april 2011 - alaska business monthly

XTO Energy Inc.810 Houston StreetFort Worth, Texas 76102817.870.2800www.xtoenergy.com

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.

.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 20114

From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Inside Alaska Business . . . . . . . . 8Right Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Market Squares . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Events Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Alaska Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

D E PA R T M E N T S

A P R I L 2 0 1 1TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

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

ABOUT THE COVERThe Corporate 100 is a list of the Top 100 businesses in

Alaska, based on employees, revenues (if provided), good corporate citizenship, years in Alaska, products and services

and more. These 100 were selected by a board of six and are Champions of Industry. Pictured on the cover are Trond-Erik

Johansen/ConocoPhillips Alaska, Annie Holt/Alaska Regional Hospital and Rex Rock Sr./Arctic Slope Regional Corp. For

stories on these leaders and their companies, turn to our special section, which begins on page 72.

Photo ©2011 by Chris Arend.

A R T I C L E S

(continued on page 6)

View From the top

Paul and Janice Villnerve, Owners� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 11Moose Bites Personal ChefsBy Peg Stomierowski

marketing works

Marketing and Advertising � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 16Distinguishing the differenceBy Ron “Cat” Mason

hr matters

Retaliation Burns � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 22Know the ground rules to prevailBy Lynne Curry

associations

World Trade Center Alaska � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 30Helping Alaska companies expand globallyBy Tracy Barbour

regional reView Interior Alaska � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 56Resting at the heart of the stateBy Tracy Barbour

inVesting in alaska op-eDExtending the Rail Line at Port MacKenzie � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 119The next great investment for AlaskansBy Lee Henry

towns in transition

Kodiak: The Emerald Isle � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 132Martitime hub increasing tourism to diversify economyBy Heidi Bohi

alaska this month

Young Alaskans Celebrate KidsDay � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 148Imaginarium, museums, other attractions free for a day By Nancy Pounds

Fisheries

Sitka’s ‘Alaskans Own’ Seafood � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 12 Subscribers get their fish from local waters By Will Swagel

manuFacturing

Adding Value to Resources In-State � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 18 More jobs, bigger tax base, lower consumer costs By Heidi Bohi

timber

Poppert Milling Inc� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 26 Wasilla’s local lumber yard By Jeff Mullins

telecommunications

Changes at Alaska Communications� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 28 Anand Vadapalli takes the helm By Heidi Bohi

Fisheries

Southeast Alaska Mariculture� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 32 Geoduck divers create new industry By Nicole A. Bonham Colby

small business Feature

Paris Bakery and Café � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 36 Bon Apétit! By Stephanie Jaeger

eDucation

Alaska Colleges and Universities� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 38Putting higher education within reach for Alaskans By Louise Freeman

real estate

Anchorage Commercial Property Looking Good� � � � � � � � � � � 42Some withdrawal, but overall Alaska holds strongBy Jack E. Phelps

natiVe business

Trucking Through Canada� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 48Cross-border advantages for Alaska NativesBy Darren Prokop

transportation

Moving Freight in Alaska� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 52 Commodities important to transportation industry By Jack E. Phelps

4

A R T I C L E S

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

health & meDicine

Reducing Cardiovascular Risk � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 60Getting Alaskans heart healthyBy Neal Webster Turnage

health & meDicine op-eDFind Real Health Care Reform � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 65Demand adaptation and innovationBy Greg Loudon

technology

Data Security � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 68More than protecting bits and bytesBy Tracy Barbour

transportation

Pacific Alaska Freightways Celebrates 50 Years in Alaska� � � �116Washington-state company builds lasting relationships with AlaskansBy Molly Dischner

oil & gas

Elusive Pipeline Dreams � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �120Waiting for suitable demandBy Mike Bradner

oil & gas

Cook Inlet Economic Impact� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �124Kenai Peninsula ready for industry revivalBy Mike Bradner

oil & gas

Impact of Current Oil-Tax System Forces Alaskans to Make Tough Decisions � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �128By Sandra Yi

alternatiVe energy

Hydroelectric Advances in Alaska � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �134Harnessing cleaner, cheaper powerBy Vanessa Orr

alternatiVe energy

Geothermal Heats Up � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �138Developing Alaska’s Steamy ResourcesBy Tracy Kalytiak

A R T I C L E SA R T I C L E S

alternatiVe energy upDate

Jesse Moe of Renewable Energy Systems in Anchorage wrote regarding a December alternative energy article: Partusch had their wind turbine connected on July 20, our wind turbine had already been operating a year before that. Our turbine was officially connected June 23. Another concern is the affect of mentioning wind as a viable project for Anchorage residents or businesses. Anchorage is simply not a wind site, a good wind site has average winds of 15-20 mph, most of our data puts Anchorage at about 3-5 mph. My concern is we educate people to make wise decisions, especially early on, to prevent creating a bad name for the entire industry. ... However, unlikely as it may seem, Anchorage is a far better option for solar energy. On our building we have both a solar array and a wind turbine connected to the utility grid. We get more than five times the amount of production from our solar than our wind. ... Another one of our projects, a building on Fifth Avenue and E Street was adding 96 solar panels in March. We also have many similar projects going up soon that are currently in the engineering process. ... Basically, solar works great at the residential, commercial, remote site or village level. However, we will agree that it is not a viable option for utility power. In my opinion, the closer the renewable source is to the person consuming the energy, the more energy aware they will be. That should be our goal.

correctionsA February article on biometric technology described Alaska Senate Bill 190 as pending legislation. However, SB 190 died last year and is no longer under consideration.

A “Time-Sensitive Freight” article in the March issue said Alaska Air Cargo uses reconfigurable 737-200 Combi aircraft. However, the company retired these planes from its fleet about five years ago and now flies 737-400 Combis, which are not reconfigurable.

real estate

Southeast Real Estate � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �142Panhandle prefers winter sales

technology

Techy Gadgets � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �144Practicality for Alaska’s business leadersBy Kent L. Colby

special section corporate 100

Corporate 100 Introduction � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 72

2011 Corporate 100 by Industry � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 74

Alaska Business Monthly’s 2011 Corporate 100� � � � � � � � � � � � � � 76

Alaska Regional Hospital � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �104Striving for better, not bigger By Tracy Kalytiak

Arctic Slope Regional Corp� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �108Delivering benefits to shareholders By Tracy Kalytiak

ConocoPhillips Alaska � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �112Committed to AlaskaBy Vanessa Orr

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2011 7

Volume 27, Number 4Published by

Alaska Business Publishing Co.Anchorage, Alaska

Vern C. McCorkle, Publisher1991~2009

EDITORIAL STAFF Managing Editor Debbie Cutler Associate Editor Susan Harrington Art Director Candy Johnson Art Production Linda Shogren Photo Consultant Chris Arend Contributing Photographers Judy Patrick Azimuth Adventure Photography

BUSINESS STAFF President Jim Martin National Sales Mgr. Charles Bell Account Mgr. Anne Campbell Account Mgr. Bill Morris Traffic Coordinator Ann Doss Accountant Mary Schreckenghost

501 W. Northern Lights Boulevard, Suite 100Anchorage, Alaska 99503

(907) 276-4373Outside Anchorage: 1-800-770-4373

Fax: (907) 279-2900www.akbizmag.com

Editorial e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]

PacificNorthwest AdvertisingSales1-800-770-4373

ALASKA BUSINESS PUBLISHING CO ., INC .

ALASKABUSINESSMONTHLY (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. SubscriptionRates: $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 unso-licited 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.

F r o m t h e e d i t o r

OK, I admit it. I don’t have an emer-gency readiness kit.

I did at one time. In fact, the water still sits in a trunk in my closet, now 15 years old. I also have 15-year-old military rations in the same area.

The Japan quake/tsunami disaster, on the hearts of so many, taught me a valuable lesson. I need to get prepared. And do it now.

By 9:30 a.m. today, March 17, there were about 30 earthquakes reported in Alaska, according to the Alaska Earth-quake Information Center (AEIC), funded by State and national agencies and located at the Geophysical Insti-tute at the University of Alaska Fair-banks. They ranged in size from less than 1.0 magnitude to 4.13 magnitude and struck many regions of the state, including Cook Inlet. The website re-ports about 22,000 earthquakes a year, statewide. That’s a lot of shaking. Break that down, it’s 50-100 daily or 400-700 weekly on average.

You’ve heard the story: It’s not IF we will have another big one like the 1964 9.2 earthquake/tsunami that we’ve all been told about or lived through that killed 132 people. It’s a matter of WHEN. And when could be today. When could be tomorrow.

This time, more could die as our population is growing and growing and

growing, with about 700,000 statewide, and more than 290,000 in Anchorage, according to the latest U.S. Census data.

are you reaDy?

There’s an easy, dowloadable bro-chure at www.aeic.alaska.edu/html_docs/nextbigeq.html titled “Are you prepared for the next big Earthquake in Alaska” that tests your readiness skills and gives tips for surviving a large earthquake. I suggest you take a look at it. It explains how Alaska has more earthquakes than any other part of the U.S. and is one of the most seismically active areas worldwide. Also of note: Earthquakes larger than magnitude 8.0 hit on average of once every 13 years in this state – and this goes back to 1900! One between 7.0 and 8.0 magnitude hits EVERY year.

