Abm august 2013 4 web

SPECIAL SECTIONS: BUILDING ALASKA ■ ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES

August 2013

A Barrel of Monies?

Is Oil Tax Reform enough to boost production?

Page 94

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August 2013 TA BLE OF CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS From the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Inside Alaska Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Right Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Alaska This Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Events Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Market Squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Alaska Trends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

ABOUT THE COVER A Barrel of Monies? Is Oil Tax Reform enough to boost production? See what you think, read “Getting More Oil in the Pipeline: New production, new revenues, new hope”

by Mike Bradner (Page 94).

Cover design by David Geiger

ARTICLES

VIEW FROM THE TOP

© 2013 Chris Arend

Photo courtesy of Huna Totem Corporation

18

12 | James Staengel, Vice President and CEO Accupoint, Inc. Compiled by Mari Gallion

EDUCATION

14 | Alaska’s College Savings Program A Jewel in the Crown of the University of Alaska

By James F. Lynch & Ashok K. Roy

NATIVE CORPORATIONS

18 | Culture-Based Investments Pay Off Filling a need for visitors and corporations

By Julie Stricker

Huna Totem Corporation Interpretive Services members and visitors.

VISITOR INDUSTRY

INSURANCE ESSENTIALS

FISHERIES

FINANCIAL SERVICES

22 | Why Leave When You Can Stay?

Alaskans can stay in state to play

By Dimitra Lavrakas 26 | Seward Waits for Sikuliaq Arctic research ship first of its kind

By Zaz Hollander

32 | Workers’ Compensation Insurance Solutions Joining a reciprocal insurance company

By Paul Houston & Mike Dennis 34 | Lines of Credit Offer Flexible Financing Making it possible to keep up with demand

By Tracy Barbour View of the Chukchi Sea from LaVonne’s Fish Camp.

Photo courtesy of LaVonne’s Fish Camp

22 4

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

www.akbizmag.com

Maybe it’s time to think about a

�nancial blueprint for your

BUSINESS

Jess Hall Hall Quality Homes

Sue Welton NMLS# 685936 Loan Officer and Palmer Branch Manager

The building industry in Alaska faces challenges like no other in the country. From extreme weather to daunting logistics, it takes a special kind of focus, commitment and drive to build in the Last Frontier. ¶ When you’re on the go 16 hours a day, seven days a week, it’s easy to overlook details like cash ow, payroll, working capital and nancing. And that’s where First National Bank Alaska can make a real difference. ¶ From a complete array of cash management tools and expertise, to fast, local decisions on loans, our friendly, experienced Alaska business specialists can help you activate a successful business strategy.

Stop by one of our convenient local branches, or simply visit FNBAlaska.com.

August 2013 TA BLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES

special section

38 | Cyber Security and Disaster Recovery

By Nicole A. Bonham Colby

Building Alaska

TRANSPORTATION

42 | Long Haul Trucking Alaska operators thrive

By Nicole A. Bonham Colby

ENERGY

88 | Going deep: Alaska’s coal gasification pioneers

By Zaz Hollander

OIL & GAS

94 | Getting More Oil in the Pipeline New production, new revenues, new hope

By Mike Bradner

49

Photo courtesy of Municipality of Anchorage

TELECOM & TECHNOLOGY

Port of Anchorage

49 | Port of Anchorage Update Reviewing options before proceeding 50 | Fabricated Construction Building with modules

By Margaret Sharpe

OIL & GAS

50

98 | Is This Generation of Alaskans Failing the Next?

By Bradford G. Keithley 100 | Natural Gas Pipelines Update Two projects in the mix, will either fly?

By Rindi White

58 | Construction Spending Forecast It’s federal, it’s state, it’s public, it’s private, it’s over $8 billion dollars, what is it going to build?

By Rindi White 62 | Storyknife Writers’ Retreat Alaskan author plans to double opportunity for women writers

By Mari Gallion 66 | Northern Energy Efficiencies, Design & Architecture

By Gail West

© 2013 Margaret Sharpe

OIL, GAS & FISCAL POLICY OP-ED

54 | Access Alaska Celebrates Universal Design at the New Remodeled Facility All Alaskans benefit from all-inclusive access

By Nichelle Seely

Corrections In the June issue, a Commercial Real Estate Financing article on page 38 incorrectly listed $25 million as the per-transaction limit for the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority’s loan participation program. The limit is $20 million.

A Marsh Creek, LLC, Arctic Pac module.

special section An excavation of petroleum contaminated soil is backfilled with clean soil near Eielson Air Force base in summer of 2012.

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Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

Photo courtesy of Brice Environmental Services Corporation

Environmental Services 72 | Minimizing Waste Chena Power plant to produce energy from old paper and cardboard

By Vanessa Orr 74 | Good for the Soil Making sure the ‘dirt don’t hurt’

By Mari Gallion

78 | Recycling Programs in Alaska Starting locally at the individual level

By Susan Sommer 81 | Alaska Business Monthly’s 2013 Environmental Services Directory www.akbizmag.com

FROM THE EDITOR Follow us on and

Volume 29, Number 8 Published by Alaska Business Publishing Co. Anchorage, Alaska Vern C. McCorkle, Publisher 1991~2009

EDITORIAL STAFF

Managing Editor Associate Editor Editorial Assistant Art Director Art Production Photo Consultant Photo Contributor

Susan Harrington Mari Gallion Tasha Anderson David Geiger Linda Shogren Chris Arend Judy Patrick

BUSINESS STAFF

President VP Sales & Mktg.

Senior Account Mgr. Account Mgr. Survey Administrator Accountant & Circulation

Jim Martin Charles Bell Anne Campbell Bill Morris Tasha Anderson Melinda Schwab

501 W. Northern Lights Boulevard, Suite 100 Anchorage, Alaska 99503-2577 (907) 276-4373 Outside Anchorage: 1-800-770-4373 Fax: (907) 279-2900 www.akbizmag.com Editorial email: editor@akbizmag.com Advertising email: materials@akbizmag.com Pacific Northwest Advertising Sales 1-800-770-4373 ALASKA BUSINESS PUBLISHING CO., INC. ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY (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; Fax: (907) 279-2900, ©2013, Alaska Business Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Subscription Rates: $39.95 a year. Single issues of the Power List are $15 each. Single issues of Alaska Business Monthly are $3.95 each; $4.95 for October, and back issues are $5 each.

Send subscription orders and address changes to the Circulation Department, Alaska Business Monthly, PO Box 241288, Anchorage, AK 99524. Please supply both old and new addresses and allow six weeks for change, or update online at www.akbizmag.com. Manuscripts: Send query letter to the Editor. Alaska Business Monthly is not responsible for unsolicited materials.

Photocopies: Where necessary, permission is granted by the copyright owner for libraries and others registered with Copyright Clearance Center to photocopy any article herein for $1.35 per copy. Send payments to CCC, 27 Congress Street, Salem, MA 01970. Copying done for other than personal or internal reference use without the expressed permission of Alaska Business Publishing Co., Inc. is prohibited. Address requests for specific permission to Managing Editor, Alaska Business Publishing. Online: Alaska Business Monthly is available at www.akbizmag.com/archives, www. thefreelibrary.com/Alaska+Business+Monthly-p2643 and from Thomson Gale. Microfi lm: Alaska Business Monthly is available on microfi lm from University Microfi lms International, 300 North Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106.

www.akbizmag.com

Summer Arrivals Extras abound this year

W

e’ve had a lot of extra summer arrivals this year, and not just mosquitoes, either. People are flowing into Alaska from the rest of the United States, and the world, for that matter, like it is the place to be.

One has to wonder just how many people were in Anchorage the early summer weekend when nearly every store in town ran out of bug dope. I don’t believe it is solely attributed to an extra abundant crop of the pesky little creatures, although they are vicious this year.

I think there were a lot more people in addition to a lot more mosquitoes, and that’s what happened to all the bug dope in town.

There is no shortage of souvenirs. The shippers coming north quickly replenished the shelves with bug dope as well as the rest of the summer goods we take for granted. No empty shelves here.

This summer, there are more tourists arriving in and passing through Anchorage: visitors from other lands, foreign and domestic. Because of the price of fuel, more people are flying or cruising to Alaska than driving up through Canada. Many rent cars or RVs once in Anchorage, or take the train. Alaska Airlines and other year-round carriers are discounting flights. Seasonal carriers like JetBlue and Virgin America are bringing extra people to Alaska extra cheap. This is a more affordable summer to fly to Alaska. While lodging has kept pace with the steady and growing stream of people this summer, rental transportation was getting scarce by July.

Traffic is busy and constant, and there’s so much building going on all over it tends to slow things down a bit while speeding up progress. It’s evident the economy is trending up, bringing extra work and extra workers. Some of the construction going on is being built by Outside firms, with Outside crews—extra construction workers, extra equipment operators, extra contractors, extra noise, extra materials, extra everything. Yet, we still have mega projects to build—the bridge, the port, the pipeline. Alaska will not run out of projects.

I see license plates from other states—Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, even Texas—and I know those out of state plates aren’t all attributed to the military in Alaska, or tourists. Many are job seekers—people coming north from the rest of the United States looking for work or other opportunities, adding to the already constant influx of people arriving from points west and southwest. It’s a thriving place, Alaska, and quickly becoming the destination of choice.

Something else choice is the August issue of Alaska Business Monthly. The team has produced another really great magazine.

Enjoy!

—Susan Harrington, Managing Editor August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

7

INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS

Carlile Transportation

C

arlile Transportation Systems, one of the largest trucking and logistics companies in Alaska, has been acquired

by Saltchuk Resources, a Seattle-based family of diversified transportation and petroleum distribution companies. Carlile will remain a stand alone company headquartered in Anchorage. Carlile’s 700 employees will join Saltchuk’s national team of 5,500 persons. Other Saltchuk Alaskan companies include Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Delta Western, Northern Air Cargo, Inlet Petroleum, and Cook Inlet Tug & Barge. Carlile will become a part of Tote Logistics, significantly increasing Saltchuk’s presence in cargo consolidation, warehousing, trucking, and other logistics in North America.

S

Shoreside Petroleum

horeside Petroleum announces the opening of its latest Essential One station in Wasilla. Essential One offers a wide array of fuels, including avgas, heating fuel, propane, regular and supreme gasoline, ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, and biodiesel. The new station is located at 2858 E. Palmer-Wasilla Highway, near the North Bowl bowling alley.

Fuel will be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

The facility is unique in that it is designed to serve both the retail customer as well as the commercial market. Essential One sits on a spacious four-acre lot which has excellent ingress and egress and sufficient area to turn around anything from a small passenger car to the largest diesel rigs on the road. For those customers with large diesel rigs, there are numerous

Compiled by Mari Gallion

high-flow pumps on site for rapid fuel transfer allowing them to get back on the road in less time. Shoreside Petroleum operates seven Essential One service locations: two in Anchorage as well as stations in Bird Creek, Cordova, Seward, Wasilla, and Whittier.

E

Era Alaska

ra Alaska unveiled the first University of Alaska themed commercial airplane in the world. One side of the aircraft is painted with a University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanook and school colors, the other side with a University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolf and school colors. The plane underscores the strong partnership between Era and the Universities, highlighted by the campuses’ aviation degree programs. The plane is a Bombardier Dash 8 model, which seats thirty-seven people and offers full inflight service. Era Alaska is the largest regional airline based in the state, offering daily passenger and cargo services to nearly one hundred communities across Alaska. All flights are operated on Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft and feature full in-flight cabin service.

G

Cycle heat-to-power generator that will use the diesel engines’ exhaust heat to produce electricity for the local grid.

Kotzebue’s isolated location north of the Arctic Circle means that it faces high fuel costs and major logistical challenges associated with providing reliable electricity and heat. The city, which is home to an estimated 3,200 residents, is dependent upon a single, annual shipment of diesel fuel that occurs in the summer when the ocean is ice-free and vessels can navigate the available shipping lanes.

Local officials have made it a top priority to extend the life of the diesel fuel supply and reduce the costs associated with operating a diesel-fueled generating system.

GE’s innovative technology will enable Kotzebue to boost its fuel efficiency by utilizing a previously unused energy source—recovered exhaust heat from any one of the city’s three diesel engines. In total, the project will result in a savings of more than 46,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year and reduce the city’s energy costs. The new Clean Cycle unit is scheduled to begin operating in the fourth quarter of 2013.

A

Kotzebue Electric Association

E and the Kotzebue Electric Association, an electric cooperative that focuses on supplying electricity to the remote city of Kotzebue and other rural areas of Alaska, have launched a joint project to increase the energy efficiency and extend the fuel supply of several diesel engines powering Kotzebue. For the initiative, GE will provide a Clean

Alaska Litho

laska Litho, Inc. has released Postcards From Alaska, a free mobile app that makes mailing a print postcard as easy as sending a text message.

A small team in Alaska Litho’s Media Services department built the app. The idea came from watching summer visitors try to juggle everything they wanted to do during a short stay. The mobile app was designed to help visitors share their own travel photos without taking time out of their experience to find a store, a stamp, and a mailbox.

Your Project, Our Responsibility.

24/7 Service Pacific Pile & Marine has a robust fleet of marine equipment including our recent addition of a 600-Ton 4600 Ringer.

www.pacificpile.com I (907) 276-3878 276-3873 8

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

From critical lifts to platform support, PPM is sufficiently resourced to deliver a wide range of construction services.

620B East Whitney Road I Anchorage, AK 99501 www.akbizmag.com

INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS The app accesses photos from the device’s photo gallery or lets the user snap a new photo for the front of the postcard.

It also comes stocked with a professional photo gallery of Alaska images for more traditional postcards. The back of the card has a space for a personalized message, custom photo caption, and the recipient’s address, which can be pulled from the device’s contacts or typed in and saved.

Alaska Litho is an employee-owned print shop in Juneau that opened in 1948.

SEARHC Kasaan Clinic

T

he Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium in conjunction with the Denali Commission announce the grand opening of the new SEARHC Kasaan Clinic on Prince of Wales Island. The new clinic is a prototype “micro clinic” designed for communities with a full-time population of fewer than one hundred residents.

The clinic construction totaled more than $1.86 million dollars through the efforts of combined funding from the Denali Commission, Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, the Organized Village of Kasaan, and the Indian Health Service Tribal Equipment Fund.

The clinic design includes two exam rooms, one of which is fully equipped for dental care, a locked lab and pharmacy space, a provider office, and a covered ambulance bay. The new clinic can also accommodate gurneys and stretchers and is equipped for telemedicine. The clinic was built with extreme energy efficiency in mind, utilizing airto-air geothermal heat exchange which minimizes heating fuel costs and incorporates passive solar features and skylights for natural lighting.

Compiled by Mari Gallion

Ketchikan Story Project

T

he Ketchikan Story Project was the recipient of three Northwest Regional Emmy statuettes during the 50th Anniversary ceremony in Seattle.

The project received nominations in four categories and won two of them.

Director Kyle Aramburo won an Emmy for his post-production work on Ketchikan: Our Native Legacy, which also won for best Historical/Cultural program or special, earning two more Emmy Awards for Deby Santos, producer, and Laurel Lindahl, editor and producer.

Several members of the production crew were in attendance at the 50th anniversary ceremony at the Paramount Theatre. In addition to Santos, Lindahl, and Aramburo, cameraman Richard Cooper, production assistant Lacey Simpson, and Sara Lawson, who served as story supervisor for Ketchikan: the Artists, also attended the event.

The 2012 films were the first of the project entered into any awards programs. The Ketchikan Story Project also won six Telly Awards earlier this year.

E

Eklutna, Inc.

klutna, Inc. has teamed with Davis Constructors to supply the local market with competitively priced aggregate products. Davis Constructors recently formed a subsidiary called Mass Excavation, Inc., which will operate the Eklutna Gravel Site. Eklutna, Inc. owns a subsidiary, Eklutna Services, LLC, which was set up to become the development and management arm of the corporation.

Both organizations are working to supply the local market with competitively priced aggregate products.

The gravel site is situated on fortythree acres of land located southwest of the Eklutna Interchange on the Glenn Highway. The forty-three-acre site is divided into areas for aggregate processing, asphalt sales, pit run gravel, and clean material disposal. Mass Excavation, Inc. plans to include an on-site scale house and credit card processing.

Summer site operations will remain open through October 15.

Upper One Games, LLC

C

ook Inlet Tribal Council, along with development and publishing partner E-Line Media, announce the launch of the first indigenous-owned video game company in the United States—Upper One Games, LLC—during the 10th Annual Games For Change Festival.

Through Upper One Games, Cook Inlet Tribal Council is embracing technology and new media to preserve and share Alaska Native culture, giving new meaning to the oral tradition of storytelling, and offering exciting new ways to engage and motivate youth throughout the world.

The drive for sustainability and empowerment of Alaska Native youth are at the core of what led Cook Inlet Tribal Council to invest in video games.

In this unique partnership with ELine Media, Upper One Games will co-develop and publish a variety of innovative, impact-focused commercial games that cross both the formal and informal learning channels. The partnership includes mutual investments to help ensure both companies are aligned across their impact and financial goals.

Projects currently in development include a groundbreaking game for the

Your Project, Our Responsibility. 24/7 Service

Pacific Pile & Marine has a robust fleet of marine equipment including our recent addition of a 600-Ton 4600 Ringer.

www.pacificpile.com I (907) 276-3878 276-3873 www.akbizmag.com

From critical lifts to platform support, PPM is sufficiently resourced to deliver a wide range of construction services.

620B East Whitney Road I Anchorage, AK 99501 August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

9

INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS consumer market based on traditional Alaskan stories, which will introduce a new approach to game-based cultural storytelling; a game-infused history curriculum slated for middle school students; and a new game-infused strategy for delivery of social services at Cook Inlet Tribal Council, which could have a broad influence on non-profit organizations and their service delivery nationwide.

D

Alaska Marine Highway System

esign Alaska, a Fairbanks-based architecture, engineering, and surveying firm, and Art Anderson Associates, its naval architecture sub-consultant, were recently awarded a contract for the Alaska Marine Highway System to investigate potential energy efficiency improvements. The contract, driven by new International Maritime Organization regulations, requires development of Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans for three Alaska Marine Highway System vessels.

The new International Maritime Organization standards require vessels traveling internationally to obtain International Energy Efficiency Certificates demonstrating that vessel owners and operators have developed energy efficiency plans for their travel routes and vessel operating systems. Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans provide a mechanism for identifying best practices for energy efficiency improvement and include items like improved voyage planning, implementation of measurement tools and systems, and the use of various systems and technologies that reduce emissions and fuel consumption.

Compiled by Mari Gallion

Because of their involvement in international voyages, the vessels included in the scope of the project are the M/V Taku, M/V Matanuska, and M/V Kennicott.

N

Northrim Bank

orthrim Bank’s Referral Program has a new incentive for customers who refer individuals resulting in new relationships with the bank. Existing Northrim customers will receive a certificate for Alaska Airlines miles for referring a new customer to open an account at Northrim. The more friends customers refer, the more miles they earn, up to twenty thousand in a calendar year.

Customers will also be eligible to join a new Loyalty Club checking account when they make four qualified referrals.

The Loyalty Club offers benefits such as no monthly minimum balance requirements or monthly service charge, free access to online banking with mobile and text banking access, and an annual gift.

A

Anchorage Senior Friendly Project

nchorage is joining many other cities across the nation in establishing a Senior Friendly Project aimed at improving the shopping experience of older citizens.

This Project will involve mystery shoppers who will evaluate businesses, clinics, restaurants, and other establishments as “Senior Friendly.” Training will be provided and a Senior Friendly decal issued for display. Business names will also be publicized in local media and throughout the senior network.

The Anchorage Senior Friendly Proj-

ect has been developed through the co-sponsorship of the Municipality of Anchorage Senior Citizen’s Advisory Commission and the Older Persons Action Group, with assistance from students of the University of Alaska Anchorage Human Services Department, Adulthood and Aging Class.

Through collaborative efforts the campaign will assist the community and businesses to move towards a positive future of understanding the needs of an aging population and increase profits for businesses and the community as well.

The intention of this campaign is to create a community that will maintain the dignity, independence, and standard of living for all senior citizens. The goals are to provide benefits of opportunity to improve customer service and access through specific recommendations, business with a marketing advantage, increase business visibility to older visitors and tourists, and establish a positive reputation among older consumers.

S

Sephora

ephora, a nationwide beauty franchise, has opened its own new 5,553-squarefoot shop on the second floor of Anchorage’s 5th Avenue Mall. Sephora provides more than thirteen thousand products from more than two hundred brands, including Sephora’s own collection of makeup, skincare, tools, and accessories.

Sephora was the first beauty retailer to employ the unique open-sell philosophy, allowing clients to shop a myriad of brands and encouraging them to try, test, and play with everything from lip glosses to blushes and skincare to fragrance.

Sephora also offers makeovers, beauty consultations, and rewards programs.

• General Contracting • Marine Infrastructure • Design Build

Dutch Harbor - Unalaska, Alaska

www.pacificpile.com I (907) 276-3873 10

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

620B East Whitney Road I Anchorage, AK 99501 www.akbizmag.com

View from the Top

Compiled by Mari Gallion

James Staengel, Vice President and CEO Accupoint, Inc.

O

riginally from Los Gatos, California, James Staengel was taught at an early age that hard work and self-respect go hand in hand. In high school he was in a program that offered school credits for working, so senior year he went to school half day then worked in the family construction business the other half.

Right after high school, Staengel’s brother-in-law asked if he would come to Alaska for three months to help him build a spec house. A day later, Staengel packed his bags and was headed north, believing that Alaska, with an average age of twenty-six, was the land of opportunity for young people.

FOUNDATION FROM FAMILY: In In our family, finances and investing were talked about freely. Late in the evening while driving home from the job, I would be asked and made to think about different scenarios of what would happen if I invested this way or that. I was made to think about how to use money as a tool. I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but it trained my mind to be able to have forward thinking.

START IT UP: Jim Gregory had an amazing talent at servicing survey equipment. He and his wife had worked in the field starting in their preteen years. It was a specialized field.

No one in the state at the time had my partner’s talents and certifications. We thought our combined talents would allow us to bring to the customer a unique option for product and service in Alaska. I was asked to help for the business side and that started us on the journey.

We started our business post-pipeline; banks went under and neighborhoods emptied—so our business was forged in the fire of tough times.

SUCCESS SECRETS: The foundation to our success rests upon having good standards, morals, and ethics. Everything in life builds from these. Besides this foundation, the top three qualities would include good judgment, tenacity, and gaining wisdom from others.

Good judgment is important because much of success in business comes from being able to look at decisions from all angles: weigh-in on past experience, consider all the immediate ramifications, and anticipate future consequences and opportunities. If you can think multi-dimensionally it expo12

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

© 2013 Chris Arend

It was while in Anchorage that he met Jim Gregory, a survey equipment repairman, and in 1986 they combined their complimentary talents to form Accupoint, Inc.

nentially increases your chances at success. Tenacity is also important: Once a course has been chosen—lock your jaws and grind down every obstacle to the goal. I seek out wisdom from others and really appreciate when someone will share it.

As Mary Catherine Bateson said, “We are not what we know, but what we are willing to learn.” Most important to keep in mind is that not all success is measured by a dollar figure.

EVOLUTION OF A COMPANY: At first we started as a survey equipment repair facility, then we started selling the supplies and equipment for surveyor’s use.

Now, keeping up with the changes in technology and dealing with rapid growth create new challenges. Customers are now looking for a company and product set that all work together in a connected community. This includes all precise positioning equipment (survey mapping and construction), machine control, and asset management.

WHERE YOU WANT TO GO: When starting a business, imagine it at the apex of success. Does that vision meet the goals you have financially and personally in life? If not, find a venture that fits. You can invest ten, twenty, or thirty years in a business faster than you can anticipate. Make sure it’s going to take you where you want to go.  www.akbizmag.com

Insuring Alaska’s Industry

Supporting Industry and Economic Development in Alaska with insurance, employee benefits, surety, and risk management consulting.

Celebrating 25 Years in Alaska

Different by choice.

Unique by tradition.

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CommerCial insuranCe • employee Benefits • surety • life & DisaBility insuranCe • personal insuranCe

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EDUCATION

Alaska’s College Savings Program A Jewel in the Crown of the University of Alaska

By James F. Lynch & Ashok K. Roy The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone and not of the University of Alaska.

“The mind that has conceived a plan of living must never lose sight of the chaos against which that pattern was conceived.”

—Ralph Ellison

A

$5 billion plus college savings program portfolio giving one of the best long-term performances in the nation resides in the University of Alaska (UA). What manner of program is this? How did it come about?

The story of the genesis and success of the college savings program at UA has an uncommon arc with bold intentions, happenstance, and social forces all playing a role in resolving how far we have come. It magnifies the range of good public policy possibility on display. The story is fascinating like dancing on thresholds moving to a realm of public good. The sweep, trajectory, and extraordinary reach of this transformational program make it a veritable jewel for UA. Here is a shower of rain where every drop has caught a gleam.

Education Trust of Alaska Few people are aware that UA houses one of the largest college savings programs in the country, the Education Trust of Alaska. According to the Morningstar 2013 529 College Savings Plans Industry survey, at approximately $5 billion, it ranked eighth of forty-seven state college savings programs offered as of December 31, 2012, and houses what is generally recognized as one of the top college savings plans in the country. UA partnered with T. Rowe Price to develop a plan which is marketed nationally under the T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan name. This plan has gained national recognition as one of the best in the country based on a number of factors, including long-term performance, cost, 14

customer service, and governance. The T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan has consistently been ranked by Morningstar as one of the top five plans in the country and was recently reported by Morningstar to be one of the top three plans based on risk adjusted returns.

In 2012, it was one of only four college savings plans in the nation to receive Morningstar’s Gold rating.

A version of the T. Rowe Price plan is marketed in Alaska as The University of Alaska College Savings Plan. It offers the same investment options as the T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan plus a very low cost option that includes a Tuition-Value Guarantee: a guarantee that the earnings will keep pace with tuition inflation if used for tuition at UA. Effectively, a participant can purchase tuition credits at today’s prices and redeem those credits anytime in the future at the then current upper division tuition rate for tuition at any UA campus. If the earnings in the account have not kept pace with tuition inflation, the Trust will make up the difference by making a supplemental deposit to the participant’s account. If the funds in the account are used for any other purpose, the actual earnings of the portfolio will be available for whatever purpose the account owner chooses. In addition, the Education Trust of Alaska also houses the sixth largest advisor sold college savings plan, the John Hancock Freedom 529, which is a multi-managed plan consisting of funds managed by a number of top ranked managers and offers four investment strategies.

College Savings Plans History State sponsored college savings programs came onto the scene in the midto late 1980s, when a few visionary state legislators recognized that, with the

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

rapidly rising cost of education and the accelerating increase in the use of student loans to finance those costs, the middle class would get squeezed out of access to higher education. These legislators established prepaid tuition programs in their states. The state of Michigan led the way and several states followed soon after. In Alaska, former state senators Jay Kerttula and Tim Kelly were two of those visionary legislators who saw the student debt crisis coming. In 1990, under their leadership and with the concurrence of then Governor Hickel, Alaska became the sixth state to adopt such a program when the Legislature directed The University of Alaska Board of Regents to administer what was then Alaska’s Advance College Tuition (ACT) Plan. The Legislature also recognized that the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) was an ideal vehicle for residents to fund a child’s education and provided a PFD CheckOff allowing residents to direct half of their dividend to be deposited directly into the college savings program for the benefit of a named beneficiary. This year approximately thirteen thousand Alaskans are participating in the program through the PFD Check-Off. As UA was launching its prepaid tuition program, the state of Michigan filed suit against the IRS because it denied Michigan’s request for an exemption and required it to pay federal income tax on the investment earning of the fund securing the prepaid tuition liability. The court struggle between Michigan and the IRS went on for five years and was eventually resolved in the state of Michigan’s favor, but the IRS did not acquiesce.

At the same time as Michigan filed suit, representatives from each of the state programs and several of the states www.akbizmag.com

that were planning on establishing prepaid tuition programs were forming a national organization, the College Savings Plan Network (CSPN) under the auspices of the National Association of State Treasurers. UA was one of the founding members. The purpose of the network was to assist other states in initiating similar programs and help resolve the tax issues raised by the IRS.

Making Higher Education More Accessible Recognizing that Alaska’s small population, with only 88,000 households with children under eighteen years old, could not support a cost-effective savings program or even attract a responsible investment firm to promote such a www.akbizmag.com

“ A Beautiful Alaska is just a flight away.

“

Section 529 Passes By 1996 CSPN and the interested states had garnered enough influence in Congress to get Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code passed into law, which effectively quieted the objections of the IRS and its argument that the programs were subject to federal income tax on investment income. In addition to authorizing exemption to prepaid tuition plans, which function like defined benefit plans, Section 529 also authorized exemption for savings programs, which function like defined contribution plans. Unlike prepaid tuition plans, savings plans do not carry the potential liability for paying out a defined benefit even if the planned investment income does not materialize.

After Section 529 passed, nearly every state in the union adopted a savings program. Current US Senator Lisa Murkowski and former state senator Tim Kelly led the effort to create the current savings program, and former Governor Tony Knowles signed the bill into law. Alaska and Pennsylvania chose a unique approach and converted their prepaid plans to savings plans. The ACT Portfolio, the savings program successor to the ACT Prepaid Tuition Plan, functions like a prepaid plan if used for tuition at UA and like a savings plan if used for anything else. The participant can determine which best fits his or her needs at the time the beneficiary attends college or a qualified trade or technical school. This duality of the ACT Portfolio makes it an attractive option that is not offered in any other state plan.

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August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

15

program, the university set out to create a high quality, self-supporting, national program that could be brought directly to Alaskans and also foster the national goal of making higher education more accessible all across the country. At that time, there were only a handful of individuals that had expertise in the college savings arena. UA was fortunate enough to have had that expertise on staff, and proceeded to locate a partner that had the resources and ability to put together such a program. UA chose T. Rowe Price as that partner. In fact, it was a mutual selection process. T. Rowe Price was looking for a state partner that shared the company’s values and would work as a partner to develop a quality program rather than dictating every decision. Although it was obvious that T. Rowe Price was a good investment manager with a long track record, good investment performance, and an outstanding reputation for quality, it was selected primarily due to emphasis put on customer service and the value placed on customers.

Even before the T. Rowe Price and UA plans were launched, it was clear that advisor-sold plans were growing at a much faster pace than direct sold plans like the T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan.

The decision-making process for participants that self-manage their investments is quite slow relative to those who use an investment advisor. When an investment advisor makes a recommendation and assists the client tocomplete the paperwork, the participant has minimal apprehension about deciding if it is a good idea or if it’s the right plan. Based on the relationship UA had developed with T. Rowe Price on the direct-sold plans, T. Rowe Price introduced UA representatives to Manulife Financial (now known as John Hancock in the United States), which was interested in developing and distributing an advisor sold college savings plan. Manulife’s forte was in selecting outstanding managers and constructing high quality multimanaged portfolios. The three partners then worked together to develop and implement what is now the John Hancock Freedom 529. The underlying investments for the John Hancock Freedom 529 are managed by a host of world class managers, such as American Funds, Robeco, PIMCO, Franklin Templeton, Jen16

College Savings Plans Performance Rankings 1-Year

3-Year

5-Year 10-Year

TRP Plan 6 of 49

4 of 43 12 of 42

1 of 9

UA Plan

9 of 49

5 of 43

8 of 42

2 of 9

JH Plan

2 of 30

6 of 26

5 of 21

1 of 7

nison, Oppenheimer, Dimensional, and T. Rowe Price.

Performance and Rankings Investment performance was considered in the Morningstar rankings; however, performance was not the primary component. The Morningstar ratings also consider plan features, customer service, portfolio construction, management’s experience and stability, and oversight by the state. Although performance ranking can vary dramatically from period to period, in general, the Alaska plans’ performance rankings have been quite good. For the T. Rowe Price and UA plans, eleven of the twelve Morningstar rated portfolios in the plan are rated at four stars and the twelfth is rated at three stars. For the John Hancock Plan, fourteen of the twenty Morningstar rated portfolios are rated three stars or better.

The College Savings Plans Performance Rankings table shows the latest performance rankings by Savingforcollege.com, as of December 31, 2012 (rankings are reported as rank of the number of plans included in the analysis for the period).

Program Success In summary, UA has built a self-supporting college savings program that can serve Alaska’s residents as well as any in the country. The program to date has been a success in that it has helped thousands of Alaskans minimize their student debt burden and hopefully become productive members of our communities. However, a major component of the program’s value has yet to be realized: the ability to recruit potential students not just from Alaska, but from all across the country who have a high probability of being successful. This process will promote the development of a better diversified pool of students

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

Note: Performance and rating data are not intended for use of the investing public. Past performance cannot be used to guarantee future results.

and a cadre of workers educated in Alaska and capable of filling positions in undersubscribed employment areas.

When this occurs, the college savings program at UA will come full circle. 

James F. Lynch currently serves as Associate Vice President for Finance & Chief Treasury Officer for the University System of Alaska and as Treasurer for UA Foundation. He was the principal architect of Alaska’s Section 529 College Savings Program and one of the founding board members of the College Savings Plan Network.

He earned a BA from Northern Illinois University and certifications as a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Government Financial Manager.

Dr. Ashok K. Roy is the Vice President for Finance & Administration/ Chief Financial Officer for the University System of Alaska and Associate Professor of Business Administration at UAF. Dr. Roy has significant experience, at senior management levels, at three other large universities, local government, and in the private sector. Dr. Roy holds six university degrees and five professional certifications and has authored seventy-one publications in academic and trade journals. www.akbizmag.com

NATIVE CORPORATIONS

Photo courtesy of Huna Totem Corporation

Huna Totem Corporation’s Interpretive Services program is a way for shareholders to share their Tlingit heritage with visitors at Glacier Bay and Huna Totem Corporation’s Icy Strait Point in Southeast Alaska. A member of Huna Totem Corporation’s Interpretive Services program shows a bentwood box to a visitor.

Culture-Based Investments Pay Off Filling a need for visitors and corporations

By Julie Stricker

I

t’s a sunny, warm day in the Gulf of Alaska. A tour boat leaves a gently spreading wake in the pristine waters, swelling around countless icebergs, many capped with harbor seals.

An eagle screeches from the thick forest on the near shore and colorful puffins skim along the surface of the water, their wings seemingly too short to lift their stocky bodies beyond the pull of gravity.

