July - 2011 - Alaska Business Monthly by Alaska Business

Special Section: Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel

Filmed in Alaska Television shows boom, bring dollars, tourists to state Page 14

Social Media and Meeting Planning Get with the g groove Page 36

DENAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;INA CIVIC AND CONVENTION CENTER

a healthcare “ Managing enterprise as diverse as ours in bush Alaska can be quite a challenge. Thanks to our team at Parker, Smith & Feek who provide exceptional expertise supportive of our unique business model.

“

Coryee Hamons, Director of Risk Management Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation Bethel, Alaska

Parker, P Pa arrk ker er, Smith Smitth & Feek Sm Fe F ee ek k combines co om mbi biin nes a collaborative ne coll co col lla ab bor orat ora ativ ativ ive ive te team eam am ap a approach pprro pp oa acch to to client cli cl lien lien ent service sse erv rvic ice w wi with ith th 7 74 4 yye years ear ars of of experience exp xperi errie e ien ncce to to create cre rea atte te lasting lassttin la tin ing value valu va lue for busi fo for b bu businesses usi sin ine ness sses es like lik ike Yukon-Kuskokwim Yuk Yu Yuk ko onn-Ku Kussk kokwi ok kwim wim H wi He Health ea allth th Co Corporation. orp rp po orra attiio o on n. That’s n. Th ha att’’s why wh w hy over ovver o ver er 96% 96% 6% of of our our ou ccllie clients ient nts retain reta re taiin n our our ur fi fir firm rm yyear rm ear ea ar af a after fter ter year. te yye ear ar.

Different by choice. Unique by tr Un tradition. * / 4 6 3 " / $ & t 4 6 3 & 5 : t & . 1 - 0 : & & # & / & ' * 5 4 www.psfinc.com 2233 112th Ave. NE, Bellevue, WA 98004 425.709.3600 | 800.457.0220 4000 Old Seward Hwy., Suite 200, Anchorage, AK 99503 907.562.2225 www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011 2

leather seats, no

aluminum wheels, no

rear defroster, no

keyless entry, yes

There are plenty of options in Alaska – America’s Last Frontier. Naturally, we’re proud to be a part of it.

XTO Energy Inc. 810 Houston Street Fort Worth, Texas 76102 817.870.2800 www.xtoenergy.com

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

J U LY 2 0 1 1 TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

D E PA R T M E N T S From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Inside Alaska Business . . . . . . . . 8 Events Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Right Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Market Squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Alaska Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

ABOUT THE COVER The Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center, located in downtown Anchorage and built by Neeser Construction. Photo ©Ken Graham Photography.com

R E G U L A R F E AT U R E S

ARTICLES

VIEW FROM THE TOP

MARKETING Professional Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

SGS North America-Alaska By Peg Stomierowski

Why your business needs to hire them

Charles Homestead, General Manager . . . . . . . . . . . 7

HR MATTERS

Truth or Consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Don’t set yourself up for a lawsuit when giving references By Lynne Curry

ASSOCIATIONS

Alaska Trucking Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

By Rindi White

ARTS & CULTURE Alaska Arts Southeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Thriving Sitka cultural community

By Will Swagel

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Wind Farms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Part of the rural energy solution

By Tracy Kalytiak

Promoting Alaska’s trucking industry By Tracy Barbour

CONSTRUCTION Alaska Power Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

ALASKA THIS MONTH

Megawatts in the works

Skagway Fish Derby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Luring residents to grab a pole By Nancy Pounds

By Molly Dischner

OIL & GAS Cook Inlet Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Independents lead industry revival

TOWNS IN TRANSITION

Bethel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Difficult conditions provide challenges By Heidi Bohi

By Mike Bradner

SPECIAL SECTION: Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel

REGIONAL REVIEW

Event Planning Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Southcentral Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Ensuring attendees return next year

Anchorage economy showing steady growth By Tracy Barbour

Promotional Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

BUSINESS BASICS

Measure Your Way to Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Every business, large or small, needs to develop key performance indicators By Eric Britten

Important for marketing

By Louise Freeman

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

Social Networking for Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Latest trends use interactive technology

By Karen Zak

2011 ABM Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

ARTICLES

SPECIAL SECTION: ANCSA @ 40 FILM Alaska Television Shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Statewide filming boosts economy

By Heidi Bohi

FILM SIDEBAR $200 Million More for Film Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Ellis proposes film tax credit extension

By Heidi Bohi

ANCSA and North Slope Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Catalysts for Alaska Native prosperity

By Mike Bradner

8(a) Program Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Overcoming adversity for disadvantaged Alaska Natives By Julie Stricker

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

R OM

TH E

ITOR

Volume 27, Number 7 Published by Alaska Business Publishing Co. Anchorage, Alaska Vern C. McCorkle, Publisher 1991~2009

Managing Editor Associate Editor Art Director Art Production Photo Consultant Contributing Photographers

The Value of Tradition remember my childhood Fourth of Julys. My parents, brother and I always made home-cranked ice cream on our back porch, then often would go view fireworks at the local park, from our rooftop or from our backyard as we sat in flimsy chairs in the heat of the night. They were magical moments. We’d have fresh strawberries, hot fudge, caramel and maybe even bananas. The Phoenix skies turned dark and the crickets would chirp and the world was perfect. In Alaska, as a young adult growing to middle-age, things changed. My family tradition, sadly, varied from year-to-year – though the fondest memories were setting off fireworks with my children – Sarah and Jennifer – and neighbors – Peg and Barry – and their children – Sylvia and Zen – who grew older with us, years passing like seasons – preschool, gradeschool, junior high and high school. My neighbors have since moved, lost in the realm of forgotten letters. Sometimes the kids and I would stay up until midnight and watch fireworks set off at the nearby Lions Park in Eagle River. Sometimes we would sleep, our dog waking us with barks as midnight neared. Sometimes we would go to the celebration, and pig out on food while listening to the bands. But nothing was tradition.

Thinking back to my childhood and that of my children, I think I did a disservice to my family. We had no Fourth of July tradition that they can hang on to like I do mine. Our Christmas tradition was dinner and a movie. And our Thanksgiving tradition much of the same. How I wish I would have made more effort. I got busy with life, busy with being a single mom, school, work, etc. It’s a darn shame. I have a grandson due this month. I hope my daughter, Sarah, and my son-in-law, Jon, form traditions their child (Kaleb) will remember. I wish I could be a part of their traditions, but they live far away. I hope my other daughter, Jenny, and my son-in-law, Matt, also form traditions, even though their children are canine. I hope readers of this column see where I failed and begin new lives with their kids, new traditions, or keep the old ones. Don’t let life pass you by. Don’t be too busy. Don’t stop the memories from forming or you may be too late and regret. Regret. Regret. What a sad word. Happy Fourth of July. Be safe. Be happy. — Debbie Cutler Managing Editor

Debbie Cutler Susan Harrington Candy Johnson Linda Shogren Chris Arend Judy Patrick Azimuth Adventure Photography

BUSINESS STAFF President National Sales Mgr. Account Mgr. Account Mgr. Traffic Coordinator Accountant

Jim Martin Charles Bell Anne Campbell Bill Morris Ann Doss Mary Schreckenghost

501 W. Northern Lights Boulevard, Suite 100 Anchorage, Alaska 99503 (907) 276-4373 Outside Anchorage: 1-800-770-4373 Fax: (907) 279-2900 www.akbizmag.com Editorial e-mail: editor@akbizmag.com Advertising e-mail: 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., P.O. Box 241288, Anchorage, Alaska 99524; Telephone: (907) 276-4373; Fax: (907) 279-2900, ©2011, Alaska Business Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Subscription Rates: $39.95 a year. Single issues $3.95 each; $4.95 for October. Back issues $5 each. Send subscription orders and address changes to the Circulation Department, Alaska Business Monthly, P.O. Box 241288, Anchorage, AK 99524. Please supply both old and new addresses and allow six weeks for change. Manuscripts: Send query letter or manuscripts 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 Monthly is prohibited. Address requests for specific permission to the Editor, Alaska Business Monthly. Online: Alaska Business Monthly is available online from Data Courier and online from Thomson Gale. Microfilm: Alaska Business Monthly is available on microfilm from University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

VIEW

FROM THE

TOP

COMPILED BY PEG STOMIEROWSKI

Charles Homestead General Manager

SGS North America-Alaska GS North America in Anchorage provides services in support of public environmental programs in the state. Parent firm SGS, a global inspection, verification, testing and certification company employing 64,000 in 1,250 facilities, purchased the Anchorage lab in 1990. It assists labs in South Korea, Italy, Germany and Africa. Charles Homestead joined the Anchorage operation in 1980 as a young man during a summer trip to Alaska from New York. Back then, he recalls, the facility was known as Chemical and Geological Laboratories of Alaska; at times it still is remembered as Chem-Lab. What started out for him as a summer adventure turned into a part-time job, then an enduring career in the 49th state.

GROWTH INDUSTRY SGS North America-Alaska, in Anchorage, with a service office in Fairbanks, supports the cleanup of long-standing military sites. The lab, started more than 45 years ago in support of wildcat development of the Swanson River gas fields, today employs 60 scientists and administrative personnel in three buildings totaling 22,000 square feet. TESTING We focus on the cleanup of Department of Defense (DoD) contamination, on water quality programs – both drinking and wastewater – and on studies to establish environmental baseline standards. We check for heavy metals, organic compounds and microbiological contaminants, and focus heavily on water-quality standards. Since our findings for agencies and individuals are used in making vital decisions, the data must be defensible in court. Our quality systems are monitored through public certifications, including DoD and ISO 17025 accreditations. ONSITE SERVICE When results are needed quickly, we can provide a field lab to do analyses on site, which may range from offshore drilling platforms in Cook Inlet to Beaufort Sea islands, providing opportunities to do fascinating work in remote environments. INNOVATION We are proud of the aggressive Lean program SGS has developed. This tale begins in December 2008 when I was assigned to attend training; since I’d been involved with such initiatives before, I proceeded with tempered expectations. In hindsight, we’ve spent two years adopting Lean concepts I didn’t believe could realistically apply to our business. Having engaged staff members who are intent on reinventing our business has improved our performance for clients and shareholders.

WHAT MAKES IT WORK Skillful administration and staff participation are essential to training success. SGS Lean project managers spend two weeks with a team trained to identify process improvements and approaches. Lean has helped us understand the root causes behind chronic performance problems. By taking the time to model a new process, we experiment with solutions, testing via prototypes before rolling out changes. Still, the new processes are reviewed and refreshed to stand the tests of time and change.

Charles Homestead General Manager SGS North America-Alaska

GLOBAL FOOTPRINT Our responsibility to Alaska is to do our part in protecting the environment by continuing to provide services locally and export our expertise globally. This has included helping an SGS lab in Germany support a U.S. Navy project in Europe. Alaska staff members spent six months training the staff there in EPA protocols. We also helped an SGS lab in Seoul achieve U.S. certification levels to meet the needs of a large U.S. Army project. Both cases illustrate the expertise of a mature lab being used to help emerging markets. Both provided opportunities for SGS-Alaska staff to participate in a much larger forum within our company. ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

Photo courtesy of Everts Air Cargo

INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS Artists’ Beads Blast Off

Everts Air Cargo DC-9.

Everts Air Cargo Expands Fleet to Include DC-9 Jet Aircraft

airbanks-based Carrier, Everts Air Cargo, introduced DC-9 jet service on May 11 with its first proving run flight, a trip from Anchorage to Bethel. The jets mark the newest addition to the Everts fleet, which includes DC-6 and C-46 Aircraft, as well as, Embraer-120 Cargo and Passenger Aircraft. “The DC-9 will compliment Everts’ existing capabilities, allowing greater flexibility, increased efficiencies and service enhancements”, said Everts President and CEO Robert Everts. In addition, it will allow Everts to expand operations outside of Alaska. Everts Air Cargo offers scheduled and charter air transport services, including freight and fuel. In addition, the company operates passenger charters using Embraer 30-seat aircraft. Emphasis is placed on serving the unique needs of each customer, along with specializing in the movement of small packages, hazardous materials and oversized freight. Everts primary hub is located at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport; corporate and maintenance headquarters are based in Fairbanks.

wo handcrafted glass beads by Anchorage artists Michelle Pearson and Julie Levitt were chosen to be aboard Space Shuttle Endeavor’s this spring. The beads are part of Beads of Courage and NASA’s Beads in Space project. Pearson’s artwork is titled “Moonbeams in a Jar,” and Levitt’s bead is called “To the moon, Alice!” Beads of Courage programs are available at more than 90 hospitals worldwide. The program works with children receiving medical treatment, who receive beads spelling their name plus special beads to mark milestones in their treatment. Pearson and Levitt’s beads were selected in a contest for glass bead-makers from around the world. Pearson is a geographic information system mapping specialist for Calista Corp. Levitt and Pearson work at Artmosphere Studio.

Alaska West Express Honored

laska West Express received the Alaska Safe Truck Fleet of the Year Award from the Alaska Trucking Association. The company was honored for its safety performance in 2010, including accident rates, driver training and safety programs and vehicle maintenance. “This award represents the hard work and team effort of our managers, drivers and mechanics,” said Jim Maltby, safety director of health, safety, security and environmental for Alaska West Express in Fairbanks.

COMPILED BY NANCY POUNDS Alaska West Express provides truckload transport and liquid- and dry-bulk products throughout the United States and Canada and specializes in trucking to Alaska with terminals in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Tacoma. It also operates a training center and offers classes in hazardous materials transport, emergency response and workplace safety.

Korean Air Charter Set to Land This Summer

orean Air plans to operate seven charter flights to Anchorage this summer, bringing up to 1,400 visitors to Alaska. The airline last operated passenger service to Anchorage in 2005. The flights will run between late July and mid-August. Visitors on the charter service will fly nonstop from Seoul to Anchorage as part of a package tour with four nights and five days in Alaska. They are expected to visit Anchorage, Fairbanks and Whittier, among other destinations. Travel officials report an increase in Korean visitors to the United States since 2008, due to a U.S. government visa waiver program change allowing easier travel for Korean visitors. The Alaska Travel Industry Association, the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau and the State of Alaska helped secure the airline’s Anchorage charter flights.

New Group Represents Industry

he new Alaska Restaurant and Retail Association is serving restaurateurs and retailers statewide. “The association will be an added

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS voice in the business community by taking positions on issues of interest, providing information, services and support to members statewide,” said Jay Sutherland, president of the industry organization. Association offices are at 2601 Blueberry Road in Anchorage. The office phone number is 907-563-5882.

First Bank Garners National Award

etchikan-based First Bank received an award for its community outreach program from the American Bankers Association. The award, presented in the Encouraging Volunteerism category, honored First Bank’s Community Service Award program. The program donates money to help Ketchikan community groups serve the Southeast town. For example, a middle school girls’ softball team in Ketchikan, organized a food and fundraising drive for Women in Safe Homes. The softball team raised more than $1,000 worth of food, which was donated to WISH. In turn, First Bank donated $1,000 to the softball team. Nine U.S. banks received the award from more than 180 nominations. Honorees were chosen based on the innovation, creativity and effectiveness of the bank’s approach to making a difference in its community. “First Bank is honored to receive this award which represents our commitment, passion and leadership to our communities in Southeast Alaska throughout the year,” said Michael Medford, First Bank’s vice president and community reinvestment officer.

Kaladi Brothers Creates Coffee Blend for ACVB

aladi Brothers Coffee Co. developed a new blend this spring, Big Wild Life, in partnership with the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau. Kaladi Brothers and ACVB representatives conducted several coffee tastings to identify tastes and aromas of particular types of coffee. The blend selected best reflected the Big Wild Life brand: a big, bold earthy taste with a hint of chocolate. The coffee will be used as a promotional item for ACVB clients. Big Wild Life blend can also be purchased in the Visitor Information Center in downtown Anchorage, at Anchorage markets where Kaladi brand coffees are sold and at Kaladi Brothers locations. “The coffee is one way we can continue to build the Big Wild Life brand locally, in Alaska and worldwide,” said Julie Saupe, ACVB president and chief executive. “The coffee is another tool to get people thinking about our city’s perfect blend of urban and wild.”

developed and implemented. Ameresco will perform investment grade audits and comprehensive energy services to include the design, installation, modification and commissioning of new and existing energy systems.

Southcentral Foundation Program Wins National Award

outhcentral Foundation’s Family Wellness Warriors Initiative received the national Mary Byron Project’s Celebrating Solutions Award. Three other groups received the honor. The Mary Byron Project Inc. is a Kentucky-based nonprofit group dedicated to breaking the cycle of domestic violence. The Family Wellness Warriors Initiative was honored as a “model for the nation.” The group received $10,000. The award was presented during opening ceremonies at KidsDay in Anchorage on April 16. The Family Wellness Warriors Initiative aims to build healthy families and provide assistance for children to succeed in life.

Contract Will Inspect State Facilities

he State Department of Transportation and Public Facilities selected Ameresco Inc. of Framingham, Mass., to conduct audits and implement energy-efficient systems for State and University of Alaska Fairbanks facilities. Ameresco was one of three contractors to be awarded a three-year term contract that includes two one-year options for renewal. State officials expect to save money after these projects are

ASRC Subsidiary Wins NASA Contract

nuTeq LLC, an Arctic Slope Regional Corp. subsidiary, was awarded a contract from NASA for support services for the agency’s Office of the Chief Engineer’s Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership. InuTeq, based in Greenbelt, Md., is a Small Business Administration 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business. The

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS company will provide services for developing NASA’s technical work force in systems engineering, engineering, and program and project management. InuTeq also will provide curriculum development, support for international collaboration and publish the Academy Sharing Knowledge magazine. The five-year contract has a maximum value of more than $35 million.

Architectural Firm Wins Design Awards

nchorage-based kpb architects received five awards at the 2011 American Society of Landscape Architecture Alaska Design Awards. The firm garnered three merit awards and two honor awards. The awards were given for five main categories: General Design, Residential Design, Analysis & Planning, Communications and Research. Within each category, there were award levels of Excellence, Honor and Merit. The ASLA IdahoMontana Chapter judged the entries. Of the nine awards presented, kpb architects was the winner of the only two Honor Awards given to the Alaska Chapter. One award was for general design: Chester Creek Restoration, for client Venture Development Group. The other award honored research work on Cold Climate Performance Evaluation of Concrete Pavement Systems for client Habitat for Humanity. Two Merit Awards were for General Design – F Street Connectivity for Alaska Center for Convention and Trade LLC and three Yupiit Schools for the Yupiit School District. Another Merit Award

was for Communications and honored the Creekside Town Center Black Book for client Venture Development Group. A full list of awardees is available at www.akasla.org.

Whittier Charter Adds New Vessel

azy Otter Charters of Whittier has acquired Honey Charters and its 44foot, 22-passenger Qayaq Chief, a vessel designed for beach landing. Kelly Bender, who owns Lazy Otter Charters, a water taxi and charter company, purchased Honey Charters from its owners, who retired. Bender believes the additional vessel will allow Lazy Otter Charters to accommodate larger groups and help expand the business. Lazy Otter Charters began 17 years ago with a six-person landing craft used mainly for custom sightseeing and water taxi services. The company also will offer kayak rentals.

Norton Sound Group Negotiates Fishery Deal

he Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. has reached an agreement with Icicle Seafoods to bring a commercial sac roe herring fishery to the region this year. Icicle Seafoods was scheduled to bring a processing vessel to Norton Sound to purchase herring from resident fishermen. Icicle was set to also bring four tender vessels to the region to facilitate the fast-paced fishery. The Norton Sound fishery was expected to open in late May. The harvest target for 2011 was set

at 1,000 tons. Fishermen were required sign up with Norton Sound Seafood Products to participate in the fishery. The fishery mainly targets herring roe, which is sold as a luxury food item in Japan, often given during the holidays as gifts. Fish that do not meet the roe requirements will be sold as bait for other regional fisheries. Last year’s sac roe herring fishery – the first held since 2006 – attracted nearly 30 boats from the region.

Governor Honors Efforts

ov. Sean Parnell announced the five winners of the 2011 Governor’s North Star Awards for International Excellence in May. Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development Commissioner Susan Bell presented the awards at the annual Export Alaska luncheon in Anchorage. The recipients are Teck Resources Limited for export and foreign investment; PolyEarth Construction International for export of services; HAI Shirokuma Tours, LLC for visitor industry promotion; Affinity Films for cultural exchange; and Turnagain Elementary School Russian Immersion Program for education. “The North Star awards turn the spotlight on those who export services, who attract visitors, who prepare today’s students for international opportunities tomorrow, and who understand the importance of one-to-one cultural exchange,” Parnell said. “Alaskans know the importance of international connections and how to make those connections work for the benefit of our ❑ communities.”