There are too many tips in this 25-plus page brochure to even begin to tell you how to prepare for the earthquake that will happen – sometime, perhaps even before the ink on this page dries.

Be prepared.I’m going out to get my earthquake

readiness kit tonight after work. Or at least by this weekend.

— Debbie Cutler Managing Editor

One Large Quake is All it Takes

Alaska ripe for the big one


Southcentral Foundation to Build Wasilla Clinic

Southcentral Foundation chose DOWL, NBBJ, Neeser Construc-

tion and Tyonek Contractors to design and build a new primary care center in Wasilla. The facility will serve 7,000 Alaska Natives in the Palmer-Wasilla area. Construction is set to begin this spring with completion estimated for September 2012. Funding for the project comes from $40 million in direct loan financing from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and another $10 million from Wells Fargo. Southcentral Founda-tion also received a Joint Venture Con-struction Program agreement through the Indian Health Service. Under this agreement, the IHS will provide finan-cial support for operations, primarily staffing, for 20 years. n

Providence Earns National Award

The Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Providence Alaska Medical

Center received the 2010 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award. Providence was one of three honorees to receive the award from The National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission. The NICU team was awarded for their innovation in patient safety and quality at the lo-cal level, specifically the work being done through their multi-year quality improvement project to eliminate cath-eter-related blood stream infection.

“Our mission at Providence Alaska Medical Center calls us to serve the

poor and vulnerable. The tiny babies in our newborn intensive care unit are possibly our most vulnerable patients – most susceptible to infection and most in need of the safest, highest-quality care we can provide,” said Dr. Richard Mandsager, chief executive, Providence Alaska Medical Center. “Our NICU team’s dedication to eliminating cathe-ter-related blood stream infections for these fragile, immune-compromised in-fants illustrates our mission in action.” n

Alaska Airlines Lands Technology Honor

Alaska Airlines received the 2011 Airline Technology Leadership

Award by Air Transport World maga-zine. Alaska Airlines received the honor once before in 2003, recognizing the company’s flight safety innovations and airport operations, ticket distribution and marketing and customer technology.

The magazine officials recognized Alaska Airlines’ commitment to op-erational efficiency and environmen-tally friendly technology. The airline pioneered the development and in-troduction of required navigation per-formance, which is being adopted worldwide and is a cornerstone of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Next-Gen air traffic management system. Ed-itors at the magazine also commended Alaska’s patented Airport of the Future in Anchorage and Seattle, which elimi-nated the traditional ticket counter and has reduced customer check-in times by as much as 90 percent. In addition, magazine editors noted Alaska Airlines’ digEplayer handheld movie viewer,

customer-friendly alaskaair.com web-site, mobile boarding passes and other innovations to make travel easier for passengers.

“We are extremely proud to receive this award,” said Joe Sprague, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of marketing. “In addition to recognizing our air-line’s commitment to technology in-novations, it also reflects directly on our employees’ passionate dedication to efficiency, excellence and taking good care of our customers.” n

Porcaro Communications Nabs Honor for GCI Ad

Porcaro Communications won a Gold Pixie Award from the Ameri-

can Pixel Academy for a television ad created for General Communication Inc. The ad won in the motion graph-ics category. The ad, entitled “New Northern Lights,” features fast-motion footage of Alaska and U.S. destina-tions, with light effects superimposed on the scenes. The Pixie Awards honor outstanding work in television motion graphics, effects and animation. n

State Grants Help Rural Agencies

The State of Alaska awarded four domestic-violence-prevention

grants to groups in rural Alaska. The Department of Health and Social Ser-vices Division of Behavioral Health will oversee the grant program. Suc-cessful applicants proposed new ideas, demonstrated community involvement and set measurable goals to reduce do-mestic violence and sexual assault in

Ins Ide AlAskA Bus Iness Compiled By NaNCy pouNds


their regions, which include Bethel, Dillingham, Kodiak and Sitka.

Safe and Fear-Free Environment in Dillingham received a grant of $372,642 in the first year and up to $1 million per year in the next three years. The group will also serve Aleknagik. Three grants of $200,000 per year for this year and the next three years were awarded each to Sitkans Against Family Violence, which serves Sitka, Kake and Angoon; Association of Village Council Presidents to serve Bethel and surround-ing villages; and Kodiak Area Native Association to serve Kodiak, Port Lions, Akhiok, Karluk, Old Harbor, Ouzinkie and Larsen Bay. n

Fishing Group Buys Wards Cove Assets

BSAI Partners LLC purchased the fishing assets of Seattle-based

Wards Cove seafood company. BSAI Partners is a joint venture between Siu Alaska Corp. and Coastal Villages Pol-lock, wholly owned subsidiaries of the Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. and Coastal Villages Region Fund, respectively. The Brindle fam-ily founded Wards Cove in Ketchikan more than 80 years ago, and currently fishes and processes pollock, cod and crab in the Bering Sea, among other fishery-related interests across Alaska.

NSEDC and CVRF are Community Development Quota groups. The CDQ program, a federal fisheries manage-ment program promoting fisheries- related economic development in West-ern Alaska, is comprised of six groups. The acquisition of Wards Cove includes

seven trawlers and one crab vessel, as well as ownership in nearly 4 percent of the pollock quota. n

KeyBank’s Alaska Team Earns ‘District of the Year’

KeyBank’s Alaska District has been named the 2010 District of the

Year among KeyBank N.A.’s 21 districts nationwide. The award recognizes the highest ranking district based on overall financial performance, service to clients and commitment to community.

“Our employees are incredibly dedi-cated to the clients and communities we serve,” said Brian Nerland, president of KeyBank’s Alaska District. “Our bankers work as a team to provide strong financial solutions and advice, and we’re grate-ful to those Alaskan consumers, busi-nesses, nonprofits and pubic entities that have rewarded us with their business.”

KeyBank Alaska District’s performance highlights include increasing deposits over 2010, achieving excellent customer services survey scores, and demonstrat-ing a commitment to the community through volunteerism and philanthropy.

Key provides commercial banking, private banking, consumer banking, investment services and mortgage services through its 17 branches in Alaska. n

Weidner Funds UAA Business School Chair

Dean Weidner, owner of Weidner Property Management, pledged

to donate $3 million to establish an

endowed chair in the University of Alaska Anchorage’s College of Business and Public Policy. The Weidner Chair in Business Management will help the college offer students opportunities to learn from top professors or business professionals skilled in a specific field.

In 2006 Weidner donated $1 mil-lion to UAA to create an emphasis in real estate and property management within the Bachelor of Business Ad-ministration finance degree. The first appointment to the Weidner Chair will be a professor of property management and real estate. The person selected for the role will work with the Alaska business community, pursue relevant research and develop an expanded curriculum to include courses in key concepts of residential and commer-cial property management, affordable housing, military and senior housing and issues relevant to Alaska.

“Creating an endowed chair in busi-ness management represents a signifi-cant investment in the future business leaders of Alaska and a deep commit-ment to business education at UAA,” said Elisha Baker, dean of CBPP.

Weidner Property Management of-fers rental housing and develops new housing facilities. Weidner properties are located in Alaska, Arizona, Colo-rado, Texas, Washington and Canada.

Firm Earns National Ranking

Shannon and Wilson Inc. was listed among the top 500 U.S. design

firms, according to Engineering News-Record’s annual ranking. The geotech-nical and environmental consulting firm was ranked No. 186, up 74 spots

Ins Ide AlAskA Bus Iness


from its listing in past years. The listing is based on design-specific revenue. n

Seafood Symphony Honors Entrees

Trident Seafoods’ Wild Alaskan Peppered and Smoked Sockeye

Salmon won grand prize in the Alaska Symphony of Seafood. The category winner won top honors for garnering the most overall votes. Winners were announced in February at the Gala Soiree in Anchorage. The New Products Contest was judged in Seattle in early February, featuring chefs and industry experts picking the best new seafood products for the 18th annual event.

Trident Seafoods also earned first place in the foodservice category with Crispanko Alaska Pollock Mini-Sliders. Orca Bay Seafoods’ Sockeye Salmon with Tuscan Herb Sauce topped the retail category. Trident Seafoods and its Wild Alaskan Peppered and Smoked Sockeye Salmon won the smoked cat-egory. At the Anchorage event, the People’s Choice winner was Wayne Carpenter’s Candysmoke.

Winners from each category, and the grand-prize winner, received booth space at the International Boston Sea-food Show in March, as well as airfare to and from the show. n

SBA Helps Small Businesses Refinance

Small businesses facing maturity of commercial mortgages or balloon

payments before Dec. 31, 2012, may be

able to refinance their mortgage debt with a 504 loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration under a new, temporary program.

The new refinancing loan is struc-tured like SBA’s traditional 504, with borrowers committing at least 10 per-cent equity and working with third-party lending institutions and SBA-approved Certified Development Companies in the standard 50 percent/40 percent split. A key feature of the new program is that it does not require an expansion of the business in order to qualify.