In the distance, ice booms as it calves off a massive blue-shadowed glacier at the head of the fjord, and tiers of mountains reach their snow-capped peaks toward the blue sky. Lucky watchers may see a sea otter floating on its back snacking on shellfish, a black bear sniff-

18

ing along shore, or a humpback whale or pod of orcas surfacing in the distance.

It’s a daytrip for most visitors to Alaska, but for Alaska Natives, it’s home, a place they have lived for thousands of years. In recent years, many Alaska Native groups have realized that while visitors to Alaska want to see mountains, glaciers, and wildlife, they are also fascinated by life in the 49th state and want to learn more about the people who live here.

A ‘Sense of Place’ “People want to feel like they’re a part of a place when they travel,” says Mark McKernan, director of Alaska Native Voices. “They want to imagine what it’s

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

going to be like, just for a short while, to be a part of the place. I think in the Interior, Southeast, Southcentral, any part of Alaska, any part of the world, the same principles apply with the same sense of place, the same sense of welcome. It’s universal.”

A good starting point is the Alaska Native Heritage Center. The nonprofit, located on twenty-six acres in Anchorage, tells the stories of all of Alaska’s Native peoples, according to Melissa Saunders, director of sales and marketing.

“We call ourselves a living cultural center—an in-front-of-the-glass instead of behind-the-glass experience,” Saunders says. The center pulls together eleven different cultures from five difwww.akbizmag.com

Photo courtesy of Huna Totem Corporation

Visitors and a member of Huna Totem Corporation’s Interpretive Services look at a map of Glacier Bay.

ferent regions of Alaska, with more than twenty languages and seventy dialects.

“People are surprised at the diversity,” Saunders says. “People come in with the perception that there’s one group and they live in igloos.” The center gives visitors a better sense of the scale of Alaska, which, if laid on top of a map of the Lower 48, reaches from the north to south borders and across the breadth of the country, she says.

The most-frequently asked questions are: “How do you get through the win-

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ters; how do you heat your house; how do you stay warm?” Saunders says. The center showcases the various styles of traditional homes found throughout Alaska, such as the semi-subterranean dwellings in the Aleutian and Arctic regions, clan homes built of wood in Southeast Alaska, and structures made of brush and animal hides in some parts of the Interior. Not an igloo in sight.

In the off-season, the center also hosts many educational and language programs, which help youth living in Alaska’s largest city connect with their cultures through dance, art, and the Native games.

Native dancing and games are a highlight for visitors, Saunders says. They can watch athletes perform feats such as the stick pull, knuckle hop, Alaskan high kick, and ear pull, among others. They learn about the history of the games, which are rooted in the skills needed to survive in the brutal subarctic and arctic regions, such as strength, dexterity, endurance, and focus.

Alaska Native artists are on hand making ulus, weaving baskets, and making carvings. Visitors can also meet dogs from the kennel of Iditarod

Trail Sled Dog Race champion John Baker, an In˜upiat from Kotzebue, and learn how sled dogs played roles in traditional life as well as today.

“They not only hear about how out in the villages they lived and utilized resources in the past, [also] they learn how things are the same today, even as the people are modernizing,” Saunders says.

“The values such as honoring elders are always staying the same, although their lives are changing and modernizing.”

Culture-Based Tourism Staying true to those values is an important part of any plan to develop culturebased tourism, according McKernan.

Alaska Native Voices is a consulting group focused on developing cultural tourism programs. Huna Totem Corporation, the Alaska Native village corporation for Hoonah in Southeast Alaska, launched Alaska Native Voices this spring as a way to help other Native cultures create meaningful tourism strategies.

Tourism is a way to strengthen cultures through sharing language, art, dance, and stories. It can provide jobs in parts of the state with few other em-

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19

Fulfilling a Need Another success story is just across the Gulf of Alaska, where CIRI Alaska Tourism Corporation (CATC) has been 20

Photo courtesy of Huna Totem Corporation

ployment opportunities.

Hoonah is one example of how a successful tourism operation can turn around a community and revitalize traditional cultures. Hoonah, a village of fewer than one thousand people of mostly Tlingit heritage, was hard hit as the logging and fishing industries dried up.

The village is located just south of Glacier Bay, and leaders realized there were opportunities in the tourism industry.

Huna Totem, the Alaska Native corporation for the village, had been providing cultural guides on cruise ships touring Glacier Bay for several years when leaders embarked on a an ambitious project to renovate a long-abandoned cannery and turn it into a thriving tourism complex.

They opened Icy Strait Point in 2004.

Visitors are treated to dances and stories of the villagers’ Tlingit heritage, as well as whale-watching, nature walks, fishing, tram rides and a mile-long zip-line, shopping, and dining. It’s the cultural portions that have really resonated with visitors, McKernan says.

“Travelers were looking for something more meaningful and more authentic.”

The interpretive programs also have continued and are in their thirteenth year. Interpretive guides are scheduled to be on 199 cruise ships, large and small, this season. They also hold oral history and educational presentations at Glacier Bay Lodge.

Icy Strait Point has brought hundreds of thousands of tourists into the area, providing more than 130 jobs annually and energizing the economy of the entire community.

Over the past decade, it has also provided Huna Totem with substantial expertise in running a tourism operation.

“There was an opportunity and we believe, a demand, out there,” McKernan says. “There are not a lot of successful models of asking those questions and getting it right,” he says.

“We want to take the lessons we’ve learned and the experience we’ve got and turn that into a consulting organization that we can use to help people answer the questions they haven’t even thought to ask yet.”

A visitor learns about Tlingit heritage from a member of Huna Totem Corporation’s Interpretive Services.

operating tours of the Kenai Fjords for more than fifteen years.

CATC operates twelve vessels in its Kenai Fjords operation, taking tourists for day trips or overnights in their newly refurbished Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge on Fox Island. The company, a subsidiary of Anchorage-based Cook Inlet Regional, Inc., the Alaska Native regional corporation for much of Southcentral Alaska, also operates lodges in Seward and Talkeetna.

Tourism is booming in the Last Frontier, says Paul Landis, president and chief operating officer of CATC. “We’re doing pretty good and I think a number of other tour operators would tell you the same,” Landis says. New air carriers such as JetBlue and Virgin America are beginning seasonal flights to Anchorage, bringing hundreds of additional visitors daily.

“We’re seeing a lot of the independent travelers in addition to fairly strong bookings on the cruise ships,” he adds.

“We’re here to fulfill a need rather than create one.”

At peak season, CATC employs upwards of 430 workers, who come from around the world. They encourage shareholders to apply for jobs and Landis notes that most of the core group of permanent employees are shareholders.

The company continues to invest in Alaska’s tourism infrastructure, Landis says. CATC recently tore down the

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge and rebuilt it from scratch. The 3,300-squarefoot lodge was reopened in late May. A state-of-the-art, 150-passenger catamaran is on order to join the fleet of twelve vessels doing tours of the Kenai Fjords.

CATC also operates a vacation package and planning business, Alaska Heritage Tours, matching customer’s travel wishes, such as fishing, flightseeing, wildlife viewing, and learning about Alaska Native culture, through its holdings and partnerships with other organizations.

“We listen to the customer, talk to the client, and find out what is going to make their trip a once in a lifetime trip,” says Dee Buchanan, CATC director of marketing.

Each trip is individually tailored.

“For some people coming to Alaska, a diehard goal may be to see a puffin or maybe to see Denali,” Buchanan says.

“Or maybe to be immersed in the culture of Native Alaskans.”

Finding Opportunities Many visitors who seek to learn about Alaska Native cultures are directed toward the Alaska Native Heritage Center, which is supported by CIRI and the other Alaska Native groups around the state.

Across the state, Alaska Native groups and communities are finding opportunities in tourism.

In Interior Alaska, Doyon, Limited, has teamed up with ARAMARK to www.akbizmag.com

www.akbizmag.com

sians to retain their ancient homeland.

In southwest Alaska, Bristol Bay Native Corporation is looking at opportunities for tourism within its region as sport fishing continues to grow. Bird watchers flock to the Aleutians and the Pribilofs.

What these regions all have in common are vast areas of land and vibrant Native cultures. There are no high-rises, no outlet malls, and no casinos—and that is their draw. Some could serve as gateways to national parks or other travel destinations.

Through Alaska Native Voices, McKernan, a certified interpretive guide and trainer, hopes to help people in these areas develop a thriving, meaningful foothold in Alaska’s tourism industry. Huna Totem has years of experience creating partnerships with federal agencies and private businesses.

For the past several years, conferences have been held around the state on ways to boost cultural tourism. It is a trend that is making waves not only in Alaska but across the nation.

In the course of exploring cultural tourism, McKernan says he also sees a rebound of interest in the people exploring their own cultures more deeply.

Photo courtesy of Huna Totem Corporation

provide bus tours and activities in and around Denali National Park and Preserve. Doyon also owns Denali River Cabins, located near the entrance to the park, as well as Kantishna Lodge, ninety miles away at the end of the park road. Kantishna Wilderness Trips offers day trips to the Kantishna mining district in the heart of the park.

To the north, the tiny village of Anaktuvuk Pass sits at the edge of what is now Gates of the Arctic National Park, where people today still hunt caribou as they have for thousands of years. There are no accommodations in the village, so most visitors fly in for an afternoon to get a taste of what life is like in Alaska’s Arctic.

In Southeast Alaska, Sitka Tribal Tours offers a glimpse into a culture that’s ten thousand years old that goes beyond the area’s iconic totem poles.

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska has been offering the tours since the mid-1990s.

They note that their “history is a living thread from the past to the present” and incorporate traditional dances, uses of various herbs, and wood-carving demonstrations, as well as stories of the unsuccessful 1804 battle with the Rus-

A Huna interpreter shares Tlingit culture with visitors.

“In talking about cultural tourism and cultural interpretation, the more people I talk to, the more I realize people are excited about exploring cultural tourism,” McKernan says. “They want to take the path to do what is right for their community, what is right for their culture. They want to make sure the voices are coming from the right place.”  Julie Stricker is a writer living near Fairbanks.

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

21

VISITOR INDUSTRY

Why Leave When You Can Stay?

Alaskans can stay in state to play

By Dimitra Lavrakas

L

ongtime Alaskans often feel like they’ve gone everywhere and seen it all, or they have their favorites spots that they visit time and time again.

But there are millions of those that aren’t blessed to live in the Last Frontier that save and budget to visit the 49th state.

Luckily for those that do reside yearround, tour packages are developed for the guests that anyone can take advantage of, and while making travel plans for the year, consider a few of the following complete packages that provide unique views of the Alaska wilderness.

Not Your Grandmother’s Cruise Line Un-Cruise Adventures, formerly InnerSea Discoveries and American Safari Cruises, is a company based in Seattle that takes tours in a new direction. Theirs is soundly not your typical cruise experience: no giant buffets and bars, no casinos, no huge dining rooms.

Intimate and remote, you’ll see the Alaska that’s off the charts.

“Un-Cruise Adventures fills a distinct niche in water-borne travel: guests explore remote areas by luxury yachts, small expedition vessels, or a replica Victorian-style steamer with just twenty-two to eightyeight like-minded adventurers,” says Sarah Scoltock, the company’s director of communications. “They have up-close encounters with nature while discovering wildlife-rich seas and shores. They encounter spectacular wilderness: towering glaciers, scenic rivers, remote islands.

22

Photo courtesy of Un-Cruise Adventures

Kids aboard an Un-Cruise Adventures tour go up close to a waterfall in Southeast.

“In sum, they have unrushed, uncrowded, truly uncommon experiences. Un-Cruise Adventures offers explorations of exceptional quality, based on many years of experience.”

Un-Cruise Adventures bought the intimate ships Spirit of Discover, now Wilderness Discoverer; Spirit of Endeavour, now Safari Endeavour; and Spirit of ‘98, which will launch this month

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

as the S.S. Legacy, from Cruise West, which went out of business in 2010.

“Several have been overhauled and upscaled,” Scotlock says. “We have renovated all the vessels before joining our fleet. And we have also lowered the guest capacity of the vessels to suit our style of travel—more space for upscale amenities, public space for guests, and storage for all our adventure equipment.” www.akbizmag.com

“It takes a special kind of person to jump off the beaten path and enjoy the surprises Bush Alaska has to offer, for sure. This is not a theme park and our accommodations are not the Holiday Inn.” —LaVonne Hendricks LaVonne’s Fish Camp

Offering family friendly tours, as well as adult voyages, the company has a bundle of tours that explore the areas it can cruise into, getting much closer than a large cruise ship.

“We have an expedition team on board each vessel—one expedition leader and multiple expedition guides—that lead excursions on land and sea while providing interpretation,” Scotlock says.

Tours kick off in Seattle, Sitka, or Ketchikan and vary from seven to twenty-one nights, with prices ranging from $5,595 to $11,395. Pricey, but it is a once-in-a-lifetime trip or maybe a memorable family reunion or wedding. “[I] just finished a week long cruise on the Wilderness Adventurer from Ketchikan to Juneau with fifteen of my friends and family. Not only did the incredible staff put up with our group, but they embraced us with open arms.

‘Thank you’ does not cover our appreciation to this incredible company and group of people,” wrote Christine H. from Avon, Colorado, who sailed on the Wilderness Adventurer.

tinuous gravel beach that runs around the entire Baldwin Peninsula and the shallow Chukchi Sea. The sea runs 162 unobstructed miles to Eastern Siberia. Behind the camp is a 250-foot clay bluff, a slim ribbon that connects the beach and the open tundra that seems

to go forever with a 360-degree view.”

For those who have never been out on the tundra, expect to experience the exhilarating freedom of unobstructed vision and possibility of travel.

LaVonne’s Fish Camp is also a special place for local young people. It’s a sum-

For Those Who Like to Rough It...

If you eschew luxury, then perhaps a rough-it vacation in the wilds of Northwest Alaska, thirty miles above the Arctic Circle, might be suitable.

First fly into Kotzebue from Anchorage and wait for a ride from LaVonne’s Fish Camp at the airport. Part of the thrill might be traveling in the bed of a truck, says LaVonne Hendricks. Yes, pick up and return is included in the price.

Since 1975, when Hendricks accepted a friend’s offer to set up a fish camp on an Alaska Native allotment near Sadie Creek, about five miles south of Kotzebue on the shores of the Chuckchi Sea, Hendricks has run the camp for independent travelers as well as educational groups.

“Traditional subsistence salmon drying racks share the beach with a ‘smoker,’ fish processing sheds, crew quarters, and a salmon net,” details the website. “Immediately in front is a conwww.akbizmag.com

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

23

Photo courtesy of Un-Cruise Adventures

Un-Cruise Adventures offers its clients intimate coves to explore by kayak.

mer youth program that began in the mid-1980s for Iñupiat youngsters eight to eighteen years of age. The camp also serves as the Culture Camp for NANA Regional Corporation’s Tour Arctic Program to teach Iñupiat youth about their culture with the aim of building self-confidence and a preventative approach to suicide. The camp is a nonprofit operated

by Arctic Circle Educational Adventures.

Visitors haul fish nets in together, help hang fish to dry, and walk on the tundra to pick Labrador herb to make Eskimo tea. There’s even a pile of beluga whale bones that campers can test their sense of sea mammal anatomy by laying them out in the sand.

Hendricks cautions that the camp experience may not be to everyone’s taste.

“It takes a special kind of person to jump off the beaten path and enjoy the surprises Bush Alaska has to offer, for sure,” she says. “This is not a theme park and our accommodations are not the Holiday Inn.” 24

Off the beaten path, Hendricks says local folks stop often for coffee and to chat on their way to hunt, fish, and pick berries and greens on the tundra.

With twenty-four hours of daylight during the summer, it’s possible to fill every one with activities while hanging out with fellow campers and locals, who often use the camp for subsistence activities.

The cost is $150 a day per person and is all inclusive: cabin, three meals, and visiting and participating with local folks in subsistence food gathering and preparation. Activities are weather dependent, of course, and airport pick up and return is included.

Group rates vary depending on size and which Iñupiaq elder is leading the group activity, Hendricks says. For example, making medicinals from the plants, making beach art, or working on salmon all have different prices.

“Our groups usually are five- to sev-

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

en-day stays and price is $200 per person per day,” she says.

Hendricks is retiring this year after serving twenty-six villages for forty-three years in the Kotzebue and Nome region as a public health nurse, but she will continue to operate the camp. After all, it started with her desire to fill her summers with sunlight, the outdoors, and good company. Then she shared it with everyone.

Bunking with the Bears The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge is 1.9 million acres and is home to one the densest populations of brown bears in the world.

Nestled in the midst of the refuge is the Kodiak Brown Bear Center, built on an island in the middle of Karluk Lake, the largest freshwater body on Kodiak island at twelve miles long and one mile wide.

“This place is really unique for two reasons,” explains Kodiak Brown Bear Center General Manager Edward Ward, www.akbizmag.com

but it is absolutely worth it: none of

“The accommodations are amazing. The cabins have all the the Kodiak Brown Bear Center’s clients amenities; they have twenty-four hour power, tiled showers, toilet, have left without seeing a bear.

One of the great things about Alaska is queen beds, bamboo floors, wireless internet, etc.” its expanse—there is always something —Edward Ward General Manager, Kodiak Brown Bear Center

“one, no one will be at our bear viewing areas since we have exclusive access to these areas on the lake; two, it provides our guests the opportunity to be immersed in the bear’s natural habitat and view their natural behavior.”

There is only access to the Center by float plane, he says. Travel packages to the center, which range from three to seven nights, are all inclusive, including airfare to and from Kodiak.

“The accommodations are amazing,” Ward says. “The cabins have all the amenities; they have twenty-four hour power, tiled showers, toilet, queen beds, bamboo floors, wireless internet, etc.”

Meals, guided bear viewing excursions, fishing, and boating are all opportunities that come with the package.

Once travelers are there, they may not have to wait for a boat excursion to

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see bears and other wildlife. “We had a nice three year old [brown bear], come to visit us this morning. The bears like to swim across the lake and visit us from time to time.”

This is just one of the bears’ natural behaviors that travelers probably won’t see at other destinations. “Because the Center is located on a thirty-six-squaremile lake, you’ll see the bears swimming, snorkeling [underwater fishing], and diving for fish,” Ward says. The island is also home to deer, foxes, and a myriad of Alaska birds and waterfowl.

Ward says that various film and TV crews have come to the Center, including those for the popular Planet Earth series and shows for the Discovery Channel.

This particular experience isn’t cheap, as it starts at $3,499 for an individual for four days and three nights,

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Long-time Alaskan journalist Dimitra Lavrakas writes from the East Coast and Alaska.

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more to see: another plateau or peak, another river or lake, another person to meet or culture to enjoy. Then again, that is also one of Alaska’s great challenges.

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Photo courtesy of UAF Seward Marine Center

FISHERIES

The R/V Sikuliaq launches in October 2012 at the Marinette Marine Corporation shipyard in Wisconsin. The ice-capable vessel, intended for Arctic research, will be operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks for the National Science Foundation.

Seward Waits for Sikuliaq Arctic research ship ďŹ rst of its kind

By Zaz Hollander

U

sually, the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Seward Marine Center bustles with scientific inquiry into oceangoing topics like red tide, salmon survival, or crab reproduction.

But the subject of intense study at the center these days is a 261-foot, Arcticready marvel of steel known as the R/V Sikuliaq.

The research vessel will be the first large, ice-capable research vessel owned by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a valuable addition to the US Academic Re-

26

search Fleet as the scientific community probes the consequences of receding ice brought on by climate change.

The Sikuliaq, built in a Marinette, Wisconsin, shipyard, is scheduled to get underway for Alaska this fall, traveling up the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic Ocean, and then south through the Panama Canal and the Pacific Ocean to the Bering Sea. Along the way, the ship’s crew of twenty licensed mariners and two marine technicians will put her through sea and ice tests.

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

UAF will operate the vessel, which should arrive in Seward by next summer.

The Sikuliaq is uniquely equipped for operating in ice-choked waters, according to the university. A reinforced double hull, two rotating thrusters, and scalloped propeller blades will enable the ship to break through ice up to two and a half feet thick.

The ship is designed to work safely in moderate seasonal first-year ice, operating over a longer period than formerly possible in the North Pacific, Gulf of www.akbizmag.com

Alaska, and the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas.

Sikuliaq will enable researchers to study all things climate change—ocean acidification, future traffic routes in an ice-reduced north, and new migration routes from crabs and other bottomdwellers showing up farther north than ever.

“And a fair amount of basic exploration of the Arctic as it starts to open up more and more,” says Daniel Oliver, UAF’s director and project manager at the university’s Seward Marine Center.

“It really is an area that’s not as well understood ... as say, the other areas in the world’s oceans.”

Busy in Seward At the Seward Marine Center, Oliver spent a sunny June day busy finalizing hiring contracts for a chief mate and an electrician. He chipped away at a couple of periodic reports that were due to the NSF. The Seward Marine Center serves as the primary coastal facility of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. The center is the only universityowned marine station in Alaska and the northernmost university marine station in the United States. It provides access to saltwater laboratories and the coastal environment as well as a four-plex apartment unit for visiting scientists.

Next year, the Sikuliaq will join the center’s research facilities.

Oliver got the director job specifically to oversee the Sikuliaq project.

A retired US Coast Guard captain and naval engineer, Oliver spent twenty-eight years on active duty. Among his achievements: technical support during the run-up to the construction of a new polar icebreaker for the Coast Guard, a project that led to the Healy, the icebreaker that helped escort fuel to Nome in 2012. He served as the Healy’s commanding officer from 2003 to 2006.

Oliver retired from the Coast Guard in 2007. He was hired by UAF that same year to oversee construction of the Sikuliaq.

“I was figuring my break would last longer,” Oliver jokes.

UAF will operate the ship on behalf of the NSF. In early summer, the university www.akbizmag.com

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Photo courtesy of UAF Seward Marine Center

A computer rendition of the finished R/V Sikuliaq, the new federal research vessel that will arrive in summer 2014 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Seward Marine Center.

had six employees and contractors at the Wisconsin shipyard conducting inspections and interacting with the shipyard.

Drawings by The Glosten Associates, Guido Perla and Associates, and the Marinette Marine Corporation show multiple ship levels that house a hospital, gym, and laundry room as well as eight thousand cubic feet of science storage, thousands of square feet of lab space, and over-the-side sample collection systems.

The ship is built for forty-five-day research trips. The Sikuliaq holds berths for twenty-two crew and technicians and twenty-four scientists. Its design features an anti-roll tank to help dampen out ship motions in unruly seas. To meet a zero-discharge goal, the ship will incinerate trash or compact and store it for disposal in port.

‘Very significant ice capabilities’ The Sikuliaq is the first vessel built for the NSF in three decades.

The Foundation is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense.” It funds some 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by the nation’s colleges and universities.

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The ship is “a big piece of the puzzle” with regards to upgrading the academic research fleet in the United States, says Matthew Hawkins, the NSF’s program manager for ship acquisition and upgrade.

The ship is categorized as a globalclass vessel, designed for Arctic work but also for research in the open Atlantic or Pacific or even Antarctica.

“It’s very significant,” Hawkins says.

“Sikuliaq is a very, very big part of NSF’s contribution to fleet modernization. It’s a very specialized ship for a very important area in the world’s oceans.”

Ongoing climate change, he continues, is creating scientific questions that are fundamental to understanding the impact on humans and everything from biodiversity to changing microclimates to coastal ecosystems. The Arctic’s sea ice is decreasing at a rate of 7 percent every decade.

“The effects are profound,” Hawkins says. “Many of the changes we’re beginning to see start in the Arctic.”

Funding: Perfect Timing The Sikuliaq will replace the more than forty-year old R/V Alpha Helix, now retired.

Her voyage from inspiration to construction has been long. The need for a more capable ship to operate in the

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

coastal and open ocean waters of the Alaska region was first recognized by marine scientists in the United States in 1973.

In 2001, Congress appropriated $1 million for a design study. But the project languished for several years, despite a design finalized by the NSF in 2004.

NSF shelved the project for lack of funding. The Foundation issued a request for proposals to revamp the design in 2006, and UAF was awarded the bid.

The timing was right in 2009. A major, job-generating shipbuilding project with research ramifications fit right into the mission of the Obama Administration’s stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The program provided $148 million of the $199.5 million total project cost of the Sikuliaq.

The Sikuliaq is the first research vessel built for the NSF since 1981 and will be the only ship in the US Academic Fleet rated for year-round operations in first-year ice, according to a UAF press release when the ship was launched into Wisconsin’s Menominee River in October 2012. The vessel’s name, Sikuliaq, is an Iñupiaq word meaning “young sea ice.”

The name was chosen to reflect both the university’s focus on Arctic research and Alaska heritage.

Two UAF emeriti served as co-sponsors for the Sikuliaq: Vera Alexander, dean emerita of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences and Robert Elsner, professor emeritus. Both scientists spent decades lobbying for a research vessel designed for science operations in the Arctic.

A Place in the Fleet There are other ice-capable research ships out there. The Coast Guard operates the Healy and the Polar SeaStar, which the NSF has “relied heavily on” in the past for science, Oliver says.

But as far as Arctic operations are concerned , the Sikuliaq is the first ship built for the NSF as an asset specifically intended for northern waters, he says.

The Sikuliaq joins twenty other vessels in the nation’s Academic Fleet, which are generally funded by NSF, the Office of Naval Research, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Laboratory System (unols.org) serves as a coordinator for the vessels, which are based at sixteen different operating institutions around the country.

The roster of all federally-owned oceanographic survey and research ships is larger—forty-seven—and includes those vessels in the Academic Fleet. The federal fleet generally conducts surveys and data collection specific to the agency’s mission as opposed to fundamental research.

The list includes ships owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-

ministration, the US Coast Guard, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Vessels on the list place sensors that help with tsunami or hurricane warnings, aid with navigational mapping, and conduct marine-based biomedical research to accelerate the discovery of new pharmaceuticals and therapies, according to the Federal Oceanographic Fleet Status Report.

Cruising North The Sikuliaq’s 2014 scientific research season is already shaping up.

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Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

ALASKA PUBLIC MEDIA

UAF expects funded science expeditions to begin in 2014. The first scheduled trip is a productivity cruise north of Alaska in the Alaska-Canada border area, Oliver says. Scientists will study what critters are living and feeding on each other in the water, as well as the impact of the freshwater flowing from the MacKenzie River.

Several other trips are also planned.

By winter of next year, the Sikuliaq will head south, working in the warmer waters of the mid-Pacific. The ship does have some ice-breaking capabilities, but not to the point where it will be able to operate past St. Lawrence Island in winter, Oliver says.

The ship will return to Alaska by spring of 2015. There are about a dozen requests for ship time already filed.

Sikuliaq will cost an average of $40,000 a day to operate.

NSF generally contributes threequarters of operational costs for the science missions it supports based on the daily rate, Hawkins says.

But while funding for construction flowed from the federal government, future money for research missions and operations across the research fleet remains an open question.

Federal agency budgets have not kept pace with a dramatic increase in the cost of operating research ships, according to the National Ocean Council, charged with implementing the White House ocean policy.

Fuel costs have risen 400 percent since 2003, personnel costs and safety, security, and environmental requirements have grown, and maintenance takes longer and is more expensive for an aging fleet, the council states.

Conventional budgeting practices also make it difficult to plan for repairs and fleet updates in advance.

Still, Hawkins sounds optimistic about the newest addition to the fleet.

“Where Sikuliaq goes is really dependent on what science is funded,” he said. “She’ll go where she needs to go when she needs to go there. Other than chartered vessels and the US Coast Guard, she’s the only truly ice-capable ship we have.”  Zaz Hollander is a journalist living in Palmer. www.akbizmag.com

INSURANCE ESSENTIALS

Workers’ Compensation Insurance Solutions

Geotek Alaska workers in the field.

Photo courtesy of Geotek Alaska

Joining a reciprocal insurance company

By Paul Houston & Mike Dennis

T

he Alaska Timber Insurance Exchange (ATIE) is a unique workers’ compensation solution designed to save money for Alaska businesses that traditionally have higher than average workers’ compensation rates and are committed to employee safety. Some examples of these types of high-hazard industries would be mining, logging, and construction.

The ATIE was started by the Alaska Loggers Association in 1980 with a goal of providing an affordable source of workers’ compensation insurance for its members. As the logging industry diminished, the ATIE opened its membership to other industries facing similar high-hazard workplace exposures.

The ATIE is a reciprocal insurance exchange which is owned by its policyholders. As a licensed insurance company, ATIE is subject to all of the insurance laws of the State of Alaska, which provides safety to its membership. In addition, the company pays dividends to its policyholders. As owners of the company, they share in the investment and operating profits of the operation. The ATIE has paid out dividends of more than $13 million to its members in the last ten years—$1.6 million was paid on March 6 this year. While the dividends are not

32

guaranteed, they have been consistently paid over the life of the program.

Conrad Houston Insurance began working with ATIE in 2010 as a result of our search for cost saving workers’ compensation insurance solutions for our clients. While the program has been around for a while, we discovered it was highly underutilized. We suspect that might be in part due to the lower commission paid by the company to brokers, which are, on average, 50 percent less than the industry norm. Of course the lower commission is just another part of the cost saving efforts of the company.

In discussions with of our clients and prospective clients, we have heard many of the same complaints over the years: ■“I rarely, if ever, have any claims. It seems like I should get some money back!”

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

■“I feel like I am totally out of the loop on claims administration.”

■“I feel like I am working with this huge mega company. I want to talk to someone in charge.”

It appeared to us that the ATIE had an answer for many of these complaints.

In the ATIE program, if you have few or no claims, you get to share in that success financially. Some members have received dividends of more than 60 percent. In fact the average dividend over the last ten years has been 30 percent.

These are significant rewards for business owners who do things right.

In addition, ATIE works closely with business owners when a claim does occur. “Rather than being just a number, ATIE’s low policy count means that each member receives personalized attention,” says ATIE President Michael Hinchen. www.akbizmag.com

Stephen Helms, president of Greer Tank and Welding, Inc., has appreciated the hands-on claims management by ATIE. “An immediate phone call from the adjuster when there is an accident not only helps keep the cost of the claim down but gets the injured employee back to work quickly,” Helms says.

Perhaps best of all, if a business owner wants to talk to Hinchen, the president, he is just a phone call away. You just don’t get that kind of direct personal involvement in the normal insurance company scenario.

The brokers at Conrad Houston Insurance have had tremendous success in placing high hazard clients in the ATIE program. All of those clients have either saved money or received a dividend. The key is getting the word out.

Hinchen agrees. “The Alaska Timber Exchange appreciates the efforts of Conrad Houston Insurance to inform Alaska employers of the advantages of an employer owned workers’ compensation insurance solution,” he says.

ATIE isn’t the answer for every Alaska business, but it is a great solution for those companies that fit the ATIE un-

www.akbizmag.com

derwriting guidelines and are willing to step outside the box.

Geotek Alaska is another great example of a company that required a unique solution to meet its insurance needs. Geotek specializes in the acquisition of subsurface data for both the environmental and geotechnical professional communities. Subsurface drilling is one of its primary class codes and most traditional insurance companies shied away. As a result, Geotek had been in the workers’ compensation assigned risk program for several years. After meeting with their broker at Conrad Houston Insurance, Geotek officials submitted an application to ATIE and the company was accepted into the program. Not only did Geotek save money on the front end by getting out of the assigned risk pool, but the company also received a significant dividend. Geotek owners Chris Nettles, Scott Vojita, and Katherine Smith are very happy with their decision to link up with ATIE. Much like the product offered by the timber industry, what started as a seedling has transformed into something

that is useful to much more than the industry that started it all: a good system that addresses the needs of many employers and employees alike.  Paul Houston is Owner and President of Conrad Houston Insurance. He works with a diverse group of clients providing insurance and risk management advice. Contact him at 907-276-7667 or paulh@ chialaska.com Mike Dennis is Vice President of Conrad Houston Insurance.

He has more than twentythree years of experience working with Alaska businesses to provide innovative insurance solutions.

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

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FINANCIAL SERVICES

© Chris Arend Photography

Debbie Bontemps, the owner of All Seasons Argo and Equipment, and Chad Steadman, a vice president with First National Bank Alaska.

Lines of Credit Offer Flexible Financing Making it possible to keep up with demand

By Tracy Barbour

A

s a full-service retail dealer of amphibious all-terrain vehicles, All Seasons Argo and Equipment sells what some people consider to be the Cadillac of ATVs. Argos, as the six-passenger rigs are called, can carry about 1,200 pounds and tow 1,800 pounds. They can travel across almost anything—dry land, water, swamps, and thick mud. This makes them a vehicle of choice for many hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts.

Anchorage-based All Seasons Argo and Equipment is used to the vehicles being a hot item during the spring/

34

summer season. But this year was different. Early shoppers and sales promotions accelerated the company’s inventory flow way beyond normal. “My vehicles were going out the door faster than I could get them here,” says owner Debbie Bontems. “I pushed my June order up three times and ended up shipping it May 30.”

Thanks to a $250,000 “flooring” credit line from First National Bank Alaska, Bontems was able to keep up with the demand. She accessed funds from the line to increase orders, and maintained adequate cash flow until the rigs could

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

be shipped in from Canada—a fourweek process—and sold.

While the flooring line came in handy for ramping up orders this year, Bontems initially opened the line in 2005 to reduce shipping costs by ordering Argos in larger quantities. Shipping just one of the five-foot-by-ten-foot vehicles runs about $1,700, compared to $1,200 each for twelve of them. Now the company orders twelve Argos at a time instead of eight, which translates into lower costs for customers. “Thanks to financing, we retail our Argo products at the same MSRP as any dealer in the www.akbizmag.com

Lower 48, who pays less than half in freight cost compared to us here,” Bontems explains.

Bontems maintains the credit line from year-to-year, regardless of whether or not she uses it. She appreciates having access to the backup capital and a positive relationship with the bank.

“We have been very appreciative of First National’s personable approach to a professional relationship; it’s a rare trait these days,” she says. “It is also noteworthy that they have willingly negotiated terms to be more accommodating. In short, they listen and value customer loyalty.”

Flexible Financing All Seasons Argo is among a significant number of businesses that are using a line of credit to maintain and grow operations. Credit lines are a common and convenient alternative to term loans, which differ significantly. With a term loan, all of the funds are dispersed up front, the interest rate is normally fixed, and the borrower makes a set number of monthly principle and interest payments. With a credit line, the borrower has immediate access to cash among a number of other advantages, according to Chad Steadman, a vice president with First National Bank Alaska.