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

H R M AT T E R S

BY LYNNE CURRY

Truth or Consequences Don’t set yourself up for a lawsuit when giving references

hen you terminated Wayne, he threatened to sue you. To avoid trouble, you gave him a month of severance pay and provided him a bland yet positive letter of reference. If the next employer who hires him finds out Wayne interviews better than he works, could your reference letter backfire on you given you fired Wayne for being sexist? When Alice quit, you felt glad to be rid of such a toxic employee. Then you receive a call from a prospective employer you consider a friend. You wouldn’t wish Katherine on your worst enemy. Should you tell her the truth? As a supervisor, what risks do you take when you provide negative information on former employees – or don’t? Do you incur a risk when you write letters of reference – even positive ones?

Dr. Lynne Curry Owner The Growth Company

DISHONESTY BACKFIRES HONESTY IS BEST POLICY According to the American Business Law Association study on defamation suits and plaintiff’s awards, managers fearing defamation suits when giving bad references risk little. Few defamation cases make it to trial and the former employee plaintiffs lose 75 percent of these cases. Further, Alaska Statute 965.160 provides good faith protection to employers who give factual, though negative references. Disgruntled former employees have to prove “clear and convincing evidence” of negligence or bad faith on the part of their former employers to win defamation suits. In contrast, employers provide falsely positive references or fail to give prospective employers negative information about former problem employees take on potential liability for problems their honest disclosure could have prevented.

As an example, a Florida judge ruled Allstate Corp. could be sued for punitive damages for concealing a former employee’s potential violence. Allstate management fired an employee for bringing a gun to work yet wrote a recommendation letter stating the employee was let go as part of a corporate restructuring. Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. relied on Allstate’s recommendation and hired the former Allstate employee who then shot five coworkers in the Fireman’s Fund cafeteria. In another landmark case, a school vice principal received praise and positive letters of recommendation from three former school districts, despite being involved in sexual misconduct with students at all three districts and being forced to resign from two. After he molested a 13-year-old girl at a fourth school, she sued all four districts. California’s Supreme Court

REFERENCE RULES What course should you take when asked for reference information on a former employee? If you receive a phone call asking for a reference, find out exactly whom you’re speaking to, especially as some former employees ask their friends to call to find out what former employers might say. When answering questions, be brief and stick to the truth. If you’re describing a former problem employee, avoid any temptation to exaggerate or vent. If you’re tempted give a falsely positive reference, remember what you say can come back to haunt you. If you discharged a former employee for a serious offense, either run the situation by your attorney or ask the prospective employer to fax you a waiver, signed by your former employee, limiting your liability for any ❑ information you give.

About the Author Local management/employee trainer and consultant and the author of Managing Equally and Legally, Won By One, and Solutions, Dr. Lynne Curry regularly provides managerial, leadership and board-training seminars, as well as public seminars. Curry’s company, The Growth Company Inc., offers a free monthly “breaking news” HR/management newsletter and two seminars (70 minute and three hour) monthly. For more information on The Growth Company Inc.’s training and HR On-call services to companies needing help with recruiting, team-building, strategic planning, management or employee training, mediation or HR troubleshooting, please visit www.thegrowthcompany.com.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

ASSOCIATIONS

Alaska Trucking Association Promoting Alaska’s trucking industry

BY TRACY BARBOUR

Aves Thompson

he Alaska Trucking Association is a small, nonprofit organization with a big impact on Alaskans. Executive Director Aves Thompson sums it up this way: “If you got it, a truck brought it.” The long-standing association has been fostering and promoting the trucking industry in Alaska for more than 50 years. It’s comprised of about 200 member companies that represent all aspects of the trucking business. About 60 percent of them are companies that haul for hire, private carriers that transport goods only for themselves, and construction truck operators. The other 40 percent are associate members that supply goods and services to the industry. The Alaska Trucking Association

uses a variety of methods to advance the trucking industry throughout the state. It works to create positive images of the industry and advocates important issues with government and regulatory agencies. The association also keeps members abreast of the latest industry developments through conferences, seminars and webinars available through its national counterpart: the American Trucking Association. As a unique benefit, the Alaska Trucking Association also provides title, registration and other services to its members at discounted rates. Offered in partnership with the Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles, the services are available to both members and nonmembers on a walk-in and dropoff basis. “People are thrilled when they come to us,” Thompson said. “Usually, they can walk in and be in and out within five or 10 minutes.”

HELPING MEMBERS MANAGE CHANGE The Alaska Trucking Association also focuses on helping its member companies manage change. Changing industry regulations, standards and practices can be challenging for members – especially those that have a significant impact on their livelihood. A prime example is Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA). The program – rolled out in December by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) – is designed to make it easier to identify unsafe commercial truck and bus companies. A key component of CSA is the

Safety Measurement System (SMS), which evaluates all safety-based violations from inspections and crash data to determine a commercial motor carrier’s on-road performance. The new safety program will allow FMCSA to reach more carriers earlier and deploy a range of corrective interventions to address a carrier’s specific safety problems, according to a Dec. 13, 2010, FMCSA news release. “The road side inspections are the same, and we’re operating under the same rules. It’s a matter of how they’re analyzing the data,” Thompson said. The S M S uses seven safetyimprovement categories, called BASICs, to examine a carrier’s on-road performance and potential crash risk. Under FMCSA’s old measurement system, carrier performance was assessed in only four broad categories. “Now they’re looking at all violations, which has been a complete game changer,” Thompson said. “Violations like having a light out and minor infractions have become a big deal.” By analyzing a carrier’s safety violations in each SMS category, FMCSA and state law enforcement will be better able to identify carriers with patterns of high-risk behaviors and apply interventions that provide carriers the information necessary to change unsafe practices sooner than later. Safety interventions include early warning letters, targeted roadside inspections and focused compliance reviews that concentrate enforcement resources on specific issues identified by the SMS. “What this will do is expose more carriers to regulate and weed out some of those marginal carriers,” Thompson

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

said. “We think it will improve the industry, and we will have better carriers and better safety.”

SAFETY A HUGE CONCERN Safety is one of the biggest items on the Alaska Trucking Association’s agenda. Recently, the organization’s safety management council presented annual safety awards in conjunction with ConocoPhillips. Awards were bestowed for the Safe Truck Fleet, Most Improved Safe Truck Fleet and Safe Truck Fleet in their line-haul division. The safety awards shed light on the way many trucking companies do business in Alaska, according to Thompson. “I believe Alaska has one of the safest, most professional industries in the country,” he said. That’s why Thompson feels the FMCSA’s new hours-of-service requirements proposed for commercial truck drivers is unnecessary. He says the changes would significantly impact truck drivers’ work schedules and potentially cause traffic congestion. The FMCSA is proposing to reduce the 11-hour daily driving limit,

increase the 34-hour restart provision and add at least one mandatory rest break during each shift. Both the American Trucking Association and the Alaska Trucking Association are challenging the proposal. “It doesn’t make any sense,” Thompson said. “We maintain that the current standards are sufficient. If, in fact, the FMCSA adopts the final rule as it is currently written, the American Trucking Association has indicated that it stands ready to go to court immediately.” The American Trucking Association, incidentally, has launched a website – safedriverhours.com – to coordinate the industry’s response to the proposal. The FMCSA is expected to publish a final hours-of-service rule by July 26, according to a Dec. 23, 2010, news release.

STATE-SPECIFIC ISSUES In Alaska, perhaps the biggest issue for the Alaska Trucking Association is HB 110, Gov. Sean Parnell’s proposed amendments to the Alaska Clear and Equitable Share (ACES) oil production tax. The bill would cut the basic tax

on new oil-field production, grant energy businesses more incentives to hire Alaskans, soften the state’s progressive oil-tax structure and provide other probusiness tax incentives. It also would trim back ACES’ system of raising the tax rate as oil prices rise. The Alaska Trucking Association supports the governor’s oil tax reduction legislation, which passed the Alaska House of Representatives in March. “We feel the production tax is too high. It’s costing us jobs, and we need to prepare for our future,” Thompson said. The Alaska Trucking Association is also a proponent of House Joint Resolution 4, which will ask voters to revise the Alaska Constitution to establish a dedicated fund for transportation projects. Thompson and other advocates of the initiative believe the Alaska Transportation Infrastructure Fund would help insure the state has the infrastructure needed to develop its resources. This summer, the House Finance Committee will be holding meetings throughout the state to explain HJR 4 ❑ to Alaskans.

Shipping to Alaska might seem complicated, but Span Alaska has spent over 30 years finding the right solutions for our customers. With decades of experience moving freight to and throughout Alaska, no one is better equipped to handle all your transportation needs. Across the country or across the state, we know how to get the job done. And get it done right. Because we don’t just move freight – we deliver satisfaction.

Mike Landry, President 1.800.257.7726 www.spanalaska.com www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

FILM

Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel

The Deadliest Catch’s f/v Time Bandit and its crew.

Statewide filming boosts economy BY HEIDI BOHI

t’s no surprise to Alaskans that the rest of the world finds them fascinating. While many would like to keep the best-kept secrets here under wraps, as millions of worldwide TV viewers set their dials to one of several weekly reality TV shows filmed in the state, not even the crustiest sourdough can argue with the economic development resulting from the rapidly growing television industry here. Besides the millions of dollars spent

on production-related costs in villages and larger communities statewide, other sectors such as the tourism and fishing industries are feeling the residual benefits that come from shows featuring local characters, creatures and the great outdoors.

NEW ECONOMIC SECTOR When the State film production tax credit went into effect in 2009, almost solely credited for spurring the growth

of this new economic sector, the feature film industry took top billing as major studio motion pictures chose to film in Alaska for the first time in more than a decade. Other feature films have also scouted Alaska locations and may begin shooting this year. In the meantime, the state is also becoming an increasingly popular location for nonfiction television shows that capture some of the world’s most scenic beauty, the absurdity of Alaskan

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

personalities, and the drama behind the stories of what it takes to survive in one of the harshest climates on the planet. Deadliest Catch, Mounted in Alaska, Ice Road Truckers, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, NAPA’s North to Alaska, Gold Rush Alaska, Flying Wild Alaska, ERA Family of Bush Pilots,

Photo courtesy of Geo Beach/Tougher in Alaska

Writer and journalist Geo Beach won the first place prize at the 55th Alaska Press Club awards for his work on the documentary television series Tougher in Alaska with Geo Beach on History™, which he hosted and narrated, with additional credits for producing, writing, and cameras. Beach is the first journalist in the history of the competition to win first place prizes in newspaper, radio, and television categories. Inspired by George Plimpton’s participatory journalism, Tougher in Alaska with Geo Beach profiles workers across The Last Frontier – including gold miners, plumbers, firefighters, fishermen, garbage men, troopers, truckers, linemen, and loggers – in the 13-part adventure documentary series.

Ax A Men, M Geo G Beach’s B h’ Tougher T h in i Alaska and Alaska Wildlife Troopers are just a few of the TV shows produced in the state and are based on true stories that capture the hearts of viewers who live and work the real Alaska. Ratings for these nonfiction television shows remain high, and based on inquiries

and d applications li ti for f the th tax t inceni tive program, the Alaska Film Office expects the interest to continue.

TV PRODUCTION ADVANTAGES Although the television productions are considerably smaller than the feature films such as “Everybody

©The Valdez Museum and Historical Archive

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Photo by Pat Smith

TAX INCENTIVE PROGRAM

ZONK! Crew at the Talachulitna River.

Loves Whales,” which was filmed last fall and had an estimated $30 million budget, televisions shows spend more time filming in various communities. The movie, for example, was filmed over about 60 days, whereas reality TV shows will film over the course of months, says Dave Worrell, Alaska Film Office manager. Because feature films require accommodating larger cast and crew, they typically require larger population centers such as Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks. Television shows, though, are more eager to experience communities off the beaten path, such as Unalaska-Dutch Harbor, Unalakleet, Bethel and along the Dalton Highway. “This is where TV shows can have an enormous effect,” Worrell says. “Not everyone wants to film in small villages, but when they do it’s a huge benefit to communities this size.” Another reason reality TV shows are such a good fit for Alaska is because there is no need for soundstages, which are soundproof hangar-like buildings with enclosed stages that accommodate sets built to scale. There is growing interest in meeting the infrastructure needs of Alaska’s film industry, and a variety of companies are looking at creative ways to develop soundstages and provide the equipment rental required for large-scale and concurrent productions, though according to the Alaska Film Office these developments are still in

the planning stages. Public, private and nonprofit sectors are also investigating ways to provide training opportunities to insure filmmakers can find the quality crews they need in the state.

ALASKA IS HOT Ask anyone in Hollywood and they’ll tell you Alaska is hot. Viewers can’t seem to get enough of everything from natural history to Alaska extremes, and the Discovery Channel and cable networks are cashing in by producing top-rated shows that also boost the state’s profile and economy. Although Worrell cannot talk about the budgets associated with individual productions, of the 19 productions that have applied for the tax credit program, 12 are nonfiction and range from small productions with low budgets to those that are hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single episode. “Disaster on K2, a documentary that follows the climbers who reached the summit on August 2, 2008, and the disaster that followed, was produced by an Alaska production company called Ascending Path, which spent about $122,000 and received a tax credit of $46,000. “Man vs. Wild,” a survival television series on the Discovery Channel, spent $223,000 on producing just a single episode. Larger productions such as “Ice Road Truckers” and “Deadliest Catch” have multi-million dollar budgets and film in the state for months at a time

Although film and television production is not new to Alaska, until former Gov. Sarah Palin signed into law the 2008 legislation to incentivize production companies to film in Alaska, the industry here watched helplessly as production companies filmed shows about Alaska in locations such as Canada, Washington state and Maine. The incentive program offers up to 44 percent transferable tax credit to encourage production companies that spend at least $100,000 to film in Alaska. In addition to the 30 percent base rate, the program gives additional percentages for local hire, off-season production from October to March, and filming in rural Alaska. It has been so successful that State lawmakers are working to renew the tax credit program for another 10 years; pointing to it as a new industry in Alaska and a catalyst for encouraging more visitors who want to come to the state to experience what they see on the shows filmed here. Ironically, her hit “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” which shows Palin and her family exploring Alaska, is one of the shows to benefit from the incentive. The show’s November premiere drew about 5 million viewers, making it the highest-rated series launched in the history of The Learning Channel. Although ratings after that were unpredictable – the show has been cancelled – dropping to as low as 2.8 million viewers per week, network executives learned viewers are not interested in hunting and fishing, but are very interested in personal drama. Those episodes that centered around outdoor activities, such as halibut fishing and caribou hunting, were much less popular than those that let viewers look in on the personal aspects of her life and compare it to their own, or those that involved seeing Alaska in the way that most visitors would be likely to travel here.

FIFTEEN YEARS STRONG Entering its 15th season, “NAPA’s North to Alaska,” starring NFL football great Larry Csonka, was one of the first reality shows to capitalize on the fact that people don’t get tired of the last frontier and the romance and

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

Photo by Audrey Bradshaw

Larry Csonka at the Nushagak River king salmon fishing.

excitement that goes with it. Although the original lineup of shows focused on fishing and some hunting, over the years they found people are just as interested in natural history, culture, lifestyle, personalities and the adventure of getting to the destination being featured, and the smaller and remote the location, the higher the ratings. “Alaska is a very salable commodity, which is why we’re seeing so many shows coming from so many places,” Csonka says from his Wasilla home and studio office. “If you can mix all of those elements in, you have a recipe for success.” One of the most popular features of his show called “Inside Alaska” includes one- to three-minute segments on topics ranging from history to adventure and often includes stories on personalities. The companion “Travel Alaska” piece airs opposite weeks of “Inside Alaska” and features stories on various modes of transportation, or an interesting attraction associated with the location featured that week. In addition to his personal success –

Csonka started out looking for something to do that would enable him to see everything he’d been dreaming of since he was a small boy – he enjoys being able to contribute to the growth of the state’s newest industry. Although 26 annual episodes are produced with a small crew, the impact is measurable for businesses like lodges that report increases in inquires and reservations as a result of the exposure.

COMPETITIVE EDGE Csonka’s show is one example of how the State’s incentive program gives Alaska a competitive edge in the film and television production industry. “Mounted in Alaska,” starring worldrenown taxidermist Russell Knight, just completed 15 episodes for the first season of the show that tells Alaska’s tales through story lines built around actual taxidermy clients with unusual requests: there was the woman who wanted her horse’s tail mounted on the wall, or the hunting guide who had the grizzly that attacked him prepared as a way to get past the trauma.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

Photo by Tom Queally

of the main reasons he was chosen is because of the State’s tax credit given to the production company. Since the show began, Knight’s business has increased about 15 percent, allowing him to keep all of his staff employed year-round and to give exposure to the businesses that have supported him over the years. Although his shop is in Anchorage, the show is filmed all over the state and he enjoys seeing it benefit Alaska communities where cast and crew spend money on lodging, meals and transportation. Although his personal per-episode compensation is “not a lot of dough,” the show has led to him being able to sell other products ranging from hats and T-shirts to taxidermy molds and a hunter’s tool kit, all which also help employ Alaskans. Phil Segal, president, Original Productions.

Knight was one of 80 taxidermists being considered. Ultimately, the decision was between him and another shop in Texas, which is one of the remaining states that does not yet offer such an initiative. He is convinced that one

EVER-POPULAR ‘DEADLIEST CATCH’ Although “Deadliest Catch” was not an overnight sensation – it took about four years for entertainment executives to catch onto what the rest of the world is now glued to – at press time its ratings continued to be strong with the series

being rated as the No. 1 prime time cable program for the third week in a row. For the community of Unalaska, the benefits are especially significant, because the production company relies on the remote town for everything from housing for 120 days, to fuel, shipping and survival gear for Bering Sea conditions. The hundreds of camera angles audiences have come to expect also come with a price: crab boats are cabled from bow to stern. The camera team assumes the schedule of the fishing crew, which often means shooting 24 hours in a row, and a separate camera team stays with the U.S. Coast Guard in case of an accident. Although Deadliest Catch was being filmed in Alaska long before the incentive break, and the show would have continued as long as the ratings justified its existence, the incentive has allowed Original Productions to expand the production value of the show, Philip Segal, president of the company says, resulting in bringing the audience one step closer to Alaska. This means more days getting additional photography, which translates to more expenditures ❑ in the local community.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

FILM SIDEBAR

$200 Million More for Film Industry Statewide filming boosts economy BY HEIDI BOHI

evenge is a dish best served cold – as in Alaska cold. Until recently, film and television companies have been shooting shows about Alaska in other states and countries made only to look like Alaska. As a result of the State’s film production tax credit incentive launched in 2009, Hollywood is moving Alaska to the A-list of places it considers first when scouting locations, locations, locations. Just last year, the production company for the Stephen King mini-series “Bag of Bones,” which has a storyline set in Maine, decided to film in Alaska and make it look like Maine because the Alaska Film Office offers an incentive and Maine does not. As long as the program maintains its momentum, Alaska’s newest industry can likely expect more red carpet treatment from entertainment executives who have never had anything against Alaska – they just couldn’t figure out a way to make filming here cost effective.This is why State Sen. Johnny Ellis, the prime sponsor of the original legislation, introduced Senate Bill (SB) 23 during the last legislative session, which proposes extending the program for another 10 years. The current mandate is not scheduled to end until July 1, 2013, but Ellis says he wanted to get started on the extension early so there is no risk of the legislation riding off into the sunset. The bill proposes $100 million for each of the two five-year blocks. Some states structure their incentive program so the funding level is open-ended, which Ellis would like to see for Alaska in

the future. For now, he says, his colleagues feel comfortable with a more conservative model. Before the Legislature adjourned from its regular session, SB 23 advanced from the Senate to the House Finance Committee, which is co-chaired by Rep. Bill Stoltze. Ellis and Stoltze agreed some kinks need to be worked out during the interim session before it advances. One concern was that some of the businesses applying for the incentive did not have Alaska business licenses. Ellis says this isn’t necessary since production companies are not setting up business in Alaska, they are simply consuming goods and services from Alaska businesses, though this may be one area of compromise. Adding an above-the-line cap on productions was also an idea introduced, which Ellis says would kill the film industry in Alaska before it ever gets started. “We didn’t want to end the session by giving the industry a black eye,” he says. “It would be like saying ‘we were open for business, but now we’re closed.’” The current version of the bill leaves out the cap language, though it will be discussed during interim work sessions. Another important reason for extending the bill is to encourage privatesector investors to help foster the multi-million dollar industry. “The extension of this legislation is necessary to give the private sector the confidence it needs to invest in a sound stage, which is exactly the type of infrastructure needed for this industry to grow,” ❑ Ellis says.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

MARKETING

Professional Photographers Why your business needs to hire them BY RINDI WHITE photographers say to remember the old adage, “You get what you pay for.” “How do you want to be portrayed?” asked Jeff Shultz, commercial photographer and owner of Alaska Stock Images and Jeff Shultz Photography. “It really depends on the image (business owners) want to portray. Anything that gets wide exposure, you want to look the best. So if you’re doing an ad that’s in a visitor guide, you really want the best, not just a slipshod photo.” “Any messages a company gives to their potential customers has to be crafted with the thought of what you are communicating to them, how do you put your best description of what’s important to you and the client, and also, what’s your audience?” said Chris Arend, owner of Chris Arend Photography.