SBA began accepting refinancing applications on Feb. 28 and initially opened the program to businesses with immediate need due to impending bal-loon payments before Dec. 31, 2012. SBA will revisit the program later and may open it to businesses with balloon payments due after that date or those that can demonstrate strong need in other ways. The program, authorized under the Small Business Jobs Act, will be in effect through Sept. 27, 2012. n

Wells Fargo Alaska Team Members Raise Record

$437,000 for NonprofitsWells Fargo team members from

Barrow to Ketchikan donated a record $287,000 during the company’s annual Alaska Community Support/United Way fundraising campaign last fall. The $287,000 donated by Wells Fargo team members in Alaska is the highest total ever and a 39 percent in-crease over 2009. Wells Fargo contrib-uted an additional $150,000 for a total investment of $437,000 in nonprofit

organizations throughout the state.“During the second year of a national

recession, our team members stepped up again to exceed our fundraising goal and contribute $80,000 more than last year,” said Richard Strutz, Wells Fargo regional president for Alaska. “The re-sults of this campaign demonstrate our enduring commitment to help Alaskans in need by investing in the communities where we live and work.”

Each year, Wells Fargo invests $1.5 million in more than 280 nonprofits and schools in Alaska. Wells Fargo’s Alaska team members logged a record 10,100 volunteer hours in 2010. n

New Book Goes to 2nd Printing

Michael Travis of Anchorage, whose family history novel,

El Gancho, won the national award for Best Novel from National As-sociation of Press Women, will see his new book go to second print-ing this spring. Melozi is a memoir of his first summer in Alaska, when he worked at Melozi Hot Springs, helping the now-legendary Len and Patricia Veerhusen build their lodge.

Melozi: A Teen’s Summer Job Lands Him an Adventure in the Alaska Bush, was released July 2010; enthusiastic readers accelerated plans for the next edition. “I get emails from men all the time, who identify with what I went through out there,” said Travis. “I was raised in Montana. I had Boy Scout badges for everything, camping experi-ence, was good at fishing, could shoot a .22, and even had a certificate for driving heavy equipment, but Alaska almost got the better of me.” q

Ins Ide AlAskA Bus Iness


Owners

Moose Bites Personal Chefs

©20

11 C

hris

Are

ndVIew from the top

Paul and Janice Villnerve

Compiled By peg stomierowski

Janice and Paul Villnerve

Moose Bites opened for business in November 2010. Paul and Janice Villnerve, who met in college and have twin degrees in mechanical engi-neering, hail from Louisiana, where southern hospitality and culinary adventure go hand-in-hand. Paul is professionally licensed and has been

a practicing engineer for 13 years. Janice retired early to raise their children and has authored a children’s book.Having to feed their large family in wise ways, the Villnerves used their experience to serve others who lack the time it takes to put complex meals

on the table. Their nine children (ages roughly 12, 10, 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2 and 1) are home-schooled, getting hands-on-training in business enterprise as well. While personal chef services are widely available in the Lower 48, the Villnerves say the idea is just catching on in Anchorage.

INVESTMENT IN HEALTHWe cater to health-conscious executives and busy couples committed to eating fewer processed foods. It’s an investment in the future. Some people spend their extra money on depreciating, material items such as new cars; others are inter-ested in investing in a lifestyle service with the capacity to improve their health.

COMMUTER TRAFFICIn the Mat-Su Valley, commuting is a major time-consumer. We help commuters

realize time savings daily by eliminating planning, shopping and cooking dinner. Some have decided to eat all organic foods, while others simply

want to increase their fiber intake and keep their dietary sugar content low.

COMPETITIVE EDGEOur closest competitors would be shops where customers go in and make meals to take home. But in our business, we’re able to listen to what each customer wants and to customize the cooking more. We consider everything from salt content to spiciness and types of cuisine, and we work with clients to prepare menus they feel good about eating. Their choices aren’t limited to what is being offered in the shop.

HEAT, EAT & ENJOYThe clients don’t need to find time to go prepare meals. We do it all, in their homes, while they are at work. When they come home, typically five entrees and sides are prepared, portioned, packaged, labeled and refrigerated. All they have to do is heat, eat and enjoy.

BUSINESS DRIVERSHealth consciousness and busy schedules tend to drive our business. As people’s lives fill up with work and activities, the easy thing to do is to eat fast food or frozen entrees from the grocery, neither of which are very healthful options.

COOKING UP SUCCESSWe once had a request for a dinner for two. The client wanted to provide a romantic private dinner for a spouse. We created an elegant menu to be prepared and easily heated and served. That’s not typical, however, and truly every order is different. We even handle cooking for at-home dinner parties. For more information: www.moose-bites.com or [email protected]. q


FISHERIES

Sitka’s ‘Alaskans Own’ Seafood

Sitka ranks as a top commercial and charter fishing port and many locals have big chest freez-

ers filled with their catch. But others, like Cindy Litman, a Sitka-based edu-cational researcher, don’t fish and have to depend on family and friends for handouts. Despite its location right on the fishing grounds, Sitka’s retail choices of local fish have been limited and expensive.

So Litman was delighted to buy a subscription last summer to “Alaskans Own” seafood – a new Sitka-based Community-Supported Fisheries (CSF) program. For a $390 share, Lit-man was able to pick up half a dozen allotments of five to six pounds each of a variety of local species caught

in season by local fishermen. Every other week during summer, she and the 17 other subscribers drove, walked or biked to a large, weathered, old waterfront sawmill building, where enthusiastic young men and women dispensed vacuum packages of high quality, flash-frozen fish. A definite air of celebration made each pickup a pleasant task.

Litman said she felt good when she found out among the commercial fish-ermen supplying Alaskans Own were a few of her friends. And she found the product to be top-notch.

“What was really surprising was how good the fish tasted,” Litman said. “That was an extra benefit I hadn’t expected. It was the best fish we ever had.”

getting the communityon boarD

Alaskans Own is one part of a larger effort created by two marine orga-nizations – the Sitka-based Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) and the North Pacific Fisher-ies Trust, which promotes sustainable fisheries. Together they formed the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, which is a nonprofit organization that invests in community-based fishermen who have a commitment to conservation of the fishing stocks and the marine environment.

Linda Behnken, a Sitka leader in fish politics and former member of the North Pacific Fishery Manage-ment Council, is ALFA’s long-time

Subscribers get their fish from local watersBy will swagel

The Christi-Rob crew (from left) Jeff Farvour, Walt Pasternak and Megan Pasternak catch fish and are participants in Alaskans Own.

Photos courtesy of POORT


executive director. She said the Alas-kans Own subscription program is one of three components.

n A conservation effort that ALFA runs where fishermen map habitat and work together to control bycatch – species that they catch while targeting other species. A certain amount of bycatch can be kept as part of the multi-species fisheries, but bycatch above that level is best avoided.

n Marketing local fish to local consumers both to raise money for conservation efforts and to get non-fishers inter-ested in the health of the fisheries.

n Providing loans to conservation-minded local fishermen at attractive terms, so that they may buy quota share.

Behnken said with support from the North Pacific Trust and the Maine- and Switzerland-based Oak Foundation, ALFA initiated the bycatch and map-ping work two years ago and launched the CSF last year. The quota lending is off to a slower start due to the nation’s economic conditions.

So Cindy Litman got her fish.

respecting the economic enVironment

Like the majority of fish landed in Sitka, which are destined for Lower 48 or overseas markets, Alaskans Own fish is trimmed and frozen at one of the large processors dominating the downtown Sitka waterfront. Modern flash-freezing and vacuum packing make the quality of the frozen fish comparable to fresh and with a shelf life that can be counted in months.

“It’s really important for us to support the local supply chain,” said Behnken, noting the waterfront pro-cessors fillet and freeze or otherwise prepare the fish. “We are right there at the boat and designate the fish that is processed to our specs, but we buy right at the processor.”

Behnken believes the Sitka program is the first in Alaska and one of only three in the U.S., at the time of this writing. Other programs can be found in Port Orford on the southern Oregon coast and at Port Clyde, in Maine, which is believed to be the first Community-Supported Fishery (CSF) in the country. It started in 2006.

Glen Libby is a Maine fisherman and chairman of the Midcoast Fisher-men’s Association, which operates the Port Clyde CSF. Libby credits North Carolina anthropologist Susan Andre-atta with first suggesting that fishermen use the model of Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs and band together to get better prices. CSAs are found throughout the country and of-ten provide the boxes of fresh, seasonal produce-by-subscription that are popular with local- and organic food enthusi-asts. CSA consumers, in effect, pre-buy a “share” of the harvest of a particular farm or group of farms. CSFs pre-buy a portion of the fishermen’s seasonal catch.

Port Clyde fishermen market their winter shrimp and summer cod under the name Port Clyde Fresh Catch. Un-like Sitka’s Alaskans Own, Port Clyde Fresh Catch is being sold to restaurants and retail locations. Although the town of Port Clyde is tiny, it is within driv-ing distance of Portland, Maine, and Boston, and ultimately the New York metropolitan area.

The CSF now has 500 subscribers. A third of the local quota – some 300,000 pounds – is now marketed under the Port Clyde brand. Co-op members are expanding their offerings to include lobster, crab and scallops. Libby said they have created 25 jobs in his town of 250 year-round residents. If you’re at the Liberty Hotel in Boston, you might well find Port Clyde Fresh Catch sea-food on the menu. Libby said the hotel is his biggest customer.