“A line of credit allows you to get money advanced as you need it. You make interest-only payments on the principle.

It’s revolving,” Steadman explains.

Revolving credit gives businesses the flexibility to pay a fee to access a certain amount of cash and reborrow the funds once they have been repaid. It’s like renting money.

Credit lines are often used to fund short-term working capital needs from making payroll to ordering supplies. “It can help with short-term purchases if borrowers don’t have the capital or cash flow on hand,” Steadman says. “It can also help while borrowers are waiting for customers to pay them.”

That was exactly the situation with Hawk Consultants, which provides contract engineers and other professionals primarily to oil companies. The Anchorage firm opened a KeyBank credit line for approximately $500,000 in 1990 to carry payroll while it waited for clients to submit payments. Its contractors had to be paid bi-weekly, while the company had www.akbizmag.com

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35

to wait for months to receive checks from some of its customers. Having the credit line was critical back then, according to Managing Member Maynard Tapp. Without it, the company could have failed to survive and grow. “The relationship that we’ve established with KeyBank Stewart has allowed us to grow as fast as we possibly can,” Tapp says.

The credit line has steadily risen over the past twenty-plus years, but now Hawk Consultants has ample cash flow and no longer needs to use it. Regardless, he values his company’s working relationship with KeyBank, saying: “The fact that we’ve stayed with them all these years speaks for itself.”

Qualifying Factors Traditional lines of credit are typically secured by “soft” collateral like accounts receivable and inventory. With lines that are backed by accounts receivable, the amount of the financing is determined by the value of the accounts receivable, accounts payable, and other factors. “We’ll look at the accounts receivable to make sure it’s good quality,” Steadman says. “We’ll analyze who your customers are. We may believe in the borrower’s ability to repay, but it also comes down to their customers’ ability to pay them.”

The age of the accounts receivable and inventory is also a major area of consideration. At Wells Fargo bank, for example, financing generally isn’t offered for accounts receivables more than ninety days old. “The more stale the accounts receivable and inventory the less likely it will turn into cash,” says Wells Fargo’s Anchorage Business Banking Manager Bond Stewart.

Financial institutions finance accounts receivables and inventory at different percentages. Northrim Bank, for instance, offers financing on a significantly higher portion of earned and billed accounts receivables than on inventory. “We might only finance 50 percent of your inventory turn, but 75 to 80 percent of your accounts receivable turn,” says Commercial Loan Unit Manager and Bank Economist Mark Edwards. “It can be more if you’re well established and have a history of turning inventory over.”

On an accounts receivable line, 36

Nerland

Edwards

Northrim also analyzes the borrower’s collection history, bad debt write-offs, industry, and concentration of customers. Is there just one big customer needing to pay or multiple customers?

“All of those things can affect how aggressive we can be on the percentage of the amount you can borrow,” Edwards says.

Qualifying for a line of credit also is affected by the Five Cs of credit: conditions, capacity, character, collateral, and capital. These are the same factors that apply to any financing situation, according to KeyBank President Brian Nerland.

Businesses without an established track record in these areas could consider the Small Business Administration’s CAPLines program. The guaranteed line of credit ties repayment to the business’s cash cycle, rather than an arbitrary time schedule. “It’s a great resource for companies that are looking to expand,” Nerland says.

Under CAPLines, borrowers need adequately secured accounts receivable and/or inventory in to qualify. The program offers a variety of lines of credit, including a revolving line of credit, a fixed line of credit, a seasonal line of credit, and a longer-term straight line of credit with a one to five-year maturity.

Stewart points out that while it can be more difficult for newly established business to qualify for a line of credit, it doesn’t automatically preclude them from getting a credit line. That is, if the fundamentals are in place.

Credit lines vary in amount, ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. In general, there is no set limit for credit lines. The extent of the line weighs heavily on the strength of the company, its financials, and the collateral involved, according to Stewart.

Some financial institutions offer credit lines that are outside the traditional cash advance model. KeyBank’s

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

Business Cash Reserve credit line, for instance, transfers funds directly into a business checking account. With a limit of $10,000, the line is designed to provide overdraft protection against unexpected cash flow shortages. “It’s very popular for small businesses,” Nerland says.

Words of Advice Most banks renew credit lines annually, and adjust the amount, according to the economic condition of the business. “We typically like to have the lines renew, so that we look them over every year to make sure nothing adverse has happened to the business,” Stewart says.

Stewart also prefers to see credit lines rest. He explains, “This shows that you can manage your finances by collecting your receivables and paying down the line.”

Nerland has similar feelings. He says companies can get into difficulty if they employ a short-term line of credit for a long-term use. Therefore, they should be paying down their line, instead of always advancing it, he says. “Generally, the bank likes to see the line of credit revolve because it shows the business has the ability to repay it,” he adds.

Steadman of First National also cautions companies to not let their line go stale. Translation: Don’t run it up to the maximum and leave it there. “It should fluctuate with your accounts receivable,” he explains.

He also advises businesses not to wait until they need a line of credit. “If you’re actively managing your business, you should have a line,” he says.

You should also hire a professional to handle your accounting and bookkeeping, says Edwards of Northrim Bank.

A good certified public accountant can offer valuable advice that can help businesses better understand their profit margins, save money by not using credit cards, and better position themselves to secure a credit line. “We do lines of credit for people who don’t work with CPAs, but it is much easier to qualify if you have good historical financial recordkeeping,” Edwards says.  Former Alaskan Tracy Barbour writes from Tennessee. www.akbizmag.com

TELECOM & TECHNOLOGY

Cyber Security and Disaster Recovery

By Nicole A. Bonham Colby

Backups for Blackouts When routine maintenance work underway at the Swan Lake hydroelectric dam in Southeast Alaska inexplicably triggered an avalanche of energy loss across the Ketchikan grid on the morning of June 18, business owners citywide were left largely inoperable—except for those who had planned ahead for such an event and had adequate physicalplant and electronic-data protection measures in place.

The initial breaker that popped open that day carried 9 megawatts of power from Tyee dam. The event triggered a load-shed effect so significant that the 38

Photo courtesy OF Network Business Systems

W

hen an island-wide, threeplus-hour fluctuating blackout struck Ketchikan and vicinity in June, business owners and residents alike got a first-hand reminder about the need for adequate data-protection and disaster-recovery measures.

Such protections, along with adequate cyber security measures, are a must-have for any business these days, regardless of its size. The value of a company’s data has become, in many cases, its greatest asset—whether it be email history, electronic client records, or accounting systems. A damaged hard drive or hacked corporate email account can take on the significance today of the business fire of yesteryear.

Anchorage-based Network Business Systems Solution Architect Brandon Giroux (left) and Kale Blankenship, the company’s senior network engineer and solutions architect, work in the company’s server room.

entire island eventually experienced a widespread outage. Businesses catering to thousands of cruise ship tourists in town that day went dark. Some restaurants shut their doors. Electronic banking functions ceased. Workers citywide who were, moments earlier, busily typing away on their computers saw their office lights go off and any unprotected desktop machines grind to a halt.

That said, for others—those who worked at companies that had the forethought to invest in adequate data protection systems—the rhythmic “beep, beep, beep” of battery backup systems and Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems indicated that business could continue almost uninterrupted

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

for the time necessary to shut down critical systems and prevent damage from power bumps. For others, the additional protection of a diesel generator ensured business as usual.

Disaster Recovery Information security experts are frequently heard to say that the best disaster recovery program is one where any disaster is visualized and planned for beforehand, minimizing the need for subsequent “recovery.” Such “disasters” may include the threat of physical impact, such as the power outage experienced recently in Ketchikan, or more mundane and routine threats, such as simple user error. For example, www.akbizmag.com

some of the most frequent workplace data disasters occur when an employee inadvertently or unknowingly deletes critical data without sufficient backup protections in place.

There is a multitude of ways to lose data, according to Anchorage-based Network Business Systems’ Kale Blankenship, senior network engineer and solutions architect, and Brandon Giroux, also a solutions architect. The Alaskan-owned-and -operated company has corporate offices in Anchorage and North Dakota employs thirty-eight people and serves clients in all industry sectors, recently expanding to North Dakota to provide IT services to the oil and gas industry and related sectors.

Blankenship and Giroux say the most common threat of IT-related disaster for businesses is the inadvertent deletion of data by staff. Beyond the additional risk of natural disasters, the two men say businesses should consider the environment where servers and data are being stored. “High temperatures and power surges can cause premature failure of hardware and I don’t know how many times I’ve seen equipment installed directly below a water sprinkler head,” says Blankenship. “I can tell you from experience that water and servers do not mix.”

Power Systems Protections Software engineer Robert Renninger, owner of Ketchikan-based Software Engineering of Alaska, considers battery backup or UPS systems as critical safeguards for any business to prevent power-related damage. “People need that in Alaska because we have problems with brownouts and high voltage,” he says. “That can stop your hard drive from working and cause data loss.”

Renninger, who has worked in the industry for thirty-four years—eighteen years of it in Alaska—suggests that, over time, local business owners have become more savvy to the concept of valuing and protecting their electronic data as a vital company asset. As an example, although the recent power outage did affect many businesses in Ketchikan, the impact was not what it would have been years ago, he says.

“Evidently the town has learned,” he says. Historically, residents used simple surge protectors, or surge strips, to protect their computers. However, those are www.akbizmag.com

inadequate for the types of power-related damage that occurs in Southeast.

“Up here, it’s more about brownouts,” he says. Also, many historic buildings that have been converted to office space suffer from inadequate grounding.

“If you are on the dock, some of the buildings don’t have good grounds. So it’s good to have protection,” he says. “The grounds will come and go; and that gives you a floating voltage on your AC.” In lay person terms, “you don’t have a return ground on your AC voltage,” he says. “It causes problems. If you have bad power, you want something to filter that.”

Cyber Threats: Minimum Measures While high-profile cyber attacks make for hot headlines, few small businesses are specifically targeted by cyber attackers, according to Blankenship and Giroux. It is more common that data loss occurs from broad attacks against a large number of businesses and individuals. In the experience of the two security specialists, the best prevention measures include educating staff not to open attachments or click links in unknown

emails, to never give out login information, and to use strong passwords.

Particularly for small business, it may be difficult to determine what level of scope and effort should be dedicated to data protection, such as cyber security and disaster recovery measures.

Naturally a small business that has only one desktop computer that runs one program, perhaps QuickBooks, is less threat-prone than a large, multi-site company with hundreds of employees all able to access the Internet on their workstations. Furthermore, a large firm may be less or more risk averse than a small, operating-on-a shoestring mom-and-pop operation.

Firewalls and Anti-Virus Software “In a smaller business, the main thing is that they have a good anti-virus software and that they are behind a firewall. Often, that is all they can afford,” says Renninger, who recommends the antivirus program Avira for clients. “It uses very little processing power. It can be scanning your computer and you can still use your computer,” he says. Also, “it can

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39

be used on older machines.” The critical concern is that business equipment not be connected directly to the Internet, he says. “If you don’t have a router, you want to have a firewall on your machine,” Renninger says. “If you have a router, you can use the router firewall.”

Blankenship and Giroux suggest that business size is less important than the potential cost to the business in the event of data loss, data leak, or down time. At the minimal level, companies of all sizes should run anti-virus on their computers, apply software updates in a timely manner, enforce strong passwords, and not allow staff to log in to their workstations with administrative permissions.

Additionally, if a business allows remote access to the computer network, the firewall should be configured to allow only the necessary services. Setting appropriate permissions so that staff may only access the data they need is also important, as is the physical security of servers, Blankenship and Giroux say.

Plus, any company should, at minimum, perform onsite backups and store interval copies of the backups offsite at a secure location. Options for backup stor-

age include: tapes, portable hard drives, or a backup provider in the “cloud.” The two men suggest that companies with multiple locations may opt to replicate data between sites. For further protection, they recommend automating the process to remove the risk of human error.

Data Back Up Renninger, Blankenship, and Giroux all agree it is equally important for a company to identify exactly what it will take to get operations back up and running in the event of a disaster.

They say the basic measures described are adequate for companies able to survive while new equipment is ordered and data restored from such backups. For companies needing immediate access, additional measures are necessary, such as having a mirrored image of operations systems available and ready to go.

Finally, the network security specialists suggest to document, document, document. The final steps in a sound disaster recovery plan are to record how the data will be restored, to fully document the procedure, and to conduct regular tests of the restoration process.

Cloud Confidentiality For operators concerned with confidentiality, what assurances are there that confidential data can be stored in the cloud and remain confidential?

Blankenship and Giroux say it is possible to securely store confidential data in the cloud; however, the business operator cannot simply trust that the cloud provider will address the confidentiality on their end. The process to ensure confidential data starts at the business operator level. The best and most secure method is to ensure that any cloud backup solution encrypts the data at the business operator’s location with a strong password provided and controlled by the business operator.

That occurs well before any transmission to the cloud for data storage, they say. Modern encryption combined with a long, complex password is very secure, according to Blankenship and Giroux.

“Any of the good cloud-based [solutions] are highly encrypted,” Renninger says.  Nicole A. Bonham Colby writes from Ketchikan.

Reputation

Corporate Image Awareness

Market Leadership The reasons to advertise are abundant. Maybe you want to build a stronger corporate identity or establish leadership status. Or perhaps you are more product or service oriented and want to drive traffic to your business or website. Call me or send an email. I will help you reach the business audience in Alaska.

Charles Bell Vice President Sales (907) 230-8213 cbell@akbizmag.com ASK ABOUT PRINT & DIGITAL OPTIONS

40

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

www.akbizmag.com

Power to move.

Carlile has a knack for moving big things safely across Alaska and North America. We have the expertise and equipment to help you achieve your project goals – even if they include harnessing the power of the wind.

Carlile helped move massive wind turbines for wind farm projects in Alaska.

Can your trucking company do that? Carlile can.

www.carlile.biz l 1.800.478.1853 ROAD - RAIL - SEA - AIR

TRANSPORTATION

Long Haul Trucking Alaska operators thrive

By Nicole A. Bonham Colby

Photo by Judy Patrick

W

A Carlile trucker wipes snow off tail lights.

42

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

ith the economy and increased driver shortage again making the list of top critical issues of concern facing the North American trucking industry, Alaska operators echo the two influences as worrisome but nonetheless continue to thrive, blanketing the state with a network of complex cargo transport options.

Whether transporting industrial mining equipment from the Northwest to a Juneau-area mine or freight from ship ooad in Anchorage to a Fairbanks shop, Alaska’s network of trucking companies specialize in conquering www.akbizmag.com

Photo courtesy of Span Alaska Trucking Inc.

Span Alaska hauling cargo on the Seward Highway, south of Anchorage.

the transiting challenging geography and distances to ensure on-time, consistent delivery options for Alaska’s business and residential community.

The freight hauled also provides a useful snapshot as to the health and diversity of the state’s economy at any one time.

Marriage Made in Logistics Perhaps one of the biggest headlines of the Alaska transport industry this year was the May announcement that Seattle-based Saltchuk Resources had acquired Carlile Transportation Syswww.akbizmag.com

tems, one of Alaska’s largest and most high-profile trucking and logistics companies, for an undisclosed price.

Both family-owned operations, each company seemingly fills a gap for the other. Saltchuk Resources is parent to several transportation and petroleum distribution companies, including its shipping and logistics operation TOTE, Inc. Within the TOTE, Inc. structure of companies (which includes the separate Totem Ocean Trailer Express that is familiar to many coastal Alaskans), Carlile is part of TOTE Logistics.

Safety record, entrepreneurial spirit, and strength in the Alaska logistics market are among the reasons that Saltchuk Resources was attracted to Carlile Transportation Systems, says TOTE Logistics President James Armstrong.

“Carlile has an excellent safety record...

That was certainly a huge plus,” says Armstrong. “It’s a very customer-driven organization. TOTE can provide a lot of the foundational expertise from an operational, finance, and systems standpoint that allows an entrepreneurial company to continue to grow.” The Carlile acquisi-

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

43

Photo by Judy Patrick

A large generator is being loaded onto a Carlile rig at the Port of Anchorage.

S

AC

M

SERVICES

“Carlile is a solutions company,” Armstrong says. “They were already doing a lot of business with Saltchuk. They value strong partnerships. We want to continue those partnerships.”

—James Armstrong President, TOTE Logistics

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

email: info@seatacmarine.com 44

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

tion rounds out the Saltchuk Resources portfolio regarding logistics services to, from, and within Alaska. “It was a big gap that we had in Alaska – the logistics piece,” says Armstrong. “You take the entrepreneurial spirit [of Carlile] and put a sophisticated engine [of infrastructure support and peripheral services] behind that. It’s going to be phenomenal.”

“Carlile is a solutions company,” Armstrong says. “They were already doing a lot of business with Saltchuk.

They value strong partnerships. We want to continue those partnerships.”

With seven hundred employees involved in the company’s service to Alaska, it provides 350 tractors and 1,600 www.akbizmag.com

pieces of trailer equipment. The company has terminal offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Prudhoe Bay, Seward, Kenai, and Kodiak, from which it provides transport and logistics services across the state.

When asked what sector constitutes the company’s primary customer base, Armstrong replied that the company’s breadth covers a multitude of industries and sectors and in some fashion serves as an indicator of the strengths and weaknesses of Alaska’s economy.

“We [cover] a pretty big cross section of industry in Alaska. It pretty much mirrors Alaska’s economy,” Armstrong says. “We’re doing construction, oil and gas, military, and retail—we’re doing, really, everything. If one of those areas is growing, we’re growing in that area.

Every time there is development in oil and gas or a new project or major military—all those things impact our business. It’s really a cross section of what’s happening in Alaska.”

Regarding the challenges of doing business in the 49th State, Armstrong says that it comes down to the people and their experience. “There are challenges everywhere,” he says. “We also do business into other markets. Frankly Alaska has some of the most challenging conditions. But our safety record in Alaska is probably best in our network.

It all has to do with the experience you hire and how you train your employees.”

The Alaska wild card does play a role in the method of transport necessary to get goods from one point to another.

That, and the customer’s specific need, are factors that go into determining the best solution for timely delivery. “It’s geography. It’s the lead time the customers have, the commodity they are shipping...There is a different solution for each,” he says. “There could be ten different handoffs in the supply chain and we handle it all the way through.”

Spanning Alaska With the slogan “Dependable freight transportation to and from Alaska,” Span Alaska Transportation, Inc. knows the 49th state inside and out and was started more than three decades ago by Ray Landry, already a transport industry veteran at that time. Landry passed away this year in June at age eighty-three but lived to see his legacy continue. Span Alaska Transportation, Inc. remains family www.akbizmag.com

Pacific Alaska Freightways readying for a long haul.

Photo courtesy of PAF

Northland Services: Consider it done.

Since 1977, Northland has provided reliable freight transportation between Seattle, Alaska and Hawaii. With more than 140 sailings annually, Northland delivers cargo to more destinations in the 49th and 50th states than any other marine carrier. Heavy equipment, construction materials, seafood or supplies to remote villages; you name it, Northland delivers. So next time, ship with confidence.

Ship with Northland.

Contact us at 1.800.426.3113 northlandservices.com

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

45

‘Work Hard and Enjoy What We Do’ Based in Fife, Washington, and serving Alaska customers since 1961, Pacific Alaska Freightways (PAF) hauls “general freight of every kind” to, from, and throughout Alaska, says Curt Dorn, of PAF’s National Sales and Marketing.

“Mainly business-to-business or to-job site,” he says. “We work with seafood processors and canneries for supplies but do not ship fish. Construction is a core competency of PAF’s. Our clients depend on PAF for solutions that are customized to meet and exceed their expectations.”

With the company for more than six years, Dorn says that PAF is an easy company with which to do business.

“We work hard and enjoy what we do,” he says. “PAF has the unique ability to 46

Photo by Judy Patrick

owned and is operated today by Landry’s children, moving freight from the Lower 48 to all points in Alaska, says Span Alaska’s Vice President of Sales Kathy Lorec, who started with the company in 1982 as its sixth employee. “We are a private, family-owned and -operated company with many long-term employees who have a great deal of expertise in this market and who care,” she says. “We offer excellent service at a competitive price.” The company employs 150 people at its offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, Wasilla, and Auburn, Washington, and operates 35 trucks and more than 250 pieces of rolling equipment.

In describing the company’s services, Lorec says, “The majority of our freight moves to the Railbelt of Alaska via ship and barge—although we move a significant amount of freight to Southeast Alaska, as well. We have a diversified account base and move all types of freight other than that which requires refrigeration and household goods. We serve the wholesale and retail markets of almost every type of business in Alaska.” Because much of Alaska is off the road system, companies like Span Alaska utilize a broad base of multimodal solutions to get their goods from point A to B. For customers in Southeast, Bristol Bay, and western Alaska, that means using barge service. “The challenge is to get the freight to the customer in good shape, in time, and at a reasonable cost,” she says.

A Carlile rig with a steel girder destined for a long haul to a bridge project.

provide a vast array of services and genuinely establish long-lasting solutions for those clients in need of reliable freight service. It is rewarding to be able to help folks out, be a part of their business success, and turn negative experiences they may have had in the past elsewhere into a positive PAF experience.”

Pacific Alaska Freightways staffs four offices in Alaska at Anchorage, Fairbanks, Soldotna, and Kodiak. The company employs 127 workers and operates sixtyfive trucks overall, with fifty of them in Alaska. Last year, the company realized a strong increase in 2012 cargo movement.

“We moved several ocean containers, flat beds, and drop decks serving the entire state of Alaska,” says Dorn. “Total weight in 2012 was 245,921,137 pounds, or 122,961 tons; while in 2011, the amounts were 241,008,799 pounds, or 120,505 tons.” The company highlights that it takes pride in ensuring the best value to Alaska customers through custom packaging its services to best meet the need of the specific client and freight, whether it’s over-height or –length or requiring a special hands-on approach. Beyond its commercial clients, the company offers a household services component as a transport alternative to traditional movers.

What makes operating in Alaska unusual? Dorn cites the three T’s. “Tides, turbulence and toil...the weather, schedules, unique client requirements, and communication and remoteness of

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

some locations,” he says. “Did I say the weather?”

In the geography category is Southeast Alaska, largely cut off from traditional roadway transport due to its island archipelago makeup. That’s not a problem for Pacific Alaska Freightways, he says. “We receive freight for Southeast Alaska at our Tacoma and Chicago terminals, consolidate for a single sailing when requested, and partner with a barge service for last mile delivery in Southeast Alaska.”

Driver Shortage and Other Issues Each year, the American Transportation Research Institute produces a report, commissioned by the American Trucking Associations, to identify top issues of concern across the nation’s fleet of small and large trucking companies. Released in the fall and compiled from an annual survey of four thousand-plus trucking executives, the report for 2012 identified that operators considered the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety and Accountability factor as their top concern. Hours-ofservice regulation ranked second, with the economy as the third issue of most concern to trucking operators. While driver shortage ranked fourth nationwide, it is a concern that has gained extra traction in Alaska where local operators have watched their workforce of www.akbizmag.com

tal drivers. We have some ideas how to

“You have to stay on top of it. You treat your employees well; that’s address that. It’s more of a recruiting issue...Recruiting is the challenge. There one of the big things.”

— Kathy Lorec Vice President of Sales, Span Alaska

trained drivers increasingly leave Alaska for the lure of the booming oil and gas fields of North Dakota.

“You have to stay on top of it,” says Span Alaska’s Lorec. “You treat your employees well; that’s one of the big things” to employee retention. The economy is always a concern, she says, and forecasting such ebbs and flows is a challenge to business operators who wish to run an effective business without becoming reactionary. “Our concentration is the freight that comes from the Lower 48 to Alaska. We feel like we take the pulse of the economy every week by how much freight we have. The Anchorage economy is doing very well. Of course everyone is very concerned with what will happen in 2014 with sequestration and how that will affect the military.”

While Pacific Alaska Freightways’ Dorn echoes that each of the concerns

identified by the national survey is also of importance to his company, more so are the impending changes to roll down in employee healthcare and its impact on the business operator. He lists “the uncertainties and potential negative effect of the Affordable Care Act” as a top concern. “We simply do not know how this will affect us as our government has done an inadequate job with communications and implementation,” Dorn says.

At TOTE Logistics, recruitment as it relates to growth management constitutes a top concern. The topic speaks to the driver shortage issue identified by executives in the national survey as key to the industry’s ongoing success.

“Our bigger concern is growth. We’ve been growing 15 percent a year,” says TOTE Logistics’s Armstrong. The company is analyzing how best to “accommodate the growth and add incremen-

is a limited pool in Alaska that you’re pulling from. We have to be very creative in how we can recruit drivers.”

Armstrong’s experience is that training plays a role in subsequent retention of the employee once they are part of the organization. “We take our drivers through sort of a progression in training. We try to train our drivers at the same level, very high standards. There’s a rite of passage.

“We haven’t had a tremendous amount of turnover...it’s more that they leave for family reasons or other reasons,” Armstrong says. “We try to build in a lot of flexibility.” For example, the company trains drivers to be qualified and sufficiently experienced to work throughout its geographic network. “We train all the drivers to do everything,” he says. “They are always learning and very engaged in the business.”  Nicole A. Bonham Colby writes from Ketchikan.

SPAN ALASKA’S SERVICE means we all sleep easy.

.....

Span has a great attitude toward taking care of us. They make it their personal business to follow through on everything and make sure we get what we need when we need it.

Obviously, we’re very customer service oriented here at the Cook – and so are they.

– Glenn Specking, Chief Building Engineer, Hotel Captain Cook

SHIPPING TO ALASKA? CALL. 1.800.257.7726 www.spanalaska.com

promises made, promises delivered

Glenn Specking, Chief Building Engineer, Hotel Captain Cook

www.akbizmag.com

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

47

AGENDA

Compiled By Tasha Anderson

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Alaska Business Monthly’s Top 49ers Luncheon

August

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Institute of the North’s Week of the Arctic August 12-18—The Institute has been convening Week of the Arctic since 2011 to help Alaskans understand the critical challenges and issues at stake in the Arctic.

It culminates with the Robert O. Anderson Sustainable Arctic Award, which recognizes and individual or organization for long-time achievement in balancing development of Arctic resources with respect for the environment and local benefit. institutenorth.org, 907-786-6324

September 17-18—Anchorage Marriott Downtown, Anchorage: The Annual Alaska Oil and Gas Congress brings together oil and gas professionals from across the US, Canada, and abroad and is dedicated to updates on projects, policy, opportunities, and challenges in the oil and gas industry in Alaska. alaskaoilandgascongress.com

Arctic/Cold Regions Oil Pipeline Conference

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September 17-19—Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center, Anchorage: This conference will consist of presentations addressing the unique challenges associated with the construction and operation of pipelines in the Alaska Arctic/Cold Regions. shannonwilson.com

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September 17-21—Hotel Captain Cook, Anchorage: The Alaska Association of Realtors 2013 Convention theme is “No Excuses” and will be hosted by the Valley Board of Realtors. alaskarealtors.com/2011-convention/ September 23-28—Anchorage Marriott Downtown, Anchorage: The theme is “Today’s Vision, Tomorrow’s Reality” includes training, workshops, lectures, and a firefighter competition. facebook.com/AlaskaFireConference

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October

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October 9-11—Anchorage Marriott Downtown, Anchorage: Events include keynote speakers and training sessions. Registration required. alaskahousing-homeless.org

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October 18—The Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage: Payroll training and networking event; payroll and finance vendor fair. alaskaapaconference.org

Native Knowledge: Respecting and Owning our Living Culture

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Alaska Miners Association Annual Convention and Trade Show

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October 1-3—Kodiak Harbor Convention Center, Kodiak: Annual convention of the Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant & Retailer’s association. This year’s them is “Strut Your Style on the Emerald Isle.” alaskacharr.com Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

October 24-26—Carlson Center, Fairbanks: Annual gathering of Alaska Native peoples to discuss current news and events on a state, national and international level. This year’s theme is “Traditional Family Values,” with keynote speaker Nelson Angapak.

907-263-1307, nativefederation.org agrohall@nativefederation.org.

Date TBA—Sheraton Hotel, Anchorage: Includes luncheons, banquets, keynote speakers, and short courses. Registration required. alaskaminers.org

Associated General Contractors of Alaska Annual Conference

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November 13-16—Anchorage: AGC of Alaska is a nonprofit construction trade association edicated to improving the professional standards of the construction industry. agcak.org

Annual Local Government Conference November 18-22—Anchorage akml.org

RDC Annual Conference: Alaska Resources

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November 20-21—Timely updates on projects and prospects, addresses key issues and challenges, and considers the implications of state and federal policies on Alaska oil and gas, mining, and other resource development sectors. akrdc.org

Bilingual Multicultural Education/ Equity Conference

October 21-24—Centennial Hall Convention Center, Juneau act-dot.com

Alaska Federation of Natives Annual Convention

October 28-30—Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center, Anchorage: Largest conference and trade show for public power utilities in Alaska, held every other year. Learn about the latest practices, innovations, and technology in the electric utility industry through education sessions, a trade show, and networking.

Contact: Gail Patterson 360-816-1450 gail@nwppa.org nwppa.org

November

October 21-23—Carlson Center, Fairbanks: Sponsored by the First Alaskans Institute, the Elders & Youth Conference stimulates dialogue between young people and Elders, and encourages the maintenance of traditional Native values and practices in a modern world. Registration required. firstalaskans.org, info@firstalaskans.org 907-677-1700

October 25-28—Hotel Captain Cook, Anchorage: Annual conference of the Alaska Association of School Business Officials. alasbo.org

NWPPA/APA Alaska Electric Utility Conference

Alaska Community Transit/ DOT Conference

Alaska CHARR Convention

48

October 8-10—Sheldon Jackson Campus, Sitka: Gathering for Alaska’s tourism industry leaders with delegates from tour operators, wholesalers, Alaska vendors, destination marketing organizations, and elected officials. Registration required. alaskatia.org

Alaska Statewide Payroll Conference: The Great Land of Payroll

Arctic Science Conference September 26-28—Kodiak Harbor Convention Center, Kodiak: This year’s theme is, “Fisheries and Watersheds: Food Security, Education and Sustainability.” The conference features a variety of sessions focusing on marine science, sustainability, circumpolar health, and interdisciplinary education.

Contact: Brian Himelbloom bhhimelbloom@alaska.edu 907-486-1529, arcticaaas.org

October 7-11—Princess Lodge, Fairbanks: This year’s theme is “The Practice of Fisheries: Celebrating all who work toward sustainable fisheries in Alaska.” afs-alaska.org

Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness Conference

Alaska Fire Conference

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October 7-9—Westmark Hotel and Conference Center, Fairbanks: A continuing medical education conference put on by the Alaska Academy of Physicians Assistants, providing up to 25 CMEs. akapa.org

Alaska Travel Industry Association Convention & Trade Show

AAR Convention

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ALASBO Annual Conference

American Fisheries Society Alaska Chapter Annual Meeting

Alaska Oil and Gas Congress

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October 2—Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center, Anchorage: Come honor the top Alaskan-owned and -operated companies ranked by gross revenue at our annual luncheon.

Contact: Tasha Anderson, 907-276-4373 surveys@akbizmag.com, akbizmag.com

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All-Alaska Medical Conference

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September

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November 20-22—Sheraton, Anchorage: BMEEC is the largest gathering of educators in Alaska every year, sharing strategies and practices that increase the expertise of all educators in an environment of collegial exchange. bmeec.net

December

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Alaska Young Fishermen’s Summit December 10-12—Marriott Hotel Downtown, Anchorage: Created by the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, this summit is designed to provide information and opportunities for fishermen under forty and/ or in the business for less than five years. seagrant.uaf.edu/map/workshops/2013/ayfs www.akbizmag.com

Building Alaska special section

Photo courtesy of Mayor’s Office, Municipality of Anchorage

Port of Anchorage Update Reviewing options before proceeding

T

he Port of Anchorage is a busy place in the summer. Ships come in to deliver goods that are distributed to all points within the state: building materials, cement ships, cruise vessels, and regular shipments of household items. In May of this year, the first ever US Navy ship commissioning ceremony took place on the docks of the port in a historical event.

In recent years at the Port, the vision for an expanded and improved infrastructure has been paused due to severe delays in construction.

Mayor Dan Sullivan commented: “In 2009 I was briefed during my transition from Assemblyman to Mayor that the construction project was not going smoothly. It immediately became a priority of my Administration to find out what went wrong and what it was going to take to fix it. My office has been diligent with investigating the issues of the project and how to avoid problems in the future. We’ve increased communication with all parties involved. At the end of the day, this project is too vital to fail and the responsibility to fix it lies within the city leadership.”

Suitability Study In September of 2011, the US Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District contracted with CH2M Hill on behalf of the Municipality of Anchorage to conduct an independent Suitability Study of the Open Cell Sheet Pile foundation system designed and partially constructed to support the Intermodal Expansion Project. On November 9, 2012, the Anchorage Assembly and the Geotechnical Advisory Committee were briefed on the Draft Suitability Study findings, and the final Suitability Study Report was delivered on February 14 this year.

The suitability study determined that the Open Cell Sheet Pile system, as designed for the Port of Anchorage, did not meet design criteria for static and seismic stability. www.akbizmag.com

Design Charrette Based on the draft findings of the Suitability Study Report, we again contracted with CH2M Hill to develop a repair/ improvement strategy for constructing a new dock at the North End of the Port of Anchorage Terminal and to stabilize and remove the areas that were deemed not successfully constructed and those that had major defects.

In November 2012, a value-based design charrette was held to obtain public and private stakeholder input on the development of three concept designs. Over the course of three days, representatives from the US Maritime Administration, the Municipality of Anchorage, the Port of Anchorage, Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Horizon Lines, Cook Inlet Tug & Barge, the South West Alaska Pilots Association, the US Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District, and the CH2M Hill design team worked to achieve four objectives: 1. Obtain public and private stakeholder input on the development of up to three concepts to an approximate 15 percent design level for presentation to the Executive Committee; 2. Optimize a solution for expanding the Port of Anchorage with safe berths; 3. Reach consensus on project constraints and factors for evaluating options; 4. Partner with private entities, tenants, and various agencies involved in the Port of Anchorage.

Concept Design Study After the charrette, CH2M Hill was directed to proceed to 15 percent design on three concept options. In February of this year, CH2M Hill completed the Port of Anchorage Intermodal Expansion Project Concept Design Study, unveiling three concept design alternatives developed and evaluated on the project goals, the findings of the Suitability Study, and the outcomes of the design charrette. An overview of the concept alternatives, the evaluation criteria used to select a recommended alternative, and the estimated investment costs were

Port of Anchorage

presented to the Anchorage Assembly on March 8 and to the Geotechnical Advisory Committee on March 19.