HIRE PROFESSIONALS

Linda Beyer exercising at Glen Alps for the cover shot of a now-defunct health and fitness magazine.

Businesses always face the dilemma of tight budgets. But just as selling inferior products can turn off would-be buyers; the way a business is portrayed says a lot about what its owners believe is important. Kelsey Gray, co-owner of Azimuth Adventure Photography, says construction photos are a key component of his business right now. He frequently takes aerial photos of construction sites around Alaska, as well as on-the-

It might be tempting to grab a point-and-shoot camera and snap a few photos of your employees at work, a project you’re particularly proud of, or enlist your nephew, a budding photographer, to do the work. Sure, going those routes will result in photos, but

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

o, you have a business and are torn about where to spend your small marketing budget. Some has to go to marketing, but how do you make your ads, brochures and annual reports compelling and showcase some of the unique aspects of your business?

Top right: Alaska Command Building cleaning and restoration by Coldfoot Environmental. When a job requires delicate restoration techniques it is important to be able to show the work in a before and after state.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

Imax Theater at Tikahtnu Commons with the Chugach mountains in the background photographed by Ken Graham.

ground photos of work being done. Gray says companies he works with have found professional images of completed jobs, used in business proposals, have helped them land other construction jobs. “Some of our customers realize it’s a high-quality look that gives them their image,” he said. Jacky Graham, wife and business partner of acclaimed architecture photographer Ken Graham, says the companies her husband began working with decades ago – those that recognized early on the importance of showcasing their talent – have become some of the biggest names in Alaska’s construction industry. “They used quality photos in their bid packages and advertising to get more work,” she said. Making pictures of businesses can be challenging. If a company wants to convey a certain image, that it’s wellstocked with the best supplies and its employees are using the latest technology, how can that image be portrayed

in a photograph? “I think when you don’t use a professional, you basically get that person’s skill level and not anything beyond,” Arend says. “(As a business owner) you walk into a warehouse and you don’t think visually. How to visually make that appealing is a lot more work. A professional has the ability to pull from their experience; they can take the images farther and work with a lot of different situations to get what you want.” Gray says professionals know how to make the most of a situation and make an image compelling. Sometimes it’s knowledge of the basics, such as using the rule of thirds to draw attention to the right spot in a photo, for example. But more often it’s dealing with things like bad weather. “A lot of times you have to take a picture when you have to,” Gray said. “It’s not going to portray your building in the best light if you take it when it’s raining. Sometimes you have to change the way you think about the project.”

Professional photography is not easy. “Making an image that’s unique and fresh and interesting is hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it. As professionals, we hit that more often than non-professionals, hopefully. You have to strive to be new and unique and fun,” said freelance editorial and commercial photographer Clark James Mishler. The key to choosing which photographer to work with is to do your homework. Spend some time looking at advertisements and find out which photographer did the work or get some suggestions from business friends and then look over the photographers’ websites to see which photographer’s styles fit. “See what they’ve done for other clients and then talk to those clients and see how they’ve performed on the job,” Shultz said. “There’s a lot of good talent here in Alaska.”

TIMING IS EVERYTHING Some businesses decide to hire a photographer at the end of the process – a

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

three-inch by two-inch photo is needed to fit a spot in an annual report or advertisement, for example. It’s possible to make a good picture with those parameters, Arend says, but it stifles creativity. “I’ve always thought photography is a very key part (of a marketing plan) and it often gets thought of afterward,” Arend said. Arend says it works better if the photographer is brought in early and given an open-ended idea, like a theme; then a discussion between the client and photographer can lead to fresh images. “My ears are really the most important part of my job,” Arend said. “The way it really works is, I go in to meet with a client and they have a message they’re trying to get across. They have a picture in their mind of what they’re looking for. They communicate that to me through words and I develop a picture in my mind. Then I try to make a picture to illustrate that.” Having an established relationship with a client makes it easier to know what kind of photos will work, he says. With new clients, it might take a few email exchanges to get everyone on the same page. “That give and take of ideas makes it a really fun product, and makes it really fun to do. If you get that in a job, everyone walks away happy and everyone feels like they’ve contributed to it,” Arend said. Clark James Mishler says in his 30-plus years producing commercial images for companies in Alaska and Outside, he’s realized that photography is only part of a marketing strategy. “A picture really is a great start in a marketing program, as is a writer … and someone to sit down and say ‘Who’s your audience and what do you want to say to that audience?’ Then you hire a photographer to make pictures that speak that message,” Mishler said.

CHOOSE WHERE TO SPEND Once the decision to employ a professional is made and a photographer is chosen, it’s a matter of coming up with a budget that allows a business to get the most for their money. The relatively small pool of commercial photographers in Alaska has run the gamut for their clients. From hopping in a doorless helicopter to take aerial

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

Photo by Clark James Mishler

Set net fishermen in Dillingham for the Nature Conservancy.

photos of construction sites to being part of a crew filming a commercial with hired actors, art directors, makeup wranglers and hand-picked clothes, to setting up lights in a lodge restaurant and making pictures of a real waitress serving a real customer, they’ve done it. While the job and, more importantly, the shooting location, often dictates the budget, Shultz says he tries to show clients examples of what they would get with paid actors and art directors versus a “no frills” package. “It breaks my heart to have someone want to hire a professional for their brochure … and end up with mediocre photos because they don’t have a budget or they don’t feel they need to hire an art director or talent models or get different props or clothing. That all makes or breaks, in my opinion, a photo,” Shultz said. Shultz pointed back to the idea of letting exposure help shape the budget. If a photo is going to be seen by a lot of potential clients – in a visitor guide or other widely distributed publication, for example – perhaps it’s worth it to spend a little more making everything look perfect. Hiring a professional needn’t break the bank, Gray says. “There are a lot of photographers in town. You can get someone to come out to a job site for a couple hundred dollars, to a couple thousand for aerial photos,” he said. Gray and his company also build websites around the photos they take,

giving clients a fresh, updated online presence where their work is on display. Photographer Mark Meyer is taking that idea a step farther and offering clients what he calls “business photojournalism.” Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and other sites are changing the business landscape, Meyer wrote in an email. While that offers businesses more opportunities to tell their story, he wrote, most businesses are not in the business of producing constant streams of content to keep their business presence fresh. That’s where Meyer comes in, he’s “getting people to try shooting more slice-of-life stories that show their employees, and projects in progress … with the intent of attracting and keeping an engaged audience.”

USING ALASKA TALENT There are also other ways to get highquality photos without laying out money for a photo shoot. Several Alaska photographers sell stock photos covering a range from scenic shots of Mount Susitna at sunset to whales breaching near a kayaker. Many Outside companies do as well, but photographers cautioned against using Outside photos to represent Alaska businesses. Oscar Avellaneda, photographer and owner of Ave photo, says the photos could be a turnoff. “Any Alaskan who knows their state can pick out images of models in environments that are not truly Alaskan. In return it reflects poorly on business

owners who attempt to sell their concept, product or service to Alaskans,” Avellaneda said. Avellaneda recently worked on a project for the Anchorage Downtown Partnership that helped downtown Anchorage businesses bridge the gap between hiring a photographer and using a pool of stock photos. Using a Creative Commons license, he made a collection of images of downtown Anchorage that any participating business could use. Although, initially, he says he was worried he would lose control of the use of his work and not be properly credited – his fears were unfounded and the project was successful for both him and the downtown businesses. “I have seen more of my images from this particular collection properly crediting my name than other individual assignments,” Avellaneda said.

BUY LOCAL SHOTS FROM LOCAL PROS Need one more reason to use an Alaskabased photographer? How about “buy local?” Jacky Graham and her husband, Ken, run Accent Alaska, a stock photo supply company that sells rights to images from more than 120 photographers and has been supplying photos to businesses such as the cruise industry for more than 30 years. She says buying local photographs is as important as buying from locally owned stores. “Let’s keep the business in state,” she added. ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

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SPECIAL SECTION: Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel

Event Planning Tips Ensuring attendees return next year

Photo by Roy Neese

BY LOUISE FREEMAN

Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau’s meeting planner appreciation luncheon at the Hotel Captain Cook on Sept. 29, 2010. Pictured are Marlene Geils, ACVB convention sales manager (left), and Cathy Hiebert of the Alaska Broadcasters Association. Each attendee at the luncheon is responsible for bringing a meeting ranging in size from 20 to 4,000 delegates to the city annually.

lanning a convention, conference or meeting can be a daunting challenge if you’ve never done it before. “With the downturn in the economy, many people are being assigned event planning for the first time,” said Jason Lott, director of sales at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood. “More duties have been tasked to people, like executive assistants and others not used to it. They basically have to start from scratch.” Whether it is a meeting for 50 or a convention for 5,000, planning does not have to be an overwhelming task. Help is available from local convention and visitors bureaus, as well as from online

resources. It helps immeasurably if you are given ample time for planning. “The larger the meeting, the longer out you have to plan. One year to 18 months out is good for most state groups because we don’t have a large population. National meetings should be planned two to five years in advance,” said Julie Dodds, director of convention sales, Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau (ACVB). However, many people planning an event don’t have the luxury of having a long lead time. “I wish everyone would plan a meeting six months to a year out, but it has

changed a lot in the last few years. People’s job duties have changed and event planning is sometimes thrust upon them at the last minute,” Lott said.

START WITH THE BIG PICTURE Many people planning an event, especially those with little time to spare, plunge right into the specifics. After the budget has been established, they immediately focus on possible dates and venues, number of break-out rooms needed, and audio/visual and catering requirements. Instead, Lott says, planners should first focus on the big picture.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

“We try to get them to understand the overall form of the event, their main goal,” she said. “What you’re trying to accomplish? Who are the people who will be attending? What is going to make it fun and unique? Look back at events you’ve been to, what elements caught your eye, or wowed you or your boss.”

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LOCAL CONVENTION BUREAUS Once you’ve got your overall vision in place, you can turn your attention to the details. Before you approach venues, you should have decided on a few possible sets of dates, the approximate number of attendees, and your space and catering requirements. At this point, you may want to turn for help to the local convention and visitors bureau. These organizations ascertain your needs and send out a request for proposal (RFP) to all the venues in the area capable of meeting those requirements. When the convention bureau receives the responses, they compile the information into a PDF or a binder with pricing, room layouts, availability and other information. “Use us kind of like the middleman. We’re very, very time saving for the meeting planner. They’d have to call each hotel and explain their needs over and over again,” Dodds said. Convention bureaus often offer extra services, such as help with PR or staffing registration tables, which can save you time and money. ACVB, for example, will set up a “microsite” or “landing page” on its website with the name of your event, the date and location in Anchorage, which can be linked to your website for more information.

toward people not giving a definite “yes” or “no” until the last minute. “You have to set your goal as to how many you anticipate, but you have to be able to quickly modify this,” she added. “More and more people are coming in with last-minute registrations. At a recent event, for example, at two weeks out we just had 30 percent of what had been anticipated. At three days out, we got 80 percent of what we anticipated.” Hotels and other venues will work with you on adjusting your totals, but

you are contractually required to give them a final number for catering 72 hours before the event.

BEWARE OF BUDGET BUSTERS When planning your budget, watch out for last-minute surprises. “The entertainment can be a big flop, a major disappointment, if you’re not familiar with all the behind-the-scenes needs. If it is in a large space, you may need to hire a sound company because the entertainer may not have an adequate sound system,” said Toni Walker,

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EXPECT LAST-MINUTE REGISTRATION FLOOD After the venue has been chosen and prices negotiated, planners should start on the time-consuming process of issuing invitations and handling the registrations that will soon start trickling in. “One thing you run into is not hearing anything back. A lot of recipients do not send back their RSVPs. It becomes nerve-wracking,” said Angie Monteleone, owner of Association Management Services in Anchorage. Today there is a growing trend

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you get a complaint or praise from somewhere, share it with them.â&#x20AC;?

TEAMWORK The Alaska Aces can dominate the ice in the Sullivan Arena, but when a meeting considers Anchorage, the Aces know that sharing ice time means more business for the city. The Kelly Cup champions worked with Windwalkers International, a prayer network, to bring their 2012 meeting to Anchorage . Windwalkers will host events at the Denaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ina Center and the Sully while the Aces keep home ice advantage. Now thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a power play!

Alaska Aces and Windwalkers International 3FQSFTFOUBUJWFT MFGU SJHIU (FPSHF 4BOEPWBM Robert Roehl, Eleanor Roehl and Terry Parks

THE MEETING: Windwalkers International â&#x20AC;&#x153;Global Uprisingâ&#x20AC;? 4,000 delegates May 11 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 15, 2012 Estimated Economic Impact: $3,896,640.00

indwalk ers W nd a s ce A a sk la A ts Congra eting Champions! e M B CV A l na o ti na Inter Are you a member of a national or international association? Bring your group to Anchorage. Contact the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB): NFFUJOHT!BODIPSBHF OFU t

Hold your next meeting in picturesque Juneau, Alaska and receive 25,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles*. â&#x20AC;˘ Daily jet service on Alaska Airlines â&#x20AC;˘ Top-notch dining and catering services â&#x20AC;˘ 20,000 sq. ft. Centennial Hall Convention Center â&#x20AC;˘ Comfortable and affordable lodging and meeting facilities for up to 600 attendees

Not only will you enjoy all of the GLACIERS, WHALES and WILDERNESS Juneau has to offer, but you will also be rewarded with enough Mileage Plan Miles to come back and visit again!

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Angie Monteleone, Owner Association Management Services president and owner of Logistics LLC, an event-planning service in Anchorage. Lock in catering prices when you lock in the venue, Monteleone said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;From the time when you negotiate the site and months later when you sit down to pick menu items, prices may have gone up,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a huge surprise.â&#x20AC;? You will not encounter this problem at all venues. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once I release the menu to the client, I honor the prices,â&#x20AC;? said Jennifer Buddington, catering manager at the Anchorage Hilton. However, Buddington added, many planning committees do not budget enough for catering because they fail to factor in service fees. Like many venues, the Hilton charges a 23 percent catering service fee, which covers overhead, gratuities, accounting and setup. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It can throw their budget off if they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t account for that. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like that to be a rude awakening for anyone,â&#x20AC;? Buddington said.

MAKE USE OF ONLINE RESOURCES Free meeting space calculators are available online to help you determine how many rooms you need for the number of attendees, according to which types of set-up you choose â&#x20AC;&#x201C; set-up styles available may include classroom, theater, boardroom or other styles. You can also download free worksheets to make your job easier, including calculating your timeline, estimating your catering costs, and tracking your budget.

ESTABLISH GOOD RELATIONSHIPS *Call today for mileage program details and your FREE Juneau Meeting Planner Guide

Remember, when working with venues and other service providers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such as audio/visual equipment rental, design or catering companies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you need to establish a positive relationship with

Juneau Convention & Visitors Bureau â&#x20AC;˘ 1-800-587-2201 â&#x20AC;˘ www.traveljuneau.com www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ July 2011 30

them. This is especially important if you plan to make this an annual event. “When you first start negotiating, look at it as a partnership because it’s pretty complicated and there are always things that pop up,” Dodds said. “Remember, you’re working with the hotel or convention center, not against them. You may want to go back to the same place year after year, and that takes building a relationship with the sales staff, catering staff and front desk staff.” One essential is establishing effective lines of communication with them, which may include offering constructive feedback. “If you get a complaint or praise from somewhere, share it with them,” Monteleone said.

the size of the event, than on the number of staff or volunteer hours available to spend on planning. Even a meeting with a small number of attendees may benefit from the services of an event planner if it is a complex event requiring off-site transportation and catering. “Meeting planners are not cheap but they’re worth their weight in gold for those who can’t take the time,” Monteleone said. Professional planners can often spot ways to save you money, which can help pay for their fee.

BOTTOM LINE In this era of virtual meetings and restricted travel budgets, you may think conferences are increasingly a thing of the past. “Nothing replaces a face-to-face in today’s world,” Lott said. “You get to get a feel for how someone is saying something. It’s great for thorough training, whether one-on-one or in teams. People are always going to have to meet.” Effective planning can go a long way toward making things go more smoothly and ensure people will look forward to attending your event next year. ❑

CONSIDER PROFESSIONAL PLANNERS If you conclude, once you have done some pre-planning and gauged the amount of work involved, that this event is more than you want to tackle, you may want to hire a professional event planner. Whether or not to turn to a professional planner matters less on

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

SPECIAL SECTION: Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel

Promotional Products Important for marketing

Photo courtesy of Stellar Designs

BY DEBORAH JEANNE SERGEANT

ASRC Construction Holding Co. tapped Stellar Designs for this mug and coaster set as part of a recent promotion to help with the ASRC rebranding.

ith a sluggishly recovering economy, it may seem like poor timing to add another expense to your company’s overhead; however, if you don’t purchase promotional items, you may want to consider doing so. And if you’re thinking of nixing promos, reconsider. “Anytime you have a market contraction, you’ll have an increase in competition,” said Jennie Stewart, customer representative with Custom Mouse Pad in Anchorage. “Advertising has become more important because there’s a heightened competition.” Nothing keeps your name in front

of potential and familiar clients better than a tangible object emblazoned with your logo and tagline. “If other people cut back on advertising and you continue to do it, you will stand out,” said Greg Kolean, business development specialist with the Small Business Administration in Anchorage. “Promos remind existing customers of your relationship.”

ENDURING VALUE Kolean worked in advertising and marketing for a decade. With just a quick glance around his office, he realized he uses one coffee cup, two pens, a coaster

and a sticky pad holder with logos on them, a testament to the enduring advertising value of promotional products. “Promotional product budgets are commonly among the first budget items to be downsized or eliminated,” said Jay Blury, president of American Marketing Association, Alaska Chapter. “Many companies will buy less promotional items or recycle leftover items from the previous year’s purchases.” Blury is assistant vice president and marketing officer with Northrim Bank. But you shouldn’t resort to doling out last year’s leftovers to your clients or simply buying something because

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

may realize they aren’t as popular as you thought once you buy them.” If budget cuts threaten to eliminate promotional products, consider less expensive but practical items or buying fewer, more impressive items and handing them out selectively. Blury advises companies to splurge on an expensive promotional item when it fits well with the promotion it’s related to or when you want to make a huge impression with your target market, such as when meeting with a few key leaders in the industry. Jennie Stewart Customer Service Representative Custom Mouse Pad

your company has always bought that. Instead, figure out the way to get the biggest impact for the dollar. Many times, it’s not about the most expensive promotional item. “You don’t always have to have the newest and coolest items,” Blury added. “Chasing the newest and coolest promotional products on the market can be exhaustive and expensive. And, you

are meant to promote your company, generally, and also can be used to enhance a current promotion specifically.” For creating brand awareness, placement of the item is key. “It’s like buying real estate in places where your demographic is,” Stewart said. “Having the mouse pad on the

PRACTICALITY IMPORTANT A few of the more expensive promotional products are among the most popular, but people still use good, old-fashioned pens, notepads, mugs and T-shirts. These traditional items are practical for the recipients, inexpensive for you and they’re easily imprinted. The practicality of items is important because the longer it’s used, the more “impressions” it offers. “Business owners who are hesitant to spend on promotional products need to understand that they are primarily for brand awareness,” Blury said. “They

Jay Blury President American Marketing Association Alaska Chapter

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

What’s Hot in Promos? TECHNOLOGY “One of the biggest changes we’ve seen is smart codes. You can change the address that they go to so it’s an ever-evolving product. You put the information out there once and it will go to the right place even if you change the website later. You can easily track your conversion rates for a specific product.” - Jennie Stewart, Custom Mouse Pad. “Anything that compliments the newest electronic devices, such as accessories for iPods, iPhones and MP3 Players, is a great choice.” - Jay Blury, president of the American Marketing Association. “A USB with a logo – the company’s information is preloaded on there. It’s what I’d grab because I’m a technology kind of guy.” - Greg Kolean, Small Business Administration.

“GREEN” ITEMS “I’ve seen biodegradable drink bottles, plant seeds (with branded see packaging) and other items that promote their contribution to the environment. This trend hasn’t hit Alaska as much as in the Lower 48, but they are around.” – Blury “These are products that are either made from recycled material or promote the reduction of waste, like reusable grocery tote bags.” – Tim Ellis, Stellar Designs

CLEVER GADGETS “Other items that continue to be popular are kitchen gadgets and items with many uses, such as pens with mini flashlights, lanyards and padfolios equipped with calculators or other useful items.” – Blury

Good quality also can help promotional items get seen. A cheap pen that goes dry isn’t much of a bargain for your company. client’s desk or your message on the client’s T-shirt, your message is going where the client is.” To enhance a current promotion, choose an item that fits with the target market and ties in with what you do. “For the SBA, when we give promos, we give things that relate to business,” Kolean said. “We do things that say ‘SBA’ but they have a business layer to them.” Frisbees might be fun for the SBA to give away, but they would likely go home and end up in the garage, not where most business people spend a lot of their time. Pens and letter openers are always the first promos to fly off the SBA table at trade shows. “If you’re in the food and beverage industry, a coaster is a good way to market,” Kolean said. “Caterpillar gives away caps, not mouse pads because their buyers aren’t at desks. For a car dealership, get key chains.” Matching up the promotional item to the user’s lifestyle will help ensure the item is used and seen. And the more times an item is seen, the better.