Vote with their ForksSitka’s Alaskans Own, Port Clyde Fresh Catch and the CSF at Port Orford, Ore., all stay in touch with their customers through informational handouts that accompany the fish pickups and with online newsletters.

The Port Orford Ocean Resource Team (POORT), a fisheries con-servation and advocacy group, has a quaint wooden headquarters in a quaint seaside town. While they don’t have a subscription program, like the ones in Sitka and Port Clyde, they sell fish out of the headquar-ters. Getting people to be involved in fisheries issues because they have a larger stake is one of the goals of all three organizations.

“It’s an important educational tool,” said Sitka’s Behnken. “It all works to strengthen the community and the fishermen and the resource.”

In Port Orford, they are working hard to develop a brand with the kind of name recognition that Kobe or Angus beef enjoy, said Marketing Manager Aaron Longton, himself a Port Orford fisherman. Port Orford-branded fish is being sold in Medford and Ashland restaurants and farmers markets. They supply fish for the caf-eterias at Lewis and Clark and Reed colleges and at Intel and Addidas.

He said chefs and consumers are – like Sitka’s Cindy Litman – delighted at the quality of the flash frozen product and are being encouraged to mention

FV Cherokee, one of the Alaskans Own fleet vessels, unloading halibut that will

be sold through the cooperative.

© Mim McConnell/mimsmissives.com


the brand by name. Port Orford also sells fresh product to the Ashland Food Co-op and several area restaurants

no mystery FishIf there is one thing people involved with all three CSF’s agree on, it’s that their organizations received a big bump from the so-called local foods movement.

“People are increasingly interested in who grew their food or who caught their fish,” said Behnken. “They want a personal connection to the farmer (or fisherman) who produced their meal.”

For even more of that personal touch, the websites of all three compa-nies share bios and photos of member fishermen and vessels.

Longton seconded that sentiment. “`Mystery fish is a hard sell for a lot of people now. You don’t know how your fish was harvested and by who and where. We can definitely attest to the traceability of our fish!”

POORT Executive Director Leesa Cobb said that was in the minds of the three local fishermen who put up the seed money to start the CSF. “We said, ‘The public is begging for local food and we’ve got to take advantage of the timing.’”

Cobb said POORT received an Or-egon state grant to study the market-ability of local fish to local markets. The researchers gauged the size and makeup of the local quota and timing of the fishing season.

“They also looked at, ‘Can you brand Port Orford’s story?’” Cobb said. “Small boats, family businesses – kind of the last of a kind. It taught us how to talk about our project.”

This story of fish that is marketed lo-cally, caught in a conservation-minded manner by family businesses keeping money in the region is selling well. Port Clyde’s CSF is growing steadily and Port Orford’s is hoping to get new in-vestors, to have any hope of keeping up with demand.

Behnken said the Sitka CSF would be making outreaches to Juneau in the coming year. Last fall, Port Clyde’s Glen Libby and Port Orford’s Leesa Cobb came to Sitka to discuss their col-lective experiences.

“We’re working with fishermen from other parts of the country with the pros-pect of forming a national network of these programs,” she said. q


Marketing and advertising are completely different entities. According to the Webster

Dictionary, marketing is: “The busi-ness activity of presenting products or services in such a way as to make them desirable.” Advertising is: “The public promotion of something such as a product, service, business, or event in order to attract or increase interest in it.”

Facilitating exchangesMarketing is meant to persuade, whereas advertising is made for a call to action. Marketing keeps you in the mindshare of customers so as to keep them coming back for your product or service. Advertising allows the sales strategy to sell a product or service that first and foremost fulfills the wants and needs of consumers. When customers’ wants and needs are fulfilled profits follow.

Marketing is broken down into several components, including market research, advertising, media planning, public relations, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, product pricing and feedback from customers.

Marketing should support advertis-ing in order for it to be more effective. Primarily marketing, if done correctly, will generate sales leads. Marketing creates an identity of your business so prospective customers will want to buy your product or use your services. Marketing takes time and can involve hours of research for a marketing plan to be effective. Think of marketing as everything an organization does to fa-cilitate an exchange between business and the consumer.

what’s the DiFFerence?Effective marketing will generate new customers by making them aware of your business. Knowing the difference between marketing and advertising lets businesses become and stay successful. Marketing is not an overnight activity; it takes time and can involve in-depth research for a marketing plan to be uti-lized effectively. Think of marketing as whatever an organization does to make it possible for an exchange of product or services between a company and their consumers.

Implementation of an effective marketing plan needs to be done on a consistent basis, only 1 percent to 3 percent of the population at any given time is interested in buy-ing a product or a service. Market-ing frequency is the only way for a business to stay in the consumer’s mindshare. Contacting prospective clients through advertising has to be done for the long haul. Marketing to your target market month after month keeps the business’s identity in front of existing and future clients.

Without marketing there would be no business, and advertising is just one of the marketing tools needed to generate business. Both marketing and advertis-ing need work hand-in-hand to be effec-tive in reaching and getting customers to be proactive in buying a product or service. Another way to help distinguish between marketing and advertising is this: marketing consists of planning a marketing strategy and the correct steps in implementing the strategy.

aDVertising actionAdvertising is just one component of marketing. Advertising’s job is to let the consumer know about your business product or service that will generate a call to action. This involves creating ads, the placement of these ads along with the frequency of these ads. Most common venues for advertising include magazines, newspapers, direct mail-ings, television, radio and the Internet.

Advertising’s sole purpose is to in-crease sales – it’s the biggest expense of a marketing plan. Advertising is the story told about a product or service that will attract the attention of consum-ers and encourage the consumer to act.

By understanding the differences between marketing and advertising, businesses will have the knowledge to keep their current customers and ac-quire new ones. q

About the AuthorRon “Cat” Mason is the founder and

CEO of CM&A Consulting, a business and marketing consulting firm. Mason is a member of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce as well as Business Net-

working International (BNI).

Marketing and AdvertisingDistinguishing the differences

© Chris Arend 2011

Ron “Cat” Mason

mArket Ing works By roN “Cat” masoN

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Adding Value to Resources In-State

Value-added manufacturing has long been touted as the gallop-ing white steed that could ride

into Alaska on the heels of a collapsing oil industry, leaving in its wake economic development benefits that create jobs, business for statewide companies, and a bigger tax base for local communities.

Making something from natural re-sources within the state rather than ex-porting the resources in the raw would also allow Alaskans to buy the products

made here without having them shipped back from out of state. Whether the re-source is logs, fish, minerals, or oil and gas, industry and academic leaders say the potential and resulting economic benefits are unlimited.

A bigger tax base would result from value-added companies and transpor-tation carriers. There would be more manufacturing jobs in a more diverse economy. The move away from natural resources would mean more sustain-

able economic development. Youth would be less likely to leave the state in search of work because there would be more employment options. For con-sumers, more efficient manufacturing and transporting of goods would result in lower costs marketwide.

using our Foreign traDe Zone“Think of cargo coming into Anchor-age from Asia, such as fine clothing, textiles, flowers and fruits. It comes

By Heidi BoHi

MANUFACTURING

University of Alaska Anchorage Professor of Logistics Darren Prokop by a rail barge at the port in Whittier.

More jobs, bigger tax base, lower consumer

costs

Photos by Janet Burton, UAA Logistics Department


to Anchorage first, then it’s shipped to the Lower 48 where it’s packaged and cross-docked, then made available for sale Outside and in Anchorage – which means it has to fly back to Alaska,” says Darren Prokop, professor of logistics at the University of Alaska Anchorage. “What if the value added application was done in Anchorage in our foreign trade zone? There would be no tariff applied.”

The question, though, is what will it take to make this a reality and who is go-ing to take the lead in making it happen?

Although several organizations, businesses and government entities continue to work to advance the idea of value-added manufacturing, including the Anchorage Economic Development Corp., World Trade Center Alaska, the Alaska Chamber of Commerce and the University of Alaska, to date, most efforts have fallen flat, including the State’s 1980s attempts to create an agri-culture industry in the Interior, and the seafood-processing plant in Anchorage that folded several years ago.

The list of value-added manufactur-ing successes is limited to only a few, which are in the food services indus-try, including fish processing, the Mata-nuska Creamery and Alaska Sausage and Seafood. Despite other failures, there has also been some success in creating Alaska value-added manufac-turing, in one case creating an industry. Agrium Corp.’s fertilizer and liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, owned by Con-ocoPhillips Alaska and Marathon Oil, are past examples of two of the larger successes. (Note: Agrium did shutter it’s doors years ago and the LNG plant will soon do same.) Refineries near Kenai, Fairbanks and Valdez, are also cases where industry-led initiatives were given crucial help by the State in making State-owned royalty crude oil available.

alaska at ‘tipping point’Although Alaska is at the “tipping point” and has certain existing and emerging transportation advantages working in favor of value-added manufacturing, the missing link to success, Prokop says, is that all of the pieces are not being pulled together to demonstrate that the state has the critical mass needed to be attractive to manufacturers and trans-portation carriers. Now, he says, it is simply a matter of disparate groups of


people recognizing the important po-tential and bringing it all together with other components so these efforts are tipped in the right direction.