The Municipality of Anchorage is currently reviewing the information from both the Suitability Study and the Concept Design Study to determine the most appropriate path forward for the Port of Anchorage Intermodal Expansion Project.

The project goals as articulated in the Concept Design Study: a. Provide adequate facilities to support transportation needs of the Port for state and local commerce as well as the national strategic military transport mission for years to come; b. Provide a modern, safe, and efficient regional port that stimulates economic development and the movement of goods into and out of Southcentral Alaska; c. Expand and maintain expositing property, facilities, and equipment to meet growth in established marine trade; d. Encourage natural resource exports and create employment opportunities by attracting new industry and new cargo movement.

For more information call the main number 907-343-6200, the Port summer tour hotline at 907-343-6230, or visit www.portofalaska.com.  SOURCE: Office of Mayor Dan Sullivan, Municipality of Anchorage

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

49

special section

Building Alaska

© 2013 Chris Arend Photography

Project floor at the NANA Construction, LCC Big Lake facility.

Fabricated Construction Building with modules

By Margaret Sharpe

T

he fabricated construction concept is not unfamiliar to Alaska companies. Projects in the state have used modules since the late 1950s.

“Most of the first constructed modular units were remnants from WWII—using the Quonset hut,” says Richard Tisch, business development manager for SolstenXP. As a project management and contracting service company, SolstenXP works with modules on their infrastructure and facilities construction jobs.

“There is a certain amount of waste when you have to ship materials up here for construction, with scrap resulting from everything you fit. In essence, you’ve paid to ship scrap up here,” says Tisch. “It is easier to have the module manufactured offsite, and you end up

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with a partially completed building block, like Legos; that way, you don’t pay for that excess [waste] product.”

Operation costs and constructions costs are high in Alaska because of weather and remote logistics. The time crunch applies to both the summer construction season and the winter ice road season. “Time is money; using prefab modules takes some of that risk out of projects for us,” says Tisch. “With modules, you are off and running—it works really well in Alaska.”

Marsh Creek, LLC In answer to the winter season, Marsh Creek, LLC, which is jointly owned by Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation and SolstenXP, has their patented Artic Pac to

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

keep equipment well insulated in arctic conditions. Developed over the years, the module is self-climatized and has been brutally tested in locations like Northern Siberia, where conditions are “as bad as it gets,” says John Cameron, General Manager for Marsh Creek’s Energy Systems division. The Arctic Pac is a pre-packaged generator set housed in an insulated and acclimatized portable prefabricated building.

Randy Eledge, VP of Business Development for Marsh Creek, points out the benefits of building in a controlled environment and then transporting the completed structure to the project site.

“Building on the Slope, you have to considered that you’re going to have to be billeted somewhere on the Slope close www.akbizmag.com

to the jobsite. That is very expensive.

You have to have the camps, and all the catering, transportation to and from the job site,” says Eledge.

Marsh Creek builds their own specialized modules, but they also use other local builders. “Most of the modules we do are steel built, not wood,” says Eledge. “We have used Builders Choice for modules for an Eni project, a water and wastewater system that Eni purchased and asked us to outfit for them, but we don’t do wood.” Eledge points out that Marsh Creek modules are built to house the equipment, and Builders Choice modules are more often for personnel.

Builders Choice, Inc. Builders Choice, Inc. (BCI) is owned by Mark and Sandi Larson. “We build modular dormitories, schools, offices, court houses—a real variety of things,” says Mark Larson, President. “A lot of [our modular] units are used in the oil and gas industry. Our niche is successfully building arctic-grade construction.”

“We just finished up a project at Exxon Point Thomson where we built the permanent living facility, permanent offices, and the dining facility. We did all the modular build,” says Larson. “The field installation started in June. All modules have been set, and then the interstitial work will begin, connecting up the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing to make it a complete facility.”

Larson says the modular units are typically finished, from 80 to 95 percent complete, when they leave their Anchorage facility.

BCI is currently working on a hotel in Barrow. “They are working now on site work, on the foundation now,” says Larson. With the short building season, BCI is simultaneously constructing the finished product. “By the time we get up there, set the project, we actually can find the timeframe to complete has sometimes reduced by as much as 50 percent.

So by constraining that time, you automatically saved yourself quite a bit of money.” The hotel will ship in August, barging from Anchorage to Barrow.

Labor costs are greatly reduced for remote-site projects. “By building here, we lower the cost of the labor, because we’re not feeding, housing and transporting [it],” says Larson. By the same www.akbizmag.com

token, BCI is extending the construction season considerably for local laborers, who are now able to work yearround indoors at their fixed site.

The BCI facility also allows for better quality control opportunities over a site build. “Being able to do the QC at ground level on everything in a multi-level complex—it pushes your quality up immensely,” says Larson. “You have to do a lot of pre-planning. Making changes later in the process, you are basically remodeling a finished building, tearing down dry wall finishes and moving things.”

Alaska Dreams, Inc. Alaska Dreams, Inc., has been in the business of making advanced fabriccovered steel buildings and pre-engineered metal buildings for 30 years.

“We design, construct and install fabric covered structures,” says Meini Huser, President and CEO. He cited the same cost-saving benefits, such as shorter construction time and cost; but with his product, foundation requirements are less compared to conventional construction. “After a project is complete, you can basically disassemble the entire structure and move it to a new location without losing anything.”

“It started out being cold storage or shelters,” says Huser, “we developed insulation packages for them, and now we have fully functional shops, warehouses, airplane hangars—just about anything you can imagine can be housed inside one of those buildings.” Several structures have combined retail/office space and manufacturing. “A good example for it is our custom fabric shop that we have here in our yard in Fairbanks.”

“We are currently working on some buildings going to Point Thomson for that project. So construction on those will start in August,” says Huser. Some of the smaller structures are manufactured in Fairbanks, but for bigger structures, they do the design work and have them manufactured elsewhere.

“The structure comes disassembled by truck or barge to Anchorage, and then trucked and finally assembled [by us] at the project site,” he says.

From tent to permanent structure, the evolution of their product is amazing. “We developed and engineered the structures so they would pass permitted applications,” says Huser. The MuniciAugust 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

51

pality of Anchorage is one of the tougher places to get a structural permit. “We are probably the only ones who actually built fully permitted fabric structures in Anchorage. That was quite a process to learn all that.� The challenge is finding a fabric that will hold up in the cold and the heat. “The wind is one of our big constants, especially on the North Slope,� he says.

Structures by Alaska Dreams that can be seen in Anchorage are the warehouse for Graybar Electric, off of Potter and C Street; the Port of Anchorage also has some of their buildings; and Anchorage Sand and Gravel has a 72 by 120 foot building. All of these are fully permitted structures.

NANA Construction, LLC NANA Construction, LLC (NCC) formed five years ago in answer to the increase in need for Alaska-based module fabrication, construction, and operations and maintenance services.

NANA staff, on the other hand, have pioneered building truckable industrial modules in Alaska. Led by the company President R.F. (Mac) McKee, who has

NANA’s Big Lake manufacturing plant can employ at least 200 people. Š 2013 Josh Lonas

been in construction management for over four decades, NCC is poised to be on the leading edge of providing modular units to the oil and gas industry. “Basically, we service the oil and gas and mining industries and oil field related projects—construction of all types,� says McKee. “We do fabrication and truckable module assembly in our facilities in Big Lake.�

The fabrication facility at Big Lake represents the footprint of a true manufacturing facility. NCC had the opportunity to design the facility around the

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 ­€€‚  ƒ „ … ‚ ƒ†‚‡ˆƒ „ ‚ ‰ Š ƒ ˆ‚† Š‹ƒ„†ƒ‡Œ  ­„† ˆ­ Œ‚ ­„‹ˆƒ­‡ …  ‹ ˆ­€ ‰ƒŠ‚ Œ„ ‰ Š ƒ ˆƒ­‡ Stressed skin urethane core panels successfully used for years in arctic conditions as components for foundations, walls, floors and roof structural panels.

52

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

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philosophy of being a high production, efficient manufacturing plant. “We are capable of running two shifts out of the facility... we can handle well over 200 workers at Big Lake without a problem.�

NCC has three distinct business lines of modular manufacturing. The first being the fabrication and assembly of process modules. The second is the manufacturing of Blast Resistant Modules (BRM). The third business line is light infrastructure modular construction.

NCC is the only Alaska company building BRMs suitable for arctic environments. “We have completed extensive research and development, as well as field-testing multiple wall and panel assemblies,� says Sagen Juliussen, VP of Business Development.

BRMs protect personnel from a potential blast source. Typically used as temporary offices, they are also being considered as an option for control rooms and living quarters located in areas of a potential blast.

The light infrastructure modules are typically wood-framed and produced in an assembly line. Examples are camps, offices, break shacks, guard shacks, and bath/wash rooms. These units can be stand alone or multiple unit complexes up to four stories high. “We bring a unique perspective to the light modular construction in Alaska by providing a true turnkey solution to our clients’ needs,� says Juliussen.

Acsys Acsys President Werner Nennecker has invented a modular construction product that is “extremely thermally efficient–35 to 40 percent better than the best conventional stick and wall frame you can build,� he says. www.akbizmag.com

Today, Acsys is the sole producer of the tekR Series, a structural thermal envelope system, for the last three years.

Thermal efficiency can go a long way in Alaska, but the tekR Series has another attribute: speed of construction.

“Thermal performance is key in your [Alaska] environment and the fact that we go up fast” says Nennecker. “You have a short construction period, so you want to get your building dried in very quickly.” On the Norton Sound Regional Hospital in Nome, Nennecker worked with the architect firm McCool, Carlson, Green in Anchorage.

Neeser did the construction and was able to close the building in a very short amount of time, basically extending the construction season.

The panels are a light gauge galvanized, corrugated steel core. “Like a ridged potato chip on the inside,” says Nennecker. “Those ridges form the structural capability of the panel.” There are no toxic materials, just galvanized steel and expanded polystyrene foam, which are both recycled and reused in the factory. “Nothing leaves our plant that is not final product for the job site,” he says.

Working with architects Bezek Durst Seiser, Acsys provided their panels for the Ayagina’ar Elitnaurvik school in Kongiganak. Because of the preplanned design and packaging, the panels were installed using all local labor. “There are five steps you need to know to install the panels; typical training is under two hours,” says Nennecker. “It goes that well because of the time and energy put into the planning—and the detail work with the architect and engineer before any metal is actually cut...

If the design is right and the panels are produced to that spec, it basically goes in like a Lego set: it’s assembled rather than constructed.”

Cornerstone Construction Joe Jolley, Cornerstone VP, explains how the idea of modularization or prefabrication is a subset of Lean Construction, a nationwide and worldwide movement toward eliminating waste and maximizing efficiency. The pre-fab approach allows for offsite assembly line manufacturing in a controlled environment versus having to basically set up a “factory” at the construction site for

each and every construction project in an uncontrolled environment, where weather and seasonal/access delays can affect the project timeline.

“We have a fascinating project going on right now with the State where we are building a dorm for the AVTEC campus in Seward,” says Jolley.

“This is an exciting project,” Jolley adds. “Reducing disruptions to AVTEC’s academic calendar has been paramount, and the modular approach is allowing our team to build the new dorm in less than nine months.”

But building with modules is not for every construction project, explains Mike Selhay, Project Manager for the dorm project. “The efficiency stems from repetition, which is common in hotels, mancamps, dorms, and any construction where you are building 40 or more of the same thing over and over again. Then modular fabrication really makes sense.” 

Margaret Sharpe writes from Palmer.

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53

special section

Building Alaska

Photo by Mark Meyer

Access Alaska’s new building fully embraces the Universal Design seamless accessibility philosophy.

Access Alaska Celebrates Universal Design at the New Remodeled Facility All Alaskans benefit from all-inclusive access

I

By Nichelle Seely

’m standing in the sundrenched lobby of Access Alaska, talking to Simon Marelas Jr. about what this agency has done for him. I can faintly smell the fresh paint, and the light is gleaming softly from the new polished concrete floor and wood panels.

“Everything. They do everything.

Help me get a place to live, help me get a fresh start,” Marelas says.

His voice is slightly slurred because Marelas is partially deaf, and although his hearing aids are helpful, he still has difficulty distinguishing the con54

versation if there’s a lot of background noise—which in this case there is. Access Alaska is preparing for an open house, welcoming the public and local media to examine the beautiful new premises.

Maximizing Universal Design The organization’s tagline is “Opening Doors to Independence;” its goal is to provide independent living services to seniors and anyone who experiences a disability. The overall mission is nothing less than to encourage and promote the

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

complete integration of disabled individuals within society and the greater community of their choice, and they walk their talk. Over 51 percent of the staff are disabled in some fashion: hearing or vision impairment, mobility impairment (Jim Beck, the executive director, has a disability, and another staff member is in a wheelchair), or traumatic brain injury. When it came time to design a new facility, this forward-thinking organization wanted to do more than incorporate the accessibility minimums required by the building code. Access Alaska wantwww.akbizmag.com

ed to go all the way and utilize what is known as Universal Design to its full and logical extent.

Everyone is familiar with the sight of wheelchair ramps on public buildings.

It’s generally off to the side, an afterthought tacked on to meet the code requirement. The underlying philosophy of Universal Design is that good design should be seamlessly accessible to everyone, everywhere, in the same place at the same time; all-inclusive and all-purpose but without an institutional feel.

The new location has been in the works for a while. Access Alaska had been leasing, but the board decided that it was more sustainable in the end to design a facility—that way, money invested in the property would be an actual asset for the organization, which would have site control and be able to drive the finished product to meet any unique needs. It took time to find a suitable building in an appropriate location that the nonprofit organization could afford. A promising site in Anchorage’s Fairview neighborhood, the old Anchorage Neighborhood Health Clinic, was finally selected. The building was affordable and the location ideal—the bus route goes right by and many of Access Alaska’s clientele already live in Fairview.

The downside was that the existing building wasn’t anything close to what it needed to be.

Winning Concept To find a qualified design team, Access Alaska held a contest asking for concept designs. The winning team of Bezek Durst Seiser Architects (BDS) and Criterion General, Inc. became the organization’s partners in design.

BDS and Criterion have collaborated on many projects, several of which cater to clients with special needs. Senior housing, low income housing, and independent living facilities all have specialized code requirements. In addition, BDS has an extensive portfolio of schools and university projects. The team’s combined experience along with its winning proposal made this team first choice, and Access Alaska soon realized they had made a good decision.

“They really got inside our heads,” Access Alaska Executive Director Jim Beck notes. “They listened to us, they knew www.akbizmag.com

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

55

Photo courtesy of Access Alaska

Above: Access Alaska employee office area. Right: Hallways are extra wide for people and wheelchairs to pass without having to turn sideways or scrunch up against the wall.

what we wanted, and they kept coming back until they had it exactly right.”

At first glance, the old clinic wasn’t much to look at. It had a clerestory and an old glass trombe wall from the seventies, but neither element was being utilized to its full extent. The clerestory followed a narrow institutional hallway from which small exam rooms protruded. The trombe wall, meant to absorb solar energy and release it to the interior at night, didn’t really work well in the Alaska climate and was walled off from the rest of the structure. The building had been remodeled several times, and the result was a hodgepodge of tiny, interlocking spaces, many of which had no access to daylight.

“We couldn’t imagine how to make it work, but the architects could really see beyond what was here,” says Kellie Miller, Access Alaska executive assistant, who has been part of the process since the beginning. Seeing the building completed is the realization of not only a dream, but a long slogging process. She loves the new facility, especially the lighting. “We had to fight so hard to maintain the lighting design; there was a lot of pressure to downgrade— but we stuck to our guns and it’s beautiful. When someone commented on how good it looked, I nearly cried—the process has been so hard and nonprofits don’t have a lot of money.”

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Truly Integrated Led by BDS principal Eric Spangler, the design team worked to develop a truly integrated design. The building was gutted, exposing the structure and maximizing the opportunities for daylight. A series of individual pods or meeting rooms was conceived, each one geared for a particular disability. One room has a private video phone for the hearing impaired. One room is large enough to accommodate an oversize motorized wheelchair and has a play area so a client with small children can come without needing to find childcare. Thick sound-rated dividing walls and acoustic panels ensure the privacy of consultations and also the acoustic modulating effect needed for those with hearing impairments. Translucent panels allow for natural lighting and also a modicum of supervision from outside the pods so that the safety of clients and providers is never in question.

Each room has sliding barn doors with full-length windows rather than normal swing doors. This keeps them from encroaching on the hallway space which might impinge the progress of a disabled person. The hallways themselves are extra wide, wide enough that someone in a wheelchair can proceed next to someone walking beside them and still leave room for a person coming the other way.

There’s even a common video phone room where hearing impaired individu-

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

Photo by Mark Meyer

als can simply walk in and take advantage of the equipment and a computer center where clients can put together resumes or access online services.

Part of the services provided by Access Alaska includes peer counseling. For example, someone recovering from a traumatic brain injury will be shepherded through the process by a staff member who has themselves experienced such an injury. A deaf client will be assigned to a provider who is also hearing impaired. Such collaboration ensures that the client has all their needs addressed by someone who actively shares and can anticipate those needs and who knows what the client is experiencing, even if the client has difficulty articulating individual requirements.

More Than a Safe Haven The built environment is designed to be more than a safe haven, it’s meant to be quietly empowering and not only for the clients. The job performed by the dedicated staff at Access Alaska is stressful and demanding. The backof-house area set aside for offices and workrooms is based on other contemporary models to promote a creative, collaborative work environment. The open office plan is not only more accessible, it is inherently more welcoming, and daylight from the clerestory and the glass trombe wall (now open to the workspace) reaches into every corner. www.akbizmag.com

Open nooks with tables and bench seating allow for impromptu meetings or gatherings for staff—in fact, the large, internal conference room is rarely used.

As Miller says, everyone wants to be where the light is and where the other people are. The room also features walls painted with “writeable” paint that can be written over with markers and then erased so that no idea is ever lost for lack of a piece of paper.

Transparency, collaboration, empowerment—these are the watchwords of Access Alaska, and the organization now has a building that supports it throughout every nook and cranny.

One of the core services offered is the lending of durable medical equipment.

This includes used wheelchairs, physical therapy machines, and prosthetics.

One room in the building is devoted to the sanitation of donated equipment.

“Think how much stuff Medicaid pays for, which is then discarded when someone dies or regains their mobility,” says Beck. “It’s built to last for decades, and we can clean it up, repair it, and get it back out to people who need it. We’d love to become the depot for durable used medical equipment.” He pauses.

“Society has a lower expectation of the disabled. They don’t expect them to be productive citizens. We believe differently. We know that disabled people can be just as valuable through work or volunteer activities as a normal person, they just need a little bit of help.”

Back in the lobby, I continue my conversation with Marelas. He used to be homeless; he used to pull his belongings in a cart behind his bicycle. Now he has a place to live and a place to come to continue his transition.

“They’ve helped me so much,” says Marelas. “Helped me to get back into life, with language and everything. I want to know all about the world, about the city; where the taxes are going, why we’re at war, what the government is doing. I’m part Mexican, but when people ask me where I’m from, now I just say I’m from Earth, I’m a person, I’m just like everyone else.”

Indeed. All it takes is willingness, a helping hand, and a place to be. 

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Architect Nichelle Seely writes from Anchorage. www.akbizmag.com

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special section

Building Alaska

Construction Spending Forecast It’s federal, it’s state, it’s public, it’s private, it’s over $8 billion dollars, what is it going to build?

© 2013 Ken Graham Photography.com

By Rindi White

Education projects like the UAF Life Sciences Building completed this year and named after naturalist Margaret “Mardy” Murie, the University of Alaska’s first female graduate (Class of 1924), help boost construction spending, which is expected to be nearly half a billion dollars this year.

F

rom exploratory drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to a new power plant for the Mat-Su to drilling and site work at Donlin Creek, Livengood, and Pebble mines, workers will be busy all over the state.

About 16,500 workers, in fact; that’s about how many people work in the construction industry. That’s about the same number of employees who worked in the industry last year.

Total construction spending is expected to be up about 8 percent this year.

58

Work in the oil and gas sector is expected to be up a whopping 13 percent, while health care and federal defense spending are both down considerably—by 17 percent in the health care field and 55 percent in national defense construction.

That’s according to the yearly Association of General Contractors of Alaska (AGC) construction forecast, an outlook AGC has compiled with Scott Goldsmith at the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research every year for the

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

last decade. The Construction Industry Progress Fund pays for the forecast.

Why is a forecast needed?

John MacKinnon, executive director of AGC, says the general contractors in the organization’s membership count on the yearly construction forecast to help them prepare for the coming construction season.

“Our members have to go to banks and bonding companies and get money for [the coming season]. They have to www.akbizmag.com

show there’s an outlook, and that it’s favorable,” he says.

MacKinnon says readers shouldn’t make too much of the fact that one sector is up and another is down. Work in each field varies from year to year, he says. While hospital and health care construction is projected to be down this year, it’s been up in recent years as local health care providers have added or expanded on their campuses or moved into new locations.

Additionally, he says, federal defense spending might be down this year, but indications are that it will be back up.

“We’ve heard it’s a hiccup in the funding stream,” MacKinnon says. “Indications are it will rebound. But you never know what’s going to come out of Washington.”

Construction related to the Alaska Railroad is also down significantly—57 percent, according to the forecast—but Goldsmith and Alaska Railroad officials say they hope the dip will be temporary.

Major users, such as Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy and fuel from Flint Hills, have scaled back operations and are moving less freight. The railroad is continuing work on a major bridge project across

The Murie Building is more than one hundred thousand gross square feet. © 2013 Ken Graham Photography.com

the Tanana at Salcha and is partnering with the Mat-Su Borough on the Port MacKenzie rail extension, but most of its capital spending this year will be devoted to instituting positive train control, or PTC, a federally mandated train collision avoidance system.

Oil Patch Spending The oil and gas sector accounts for $3.6 billion in construction spending; nearly half the $8.38 billion projected haul. Construction is expected to be up by 13 percent over last year, growth that Goldsmith says is driven by “the continuing high prices of oil and gas,

the increase in the cost of inputs to all phases of oil and gas operations, the growing need to maintain the aging infrastructure and facilities on the North Slope and in Cook Inlet, and last but not least, the tax credits available to companies as part of ACES [Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share] production tax.”

So much of the increase is related to doing business in Alaska’s political and physical climate. But major producers will also be spending on development and to increase production. ExxonMobil, he says, will be focusing on Point Thomson field development while ConocoPhillips is the only major producer planning to do

Cornerstone General Contractors, Inc. 5050 Cordova Street, Anchorage, AK 99503 P (907) 561-1993 F (907) 561-7899 Photo © Hook, LLC

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59

The Murie Building is a state-of-the arctic research, teaching, and learning facility at UAF. © 2013 Ken Graham Photography.com

exploratory drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, on the Bear Tooth and Moose’s Tooth prospects. Conoco is also preparing to drill in the Beaufort Sea, on the Outer Continental Shelf, next year, Goldsmith writes. Shell, he says, plans to return to the Beaufort and Chukchi seas to complete wells that were begun last year. But those plans are on hold while its rigs are repaired in Asia, he notes.

Other producers—Eni, Pioneer, and Savant, will be drilling, evaluating potential sites, or in development, he notes. Brooks Range Petroleum, Repsol, and Linc Petroleum are doing exploratory drilling, and Great Bear will evaluate the results of south Prudhoe Bay shale oil investigations and “may move forward with a development plan this summer,” Goldsmith writes.

Cook Inlet will be home to a considerable amount of work as well, Goldsmith says. Hilcorp, the company that purchased the assets of Chevron and Unocal, will focus on new development within its holdings and on “refurbishing old assets,” Goldsmith writes. Two jack-up rigs are also expected to be in operation in Cook Inlet this summer: Buccaneer with its Endeavor and Furie, which will use another rig to explore.

Apache will be drilling its first well on the west side of Cook Inlet, he writes.

The Other Half In the mining sector, Goldsmith projects about $330 million in construction spending, down 4 percent from last year. He says investment is on track to increase, at Greens Creek to extend the life of the mine, while drilling and site work will continue on the Donlin Creek, Livengood, and Pebble mines, as well as several smaller mines.

Utility spending, Goldsmith says, will likely be slightly higher than last year—$830 million, up 5 percent 60

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

from last year. Some major projects account for that spending—Chugach Electric Association and Municipal Light and Power are wrapping up work on the Southcentral Power Project, a 183-megawatt shared power project located in Anchorage. Matanuska Electric Association is building a 171-megawatt power plant near Eklutna, and Municipal Light & Power is building a replacement plant for its existing facility in northeast Anchorage. Smaller projects are also being built around the state, including some hydroelectric projects.

Health Care and hospital construction may be down, but not counted out entirely. Goldsmith projects $229 million will be spent this year around the state.

Much of that will be in smaller facilities across Alaska, such as an expansion at Central Peninsula Hospital in Kenai. A replacement hospital in Wrangell may begin this year, he says, and a new hospital is being developed in Ketchikan.

A large chunk of spending—$440 million—will be done in residential home construction. Alaska has had few difficulties related to the national housing market crash. Last year saw a slight uptick in new residential building permits in Anchorage, Goldsmith writes.

He projects that more housing units will be built this year and that values will continue to rise due to low interest rates.

National defense spending is being slashed; a fact Goldsmith says is due to MILCON, or military construction spending, dropping from $300 million to $50 million.

“New firing ranges and utility upgrades are the only projects currently scheduled,” he writes.

Other aspects of national defense spending, from Formerly Used Defense Site cleanup to dredging at the Anchorage port, are expected to be similar to last year. www.akbizmag.com

Highway spending makes up a significant chunk of the overall construction spending forecast: $824 million, up 41 percent over last year. The growth stems from state spending—transportation bond packages and state capital investment. The federal transportation act MAP21, passed last year, also appropriated $460 million for Alaska projects, Goldsmith writes.

State spending is largely allocated to match the federal investment, as well as some budget categories geared toward specific programs, such as the Roads to Resources program. The state also passed a $453 million bond package that included $227 million for highways, $37 million for bridges, and $200 million for ports.

The other major public spending category is education, which Goldsmith projects will see $497 million in construction spending this year.

That investment is “driven up by a large University of Alaska budget, the funding of two rural schools, and some locally funded schools finally under construction,” Goldsmith writes.

The University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolf Arena project, named the Alaska Airlines Center, accounts for a large amount of the education spending. The $109 million building is expected to be complete in fall 2014.

Goldsmith says construction on two new engineering buildings—one at the University of Alaska Anchorage and a second for the University of Alaska Fairbanks—is expected to begin this year. Neither project is fully funded.

Other university education spending includes a career and tech center and dormitory in Kenai, Goldsmith writes, and deferred maintenance projects.

The state is also funding two new schools in western Alaska at Emmonak and Koliganek. The schools are part of the settlement of Willie and Sophie Kasayulie, et al versus the State of Alaska regarding funding for rural schools.

New schools are also slated for construction in Valdez, Kodiak, and the MatSu Borough, funded by local bonds with state reimbursement. Upgrades and renovation projects are also planned at other school facilities around the state.  Rindi White is a freelance journalist living in Palmer. www.akbizmag.com

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special section

Building Alaska

© Nathan Havey, courtesy of Thrive Consulting Group

Alaskan author Dana Stabenow writes from her home overlooking Kachemak Bay in Homer.

Storyknife Writers’ Retreat Alaskan author plans to double opportunity for women writers

By Mari Gallion

D

ana Stabenow, the author of twenty-nine books including those in the wildly popular Kate Shugak series, doesn’t forget where she came from—in more ways than one.

Not only is her Kate Shugak character an Aleut who lives on a 160-acre homestead in a generic national park in Alaska, the state where Stabenow was born, raised, and calls home—but Stabenow also hasn’t forgotten the life-changing investment that was made on behalf of Hedgebrook Farm Retreat for women writers on Whidbey Island, Washington, where she was granted two weeks of room, board, and solitude in order to apply her focused energy towards what would later be her first published book.

It was the combination of these two formative components in Stabenow’s life that provided inspiration for what she sees as her most important project of

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Those interested in helping make Storyknife a reality can check the status of the 501 (c) 3 application and make a donation at: storyknife.org/support/ all, the product of all her written works combined: Storyknife Writers’ Retreat, a proposed six-cabin retreat for women writers—in the tradition of Hedgebrook Farm with an Alaskan twist—expected to serve a projected forty (with potential to serve up to one hundred) women writers each year by providing room, board, solitude, transportation from Anchorage, and Alaska experiences to help them hone their craft.

The retreat will be built on six acres of ocean view property in Homer. Select women writers will be granted a stay between six and eight weeks, write all day, and come together for dinner in the main house, where meals will be

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

prepared and served. These six cabins at Storyknife will give aspiring women writers a place of their own and time free of any other obligation. Their only job while at the retreat is to write.

Where She Came From Born in Anchorage and raised in Kachemak Bay, Stabenow spent her early years surrounded by Alaska Native friends, neighbors, and culture.

“I didn’t realize I was ‘white’ until I went to college,” she says, indicating that skin color was as much a non-issue to her friends as it was to her.

It only makes sense that Kate Shugak, the protagonist in most of her novels, www.akbizmag.com

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© Nathan Havey, courtesy of Thrive Consulting Group

would be a composite of those people to which the author was exposed, representing the quintessential strong and truly Alaskan female character. Stabenow hopes to garner interest among the Alaska Native community, not only in the form of grantees, but also funders interested in helping preserve what will otherwise be lost.

“Litera scripta manent,” Stabenow says.

“What is written endures. If you don’t write it down, it will be lost—period— end. In the Bush, there is a lifestyle going on now that is not going to survive the people living it—and if it doesn’t get written down, it will not be remembered.”

Although a fictitious character, Shugak is directly responsible for the bigger part of Stabenow’s success, so much so that she feels compelled to share with women like her. “This will be the retreat that Kate Shugak built,” Stabenow says. “And she is a woman and an Alaska Native.”

It is also Alaska Native culture that provided Stabenow with the inspiration for the name of the retreat: Storyknife.

According to Stabenow’s website, storyknife is the English translation for the Yupik word yaaruin. Traditionally, young Yupik girls would use yaaruin made from wood, bone, antler, or ivory to carve stories in snow and in river banks to entertain their younger siblings. The stories often featured the lesson that disobeying one’s parents could carry the consequence of being killed and eaten by monsters. As girls who write stories about monsters in the snow become women who write fulllength novels—some of them about monstrous acts—it’s a more-thanfitting name for a writer’s retreat for women in Alaska founded by a writer of murder mysteries.

“As a traditional Alaska Native vehicle for storytelling,” Stabenow says, “it is the perfect metaphor for what we hope to accomplish at Storyknife.”

Stabenow is proud to be the “100 percent, through-and-through” product of the Alaska public school system. She attended Cordova Elementary School, Seldovia Elementary and High Schools, received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1973, and her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from University of Alaska Anchorage in 1985.

Stabenow is the author of twenty-nine books, including the extremely popular Kate Shugak series.

The Hedgebrook retreat is the only writer’s retreat in existence exclusively for women, as far as Stabenow knows.

Once Storyknife Writers’ Retreat is operational, it will have doubled the opportunity for women writers to obtain a residency in such a retreat, and Stabenow is proud to provide women with this opportunity—but says that even with her contribution, women writers deserve much more.

“Women are still the primary caregivers,” she says. “They are the primary homemakers. Women still earn sixty cents to the man’s dollar. Women still need the extra help. They just do—it’s a fact. Probably most educated men would agree with that. So it’s got to be for women. It’s going to be for women writers for those reasons.”

Construction Stabenow demonstrates that she knows how to reward a business for a job well done: She has re-hired Scott Bauer, the contractor who built her house in 2006, to be the general contractor for Storyknife.

“We’ve stayed good friends, and have communicated quite a bit since then,” Bauer says.

Stabenow plans to build six thirty-byforty-foot cabins, each with a bedroom, bathroom, and Internet access. Lunch will be delivered to the residents in their cabins, and dinner will be served in the main house, modeled after Stabenow’s own. This main house will be the residence of the caretaker/chef, one of only two full-time employees at the retreat, the other being the executive director.

The timeline for construction, according to Bauer, is contingent upon the success of fundraising. When asked about the current phase of construction, Bauer responds with, “waiting for money to appear.”

“We’ve done a few things like a soils adequacy test for a septic system,” Bauer says, noting that the septic system is usually the biggest issue when it comes to building in Homer, “and everything passed… but Dana wants to feel confident that she does have the money before we get too carried away.”

“We are considering putting a road extension in, and the things we have done, including the soils test and septic design, are all things that add value to the land regardless, so we will continue along those paths,” Bauer says.

Since having cleared the hurdle of the soils and septic tests, Bauer rests assured that Storyknife is “not that difficult of a project”: six small cabins and a five-star energy rated house exactly like one he has built before.

Heating a Unique Site “We want to try some alternative energy things,” Bauer says. “The cabins will be very small and very well-insulated, so we’re looking at perhaps heat pumps and possibly some alternative heat source for the little cabins.”

According to Bauer, heat pumps are not yet popular in Alaska.

“What they do is take heat out of the air,” he says, using the “opposite of a refrigerator” as an illustration. “Even air down to thirty or thirty-two degrees

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

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Above: A yaaruin is traditionally made of ivory, bone, antler, or wood.

Left: Stabenow and general contractor Scott Bauer discuss the layout of the proposed retreat.

Photos © Nathan Havey, courtesy of Thrive Consulting Group

has heat in it, so a heat pump is just a compressor that extracts the heat from the air and puts it into a building.”

Because heat pumps get less effective and efficient in the cold, the cabins will need to have another heat source, most likely electric. Despite gas being plumbed in to many parts of Homer at this time, it is not yet available in the vicinity of Storyknife. The heating options available in Stabenow’s area include propane, oil, and electric.

Although some of Stabenow’s neighbors have found that the area has excellent conditions for wind energy, Stabenow and Bauer agree that the batteries used to store the wind energy are not yet effective enough to make wind energy viable for the retreat. Stabenow admits that the future could take her in any direction, but that she needs to plan for what makes sense right now, hoping to see the retreat finished next summer.

Good Neighbors Stabenow aims to remain a well-respected neighbor by making sure the residents of Homer feel a sense of ownership in the retreat’s success by utilizing local businesses whenever possible.