QUALITY COUNTS Good quality also can help promotional items get seen. A cheap pen that goes dry isn’t much of a bargain for your company. From an array of various promotional pens on the desk, most people will select the most comfortable, smooth-writing instrument, not a cheap one. If you haven’t purchased promos recently, you may be surprised at how far the printing technology has come. “You can have a full color image and there’s a ton of promo items with lots of imprint space,” Stewart said. You can include more information and use colors that tie in your company’s logo and brand identity for a more cohesive campaign. Selecting the right promo is the first, most important step; however, distribution is also critical.

“Promotional products only work if you have the right product and a good distribution method for getting these products into the right hands,” said Tim Ellis, president of Stellar Designs in Anchorage. “Not all businesses participate in tradeshows, or have a lot of walk-in traffic at their pace of business.” If you will need to mail your promos, think about the shipping cost or if sales staff will be delivering them, the portability will be an issue.

MOTIVATE AND REWARD Promotional products aren’t just about external marketing. Internal giveaways can be used to promote company objectives such as safety, motivate employees to achieve more and reward them when they meet corporate goals. Don’t go too cheap if your internal promotion is for motivation or reward because it devalues employees’ effort. “If you’ve got a huge promo budget for a one-time event or a co-sponsor, you can get nicer things like T-shirts or caps,” Kolean said. When selecting items, consider the demographic of your employees and the type of business you operate. For a less formal type of business like a casual restaurant where many college-aged people work, giving them fun tees in current styles such as ringer tees (the rib knit trim color contrasts the shirt color), tie dye, or texturally embellished tees may lend the notion of a cool shirt they’d actually wear to go out instead of a polo shirt that they would think of as dated and stuffy. But if you operate an insurance office where 50-somethings work, a traditional polo with embroidery will be much more appreciated than the former type of shirt they may consider too faddish. And trendy tees would look incongruent with the office environment for casual Fridays, unlike polo shirts. Think about where the employees would use their promotional items and how that would benefit the company. The aforementioned shirts would likely get worn outside of work if they’re well made and appeal to employees, which is good for promoting the company name. But if your internal campaign is for a motivational program, select items they could use on the job so that the message stays ❑ in front of them all day.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

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SPECIAL SECTION: Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel

Social Networking for Meetings Latest trends use interactive technology BY KAREN ZAK

ocial Networking and technology is revolutionizing the way we plan, deliver and promote events. Most businesses today are actively embracing social media in the work place as a new marketing tool creating a two-way conversation. But how are social networking sites and technology utilized in meetings? In the past, “going green” and reducing our environmental footprint has been all the rage. We eliminated paper conference solicitations and replaced them with online registration; we stopped printing massive amounts of speaker handouts and, instead, we loaded them on USB drives. Online registration is now the norm and PowerPoint presentations are posted on the conference website before, during and after a conference. Paper evaluations have been replaced with survey software that captures data online and tallies the evaluations instantly. So, what are the latest trends now and into the future?

INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION Social networking sites have exploded on the meeting scene. Clients are creating conference Facebook sites, Twitter sites and mobile apps specific to the meeting or event. These sites create an active dialog about the conference and allow attendees to connect with colleagues and friends; chat about meeting up after an event; or “tweet” about the best place to dine. A dedicated conference site can instantly create a “buzz” about the event, reach a new generation of participants, and establish a favorable perception that the organizer is current and relevant. The sites also provide real-time feedback during an event that allows organizers to monitor the attendee feedback about the event and, if negative, acknowledge the issue with a “tweet” and ensure the

audience knows you are reacting to their concerns. Another example of how interactive technology is being utilized in meetings is the use of QR codes. For those unfamiliar, a QR code (short for “quick response”) is a sort of barcode that stores information that can be captured and interpreted by a mobile device by way of the camera on the device. One example is a scavenger hunt game with QR codes created for a conference. An email blast was sent to participants announcing the contest rules along with the first hint in the form of a QR code. The unique QR codes were printed on door signs, exhibitor maps and sponsor signs throughout the conference and each one held a clue to a list of questions. The goal was to increase interaction between attendees and to encourage participation in different areas of the conference such as the registration area, exhibits, sessions and social events. The scavenger hunt also was announced on the client’s Twitter site and the official conference registration website. The attendee that found the most QR codes and hints to answer the game questions won a prize and the winner was announced on the Twitter site.

directly import data into smartphones and share information. There are even mobile exhibit apps using the smartphone’s GPS capability to assist attendees with the most efficient path to maneuver through exhibit halls to reach specific exhibit booths efficiently. The meeting industry expects to see a rapid adoption of mobile applications for events over the next few years; realtime distribution and access to event information, and enhanced networking via social networking sites. So if you have not begun to embrace social networking and new technology into your meetings and events, now would be the time to get on board before your event is considered behind the times. ❑

NEXT GENERATION NAME BADGES Name badge barcode lead retrieval has been utilized at large trade shows for years and is now considered an outdated model. The exhibitor scanned the attendees name badge bar code that captured contact information in lieu of a collecting business card, but this method only generated a basic contact list. The next generation badge code offers an interactive model allowing the attendee to scan exhibitor’s information to include websites, special show deals and contact information. The attendee and exhibitor can

About the Author Karen Zak, general manager of Visions Meeting & Event Management has been in the meeting planning industry in Alaska for 13 years and in the Lower 48 for 10 years. Zak started Visions (Alaska) in 1998 as a division of USTravel. Visions manages all size meetings statewide, incentives worldwide, and is a known planner for complex international conferences and events.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY 2011 Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel Directory CONVENTION FACTS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; By Jack Bonney â&#x2013; Public Relations Manager â&#x2013; Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau ď&#x201A;ˇď&#x20AC; ď&#x201A;ˇď&#x20AC;

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The largest convention ever held in Anchorage, the USA-Canada Lions Leadership Forum, arrives in September 2011 with 3,000 delegates expected. Between 2009 and 2015, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) will hold five meetings in Anchorage. Together these meetings will bring 4,000 people to Anchorage with an estimated economic impact totaling more than $4.4 million. The IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference and IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation have already been held in Anchorage. The IEEE Systems, Man & Cybernetics Conference and Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference are set for October 2011 and September 2012, respectively. And in June 2015, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Transducers will hold their annual meeting in the city. The Alaska Federation of Natives returns to Anchorage for the 2011 meeting Oct. 21-23 in the Denaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ina Civic and Convention Center. Anchorage will also host the 2014 AFN Convention in conjunction with a meeting of the National Indian Education Association. The NIEA meeting is expected to draw 2,000 delegates from across the country. Some of the other meetings coming to Anchorage in the years ahead include: the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery Annual Scientific Meeting, September 2011 (600 people); the American Astronomical Society, June 2012 (1,100 people); the Cryogenic Engineering Conference & International Cryogenic Materials Conference June 2013 (600 people); the Scoliosis Research Society, September 2014 (1,300 people); World Congress of Epidemiology September 2014 (600 people) and the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, July 2015 (850 people), among others. â&#x2013; ÂŠK KenGrahamPhotography.com KenG e GrrahaamP amPhhotog oogr g aph phy.com ph co

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www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ July 2011

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY 2011 Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel Directory CHAMBERS of COMMERCE & CVBs " # !+

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www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;¢ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;¢ July 2011

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY 2011 Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel Directory CHAMBERS of COMMERCE & CVBs %

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www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ July 2011

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY 2011 Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel Directory CHAMBERS of COMMERCE & CVBs %#& $.

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www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;¢ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;¢ July 2011

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www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;¢ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;¢ July 2011

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY 2011 Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel Directory FACILITIES & LODGING *(+ )4

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY 2011 Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel Directory FACILITIES & LODGING $"% #-

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY 2011 Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel Directory FACILITIES & LODGING $

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY 2011 Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel Directory PASSENGER AIRLINES ! " *

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www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;¢ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;¢ July 2011

ARTS & CULTURE

Alaska Arts Southeast Thriving Sitka cultural community BY WILL SWAGEL

SEED MONEY SPROUTS BIG Schmidt, himself, is as local as they get. He grew up in Sitka and attended the Sitka Fine Arts camp as a camper, which he often says in speeches. Schmidt returned to Sitka after receiving music and philosophy degrees from Oberlin College and spending

Photos by Berett Wilber

hen Sheldon Jackson College shut its doors permanently in 2007, people wondered what would happen to its centrally located, 20-acre core campus and its dozen or so historic buildings. People also wondered what would be the effect on the economy of Sitka (population 9,000) from losing 120 jobs and the spending power of the 300 full- and part-time students. After a period of public unease and financial restructuring, the Sheldon Jackson trustees in February transferred the core property to Alaska Arts Southeast. Arts Southeast is an organization with its roots going back even before the oil-rich “Arts on the Ferries” programs of the early 1980s. Since 1972, Arts Southeast has run the Sitka Fine Arts Camp ( June-July), which in the last few years – under its current director Roger Schmidt – has been nationally recognized, recently by First Lady Michelle Obama, and is growing steadily in size. The group also operates the Sitka Performing Arts Center and runs various outreach programs, primarily in the schools. Last year’s camp was attended by 500 students from 34 communities in 18 states and six countries. The Fine Arts Camp budget was $500,000 last year and is poised to reach $1 million, Schmidt said. They have five yearround employees, and hire another 80 people seasonally. Schmidt said 80 percent of the camp’s purchases of services and goods are made in Sitka. “Local business supports us, so we support them,” Schmidt said.

About 500 students come to Sitka for camp programs. One of their first desires is to check out the shopping, which is a short walk downtown, says camp director Roger Schmidt.

a few years in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene. He took the reins of the Fine Arts Camp in 2000. Schmidt is bullish on Sitka, and said National Geographic has ranked his hometown, “Number 49 of the most distinctive historical communities in the world. ‘Right up there with Venice and Machu Picchu.’” Schmidt says he thinks his group’s efforts, along with those of the Sitka Summer Music Festival and the elevation of local Native artists to national status have all led to “a tipping point” for the art world’s recognition of Sitka as an artistic hub. “Musicians and artists from all over the country know about this place,” he said. His vision is to develop a year-round national retreat center for the arts and humanities. “You could attend a concert in the evening and a lecture during the day, while maybe you’re in a painting workshop,” he added. “Or while you come to study trees.”

THE SITKA-EL PASO CONNECTION Violinist Paul Rosenthal is both a renowned concert performer and the founder and artistic director of the 40-year-old Sitka Summer Music Festival. This June-long series of waterfront chamber music concerts is the centerpiece of an organization that also offers concert series throughout the year in Anchorage and elsewhere in Alaska. In 2010, Rosenthal was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities. In 2012, he is to pass the directorship of the Sitka Festival to cellist Zuill Bailey, the artistic director of the El Paso Pro Musica Chamber Music Festival and Series, and a professor at the University of Texas. SSMF’s Anchorage-based Executive Director Roberta Rinehart sees potential symbiosis between the two festivals leading to growth for both. People flock to El Paso in January for a break from the cold. Sitka in June is a cool alternative to stifling summers elsewhere.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

Rinehart said some of Bailey’s die-hard Texas fans came to Sitka and checked out his new project. But even without the Texas boost, the Sitka festival’s numbers are significant locally. Rinehart said 55 percent of the 500 or so concertgoers were from out-of-town. These people spent four days in Sitka, on average, although a few stayed all month. Over the course of the month, they spent more than $1 million for food and lodging, personal items, art, tours and other items. And then there’s the other 45 percent of ticket sale money made up by Sitka residents. Schmidt commented about the economic activity stirred up among locals by popular cultural events. “There are all kinds of statistics about what happens to people when they leave their homes,” he said. “You can’t spend money in your community unless you get out of your house.”

CREATIVE VITALITY INDEX (CVI) The CVI is a measurement tool the Alaska State Council on the Arts is using, among other goals, to encourage public and private investment in the arts. “The CVI demonstrates that the nonprofit arts community does not work in a vacuum, but supports many other sectors of the economy,” said Council Executive Director Charlotte Fox in a March news release. “We hope this index can be used by many communities and organizations throughout Alaska to measure creativity growth, but also as an economic development tool.” That release also pegged the annual revenues of Alaska nonprofit art groups at $23.5 million, $16 million in Anchorage alone. The CVI draws its conclusions from data on census, employment, arts-related

Fine Arts Camp instructors, many of whom are art, music and theater professionals, are enthusiastic to participate in the camp for modest fees.

Students from 34 mostly Alaska communities attend the camp forming lifelong friendships and are inspired to continue studying art and music. Fine Arts Camp director Roger Schmidt is a former camper, who went on to major in trombone performance (and philosophy) at Oberlin College.

employment, grants received and public participation. Thirty-six occupations are measured, including graphic designers, librarians, photographers, floral designers, architects and book editors. The U.S. average is set at 1.00 and in 2009 (the latest figures) Alaska topped that slightly at 1.08 (up from 0.98 the previous year). Anchorage and Juneau come in at 1.48 and 1.47, respectively. At 1.46, Southeast Alaska has the highest regional score in the state. Only Alaska’s three largest cities were measured individually. Fairbanks came in at 0.94. (The 2009 Creative Vitality Summary Report is available at www. eed.state.ak.us/aksca.) Besides Fine Arts Camp and SSMF, Sitka is also the site of several other well-known scientific and cultural conferences, such as Whalefest and Paths across the Pacific, and there are frequent concert offerings from Sitka Folk, another group. The Greater Sitka Arts Council organizes nearly weekly art and performance offerings. A new Sitka Sound Science Center, located on the former Sheldon Jackson campus with the Fine Arts Camp, promises to be the center of even more learning and outreach. Schmidt sees this as Sitka’s brand – serious cultural and scientific enrichment against a gorgeous and easily accessible natural backdrop. “We have instructors here they are

lined up in the Lower 48 to get face time with,” Schmidt said. “And that’s why our enrollment has been growing for the past 11 years and had a waitlist as of March 1. Because we have a strong brand.”

More and more parents come to Sitka a few days before the end of camp to attend dance, music and theater performances and view their children’s artwork and writing, They stay in local hotels and B&Bs.

“Paul and Zuill are traveling all over the world and people paid $200 a ticket to see them,” Rinehart said, “and (those people) read in their bios that they (are connected with) the Sitka Summer Music Festival and say, `Oh, honey, I hear the kayaking is great there, too. Why don’t we go?’” Sitka has always been proud of its diversified economy – fishing, health care, government, education and tourism. If Schmidt is right about the Sitka arts scene being at a “tipping point,” maybe it’s time to add “arts and culture” ❑ to the list.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

JULY

14-17 A L A S K A T H I S M O N T H

BY NANCY POUNDS

Skagway Fish Derby

Photo by Dimitra Lavrakas/Taiya Inlet Watershed Council

Luring residents to grab a pole

Skagway small boat harbor.

small fishing derby unites Skagway residents during the busy “make-hay-while-the sun-shines” summer visitor season. This year’s Pat Moore Memorial Game Fish Derby is July 14 through July 17 in the Southeast community. The historic Gold Rush town’s population of about 800 skyrockets in summer when hundreds of cruise ship passengers tour downtown’s Gold Rush era buildings. The fishing derby is a fundraiser for the Taiya Inlet Watershed Council, which organizes the event. Earlier fishing derbies raised money to support the watershed council. Funds collected now support scholarships for graduating high school students who plan to study marine biology or environmental sciences. Also, organizers believe the event spotlights the region’s coastal richness. “We have such a good salmon run here that we wanted to use it to encourage sport fishing,” said Dimitra Lavrakas, derby coordinator and vice president of the Taiya Inlet Watershed Council board. The derby draws Skagway residents to the port area, which is separate from the downtown area. “It draws attention to the fact we are a coastal town,” Lavrakas said. “It’s a way to encourage people to use the port more and encourage fishing.” A city-built trail along the shore is a popular corridor linking downtown with the harbor. The fishing derby honors Moore, who died from complications of Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was an enthusiastic fisherman who supported a now-shelved hatchery the council aims to revive, Lavrakas said.

Skagway residents, business owners, city officials, the Skagway Traditional Council and the National Park Service created the watershed council in 2002. The nonprofit council’s goal is to improve conditions around the region’s numerous rivers and streams. The first Skagway fishing derby was held in 2003. Last year about 200 people participated. “We’re not big like Homer,” Lavrakas said. But Skagway fishermen and women are eligible for a bevy of prizes, including cash prizes up to $2,500 and gift certificates from area businesses. “The prizes are really interesting,” Lavrakas said. Awards honor the oldest fisherman and the youngest, plus prizes for women, participants who are age 15 and younger, and neighboring Yukoners, some of whom have boats based in Skagway, Lavrakas said. There’s also a prize for the smallest legal king salmon caught during the derby. Other prizes recognize the top shorebased fisherman and the leading fishing team. A salmon barbecue after the fishing derby lures participants and summer visitors. For Lavrakas, the best part of the fishing derby is dangling her own line in the water from a boat dock on a warm, sunny afternoon. She watches boats glide into the harbor and helps summer visitors find a tour. “I like being out on the water,” she said. The derby entry fee is $10 each day or $30 for the fourday event. Contact the Taiya Inlet Watershed Council at 907-983-2426 or visit www.taiya.org for more information. ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

J U LY E V E N T S C A LE N D A R • • • • • • •

7/4

T A T E W I D E • • • • • • • •••••••

A G L E

Statewide Independence Day Celebrations 7/6-7/10

I V E R •••••••

Bear Paw Festival

A family friendly, free admission festival with events for everyone, including outdoor dance, car show, motorcycle exhibit and more. Sponsored by the Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce and held in downtown Eagle River. Contact: 907694-4702 or visit www.bearpawfestival.org for schedule, events N C H O R A G E • • • • • • • and entry forms.

Music, food, activities and entertainment will dominate the day as Alaskans celebrate Independence Day with festivals, parades, picnics, races and other events. Check locally for your planned events in your community.

• • • • • • •

Women Rock! • • • • • • • Adventure Challenge Four hours of biking, navigating and trekking begins at 9 a.m. at 7/17-7/31 7/9

Kincaid Park. Course designed to introduce new racers to the sport and challenge the veterans. There will be prizes, T-shirts and post-race food at Alaska’s only women-specific multi-sport adventure challenge. Visit www.alaskaadventureracing.com or contact: Darren Hull, 529-8985.

7/21-7/24

Alaska Salsa Festival

An amazing event with dance classes, professional shows and huge parties will be held at the Hotel Captain Cook and hosted by Alaska Dance Promotions. Join the hundreds of dance enthusiasts, people who are excited for a new challenge, and those of us who just like to have a great time. Contact: 907-276-6000 or 800-8431950 or info@alaskasalsafestival.com.

A I R B A N K S • • • • • • •

Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival

Two-weeks of study-performance opportunities in all art forms, encourages both personal growth and arts appreciation regardless of level of accomplishment. On the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus under the Midnight Sun approximately 1,000 adults register and participate with nearly 100 guest artists in 125 workshops in music, visual arts, literary arts, dance and healing arts with 45 performances. Visit www.fsaf.org.

7/20-7/24

Golden Days

Annual celebration sponsored by the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce. This year’s theme is “For Gold Times Sake” and the fun begins with the ConocoPhillips Kick-Off Party, Wednesday, July 20, 5 p.m., under the News-Miner and Borough sponsored tent at Pioneer Park. The BP Golden Citizens Senior Luncheon is 7/14-7/17 Sesame Street Live: Thursday, July 21. The Alyeska Pipeline Service Company Young Elmo’s Healthy Heroes Pioneers Day rules the day on Friday, July 22, and the Chevrolet of Enjoy Elmo’s adventures along with your kids at the Sullivan Arena, Fairbanks Comedy Night wraps up the evening. The Kinross Fort shows begin at 7 p.m. Tickets at TicketMaster, $16.50 to $56.50. Knox Mine Grande Parade starts off events on Saturday, July 23, and is followed by the MAC Federal Credit Union Street Fair and 7/25-7/30 Alaska Challenge Wheel Santina’s Flowers and Gifts Rubber Duckie Race. Golden Days Chair &Handcycle Race wraps up Sunday, July 24, with the Annual Governor’s Picnic. Visit Sadler’s 26th annual Alaska Challenge welcomes world-class www.fairbankschamber.org for a complete schedule of events athletes to Alaska. The world’s longest and toughest wheelchair and entry forms. and handcycle race in the world will continue its traditional course from Fairbanks to Anchorage with a distance of more than 260 • • • • • • • G I R D W O O D • • • • • • • miles in six stages. Competitors will arrive in Anchorage July 23 and move to Fairbanks on July 24 for the start of the race the next Girdwood Forest Fair morning, July 25. First stage of the race is Fairbanks to Nenana July 1-3 (in daily stages), then south to Healy, Denali Park and Talkeetna, Family fair is an annual event in the resort town of Girdwood, through Hatcher’s Pass and on to Anchorage in the final day of the located 36 miles south of Anchorage. This year’s fair is Friday and competition, July 30. For details on profiles, race information, or Saturday, July 1-2, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, July 3, 11 a.m. to opportunities to volunteer, visit www.challengealaska.org or contact 6 p.m. The Forest Fair features Alaskan artists, hand-crafted items, exotic foods and entertainers from all over Alaska. The Forest Fair Elizabeth Edmands: 907-344-7222. Parade is Saturday, July 2 at 10 a.m. The fairgrounds are located at Mile 2.2 on the Alyeska Highway in the community park area. • • • • • • • C O R D O V A • • • • • • • Limited parking is available at the Alyeska Resort Daylodge with shuttle service provided. Car pooling is encouraged. There is no admission fee, only 7/11-7/16 4H Music Camps These summer specialty camps feature a Hawaiian camp for kids good times. Camping will be allowed in Forest Fair Campgrounds ages 6-8 and a full-featured music camp for kids from 9 through 18. only and is $25 per person per night with a camping permit Both camps culminate with public performances by the campers. required. Public camping is prohibited in the town of Girdwood during Forest Fair Weekend. Law enforcement personnel will be Guest artists will be announced at a later date. The camps are fully staffed by talented musicians from patrolling the Girdwood Valley. Visit www.girdwoodforestfair.com throughout the U.S. and Canada, including several camp counselors for more information. from the Cordova area. Contact: cordovabluegrass@hotmail.com.