“It is looked at in isolation – it is looked at only in terms of a gas-and-go point of view and that is not attractive to carriers or manufacturers who might want to do business here. We need to sell the potential and get out of tunnel vision thinking and once we’ve made it past that tipping point and have manu-facturers here, success will naturally follow,” Prokop says.

“Alaska, in terms of value-added manufacturing, is at a tipping point. We have pieces in place, now it’s just a matter of the right people nudging it and it will create potentially irreversible momentum if it’s done properly.”

The university’s role, he says, is to teach the state what is allowed and what isn’t, keeping in mind what makes lo-gistical sense. From there, government and business need to market the state, which requires the airport and Port of Anchorage working to attract manu-facturers. At the same time, he says, private industry has to take the lead since it is the one risking capital and working directly with manufacturers on a day-to-day basis.

“Private industry is in a better position to know what needs to be done,” Prokop says. “It is up to them to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of locating here, to run the numbers and explain what a friendly business environment this is.”

The simplest definition of value added, Prokop says, is “a process that takes place when something is done to make a prod-uct more valuable, more complex, more desirable and more marketable.”

Value-added manufacturing, then, is simply the process that takes place when all of these factors are combined, then value is added beyond what was originally intended. Turning steel into an automobile, scrap wood into violins, or simply taking a product from Japan to China, packaging it, and shipping it out – these are just a few examples of value-added manufacturing.

The commercial fishing industry in Dutch Harbor is a prime example of how value-added manufacturing has been working for decades, Prokop says. Fish are harvested from the Pa-cific Ocean and Bering Sea, brought

into port, processed then sold to Alaska restaurants and those outside of the state and country.

At the same time, there are even more examples of where value-added manufacturing is not working, though the potential is there. Crude oil from Prudhoe Bay is loaded onto supertank-ers in Valdez before it is shipped to the Lower 48 states for refining, which means local consumers bear the brunt of those additional costs.

enhancing air cargo Anchorage’s strategic geographic lo-cation for global logistics operations means it is nine hours or less from 95 percent of most of the world’s population centers, is closer by air to Europe and Asia than any other North American international air-port, and handles more air cargo tonnage than any other U.S. airport. Although crude oil is the most obvious example of value-added manufactur-ing potential, with less restrictive air cargo laws, this could also be opened up to many other industries.

In addition to having the opera-tional advantage of “air cargo trans-fer,” which is the process of moving shipments from one plane to another, the potential exists for this process to be taken one step further. Instead of simply moving freight from one plane to the other, transportation and elected officials are working to increase air cargo liberalization, which would al-low it to be laid over at a foreign trade zone of the airport where various types of value-added improvements could be applied before it was transferred to another plane for duty-free shipping.

In Alaska, cargo carriers can do more in terms of transferring cargo among planes in their fleet and the state has more carriers than any air-port in the country. Once cargo ar-rives from Asia and Outside, a lot of it simply moves on, though Prokop says this stop on the route offers the perfect value-added opportunity that could easily be capitalized on instead of just “moving cargo from one belly of the plane to another.”

“Because there are so many options for international air cargo carriers, and so many of them are going to so many locales in Asia, it makes more sense to

do the value added here than it does in Memphis, Seattle, Louisville or other superhubs,” Prokop says, adding that it opens up the number of ways the cargo can be distributed once the value-added application has been implemented.

expanDing port oF anchorageIn addition to enhancing existing air

cargo transfer options at the Ted Ste-vens International Airport in Anchor-age – which were originally secured by the late Sen. Ted Stevens – Prokop says once the Port of Anchorage expan-sion is completed, its freight-handling capacity also needs to be leveraged to attract U.S.-Asia cargo trade along the great circle route. Because all container ships coming from ports north of Los Angeles on their way to Asia have to pass on or near Alaska waters, this gives the state another advantage, as vessels have to head north first.

The port’s intermodal expansion program centers around the road and rail extension, which will improve cargo flow and reduce traffic conflicts outside of port boundaries. The ma-rine terminal redevelopment portion includes expanding commercial dock space and improving the rail connec-tion to the port. Eight new berths will also accommodate barges, containers, petroleum and military vessels, along with a new dock expansion, new termi-nal, and road and rail extension.

All of this adds up to making An-chorage “a potential Singapore of the north,” Prokop says, with an added advantage: “The port of Anchorage, compared to others in the Lower 48, is not subject to the congestion those ports have in terms of clearing, nor do we have customs delays they have.”

This will become more apparent as the world economy recovers and con-gestion increases in hub areas such as Seattle, Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, while in Anchorage it will improve because of the expanded port.

Although reaching the tipping point may seem daunting, he says, there is no reason why it cannot be realized in less than five years with air cargo liberaliza-tion, especially with port improvements getting ready to come online. The only hold up is lack of infrastructure.

“Private industry needs to be ready to pounce and sell Alaska,” he says. q


When manager Bill fired Kristi, he considered it a no-brainer and a done-deal. Kristi rarely

showed up to work on time. She took excessive breaks and texted during the work day. She used the company phone and copier for personal matters.

A month earlier, he had formally reprimanded Kristi for her absentee-ism, tardiness and poor work habits. At the time, Kristi said she couldn’t help it because pregnancy complica-tions made her late in the morning. Bill hadn’t known Kristi was pregnant. The day after he reprimanded her, Kristi made a complaint to the Equal Em-ployment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleging unfair treatment due to pregnancy. When Bill got the formal notice, he swore out loud and then fought the charge with the truth. He pointed out Kristi’s problems and his intervention as a manager started before he or anyone knew of Kristi’s pregnancy.

Kristi produced evidence showing other employees texted, made personal long-distance calls and occasionally ar-rived late for work. As the EEOC in-vestigation drug on, Kristi’s behavior got worse. She dragged in to work after 9 a.m., took two-hour lunches and left for the day by 4 p.m. When Bill fired Kristi, she dropped her complaint with the EEOC, hired an attorney and sued Bill in civil court. To Bill’s astonishment, although Kristi lost her pregnancy dis-crimination lawsuit, she claimed victory on her retaliation charge.

Retaliation claims account for 25 percent of all charges filed with the EEOC. As Bill learned, some employees take advantage of the protection filing a complaint with a regulatory body gives them, and yet manage to win if the provoked

manager fires them. Fifty-seven per-cent of all juries find in favor of plain-tiffs who assert a retaliation complaint.

As a manager, if you don’t want to lose a retaliation charge brought by a problem employee, you need to know the ground rules. Any action or be-havior that has the real or perceived effect of punishing an employee for engaging in a protected activity can constitute retaliation. This both pro-tects employees from unfair treatment and complicates a manager needing to discipline an employee with work performance problems.

Federal employment and other statutes prohibiting employers from taking retaliatory or adverse action against an employee who has exer-cised his or her rights to complain include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the ERISA, the Fam-ily Medical Leave Act, the National Labor Relations Act, the American with Disabilities Act, GINA and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

To prevail against a retaliation law-suit, the employer needs to give a le-gitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for any adverse employment action taken against an employee who protests his or her rights. If the employer can give

solid reasons for disciplining an em-ployee, the burden shifts to the plaintiff employee to prove that the employer’s stated reasons for discipline actually covered up retaliation.

In Kristi’s case, Bill documented her problems; however, his case weakened when Kristi produced evidence other employees had similarly poor habits. Still, he managed to convince a jury that Kristi deserved her initial discipline. Unfortunately, he stepped onto a land-mine when Kristi’s behavior worsened, provoking him to fire her.

What do managers need to do when a complaint or lawsuit complicates the need to discipline a problem employee? Act cautiously and make sure every decision rests on solid business reasons. Avoid dramatic actions, such as termi-nation, because a jury can conclude retaliation when any strong discipline results after an employee protests a pro-tected right. If the employee pushes your buttons, place the employee on paid or unpaid administrative leave or continue only a reasonable level of discipline until the initial legal action concludes. In other words, don’t hand a problem employee a win. q

About the AuthorLocal management/employee trainer and consultant and the author of Managing Equally and Legally, Won By One and Solutions, Dr. Lynne Curry regularly provides managerial, lead-ership and board-training seminars as well as public seminars. 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, man-agement or employee training, medi-ation or HR troubleshooting, please visit www.thegrowthcompany.com.