Stabenow plans to provide each of the residents with one Alaska excursion as a part of her residency, if possible. If sufficiently funded to implement this plan, Stabenow says she will definitely be using Bald Mountain Air and Mako’s Water Taxi for the residents’ adventures but will be spreading excursion opportunities around the entire Homer tourism business sector. While implementation of this plan as part of the retreat residency is up to the discretion of the board, Stabe64

now likes the idea so much that she may pay for it out-of-pocket, if she is able.

Additionally, her Alaskan neighbors seem to be willing to transcend their regular business offerings in order to be involved in an undeniably beneficial project. Rita Jo Shoulz, former owner of Fitz Creek Gardens and current peony grower, has volunteered to do the landscaping, which will include, in Shoulz’s words, “lots of peonies.”

The menu will also have a decidedly local influence.

“Storyknife will be a nonprofit group” Stabenow says, “which means it can sign up for the moose road kill program. Any fisherman who runs out of freezer space, Storyknife stands ready to take their overflow. Storyknife will have a hoop garden and supply the retreat’s table with as many greens and vegetables as we can grow.”

Strength in Union Storyknife Writers’ retreat founder and president Stabenow has assembled three board members and is currently trolling for more. So far, the board includes Pati Crofut, executive director for Arts on the Edge, as vice president; Rhonda Sleighter, a paralegal, as secretary; and Nora Elliot, an Anchorage-based CPA, as treasurer. Noteworthy members include Catherine Stevens, wife of late Senator Ted Stevens and former board member for the National Endowment of the Arts; and Jeannie Penney, rumored to be an incredible organizer.

At the time of this writing, Storyknife is still waiting for official word from the IRS on its status as a 501 (c) 3, tax-exempt nonprofit corporation.

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

However, that is not stopping Stabenow from asking for support.

Stabenow has launched a crowdsourced funding round on Storyknife’s website and on her fan sites. The organization is accepting donations of all denominations, but current donors can receive gifts that range from a commemoration in the form of a brick or a wall plate at a to-be-determined location at the retreat ($1,000 donation) to the opportunity to name a cabin after the woman of their choice ($250,000 donation).

According to the Storyknife website, the current $1 million fundraising campaign is the first phase in a much larger effort to raise a total of $21 million to cover the costs of developing the property and ensuring its continuing legacy through a $20 million endowment.

Stabenow certainly sets a good example of charity by donating a large portion of her own money to the project, “chipping away” at the construction as she can afford it, with her personal total up to more than $15,000. As a writer with no heirs and few encumbrances, she feels that this retreat is her legacy for women with great potential and great need, so they too can enjoy the reward of a fair living for what they do best.

“I just need a little money every year to travel,” she says, “because I want to continue to do that. Other than that, I’m going to write books until I can’t write them anymore, so I’m going to have income,” she pauses, switching to a comedic third-person narrative, “she says confidently.”  Mari Gallion is Associate Editor at Alaska Business Monthly. www.akbizmag.com

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Building Alaska & Environmental Services

Photo by Aaron Cooke

The Quinhagak prototype home was designed by CCHRC to sit lightly on the ground it occupies and to be leveled by its occupants with common tools.

Northern Energy Efficiencies, Design & Architecture

By Gail West

T

he elders knew. When winter came to Anaktuvuk Pass, homes built into the ground were warmer and more habitable. Then came “conventional” housing and homes became harder to build and harder to heat. In the Brooks Range and accessible only by plane, this tiny Nunamiut community currently has wood-frame structures built on pilings in the 1970s—exposing the homes to the intense winds of the mountain pass.

When the Cold Climate Housing Research Center arrived in Anaktuvuk Pass in 2008 to begin a research study of the area housing, Aaron Cooke,

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CCHRC architectural designer, said he heard from community members: “We used to bury our dead up in the air and live in the ground where it was warm.

Now we bury our dead in the ground and live in the wind. We’ve been cold ever since.”

By listening to the traditional knowledge and combining it with lessons learned and innovative technologies, CCHRC and its partner, Tagiugmiullu Nunamiullu Housing Authority, a tribally designated housing entity serving the North Slope, designed a prototype home. This prototype is being used to test an experimental active venting sys-

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

tem, a roof truss system designed to hold solar panels, and sprayed polyurethane foam insulation sealed with a sprayapplied elastomeric liner to insulate the walls, floor, and roof and provide a weatherproof exterior finish. The home is also bermed with soil as insulation and a wind buffer and has a foundation of two feet of gravel fill topped with a synthetic waterproof membrane that supports the home’s light frame that is filled with spray foam insulation. The new house sits directly on the ground.

Cooke said traditional homes in many rural Arctic areas “sat very lightly on the earth, so we’re experimenting www.akbizmag.com

BusinessPROFILE

Bettisworth North Architects & Planners

Integrated design for northern energy efficiency

Photos by Kevin Smith Photography

Photos left to right: Fairbanks Airport, Ketchikan Library (uses biomass boiler), Tanana Chiefs Conference Chief Isaac Andrew Health Clinic, (LEED Gold).

A

“

s Alaska community builders, Bettisworth North Architects and Planners helps clients design community places that improve Alaskans’ lives,” says Roy Rountree, AIA, lifelong Alaskan and principal at Bettisworth North in Anchorage.

Over 37 years, Bettisworth North grew from a sole proprietorship founded by Charles “CB” Bettisworth, a Fairbanks architect and professional planner. Bettisworth’s legacy includes the new Fairbanks International Airport, named one of the world’s “9 Beautiful New Airport Terminals” by The Atlantic Cities.

Now a 32-person firm, Bettisworth North is one of few firms in Alaska to integrate architecture, planning, interior design, and landscape architecture in a collaborative firm.

“This integrated approach and collaboration with clients and community members help us solve all aspects of the building design,” says Tracy Vanairsdale, AIA, LEED AP®, principal in the firm’s Fairbanks office. “Our clients’ top concern now is efficient, sustainable design solutions. Our responses must provide maintainable solutions, from envelope to space planning, maintenance-free landscaping, and low operation budgets.”

The firm is in a unique position to help solve this design problem statewide—designing schools, military facilities, housing, clinics, museums,

libraries, offices, public safety buildings, airports, and university campus buildings in Fairbanks and Rural Alaska, where the extreme 150-degree temperature swing has always made energy efficiency a priority.

As a result, recent studies report Fairbanks public buildings to be the most efficient in the state. Also, in June 2013, Tanana Chiefs Conference Chief Andrew Isaac Health Clinic in Fairbanks received a LEED Gold certification. Bettisworth North also designed five other LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Alaska buildings.

Most of the firm’s projects—Ketchikan Public Library, Ketchikan Fire Station No. 1, University of Alaska Kenai Peninsula College Student Housing, Raven Landing Continuous Care Retirement Community, and Fairbanks airport terminal—are designed to LEED Silver or Gold standards coupled with an arctic approach for energy efficiency and sustainability, through early energy modeling and new building technologies.

“On the North Pole Library and Valdez Middle School, our team provided estimated energy use or EUI—Energy Use Indexes. We kept the client apprised of projected energy use and related operations costs at every phase of the project,” says Vanairsdale. “We used that data to inform our design, including the payback of energy cost savings P A I D

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

in years, depending on amount of insulation, utilizing daylighting where most effective, or analyzing the most efficient heating systems, for example.”

Renewable energy is also part of the firm’s portfolio. Bettisworth North designed the Ketchikan Library to accommodate a biomass boiler as an ef efficient, cost-effective, sustainable heat source. On two Rural Alaska community office building projects in Interior and Southwest Alaska, Bettisworth North is working with the communities to design for location-specific renewable energy sources, including sharing fuel sources and using waste heat to power new facilities.

“Through high-performance building and site design specific to each community, we help our clients save money and resources on energy, so they can focus on providing the services needed to make Alaska a viable place to live and prosper,” says Rountree.

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with returning to on-grade structures.

In areas of deep permafrost, you want to keep the ground cold. If you build a house on piles, you don’t have the melting permafrost problem but now you have to heat the floor as well as the walls and the roof. Keeping the ground cold feels less admirable if you have to keep yourself cold to do it.”

Cooke describes the “floating slab foundation” that CCHRC has developed as a prototype for building in permafrost: “We’ve come up with a monolithic raft foundation—a rigid, sprayed foam foundation with joists embedded in it. It keeps heat from escaping into the ground and keeps the house down on grade and out of the wind. We’ve even done earth-banking around walls to lessen the heating load of the building.”

CCHRC is one of a handful of Alaska organizations that have taken the traditional knowledge of the indigenous peoples and melded it with developing technology to create new solutions for Arctic challenges. The Institute of the North’s Week of the Arctic, August 1218 this year, will feature presentations and case studies from many of them.

Cooke is scheduled to present case studies during the morning session of the Northern Energy Efficiency, Architecture and Design track.

In addition to the housing prototype for Anaktuvuk Pass, Cooke plans to discuss another prototype developed for homes in Quinhagak, a village at the mouth of the Kuskokwim River.

“Here, we’re working on a foundation that can be leveled by the people living in the home. No contractors, no heavy equipment. You just need a large wrench and a jack to bring your house back to level,” Cooke says. The home began as a single prototype but is now in production entirely by the village. He adds that CCHRC now has prototype homes in a half dozen Alaska communities, including on the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks.

Arctic Challenges “We’re very excited about the engineering and design innovations taking place in the Arctic and about being able to forward those this year during the Week of the Arctic,” says Nils Andreassen, executive director of the Institute of the North. “Our focus at the Institute is to 68

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

www.akbizmag.com

inform public policy and to engage the citizenry on Arctic issues, and there’s a week of presentations and events planned to focus on just that. We are always looking for new and better solutions to the challenges of the North.”

Andreassen says with the changing climate, the new ice breakers, deep-water ports, and the relationships we have with other Arctic nations, that there are political issues that must be addressed and some of that will happen during the Week of the Arctic. “Each session will produce a white paper with findings and questions that still need to be addressed.

They will be put onto our website, given to policy makers—such as the State Department—and they will inform our agenda for the next year,” he adds.

One of the events happening during the Week is a session about the Arctic Council’s working groups with people who have participated in discussions of current issues and Alaska’s role.

The Arctic Council is an organization composed of eight Arctic nations (United States, Canada, Iceland, Denmark—through its relationship with Greenland—Finland, Norway, Sweden,

and Russia). Andreassen said there are also six permanent seats for indigenous peoples of the North, four of which are in Alaska—the Aleut, Inuit, Gwitch’in, and Arctic Athabascan. China and Singapore are represented at the Council but do not have a voice or a vote, Andreassen adds.

Dan White, director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Institute of Northern Engineering, says UAF specializes in circumpolar Arctic engineering and has worked in Russia and Canada as well as Alaska.

“The impact of our research reaches across the Arctic,” White says. “The technology and engineering practices developed at the engineering institute for keeping foundations frozen are used worldwide today. The Chinese recently built a railroad in an arctic climate and the technology to keep the roadbed frozen was mostly developed here.”

White says UAF’s institute also does research on very small power grid systems that are common in Arctic regions. “Power supply and grid technologies developed and tested at the Institute’s Alaska Center for Energy and

Power are developed for the Arctic but are exportable to rural regions worldwide,” he adds.

“Much of what we do here revolves around heat transfer. We work a lot with technologies to keep foundations frozen. The institute also has worked on access roads to state resource leases,” White says. “We’ve done the arctic hydrology for the roads which helps state engineers determine where to put culverts and how large to make them, among other things. It’s work for the state that also benefits industry.”

One of the issues on which the Institute has worked with communities is that of drinking water. White says they’re looking at the traditional iceharvesting methods as they research ways to deliver water to meet the needs of communities. “We also do a lot of climate-change research here,” White says. “There’s a healthy discussion about the landscape, precipitation changes, and how the climate is changing. We’re looking at how the water resource has changed through the oral traditions. What have those changes meant to the people and what would

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August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

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changes in the water system mean culturally? How would the culture change with water change?”

Other areas of Arctic research at the Institute include oil and gas, mining, transportation, communications, and infrastructure, White adds.

Engineering Teamwork Putting much of the research by the Institute of Northern Engineering into practice, PDC Inc. Engineers is an Alaska firm created from mergers over the years of four Anchorage and Fairbanks firms—with a history in the Arctic going back sixty years. The PDC name was adopted in 1998.

“We work across all Alaska regions,” says Steve Theno, PE, a principal in the firm, “and we’ve done projects in Greenland, Antarctica, and at the South Pole. Our passion, however, is Alaska.”

Theno adds that there are dramatic differences in the Arctic—a vast area that can have extremes in weather throughout the year. “It’s a fragile environment,” he says. “Alaska ranges from a temperate, rainforest climate in the Southeast to a tough marine environment on the Chain where temperatures always hover around hypothermic to the vast plain of the north.”

A project on which PDC worked closely with Maniilaq Association was the health center in Kotzebue, a stateof-the-art facility completed in 1995.

“The original hospital was a slab-ongrade foundation,” says Robert Posma, PE, a senior associate at PDC, “and there were a lot of different levels across a totally flat hospital. We provided the mechanical and electrical engineering for the original hospital then helped with the design and construction of an elder care facility that was incorporated into the hospital. We worked especially closely with the folks who would take over the operation and maintenance of the facility to make sure there were spaces for Native artwork to make the facility more familiar and comfortable for the elders who would use it.”

Danny Rauchenstein, PE, also a senior associate, points out that over the years the firm has worked in the north, improvements have been made in helping the community that builds a project continue to operate and maintain it. It’s a commissioning process, he says. “A 70

project isn’t truly sustainable without the local resources—so the approach has changed. Now, there’s a lot of attention paid to local knowledge and traditions and there’s a much better success rate.”

One of the biggest issues to building anywhere now is the price of fuel to produce the energy. “It’s skyrocketed,” Rauchenstein says, “particularly in rural villages. We’ve always been huge advocates of green energy, but trying to convince our clients has sometimes been problematic. Now, our clients are the first ones to bring up energy-saving projects. It’s cool to have clients like this.”

A good example of energy-conscious engineering lies in the recently completed Margaret Murie Life Sciences Building at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The university produces the steam to heat its own buildings during winter but when temperatures can reach into the high 90s, cooler air is a necessity.

“All buildings on campus use electrical chillers to cool buildings and they use an incredible amount of power,” Rauchenstein says. “They didn’t have any use for the steam in the summer.”

PDC’s solution was to use radiant-floor tubing to cool the building through steam-absorption chillers. It’s one of the first such energy-saving systems in the nation, he adds.

Although PDC won’t be a presenter at this year’s Week of the Arctic, they will be participating in breakout sessions, says Lori Kropidlowski, marketing director for the firm. Rauchenstein adds that PDC has good experience to contribute to the discussion.

“We presented a paper last year on innovative energy ideas at the 7th International Cold Climate HVAC 2012 Conference in Calgary [Alberta],” Rauchenstein says, “and a few international organizations involved with standards and guidelines got together and wrote a cold-climate design guide. We were invited to contribute a couple of chapters. When it’s done in about eighteen months, it will provide strategies useful to building in the Arctic.”

Energy Efficiency Also concerned about energy use and sustainability, the Renewable Energy Alaska Project is a statewide non-profit organization educating and advocating for renewable energy. Chris Rose,

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

executive director, says arctic countries share many opportunities and challenges regarding energy and adds that we all need to keep abreast of what the other countries are doing in this field.

“For instance, on one of the Institute of the North’s policy tours, we learned how the Norwegians work with the oil industry and how they’ve built a huge wealth fund about twenty times the size of Alaska’s Permanent Fund. On another trip, we learned how Iceland is putting geothermal energy to use and keeping energy prices stable,” Rose says.

He notes that much of Alaska’s housing and commercial building stock is inefficient. “It was built long ago and uses lots of energy,” Rose adds.

“New construction can use less energy through better heating technology, more insulation, and better control systems.” The session Rose is scheduled to moderate at the Week of the Arctic, according to the Institute of the North’s schedule, is the reporting out of all the morning discussions. Each group will present its findings and recommendations to help create a road forward.

To attend this session or any Week of the Arctic event, go to institutenorth. org or call the Institute of the North at 907-786-6324. The Institute’s Andreassen says there will be events each day of the week. “Some will be presentations, some are work sessions, some are recognition events, and some are receptions or dinners and they will be at different venues around Anchorage,” he says.

Registration is suggested and those interested can register online or by phone.

“There’s no reason why Alaskans can’t borrow building designs from Germany or Scandinavia, but we have tremendous ability here in Alaska to produce our own designs and innovations,” Rose says.

“We’re some of the biggest energy consumers in the world and we have the opportunity to develop our own technology. In addition to saving energy, [and] developing better building technology, it would diversify our economy and reduce our dependence on imported knowledge,” Rose says. 

Freelance writer Gail West lives in Anchorage. www.akbizmag.com

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Environmental Services

Chena Power plant to produce energy from old paper and cardboard

By Vanessa Orr

E

ach year, more than 114,000 tons of waste material is buried in the Fairbanks landfill. What if some of those materials could be not only kept out of landfills but recycled to create energy? Chena Power, located in Fairbanks, has found a way to burn cardboard, paper, and woody biomass while working toward a zero-emission, sustainable source of electricity.

According to Bernie Karl, president of Chena Power and proprietor of Chena Hot Springs, the demonstration project, which has been in operation for approximately three years, makes sense for the state, especially in rural communities. “It’s the only energy plan that makes sense in Alaska,” he says. “Cities like Fairbanks spend millions of dollars burying everything, and all they’re doing is burying problems for future generations.”

Simple Process The process itself is relatively simple; paper and cardboard are picked up by the power company and weighed. The mixture is dumped on the tipping floor where it is shredded and a set of magnets takes out any nails or steel. The shredded waste is put into a mixing chamber, then a densifier, which creates pellets that are one inch square and up to six inches long capable of producing 7,200 BTUs per pound. “This product, which contains 10 percent moisture and 11 percent ash, is very similar to coal, which contains 30 percent mois72

Chena Power expects to generate excess electricity and sell to Golden Valley Electric Association from burning paper and cardboard recycled into pellets.

Photo courtesy of Chena Power

ture and 20 percent ash,” Karl explains.

“The difference is that it burns much cleaner.”

Karl says that this fuel could lower heating bills by at least 50 percent. “If the gas line does ever get built, we’ll still be more competitive,” he adds.

“And we’ll not only deliver the fuel, but pick up the ash and mix it with sodium silicate and lye, which makes the most beautiful cement.”

Once fully functional, the power, heat, and carbon dioxide that are produced from the plant’s hot oil heater and Organic Rankine Cycle turbines will also be able to support greenhouses where produce will be grown, and excess power can be sold to Golden Valley Electric to help reduce the cost of electricity in the market. Chena Power’s ultimate goal is to expand to 500 kW, operating off of paper, cardboard, and wood from Fort Wainwright, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and other area locations.

New Technology While three of the facility’s turbines are working, there are still two more to come online. These high-speed, directdrive turbines operate inside of magnetic fields that suspend the turbines in mid-air, significantly reducing friction on moving parts. “A demonstration

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

project like this is not for the weak of heart,” Karl says. “It has provided a lot of opportunities—some people might call them problems, but I’ve never had a problem in my life. I guess you could call them inconveniences.

“Because no one has ever done this before, and it’s a new technology, it’s like putting the first spaceship up,” he continues. “We had to build and assemble all of the power electronics; in fact, we had to build the whole spaceage facility.

“We currently have three of the five turbines running, but United Technologies, who we’re working with on the project, believes that the topping cycle is too dangerous to complete,” he says.

“But we will get all five units running, maybe by the first quarter of next year.”

In the meantime, Chena Power is not idly standing by. They are in the process of collecting plastic to recycle into gas, diesel fuel, and jet fuel. “We’re looking at investing $1.5 million in a small pilot plant that would be able to make 2,400 gallons of fuel a day from plastic,” Karl says.

“Everything that people throw away, I turn into something else,” he adds. “I’m just so glad that people are wasteful.”  Vanessa Orr is the former editor of the Capital City Weekly in Juneau. www.akbizmag.com

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special section

Environmental Services

Good for the Soil

Photo courtesy of Brice Environmental Services Corporation

Petroleum contaminated soil is covered in anticipation of winter at a land farm in Galena.

Making sure the ‘dirt don’t hurt’

By Mari Gallion

W

hile recycling for the sake of lengthening the lives of our state’s landfills is a common practice amongst Alaskans, many people outside of the construction industry don’t put much thought into the fact that contaminated soil must also be dumped into an appropriate landfill if it cannot be sufficiently cleaned.

Living in a state rich with natural resources, construction sites, and military activity definitely has its advantages. However, there is growing awareness of how the sites of such activity carry potential to negatively impact human health and the environment if they are not properly remediated.

“The state has been fantastic over the years with trying to develop a program

74

that renders the soil safe for human health and the environment,” says Brad Quade, operations manager at Alaska Soil Recycling, a division of Anchorage Sand and Gravel.

According to Quade, soil remediation became a practice in Alaska when the federal government began recognizing that there is a need for us to change our habits and fi x some of the damage we’d set in place. “Everything has to be done with the state involved,” Quade says.

The Way We Were Once upon a time in Alaska, more than twenty-five years ago, soils remediation was not a common practice. According to Quade, “In the old days, if you needed some fill, you could just wait for the

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

trucks to come in. If you had some fill you wanted to get rid of, you could find a place to get rid of it. Nowadays, you have to be very careful about the soils you are allowing others to bring into your site. You can’t take material from just any place anymore because of the laws we have in place.”

Quade says in the beginning of the remediation process there is “a lot of investigative work in order to understand the degree and type of contamination.”

From there, the workers propose a plan to the state of Alaska to restore the site to what is considered safe for human health and environment. Although the state mandates varying standards of “clean,” depending on whether the soil will be re-used at the same site or moved www.akbizmag.com

to another, the policy at Alaska Soil Recycling is to clean the soil to the state’s most restrictive standard every time.

However, as Quade points out, “The most restrictive levels do not necessarily mean non-detect. Some people want non-detect.” Regardless, remediating soil to the state’s highest standard allows the soil to be reused for myriad things.

What’s in the Mix? What types of contaminants could one expect to find on Alaskan soil? “Primarily,” Quade says, “what you’re going to find in the state of Alaska is going to be soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. Within that group, you could have anything from diesel to home heating oil, Bunker C, Avgas, PCBs... I refer to them as fuel-stained soils: the number one largest amount of contaminated soils in the work around the state.

“Depending on where you are in the state, and depending on the contaminant types and concentrations, those are going to be factors that lead you to making the decision on the methods used to clean up the site,” Quade says, adding that some methods of decontamination can be relatively fast and others can take several years. Location is a major factor when deciding which remediation method is best for one’s needs.

“You may want to do something that’s called on-site treatment,” Quade says. The other option, if the site is near the road system or near marine lines, for example, is off-site treatment, which is taking the soil away for cleaning or disposal. At each site, “you’re trying to break it down into what works with your project.”

“Some processes are not as green and sustainable as our process,” Quade says, while adding that different processes are best for different types and concentration levels of contaminants.

Thermal Desorption Thermal desorption is a relatively “quick and clean” way to deal with petroleum-contaminated soils, which is the specialization of Alaska Soil Recycling. Quade describes it as a “guaranteed, 100 percent treatment technology” for petroleum-based contaminants.

The thermal desorption process involves using a rotary drum, similar to what one would see at an asphalt plant, www.akbizmag.com

except the drums used for this process are running at a higher temperature to volatize the hydrocarbon contaminants in the soil.

“There are only a couple of people doing it in the state,” Quade says. “That’s really all the market can bear. Furthermore, you end up doing a lot of gravel handling, and it’s expensive to have that equipment, and expensive to maintain it: the conveying, the material handling, and the loader operating… it involves similar types of work that other divisions of the company are doing. This is why it makes sense for us

Rendering courtesy of Alaska Soil Recycling

A rendering of a thermal unit used to remediate soil through thermal desorption.

to be a division of Anchorage Sand and Gravel, and why we’ve been doing it for twenty-five years.”

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“We recycle the soil once it’s clean, so we divert that material from the landfill,” Quade says. “Landfill space is valuable these days… our advantages are that you get a result very quickly and keep it out of the landfill.”

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Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

Mother Nature Helps Brice Environmental Services Corporation also specializes in remediation of petroleum-contaminated soils.

“Our specialty is remote sites,” says Craig Jones, president and general manager of Brice Environmental Services.

“Sites that have challenging logistics: they are off the road system, so they require barging, aircraft support, etc. They have basically been remote sites belonging to the Department of Defense.”

Much like Alaska Soil Recycling would not be able to do what it does if not a division of Anchorage Sand and Gravel, the economic feasibility of soil remediation work done by Brice Environmental Services is fostered by Brice Marine.

“Our marine division has specialized shallow-draft tugs and barges, and at a lot of these sites, these landings are shallow. There aren’t wharfs or piers. You have to go ashore. So in most cases, it takes specialized gear to go ashore and go dry, get your equipment and resources to the site. It requires the standard construction equipment to do the on-site work, the excavation, the haul, the backfilling, and the site restoration, so one of the keys to doing especially Alaska work is having the logistical wherewithal and the resources.”

Brice uses what Jones calls land-spreading or land-farming as their main method of remediation for petroleum-contaminated soils. Soils are spread out, and in some cases, a chemical is added in order to speed up the attenuation of the soil.

“It works pretty well where you have a drier climate and you can get some heat.

In Interior Alaska, it can work fairly well.”

Brice Environmental Services has recently been working in Galena.

“One of the things that we’ve been doing at Galena for the past two years is we’ve been digging up petroleum contaminated soils, but we’ve been putting those in giant land farms,” Jones says. “At some locations, and depending on the soil type, you can actually spread these soils in a lined, protected area, and let nature remediate the soils through heating and naturally-occurring bacteria. Those www.akbizmag.com

diesel components primarily will break down and that soil can be rendered not hazardous right there in the field.”

Although soil farming may be the only available method for many communities in Alaska, it is also often the most cost-effective. And under the right conditions, it can be fast as well.

“The length of time it takes to remediate the diesel impacted soils at Galena just depends on the concentration, how contaminated the soil is—but sometimes you can see remediation successful in just one or two seasons.”

PCBs and Heavy Metals Brice also handles soils contaminated with heavy metals and PCBs. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a hazardous depository or landfill for heavy metals in the state,” Jones says, “so typically what happens is the heavy metals contaminated soils are excavated and trucked or shipped south to the Lower 48 for disposal.”

Emerald Alaska, Inc., which specializes in remediation of contaminated sites caused by spills of hazardous waste, hazardous substances, and petroleum products, often handles remediation of sites contaminated by spillage of transformer fluid, which contains PCBs. According to Blake Hillis, president and CEO, when dealing with PCBs, the site remediation process involves packaging, excavation, and shipment to a properly-permitted EPA facility that can accept it for disposal.

“If the levels are low enough, it can be used as a daily cover material in a permitted landfill, but otherwise it is disposed of through direct landfilling,” Hillis says. “PCB contamination renders the soil a waste product.”

Remediation of contaminated soils is one area in which the state government earns praise from Alaska businesses that would not be in existence if not for increased awareness of how contamination can affect human health and the environment. “They want to be sure it’s done right,” Quade says. “They approve your work plans and your goals, and they’re involved with it as an oversight to be sure that all conditions have been met before they close the site.” 

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August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

77

special section

Environmental Services

Recycling Programs in Alaska Starting locally at the individual level

By Susan Sommer

R

educe, reuse, recycle. We’ve heard the refrain for years and recognize what has become the universal recycling symbol—the three arrows folded back on themselves in a triangle of continuity.

Recycling experts in Alaska agree there are no numbers to be found on what percentage of businesses or residents recycle. There are, however, more businesses collecting recyclables in Alaska than ever before, according to Donna Mears, a recycling coordinator with the Municipality of Anchorage.

Numerous recycling programs across the state collect many products that have come to the end of their original useful life. Larger communities have more options than smaller rural communities. Most materials collected for recycling, regardless of what part of the state they come from, get shipped south to national or international markets. Very little material actually gets recycled right here in Alaska, though a handful of Alaska success stories exist.

Recyclable materials can be dropped off for free at many collection facilities across the state. Some landfills charge a fee to drop off recyclables. Curbside pick-up of recyclables requires that customers pay a monthly fee. Recycling programs are typically funded through memberships, grants, and the sale of recyclable materials to various markets.

Urban Programs Most companies that provide recycling services are from the private sector. A handful of conservation organizations around the state also have recycling programs, some of which provide education on where and how to recycle various materials. City governments in larger communities offer information about this as well. Most, but not all, recycling services 78

in Alaska only provide collection services rather than actual recycling.

Mary Fisher, executive director of the nonprofit ALPAR, or Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling, says, “Recycling always starts with each and every person. One has to decide whether they want their waste materials to become resources or long-term liabilities. We all have that choice.”

She says that recycling tends to be volume-based, so smaller communities are more challenged to make it costeffective than large ones, and distance from markets is an issue as well.

“There are logistics and costs that are challenges just as there are in remoter areas of the Lower 48, but it’s more a question of figuring out the most costeffective ways to recycle in a given community,” Fisher says. “Because recycling starts locally, every community in the world is challenged with setting up the most cost-effective system. It’s how a community meets that challenge that determines the level of recycling.”

In Anchorage, curbside recycling provided by AlaskaWaste and paid for by the consumer seems to have increased participation in recycling programs, according to Kit Persson, a coordinator with the State of Alaska’s Solid Waste Program. “The increased convenience and attention on the benefits of recycling appears to make recycling at the household level more popular,” she says. Some products can’t be mixed in the curbside recycling bins and must be dropped off at the Anchorage Recycling Center located on Rosewood Street. Although not as convenient as curbside pick-up, it does provide free recycling to households with the initiative to separate recyclable waste.

The majority of recycling in Anchorage (and thus Alaska, since most mate-

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

rials are funneled through Anchorage) is done by three companies and each has its own niche.

■ Alaska Metal Recycling, owned by international metals recycler Schnitzer Steel, has been operating in Anchorage since 2007 and recycles metals from cars and trucks, appliances, cable, wire, pipe, and more.

■ Anchorage Recycling Center, owned

by RockTenn, headquartered in Georgia, collects containers (plastic, steel, aluminum) and fi bers (cardboard, mixed paper, newspaper) from homes, schools, and businesses through its drop-off center and deliveries by local haulers from curbside programs, business accounts, and other drop-off locations in Anchorage.

■ Total Reclaim is a company servicing the Pacifi c Northwest with an Anchorage location that collects numerous items to be recycled at its Seattle facility, including batteries and appliances. It’s best known, however, for its electronics recycling program, which accepts computers, monitors, servers, televisions, stereos, cell phones, and more from all across the state. Total Reclaim collects electronic waste from businesses, individuals, community collection events, and other sources.

One prominent statewide nonprofit with a focus on recycling programs is Green Star. Green Star assists businesses, organizations, schools, and agencies and has more than three hundred members around Alaska. Recycling is just one of Green Star’s several standards recognized through its award certification program. Green Star has www.akbizmag.com

two chapters in Alaska—one in Anchorage and one in Fairbanks.

Kalee Mockridge, executive director of Green Star, says that theirs is the only electronics recycling program in the Interior.

“Interior Alaska Green Star organizes an electronics recycling effort several times each year that gets good response,” says Doug Buteyn, interior and northern regional manager for the State of Alaska’s Solid Waste Program.

Small businesses like Anchorage’s Recycling Solutions of Alaska, started by entrepreneur Sarah Robinson in 2008 as a simple neighborhood pickup service, can help other small businesses earn a Green Star Award. Recycling Solutions of Alaska offers flexible pick-up times, including evenings and weekends; materials collected are taken to the Anchorage Recycling Center or Total Reclaim.

Materials collected in Fairbanks are shipped to Anchorage for distribution to appropriate channels. The most used recycling programs in Fairbanks are those offered by Interior Alaska Green Star and the Fairbanks Rescue Mission, according to Buteyn. The University of Alaska Fairbanks had a recycling program, but it was recently cut. “The Rescue Mission recycles cardboard, newspaper, mixed paper, and aluminum,” Buteyn says. “The Rescue Mission program is also proving to be a good resource for smaller communities located on the road system.”

The Juneau Recycle Center at the city’s landfill accepts the usual array of paper, plastic, glass, aluminum cans, etc. Skookum Sales and Recycling, also in Juneau, calls itself “Southeast Alaska’s Original Metal Recycler,” and buys metals like aluminum, copper, and brass for resale to recyclers out of state.

Schools and public spaces such as convention centers, sports arenas, and parks have also become standard locations for recycling bins, especially for paper and aluminum cans. In the Anchorage School District, every school and administration building has some type of recycling program, according to Jeanne Carlson, a recycling coordinator with the Municipality of Anchorage. “Mixed paper is the primary material collected throughout the district,” she says, “but individual schools and buildings may www.akbizmag.com

collect additional materials such as aluminum cans and/or plastic bottles.”

Besides elevating awareness of recycling opportunities in Alaska, ALPAR also organizes some recycling programs in urban and rural areas.

Urban examples include free Christmas tree recycling and its partnership with businesses to set up collection and find markets for plastic shopping bags.

Fisher says that one of the primary ways that ALPAR and the business community have helped recycling success in Alaska is through the shipping companies’ support. Several shipping companies donate backhaul services, which tend to cost less than northbound shipping due to lower demand, to help move recyclables to market. This system has been operating in the Railbelt for many years at no cost to taxpayers. “It’s an amazing system thanks to Horizon Lines, TOTE, Alaska Marine Lines, Lynden, Northland Services, and the Alaska Railroad,” says Fisher.

Rural Programs Smaller communities on the road system are limited in services, and rural towns off the road system have fewer options for recycling.

A program through ALPAR called Flying Cans and Bottles has helped rural villages—about eighty participate— to keep aluminum cans and plastic bottles off the streets and out of dumps and landfills. Northern Air Cargo and member airlines of the Alaska Air Carriers Association haul these items that locals collect to Anchorage, where the items enter the larger recycling stream.

Hooper Bay has had success with this as has Holy Cross, Chevak, and Iguigig.

ALPAR pays each community by the pound for cans. Rural communities recycled more than fift y thousand pounds of aluminum cans and plastic bottles last year using this program.

With the help of regional authorities, nonprofit agencies, and participating private companies, rural residents in interior and northern Alaska can recycle paper, plastic, scrap metal and white goods, fluorescent bulbs, aluminum cans, electronics, and lead acid batteries.