7/27-7/30

Wild! Copper River Salmon Days • • • • • • •

Cordova’s wild weekend of food, fun runs and music. Participate in one of the five Alaska salmon runs named after the five species of Pacific salmon. Runs occur along the scenic Copper River Highway. Enjoy the Salmon Jam Music Festival as well as live music, arts, crafts and food fair, along with the Prince William Sound Science Center Community picnic. Contact: info@copperriverwild.org.

O M E R • • • • • • •

7/30-7/31

Concert on the Lawn

An annual rite of summer. The KBBI Public Radio AM 890 benefit is wrapped in a social event, connecting a vibrant community with a vital community resource. Contact: 907-235-7721 or visit www.kbbi.org.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

J U LY E V E N T S C A LE N D A R

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7/23-7/30

Great Alaskan Marathon Cruise

Ketchikan leg begins at 8 a.m. at Ward Lake. Cruise ship passengers are running a marathon while docking in various Southeast Alaska cities. About 100 runners from Holland America cruise, The Westerdam, will be bussed to Ward Lake for a â&#x20AC;&#x153;real Alaskan run.â&#x20AC;? Locals are encouraged to participate in the race of about 6 miles. No entry fee for locals. Contact: Leigh Woodward, leighanastasia@gmail.com.

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7/4

Independence Day 10K

Kodiak Parks & Recreation sponsors a 6.2 mile run/walk from the U.S. Coast Guard Base to town. Particpants meet at USCG main gate at 9:30 a.m. Race starts at 10 a.m. No entry fee. Contact: Ian Fulp 907-486-8670/fax 907-486-8674 or ifulp@city.kodiak.ak.us.

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7/4

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33rd Anvil Mountain Run

This 17K run is from 18 feet above sea level to the top of Anvil Mountain and back, with a 1,134-foot elevation gain. Meet at City Hall, 7:45 a.m. Race starts at 8 a.m. The second oldest run in Alaska, it has no entry fee and is sponsored by Rasmussenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Music Mart. Contact: Leo Rasmussen, 907-443-2798 or leaknome@alaska.com.

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7/9

O R T H

O L E â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘

Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis

Be there with bells on. Get in the spirit this summer at the Arthritis Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jingle in July. Be one of the thousands of runners and walkers who hit the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pavements, pathways and parks this year to fight arthritis. Wear a Christmas/holiday-themed costume. Tie jingle bells to your shoelaces. Run or walk a 5 kilometer route with your team members and celebrate the holiday season early by giving to support the Arthritis Foundation ~ Alaska Branch. Open to all â&#x20AC;&#x201C; individuals, teams, racers, joggers, walkers, children of all ages, adults, seniors, babies in strollers, even dogs. Race times, details and early registration are all online at http://northpolejinglebellrun.kintera.org. Last-minute registration available at the North Pole Hotel, July 8, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., or on race day, 8:30 a.m. at the Santa Claus House parking lot.

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7/9-8/10

Second Saturday

Dolls on Parade exhibit at Madd Matters Gallery and Frame Shop, 101 East Arctic Avenue in Palmer, from July 9 through August 10. Artists reception July 9 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

7/22

Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Family Picnic

The Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Family Picnic is an annual family friendly event that is open to the public. To be held at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Raven Hall from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

7/23-7/24

Blacksmithing Clinic

Taught by nationally recognized blacksmith Brian Brazeal and sponsored jointly by the Association of Alaskan Blacksmiths and the Valley Arts Allliance. This is a hands-on clinic designed for beginners as well as advanced smiths, and will be held at Arctic Fires Bronze, 15615 E. Outer Springer Loop in Palmer. Visit www. valleyartsalliance.com for more information.

www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ July 2011

J ULY E VEN TS C A L EN D A R S

• • • • • • •

E W A R D • • • • • • •

7/4

Mount Marathon

A well-known mountain running event held annually in the seaside village of Seward since 1915, said to originate from a bet among friends that Mount Marathon could not be tackled in less than an hour. The foot race is 1.5 miles up and 1.5 miles down, complete with cliffs, scree fields, waterfalls and a spectacular view. This annual event draws runners from around the world, and is just part of Seward’s Independence Day celebration. See www.seward.com for more information.

• • • • • • •

7/13-7/16

• • • • • • •

Home Skillet Music Fest

Four-day music festival for all ages, featuring local and out of town bands and sponsored by Home Skillet Records. Soul, hip hop, blues and garage style rock-n-roll. Complete line-up and tickets at www. homeskilletfest.com or contact: 907-747-6790.

• • • • • • •

1.12 acres, currently operating as a 22 unit mobile home park – Offered at $800,000

O L D O T N A • • • • • • •

7/7-7/09

Kenai River Classic

The 18th annual Kenai River Classic is KSRA’s major fundraiser. The event has been an excellent opportunity for corporations, nationally and locally, to come together to learn the importance of Alaska’s watersheds and to network with other corporations, celebrities and policymakers concerned about Alaska conservation issues. Contact: 907-262-8588 or info@kenairiverclassic.com.

7/17

FOR SALE: Commercial Business Property – Sitka, Alaska

Further details at: www.colestrailercourt.com

Stanley Chrysler Golf Tournament

Play 18 holes of golf at the Stanley Chrysler Golf Tournament at Bird Homestead Golf Course on Funny River Road, Soldotna, to benefit the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. Registration forms available at Stanley Chrysler in Soldotna or at www.foodbank.org. Come and enjoy the day, including a barbecue and help the Food Bank. Contact: 907-262-3111.

7/23-7/24

Soldotna Progress Days

Includes a parade and family fun at the Soldotna Creek Park. Live entertainment sponsored by the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce and the City of Soldotna. Contact: 907-262-9814.

• • • • • • •

July-Sept.

A L D E Z • • • • • • •

Valdez Fish Derbies

Try for your chance at more than $80,000 in cash and prizes. The Halibut Derby began in May and runs through Sept. 4. The Kid’s Derby is July 16. The Silver Derby is July 23 through Sept. 4, and the Women’s Derby is Aug. 13. Visit www.valdezfishderbies.com for details or contact: 907-835-5680.

• • • • • • •

7/7-28

A S I L L A • • • • • • •

Wasilla Arts Walk

Come to Wonderland Park each Thursday between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. where vendors of all types will sell, exhibit, demonstrate, and sample their wares. This event is free and features showcases of local artists (visual, performing and musical), craftspeople and businesses that aim to entertain and educate the community. Visit http://cityofwasilla.com for more information. ❑ www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Part of the rural energy solution

Photo courtesy of REAP

Kodiak’s $21 million Pillar Mountain wind-power facility is one of the largest in the state of Alaska. Its three turbines are rated at a total of 4.5 megawatts.

BY TRACY KALYTIAK

know well ahead of time how much fuel will cost when it’s delivered – a critical factor for Carl, an hourly employee at Kipnuk Light Plant. “Here in the villages, we live paycheck to paycheck,” Carl said. “The most difficult time we had was when we ran out of fuel and our water supply started to freeze.” Wind could drastically change the way Carl and thousands of other people live in rural Alaska by relieving and someday drastically lessening their need for expensive and unpredictably priced fossil fuels as their primary source for electricity and warmth.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

aying the light bill and keeping the house warm in rural Alaska can be formidably expensive for someone like Samuel Carl, who, with his wife, Polly, works hard to support the family’s six children in Kipnuk. “This spring I’ve been hunting and we have the spring harvest from the tundra out there,” Carl said. “We need to collect some greens before they start sprouting, you know. It’s better than the store foods, healthier.” Groceries cost too much to buy regularly. Doing the family’s laundry at the local laundromat costs $6.50 a load to wash, another $7 a load to dry. What is most frustrating is not being able to

EXPENSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE Kotzebue launched the first utilityscale wind farm in rural Alaska back in 1997 and in its first decade saved approximately 100,000 gallons of diesel per year. Other remote communities – including Chevak, Gambell, Hooper Bay, Kasigluk, Kodiak, Kokhanok, Nome, Quinhagak, Saint Paul Island, Savoonga, Selawik, Toksook Bay and Unalakleet – are using wind power. The villages of Buckland, Deering and Noorvik, Mekoryuk and Shaktoolik have started to explore the possibility of instituting wind power as a way of cutting the amount of diesel they use to generate electricity.

While wind power requires no fuel, it does require significant expenditures for turbines and associated infrastructure – expenses that are difficult for remote communities to shoulder without help. It is also difficult to find and train people to provide the maintenance the systems need. Rural and urban communities interested in wind power – as well as hydro, biomass, tidal and geothermal sources of renewable power – received a boost in 2008 when State lawmakers created the five-year, $250 million Renewable Energy Fund, which the Alaska Energy Authority administers. This year’s capital budget contains $36.5 million of that grant’s fourth round, slated to help finance commercial renewable energy projects the AEA has recommended for funding. So far, 133 projects have received funding from the renewable energy fund and about half of those have been wind or wind-diesel hybrid projects, said Chris Rose, executive director of Renewable Energy Alaska Project. REAP is a nonprofit education and advocacy group composed of businesses, utilities, conservation groups and others sharing the goal of developing Alaska’s renewable energy resources.

HOW-TO TOOLKIT REAP in March released its new 40-page “Community Wind Toolkit” for Alaska. The free, how-to guide for communities interested in wind power covers planning, financing and construction. “It goes step-by-step,” Rose said. “If you’re considering wind, these are the questions you need to ask. We tried to put in all the resources for those communities trying to get started – the permits that are going to be required, the general chronology of a project. We wanted to explain to people what they’ll need.” The toolkit is online via REAP’s website at http://alaskarenewable energy.org/.

PILLAR MOUNTAIN SUCCESS Kodiak’s $21-million Pillar Mountain facility is known as the best wind project in the state, said James Jensen, project manager of AEA’s wind program. Kodiak Electric Association operates Pillar www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

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Mountain, which boasts three turbines that are rated at a total of 4.5 megawatts of power. KEA hopes to add more turbines of that size. Those, combined with an existing hydropower plant, will put the area well on its way toward having 95 percent of its electricity generated by renewable sources by 2020. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an excellent wind resource and its large turbines are more effective at turning wind into energy,â&#x20AC;? Jensen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a real synergy between the turbines and the storage hydro. If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have storage, you run at a lower load and are saving less fuel because diesel is less efficient with a lower load.â&#x20AC;? Smaller communities, however, are pooling resources to better afford the costs associated with installing and maintaining wind turbines. Launched in 1968, the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative serves 53 villages in Interior and Western Alaska and has wind generation facilities in Toksook Bay, Kasigluk, Selawik, Savoonga, Hooper Bay, Chevak, Gambell, Mekoryuk, Quinhagak and Wales. Toksook Bay has tielines to Nightmute and Tununak; Kasigluk has a tieline to Nunapitchuk. AVEC recently added four 100kilowatt wind turbines in Emmonak, which are expected to begin operating this fall, according to AVECâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website, after it upgrades aging control technology in the existing Emmonak power plant to integrate it with the technology that runs the wind turbines. An 11-mile electrical intertie connects Emmonak with Alakanuk. That and the turbines are part of a project AVEC leaders hope will allow increased fuel efficiencies and reduced consumption by 25 percent by 2013, the website stated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What AVEC has done is excellent,â&#x20AC;? Jensen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It uses the same (type of) turbine again and again. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s little technological risk and that allows expansion to other communities, with little risk. There are some economies of scale, they certainly have engineering economies of scale. As they approach each project, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned things from previous projects.â&#x20AC;?

WIND-DIESEL HYBRID 32 %R[ )DLUEDQNV $. Â&#x2021; Â&#x2021; ZZZ JYHD FRP

The Lake and Peninsula Borough and village of Kokhanok collabo-

www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ July 2011

rated on construction of an integrated wind-diesel project, which includes two turbines that can generate up to 90 kilowatts of power. “They’re able to turn the diesel off when the wind blows,” Jensen said. “That allows for greater fuel savings.” The village could save nearly 40 percent a year in fuel costs. Sam Carl’s community, Kipnuk, is part of another collaborative effort known as Chaninik Wind Group, an organization receiving Denali Commission funding. Chaninik is working to install 450 kilowatts in Kipnuk, as well as in the villages of Kongiganak, Kwigillingok and Tuntatuliak. Chaninik Wind Group also was awarded a grant to install a 300-kilowatt wind project near Point Pilot, which is in the planning phase. “The resource is always there, the wind is ever present,” said Dennis Meiners, recipient project manager of Chaninik Wind Group. “It’s strong. I don’t think it ever goes out of your mind, can’t you use this, harness this?” Meiners said wind is clean, available and alluring at a time when oil prices are surging up above $4 a gallon. “That’s a major burden for villages, coming up with money for bulk fuel when it arrives,” he said. “By the time it gets to the homeowner in terms of heating fuel cost, it’s well over $6 a gallon.” Home energy surveys revealed the average rural household was using 760 gallons of fuel a year. “Some of these households were 10 by 12 feet, 10 by 14 feet, very small households,” Meiners said. “Some of the households, on a windy week, were going through 30 to 55 gallons of fuel a week. These were fairly energy-efficient homes.”

DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY In the 1980s, the State began investing in small wind turbines to help rural communities offset fuel costs, but the turbines were too small, the economic returns were anemic and the turbines were not well integrated with utilities. In the 1990s, integration improved. On Saint Paul Island, in the Bering Sea, wind power has operated airport systems without any diesel engines on. “The technology has been developing for a long time,” Meiners said. “The architecture is being revisited, applied

in different flavors in different communities. We’re all moving toward the sweet spot – the best application, most productive, most cost-efficient.” Wind technology now better integrates diesel and wind, enabling diesel to be turned off completely while the wind is blowing. Meiners says 30 percent of fuel now goes toward generating power, 60 percent is used for heating and 10 percent is used for transportation (via outboard motors, snowmachines and four-wheelers). Optimizing wind-diesel for heating needs will make a huge, positive economic impact in rural Alaska, Meiners said. “If the wind systems were bigger, we could displace 50 percent of the fuel being used for power generation and 40 percent of what is used for the community’s heating needs,” he said. “You have to look at the energy picture, the fuel used in a community, to see how much wind it takes to displace the amount of fuel you target. I can easily see very large wind turbines in small communities.” Three projects are commissioned this fall, Meiners said, with each involving five 95-kilowatt turbines for populations of between 300 to 400 people. With an average electricity load of about 200 kilowatts, excess energy will be available for electric thermal storage. “We’re on a learning curve for understanding how to use more, optimize what we have, understand what the best economics are,” Meiners said. “Should we put in four medium-sized turbines or three big ones? You might at well install more, spread the development cost over a longer period of time.” Chaninik Wind Group’s component communities are stable, longlived, have similar resources, similar geography, relationships that have evolved over a long time, Meiners said. They share maintenance personnel for the turbines and receive help from State agencies. “It’s about creating a collaborative model on the business side,” Meiners said. “That’s a model that will allow these guys to have a lower, more sustainable cost position over the long-term, reducing fragmentation of ❑ resources.”

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

TOWNS

TRANSITION

BY HEIDI BOHI

BETHEL

Photos by Agnew::Beck Consulting

Difficult conditions provide challenges

Tank farms store fuel in Bethel, where increasing fuel costs affect everything from the price of a carton of milk to building supplies.

s valedictorian for the 2011 graduating class of Bethel Regional High School, 18-year-old Jalene Herron optimistically summed up how her hometown must deal with the challenges that have confronted Bethel and the surrounding region for at least her entire life. Conditions here will always be relatively difficult, she reminded the audience. It’s how residents and leaders approach those challenges that’s critical to working through tough times. Her father, Alaska State Legislature Rep. Bob Herron, is one of those who is taking on the task. As a 33-year resident himself, he says it is simply part of

the challenge that comes with living in remote Southwest Alaska and one that his legislative colleagues representing other rural communities echo. It is also part of what comes with being a hub community that is the major source for government, education, transportation and health services, and a supply center for food, equipment, clothing and other products that 56 villages and 30,000 people spread across the YukonKuskokwim Delta rely on. Although he readily lists off affordable energy, safety, education and jobs as the top priorities for Bethel and feeder communities, Herron says he’s the first to admit it’s a big goal for

any community and when trying to approach challenges it is important to remember each of the surrounding Bush communities also has its own unique needs and problems to tackle.

MONUMENTAL CHALLENGES At the same time, the needs are neverending and funding for offsetting critical gaps in current infrastructure and basic services is always in short supply. Even the requested $187 million the region hopes it can count on from the State’s 2011 capital budget must be stretched thin to begin to make a dent in a long list of capital projects that includes much needed schools,

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

airports, and water and sewer projects. Bethel and the surrounding villages comprise an area about the size of Oregon and are accessible only by air and water, just one of the factors contributing to what Herron says are â&#x20AC;&#x153;monumental challengesâ&#x20AC;? presented by the energy crisis that affect everything from the price of a carton of milk to building supplies. Consumable goods are historically expensive and the increasingly high cost of gasoline and diesel fuel only compounds the problem in a region where good jobs are scarce and poverty levels are some of the highest in the nation. At the same time, energy costs make it difficult for locals, of which 90 percent are Alaska Native, to participate in subsistence hunting and fishing that requires fuel for boats and snow machines. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is the topic that has continued to dominate dinner table and coffee shop conversation for several years,â&#x20AC;? Herron says. As the City of Bethel works to update its 1997 comprehensive plan for guiding future development and growth, one of the top questions facing planners is: â&#x20AC;&#x153;What can be done to lower Bethelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rising energy costs?â&#x20AC;? Although Bethel planners and leaders from the region are working to come up with long-term alternative energy solutions, these projects have a long lead time and also require funding, while locals are currently faced with fuel costs that are close to double what is being paid for fuel in the Lower 48 states. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a start,â&#x20AC;? Herron says of local efforts that include installing energy-efficient LED lighting and having (liquefied natural gas) LNG barged to Bethel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wish I knew what could be done â&#x20AC;&#x201C; weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a small part of a big world that is consuming fuel at incredible amounts.â&#x20AC;?

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SMALL SUCCESSES In terms of economic development, there continue to be small, but steady successes that contribute to improve the quality of life for Bethelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 6,400 residents and 26 surrounding communities, says Carl Berger, executive director of the Lower Kuskokwim Economic Development Council (LKEDC), which has been promoting these types of activities for 20 years. Since 2005, LKEDC has been

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www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ July 2011

Hides dry near logs while a skiff rests in a yard in Bethel. Consumable goods are historically expensive and the increasingly high cost of gasoline makes it difficult for locals, of which 90 percent are Alaska Native, to participate in subsistence hunting and fishing that requires fuel for boats and snow machines.

focusing on visitor industry promotions by working cooperatively with the State and other tourism marketing organizations to help locals promote hotels, bed and breakfasts, and small tour companies. Bethel attracts independent travelers who come for local fishing, rafting and photography trips, and those who are traveling on business and stay to take advantage of the outdoors and local culture. Although it is a “boutique” tourism market, over the years it has continued to result in small business opportunities that build on local resources and attractions such as visiting a subsistence fish camp. Bethel will never be a destination like Nome or Barrow, Berger says, but the success of these businesses are proof that the industry continues to flourish in its own way. “We don’t have an Arctic Circle, but we have a lot of open country,” Berger says of the areas surrounding Bethel.