Retaliation Burnshr mAtters By lyNNe Curry

©2011Chris Arend

Know the ground rules to prevail


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rIght moVes Compiled By NaNCy pouNds

strategies 360 Ethan Berkowitz joined Strategies 360, a Seattle-based marketing firm with offices in Anchor- age, Montana, Oregon, eastern Washington state and Washington, D.C. Berkowitz is a former State legislator.

alaska state chamber oF commerce

Rachael Petro was appointed to serve as pres ident and ch ie f executive of the Alaska S t a t e C h a m b e r o f Commerce. Petro most r ecen t l y se r ved as deputy commissioner for the Alaska Department of Administration.

cook inlet tribal councilPita Benz was hired as Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s vice president of social enterprise. Benz previously served as senior vice president and manger of the commercial real estate group at Wells Fargo Bank.

alaska aerospace corp.Craig E� Campbell was hired as president and chief operating officer for Alaska Aerospace Corp. Campbell most recently served as Alaska’s lieu-tenant governor. He also has served as commis-sioner for the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

uniVersity oF alaska anchorage

Tom Case was appointed chancellor for the University of Alaska Anchorage. Case most recently served as president and chief operating officer for the Alaska Aerospace Corp. He also has served as dean of the UAA College of Business and Public Policy from 2002 to 2006.

bristol Design builD serVices llc

Jason Strickler was promoted to senior project manager at Bristol Design Build Services LLC. He joined the company in 2001 as an expeditor and has worked in various posts. He most recently served as project manager.

alaska energy authoritySara Fisher-Goad was appointed executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority. She pre-viously served as deputy director of operations for AEA and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. She has worked for AEA in various roles since 2000.

access alaska inc. Kerry Turnbow joined Access Alaska Inc. as Interior regional director. He most recently served as clinical director at the Boys and Girls Home of Alaska, Fairbanks. He also teaches psy-chology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

asrc energy serVices Jeff Kinneeveauk was appointed president and chief executive of ASRC Energy Services, a sub-sidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corp. He most recently served as senior vice president of share-holder programs for ASRC. He has worked for ASRC companies since 1997.

alaska sealiFe centerThe Alaska SeaLife Center presented the Alaska Ocean Leadership Awards earlier this year. The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies received the award for Ocean Literacy. The Marine Conservation

Alliance received the Ocean Media Award for excel-lence in journalism promoting awareness of Alaska’s oceans. Jeremy Mathis of the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences earned the Ocean Research Award for his work conducting research in high-latitude carbon cycling and ocean acidification in the Arctic. Shell Alaska Venture received the Ocean Stewardship and Sustainability Award, honoring the company’s efforts to study offshore Arctic environments. Clarence Pautze, executive director of the North Pacific Research Board, received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to help manage Alaska’s coastal and ocean resources.

ptp management inc.Elisha Martin was promoted to broker and vice pres-ident of operations at PTP Management Inc. Martin joined the company in 2008 as property manager. John Morrison was hired as controller. Morrison most recently led the finance and accounting division for a nationwide commercial construction and devel-opment company.

northweststrategies

Matt Geitz was hired as traffic manager for Northwest Strategies. Geitz earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.

sewarD chamber oF commerce/conVention anD

Visitor’s bureauCharles Bowman was appointed executive director for the Seward Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. He has worked as a communications specialist with the U.S. Navy, Chamber of Commerce government affairs and executive director positions, and as a business owner and manager.

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wells FargoK y l e B e l l n a p w a s appo in ted merchan t c a r d s e r v i c e s s p e -cialist for Wells Fargo in Alaska. Bellnap began his career with Wells Fargo as a teller in 2007 and has held several other roles at the bank. He is studying at Alaska

Pacific University to earn a bachelor’s degree in business management.

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Collin Schroeder joined GeoNorth as a pro-grammer/analyst. He has experience as a consultant for the University of Alaska Anchorage and State government agencies. Wes Rathburn was hired as a programmer/analyst. He is a former staff ser-geant with the Alaska Army National Guard. Both men earned degrees in computer science from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

icy strait pointStuart Campbell was hired as food and beverage director at Icy Strait Point, a private cruise ship destination in Southeast Alaska owned by Huna Totem Corp., the Alaska Native village corporation for Hoonah. Campbell has 22 years of food-service industry experience, including posts as executive chef at Waterfall Resort near Ketchikan and as food service supervisor and rental shop manager at Eaglecrest Ski Area in Juneau. Eleanor Davenport was hired as retail director. She most recently served

as the director of retail and special projects at the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad.

First national bank alaska Betsy Lawer was elected to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s board of directors. She will serve for three years. Lawer is vice chairwoman at First National Bank Alaska. Lawer previously served as a board member for the Seattle Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco from 1997-2003.

national cherryblossom FestiVal

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich chose Grace Abbott to rep-resent Alaska as the state’s princess in the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. A U.S. senator chooses a representative annually to participate in the festival, which is set for March 26- April 10 this year. Abbott is a sophomore at George Washington University majoring in political science and Spanish.

ciri alaska tourism corp. Sarah Laschober was promoted to assistant reser-vations manager at CIRI Alaska Tourism Corp. She most recently worked as a reservations supervisor for the company. Elizabeth Adams was promoted to contract administrator. Adams has worked 10 years for the company, serving in positions from front desk agent at Kenai Fjords Tours to reservations agent at Alaska Heritage Tours.

alaska oFFice oF boating saFety

Mike Morris was chosen the Alaska Boating Safety Educator of the Year. Morris is a U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary instructor, a State-certified Alaska Water Wise instructor and Alaska Marine Safety Education Association trainer. The Alaska Office of Boating Safety presented the annual award.

yulista holDing llcMonica James was hired as senior vice president of business strategy for Yulista Holding LLC. James previously served as vice president of business operations for Alaska Aerospace Corp.

shannon anD wilson inc. Rinu Samuel joined Shannon and Wilson Inc.’s Fairbanks office as a geological engineer. Samuel graduated in 2010 from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Catherine Hill was hired as a geologist. Hill earned a master’s degree in geoscience from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Shandra Miller joined the firm as an environmental scientist. Miller earned a degree in chemistry from UAF. Veronica Martinez was hired as administrative assistant. Martinez has 13 years of administrative experience, including seven years as an executive administrative assistant. Chris Darrah was promoted to senior prin-cipal geologist. Darrah has been with the company for more than 23 years. Mark Lockwood was pro-moted to associate. He has more than 28 years of experience in Alaska. Frank Wuttig was promoted to senior associate. Wuttig has been with the Fairbanks firm for 20 years as a geologic engineer.

alaska railroaD corp. Linda Leary was elected board chairwoman of the Alaska Railroad Corp. She has served on the board of directors since 2009. Leary is president and co-owner of Carlile Transportation Systems.

humane society The Humane Society honored Rep� Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, as Alaska’s 2010 Legislator of the Year. Lynn was recognized for his efforts during the 26th Alaska Legislature to strengthen State animal cruelty laws.

national chilD labor committee

Frances Macon received the 2011 Lewis Hine Award for Volunteers. The National Child Labor Committee in New York City presented the award to the Alaskan, honoring Macon for nearly 40 years serving the community and at-risk children. She is licensed as a foster parent with the Department of Health and Social Services. q

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TIMBER

By Jeff mulliNs

Poppert Milling Inc.Wasilla’s local lumber yard

According to the father-son team of Dave and Mike Poppert, old-fashioned values like a

commitment to quality, service and in-tegrity combined with forward-looking innovation balancing efficiency, costs and environmental sensitivities have allowed their fourth-generation family business, Popper Milling of Wasilla, to remain viable even in sluggish eco-nomic times. Speaking especially to that part innovation plays in success, Dave, the founder’s grandson says, “We have learned over the years that challenges seeming to threaten a com-pany’s survival can actually become opportunities to innovate for success.”

Poppert Milling was established when Dave’s grandfather – Mike’s great grandfather – relocated to Wasilla from Colorado in 1961 with wood-molding and cabinet-shop equipment in tow. Virgil Poppert identified a niche market he thought he could address, set up shop in 1963, and began to remanufac-ture locally sawn lumber into molding and other high-quality finished lum-bers, which he then sold to local craft-speople, cabinet makers and builders.

The concept proved a good one but the growing business faced a serious challenge when product line expan-sion and increased sales demonstrated the region surrounding Wasilla had inadequate infrastructure to provide a reliable supply of the green lumber re-quired to meet Poppert’s needs. Steps to assure a sustainable future for the firm had to be taken. “To assure an adequate, reliable supply of local lumber, we had to expand into logging and sawing lum-ber ourselves,” Dave said.

Initially the cost of expanding into saw milling seemed prohibitive but the Poppert’s own research some time ago led them to investigate an inno-vative solution recently pointed to in academic work at Auburn University as being environmentally important,

efficient and particularly suitable to the establishment of small enterprises in remote forested areas with inadequate infrastructure to serve local needs.

Poppert’s solution in the search for sustainability was the purchase of a portable sawmill manufactured by Wood-Mizer Corp., of Indianapolis, Ind. The mill required a capital outlay about the same as the cost of a small tractor, a small fraction of the cost of a typical conventional sawmill.

The new sawmill provided the flexibility and efficiency the Popperts needed to produce new unique and custom-sized products as well as the cost competitiveness both they and their customers were looking for. Dave says the thin blades utilized on a porta-ble band sawmill means more lumber is produced from each log.

“When we produce more lumber from each log on our Wood-Mizer, we make a positive environmental con-tribution without incurring additional

expenses,” he says. “Raw material is used more efficiently, less waste is produced and we meet demands for wood products from fewer trees – so harvests are reduced.”

Today, Poppert Milling offers a wide range of high-quality wood products manufactured from locally available native Alaska species including birch, cottonwood and spruce. Products in-clude custom-sized tongue-and-groove flooring, paneling, cabinet stock, siding, fencing, stair treads and architectural moldings made per the customer’s specifications. Also available are large beams, timbers and three-sided “house logs,” as well as complete cabin pack-ages. A good reputation, word-of-mouth and a website keep the company busy.