For example, Nome-based Kawerak, Inc., the regional nonprofit organization of Bering Straits Native Association, supports the process of backhauling lead

acid batteries and helps with transporting scrap metal. Maniilaq Association in the Northwest Arctic Borough provides general assistance with backhauling and recycling. The Yukon River InterTribal Watershed Council provides general backhaul assistance of recyclables in communities along the Yukon River.

Haines recycled over 250,000 pounds total in 2012; the Chilkat Valley Community Foundation and RuralCap have provided grants in recent years for recycling efforts in this small Southeast community.

Even with companies and agencies cooperating to organize and pay for backhaul of recyclables from rural Alaska to Anchorage and beyond, there “are still many local challenges to be overcome,” says Buteyn. These include the lack of proper equipment for handling and loading the recyclables, the lack of appropriate containers for recyclables, and the lack of weatherproof storage space for recyclables. “Another reality in rural Alaska,” he says, “is that because barge service is available only in the summer, anything that interrupts that service can potentially set back a community’s or region’s recycling efforts by a full year.”

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

79

Recycle it

Right!

Don’t know what to do with it?

Visit muni.org/sws

What Can be Recycled and Where?

T

he list of what can and cannot be recycled is constantly changing in every community. Although some of the more well-known resources are featured here, always check which resources are available in your area. A wide range of services are offered throughout Southcentral Alaska, Southeast Alaska, and the Interior. Please refer to the Recycling Directory in this issue for a comprehensive list of companies and services offered.

Paper and Paper Products: Everything from offi ce paper to (unsoiled) pizza boxes can be recycled, including cardboard, mixed paper, newspaper, junk mail, telephone books, gift wrap, paper egg cartons, and brown paper grocery bags. Not accepted for recycling, however, are any waxy or coated boxes such as milk or juice cartons, many cereal boxes, or boxes for shipping fi sh. Paper can be recycled in various locations throughout the state.

Glass: Glass recycling has come and gone in Alaska and come back again. Glass bottles and jars that have been rinsed clean are accepted, but the following are not: Pyrex, laboratory glass, windshield glass, porcelain, ceramics, or TV/computer glass. Lids and caps that typically come with glass containers are sometimes recyclable in other categories. Glass can currently be recycled in various locations around the state.

Plastic: There are several types of plastic containers, but in Alaska the only ones accepted

In-State Recycling A handful of companies are recycling collected materials right here in the state.

for recycling at this time are the #1 PET bottles with neck and screw top (beverage bottles) and #2 HDPE jugs with neck and screw top (milk and detergent jugs). Although in the past people were asked to remove caps from plastic bottles and jugs, the caps are now being recycled as well. According to Jeanne Carlson, recycling coordinator for the Municipality of Anchorage, recyclers are now being asked to crush the jugs and replace the caps. Plastic bottles can be recycled at various locations throughout the state. According to the Alaska Waste website, newspaper sleeves, grocery bags, and shrink wrap can also be recycled. If you are not sure whether plastic can be recycled, you can test it: If the plastic stretches when you pull on it, then it’s recyclable. Stretchy plastics can be recycled through Smurfi t-Stone Recycling Center in Anchorage, and bins are also located inside Carrs, Fred Meyer, and Wal-Mart stores.

Metal: Aluminum beverage cans can be recycled in various locations throughout Alaska but not aluminum pet food cans or aluminum foil. Steel food and beverage cans are accepted at some locations, as are some scrap metals. Check the resources available in your community.

Electronics: Plenty of electronics can be recycled in Alaska: televisions, computer monitors, computers, laptops, keyboards, mice, modems, external drives, scanners, printers, toner cartridges, copiers, cables, other computer peripherals, VCRs, DVD players, stereos, radios, phones, fax machines, camcorders, electric typewriters, microwave ovens, telephones, cell phones, and most media (fl oppy disks, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes). Check with Total Reclaim and Green Star for residential electronics recycling. Businesses can often recycle

and wood scraps become mulch for landscaping and erosion control.

■ Alaska Soil Recycling, a division of Anchorage Sand and Gravel Co., Inc., recycles soils contaminated with hazardous materials such as gas or oil into clean soil available for everything from construction projects to a homeowner’s landscaping needs.

■ Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau uses its spent grain, a byproduct of the beer brewing process, as the fuel source for its steam boiler, reducing the company’s fuel oil consumption in operations by 60 percent to 70 percent.

■ Thermo-Cool makes cellulose insulation that is 85 percent locally recycled paper. Manufacturing is done at the company’s Wasilla facility. “Thermo Kool of Alaska has been using the lion’s share of Alaska’s recycled newsprint for the manufacture of insulation and hydroseeding mulch for more than twenty-fi ve years,” says Fisher.

■ Central Recycling Services recycles crushed concrete and demolished asphalt into aggregate products used for leveling or structural fi ll Closing the Loop for roads and parking lots; crushed Many Alaskans recycle in small ways post-consumer glass is used in road that add up to tons of garbage that would construction and bedding for utilities; otherwise end up in landfills: They build 80

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

through hazardous waste at local landfi lls.

Fluorescent Light Bulbs: Accepted are whole long tubular fl uorescent lamps, round tubular lamps, and small screw-in or pop-in compact fl uorescent lamps of all styles, but not ballasts, broken lamps, incandescent light bulbs, or LED lamps. Check at the hazardous waste area at your local landfi ll.

Wood and Yard Waste: Trees, limbs, and branches can be recycled, as can grass clippings, leaves, twigs, and woody debris. Sometimes these items are chipped and donated to nonprofi ts for landscaping. Check with your local landfi ll and your local fi re department.

Vehicles: Cars, trucks, ATVs, motorcycles, snowmachines, and outboards can be recycled as long as all hazardous fl uids are drained and a handful of other criteria are met. Various companies offer cash purchase and pick-up services all over the state.

Appliances: Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, washers, dryers, and stoves are all recyclable. In Anchorage, check with Total Reclaim. In other areas, ask at metals recycling businesses.

Construction Debris: Concrete, asphalt, gypsum, metal, some wood waste, and land clearing debris can be recycled. Central Recycling Services is an option for those located in Anchorage.

Cooking Oil and Grease: Commercial cooking oil and grease can be recycled to make biofuels. People in Southcentral Alaska, Kodiak, and Fairbanks can bring uncontaminated cooking oil to Alaska Waste for recycling.

Hazardous Materials: Recycling is available for refrigeration systems, HVAC units, motor oil, and batteries.

compost piles in the backyard, start fires in the woodstove with newspaper and cardboard, and repurpose items for garden, craft projects, storage, and more.

One innovative Sitka resident, Keith Nyitray, recycles his waste glass into beach glass by depositing it along the rocky shoreline near his house. He says it takes about two years for the tides to move it back and forth to where it eventually accumulates on a sandy point. He then offers that “recycled” glass to artists in town for various projects such as jewelry, mosaics, and fused glass works.

Recycling is most efficient when a waste product goes full-circle to be used again.  Susan Sommer is a freelance writer and editor living in Eagle River. www.akbizmag.com

An excavation of petroleum contaminated soil is backďŹ lled with clean soil near Eielson Air Force base in summer of 2012.

Photo courtesy of Brice Environmental Services Corporation

ENVIRONMENTAL FIRMS Company Company

Top Executive Top Executive

3M Alaska 11151 Calaska Cir. Anchorage, AK 99515 Phone: 907-522-5200 Fax: 907-522-1645

Julie Morman, Gen. Mgr.

ABR Inc. PO Box 80410 Fairbanks, AK 99708 Phone: 907-455-6777 Fax: 907-455-6781

Stephen Murphy, Pres.

Acuren USA 600 E. 57th Pl., Suite B Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-569-5000 Fax: 907-569-5005

Dennis Lee, Mng. Dir.

Alaska Analytical Laboratory 1956 Richardson Hwy. North Pole, AK 99705 Phone: 907-488-1271 Fax: 907-488-0772

Stefan Mack, PE/Pres.

Alaska Soil Recycling 1040 O'Malley Rd. Anchorage, AK 99515 Phone: 907-348-6700 Fax: 907-344-2844

Brad Quade, Operations Mgr.

Analytica Group 4307 Arctic Blvd.

Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-375-8977 Fax: 907-258-6634

Elizabeth Rensch, Business Dev. Mgr.

Anchorage Soil & Water Conserv. Dist.

PO Box 110309 Anchorage, AK 99511-0309 Phone: 907-677-7645 Fax: 907-677-7645

Bret Burroughs, Chair

APC Services LLC 4241 B St., Suite 100 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-677-9451 Fax: 907-677-9452

Ralph Angasan Sr., Pres.

ARCTOS LLC 130 Int'l Airport Rd., Suite R Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-632-1006 Fax: 866-532-3915

Kirsten Ballard, CEO

www.akbizmag.com

AK AK Estab. Empls.

Estab. Empls.

1976

12

3M manufactures a wide range of products covering many markets in Alaska. In the area of natural resources, we provide products and services which support the oil/gas and mining industries in worker safety, electrical and communications, welding protection, fire and corrosion protection, cementing density control, filtration and spill control.

1976

75

Envionmental research and services: Services include environmental impact analysis, wildlife and fisheries, endangered species surveys, NEPA documentation, re-vegetation, ecological restoration, GIS services and wetland mapping.

2002

240

Materials engineering, nondestructive examination and integrity management for the oil and gas, power, mining, transportation and construction industries.

2008

3

Environmental testing laboratory. Soil and water analysis for methods 8021B, AK101, AK102, AK103 and ADEC certified.

1988

15

Remediation of petroleum-impacted soils by thermal desorption. Our process is capable of off-site and on-site remediation projects. Results are quick and guaranteed. Soils are recycled into beneficial products after treatment; thereby complying with green and sustainable recycling (GSR) practices.

1991

20

Analytica is the largest state certified laboratory in Alaska, specializing in drinking water, wastewater and general water quality testing. Locations in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Wasilla, Alaska. Analytica is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Aleut Corporation. www.aleutcorp.com.

1997

3

Anchorage Woodlot, property owner and development support and services, BMP and development planning, confidential assistance to property owners, land managers, and development industry.

2007

8

Environmental consulting; environmental assessments; contaminated land evaluation & remediation, geochemistry, baseline environmental studies; mining and exploration services.

2007

7

ODPCP plans, oil spill prevention and response planning services. API certified tank and piping inspections, incident management team staffing and training, HSE programs, imaging and mapping. Compliance assistance with state, federal regulations and response planning for oil and gas industry in Alaska.

innovation.3malaska@mmm.com 3m.com

info@abrinc.com abrinc.com

acuren.com

klovejoy@alaska-analytical.com alaska-analytical.com

anchsand.com

er@analyticagroup.com analyticagroup.com

aswcd@aswcd.org aswcd.org

info@apcservicesllc.com apcservicesllc.com

arctosak.com

Services Services

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

81

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2013 ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTORY ENVIRONMENTAL FIRMS Company Company

Top TopExecutive Executive

Arrowhead Environmental Services Inc. PO Box 872707 Wasilla, AK 99687 Phone: 907-376-8848 Fax: 907-376-8876

Terry Webb, Pres./CEO

B.C. Excavating LLC 2251 Cinnabar Lp. Anchorage, AK 99507 Phone: 907-344-4490 Fax: 907-344-4492

Gordon Bartel, Pres.

Bell Tech Inc. PO Box 3467 Valdez, AK 99686 Phone: 800-537-6949 Fax: 907-835-4535

Randy Bell, CEO

BGES Inc. 1042 E. Sixth Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-644-2900 Fax: 907-644-2901

Robert Braunstein, Pres.

Blue Skies Solutions LLC 3312 Robin St. Anchorage, AK 99504 Phone: 907-230-4372

Michael Knapp, Principal

Brice Environmental Services Corp.

PO Box 73520 Fairbanks, AK 99707 Phone: 907-456-1955 Fax: 907-452-1067

Craig Jones, Pres./Gen. Mgr.

Bristol Engineering Services Corporation 111 W. 16th Ave., Third Floor Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-563-0013 Fax: 907-563-6713

Travis Woods, Sr. Civil Engineer/CEO

CampWater Industries LLC 2550 Hayes St. Delta Junction, AK 99737 Phone: 907-895-4309

Jon Dufendach, Pres.

CCI Industrial Services, LLC 560 E. 34th Ave., Suite 200 Anchorage, AK 99503-4161 Phone: 907-258-5755 Fax: 907-770-9452

A. Ben Schoffmann, Pres./CEO

CH2M HILL 949 E. 36th Ave., Suite 500 Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 907-762-1500 Fax: 907-762-1595

Mark Lasswell, AK Bus. Grp. Pres./GM

ChemTrack Alaska, Inc. 11711 S. Gambell St. Anchorage, AK 99515 Phone: 907-349-2511 Fax: 907-522-3150

Carrie Lindow, Pres.

Colville Inc. Pouch 340012 Prudhoe Bay, AK 99734 Phone: 907-659-3198 Fax: 907-659-3190

Eric Helzer, Pres./CEO

Cook Inlet Spill Prevention & Response PO Box 7314 Nikiski, AK 99635 Phone: 907-776-5129 Fax: 907-776-2190

Todd Paxton, Gen. Mgr.

DAT/EM Systems International 8240 Sandlewood Pl., Suite 101 Anchorage, AK 99507-3122 Phone: 907-522-3681 Fax: 907-522-3688

Jeff Yates, Gen. Mgr.

DOWL HKM 4041 B St. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-562-2000 Fax: 907-563-3953

Stewart Osgood, Pres.

Ecology & Environment Inc. 1007 W. Third Ave., Suite 201 Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 257-5000 Fax: 257-5000

Kevin Neumaier, CEO

82

AK Estab. Empls.

Empls.

Estab.

1999

6

info@arrowheadenviro.com arrowheadenviro.com 1982

admin@bcxllc.net bcxllc.net

Services Services Environmental remediation, asbestos/lead abatement, PCBs, mercury and demolition, civil, renewable energy systems. Notable clients: U.S. Air Force 3rd Contracting, MWH, Roger Hickel Contracting, North Pacific Erectors and CH2MHill.

2,545 Remediation services, soil farming, site cleanup for PCB, TCE, diesel/gasoline contamination, etc.

1990

5

Bell Tech Inc. specializes in ecological management as it relates to the recovery and restoration of spill response activities. With over 24 years of experience, Bell Tech has developed successful procedures addressing the recovery of contamination from any surface including vessels, shoreline and frozen tundra.

2002

6

Environmental site assessment, remediation, ground-water monitoring programs, project management and permitting. Lead and asbestos inspections.

2003

2

Blue Skies specializes in geographic information systems (GIS) training and consulting.

Our instructor is an Esri Certified Trainer and also a Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+) through CompTIA. We work with state, federal, local, non-profit, and private companies; helping them to create and manage their geospatial data.

1991

10

Brice Environmental is an 8(a) Native owned small business specializing in remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils, remote site demolition, environmental construction and remediation. Project history throughout Alaska and the lower 48 states and Hawaii.

1994

17

Civil engineering, permitting and planning; total project management encompassing planning, design and construction.

2009

2

Design/build portable/ emergency drinking water plants. NSF61- approved models to meet USEPA drinking water standards available off-the-shelf.

1989

377

belltechconsultants.com

bgesinc.com

info2@blueskiessolutions.net blueskiessolutions.net

craigj@briceenvironmental.com briceenvironmental.com

info@bristol-companies.com bristol-companies.com

jondufendach@gmail.com campwater.com

info@cciindustrial.com cciindustrial.com 1946

bclemenz@ch2m.com ch2m.com/alaska

Corrosion-under-insulation refurbishment; asbestos and lead surveys and abatement; specialty coatings; sandblasting; tank and vessel cleaning; fire proofing; demolition and hazardous waste removal; operations, maintenance and construction; oil spill response; heat treat services.

2,452 We offer consulting, engineering, procurement, logistics, fabrication, construction, construction management, operations and maintenance services all under one roof, supporting entire project life cycles. We support oil and gas, mining, environmental, water, power, transportation and government.

1973

835

Please check out our Statement of Qualifications at chemtrack.net/about_us.htm.

1981

160

Arctic fuel logistics contractor, solid waste services, industrial supply.

1991

23

Provides oil-spill response services to member companies in the greater Cook Inlet area.

Registered with the U.S. Coast Guard, (OSRO) and ADEC (PRAC).

1987

11

DAT/EM Systems International is an Alaska-based developer of world-class photogrammetric software. Since 1987, DAT/EM has built human interface tools to efficiently extract and edit 3D vector features from stereo imagery and point clouds.

1962

149

Multi-disciplined consulting firm providing civil engineering & related services for more than 50 years: services include, environmental, land use and transportation planning, geotechnical engineering, landscape architecture, land surveying, GIS, construction admin., materials testing, construction testing & inspection.

1970

3

Environmental consulting, planning, environmental engineering and design services to industry and government. Committed to sustainable development through responsible environmental stewardship. E & E has 30 offices throughout the United States and 8 international locations.

info@chemtrack.net chemtrack.net

info@colvilleinc.com colvilleinc.com

cispri.org

jyates@datem.com datem.com

jpayne@dowlhkm.com dowlhkm.com

vmelde@ene.com ene.com

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

www.akbizmag.com

Company Company

TopExecutive Executive Top

EHS-Alaska Inc. 11901 Business Blvd., Suite 208 Eagle River, AK 99577 Phone: 907-694-1383 Fax: 907-694-1382

Robert French, Principal

Emerald Alaska Inc. 425 Outer Springer Lp. Palmer, AK 99645 Phone: 907-258-1558 Fax: 907-746-3651

Blake Hillis, Pres.

ENVIRON International Corp.

3909 Arctic Blvd., Suite 101 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-563-0515 Fax: 907-563-0520

Laura Noland, Sr. Mgr./Sr. Env. Scnst.

Environmental Compliance Consultants 1500 Post Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-644-0428 Fax: 907-677-9328

Mark Goodwin, CEO

Environmental Management Inc. 206 E. Fireweed Ln., Suite 201 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-272-9336 Fax: 907-272-4159

Larry Helgeson, Principal Eng.

ERM Alaska, Inc. 825 W. Eighth Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-258-4880 Fax: 907-258-4033

Jeffrey Leety, Mng. Partner

Golder Associates Inc. 2121 Abbott Rd., Suite 100 Anchorage, AK 99507 Phone: 907-344-6001 Fax: 907-344-6011

Mark Musial, Principal/Mgr.

Green Star, Inc. 333 W. Fourth Ave., Suite 310 Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-278-7827 Fax: 907-279-5868

Kim Kovol, Exec. Dir.

www.akbizmag.com

AK AK Estab.

Estab. Empls.

Empls.

1986

8

Hazardous materials removal design, workplace health and safety, employee training and construction monitoring. Staff includes professional engineers, industrial hygienists and environmental specialists committed to the safe control, removal and disposal. Now offering Code Consulting Services!

2002

108

Hazardous/non-hazardous waste disposal, petroleum product recycling, industrial cleaning services, vacuum truck services, emergency spill response, automotive fluids recycling and sales, environmentally friendly cleaners/degreasers, site clean-up and remediation. Anchorage, Kenai, Deadhorse and Fairbanks.

2011

4

Environmental consulting; health sciences; natural resource management services; air quality management; ecology and sediment management; environmental compliance and permitting; contaminated sites solutions; water resources; sustainability; and green infrastructure.

1999

48

A full-service environmental company dedicated to providing clients with quality environmental services. Experienced in the disciplines of hazardous waste materials management, transportation, environmental consulting, assessment, remediation recycling, demolition and more.

1988

16

Environmental & civil engineering, compliance & consulting such as Phase I, Phase II, asbestos mngmt. & design, HUD lead paint activities, UST removals, biological sampling, SWPPPs, SPCCs, & related contamination remediation services & training. A team of dedicated professionals working to make Alaska cleaner and safer for tomorrow.

1995

70

Full environmental consulting services, including: ecological sciences (assessment, permitting, restoration), site remediation (investigation, engineering, closure), air quality, EHS management (systems, compliance, auditing, sustainability), and water resources (engineering, hydrology, wetlands, stream restoration).

1980

40

Arctic and geotechnical engineering, groundwater resource development, environmental sciences and remedial investigation.

1996

2

Green Star, Inc., is a green business certification program that assists, certifies, and recognizes Alaska businesses that are committed to fully integrating resource efficiency and environmental leadership initiatives into their business plans and practices.

ehsak@ehs-alaska.com ehs-alaska.com

pauln@emeraldnw.com emeraldnw.com

lnoland@environcorp.com environcorp.com

rod@eccalaska.com eccalaska.com

lhelgeson@emi-alaska.com emi-alaska.com

ermalaska.com

golder.com

info@greenstarinc.org greenstarinc.org

Services Services

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

83

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2013 ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTORY

ENVIRONMENTAL FIRMS

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2013 ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTORY ENVIRONMENTAL FIRMS Company Company

Top TopExecutive Executive

HDR Alaska Inc. 2525 C St., Suite 305 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-644-2000 Fax: 907-644-2022

Duane Hippe, Sr. VP/PE

HMH Consulting LLC 200 W. 34th Ave., PMB 253 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-562-8100 Fax: 907-338-0070

Erik Haas, Principal

Jacobs 4300 B St., Suite 600 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-563-3322 Fax: 907-563-3320

Terry Heikkila, Dir. AK Ops

Kakivik Asset Management, LLC 560 E. 34th Ave., Suite 200 Anchorage, AK 99503-4161 Phone: 907-770-9400 Fax: 907-770-9450

A. Ben Schoffmann, Pres./CEO

Meridian Systems, Inc. 200 W. 34th Ave. #969 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-279-3320 Fax: 907-279-2369

John Fortner, Gen. Mgr.

Michael Baker Jr. Inc. 1400 W. Benson Blvd., Suite 200 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-273-1600 Fax: 907-273-1699

Jeffrey Baker, AK Office Principal

Michael L. Foster & Associates, Inc. 13135 Old Glenn Hwy., Suite 200 Eagle River, AK 99577 Phone: 907-696-6200 Fax: 907-696-6202

Michael Foster, PE/Owner

MWH 1835 S. Bragaw St., Suite 350 Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 907-248-8883 Fax: 907-248-8884

Chris Brown, Alaska Reg. Mgr.

New Horizons Telecom Inc. 901 Cope Industrial Way Palmer, AK 99645 Phone: 907-761-6000 Fax: 907-761-6001

John Lee, Owner/CEO

NORTECH Inc. 2400 College Rd. Fairbanks, AK 99709-3754 Phone: 907-452-5688 Fax: 907-452-5694

John Hargesheimer, Pres.

North Wind Group 2627 C St. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-277-5488 Fax: 907-277-5422

Greg Razo, CEO

O.E.S. 3201 C St., Suite 700 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-562-8738 Fax: 907-562-8751

Pat McCormick, GM

Pacific Environmental Corp. (PENCO) 6000 A St. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-562-5420 Fax: 907-562-5426

Matthew Melton, Alaska Area Mgr.

PDC Inc. Engineers 1028 Aurora Dr. Fairbanks, AK 99709 Phone: 907-452-1414 Fax: 907-456-2707

Royce Conlon, Pres./Envr. Principal

R&M Consultants Inc. 9101 Vanguard Dr. Anchorage, AK 99507-4447 Phone: 907-522-1707 Fax: 907-522-3403

Len Story, COO

Restoration Science & Engineering LLC 911 W. Eighth Ave., Suite 100 Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-278-1023 Fax: 907-277-5718

David Nyman, Mng. Partner

84

AK Estab. Empls.

Empls.

Estab.

Services Services

1979

144

Engineering services cover civil and structural engineering for transportation, water/ wastewater, solid waste, federal, military, and oil & gas infrastructure. Specialty services in design-build. Engineering supported by full range of environmental/planning staff. AK offices supported by 8,000 HDR staff nationwide.

1997

5

Air quality permitting, monitoring, testing emission-control design, professional training, industrial air-quality compliance evaluations.

1947

90

Professional services supporting federal & energy clients. AK expertise includes environmental planning, permitting, compliance, investigation, remediation & emergency response; energy conservation (retro-commissioning); remote logistics; design; planning; risk & construction management.

1999

185

Nondestructive testing, internal and external corrosion investigations, quality program management, integrity program management, field chemical/corrosion inhibition management, heat treat, corrosion-under-insulation investigation, infrared thermography, rope access technology, and in-line inspection data interpretation.

1997

14

We make buildings smarter by providing: Intelligent building systems, energy management & analysis, building commissioning, energy conservation measures, and ENERGYSTAR rating services.

1942

47

Regulatory and permit applications and compliance support; wetlands delineation; Section 10 and 404(b)(1) compliance and evaluation; field hydrological assessments & geotechnical investigations; NEPA documents; public involvement; agency coordination.

1998

20

Environmental planning documents (EA/EIS), and full-service A/E firm with design/build, construction management, and general contracting capabilities.

1977

40

Water, wastewater, environmental remediation, permitting and power.

1978

80

Services include program management of remediation designs, surveys, sampling, contamination delineation and environmental remediation.

1979

26

Environment energy, health and safety: A multidisciplined professional consulting firm with registered engineers and certified industrial hygienists on staff providing environmental, engineering, energy auditing industrial hygiene and health and safety professional services throughout Alaska.

1997

13

Environmental investigation, restoration & remediation; engineering; natural and cultural resources; NEPA services; GIS services; construction; demolition; abatement; waste management; regulatory support; public involvement; and mine reclamation. North Wind owns and operates two direct push rigs and a UVOST soil screening system.

1997

26

A wide range of environmental management and remediation; construction; oilfield support; environmental training, tank and pipeline cleaning, inspection and related services. Experienced working in remote and Arctic regions, O.E.S. is a subsidiary of Olgoonik Corp., the Alaska Native Corp. of Wainwright.

1973

100

Pacific Environmental Corporation (PENCO) specializes in land and marine spill response, environmental cleanup and remediation, and marine vessel remediation.

PENCO's array of environmental services includes supplying teams of highly skilled spill response technicians for emergency response.

1975

79

Supports highway, aviation, utility, and facility projects by providing environmental expertise for routes and site selection; assessing potential impacts to specific environmental categories such as wetlands and hazardous materials and developing designs to address identified environmental issues.

1969

140

Engineering, Geomatics, Earth Sciences, Construction Administration

1992

12

Environmental science and engineering specializing in environmental engineering and permitting, environmental remediation and reporting, phase I&II site assessments, waste water engineering, fuel system design and compliance, SPCC plans, SWPPP including CGP and MSGP work, construction project management, and more.

info@hdrinc.com hdrinc.com

erik@hmhconsulting.org hmhconsulting.org

jacobs.com

info@kakivik.com kakivik.com

sales@msicontrols.com msicontrols.com

mbakercorp.com

hlm@mlfaalaska.com mlfalaaska.com

chris.brown@mwhglobal.com mwhglobal.com

info@nhtiusa.com nhtiusa.com

hargy@nortechengr.com nortechengr.com

kkearney@northwindgrp.com northwindgrp.com

oesinfo@olgoonik.com oesinc.org

alaska@penco.org penco.org

pdceng.com

email@rmconsult.com rmconsult.com

restorsci.com

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

www.akbizmag.com

Company Company

TopExecutive Executive Top

Satori Group 1310 E. 66th Ave., Suite 2 Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-332-0456 Fax: 907-332-0457

Jill Lucas , Pres.

SGS North America Inc. 200 W. Potter Dr. Anchorage, AK 99518-1605 Phone: 907-562-2343 Fax: 907-562-0119

Charles Homestead, Gen. Mgr.

Shannon & Wilson Inc. 2355 Hill Rd. Fairbanks, AK 99709-5326 Phone: 907-479-0600 Fax: 907-479-5691

Chris Darrah, Assoc./Fbnks. Ofc. Mgr.

Shannon & Wilson Inc. 5430 Fairbanks St., Suite 3 Anchorage, AK 99518-1263 Phone: 907-561-2120 Fax: 907-561-4483

Stafford Glashan, VP/Anch. Ofc. Mgr.

SLR International Corporation 2700 Gambell St., Suite 200 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-222-1112 Fax: 907-222-1113

Brian Hoefler, AK Mgr.

Soil Processing Inc. PO Box 211382 Anchorage, AK 99521-1382 Phone: 907-274-3000

Jennie Sharpe, CEO

Spill Shield Inc. 5610 Silverado Way, Suite A10 Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-561-6033 Fax: 907-561-4504

Ken Bauer, Sales Mgr.

Taiga Ventures 2700 S. Cushman St. Fairbanks, AK 99701 Phone: 907-452-6631 Fax: 907-451-8632

Mike Tolbert, Pres.

AK AK Estab.

Estab. Empls.

Empls.

12

10

Hazardous materials building surveys, asbestos & lead remediation, whole/interior building demolition, health & safety training, groundwater services, Phase I & II ESA's.

1964

45

Environmental Services: Providing full-service environmental testing since 1964. The Alaska division has branches in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Extensive experience in DoD, oil industry, PWSID, mining.

1974

30

Shannon & Wilson is a nationally renowned engineering and applied earth sciences firm with offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Lower 48. Our services include geotechnical analysis and design; frozen ground engineering; environmental compliance, assessments, and remediation; earthquake analysis; and materials testing.

1974

30

Shannon & Wilson is a nationally renowned engineering and applied earth sciences firm with offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Lower 48. Our services include geotechnical analysis and design; frozen ground engineering; environmental compliance, assessments, and remediation; earthquake analysis; and materials testing.

2000

88

Air permitting, air measurements, project permitting, environmental compliance, site investigation, remediation, risk assessment and oil spill contingency planning.

1990

10

Specializes in the treatment of crude oil, bunker C and diesel-contaminated soil, using an ADEC-approved and -permitted thermal desorption unit.

1992

2

Supplier for Smart Ash, Oil Away, Drug Terminator and MediBurn incinerators.

Absorbents, water scrubbers, oil spill response kits and related oil spill cleanup products.

We also supply the Titan fluid recycler that will clean diesel fuel or low viscosity hydraulic oil at 3 or 6 gallons per minute. We are also supplier of Super Sacks.

1979

20

Provides all supplies necessary for remote work. Provides logistical support (portable camp, food and vehicles) for environmental cleanups statewide. Full-scale expediting service to include well and water monitoring pipe and supplies. Also in Anchorage at 351 E. 92nd., 245-3123.

info@gosatori.com gosatori.com

charles.homestead@sgs.com us.sgs.com

info-fairbanks@shanwil.com shannonwilson.com

info-anchorage@shanwil.com shannonwilson.com

bhoefler@slrconsulting.com slrconsulting.com

spialaska@aol.com

spillshield@ak.net spillshield.com

taiga@taigaventures.com taigaventures.com

Services Services

N E E R G G N I D BU I L

Gain an environmentally friendly and sustainable structure by choosing AMVIC ICF as your foundation solution.  Generates as little as 1% construction waste  Comprised of over 60% recycled materials  Reduces energy consumption  Easy to install

ANCHORAGE • 563-5000 FAIRBANKS • 452-4743

www.akbizmag.com

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

85

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2013 ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTORY

ENVIRONMENTAL FIRMS

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2013 ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTORY ENVIRONMENTAL FIRMS Company Company

Top TopExecutive Executive

TELLUS, Ltd. 2551 Susitna Dr. Anchorage, AK 99517-1148 Phone: 907-248-8055 Fax: 907-248-8055

Scott Erdmann, Pres./Prof. Geologist

Three Parameters Plus, Inc. 3520 International St. Fairbanks, AK 99701 Phone: 907-458-8089 Fax: 907-458-8090

Cheryl Moody, Pres./CEO

AK Estab. Empls.

Empls.

Estab.

Services Services

1997

1

Project management, environmental assessment and compliance, corrective action programs.

1992

16

Natural resource consulting firm specializing in: wetland determinations, delineations & functional assessments; wetland compensatory mitigation; regulatory assistance; mineral exploration & mine permitting; terrestrial habitat evaluations & impact assessments; aquatic & hydrologic investigations; water quality monitoring.

Travis/Peterson Environmental Consulting Michael Travis, Principal 3305 Arctic Blvd., Suite 102 Anchorage, AK 99503 tpeci.com Phone: 907-522-4337 Fax: 907-522-4313

1998

12

TPECI: Services include Storm Water Management, Environmental Site Assessments (Phases I and II), LUST remediation, hazardous material management, facility compliance audits, engineering analysis and design, field sampling, surface water/ groundwater evaluations, NEPA, and wetlands delineations and permitting.

TTT Environmental Instruments & Supplies Deborah Tompkins, Owner 4201 B St. Anchorage, AK 99503 info@tttenviro.com Phone: 907-770-9041 Fax: 907-770-9046 tttenviro.com

2003

9

Portable gas detection, health and safety monitoring, environmental equipment. Rentals, sales, service and supplies. Warranty center. Alaskan owned small business.

Tutka LLC (Wasilla) 5825 E. Mayflower Ct., Suite B Wasilla, AK 99654 Phone: 907-357-2238 Fax: 907-357-2215

Amie Sommer, Member

1999

30

Certified DBE/WBE (ADOT&PF, MOA),EDWOSB/WOSB, HUBZone, CCR/ORCA registered. General contractor, heavy civil construction, environmental cleanup and consulting, wastewater pre-treatment systems operations and maintenance services.

URS 700 G St., Suite 500 Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-562-3366 Fax: 907-562-1297

Joe Hegna, AK Ops Mgr./VP

1904

100

Civil/structural/transportation engineering design services, analysis/response, containment sites, cultural/historical/archaeological/land use/noise & threatened/ endangered species studies, fisheries/geology/soils expertise, GIS/AutoCAD, Section4f evaluations, wetland delineation, wildlife.

USKH Inc. 2515 A St. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-276-4245 Fax: 907-258-4653

Timothy Vig, Pres./Principal

1972

97

USKH is a full-service, multi-discipline architectural and engineering firm. Services include: architecture; civil, structural, transportation, mechanical & electrical engineering; surveying & GIS; landscape architecture; planning; & environmental services.

Waste Management of Alaska Inc. 1519 Ship Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 855-973-3949 Fax: 866-491-2008

Mike Holzschuh, Territory Mgr./N.Am.

1969

4

Hazardous and nonhazardous waste disposal, project management, complete logistical oversight, complete U.S. and Canadian manifesting, rail transportation, over-the-road transportation, marine transportation and turnkey remedial services.

Weston Solutions Inc. 425 G St., Suite 300 Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-276-6610 Fax: 907-276-6694

Patrick Flynn, AK Business Mgr.