SEED MONEY A program called “The Best in the West” also provides seed money to locals who have business ideas for other niche markets. The competition was started by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Kuskokwim Campus. Successful applicants are awarded $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the project. One entrepreneur received money for a wood cutting and delivery service, which provides incomes during the fall season when commercial fishing has ended. A local Bethel woman received money to buy a special quilting machine that will be used by a local group that is going to sell locally made quilts, which will also provide supplementary, year-round incomes to women who participate. The People’s Learning Center, which was started two years ago, is an interagency cooperative effort designed to offer training and education that is

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

A wind turbine supplies energy in Bethel.

culturally relevant and prepares Bethel and regional residents for high-paying jobs that are available, or expected to come online, through large employers such as the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., the Lower Kuskokwim School District and the proposed Donlin Creek Mine. Training includes classes in fields such has health care, hazardous materials, sanitation and law enforcement. A key focus of LKEDC is to help those who want to work for themselves start a business and also to provide technical assistance needed to expand current entities. Because most residents lead a subsistence lifestyle, Berger says training focuses on basic business startup topics such as repairing or developing a credit history, customer service skills and opening and maintaining a checking account. Besides providing supplementary income, Berger says these economic development efforts help curb population out-migration resulting from locals leaving Bethel or the surrounding villages to move to larger communities that have more employment â?&#x2018; opportunities. www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ July 2011

RIGHT MOVES U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Tyler Arnold, 18-year-old owner of Tyler Systems of Anchorage, was chosen the U.S. Small Business Administration Alaska District’s Entrepreneur of the Year. He started his first business, a lawn-mowing service, at age 9, and at 12 began buying and selling computers for profit via eBay. Arnold compiled a business plan at 16, aiming to secure $400 from his parents to start his first outsourcing business.

FAIRBANKS CONVENTION VISITORS BUREAU

AND

The Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau presented awards to organizations and individuals who support the tourism industry. Ed Peebles received the Golden Heart Award. The Great Alaskan Bowl Co. received the Aurora Award. EcoSeg Alaska accepted the Jim and Mary Binkley Award for innovation and creativity necessary to debut a new tour. The Open North American Sled Dog Championship garnered the Raven Award. Jeanette Hanneman was chosen Golden Heart Greeter of the Year. Outgoing board chairwoman Mary Richards received the Gold Pan Award. Kristin Wells was honored for her service as an FCVB board member, past board president and an advocate for the visitor industry.

HUNA TOTEM CORP.

Mark McKernan was hired as director of cultural interpretive services for Huna Totem Corp. of Juneau. McKernan will manage cultural interpreters who share details about the Huna Tlingit culture with cruise-ship passengers aboard three cruise lines. McKernan, a certified guide, has worked as a tour product developer for Lindblad Expeditions and CruiseWest and as a lead interpretive naturalist for Glacier Bay Cruiseline.

HDR ALASKA

Timothy Gould was hired as federal program manager for Alaska and the Pacific for HDR Alaska. Gould has 22 years of engineering consulting and construction from work with the U.S. Defense Department. Tobin Lilly joined the company as

COMPILED BY NANCY POUNDS an analyst in the geographic information systems office. He has used GIS applications for land-use planning, hazardous-materials mapping, emergency preparedness and federal projects. Mike Davis was hired as a GIS analyst. He most recently managed GIS projects for the U.S. Army Garrison Alaska and Colorado State University’s Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands. Hannah Griego joined HDR as an environmental scientist. She has five years of related experience, including economic and environmental research with universities, nonprofits and educational organizations in Alaska and California.

DENALI DENTAL CARE

Ben Mishler joined Denali Dental Care as a dentist. Mishler most recently worked in Phoenix. He earned a doctor of dental surgery degree from the University of the Pacific in San Francisco.

HANSON ALASKA LLC

Moll

Thomas Moll joined Hanson Alaska LLC’s Anchorage office. Moll has worked as an engineer for more than 20 years. He most recently served with the State Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, where he specialized in rural and urban highway projects.

ALASKA ASSOCIATION OF STUDENT GOVERNMENTS

Several Alaska students were honored for videos in the Suicide Media Contest. The Alaska Association of Student Governments, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and General Communication Inc. sponsored the contest. The top four entries are being turned into television public service announcements, which GCI will air statewide. Jaden Netherall of Barrow earned first place. Stephanie Sison of Cordova was second. Michael White of Bethel and Sophie Clark of Klawock tied for third. Several students received honorable mention: Michael White of Bethel; Mitchell Forbes of Bethel; Shulammite

Sison of Cordova; Theron Paul of Manokotak and Emily Brease from Tri-Valley.

LUMEN CHRISTI HIGH SCHOOL

Thomas Sorci was hired as the new principal for Lumen Christi High School. Sorci has 33 years of teaching and leadership experience. Since 1994, Sorci has been involved with SAT testing process as a reader for SAT Writing Sorci Test, PSAT Review Committee and a reader for Test of English as a Foreign Language.

NORTH AMERICA OUTDOOR INSTITUTE

The North America Outdoor Institute awarded Mitch Lyman of Anchorage a 2011 Polaris Rush Snowmobile at Arctic Man. Lyman and 156 other participants joined the 2011 Arctic Man NAOI Pea Pod and Wilderness Survival Challenge event. The event emphasizes avalanche awareness, snowmobile safety, wilderness medicine and general survival.

CRW ENGINEERING GROUP LLC

Brad Hammerquist earned his certified professional civil engineer designation. He works at CRW Engineering Group LLC, where he specializes in water and wastewater design projects.

PHOTOGRAPHER CARL JOHNSON

Anchorage-based photographer Carl Johnson won the Environmental Issues award in the 2010 Windland Smith Rice International Awards sponsored by Nature’s Best Photography magazine. He was honored for his photo “Wolf Tracks on Ice,” which was one of award winners that went on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History on display through September.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

RIGHT MOVES ALASKA FORWARD

Will Anderson and Margie Brown were appointed chairman and chairwoman, respectively, for Alaska Forward, a nonprofit group aimed at connecting business leaders to promote economic . development. Anderson is president and chief executive of Koniag Inc. Brown is president and chief executive of Cook Inlet Region Inc.

AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

SPONSORED He has six years of industry experience. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

GEONORTH LLC

Kyle Borodkin was hired as a Web design and development intern at GeoNorth LLC. He earned a bachelor of fine arts/digital design degree from Seattle University. Jim Mitchener joined the firm as a software engineer. He has worked on projects for the Bureau of Land Management since 2006.

Lisa Sauder was appointed executive director for the American Heart Association Anchorage office. Sauder previously worked 18 years on the East Coast as an executive director for nonprofit organizations and as a public Sauder relations consultant. Her career includes roles as public relations officer for Key Bank of Alaska and a tourism sales manager for Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The Alaska Trucking Association elected new officers. They are: Art Reed, Sourdough Express Anchorage terminal manager, president; Jim Scherieble, general manager-Alaska for Kenworth Alaska, first vice president; George Lowery, Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Anchorage, second vice president and Scott Hicks, Anchorage terminal manager, Alaska West Express, secretary/treasurer. Two new directors were appointed to the board: Bill Meszaros, vice president, Pacific Alaska Freightways and Wes Vander Martin, vice president and general manager, Anchorage Sand and Gravel.

ALASKA MILL & FEED

WELLS FARGO

Klessens

Joel Klessens was appointed president of Alaska Garden and Pet Supply, doing business as Alaska Mill & Feed. Klessens has worked for Alaska Mill & Feed for 26 years. He has served as vice president of sales and marketing for the past 10 years.

RESOURCE DATA INC.

Becky Boone was hired at Resource Data Inc. in Anchorage as a programmer/analyst. She has four years of experience in the information technology industry. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of South Alabama. Travis Veazey joined the firm’s Fairbanks office as a programmer/analyst.

ALASKA TRUCKING ASSOCIATION

Dana Rogers was chosen community affairs manager for Alaska at Wells Fargo. She has worked for Wells Fargo for more than 10 years, serving as a marketing consultant.

Rogers

DOYON EMERALD

Robert Cambron was hired as a process engineer at Anchorage-based Doyon Emerald, a subsidiary of Doyon Ltd. He most recently worked as a mechanical design engineer in Alaska.

kpb

ARCHITECTS

Kate Dougherty earned certification as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional in the new Interior Design

NORTHERN AIR CARGO

and Construction category. She is an interior designer at kpb architects.

MICKELSON EXXONMOBIL TEACHERS ACADEMY

Several Alaska teachers will attend this summer’s Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy to expand their math and science teaching skills. Anchorage teachers are: Julie Grant, Amanda Sparks, Denice Frost, Sarah Colliander, Michelle Johansen, Debra Baker and Julie McClure, all from Campbell Elementary School; Dawn Wilcox, Anchorage School District; and Amanda Kuipers and Jeanette Hayden, both from Ursa Major Elementary School. Fairbanks teachers are: Nancy Duez, Woodriver Elementary School; Kathleen Neumaier, Nordale Elementary School; Karen Virg-In, Salcha Elementary School; Allyson Nicholson, Badger Road Elementary School; Karyn Ellingson and Jeanne Ringstad, both from Anne Wien Elementary School; Brandi Grohman, Ladd Elementary School; and Jessica Weber, Billie Murdoch and Michelle Daml, all from Badger Road Elementary School.

ALASKA NATIVE TRIBAL HEALTH CONSORTIUM

Deborah Smith was appointed chief strategic planning and quality officer for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Smith joined the organization last year as interim chief strategic planning and quality officer. She has more than 25 years of health care industry experience. Leissa Wright was chosen chief workforce officer. Wright also was hired last year at the consortium. She has human resource experience working with companies including Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the State of Alaska and Providence Health System. Gary Shaw was hired as hospital administrator for the Alaska Native Medical Center. He previously worked at Bayhealth Medical Center in Dover, Del., where he had served as vice president of operations since 2006.

BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU

Kristin George was appointed Alaska public relations manager for the Better Business Bureau. Her career includes work in business management, customer service, event direction and promotions.❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

REGIONAL REVIEW

BY TRACY BARBOUR

Southcentral Spotlight Photo courtesy of Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau

Anchorage economy showing steady growth

Some of the 1,380 passengers of Holland America Line’s ms Amsterdam during the ship’s inaugural call on the Port of Anchorage on May 24, 2010. The Amsterdam returns in 2011 on alternate Fridays throughout the summer.

outhcentral Alaska encompasses the shorelines and uplands of the central Gulf of Alaska. While it has no official boundary, the area is broadly considered to include Cook Inlet, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, the Kenai Peninsula, Prince William Sound and the Copper River Valley. The terrain of Southcentral contains a number of majestic mountains, including the Chugach, Talkeetna, Kenai and Wrangell mountains, as well as the Alaska Range. More than half of the state’s population resides in Southcentral, with Anchorage being the most populous city. Other Southcentral communities include Palmer, Wasilla, Seward, Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, Valdez and Cordova. The economy of the area is primarily driven by tourism, fisheries and petroleum production. The Southcentral climate is relatively mild, with temperatures ranging from an average high of 65 degrees Fahrenheit in July to an average low of -10 degrees in December. This makes

the region a popular place for residents and vacationers who enjoy up to 18 hours of daylight each day in June and July.

DIVERSITY BENEFITS ANCHORAGE The Municipality of Anchorage, boasting a population of about 292,000, is one of the most culturally diverse parts of the state. The cultural diversity is evident in the Anchorage School District, where minority students comprise 52 percent of the student population and a total of about 90 different languages are spoken at home among students. After English, the five most common languages spoken among students are Spanish, Hmong, Samoan, Filipino and Yupik. Anchorage is also distinctive because of its economic diversity. The city’s economy is driven by government; trade; health and educational services; business and professional services; oil, gas and mining; and leisure and hospitality. Economic and cultural diversity are

a major part of Anchorage’s appeal, including its spectacular scenery, quality of life and great location, according Bill Popp, president and CEO of the Anchorage Economic Development Corp. (AEDC). “Within minutes, you can be in the true Alaska wilderness,” he said. Popp says Anchorage has many things to be happy about, including its return to a state of steady growth. The city’s unemployment rate is dropping, falling 1.3 percentage points in March of this year from its recent high of 7.8 percent in March 2010. “We’re trending very nicely,” Popp said. “Our unemployment is currently averaging 6.5 percent for the first quarter and that is in the face of a larger work force.” Overall, in Anchorage, jobs are up for the year by an average of 1,200 when compared with last year. So far, this year Anchorage is averaging about 145,000 jobs a month for total employment. Popp said, “All the signs seem to be there that we will see modest, steady growth through the rest of the year.” The sectors experiencing significant growth in overall employment are business and professional services (up 2.25 percent) and health care (up about 4.5 percent). Popp says he is excited about where Anchorage’s economy is headed. What everyone thought what would be a couple of years of economic loss turned out to be a very short period, he says. And it wasn’t that much of a dip. “That’s really great news,” he added. “It shows we have more resilience in the economy than we did back in the 1980s.”

ECONOMIC TRENDS The fact that Anchorage’s unemployment rate has been trending downward doesn’t surprise Alaska Department of Labor Economist Neal Fried. That’s no

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

Photo courtesy of AEDC

Bill Popp, president and CEO of the Anchorage Economic Development Corp.

different from what’s happening with the rest of the country. What is surprising is the statewide unemployment rate –7.4 percent in March – was lower than the national rate of 8.8 percent for March. This is the first time in 25 straight months Alaska’s unemployment rate has been below the national average, Fried said in a May 13 interview. “It was just that the national job market got so bad and it lasted so long,” he added. “It looks like we’re going to have three years of statewide rates below the national average. It’s very unusual.” Historically, Anchorage’s unemployment rate has been more favorable than the statewide rate. Its economy isn’t nearly as seasonal as the economy of places like Skagway or Kenai, where fishing and tourism are big drivers. Because of its diversity, Anchorage has a variety of economic opportunities that propel the economy during the entire the year. Fried says he expects the city’s unemployment rate to continue dropping as the year progresses. Fried characterizes health care as a reoccurring positive story in the Anchorage economy. There’ve been a number of years of strong growth in the city’s health care industry. The reasons for this vary, but Fried thinks a major factor is the “import substitution” piece. More people are receiving their health care in Anchorage instead of traveling Outside for these services. “They can access most of what they need now locally because of the richness

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Photo courtesy of Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau

residential areas. Current levels of construction activity are being sustained by projects to expand the Port of Anchorage, Providence Medical Center and University of Alaska Anchorage.

CITY’S VISITOR INDUSTRY GOING STRONG

ACVB volunteer Jan Wilson greets visitors at the ACVB Visitor Information Center in downtown Anchorage.

and broadness of our health care industry,” Fried said. Likewise, the restaurant trade is growing in Anchorage. New players like Olive Garden are entering the market. Olive Garden has filed for a building permit and intends to open at the Tikahtnu Commons or in

South Anchorage, according to Popp. While the restaurant trade is growing, the construction industry has been drifting somewhat downward, Fried says. The construction under way in Anchorage is taking place on the public and health care side, with little happening in the commercial, retail and

The visitor’s industry is a definite bright spot in Anchorage’s economy. The industry is off to a good start with a 12.5 percent increase the first quarter of this year, according to Julie Saupe, president and CEO of the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau (ACVB). “We’re doing pretty well and we’re looking forward to that trend continuing throughout the full year,” she said. The increase is a welcome surprise – and somewhat of a come-back from a significant drop in tourism in 2009. “We have to give credit to the national economy,” Saupe said. “Our visitors are feeling better about their job security and the economy in general.” Saupe also attributes the industry’s growth to advertising and other initiatives that helped Alaska maintain its visibility in the marketplace. The state

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Photo by Roy Neese/Courtesy of ACVB

More than 1,600 delegates gathered in Anchorage May 8-12, for the Aerospace Medical Association Annual Convention.

also got a boost from being highlighted by Paula Deen and on reality TV shows like “Mounted in Alaska,” a History Channel show featuring Anchorage’s Knight’s Taxidermy. Getting a positive mention in major publications also has helped the city capture the national spotlight. In 2010, Anchorage was featured in positive news stories by USA Today, Forbes and Business Week. Each year, about 1 million people visit Anchorage. Nearly two-thirds of them arrive in summer, with the rest visiting in winter and spring. “Alaska is seen as a very safe destination, yet very exotic,” Saupe said. “It’s a chance to feel like you’re having an adventure, yet you’re close to home.” Saupe says when many people first become interested in Alaska, they’re attracted by the wildlife and scenery. But when they’re actually in Alaska, they’re surprised to learn about the culture. Another thing that appeals to visitors is interacting with local residents. “They just love talking to the people,” she said. This year, thanks to the spacious new Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center, the ACVB is expecting to have a “very nice” convention season. In September, about 3,000 delegates will be attending the USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum at Dena’ina. “We’re really looking forward to hosting them this fall,” Saupe said. “The economic impact of the event will be slightly more than $3 million.”

ANCHORAGE TOURISM TRENDS Saupe has noticed a number of trends taking place in the city’s tourism industry. For example, booking patterns are much shorter. It used to be that vacationers would book trips to Alaska in October or November for the following summer, she says. Now about half of the city’s visitors don’t book until April, May or even June. “To some degree, people have been trained that if you wait you can get a better deal,” Saupe explained. “The Internet is making it easier for people to feel confident they don’t’ have to start researching in October.” Alaska is probably coming in line with how most other destinations have been booked all along. Despite the short booking pattern, ACVB is looking forward to having a good summer this year, Saupe says. Saupe also is seeing visitors who want to have more of a learning experience than a vacation where they just sit back and observe. That’s actually a trend that’s been unfolding more and more in the past several years. Anchorage is also seeing an increase in younger visitors. It used to be that Anchorage was the destination of choice for retired couples. Now it’s attracting more families, including grandparents traveling with their grandkids. “Anchorage is very family friendly, from the food to the museums to the wildlife and hiking,” Saupe said. “Also, I think some of it is that this is how folks

are traveling more and more – in groups.” As a new development, there are new air lifts coming into Anchorage and new gateway cities – which will open up new markets. JetBlue is coming in from Long Beach, Korean Air from Seoul and Edelweiss Air from Zurich. In the area of cruise ships, Holland America is bringing the Amsterdam into the Port of Anchorage again this year and luxury cruise line Oceania Cruises is having two ships dock. These ships will visit Anchorage as a turn port, which means Anchorage will be start and end of a passenger’s cruise. Visitors can remain in Anchorage for a few days of sightseeing, instead of having to return to the ship as they would with a normal port of call. This will, undoubtedly, translate into more revenue for business owners and the city. “The economic impact per person for a turn ship is expected to be higher than for a regular port of call situation, Saupe said.

ANCHORAGE VISION AEDC is working on an ambitious plan to make Anchorage a better place for both visitors and residents. Its vision: By 2025, Anchorage is the No. 1 city in America to live, work and play. “This is a project that the board has handed us as a staff and we are really excited about it,” Popp said. AEDC is collecting community feedback through a short survey with questions such as: “Why do you live here?” and “Why would you leave?” “We’re are getting hundreds of responses so far and expect to receive thousands by the end of June,” Popp said. Popp says the community input will help AEDC fashion a narrative outlining Anchorage’s strengths and weaknesses. The narrative will be instrumental to developing quantitative metrics for comparing Anchorage to other cities. This information will be used to improve the city and make it a more inviting place – which, ultimately, will help Anchorage retain more business and generate more jobs. “Quality of life has become a key decision point for national and international business when they’re considering making an investment in a new market,” Popp said. “They need to know they can ❑ retain their work force.”

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

CONSTRUCTION

Alaska Power Plants Megawatts in the works BY MOLLY DISCHNER

Dan Sullivan, Mayor, City of Anchorage at the ground-breaking ceremony for a new power plant at Chugach Electric’s headquarters in Anchorage. The plant is expected to be operational by 2013.

hroughout the Railbelt and rural Alaska alike, municipalities, utilities and even private businesses are working on new power plants to meet Alaska’s energy demands now and in the future. According to “Alaska’s Construction Spending Forecast” for 2011, work done for utilities around the state accounts for nearly 10 percent of the construction season’s efforts – or roughly $615 million in work. That’s an increase of about 28 percent from 2010, the report by University of Alaska Anchorage’s Scott Goldsmith and Mary Killorin state. That number includes telecommunications work, which is also on the rise. Those projects are of every shape and size, and in various stages of completion – from design work outside of Anchorage to reviewing bids in the Interior.

EKLUTNA AND NIKISKI POWER PLANTS In Southcentral, global conglomerate CH2M Hill is a major player in making the power projects happen. One of those is the Eklutna Power Plant, for which CH2M Hill is responsible for permitting, preliminary design, site layout and cost analysis under a “limited notice to proceed” approved by the Matanuska Electric Association board in March. According to MEA’s timeline for the Eklutna plant, construction is supposed to start next spring, with the plant online and producing power by January 2015. The timing of the finished project is meant to coincide with the Dec. 31, 2014, end of the utility’s contract with power-producer Chugach Electric Association. CH2M Hill Business Development Director John Alexander said the com-

pany’s power business arm accounts for about a quarter of its corporate revenue. In total, the company has worked on plants producing tens of thousands of megawatts of electricity – about 1 MW powers approximately 500 homes, Alexander said. In Alaska, the company’s construction entity, NORCON Inc., is doing construction and equipment installation for Homer Electric Association’s Nikiski addition. Both projects stem from ending contracts with Chugach Electric Association, and the utilities need to produce more of their own power in coming years. The Nikiski addition will allow an existing facility to produce more without using more gas, while the Eklutna plant marks MEA’s first foray into generating electricity. Alexander said there are some challenges associated with designing Alaska’s power plants, but nothing

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

insurmountable. Largely, the challenges stem from Arctic conditions, he said. And experience on the North Slope makes Southcentral design a little easier. “We know how to handle these conditions and take every precaution to keep our job sites and employees safe and productive,” he said in an email. “We do not look at the climate as a risk but rather a reality.” CH2M Hill boasts the best safety records in the state, he said, and as a corporation boasts one of the best safety records compared to direct competitors.