Poppert Milling’s continued suc-cess during hard economic times arises from the company’s use of innova-tion to enhance efficiency, a genuinely Alaskan and environmentally respon-sible approach to business. q

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Mike Poppert looks on while a customer examines the custom beam being produced for him at Poppert Milling in Wasilla. The portable mills allow flex-

ibility to make custom-sized and unique products from local trees.


After less than six months in his first professional position right out of college, Anand Vada-

palli, the new CEO and president of Alaska Communications, left the prom-ising job to start his own technology and management consulting business. His parents and fiancée were skeptical, but he knew if he was going to take a professional risk, he needed to do it while he was still young enough to be motivated by fear.

Also not convinced the young man was making the right decision, Vada-palli’s boss sent him off with cautionary advice that continues to resound with him more than two decades later, as he settles into one of the telecommunica-tions industry’s top positions.

“If you continue to work here, you will learn at my expense,” the mentor told him. “If you go out on your own, you will learn at your expense and you will learn much faster.”

Predictably, he had his ups and downs in those three-and-a-half years of being self-employed, Vadapalli says. But the lessons learned early on have stuck with him, along with the memo-ries of getting his first contract and first check from a customer.

“One of the reasons I believe I have been able to grow the way I have is that I’ve never lost sight of the fact that it is growing and winning and keeping customers that keeps businesses suc-cessful,” he says. “And I’ve learned this at my own expense.”

extensiVe backgrounDOriginally from Hyderabad, India – a major hub for the information technology industry in the country – Vadapalli, 45, earned his degree in mechanical engineering from Osma-nia University in Hyderabad, as well

as a post graduate diploma in man-agement (P.G.D.M.) from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, India. After a brief time in Bombay and then Hyderabad, he moved to the United States in 1994 to start on his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, which he put aside to join Cincinnati Bell in 1996, launching his career in telecommunications. He held various positions there through 2003, including vice president of information technology, before serving as execu-tive vice president and chief informa-tion officer for Network Telephone Corp., a position he held for one year.

In 2004, he joined Valor Telecom as vice president of information tech-nology, where he worked until joining Alaska Communications as senior vice president of network and IT in 2006. His first years at the company were focused on building the technological infrastructure. As executive vice presi-dent of technology and operations, then chief operating officer in 2009, his role shifted to market and customer facing, including sales and service, and product development and marketing.

proFessional partnershipVadapalli’s advancement is the result of the company’s succession strategy. He replaces Liane Pelletier, who led the company since 2003 and is credited for rebuilding the executive lead team, implementing a new operating model and organizational structure, and over-hauling the company’s image internally and externally. The two will continue to work together through the board of di-rectors, in which Vadapalli participates in his new capacity as CEO.

Although the two are known for hav-ing different management and operat-ing styles, their professional partnership

and respect for each other intellectually continues to strengthen the company’s market position.

“Liane is one of the smartest people I’ve ever had the privilege of working with,” Vadapalli says. “I look forward to leveraging her knowledge as a strategy adviser for me.”

Besides his tireless work ethics and intense focus, those who know him say Vadapalli is one of the most un-pretentious, genuine people they have ever known, and if anyone can meet the huge challenges facing Alaska Communications it is he. The state’s

TELECOMUNICATIONS

Changes at Alaska CommunicationsAnand Vadapalli takes the helm

By Heidi BoHi

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Anand VadapalliCEO and President

Alaska Communications


telecommunications industry is known as one of the most competitive in the country, especially considering the small population base. Where similar markets typically have two companies to choose from, three large providers inundate Alaska residents and busi-nesses with incentives for switching to the competition. At the same time, it is no secret that Verizon Wireless is poised to enter the Alaska market with voice, broadband data and other wire-less products and services.

customer FocusIn the end, industry leaders agree, ser-vice is what dictates satisfaction, which comes down to adapting products to the market. Vadapalli’s experience in both technology and marketing is why he is expected to be able to grow the com-pany despite the challenges facing him. While being aware of the competition is certainly critical, he understands focus-ing on what is best for the customer is more important than chasing the other guy. The best way to stay ahead, he says, is by making a steady and heavy investment in technology and innova-tion, which the company continues to do: over the past few years alone, it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in technological infrastructure – a commitment that will not change. That, combined with customer service that sets the standard, is how he plans to keep the company ahead of the game.

“He doesn’t view the competition as a zero-sum game,” Bob Kaufman, both a friend and professional affiliate says of Vadapalli. “He really takes the commitments Alaska Communications makes to customers very seriously and understands you don’t solve problems in business without short-term stresses. He took the job at a time when the wind is not blowing at his back – and he took it without hesitation.”

One of his recent responses to the changing marketplace was his contribu-tion to changing the Alaska Communi-cations Systems (ACS) brand to Alaska Communications. When the original brand was developed about 10 years ago, he says, more than 75 percent of the company’s business came from pro-viding traditional phone service. Today more than 50 percent of revenues come from wireless and enterprise data.

“There has been a significant shift in who we are and what we do in the market, in the products and services we sell, and how we make money,” he says. “It is important for us to communicate that we have evolved and grown from where we were 10 years ago and the new brand is a reflection of how we have changed.”

committeD leaDerWhile Vadapalli is the first one to talk about executing the company’s stra-tegic choices, including “making the customer experience the highest quality they can get every day,” no less im-portant is his commitment to enabling employees so the work force evolves as the business changes.

“Taking care of our employees and our customers – there’s no magic be-hind this business approach,” he says pragmatically, and it all goes back to the lessons he learned in his profes-sional experience before entering the corporate world. “It’s not about one department over another – it’s about the company and I’ve always kept that attitude.”

Vadapalli’s golf game is similar to his realistic approach to business. Kaufman says, “He keeps the ball in the fairway – another indicator of his focused and consistent style, and the only way to score well in the game.”

When he’s not working, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Prarthana, and son, Anirudh, a sophomore at Em-ory University who plans to go to law school, and his daughter Shruti who is an eighth grader at Golden View Middle School. He also enjoys reading, painting, sketching and taking annual family trips back to India.

His first name Anand means joy or happiness, which immediately comes across in his demeanor. Although his success at such a young age is remark-able, when asked about what he attri-butes his accomplishments to, he says he doesn’t think of his consistent ad-vancement as the motivator.

“I care about quality and I love problem-solving,” he says. “And the most important thing is that I learn every single day. I build good relation-ships at work and I sustain them, and I’m fortunate to have the opportunities I’ve had so far.” q


World Trade Center Alaska (WTCAK) focuses on help-ing Alaskans successfully

compete for trade and investment in the global marketplace. The nonprofit organization represents a valuable re-source for Alaska companies wanting to do business internationally, according to Executive Director Greg Wolf.

WTCAK provides everything from one-on-one counseling and market research to valuable access to facili-ties and support in more than 300 cities around the world. It strives to give Alaska companies the informa-tion, tools and introduction to conduct business internationally. WTCAK is all about showing Alaska companies they can be local and global. “You can be an Alaska company and do business all over the world,” Wolf says.

Founded in 1987, WTCAK has ap-proximately 100 members. Companies make up the majority of the member-ship, with individuals comprising the rest. WTCAK’s members fall into three distinct categories. The largest group is companies already doing in-ternational business and interested in entering a new market. These busi-nesses are often seeking insight into different distribution channels.

The second-biggest segment is com-panies doing business in Alaska and/or the Lower 48 and are looking to find opportunities overseas. The third and smallest category represents service providers, such as banks and freight forwarders, who are seeking to do busi-nesses overseas.

While WTCAK is pleased to assist all of its members, perhaps the most rewarding group to work, Wolf says, are those who are exploring international opportunities for the first time.

“It’s a whole new game for them,”

he says. “They don’t have any experi-ence doing this yet.”

helping companies expanDtheir borDers

WTCAK uses a variety of methods to assist Alaska businesses with their ef-forts to do international business. Trade missions are a prime example. Wolf says it’s essential for companies to get first-hand, ground-level knowledge when exploring opportunities overseas. Being able to meet with potential inter-national customers face-to-face can be more advantageous than talking with people over the phone or conducting research over the Internet.

“It gives you a better understanding to travel to that market and see what’s going on the ground,” Wolf said. “See-ing is believing. You really need to get on the ground in China yourself.”

That’s exactly what WTCAK’s is helping its members do. The organi-zation has taken two trade missions to China. Mission participants have been able to learn about potential business op-portunities, gain a better understanding of the country’s economic and business climates and receive advice on how to navigate those markets. Over the years, exports from Alaska to China have in-creased from $100 million to about $800 million, Wolf says. “We’ve done a lot in terms of providing information and assistance to Alaskans who want to do business in China.”

