center............... 39 Westmark Hotels - HAP Alaska....... 24 Wostmann Associates......................109 Yukon Equipment Inc.......................... 37

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