ALASKA QUIRKS But some of the challenges are just Alaska’s quirks. Alexander said earthquakes and the environment are just part of the planning process for Alaska projects. Then there are the other Alaska variables that aren’t a major dilemma but have to be accounted for. Those include keeping moose and bears off of the job site and protecting local waterways and water sources, he said.

G Ground-breaking d b ki ceremony M March h 28 at Chugach Electric Association for a $369 million, 183 megawatt power plant in partnership with Municipal Light and Power in Anchorage. (Left) Johnny Gibbons, Chair, board of directors, ML&P; and Jim Nordlund, chair, board of directors, Chugach Electric.

Alexander said experience means the company is used to those quirks. “Because we have such a large and accomplished construction entity in the state of Alaska, our resident experience provides a great value and differentiator to our Alaska clients in where the learning curve of our competitors could be significant and costly.”

CH2M Hill also provides transmission and distribution installation services for utilities throughout the state, Alexander said. “The distribution is a key component to power generation and getting the electricity to the commercial and residential customers,” he said. Although those are the company’s major Alaska efforts right now, it is also involved in air quality related work at coal plants and is active in each of the renewable energy markets: solar, geothermal, wind and biomass, Alexander said. And, the company provides the associated engineering services for each of those energy industries, including on various Alaska projects.

CHUGACH ELECTRIC NEW FACILITY Chugach Electric Association broke ground this spring on a $369 million, 183 megawatt, power plant in partnership with Municipal Light and Power in Anchorage. The facility is under construction at Chugach’s headquarters in Anchorage, and is expected to produce power more efficiently than

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

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the association’s current production units. That’s because it will be a combined cycle generation facility, where waste heat from the natural gas turbines is used to power a steam turbine. That plant is expected to be operational by 2013. The facility will help keep pace with area demand for electricity without using as much natural gas, which should help the association cope with sometimes-limited gas supplies in Southcentral. In the Interior, Golden Valley Electric Association is working on the Eva Creek wind project. That project is different from many of the Southcentral projects in one major way: it is scheduled to come online earlier, and it is not fueled by natural gas. This spring, the association’s board tentatively backed a wind project. The project is coming to fruition after nearly a decade of wind monitoring, and multiple years of studying how wind could integrate into the grid. As planned, Eva Creek would be the state’s largest wind farm, and the first operated by a Railbelt utility. Another wind farm is in the works in Southcentral – a private development by Cook Inlet Regional Inc. – but that project is unlikely to get finished before the Eva Creek project, as power purchase agreements are still being negotiated. Before GVEA can break ground at the windy site, it’s working to acquire the necessary permits. “We do have our permits under way,” said project manager Greg Wyman. If all goes as planned, the utility will have them in hand this fall. The project is largely on State land, meaning the Department of Natural Resources has to approve a number of permits. Those include site leases for the wind turbines, road permits and surface rights. Federal entities are also responsible for some of the permitting, Wyman said. “The Corps of Engineers is evaluating the project mostly due to wetlands,” he said. The Corps is the lead federal agency, but Wyman said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will also be involved. “The whole Fish and Wildlife issue

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

is being looked at with them,” he said. Before permitting could begin, the utility had to provide detailed construction plans and maps, Wyman said, so many details of the project are already known. This spring, the company worked on getting bids to actually carryout the project. The contract will be chosen by a variety of factors, not just the low bid, Wyman said. “We put out a request for proposals to build the entire project,” Wyman said. One contract is for the turbines themselves, while the other is for all the site work: road construction, building any needed structures and other support infrastructure. The specifics of the cost aren’t certain yet, but the project makes up a chunk of the state’s construction forecast. “The entire project is worth about $93 million,” Wyman said. If everything goes according to schedule, the project could be producing power commercially by September 2012, sooner than most other projects around the state. While roads and other infrastructure would be needed, there’s one thing that the utility wouldn’t have to construct before it could deliver power. “We don’t have any transmission to build, just a substation to tie into,” Wyman said. That will speed up the construction time, and get the project online sooner once the turbines are in place. Once it’s done, wind power will supply just a portion of the association’s demand. The project’s capacity is about 24 MW to 25 MW of power, but Wyman said the utility will likely get about 35 percent of that produced at any given time because wind is variable, and the utility can’t control when or how hard it blows. Wyman said the company’s peak fluctuates between 203 MW and 210 MW in the winter. “It’s gone down the last couple years,” he said. The project could deliver about 10 percent of the utility’s demand.

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INTERIOR OPTIONS GVEA isn’t the only producer in the Interior. Aside from the infamous Healy Clean Coal Plant, which is still working www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

through environmental issues and not yet feeding Railbelt energy demands, smaller businesses have also taken to developing their own power generation facilities. In Delta, Mike Craft is behind Delta Wind Farms, an arm of Alaska Environmental. Permitting and most of the construction at that facility is done. And in Fairbanks, Bernie Karl is working on a biomass facility that turns recyclables into energy. Paper, cardboard and wood bales can all be burned in a co-generation plant that produces heat and electricity. “You can’t create energy and you can’t destroy it,” Karl said last fall. Instead, Karl – the proprietor of Chena Hot Springs, where geothermal energy is harnessed – is trying to create closed loops where energy is utilized rather than lost. It’s likely his facility will use the heat it creates,

and sell some electricity back to GVEA’s grid, Karl said. Karl’s recycling-to-power effort in Fairbanks is K and K recycling.

POWERING OIL & GAS Increased activity at power plants around the state is also informing CH2M Hill’s work in other areas. That company won’t be giving up the energy game anytime soon, Alexander said. And that company’s work in the power plant field just might trickle into oil and gas development, too. Alexander said that energy production and oil and gas development are just two components to the company’s portfolio. But while they’re separate sectors, he said they are interrelated and even dependent on one another. Electricity is vital for oil and gas exploration, recovery and refining, Alexander said. That relationship only

stands to grow because the company is seeing a trend to completely electrify oil and gas fields. So the company’s role in the electricity field also helps them see efficiencies in the oil and gas world, Alexander said. Right now, most oil and gas pumps run on gas or diesel combustion engines, he said. “When you eliminate all of the smaller combustion engines and replace them with a large and highly efficient gas turbine, one effectively reduces the overall emissions,” Alexander said. That could mean big changes in the oil fields. “On a single large well field, this may impact a couple thousand engines. This would be a significant culture change to this industry and represent a significant amount of effort in the U.S. alone,” he said. ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

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OIL & GAS

Cook Inlet Update Independents lead industry revival

Photo by Judy Patrick Photography

BY MIKE BRADNER

Osprey platform in Cook Inlet.

here are hopes that the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage may be approaching a renaissance of its petroleum industry, an economic lynchpin of the regional

economy. More natural gas is being found, though it is not yet enough to offset the declining reserves in the existing gas fields. Independent companies are drilling, however, and the long-awaited

arrival of a jack-up rig in the Inlet holds the promise of more discoveries, possibly more substantial ones. A jack-up rig is now expected to arrive in the Inlet this summer.

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On the Inlet’s west side, an independent company is working to revitalize production from the small Redoubt Shoal oilfield and a platform installed to produce it, the Osprey platform. Another independent, Aurora Gas, continues to operate small gas fields on the Inlet’s west side and is continuing to invest in its wells, a positive sign. For all these stirrings, however, the rate of new drilling is still not enough to offset the decline in reserves in the big, producing natural gas fields. So far this year there have been three exploration wells drilled, one with apparently good results announced, and four new production wells that are planned. This isn’t enough, however. A consulting firm, Petroleum Resource Associates, has estimated about 18 new wells per year will be needed to find enough new gas to stabilize the regional gas reserve situation. While the new drilling is helpful, particularly the exploration wells, more wells need to be drilled.

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT Meanwhile, there is continuing concern about the erosion of the regional manufacturing industry, which is based on oil and gas. At Nikiski, the small industrial community north of the city of Kenai, the talk is about the dismantling and shutting down of two large industrial plants that were anchors of the Kenai Peninsula’s industry since the 1960s. These were the fertilizer plant owed by Agrium Corp. and a natural gas liquefaction plant owned by ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil Co. The fertilizer plant was shut down by Agrium several years ago but has been maintained and kept on standby in the event circumstances change and the plant could be restarted. That appears to be less prospective now, and the facility may be dismantled. A Nigerian buyer is interested in purchasing parts of the plant. There are still hopes something can be done for this plant. Cook Inlet Region Inc. is working on an innovative underground coal-gasification project in coal seams on lands CIRI owns in the Beluga area west of Anchorage, on Cook Inlet’s west side. If this project is developed it would produce a synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which could be a low-cost www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

feedstock for a fertilizer manufacturing process like that used by Agrium. Earlier this year ConocoPhillips and Marathon announced they would cease exports of liquefied natural gas from their plant at Nikiski in late spring, but the plant’s operations have now been extended into the summer so that additional cargoes of LNG can be shipped to Asia. The primary reason for the shutdown is the reduced gas supply situation in the Southcentral region. ConocoPhillips and Marathon say that even after operations shut down they will keep the plant maintained and on standby in case circumstances change so exports can be resumed. The companies didn’t say it, but more gas being found in the Southcentral region could allow some of it to be exported. Alternatively, ConocoPhillips and Marathon say the plant facilities could be used in supporting local energy needs. Again, this wasn’t said but it is presumed that parts of the facility could be used in a plan to temporarily import LNG, which is being discussed by the regional utilities as a stopgap because of the deteriorated gas situation. The remaining industrial plant at Nikiski, the Tesoro Corp. refinery, remains in operation and appears to be economically secure. The refinery is the state’s major supplier of gasoline and ultra low sulfur diesel. It also manufactures jet fuel and some other products. Although Tesoro faces its own set of challenges at its refinery, the company continues to invest in its capabilities, a signal that Tesoro feels the economic underpinning of the plant is still secure. Yet another uncertainty in the future of the Kenai Peninsula and Cook Inlet oil and gas industry is the pending sale of Chevron Corp.’s offshore oil producing fields and the 10 offshore platforms that support them. Chevron has put its Cook Inlet holdings on the table, and is now talking with potential purchasers. There are both negative and positive aspects to this. The negative, obviously, is the departure of a long-time Cook Inlet operator, if the sale happens. The upside is that whoever buys the assets, again if the sale goes ahead, will very likely invest new money to redevelop these mature offshore oil fields.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

ENCOURAGING NEWS What is most encouraging for the Kenai, however, is the new natural gas exploration drilling being done because it is a clear indication that there could be a lot more gas, and undoubtedly oil, which will be found. Financing incentives offered by the State of Alaska are helping propel this. Essentially, twothirds of the cost of an exploration well can be paid for by the State. One gas exploration well drilled this past spring has had very encouraging results to the point that the company, Buccaneer Energy LLC, a subsidiary of an Australian company of the same name, plans a second well nearby and is now planning a development project. The flow-test conducted by Buccaneer on its well indicated that the well could produce at rates between 6 million cubic feet per day and 8 million cubic feet per day for the long-term. That is considered a good well by Southcentral Alaska standards. Interestingly, Buccaneer’s well is about one mile from an existing gas field, the Cannery Loop field, which is operated by Marathon Oil Co. Industry

people familiar with the peninsula are not surprised that a new gas discovery can be made so near a long-time producing field. Usually where one gas, or oil, discovery is made there are more to be found. In the case of this well, the local geology is complex and it is not surprising that deposits can exist undiscovered for years near a producing field. A second exploration well drilled last winter, this one by an Alaska-based independent, NordAq Energy, was in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on subsurface lands owned by CIRI. Results of the well, the “Shadura No. 1,” are still confidential; the evaluation of the drilling has not yet been completed, but NordAq is hopeful that testing, to be done this fall, will be positive. The company is meanwhile proceeding with the planning of surface facilities and a year-around access road to the well site. Drilling of this well faced unusual challenges, mainly a warm winter and lack of snow that impeded the building of an ice road. The company and its contractor, Peak Oilfield Services, responded with a creative solution

to build an ice road with ice manufactured by ice machines in a local fish-processing plant. The plan was expensive, but it worked. What is also encouraging about this well is that it shows exploration and, hopefully, development can still be successfully done in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge has long been home to oil and gas production (the Swanson River oil field, the state’s first commercial discovery is within the refuge) but there were worries that new, tightened policies of the U.S. Interior Department under President Barack Obama’s administration would make exploration more difficult. NordAq’s drilling follows the success of Marathon Oil in drilling its “Sunrise” exploration well two years ago in the refuge. Marathon has not yet disclosed results of the well, saying only that it found, “a zone of interest.” While the environmental stipulations laid down by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are strict, the experience of NordAq and Marathon show drilling in the refuge can still be accomplished. This is important

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

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Although the discoveries may be small, the gradual expansion of pipelines in the area will lead to more drilling and more new gas being found. because many geologists feel some of the most prospective lands for new gas discoveries are in the refuge, which covers a large area of the northern Kenai Peninsula.

NORTH FORK GAS FIELD Another interesting new natural gas development on the Kenai Peninsula is in the southern part of the peninsula near Homer and Anchor Point. Last spring Armstrong Oil and Gas, an independent company based in Denver, began producing from gas wells at the small North Fork gas field that is east of Anchor Point. This is at a place where an exploration well was drilled decades ago looking for oil but found a small gas deposit instead. The gas could not be commercially developed then, but decades later Armstrong, working with the advantage of modern technology, has developed the field. Armstrong has built a small pipeline to Anchor Point, north of Homer, to join with an extension of a pipeline built by ENSTAR Natural Gas Co. from an existing pipeline at Ninilchik, north of Anchor Point. ENSTAR is now purchasing gas from Armstrong. Armstrong feels it can expand the North Fork field and plans more wells. Also, now that a small pipeline has been built into the area Chevron is studying the possibility of producing gas from one or both of two exploration sites where wells were drilled several years ago. The wells were drilled by Unocal Corp. (now Chevron) and although gas was reported to have been discovered, the finds were not considered commercial given the remote location of the well. With the new Armstrong infrastructure nearby that may change. A related development is the city of Homer’s plan to build a pipeline from Anchor Point to Homer itself to make natural gas available for local

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

businesses and homes. The city would work with ENSTAR on the project. What this development shows is that there is gas potential in the southern as well as northern parts of the Kenai Peninsula. Although the discoveries may be small, the gradual expansion of pipelines in the area will lead to more drilling and more new gas being found.

COOK INLET CONFIDENCE There is also the oil potential. Cook Inlet Energy, a subsidiary of Miller Energy based in Tennessee, is restarting the Osprey platform and believes more oil can be developed in the Redoubt Shoal field, from which the platform is producing, as well as the West MacArthur River oil field that is onshore. Cook Inlet Energy owns and operates that field as well, which like Redoubt Shoal is on the west side of the Inlet. Last fall, Cook Inlet Energy brought a company-owned drill rig to drill shallow wells in the West McArthur River field, mostly for gas, and is looking to bring a larger rig, either leased or purchased, to drill deeper wells looking for oil or deep gas. The company believes there is substantial potential for new oil and gas on the Inletâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s west side, both onshore and offshore. What has also restored some confidence in Cook Inletâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future is the entry of Apache Petroleum Co. as a lease owner and potential explorer. Apache is a major U.S. independent company with a history of buying into mature, depleted producing areas, investing new money and developing new oil and gas. The company has acquired lease acreage in the Cook Inlet region both onshore and offshore, and is working to add to its land position, it has said. So far, Apache is spending its efforts evaluating its leases and has not yet announced any plans to drill exploration wells. One focus of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention, no doubt, is the Chevron assets, the producing fields and platforms, which are being offered for sale. If Cook Inlet is experiencing a renewal it is because new companies are coming in with fresh ideas, new technology and investment capital. It is a sequence that has happened in many other older producing regions of the world. It may now be Cook â?&#x2018; Inletâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s turn.

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www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ July 2011

SPECIAL SECTION:

ANCSA @40

ANCSA and North Slope Oil Catalysts for Alaska Native prosperity

Pipeline carrying oil from the North Slope to Valdez.

BY MIKE BRADNER

particularly in the form it did, had it not been for the pipeline. Construction of the oil pipeline transformed Alaska and so has ANCSA, although its effects are more gradual. In the long run, however, ANCSA will prove as transformative an event as the pipeline.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

t has been said the trans-Alaska oil pipeline wouldn’t have been built, at least in the 1970s when it was constructed, without the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act issue having been settled by Congress beforehand. It has also been said ANCSA would not have passed and

The oil pipeline created a construction boom in the 1970s as the oil fields were built along with the pipeline itself and in the 1980s brought a gusher of revenues to the State treasury. Spending of the oil revenues, which amounted to billions of dollars, built new community infrastructure across

the State and encouraged a sharp rise in the State’s population. University of Alaska economist Scott Goldsmith has estimated Alaska’s population and economy would be about half of its current size were oil not discovered on the North Slope and the pipeline built. Alaska today would be about like Maine, a great place to live but not the best place to make a living, Goldsmith has said.

THE ANCSA EFFECT ANCSA is having a different kind of effect, but one that also is profound. ANCSA led to the creation of Nativeowned development corporations now among the largest employers in the state – of Natives and non-Natives alike. Many are billion-dollar corporations in terms of annual revenues, with operations in the Lower 48 and overseas that bring profits back to Alaska. Most important, Native corporations are large private landowners, owning about 45 million acres, with oil, minerals and timber production from their lands. They are also a source of Alaskan-owned investment capital used to finance projects and development in the state. Any glance around Anchorage today shows the economic importance of the corporations in terms of the commercial buildings they have built and own. The same holds true for Fairbanks and Juneau, though on a smaller scale. Would there have been an oil pipeline without the claims act? Probably, at some point. Would there have been a claims settlement without the pipeline. Probably, at some point, but it would be a much different settlement and almost certainly a less generous one. What was the Alaska Native claims issue all about? Unlike in the Lower 48, where farmers and ranchers moving west displaced Native Americans from their traditional lands and forced them into reservations, in Alaska the Native people were not displaced from lands they used. There parts of Alaska were settled by non-Natives and nonNative communities, which grew up mostly around the sites of gold discoveries or, later, military bases. But for the most part, Native communities existing across vast parts of Alaska as they had for thousands of years.

They were given a legal right to do so, in addition. Twenty years after the U.S. acquired Alaska from Russia, Congress passed the Organic Act of 1884, which, along with setting up the legal framework for the Territory of Alaska specifying Alaska Natives were not to be disturbed in their use and occupancy of the land. Further, Congress reserved to itself the solid authority to settle aboriginal land claims in Alaska. That was finally to happen 86 years later in December 1971. For most of those years the issue

was dormant since the vast majority of Alaska lands were federally owned and managed as public domain lands. In practical terms, no one disturbed or displaced Native people. Their communities continued much as before through the turn-of-the-century gold rush and the military buildup, in some communities, during and after World War II.

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to select lands for its own use, which almost immediately meant selecting lands for mineral potential, including North Slope lands and selling oil and gas leases. State land selections and disposals of those lands to third parties in Interior and Arctic Alaska meant that, for the first time, someone was “taking” lands to which Alaska Natives had a claim. By the mid-1960s, as oil exploration on the North Slope was beginning, Alaska Native groups began to organize and press their land claims. The Alaska Federation of Natives formed so Native groups could speak with an organized voice. Most important – and what put an edge to the lands claim issue – was when in 1966 and 1968 Interior Secretary Stewart Udall issued orders freezing land transfers, including State land selections until the land claims could be settled. Meanwhile oil had been discovered on the North Slope in 1969 and the three major companies involved, BP, Atlantic Richfield and Humble Oil (now ExxonMobil) were busy planning the 800-mile pipeline that would carry the oil to Valdez. Most Alaskans were vaguely aware of Native claims but the industry had little idea it would affect them. It did, however. An Interior Athabascan community, Stevens Village on the Yukon River, filed suit to stop the granting of a pipeline corridor on federal lands on which the village had pending aboriginal claims. A U.S. District Court judge agreed with the villagers and issued an injunction against the government’s granting of the corridor. The pipeline was stopped.