1957

60

WESTON delivers sustainable environmental, property redevelopment, energy & construction solutions. WESTON Alaska supports oil & gas industry, state & federal project mngmt. permitting, construction, incident response & environmental remediation.

Worldwide 1,800 staff build relationships & help solve our clients' toughest problems.

Wild North Resources, LLC PO Box 91223 Anchorage, AK 99509 Phone: 907-952-2121 Fax: 907-952-2121

Melissa Cunningham, Principal Mgr.

2009

9

WNR provides biological and environmental consulting services and wilderness safety specialist support to the public and private sectors. Our expertise includes regulatory compliance, environmental monitoring, permitting, GIS analysis, site assessments, technical writing, and supporting clients through the NEPA process.

tellus@acsalaska.net

info@3ppi.com 3ppi.com

amie@tutkallc.com tutkallc.com

urscorp.com/

marketing@uskh.com uskh.com

mholzschuh@wm.com wm.com

Robert.Hunter@westonsolutions.com westonsolutions.com

info@wildnorthresources.com wildnorthresources.com

RECYCLING FIRMS Company Company

TopExecutive Executive Top

Alaska Soil Recycling 1040 O'Malley Rd. Anchorage, AK 99515 Phone: 907-348-6700 Fax: 907-344-2844

Brad Quade, Operations Mgr.

Anchorage Soil & Water Conserv. Dist.

PO Box 110309 Anchorage, AK 99511-0309 Phone: 907-677-7645 Fax: 907-677-7645

Bret Burroughs, Chair

Bin There Dump That 3560 Fordham Dr. Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 907-947-2844

Greg Green, Owner/Pres.

Emerald Alaska Inc. 425 Outer Springer Lp. Palmer, AK 99645 Phone: 907-258-1558 Fax: 907-746-3651

Blake Hillis, Pres.

Green Star, Inc. 333 W. Fourth Ave., Suite 310 Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-278-7827 Fax: 907-279-5868

Kim Kovol, Exec. Dir.

86

AK AK Estab.

Estab. Empls.

Empls.

1988

15

Remediation of petroleum-impacted soils by thermal desorption. Our process is capable of off-site and on-site remediation projects. Results are quick and guaranteed. Soils are recycled into beneficial products after treatment; thereby complying with green and sustainable recycling (GSR) practices.

1997

3

Anchorage Woodlot, property owner and development support and services, BMP and development planning, confidential assistance to property owners, land managers, and development industry.

2013

2

Provides waste bins for residential construction, roofing, and other projects. The bins are dropped off and picked up by a uniformed driver, who will even sweep before leaving.

Four bin sizes available to fit the specific project.

2002

108

Hazardous/non-hazardous waste disposal, petroleum product recycling, industrial cleaning services, vacuum truck services, emergency spill response, automotive fluids recycling and sales, environmentally friendly cleaners/degreasers, site clean-up and remediation. Anchorage, Kenai, Deadhorse and Fairbanks.

1996

2

Green Star, Inc., is a green business certification program that assists, certifies, and recognizes Alaska businesses that are committed to fully integrating resource efficiency and environmental leadership initiatives into their business plans and practices.

anchsand.com

aswcd@aswcd.org aswcd.org

anchorage@bintheredumpthat.com bintheredumpthat.com

pauln@emeraldnw.com emeraldnw.com

info@greenstarinc.org greenstarinc.org

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

Services Services

www.akbizmag.com

Company Company

TopExecutive Executive Top

Hilltop Recycling Inc PO Box 670069 Chugiak, AK 99567 Phone: 907-696-2246 Fax: 907-696-0704

Ben Gardner, Pres.

Interior Alaska Green Star PO Box 82391 Fairbanks, AK 99708 Phone: 907-452-4152

Kalee Mockridge, Exec. Dir.

Recycling Solutions of Alaska PO Box 110015 Anchorage, AK 99516 Phone: 907-242-9587

Sarah Robinson, Owner

Richmond Steel Recycling 11760 Mitchell Rd. Richmond, BC V6V1V8 Phone: 907-280-8180 Fax: 604-324-8617

Harbinder Dhillon, Gen. Mgr.

RockTenn Recycling 6161 Rosewood St. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-562-2267 Fax: 907- 565-4459

AK AK Estab.

Estab. Empls.

Empls.

Services Services

1982

10

Automobile parts: used and rebuilt; metal recycling.

1998

1

Interior Alaska Green Star, along with the North Star Borough, sponsors monthly electronics recycling collections every month, along with ongoing education and outreach for recycling options in Fairbanks and publishes Fairbanks Recycling Guide; contact us to request printed copies or download it from our website.

2008

2

We provide office, business, and residential recycling services. Paper, cardboard, aluminum, glass, electronics and more!

1970

1

Auto hulk shredding, mobile car crusher, industrial steel accounts including full-container service, mobile shears, dock facilities and confidential shredding/destruction.

Randy Virgin, Gen. Mgr.

1999

11

Services for general public and commercial sector; including cardboard, newspaper, mixed paper, office paper, aluminum cans, #1 and #2 plastic bottles. Buy non-ferrous metals.

Shred Alaska Inc. 801 E. 82nd Ave., Suite B-1 Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-929-1154 Fax: 907-929-8042

Robyn Forbes, Pres./Gen. Mgr.

2000

12

On-site and drop-off document shredding services to all customers throughout South central Alaska.

Total Reclaim Environmental Services 12101 Industry Way, Unit C4 Anchorage, AK 99515 Phone: 907-561-0544 Fax: 907-222-6306

Larry Zirkle, Mgr.

2005

8

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Recycling Center: Receiving recyclables from MSB businesses, schools, agencies and residents and communities connected along the highway system. Processing Plant: Turning recovered material into commodities for market. Education: Providing field trips, curriculum kit (4th-8th grade), and presentations on why and how of recycling.

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Valley Community For Recycling Solutions Mollie Boyer, Exec. Dir. PO Box 876464 Wasilla, AK 99687 community@valleyrecycling.org Phone: 907-745-5544 Fax: 907-745-5569 valleyrecycling.org

www.akbizmag.com

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2013 ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTORY

RECYCLING FIRMS

energY

Photo courtesy of Linc Energy

Linc Energy operates an underground coal gasifi cation facility in Queensland, Australia located near Chinchilla. The facility includes this gas-to-liquids plant. Linc hopes to produce UCG in Alaska.

Going deep: F

ar below the muskegs of western Cook Inlet, rich coal seams lurk deep below the ground—stranded far beyond the reach of conventional mining techniques.

Enter CIRI and Linc Energy (Alaska) Inc., two companies pioneering the first forays into the possibility of underground coal gasification production in Alaska.

CIRI hopes to develop an underground coal gasification project on its own lands northeast of the Beluga River.

Linc Energy currently holds exploration licenses on Alaska Mental Health Trust lands four miles due west of Beluga.

The process works like this: Compressed air pumped through a well into a coal seam triggers the underground combustion of some of the coal. The re88

Alaska’s coal gasification pioneers

By Zaz Hollander

To see a video demonstrating how UCG works, go to an animation posted by Linc Energy at linc energyenergy.com/video_gallery.php sulting heat converts the air, coal, and coal seam water into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and methane, along with some contaminants including sulfur oxide and hydrogen sulfide.

The products of underground coal gasification—UCG in short—are brought up with fairly standard production wells without the disruption of traditional mining methods, backers say. The gases produced can be converted to methane, the chief component of natural gas, for general utility uses or used directly to fuel power generation.

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

A gas-to-liquids plant can also convert the primary synthesis gas or “syngas” into diesel, jet fuel, or fertilizers.

UCG is already in production around the world—Uzbekistan, South Africa, Australia—and there are additional UCG projects at various stages of development elsewhere.

Its claim to fame: the process allows producers to plumb coal seams too costly or technically challenging to mine.

Some western Cook Inlet coal seams, thousands of feet deep, definitely fit that category. www.akbizmag.com

Stone Horn Rises Given predicted shortages in Cook Inlet natural gas, CIRI is hoping to bring a new source of heat and power to Southcentral homes and businesses.

CIRI has already spent more than $10 million on its UCG development on corporation lands in the Stone Horn Ridge area six or seven miles from the Beluga airstrip and power plant.

But back in 2008 or 2009, when the Alaska Native Corporation started getting cold calls from UCG proponents, the industry was not a familiar one.

“I’d never heard of the technology,” says Ethan Schutt, CIRI’s senior vice president for land and energy development. “We spent a year looking at whether it was a valid technology or

www.akbizmag.com

Photo courtesy of CIRI

“If you can reach those and turn them into a valuable energy commodity like syngas, then it brings a resource that’s probably of marginal value to the Trust to having a great value to the Trust and to those of us who consume gas in Alaska,” says Rick Fredericksen, the Trust’s senior resource manager for energy and minerals.

A core sample from test drilling north of the Beluga River in 2010 is part of CIRI’s exploration program for underground coal gasifi cation on the west side of Cook Inlet.

just something people were selling that wasn’t real.”

CIRI eventually entered into Stone Horn Ridge LLC, a joint venture with Laurus Energy, a Texas-based subsidiary of Canadian UCG technology

company Ergo Energy. Part of the appeal, Schutt says, is the relatively small area required if the coal resource is good. A producer might need just several thousand acres to produce decades of supply.

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

89

But UCG makes the big bucks in the gas-to-liquid process. Syngas produced

by CIRI could be chemically upgraded to methane, ethanol, fertilizer, or liquid fuel for export to the Pacific Rim, Schutt says.

Processing the syngas would take a gas-to-liquid facility costing a “couple billion dollars,” he says. Any processing would happen in Alaska, so even though the value-added product would be exported, the facility would generate “a lot of jobs” here.

CIRI should know more about its UCG resources in about a year, after this year’s site characterization program wrap up.

“The final project will, in part, depend on the market, the capital required to build out the project,” Schutt says.

Linc Energy: Expanding UCG Empire Linc Energy is an energy and UCG heavyweight, a global company headquartered in Brisbane, Australia. The company’s Alaska office opened in 2010, joining four other US offices and eight offices worldwide.

Linc Energy comes to Alaska with experience in underground coal gasification and gas-to-liquid technologies.

Its UCG demonstration facility in Queensland, Australia is unique, the company says. It contains Gas to Liquids Fischer-Tropsch processing for cleaner fuel production and a worldclass laboratory for technical research.

Linc Energy also owns the world’s only commercial UCG facility, located in Uzbekistan, which has produced syngas for power generation since 1961.

In Alaska, Linc Energy is putting a lot of energy and attention into oil and gas leases in the Umiat area of the National Photo courtesy of CIRI Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. But the comCook Inlet Region, Inc. equipment conducts test drilling in coal seams north of pany is also making progress on several the Beluga River in 2010. CIRI hopes to produce gas from underground coal exploratory UCG wells in western Cook Inlet, according to Adam Bond, Linc Engasifi cation on the west side of Cook Inlet. ergy’s president for clean energy.

The joint venture has drilled a total of on helicopter support. This season, The company drilled the first of two thirteen stratigraphic test wells, Schutt CIRI needs to re-establish road access UCG test wells on the west side of Cook says. Crews collected core samples from before continuing work. Storms last fall Inlet in 2011.

500 to 2,500 feet deep. An early 2012 shal- washed out the route.

An application Linc Energy filed that low-focus, high-resolution 2-D seismic same year for a state permit to drill program will help plot the next phase: site Power or Processing? shows the company planned to core characterization drilling with much more If the site proves out, CIRI could pro- approximately 3,500 feet in a unit that closely spaced holes to facilitate commer- duce local electricity by burning syngas. includes the target Tyonek Formation, cial development of the project.

The corporation has had preliminary with subbituminous coal beds as much The remote site complicates work. discussions with Chugach Electric, as 50 to 60 feet thick.

Early operations relied almost entirely Schutt says.

Linc Energy, like CIRI, is watching 90

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

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forecasts for natural gas shortages in Cook Inlet closely, Bond says.

“There’s clearly growing demand in that region ... for a long-term, reliable gas supply,” he says. “Demand in the region suggests there’s probably going to be a longer term opportunity to create a new source of synthesis natural gas to include in the system.”

Linc Energy is in the early stages of evaluating its Cook Inlet wells, exploring coal seams to determine how suitable they are for UCG production, Bond says. Again like CIRI, Linc Energy expects to know more about the viability of the coals by next year.

That’s when the company will know more about whether it will move ahead with power production or gas-to-liquids—or both.

“I guess the beauty or the benefit of syngas derived from UCG is its flexibility,” he says. “You don’t necessarily have to have one or the other.”

Slow Going The Mental Health Trust is the landowner for the company’s leases, not the regulating authority.

The coal gasification process is regulated under Alaska’s Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act administered by the Coal Regulatory Group that’s part of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

Linc Energy obtained its leases in a 2010 competitive lease offering, according to Marcie Menefee, deputy director of the Trust’s land office. Linc Energy won the majority of the acreage, some 167,000 in all. That number also includes lands near Healy and Anderson, along with western Cook Inlet.

Asked about the timeline on Linc Energy’s leases, Fredericksen says the Trust would have liked Linc Energy to have drilled more holes by now but work was delayed by problems finding a suitable drill rig and training up crews.

Linc Energy’s Bond acknowledged that “Alaska is a challenging place to do business” but says the company is comfortable with its drilling plans this season.

The Trust could benefit in several ways from Linc Energy’s work, Fredericksen says.

“We have the properties evaluated through either geophysical [work] or drilling so we have a better sense of what we have out there,” he says. “In www.akbizmag.com

addition to the inventory, should they find an area that will prove up, then we would have gas production from that— whereupon we get a royalty.”

The Trust is still negotiating royalties on potential production, trying to decide whether to assess royalties on a BTU basis, or value of coals in place, or some other basis.

Pros and Cons A 300 to 400 percent increase in recoverable coal reserves in the United States is possible according to a draft best-prac-

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tices report by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. For developing countries undergoing rapid economic expansion, including India and China, UCG also may be a particularly compelling technology, the report states.

Because it doesn’t involve conventional mining techniques, UCG production does away with mine safety issues. Compared to traditional coal mining and processing, it also eliminates surface damage and solid waste discharge, while also reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, the report says.

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Rules Already In Place Perhaps surprisingly given the industry’s fledgling status in Alaska, UCG operations are already regulated by specific state rules, according to Rus-

Photo courtesy of Linc Energy

Still, the technology also comes with some environmental concerns. Chief among them, state officials say, are water quality and subsidence, or slumping in the project area after the underground reaction occurs and wells pump out gas and water.

Both hazards are avoidable with proper site selection and the adoption of best management practices, the Livermore report states.

The Livermore scientists reference two different operations. At a Wyoming site of several UCG pilot tests, “improper site selection and over-pressurization of the reactor drove a plume containing benzene, volatile organic carbons and other contaminants into local freshwater aquifers,” they found.

In contrast, a Linc Energy pilot at Chinchilla, Australia “demonstrates that it is possible to operate UCG without creating either hazard,” the scientists concluded.

Linc Energy ultra-low sulfur diesel tanks are part of the company’s operation at its underground coal gasifi cation facility in Queensland, Australia, located near Chinchilla.

sell Kirkham, coal regulatory program manager for the state Division of Mining, Land & Water. When the state took primacy over the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), officials included “in situ” gasification rules already written into the federal

regulations, Kirkham writes in an email.

Along with the state SMCRA program, other permitting authorities include the US Environmental Protection Agency, Alaska Department of Environmental Quality, the US Army Corps of Engineers for any wetland permits, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for habitat permits.

Given the relatively new technology at play, however, state officials also put together a UCG working group “to review the technology and to make sure the permitting process is protective of the environment,” Kirkham writes.

That team includes members from DNR, DEC, ADFG, and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

The group is working on developing a guidance document and also working with a national UCG group.

Kirkham also referenced several benefits to the state, should these first UCG projects prove out.

“UCG has minimal surface disturbance and associated environmental impacts compared to conventional mining,” he writes. “UCG is able to use deep stranded coals. Both CIRI and Linc Energy are looking at coals in Southcentral Alaska at depths greater than ~800 feet.

Coals at this depth are uneconomic to mine conventionally.”  Zaz Hollander is a journalist living in Palmer.

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oil & gAs

Getting More Oil in the Pipeline New production, new revenues, new hope

By Mike Bradner

T

here is cautious optimism now that the gamble by Governor Sean Parnell and the Alaska State Legislature in passing a major restructuring, and reduction, of the state’s oil production tax will result in new production and new revenues to the state.

Within days of lawmakers’ approval of Senate Bill 21 (SB21), the bill making the tax changes, on April 14, ConocoPhillips announced new work in the North Slope fields it operates. A few weeks later BP announced new work in fields it operates.

If the new projects being planned and evaluated by the two companies are done, they are likely to total

more than $5 billion in new investment. There is, in addition, new work planned by independent companies like Brooks Range Petroleum, a small Alaska-based company, and Pioneer Natural Resources, a large independent based in Dallas, Texas.

Companies are also exploring. Although they are not yet projects, Repsol, the Spain-based major oil company, made three oil discoveries in three exploration wells it drilled this past winter season, and two of them very encouraging, the company says.

Although Repsol’s drilling has been underway for two winter seasons, and prior to the passage of SB21, the compa-

ny says that the prospect of a tax change encouraged it to come to Alaska in 2010, when the governor first proposed the reduction. Parnell’s bill didn’t pass that year or the following year, but passage of SB21 in 2013 has increased the likelihood that Repsol will be able to develop at least two of the discoveries it made early this year, Repsol has said.

Fitting Scenarios Meanwhile, all of this fits a scenario developed by the state Department of Revenue and predictions by consultants to the Legislature that the tax changes made by SB21 will result in more oil and more new revenues than

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Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

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the previous tax would have produced.

In fact, the new projects announced so far come close to a scenario developed by the department where SB21 would generate about $1 billion a year in additional state income compared to what the previous tax would have generated.

In the department’s Fiscal Note for SB21, the analysis of the financial effects of the law change, the estimate was for a $300 million revenue reduction in Fiscal Year 2014, the state budget year that began July 1.

Under one scenario in the fiscal note that is actually similar to what is playing out, there would be four additional drill rigs put to work in the producing fields, one new well pad in an existing field, and one small new field outside the existing fields.

The scenario assumes 125 million barrels of new oil over an eight year period, by 2022, with an investment by industry of $5 billion. If this were to happen, there could be $1.1 billion in new revenues to the state treasury in Fiscal Year 2018 compared with what would be brought in from the previous tax.

Work Announcements What the companies have announced so far is three new rigs going to work; one new field, “Mustang,” being developed by Brooks Range; and two new well pads and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) small field under evaluation, which are likely to exceed $5 billion in total investment.

What BP announced was that it would put two new drill rigs to work in the Prudhoe Bay and Milne Point fields, where it is operator. Janet Weiss, BP’s Alaska president, added more details to the announcement in a speech to the Resource Development Council’s annual meeting in Anchorage.

Weiss said the two new drill rigs will be drilling by 2015 and 2016 and would add thirty to forty new production wells per year for at least five years in the Prudhoe Bay and Milne Point units, in addition to the drilling of wells previously planned. The new rigs will add two hundred new drilling jobs and will almost double BP’s rig fleet on the North Slope, from five rigs to nine.

BP is operator of the Prudhoe Bay field for itself and the field co-owners, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, as www.akbizmag.com

well as the Milne Point field, owned 100 percent by BP. Significantly, the Prudhoe Bay work requires the consent, and financing, by all three of the major field owners. This demonstrates that all three companies now agree that the SB21 tax changes are enough to improve the economics of new oil development and to encourage them to invest more money.

ConocoPhillips also announced new projects in the Kuparuk River field, where it is operator, along with a prospective development in the NPR-A.

In the Kuparuk field, ConocoPhillips said it will add one drill rig and begin evaluation of a new production pad in the southern part of the field. ConocoPhillips is majority owner in Kuparuk field with BP also a major owner.

ExxonMobil owns a minority interest.

The new production pad being considered in the Kuparuk field is Drill Site 2-S at the southern edges of the known Kuparuk reservoir, where ConocoPhillips had drilled an exploration well, “Sharktooth,” to test for potential oil accumulations.

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In NPR–A the company holds federal leases along with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, a minority owner.

ConocoPhillips has started work there on permitting and engineering for the development of GMT-1, one of two discoveries made by the company several years ago in the northeast part of the petroleum reserve. GMT-1 is seventeen miles southwest of the Alpine field, which is operated by ConocoPhillips.

The company plans to submit permits to the US Bureau of Land Management, which administers NPR–A, later this year.

ConocoPhillips’ other discovery in the area is GMT-2, which is eight miles farther west, and which is not being developed at this time.

Even though NPR-A is federally-owned, under federal law half of NPR-A royalties are shared with the state and production taxes to the state are paid just as if the production were from state-owned or private lands, and the changes made by SB21 benefit potential NPR-A projects.

One new project BP will tackle soon is development of the Sag River formation, a thin, technically-challenged reservoir that overlies the main Ivishak producing formation of the Prudhoe Bay field, Weiss said at the RDC meeting. The first phase of Sag River development involves sixteen wells, with drilling to begin in 2015. This will add two hundred new production and injection wells and about 200 million barrels of new oil production.

In addition BP will evaluate the Northwest Schrader prospect in the Milne Point field. Technical hurdles must still be overcome, but the project would require $1 billion to $2 billion in new investment and construction of two new well pads and seventy new wells, with about 80 million barrels of new production added. www.akbizmag.com

“These were projects that were sidelined by the state’s tax policies,” prior to the change made by the Legislature in April, Weiss said at the RDC’s annual meeting.

In her RDC speech Weiss also added more details on the potential Prudhoe Bay west end projects being evaluated.

If these proceed they will include “debottlenecking existing facilities and field infrastructure, expansions of existing well pads, construction of one new pad, and one hundred new wells,” she said. “We expect appraisal work to last two to three years. Development could last at least a decade.

“These projects would create thousands of direct and indirect jobs, access hundreds of millions of barrels of additional oil at Prudhoe, and eventually generate tens of thousands of barrels of new production per day,” Weiss said at the RDC conference.

‘Middle of the Pack’ What has brought all this about, the tax change by the Legislature, effectively lowers the “government take” share of Alaska oil production from about 75 percent under the previous tax law to between 60 percent and 65 percent under the revised tax approved by the Legislature in April, according to Roger Marks, a retired state petroleum economist who was a consultant to the Legislature this year. Previously Alaska had one of the highest tax rates among oil producing regions of the world. Now it

is in the “middle of the pack” among these producing regions.

Given Alaska’s geological endowment of oil and gas resources, the change is enough to make the state much more competitive in attracting new industry investment. The hope is that this will translate to new production to help keep the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System operating.  Mike Bradner is publisher of the Alaska Legislative Digest.

Independents Moving Aggressively Most attention is focused on the companies operating the large producing oil fields because that is where there are large resources that can be tapped relatively quickly. However, independents are also moving aggressively on new projects.

West of the Kuparuk River field, Brooks Range Petroleum is now constructing its new “Mustang” project.

This is a small field that will produce about 15,000 barrels per day at peak and will be in operation by 2015. While Mustang was in development before the tax change, SB21 has improved its economics and has encouraged Brooks Range to begin work on other nearby prospects that are similar to Mustang.

Pioneer Natural Resources is meanwhile working on a potential new project near its existing Oooguruk field.

The company’s “Nuna” prospect has been drilled and evaluated, and Pioneer is expected to make a decision this fall on whether to develop the project.

If it moves ahead Nuna could produce about 15,000 barrels per day. These are relatively small fields, but together they could add a substantial amount of new production for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. What is important is that there are many small to medium-sized prospects like Mustang and Nuna, and these are the right size for independent companies to pursue. www.akbizmag.com

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

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oil, gAs & fiscAl policY op-ed

Is This Generation of Alaskans Failing the Next?

By Bradford G. Keithley

I

The views expressed herein are those of the authors’ own and not those of Alaska Business Monthly

n 1976 Alaskans passed a constitutional amendment establishing the Permanent Fund. The amendment provides in pertinent part that “at least twenty-five percent of all mineral lease rentals, royalties, royalty sale proceeds, federal mineral revenue sharing payments and bonuses received by the State shall be placed in a permanent fund.”

Those here during that period attribute the passage of the amendment to two things.

First, in 1969 the state had received $900 million in bonuses in the oil and gas lease sale that followed the discovery of the Prudhoe Bay field. Within a few years the state had spent the entire amount on various projects. Many thought the spending inefficient and wasteful and voted for the constitutional amendment as a way of putting some of the funds beyond political control.

Second, many realized that oil is a depleting resource and at some point production would no longer provide a significant source of income for the state. They supported the amendment to set aside a portion of the state’s oil wealth for future generations of Alaskans that otherwise would not benefit from it.

The amendment was tied to “mineral lease rentals, royalties, royalty sale proceeds” and similar receipts because that was the only source of North Slope oil revenues being received by the state at the time. Production did not start until 1977. As a result, there were no production taxes being collected at the time the amendment was proposed and the vote taken.

Indeed, while production taxes started growing as a source of revenue after the commencement of production, for the next thirty years they never surpassed the level of revenue produced 98

from royalties. Instead, they were set at levels roughly correlated to the cost of funding state government, in much the same way as income or sales taxes are in other states.

A Change in Philosophy Both the philosophy behind production taxes and their level changed in the mid-2000s. Beginning with the passage of PPT (the Petroleum Production Tax) in 2006, and subsequently ACES (Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share) in 2007, Alaska converted its tax approach from one focused on generating revenues sufficient to fund the reasonable costs of state government, to one focused on extracting Alaska’s “fair share” of the revenues produced from oil production.

This approach continues in SB21, the recently enacted replacement to ACES. While the tax rate is lower than under ACES, the rate nevertheless remains based on the Legislature’s view of Alaska’s “fair share” in light of current commercial conditions.

I have suggested in the past that the unilateral nature of this change may have been a breach of contract by the state. Under most legal regimes, the royalty rate negotiated at the time an oil and gas lease is signed is viewed as establishing the mineral owner’s “fair share” of the revenues produced from its lands. Private mineral owners certainly are not permitted unilaterally to reset their “fair share” as oil prices rise.

The leases are viewed as a contract and each party remains bound by its terms regardless of whether, in retrospect, one or the other should have argued for better terms.

For good or bad, however, in the mid-2000s Alaska took advantage of its position not only as a mineral owner, but also a government, to end run the

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

normal contractual limitations and, through its taxing authority, unilaterally reset the terms of the state’s “fair share.” Other than the means used to calculate the amount, essentially the state did away with the distinction between royalty and production taxes.

An Increase in State Revenues … and Spending …

The change in philosophy significantly has boosted the level of oil revenues received by the state.

Prior to 2006, the most the state had received in production taxes was in 1982, when proceeds from the tax reached $1.5 billion. Since 2007, however, proceeds from the tax have exceeded that amount substantially. The level of tax collected in the first year was $2.2 billion; subsequent years’ receipts have been $6.8 billion (2008), $3.1 billion (2009), $2.9 billion (2010), $4.5 billion (2011), and $6.1 billion (2012).

Fully reminiscent of what happened after the 1969 Prudhoe lease sale, state spending has exploded with the increase in revenues. During Fiscal Years 2004 through 2006, before the passage of ACES, spending from the General Fund averaged $2.5 billion.

In the first four years following the passage of ACES, spending nearly doubled, averaging a little under $4.75 billion. In the last three years, state spending has exploded again. In Fiscal Year 2012, the Legislature appropriated and the governor approved $6.72 billion in General Fund spending, a new record.

That record lasted only a year, though. In the recently completed Fiscal Year 2013, state spending reached nearly $7.9 billion, a new record.

Late during this year’s legislative session, the governor announced that he intended to “limit” state spending for www.akbizmag.com

Fiscal Year 2014, the current fiscal year, to $6.8 billion, down from the previous year’s record, but still the second largest budget in state history.

Confirming that some view these inflated spending levels as the new “normal,” in the same announcement the governor said that he intends to maintain spending at the $6.8 billion rate for the next five years.

… but Not in the Permanent Fund Despite the increase in revenues resulting from the 2007 passage of ACES, the then-Governor and Legislature did not similarly revise the calculation used to set aside a portion of the state’s “fair share” of oil revenues for future generations.

After the passage of ACES, as before, the portion of Alaska’s “fair share” contributed to the Permanent Fund remains tied to “mineral lease rentals, royalties” and the like, notwithstanding that the majority of the state’s oil revenue now comes in the form of production taxes.

It is that failure to revise the calculation of the Permanent Fund at the same time as changing the state’s approach to production taxes that raises the question of whether the state is treating future generations of Alaskans fairly.

The Purpose of the Permanent Fund The philosophy embedded in the Permanent Fund is that all Alaskans are entitled to a share of the state’s oil wealth, not just those who happen to be here during the time the oil is being produced. Sometimes this is referred to as “intergenerational equity,” ensuring that future generations are treated as well as the current one when dealing with a common resource.

The same general philosophy also surfaces elsewhere in the Alaska Constitution. For example, Article VII, Section 4 of the Alaska Constitution provides in relevant part that “fish, forests … and all other replenishable resources belonging to the State shall be utilized, developed, and maintained on the sustained yield principle.” Simply stated, the “sustained yield principle” is that “takes” of resources by current generations should be restricted so that future generations also are able to enjoy access to equivalent resources. www.akbizmag.com

What those declining numbers refl ect is that state government is increasingly taking more of the state’s current oil revenue stream for today’s citizens and leaving less for future Alaska generations.

In passing the 1976 amendment establishing the Permanent Fund, voters made the judgment that “at least” 25 percent of the value received from current oil production should be deposited in the Fund for the benefit of future Alaskans.

With the growing use of production taxes as an alternate means of deriving that value, however, that promise increasingly is going unfulfilled.

From 2001 to 2006, the percent of combined receipts from the state’s royalty share and production tax contributed to the Permanent Fund averaged roughly 18 percent. The difference between that and the 25 percent target reflects the fact that the level of production taxes largely was set to help pay for the reasonable costs of government and, thus, were not attributable to the goal of the Permanent Fund.

Since the passage of ACES, however, the percent of combined receipts from the state’s royalty share and production tax contributed to the Permanent Fund has declined substantially, reaching a low of 8.3 percent in 2008 and averaging only 11.5 percent for the entire period.

What those declining numbers reflect is that state government is increasingly taking more of the state’s current oil revenue stream for today’s citizens and leaving less for future Alaska generations.

To put it in terms that those who fish the state’s waters will find familiar, state government is currently overtaking the state’s fiscal stock to make the life of current Alaskans more comfortable and leaving future generations of Alaskans to suffer with lower and lower returns.

The Impact on Future Generations Future Alaska generations will see the impact of these decisions in two ways.

First, the Permanent Fund will be smaller, and thus less capable of producing an equivalent revenue stream once current oil revenues decline. The Uni-

versity of Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research estimates that, at its current size, the Permanent Fund is capable of producing roughly $2.5 billion in ongoing revenue. That amount would be substantially higher if the current generation reserved for future generations the same share of production tax revenues as it does of royalty revenues.

Second, state government is creating programs—and expectations—that future generations will not be able to sustain. As noted previously, the governor’s recent announcement appears to lock in long-term spending at roughly $6.8 billion per year, well in excess of the capability of the Permanent Fund.

While the consequences of that overspending may be buffered for some period by drawing down the state’s various reserve funds, Institute of Social and Economic Research estimates that at current spending rates the reserves will be depleted sometime in the early 2020s.

At that point, the state will be faced with choosing among sharply cutting programs (leaving future Alaskans with fewer services than the current generation enjoys), enacting substantial sales, property, and income taxes in an effort to sustain the same level of programs, or most likely, a combination of the two.

In short, the decision by this generation of Alaskans to spend an ever greater portion of the state’s oil wealth on themselves is burdening future generations with increasingly more difficult prospects. Viewed from the perspective of those who established the Permanent Fund, this generation of Alaskans is failing those who will come after.

It does not have to be that way, however, and I will write more about that in future editions.  Bradford G. Keithley is the President and a Principal with Keithley Consulting, LLC, an Alaska-based and focused oil and gas consultancy he founded. Keithley also publishes the blog “Thoughts on Alaska Oil & Gas” at bgkeithley. com.

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

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oil & gAs

SOURCE: ASAP FEIS: Appendix C, Project Maps

NATURAL G AS PIPELINES U PDATE

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Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

www.akbizmag.com

Two projects in the mix, will either fly?

T

wo natural gas pipelines have backing from the state and oil industry leaders to carry gas produced as a byproduct of drilling to consumers, either in Southcentral and Interior Alaska or to tidewater for shipping to market.

One is a joint project between TransCananda, BP, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG)via a pipeline to somewhere in Southcentral Alaska for shipment to Outside markets.

So far about $35 million has been spent to investigate that concept, a small piece of the estimated $45 billion to $65 billion project—a project some say would be the most costly undertaking in North America.

The second is the Alaska Standalone Pipeline Project, or ASAP, a more modest project aimed at developing an instate natural gas pipeline designed to carry natural gas from the North Slope to Southcentral, with off-points to serve communities along the way.

By Rindi White The project has backing from the Alaska Legislature, which agreed to spend $400 million to do more preliminary work to further it along. Another $72 million had previously been appropriated to the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, the state corporation tasked with developing the pipeline.

A Closer Look— South Central LNG Project The South Central LNG project began as a plan to pipe natural gas to the Midwestern United States. TransCanada’s application to the state to build the pipeline was accepted in January 2008 and later that year, then-Governor Sarah Palin signed a law awarding TransCanada $500 million in state backing for the project. TransCanada now holds the exclusive license to build and operate a natural gas pipeline in Alaska.

The project has since morphed into an eight hundred-mile pipeline from the North Slope to somewhere in South-

central Alaska, where the gas would be cooled to liquefy it for shipping via tanker to world markets.

According to the federal Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Projects office, the line as currently proposed would carry between 3 billion and 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day, some for use by Alaskans but most for export.

The companies connected to the project announced in February they had selected a pipeline concept that includes an eight hundred-mile, forty-two-inch pipeline with up to eight compression stations, at least five take-off points for in-state gas use, a gas treatment plant on the North Slope, and a liquefaction plant in Southcentral. Estimates released in May indicate the peak pipeline construction workforce to be between 3,500 and 5,000 people. The line could be operational by 2023 or later.

The companies involved in the project in mid-June laid out their plans for summer fieldwork on the project, most-

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101

ly north of Livengood. According to the announcement, the companies plan to have spent $80 million to $100 million by the end of this year.