POLITICIANS PREVAIL The oil companies were dumbfounded, but they quickly realized the urgency of getting the legal cloud lifted so the pipeline could be built. The industry put its political muscle in Washington behind getting a bill passed. The State of Alaska, desiring the pipeline to be built as quickly as possible, did likewise. The industry’s backing for the settlement also brought a turnaround in the position of many influential Alaska business leaders, including Bob Atwood, publisher of the influential Anchorage Times, who previously had opposed a settlement of Native claims, at least one of any substance.

Alaska’s population and economy would be about half of its current size were oil not discovered on the North Slope and the pipeline built. Alaska today would be about like Maine, a great place to live but not the best place to make a living. – Scott Goldsmith, Economist University of Alaska

The sudden new urgency to the settlement created by the need for a pipeline gave an important advantage to the Alaska Federation of Natives, which had been pushing for a land settlement of 40 million acres or more. As bills started moving, 40 million acres became the accepted figure, where previously people had talked in terms of 10 million acres, if even that much. Congress finally approved the bill in December 1971, with a settlement of about 45 million acres and $962 million in cash. The cash settlement, however, was linked to North Slope oil production and the pipeline, so as soon as the ink dried on President Nixon’s signature on the new law the Native groups realized they had better get busy to help get the pipeline built. Five hundred million dollars of the $962 million settlement was to be paid in the form of a temporary royalty imposed on North Slope production. No oil, no money. That led to Native leaders joining ranks with oil lobbyists in Washington to get a bill authorizing the pipeline through Congress. By 1971 and 1972 the pipeline was mired in a swamp of environmental litigation with no end in sight. Then-U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel, who represented Alaska in the Senate along with Ted Stevens, conceived the idea of Congress simply authorizing the pipeline and cutting through the thicket of lawsuits. One-by-one Gravel lobbied other sena-

tors, pointing out growing concerns in the government about the U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East. One-by-one he received senators’ commitments to vote for a bill authorizing the pipeline. Native leaders like Willie Hensley were in Washington lobbying for the bill, although they were also working to secure other provisions in the act such as provisions for oil spill liability and training for Alaska Natives. The Trans Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act passed the U.S. Senate in 1973 by a one-vote margin, with Vice President Spiro Agnew casting a tiebreaking vote in his position as President of the Senate. Congressman Don Young was to subsequently steer the bill through the U.S. House of Representatives. With that accomplished, construction of the pipeline could finally begin.

NATIVE CORPORATIONS RISE UP Building of the pipeline was to usher in a new era in the relationship between Alaska Natives and the petroleum industry. Things had gotten off to a rocky start between the two – Native groups had essentially used the pipeline issue to force Congress to act and to leverage a better deal – but the pipeline company also had made early commitments to jobs that weren’t kept. In Interior Alaska the TAPS owners, working as a consortium, had promised contracts to Tanana Chiefs Conference, the Native association for Interior Alaska. Tanana Chiefs formed a

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

development company, but when Tim Wallis, who headed the company, went calling on the pipeline people, his calls weren’t returned. Chugach Natives, in Prince William Sound, had similar experiences. Chugach did get some small projects, but it wasn’t a coveted contract to supply tug services at the planned Valdez Marine Terminal. That contract ultimately went to Crowley Maritime. A lot of those problems could be traced to the early confusion in the pipeline management, which led to Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. being formed to build and operate the pipeline; but also to the lack of business experience among the Native groups and just-formed Native corporations. Eventually small service contracts, such as catering and security, done usually in joint-ventures with established firms, allowed Native corporations to gain experience, establish a stream of earnings and to grow. NANA Regional Corp. was on the North Slope early on with a catering contract with BP, which led to a purchase of camps and establishment of a fuel-service company for contractors on the Slope. After an initial bad

start for Tanana Chiefs, Doyon Ltd., the Interior regional corporation, got into security and pipeline maintenance. Ahtna, the Copper River Valley regional corporation, provided pipeline maintenance services. Gradually, all of this grew. NANA and two North Slope village corporations invested in drill rigs with an established Slope contractor. Doyon entered into a separate drilling jointventure. NANA’s rigs were sold eventually with the corporation focusing on its North Slope catering and camp services, which later led to its relationship with Marriott Corp. and hotels in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Doyon’s drilling venture prospered and the corporation eventually bought out its partner. Doyon Drilling, wholly owned by the Interior corporation, is one of two major drilling companies now operating on the Slope. NANA’s interests were also to shift to development of the Red Dog Mine, one of the world’s largest zinc and lead mines, on its lands. The experience NANA gained with its North Slope operations were to aid in the setting

up of companies to support the mining at Red Dog, which began in 1989. Arctic Slope Regional Corp., today the largest oilfield service company in Alaska, took its time in entering the North Slope support business. ASRC watched NANA carve out niches in catering and security and Doyon in drilling and eventually settled on oil field construction as its field. ASRC purchased construction companies and a pipeline company and eventually all these were folded into what is now ASRC Energy Services. That company now has operations in the Lower 48 and Canada, although its core is still the North Slope. To diversify, ASRC also purchased a refining company, Petro Star, which operates refineries east of Fairbanks in North Pole, and in Valdez. Its pipeline company provides maintenance today for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Today, Alaska Native corporations are bringing several billion dollars a year in earnings to the State’s economy and just as the trans-Alaska oil pipeline laid the foundation for modern Alaska, Native corporations are laying a foun❑ dation for the future.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

SPECIAL SECTION:

ANCSA @40

8(a) Program Development Overcoming adversity for disadvantaged Alaska Natives BY JULIE STRICKER

ALASKA NATIVE PREFERENCES Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens

Photos courtesy of The Kuskokwim Corp./USCG photo by Joseph P. Cirone

laska Native corporations saw phenomenal growth over the past decade, in part because of their maturing, diversified operations, but also due to increased participation in ventures targeting government contracts. For some corporations, government contracts provided as much as 88 percent of their total revenue in 2009. But as revenues have grown, sometimes exponentially, the corporations are under increased scrutiny amid calls for crackdowns on how the contracts are awarded. “I’m frustrated and disappointed,” said Will Anderson, president and CEO of Kodiak-based Koniag Inc. “There’s such a lack of understanding of what we’re doing in our communities.” The Alaska Native regional corporations and more than 200 village corporations were created under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which aimed to settle long-standing aboriginal land claims. The corporations divided 44 million acres of land and $962.5 million, which it was to use as seed money for economic development. The legislation had two major goals: the corporations were to provide financial, social and economic benefits for shareholders; and enable economic development in the state of Alaska. Later, a series of amendments defined the corporations as “socially and economically disadvantaged businesses.” Under that definition, the corporations were eligible to use a Small Business Administration program called 8(a) that is designed to help small disadvantaged businesses access government contracts. Federal agencies are allowed to bypass the competitive bid process and award sole-source contracts directly with 8(a) businesses.

U.S. Coast Guard Captain John J. Santucci, Jr., presenting Maver Carey of the Kuskokwim Corp. with an 8(a) contract.

amended the 8(a) program to give Alaska Native corporations additional preferences. While other small business owners can have only one 8(a) company at a time, and can stay in the program for only nine years, Alaska Native corporations can have multiple businesses in the 8(a) program, as long as they are in different sectors. They are exempt from caps on sole-source contracts. The corporations also are allowed to subcontract work to non-8(a) companies and can enter partnerships and joint ventures with non-Native companies to win sole-source contracts. Alaska Native corporation leaders say these exemptions make sense because they benefit thousands of shareholders, not just one or two people, which is the norm for other business owners in the program. A report on the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight estimates government

contracting accounted for 44 percent of the benefits paid to Alaska Native shareholders between 2000 and 2008 – about $720 million. The subcommittee is chaired by Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, one of the biggest critics of the preferences enjoyed by Alaska Native corporations. She says the program has been abused, with shareholders seeing little of the benefits. In 2006, the General Accounting Office issued a report urging greater oversight of 8(a) contracting activity. McCaskill points to a clause that allows Native corporations to win solesource contracts and subcontract with experienced corporations that aren’t disadvantaged, which act as mentors while doing a minority share of the work. McCaskill said in some cases, the subcontractor would use a Native corporation to win big sole-source contracts and then do most of the

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

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work and get most of the money, with Alaska Native shareholders seeing little benefit. She also said corporations aren’t providing enough information about how the contracts are benefiting shareholders. McCaskill has introduced legislation that would roll back the exemptions, such as the one that allows the corporations to win sole-source contracts of unlimited size. She wants to cap solesource contracts at $3.5 million for services and $5.5 million for goods. Caps on contracts don’t make sense for Alaska Native corporations, some business leaders say. “They’re trying to put a regional Native corporation that benefits sometimes 10,000 shareholders into the same category as a corporation owned by an individual,” Koniag’s Anderson said. A bill sponsored by Arizona Sen. John McCain that would have severely limited sole-source contracts was defeated by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on May 11. It was a tie vote. McCaskill, who is on the committee, was not present for the vote. Her legislation was still pending as of mid-May. Alaska’s congressional delegation has vowed to fight congressional efforts to curtail the contracting privileges, which are also granted to some American Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.

All the regional corporations and many of the village corporations in Alaska are involved in government contracts to some extent. For some, the proposals would have little impact because they are going after competitive contracts. For others, the cutbacks would hurt. Koniag has some subsidiaries operating under the SBA 8(a) program, but tries to keep its operations diversified. “It’s always dangerous to rely too heavily on one business,” Anderson said. The program is helpful because it allows Koniag to get a foothold in business and reach a critical mass that allows it to successfully compete for contracts outside 8(a), Anderson said. It is working as it is intended, he said, although he acknowledges that it is prudent to address critics’ concerns.

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PROPOSED REFORMS Not all of the Alaska Native corporations agree on what changes are needed in the 8(a) program, nor how they are to be implemented. Anderson said each corporation needed to do what it thought best for its shareholders. In September 2010, three of the regional corporations, Cook Inlet Region Inc., Doyon Ltd. and Arctic Slope Regional Corp. started working with the SBA on reform proposals. CIRI Communications Director Jim Jager

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

Although 2008 was a year of great economic uncertainty, the 12 regional corporations distributed $171 million in dividends to shareholders, representing 66 percent of their net profit. said the corporations acknowledge there are some problems with 8(a), “however the program is working overall and we think it is better to reform the program than throw it out.” The SBA concurred with many of their suggestions and in 2011 it initiated a series of changes aimed at providing closer oversight of the program to improve competition, accountability and transparency. Jager says the SBA changes strongly mirror the proposals put forth by the three regional corporations, which included

reforms that would cap sole-source awards, limit “roll-over” contracts, penalize those who repeatedly violate the rules, and require annual tracking of how corporations’ participation in the program benefits its shareholders and communities. Among the SBA proposals: ■ Prohibit “roll-over” of an 8(a) solesource contract from one participant to an affiliated company owned by the same organization. ■ Clarify joint venture agreements and how work is to be shared among contractors and subcontractors. ■ Require 8(a) participants to track and report the benefits the contracts bring to shareholders. ■ Tighten rules surrounding the eligibility of companies to participate in 8(a).

MEASURING BENEFITS Jager said benefits to shareholders can be measured in many ways, but primarily as dividends and contributions to scholarships and nonprofits. Although 2008 was a year of great economic uncertainty, the 12 regional corporations

distributed $171 million in dividends to shareholders, representing 66 percent of their net profit. They also contributed $24.3 million to other organizations that benefit shareholders. With its fourth-quarter 2010 dividend payout, Jager estimates CIRI alone will surpass the $963 million that was initially divided between all the corporations in 1971 under ANCSA. “We have been passing our profits on to shareholders,” he said. Millions more have been distributed as scholarships or through CIRI’s affiliated nonprofits that oversee housing, health, social services, jobs training and cultural programs. Notably, he said, the Alaska Native corporations have become economic engines in the state, reversing the traditional Alaska business model in which outside firms exploit and export the state’s resources and the bulk of the profits. “When we pay a dividend,” he said, “more than two-thirds of that money stays in state.” And the Alaska Native corporations

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

earn the money outside the state. “The profits come back into the state,” Jager said. “That’s the biggest thing ANCSA has done for the state, and that’s also what 8(a) does.”

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY As to the criticism that big, wealthy Alaska Native corporations are using a program meant for small, disadvantaged businesses, Jager notes that the corporations are owned by Alaska Native individual shareholders. “Clearly, our companies’ owners, the shareholders back when ANCSA was passed, in any measure you choose, Alaska Natives were disadvantaged,” he said. Alaska Natives were barely on the page in terms of health care, income and education in 1971. Forty years down the road, Alaska Natives’ lives have improved, but many are still below the national average. “The point is, Alaska Natives are still disadvantaged as a group,” he said. “The company is doing business for the benefit of the shareholders.” Jager said that one of the overriding questions is whether the taxpayers are

getting a good deal when 8(a) contracts are awarded. The size of Alaska Native corporations is an advantage for the government too, when it comes to awarding contracts. “There are certain contracts where a small, 20-person company could never provide those services,” Jager said. “Doyon or CIRI or other Alaska Native companies have the economic scale that can provide those services. The program allows the federal government to do business with companies big enough to full the contracts.” SBA (a) is not a jobs program, he notes, it’s a business incubation program. Its aim is to help the companies get federal contracts and it’s working. Despite some uncertainty about potential changes, more Alaska Native corporations are turning to the 8(a) program to help foster new business. The Alaska Native Village CEO Association, which now has 54 members, held a symposium touting the benefits of the SBA 8(a) program this spring. Maver Carey heads the village CEO Association. She is also president and CEO of The Kuskokwim Corp., which

entered the government contracting field in 2005. In the past five years, it has seen enormous financial growth and aims to have a $100 million asset base by 2015. “It is obviously generating revenue,” Carey said. “We’re looking to create sustainable subsidiaries for future economic development.” The corporation, with 3,400 shareholders of Yup’ik Eskimo and Athabascan descent, represents 10 villages in the middle region of the Kuskokwim River valley. The villages are hundreds of miles from the road system in a region that has struggled economically. Its subsidiaries manage contracts in aerospace and civil construction and Kuskokwim Properties manages real estate holdings. It is also positioning itself to take advantage of any opportunities that come online when the nearly Donlin Creek gold mine begins production. Carey said the 8(a) program has been a very positive program for the corporation. “We’re successful and they’re very ❑ happy with our work,” she said.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

BUSINESS BASICS

BY ERIC BRITTEN

Measure Your Way to Success E Every business, b i llarge or small, ll needs d to develop key performance indicators.

ot long ago, I was reading about a manufacturer that had completed a successful lean initiative. They had boosted production by nearly 20 percent. The only problem was their product demand didn’t match the production increase and they soon found themselves with excess inventory on hand. A closer look revealed they focused on monitoring production because increased production was a strategic goal for the organization. They were successful with their initiative. Unfortunately, they didn’t monitor demand as closely. It was actually slowing while their production was increasing. It’s a classic example of the saying “you get what you measure,” so be careful of what your primary monitoring metrics are. In this case, the organization should have been monitoring both supply and demand, or better yet, a single metric indicating the balance or ratio between the two. The good news for this organization is they were practiced in working with metrics. They realized their problem and corrected the imbalance. The issue for most organizations, unfortunately, is not this one. The issue for many organizations is do they measure key performance indicators at all? Do they know what key performance indicators are? Or do they just look at every number on the balance sheet periodically?

KPIS TO THE RESCUE It’s not just manufacturers or large organizations that need to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs). Every business, large or small, needs to develop key performance indicators. Let’s take a quick look at what KPIs are and how to use them. What is a KPI? A key performance indicator is a metric which is used to measure the performance of a critical or high-leverage activity or process. Depending upon the size of the

Eric Britten

organization, KPIs may be layered. In a large organization, there may be organizational KPIs at the highest level supported by departmental or functional KPIs at other levels. Small organizations may be able to establish significantly fewer KPIs to monitor their performance. The problem with KPIs. Many organizations think everything they measure is a KPI when, in fact, many of their metrics are only metrics, statistics or numbers. Defining and developing KPIs is important for several reasons. First, defining your organization’s KPIs helps you understand how strategy and performance are linked in your organization. Secondly, defining KPIs helps you understand what the most important elements of your operation are. Thirdly, KPI development helps you think about how and why different parts of your organization function the way they do.

DON’T GO OVERBOARD

Develop only a limited number. Your car’s dashboard only displays a limited amount of information to you, the information that is critical to keeping your

car going safely and efficiently. It does not tell you about every operational aspect of your automobile. Similarly, organizational KPIs should be limited to a small number of measures that indicate if your organization or department is on course and operating the way it should. Watch your KPIs. KPIs should be monitored in short intervals: daily and weekly, or perhaps by hour or shift. Identify any variation. Properly displayed on a dashboard or spreadsheet, variation from the desired performance is easy to identify. Sometimes the variance is positive, sometimes negative, but understanding the reason for the variance and how to control it is the key to understanding your business. Update your KPIs. Since organizational strategy and operating plans change, so should your KPIs. They need to be in line with your current goals and targets. Volumes have been written about what KPIs are and how to develop them. Regardless of the perspective, though, everyone agrees that developing meaningful KPIs, monitoring them closely and understanding what variation from your target means and how that variation can be corrected, are all critical factors to your organization’s success. If you don’t currently utilize KPIs in your organization, it would be well worth your time to learn more about them. If you do use them, be sure they measure the right things, monitor them frequently, and address unwanted ❑ variation when it first occurs. About the Author Eric Britten is president of Britten & Associates LLC, a managementconsulting firm based in Anchorage. Contact him at 907-440-8181. Additional information is available online at his website, www.BrittenAssociates.com.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011

ALASKA TRENDS

BY WILLIAM COX Alaska Trends, an outline of significant statewide statistics, is provided by the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development.

Alaska Tourism Volume by Travel Mode (2000-2010)

ourism in Alaska represents a substantial portion of the state’s overall economy, and although not as large as the oil industry, helps to diversify the state’s economy. In 2008-2009, the tourism industry accounted for approximately 36,200 jobs (8 percent of all Alaska jobs), $1.1 billion in labor income (5 percent of all Alaska labor income), and had a total direct and indirect economic impact of $3.4 billion. The cachet of Alaska, which has increased due to the introduction of several television shows, could signify an opportunity to increase

tourism and the associated economic benefits for the state. The chart shows the tourism volume within Alaska by mode of travel (e.g., ferry, highway, cruise ship and air) from 2001 through 2010. The total volume illustrated in the chart shows an upward trend through 2007, then a gradual decline through 2010. The travel by air, highway and ferry during this period remained relatively constant until 2008, when highway travel experienced a consistent decline. Cruise ship travel demonstrated volatility throughout the entire period. ❑

Source: Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development

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ALASKA TRENDS Indicator

Units

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 Sectoral 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 Truck 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

Period

Latest Report Period

Previous Report Period (revised)

Year Ago Period

Year Over Year Change

US $ US $ 1982-1984 = 100 1982-1984 = 100

4th Q10 4th Q10 2nd H10 2nd H10

31,760 12,701,052 195.46 218.58

31,554 12,582,051 195.46 218.58

30,559 12,228,649 193.456 215.935

3.93% 3.86% 1.03% 1.22%

Number Filed Number Filed Number Filed

March March March

116 89 20

77 52 17

106 82 12

9.43% 8.54% 66.67%

Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands

March March March March March

331.14 184.32 42.79 35.27 34.16

329.91 184.24 42.87 34.65 33.67

325.46 180.88 42.43 34.79 33.61

1.75% 1.90% 0.83% 1.40% 1.66%

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 Thousands

March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March March

317.4 41.0 276.4 15.7 15.4 12.9 12.8 12.5 9.0 60.9 6.0 33.9 5.9 9.7 21.0 5.5 3.3 6.4 4.2 15.1 25.4 43.2 31.2 29.4 6.3 19.1 11.3 84.7 16.6 26.4 8.6 41.7 24.8 3.7

315.5 40.1 275.4 15.4 15.2 12.9 12.2 12.5 8.7 60.4 5.9 33.8 6.0 9.8 20.7 5.3 3.2 6.4 4.2 15.0 25.5 43.2 31.0 28.5 6.3 18.7 11.3 85.1 16.4 26.3 8.6 42.4 25.4 3.5

309.5 39.4 270.1 14.5 14.3 12.2 12.9 12.0 8.6 59.0 6.0 33.7 6.1 9.7 19.3 5.3 2.9 6.3 4.1 14.3 25.2 41.3 29.6 27.2 6.0 17.6 11.1 85.7 17.1 26.3 8.5 42.3 25.0 3.6

2.55% 4.06% 2.33% 8.28% 7.69% 5.74% -0.78% 4.17% 4.65% 3.22% 0.00% 0.59% -3.28% 0.00% 8.81% 3.77% 13.79% 1.59% 2.44% 5.59% 0.79% 4.60% 5.41% 8.09% 5.00% 8.52% 1.80% -1.17% -2.92% 0.38% 1.18% -1.42% -0.80% 2.78%

Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands

March March March March March

361.09 198.91 46.17 38.60 38.07

360.09 198.78 46.27 38.06 37.66

358.43 197.40 46.21 38.37 37.86

0.74% 0.77% -0.09% 0.60% 0.56%

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • July 2011