“This builds upon more than $700 million in past work by the collective companies,” according to a press release issued by the partnership.

In mid-June, Governor Sean Parnell said he was not satisfied with the progress the companies pursuing the project have made so far. Instead of beginning a work plan to conduct hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work on preliminary engineering and design, the announcement outlines a much more narrow scope of work—and it does not extend beyond 2013, Parnell pointed out. Work is progressing more slowly than he—and the rest of Alaska—expected, he said in a statement.

A Closer Look—Alaska Standalone Pipeline Project The Alaska Standalone Pipeline Project involves a 737-mile, thirty-six-inch buried pipeline from the North Slope to the ENSTAR distribution system, located near Point MacKenzie in the Mat-Su Borough. The pipeline would run along the route of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline between Prudhoe Bay and Fairbanks.

Gasline Development Corporation public affairs director Leslye Langla said in a previous interview that the line would carry “lean gas” or gas ready for consumer use, and propane. The natural gas liquids—chemicals such as methane, ethane, propane, and butane frequently produced along with pure natural gas, will have already been removed before the gas enters the pipeline. The removal will happen at a $1.7 billion gas treatment facility, Langla said. The corporation determined that gas liquids are not economical to ship due to a market glut linked to a Lower 48 shale gas boom.

As currently proposed, the pipeline would carry about 500 million cubic feet of gas per day At roughly $7.7 billion, the project is significantly cheaper than the producer-driven pipeline. But the driving point in the smaller-diameter project is speed. If the project sticks to the outlined schedule, gas could hit the market by 2019. Another key factor is take-off points: communities along the pipeline would have access to natural gas with102

out having to pay high costs associated with building extraction plants.

Residents who live in communities lacking natural gas service are excited about the prospect of tapping into the project. Fairbanks-based Airport Equipment Rental chief financial officer Jon Cook said his community needs natural gas quickly. His company is negotiating with three large retailers interested in building box stores in Fairbanks but construction is delayed until Cook’s company can prove that enough natural gas will be available to supply the new stores. Cook said Fairbanks doesn’t currently have enough natural gas to supply the new users.

The Legislature this year passed House Bill 4, which outlined project financing and established Alaska Gasline Development Corporation as a standalone public corporation so it could enter ownership and operating partnerships and issue revenue bonds if needed.

What Others Say Alaska Business Monthly asked several people close to the two projects to outline what is best for Alaska and why, regarding natural gas delivery. The comments of those responding follow: Much progress has been made on my administration’s top priority: getting Alaska’s gas to Alaskans, and then to markets beyond. We’ve made progress on two fronts. First, this past session, the Legislature authorized the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation to carry Alaska’s interests in a natural gas pipeline. Second, BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and TC-Alaska continue to make progress on a large volume Alaska LNG project. These companies have met two of three critical benchmarks, including providing Alaskans with project concept selection details and ensuring a full field season commences this summer.

As the companies move forward, my administration will work closely with them to help expedite engineering and permitting work required for the project. [Alaska Gasline Development Corporation] is on schedule for a fourth quarter 2014 open season. Meanwhile, the state continues to aggressively promote Alaska LNG to global customers and investors, and is working closely with federal regulators to expedite the

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

permitting of a gas commercialization project. Furthermore, through the Interior Energy Project, the state is moving aggressively to build out gas infrastructure to get Alaskans’ gas to Alaskans.

—Alaska Governor Sean Parnell The Alaska South Central LNG project is important to Alaska and important to BP. The State of Alaska plays a huge role in making this project commercially viable and enabling progress. BP and the other companies continue to make progress in moving this project forward as demonstrated by our commitment of 350 people and our anticipated investment of $100 million in the project by year-end.

Our commitment is to continue to work together with the state, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and TransCanada with the goal of moving the project forward.

—Janet Weiss, BP Alaska Region President The best outcome for Alaska after years of waiting for a North Slope natural gas pipeline would be a project that makes gas available to Alaskans at the lowest cost, encourages the most oil and gas exploration and production, and generates the highest level of tax and royalty revenues for public services. That would be a large-volume line feeding gas to a tidewater plant for liquefaction and delivery to global markets.

LNG export customers would pay most of the bills for the pipeline, lowering the cost for gas taken by Alaskans. This is especially important for Fairbanks, which desperately needs relief from high energy costs. The project would provide Alaskans with decades of energy, along with the option of pulling propane out of the gas stream for delivery to communities not along the pipeline route.

Equally important would be the billions of dollars that would be spent on new exploration and development to keep the gas line full for decades, invariably leading to additional years of North Slope oil production, too.

—Larry Persily, Federal Coordinator for Alaska Gas Line Projects Alaska has a world class commodity of natural gas on the North Slope where we re-inject a huge volume of gas back into the fields every day. Alaska has the most proved gas reserves in the world. www.akbizmag.com

Rindi White is a freelance journalist living in Palmer. www.akbizmag.com

Days of Consecutive Runtime!

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As a result of a solicitation of interest under AGIA last fall, an Asian market response was received for at least 200 percent of the volume needed for a large volume gas line. The financial markets have expressed their willingness to finance a large volume project based on long-term contracts with the market.

A consortium of Japanese market participants, Resource Energy, Inc., recently released its multimillion dollar analysis for an Alaska LNG project that would transport gas to tidewater via a large volume gasline. The project was deemed very feasible showing a cost of delivered Alaska LNG to Japan for as low as $7.31/mcf. Other projects being developed elsewhere around the world and in the Lower 48 have much higher delivered cost to Japan, as high as $12.17/ mcf. While Alaska’s project remains on the drawing board, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and BP advance competing LNG projects all over the world, some as close as British Columbia, with project economics significantly inferior to Alaska’s LNG project economics.

Stalling the large volume project also insures that Alaskans will continue to pay some of the highest energy costs in the nation. Given the recent cost analysis done by Resource Energy for delivered gas to Japan from Alaska, it is possible that the delivered cost to communities such as Fairbanks would be in the $5/mcf range as opposed to the current $24/mcf range. According to world recognized energy consultant Wood MacKenzie, the potential revenue to Alaska from the Alaska LNG project would be billions of dollars each year.

Alaska needs to follow the lead of every other energy rich country, including Canada, and step up and engage with the market participants that are pounding at our door. We should hire the private sector to build the project (which would be financed on longterm gas purchase contracts), and move Alaska’s gas to the world markets and to Alaskans at a much reduced price resulting from the economy of scale that only comes from a large volume gasline.

—Bill Walker, candidate for Alaska Governor

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August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

103

RIGHT MOVES Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo has named Chris Horton as a Principal Business Relationship Manager for its Alaska Commercial Banking Group. Horton began his career with Wells Fargo predecessor National Bank of Alaska as a man- Horton agement trainee and he graduated from the Pacific Coast Banking School in 2010.

URS

Gary Reimer has recently joined URS as a Senior P r o g r a m M a n a g e r.

Reimer previously served as Bureau of Land Management Alaska’s A n c h o r a ge D is t ri c t Office Manager, Field Office Manager, and as a Reimer Senior Manager in Bureau of Land Management Alaska’s Land Conveyance program and Office of Pipeline Monitoring.

Compiled by Mari Gallion selection of Kevin Adams as Chairman of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute Board of Directors.

This is the first time a commercial fisherman has held this position in more than a decade. Adams has more than thirty-eight years of commercial fishing experience in Bristol Bay.

Old Harbor Native Corporation

Alaska DOT & PF

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Northern Region announces the hire of David J. Miller as Maintenance and Operations Director.

Miller is a graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ petroleum Miller engineering program and has more than thirty-three years of experience in the public and private sectors in Ft. Wainwright and Fairbanks, Alaska.

Peterson

Palmer

Berg

Hanks

McAleer

Ebel

Bradley Reid + Associates

Providence Valdez Medical Center

Barbara Bigelow has joined Providence as Administrator of P r o v i d e n c e Va l d e z Medical Center. Bigelow earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and Bigelow a Master of Science in business organizational management from the University of La Verne in California. She is also a licensed nursing home administrator and a registered health information administrator.

United Fishermen of Alaska

United Fishermen of Alaska announces the

Smith

Wright

Bradley Reid + Associates announces the promotions of Jason Smith and Jontue Hollingsworth.

Smith has been named Creative Director of Bradley Reid. He received a BFA degree in design from Utah State University at Logan.

Hollingsworth has become Associate Creative Director. He is a graduate of the Visual Communication and Design program at the University of Nebraska.

Janice Wright has joined the firm as Account Supervisor. Wright brings more than twenty-five years of media sales to her new job.

Old Harbor Native Corporation, owner and operator of Grande Denali Lodge and Denali Bluffs Hotel, announces the hire of Tennelle Peterson as Assistant General Manager, Shirley Palmer as Director of Rooms, Jennifer Hanks as Inventory Control Manager, Jelena McAleer as Director of Food and Beverage, and Jacob Ebel as Executive Chef for the two properties. Sharlene Berg was selected as Director of Lodging and will head up their newly-created Tourism Division.

Peterson holds a Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality from the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management from Northern Arizona University.

Palmer holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology

OH MY! 104

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

www.akbizmag.com

RIGHT MOVES from Miriam College in Quezon City, Philippines.

Hanks started working in the Alaska visitor industry while still in high school, and her experience includes positions with several well-known visitor industry companies.

McAleer earned a Bachelor of Arts in Hospitality and Resort Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in Tourism from Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Ebel received formal culinary education from Sullivan University’s National Center for Hospitality in Louisville, Kentucky.

Berg has served as a board member for the Alaska Hotel and Lodging Association, the Governor’s Work Force Development Board, and the local Alaska Tourism Industry Association.

Bering Straits Native Corporation

Bering Straits Native Corporation announces the hire of Laura L. Edmondson as Chief Financial Officer. Edmondson is a graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

WHPacific Inc.

WHPacific Inc. announces the addition of Harold Hollis, PE to its executive leadership team as Vice President of WHPacific’s Alaska Region. Hollis brings more than thirty-one years of leadership experience in Alaska to WHPacific.

Hollis

Anchorage Museum

The Anchorage Museum has hired Alison Gazay as Marketing and Public Relations Manager. Gazay has a Master of International Studies and a postgraduate degree in Tourism from the University of Otago in New Zealand.

Bean’s Café

Bean’s Café announces the hire of Lisa Sauder as the new Executive Director. Sauder is a graduate of Pepperdine University with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Communications.

www.akbizmag.com

Compiled by Mari Gallion AT&T

Grant at the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Prior to leading the Marine Advisory Program, Cullenberg directed the North Pacific Fishery Observer Training Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage and was the Bristol Bay Marine Advisory Program Agent.

Sourdough Express

Jones

Shem

Wendy Shem has recently joined AT&T as an Account Executive of Business Markets. She holds a master of Science in Forensic Science from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Samantha Jones was just promoted to Mobility Account Manager of Hemmer Wholesale at AT&T. Jones has five years of experience in telecom having worked as a retail sales consultant, an assistant store manager at the Wasilla location, and most recently, as a Field Service Manager supporting the business market retail accounts.

Matthew Hemmer has recently joined AT&T as a member of the Signature Accounts Team.

Hemmer began his telecom career more than twelve years ago providing voice, data, wireless, hosting, and software solutions to major customers in Alaska, most recently handling oil and gas, Native corporation and local government accounts.

Delta Constructors LLC

Delta Constructors LLC announces the addition of Ted Cipra, PMP to the Executive Management Group. Cipra has more than twenty years of construction management and engineering experience.

He brings extensive experience in project execution strategies, safety first culture, and unmatched construction and operations knowledge.

Alaska Sea Grant

Paula Cullenberg is the new Director of Alaska Sea

S o u rd o u g h E x p re s s announces the promotion of Brian E. Skinner to the position of Vice President of Freight Services.

Skinner joined Sourdough Express ten years ago as the Manager of Business Development.

Skinner was quickly Skinner promoted to General Manager as his leadership increased a loyal customer base and successfully diversified the services Sourdough Express provides.

TerraSond

Busey

Hendren

TerraSond Limited has announced the promotion of Brian Busey and Captain Rich Hendren. Busey is now Vice President, Business Development and Hendren is Vice President, Operations.

Busey is an ACSM Certified Hydrographer, has twenty years of industry experience, and served twenty-three years in the Canadian Navy.

Hendren’s experience and qualifications include thirty years of US Navy service, US Merchant Marine Master (Oceans 1600 Tons), a BS from Regents College, and a Master of Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. 

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

105

ALASKA THIS MONTH Compiled By Tasha Anderson

dining

Photo by Tasha Anderson

Yak and Yeti Himalayan Restaurant

Madison, a server, and Thomas, the owner’s son, work at the Spenard location.

F

or a little taste of the Himalayas in Anchorage, head on over to the Yak and Yeti Himalayan Restaurant located at 3301 Spenard Road—or the Yak and Yeti Café, located at 1360 W. Northern Lights Boulevard in the REI mall. Owned by Suzanne Hull, a lifelong Alaskan, and Lobsang Dorjee, a Tibetan who was born and raised in India, the family-run restaurant and cafe feature “some of our favorite dishes from India, Nepal, and Tibet,” Dorjee writes.

The restaurant menu caters easily to any group of diners, as it features both vegetarian and non-vegetarian appetizers and entrees. Any of the dishes can be prepared to be as spicy as an adventurous diner may want, from “medium” to “screaming hot.” The menu also offers traditional items— such as Kheer, an Indian rice pudding garnished with nuts— and not-exactly-traditional items, such as Lhassi, a yogurt drink, which is “traditionally served in India with just sugar or salt, we have added mango or strawberry.”

At the cafe near REI, diners can find a selection of traditional drinks as well as gyros, sandwiches, and various typical coffeehouse selections.

Dorjee writes, “We feel that Alaska deserves to be treated to authentic cuisine from other parts of the world, including mine, at a fair and reasonable price. Our aim is to provide our customers with quality Himalayan dishes to enjoy and share.”

The restaurant summer hours vary by the day and location. Restaurant closes between lunch and dinner. Café serves food from open to close. yakandyetialaska.com 106

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

 www.akbizmag.com

ALASKA THIS MONTH Compiled By Tasha Anderson

trAvel

Yak Tours

Photos courtesy of Alpine Ascents

Yaks and guides traveling across the high tundra; Mount Foraker is in the background.

Heading for the high country.

A

“

lpine Ascents is a mountaineering company. We climb the highest peaks on every continent and we do a variety of trips, probably twenty or thirty trips around the world,” says Todd Burleson, founder and owner.

He was raised on Sitkalidak, an island off Kodiak, until his family moved to Anchorage. At eighteen, he left Alaska to climb around the world. When he came back, he decided to bring the yak experience with him. “I spent so many guiding hikes on Everest and that area, and we used yaks all the time.

I kind of fell in love with them.”

For the past eleven years, Alpine Ascents has offered an incredible Talkeetna area experience: Hikers are responsible for moving themselves, and the yaks do the rest. “What’s unique about these tours is that you’re able to go into Alaska without carrying a heavy backpack: it’s for everybody. We have ice chests on the yaks and we have steaks, king crab, and wine; it’s a luxury kind of tour up in the mountains,” Burleson says.

Guests can plan on about four or five hours a day of light climbing and hiking through high-country tundra in the care of expert guides, Sherpas, and of course, the yaks. Burleson says, “Sherpas come over and help me with the yaks, so there’s this real Nepali kind of feeling; the yaks are all dressed in bells, but it’s not overdone. It’s kind of a little Nepal in Talkeetna.”

Tour groups can have a maximum of eight, and the season runs about mid-July through August; scheduling is flexible. alpineascents.com

www.akbizmag.com

 August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

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ALASKA THIS MONTH Compiled By Tasha Anderson

entertAinment

n o s u e Lik ! k o o b e Fac

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Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

Photo courtesy of REAP

REAP Energy Fair

Fair-goers gather at the REAP tent to learn about the organization and get information about the day’s events.

T

ake the opportunity to learn more about clean energy at the ninth annual Alaska Renewable Energy Fair organized by REAP, the Renewable Alaska Energy Project, on Saturday, August 10 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Downtown Anchorage Parkstrip between G and I streets.

“The goal is to educate citizens of Anchorage and Alaska... about energy in general, renewable energy and energy efficiency in particular, and the implications of energy choices that we all make every day,” says REAP Founder and Executive Director Chris Rose.

The fair consists of family activities, lectures, and twenty workshops. “Everything is free,” Rose says. “We want to make this as accessible to everyone as possible.” There will also be live music and vendors.

The workshops and lectures will cover information about the Eva Creek, Fire Island, and Delta Junction wind projects, as well as other clean energy developments including energy efficiency building designs and construction projects around the state, Rose says.

“We’ll also be talking about what people can do themselves, whether that’s weatherizing your own home, what to do and what not to do when sealing your home, or what folks are doing with residential solar electric and residential solar hot water,” he reports. “[There’s] something that is integral to all our lives, and that is energy,” Rose says. “With energy prices for heating, transportation, and electricity all going up... it’s very important for people to understand where their energy comes from. By providing a free educational outlet, we’re building a better educated citizenry on this really crucial issue to all of our lives.” alaskarenewableenergy.org

 www.akbizmag.com

EVENTS CALENDAR

Compiled By Alaska Business Monthly Staff

Anchorage 3-4

Anchorage Garden Club Annual Flower Show

This year’s theme is “Thru a Child’s Eyes,” and will highlight horticulture that can be grown in Southcentral Alaska as well as the floral design talents of Alaskans. Northway Mall, Saturday 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday Noon to 5 p.m. alaskagardenclubs.org

7-10

The Music Machine

Culmination of a six-week workshop in American Musical Theatre for local youth, a fast-paced musical revue featuring eighty local children, colorful costumes, high energy dancing, singing, and smiling faces. Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday through Friday, 7 p.m.; Sunday 2 p.m. myalaskacenter.com

17

Dog Daze of Summer Block Party

This is a celebration of all things dog, including a pet-look-alike contest, canine fashion show, fly ball demonstrations, dog trainer tips, and canine-related products and services. Well behaved dogs welcome. Downtown, 7th Ave. between D and E Streets, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. anchoragedowntown.org

24

Garden and Nursery Pot Recycling

All plastic garden containers are accepted; they are baled and shipped to markets in Seattle to be turned into plastic lumber or other products. Recyclers are also welcome to take pots home for re-use. Alaska Botanical Garden, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. alparalaska.com

Coffman Cove 10-11

‘By the Sea’ Arts & Seafood Festival

This festival takes place on Prince of Wales Island and includes a farmer’s market, seafood feast, live music, raffles, the Lucky Ducky contest, fish poetry, and the 2014 t-shirt design contest. Downtown Coffman Cove, Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday Noon to 4 p.m. ccalaska.com

Copper Center 16-17

Kenny Lake Fair

Events include a barbeque dinner, dessert auction, contra dance, fun run, chess tournament, country games, “Animal’s Got Talent,” and live music. Mile 7.5 Edgerton Highway, various times. alaskakennylakefair.com

Fairbanks 2-11

Tanana Valley State Fair

This year’s fair includes an antique tractor pull, candy shoot, rocket launch, Alaska Club Zumba dance party, barn dances, mud bogs, and more. Tanana Valley State Fairgrounds, fair opens at Noon daily. tananavalleystatefair.com.

23-25

Tanana Valley Crane Festival

The schedule includes an outdoor slide show, bird banding, nature walks, beginning photography workshop, an ice cream social, talks, and a silent auction. Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, starting Friday evening at 7 p.m. creamersfield.org

Girdwood 10-11

Alyeska Resort Blueberry Festival

Celebration of the blueberry season, featuring live music, local arts and crafts booths, blueberry treats, cooking demos, hiking and biking, a beer and wine garden, chair massages, a pie eating contest, family activities, and a disc golf tournament. Hotel Alyeska Pond Courtyard, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. alyeskaresort.com

8/31-9/1

Girdwood Fungus Fair

This year’s guests include mycologist Dr. Michael Beug, who specializes in all toxic and hallucinogenic mushrooms; Teresa Paquet, a mushroom dyer; Dominique Collet, an Alaska naturalist; and www.akbizmag.com

others. Events include the Fungus Fair Formal, workshops, guided walks, etc. Girdwood Community Room and Hotel Alyeska, various times. fungusfair.com

Juneau 31

Annual Food Festival

This festival fosters greater food self-sufficiency by bringing together consumers, growers, and producers of local foods, and offers a place for nonprofits to raise money through sales of produce or baked goods containing locally grown or harvested ingredients.

Juneau Arts & Culture Center, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. jahc.org

Ketchikan 2-4

Blueberry Arts Festival

Events include an art exhibit, pet and doll parade, the Gigglefeet dance festival, fun runs, and pie-eating, trivia, and blueberry bear and mustache contests. Various locations, events start 2 p.m. on Friday. ketchikanarts.org

Ninilchik 2-4

Salmonstock

This year’s annual celebration of wild Alaska salmon and music will feature singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile. Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds, begins Noon Friday. salmonstock.org

16-18

Kenai Peninsula Fair

This year’s them is “Clammin’ it Up!” Events include arts, crafts, and food vendors, market livestock auction, entertainment, and live music.

Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds, various times. kenaipeninsulafair.com

Palmer 8/22-9/2

Alaska State Fair

This year’s concert series includes Foreigner, Bill Cosby, 3 Doors Down, Brian Regan, Bret Michaels, and Phillip Phillips. The fair also includes rides, games, arts and crafts and food vendors, livestock auctions, quilting and craft exhibits, products contests, and more. Alaska State Fairgrounds, various times. alaskastatefair.org

Sitka 3-4

Sitka Seafood Festival

The festival includes the Highland Island games, a five-course dinner by local executive and guest chefs, a parade, keynote lectures, tours, a poetry contest, and marketplace with food, entertainment, and arts and crafts. Various locations and times. sitkaseafoodfestival.org

11

Sitka ‘State’ Fair

Fair Midway food, music and entertainment on the center stage, a photo contest, and various judged competitions with baked goods, canned goods, home grown vegetables, flower arranging, small farm animals, hobbies, crafts, and collections. Harrigan Centennial Hall, Noon to 5 p.m. sitkaarts.org

Valdez 7/31-8/4

Gold Rush Days

Annual festival celebrates the community’s gold rush history and heritage. Events include a historic homes tours, Craft-a-Hat and Eat-a-Sweet, mini carnival, skit, kids dive for gold, kids and adult scavenger hunts, wine walk, Dutch oven demo, fashion show, and a market with a beer garden and live music. Various locations and times. valdezgoldrushdays.org

Yakutat 2

Fairweather Day

This local festival day includes music concerts at local establishments and Canon Beach, food vendors, fresh oysters, games, tug-ofwar, beach golf, raffle prizes, fireworks, and a community dinner.

Various locations and times. ptialaska.net/~gycc/events.html August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

109

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110

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

stellar-designs.com www.akbizmag.com

ALASKA TRENDS

By Paul Davidson

Consumer Prices

Alaska Trends, an outline of significant statewide statistics, is provided by the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development.

T

2009

2005

2001

1997

1993

1989

1985

1985

1977

1973

1969

1965

1968

he State of Alaska’s DepartAnchorage & U.S. Inflation ment of Labor and Workforce Development publish1961-2012 es data comparing the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Anchor- 250 age municipality to the total United States. The CPI is compiled by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics 200 (BLS) for Anchorage and twenty-five other US cities monthly, 150 bimonthly, or semiannually deAnchorage pending on the city. The basket of 100 consumer goods used in the CPI U.S. represents items purchased by all urban consumers, which make 50 up 87 percent of the US population, and urban wage earners and 0 clerical workers. The BLS survey from 2007-2008 updated the basket of items used with data from quarterly consumption surveys with seven thousand families and from comprehensive Each locations index is independent and based solely on the consumption journals written by another seven thousand prices of its base year. Relative to the United States, Anchorfamilies. CPI prices are updated by BLS “economic assis- age has a 14.16 percent smaller spread in its CPI. Smaller tants” who visit or call thousands of goods providers in the changes in the Anchorage CPI could reflect decreasing prictwo hundred CPI goods categories for current prices. es relative to the past if monetary inflation was controlled The chart shows the data’s base years of 1982-1984 at 100. for; however, further investigation is required to know.  SOURCES: State of Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, US Bureau of Labor Statistics

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111

ALASKA TRENDS

Indicator

GENERAL Personal Income—Alaska Personal Income—United States Consumer Prices—Anchorage Consumer Prices—United States Bankruptcies Alaska Total Anchorage Total Fairbanks Total EMPLOYMENT Alaska Anchorage & Mat-Su Fairbanks Southeast Gulf Coast Sectorial Distribution—Alaska Total Nonfarm Goods Producing Services Providing Mining and Logging Mining

Oil & Gas Construction Manufacturing Seafood Processing Trade/Transportation/Utilities Wholesale Trade Retail Trade Food & Beverage Stores General Merchandise Stores Trans/Warehouse/Utilities Air Transportation Information

Telecommunications Financial Activities Professional & Business Services Educational & Health Services Health Care Leisure & Hospitality Accommodation Food Services & Drinking Places Other Services Government

Federal Government State Government State Education Local Government Local Education Tribal Government Labor Force Alaska Anchorage & Mat-Su Fairbanks Southeast Gulf Coast Unemployment Rate Alaska Anchorage & Mat-Su Fairbanks 112

By Paul Davidson

Units

Period

Latest Report Period

Previous Report Period (revised)

US $ US $ 1982-1984 = 100 1982-1984 = 100

4th Q12 4th Q12 2nd H12 2nd H12

34,863 13,659,468 206.62 230.34

34,279 13,401,314 205.22 228.85

33,342 13,137,224 202.58 226.28

4.56% 3.98% 1.99% 1.79%

Number Filed Number Filed Number Filed

April April April

78 47 19

48 36 9

59 43 5

32.20% 9.30% 280.00%

Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands

April April April April April

337.02 187.92 43.61 35.73 36.08

336.46 188.07 43.19 34.75 35.53

336.64 186.30 43.86 36.53 35.84

0.11% 0.87% -0.56% -2.19% 0.67%

Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands

April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April April

326 43.7 282.7 17.5 17.1 14.1 15.6 10.6 6.7 62.2 5.9 35.2 6.0 9.8 21.1 5.6 6.0 3.9 13.0 27.9 47.9 33.5 29.5 6.7 18.8 11.4 84.8 15.1 26.9 8.7 42.8 24.1 3.4

324 43.5 280.3 17.3 16.9 14.0 15.1 11.1 7.4 61.0 5.9 34.4 6.0 9.7 20.7 5.5 6.1 3.9 13.1 27.2 47.7 33.8 29.4 6.6 18.7 11.4 84.4 14.9 26.8 8.7 42.7 24.1 3.5

321.1 38.7 282.4 16.3 15.9 13.2 11.6 10.8 7.6 61.8 6.0 34.7 6.3 9.6 21.1 5.6 6.3 4.1 14.5 27.3 46.4 32.3 29.4 6.2 18.8 10.9 85.8 16.2 26.6 8.6 43.0 25.8 3.8

1.65% 12.92% 0.11% 7.36% 7.55% 6.82% 34.48% -1.85% -11.84% 0.65% -1.67% 1.44% -4.76% 2.08% 0.00% 0.00% -4.76% -4.88% -10.34% 2.20% 3.23% 3.72% 0.34% 8.06% 0.00% 4.59% -1.17% -6.79% 1.13% 1.16% -0.47% -6.59% -10.53%

Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands

April April April April April

359.73 198.55 46.16 38.09 38.87

360.10 199.06 45.82 37.36 38.52

362.89 198.76 46.89 39.26 39.09

-0.87% -0.10% -1.56% -2.99% -0.57%

Percent Percent Percent

April April April

6.3 5.4 5.5

6.6 5.5 5.7

7.2 6.3 6.5

-12.50% -14.29% -15.38%

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

Year Ago Period

Year Over Year Change

www.akbizmag.com

ALASKA TRENDS

By Paul Davidson

Units

Period

Latest Report Period

Previous Report Period (revised)

Percent Percent Percent

April April April

6.2 7.2 7.1

7 7.8 7.6

7 8.3 7.7

-11.43% -13.25% -7.79%

Millions of Barrels Billions of Cubic Ft. $ per Barrel

April April April

15.67 8.40 104.58

16.52 9.66 108.93

16.57 8.99 119.95

-5.40% -6.57% -12.82%

Active Rigs Active Rigs $ Per Troy Oz. $ Per Troy Oz. Per Pound

April April April April April

8 1755 1,485.49 25.20 0.91438

9 1756 1,591.94 30.32 0.926315

8 1962 1,649.30 31.55 1.00

0.00% -10.55% -9.93% -20.13% -8.56%

Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $

April April April

92.06 18.68 73.37

44.67 9.96 34.71

30.39 15.76 14.62

202.92% 18.54% 401.88%

Total Deeds Total Deeds

April April

1234* 294

1110* 277

1061* *GeoNorth 319

27.26% -7.84%

VISITOR INDUSTRY Total Air Passenger Traffic—Anchorage Total Air Passenger Traffic—Fairbanks

Thousands Thousands

April April

321.35 64.72

356.57 77.42

323.76 59.70

-0.75% 8.41%

ALASKA PERMANENT FUND Equity Assets Net Income Net Income—Year to Date Marketable Debt Securities Real Estate Investments Preferred and Common Stock

Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $

April April April April April April April

46,434.60 47,354.60 289.4 852.4 89.7 55.70 454.4

45,509.60 46,676.90 606.4 2,261.0 (3.3) 1.50 (16.5)

41,642.10 42,130.10 128.4 1,468.1 80.6 77.10 (245.7)

11.51% 12.40% 125.39% -41.94% 11.29% -27.76% -284.94%

BANKING (excludes interstate branches) Total Bank Assets—Alaska Cash & Balances Due Securities Net Loans and Leases Other Real Estate Owned Total Liabilities Total Bank Deposits—Alaska Noninterest-bearing deposits Interest- bearing deposits

Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $ Millions of $

1st Q13 1st Q13 1st Q13 1st Q13 1st Q13 1st Q13 1st Q13 1st Q13 1st Q13

2,163.28 45.15 135.91 1,201.04 7.31 1,894.70 1,837.36 567.54 1,269.82

2,203.51 58.83 133.54 1,159.55 6.75 1,926.65 1,877.43 599.27 1,277.86

2,085.52 38.36 138.30 1,124.51 7.98 1,820.76 1,775.89 509.26 1,266.63

3.73% 17.70% -1.73% 6.81% -8.40% 4.06% 3.46% 11.44% 0.25%

FOREIGN TRADE Value of the Dollar In Japanese Yen In Canadian Dollars In British Pounds In European Monetary Unit In Chinese Yuan

Yen Canadian $ Pounds Euro Yuan

April April April April April

97.78 1.02 0.65 0.77 6.25

94.70 1.02 0.66 0.77 6.28

81.43 0.99 0.63 0.76 6.31

20.08% 2.92% 3.72% 1.11% -1.02%

Indicator

Southeast Gulf Coast United States PETROLEUM/MINING Crude Oil Production—Alaska Natural Gas Field Production—Alaska ANS West Cost Average Spot Price Hughes Rig Count Alaska United States Gold Prices Silver Prices Zinc Prices REAL ESTATE Anchorage Building Permit Valuations Total Residential Commercial Deeds of Trust Recorded Anchorage—Recording District Fairbanks—Recording District

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Year Ago Period

Year Over Year Change

August 2013 | Alaska Business Monthly

113

Advertisers indeX Access Alaska LLC .................................52 Alaska Air Transit...............................106 Alaska Airlines Visa .............................. 35 Alaska Boat Brokers .........................110 Alaska Public Media ............................30 Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) ................................29 Alaska USA Federal Credit Union .69 Alchem Inc. ................................................52 American Marine / PENCO............111 Arctic Office Products (Machines).......................................... 40 ASRC Builders ......................................... 61 Bettisworth North Architects & Planners Inc. ..................................67 Bezek Durst Seiser ............................... 53 Builders Choice ....................................... 55 Calista Corp. ............................................ 75 Carlile Transportation Systems...44 Chris Arend Photography ..............114 Ciri Alaska Tourism...............................25 City of Seward Marine Industrial Center ............31

114

Conrad Houston Insurance.............39 Construction Machinery Industrial LLC........................................2 Cornerstone General Contractors.........................................59 Cruz Construction Inc. ....................101 Donlin Gold................................................77 Dowland-Bach Corp. ...........................97 Emerald Alaska........................................77 ERA ALASKA ............................................15 ERA Helicopters .....................................96 First National Bank Alaska .................5 GCI ...................................................... 96, 115 Golder Associates Inc. ........................95 Great Originals Inc. ..............................76 Green Star Inc.......................................110 Hawk Consultants LLC ......................94 Heritage Contracting .......................... 53 Island Air Express ...............................107 Judy Patrick Photography ...............92 Lynden Inc. ................................................ 37 McKinley Service & Equipment Inc. ..........................103

Alaska Business Monthly | August 2013

N C Machinery .........................................71 NALCO Champion ............................... 68 New York Life............................................11 Nortech Inc............................................... 68 North Wind Inc. .....................................79 Northern Air Cargo..............104, 105 Northland Services ..............................45 NTCL .............................................................94 Oxford Assaying & Refining Inc.................................108 PacArctic Logistics ...............................91 Pacific Alaska Freightways...............51 Pacific Pile & Marine...............8, 9, 10 Pacific Rim Media/ Smart Phone Creative...............110 Paramount Supply .............................110 Parker, Smith & Feek ............................13 PDC Inc. Engineers ..............................60 Peak Oilfield Service Co. ..............103 PenAir ..........................................................23 Personnel Plus .....................................106 Polar Supply Co. .....................................85 Procomm Alaska ....................................57

Ready to Read Resource Center.. 19 Rotary District 5010 ........................107 RSA Engineering Inc. .......................... 68 Sam’s Club .....................................................3 SeaTac Marine Services ....................44 Seward Chamber & CVB ..................21 SGS ..................................................................83 Shannon & Wilson.................................87 Span Alaska Consolidators ..............47 Spenard Builders Supply...................65 Stellar Designs Inc..............................110 The Superior Group ............................57 T. Rowe Price .............................................17 Trailboss Solutions ................................27 True North FCU ...................................110 Tutka LLC ....................................................76 UMIAQ ........................................................ 89 Unisea............................................................27 URS Corp. .................................................. 68 Washington Crane & Hoist ..............33 Waste Management ..........73, 93, 91 Watterson Construction Co. ......... 61 Wells Fargo .............................................116

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