China is Alaska’s No. 2 trade part-ner. In 2009, it received 18 percent of the state’s imports, according to a July 2010 report prepared for WTCAK by Anchorage-based consulting firm North-ern Economics, “The Economic Impacts of International Trade Exports on the Alaskan Economy.” The report indicates Japan received 30 percent of Alaska’s

exports; South Korea received 14 per-cent; and Canada received 10 percent in 2009. Alaska ranked sixth in the na-tion by value of exports on a per-capita basis, exporting the equivalent of $4,660 goods per person that year. The state’s exports to overseas markets totaled $3.3 billion in 2009. The primary goods being exported from Alaska are seafood, energy, forest products, and precious metals and minerals.

exploring Fornew opportunities

Currently, WTCAK has trade develop-ment programs on China, Japan, Korea, Canada and an area called “emerging markets/new customer programs.” While the organization is continuing to work hard on developing Alaska’s tradi-tional overseas markets, it is also looking to find new opportunities, Wolf says.

Southeast Asia is an emerging hot spot – particularly Singapore. Singa-pore is a small market, but it has a rapidly expanding middle class with

World Trade Center Alaska

Helping Alaska companies expand globally

World Trade Center Alaska Executive Director Greg Wolf.

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an 18 percent annual growth rate, ac-cording to Wolf. A major factor driving the trend is the growth of the country’s middle class, he says. This segment of the population has more money to spend and higher expectations.

“Many people are moving up the economic food chain,” Wolf said. “All of that requires energy, natural re-sources and food.”

For WTCAK, the challenge is to match Alaska goods and services with the needs of Singapore’s burgeoning middle class. The organization is con-scientiously working to leverage this valuable opportunity. Several months ago, WTCAK members took a trade mission to Southeast Asia. The bulk of their time was spent in Singapore and New Delhi, with a brief stop in Taipei.

Wolf says India isn’t a big customer for Alaska – yet – but it is growing im-pressively. Some of the growth charac-teristics and needs India has are very similar to those of China. WTCAK’s goal during the recent trade mission was to not only discover what types of goods India needs, but also to discuss what Alaska can provide. “There is a lot more follow-up work to do,” Wolf said. “It’s sort of cutting-edge trade develop-ment work and a start to our growth with trade with India.”

serVice-sector exports,a growing FielD

WTCAK is also increasing its efforts to help service-sector companies capi-talize on international business. The recent trip to Southeast Asia, for in-stance, featured companies offering construction engineering, architectural and environmental services.

When most people think about Alaska exports, they think of coal, seafood or natural gas. However, an increasing number of Alaska com-panies with world-class expertise in the service sector are reaching out to customers overseas. WTCAK doesn’t have exact figures on Alaska’s service-sector exports, Wolf says, but he es-timates service-sector exports to be about $750 million annually. And that’s probably on the low end, he says. Service-sector exports is a grow-ing field enabling Alaska companies to offer their extensive expertise outside the state. “If you can do work in Alaska

and do it well, you can probably do it somewhere else,” Wolf says.

From an industry-based perspec-tive, WTCAK is concerned about the responsible development of Alaska’s natural resources. Wolf says Alaska can have development and maintain the integrity and beauty of the state. To address this vital issue, WTCAK is working to highlight opportunities for Alaskans to sell natural resources.

“It’s important for the decision mak-ers to know there are markets in the U.S. and overseas for what Alaska has here,”

Wolf said. “The world needs what Alas-kans have to offer and, increasingly, the world has money to buy those things.”

WTCAK is constantly striving to im-prove the quantity and quality of the services it provides to its members. Its prevailing goal is to do more for the Alaskan business community. In the future, the organization would like to see its membership continue to grow.

“As more companies see oppor-tunities overseas, we think that will lead to an expansion of our member-ship,” Wolf says. q

The value of

The wonder of technology is that in the blink of an eye, the tools of an industry can change. One new innovation can revolutionize how we approach oil development. At ConocoPhillips, we are leaders in developing new technologies in Alaska. It’s helped us reach more oil with a smaller footprint. That’s good for the environment. That’s good for Alaska. And that’s the value of innovation.

innovation

conocophillipsalaska.com


FISHERIES

Southeast Alaska MaricultureGeoduck divers create new industry

By NiCole a. BoNHam ColBy

After a near 14-year evolution of dogged efforts by a hand-ful of Southeastern divers to

create a farmed-geoduck industry in Alaska, last year proved particularly significant for the venture. It marked the first occasion in Alaska history that geoducks – giant clams indigenous to the chilly waters of Washington state, British Columbia and the Panhandle – were grown to maturity on local farms, then harvested and shipped from the state to Asian markets.

According to Kurtis R. Morin, the Ward Cove-based entrepreneur and long-time impetus behind the concept of developing a farmed-geoduck niche in the 49th state, the year ahead may prove to be the best yet for the intrepid group of commercial divers who make their living at the bottom of the sea.

turbulent watersJust like the extreme ebb and flow of the waters of the island archipelago where the divers farm their clams, the chro-nology of the industry itself in Alaska has not been smooth. First, there was the challenge of simply working with State regulators to develop from scratch a permit system for such a geoduck-mariculture industry. That started at the most basic level: addressing the concerns and requirements of a mul-titude of State and federal agencies to develop a coherent application, permit and regulation process.

Once that milestone was met, there was conflict from the existing com-mercial dive-harvest fishery regarding impact to wild-stock geoducks. The pri-mary conflict – how to reconcile any harvest of wild-stock clams from the permitted farmed sites – was somewhat resolved through litigation and after

the State opened the farmed sites to multiple, initial commercial harvests. Through amended regulations, the State then developed a system for ad-dressing subsequent wild stock that may be collected in farmed harvest returns.

However, according to Morin and others, the greatest challenge ahead for those few remaining divers who have lasted the decade-long development period, is that of availability of seed. In the end, it is a logical challenge of

Kurtis Morin, co-owner of Alaska Shellfish, displays juvenile geoduck clams at his micro-nursery at Ward Cove. Once the clams reach approximately 12 millimeters,

they will be transferred to State-permitted farm sites in the Ketchikan vicinity.

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finding sufficient amounts of clam seed that will determine the success of this fledging, mariculture niche.

seeD sowingAs Alaska geoduck farmers are prohib-ited from importing seed from outside the state, a single source – the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery in Seward – currently supplies all geoduck seed. Due to lack of availability from the single source, Morin did not have seed to plant in 2009, and only some 1,500 count for last year. While the concept of farmed geoducks elsewhere in the United States and Canada has been around since the 1970s, the Alaska in-dustry is young and has yet to resolve such logistical challenges.

Operating as Alaska Shellfish, co-owners Kurtis Morin and brother Ryan Morin receive their seed from the hatchery in two sizes: that which is approximately 3 millimeters in size, and also larger-sized baby geoduck clams that simply require a short pe-riod of acclimation before planting at the farm sites. The life of a geoduck farmer is year-round, but largely starts in the early spring, with the ordering and arrival of seed – if available. The miniature, 3 millimeter geoduck seed gets planted in custom-designed, irri-gated trays at a floating micro-nursery at Air-Marine Harbor, Ward Cove. Once the clams grow to approximately 12 millimeters – about a year later – the farmers transfer the juvenile clams to farm sites leased from the State and scattered across southern Southeast.

The farmers sprinkle the clam seed onto mesh that is pinned to the ocean floor. The divers return at least monthly to remove kelp and eventually – three or four months later – to remove the mesh, which is returned ashore, washed and reused for the next planting. During the summer months, the divers check their sites regularly, monitoring for predators such as sun stars. In the fall, the water temperature cools and the clams quit digging and largely remain stationary for the winter. Autumn is also the time when many of the geoduck farmers participate in the commercial-harvest dive fisheries for sea cucumbers and wild-stock geoducks. After meeting annual State reporting requirements and taking a brief rest, the farmers start

their planting and dive cycle again in the spring. As of 2010, the State leased some 25 intertidal and subtidal farm sites to farmers in Southeast, including the Morin brothers’ own four sites near Ketchikan that total approximately 27 acres.

For the next six to eight years, the farmers carefully tend to their water-borne crop, reporting progress to the State each year, monitoring predation, and surviving seas and storms to gener-ally hope for the best. That hope was realized last year when the Morins

and fellow diver Tyler Zaugg carried Alaska’s first crop of mature, farmed geoducks onto the Trident/Silver Lin-ing Seafoods dock in Ketchikan in Au-gust. The collection of clams weighed in at between 1.6 and two pounds and ranged from 5 to 6 years old.

seaFloor to tableThe primary market for geoducks – farmed and wild stock, originating from Alaska and elsewhere – remains China, although the giant clam is available on menus throughout Asia.


Geoduck is considered a delicacy and can sell at the table for up to $30 per pound. Served raw, sautéed or stewed, the meaty clam siphon is prized by enthusiasts for its crunchy texture and unique savory flavor.

The Alaska-farmed geoduck has the advantage of being mostly meat, and less shell than its wild-stock va-riety. After being planted in a largely safe and optimum environment at the permit sites, the farmed geoduck spends its time growing, instead of producing shell, Kevin Morin says.

The result is a top-quality product for a ready market.

As for freshness of the product shipped live to market, the Alaska Shellfish geoducks can go from harvest to China in the same day. By ensuring the clams get to the processing plant by 4 a.m., the product can make its flight to China within the same 24-hour period. It’s a market advantage that has not gone unnoticed by Asian buyers. Kevin Morin says he currently has more requests for his product than supply allows.

marketable moDelIt costs the Morins and their colleagues approximately 50 cents to grow a farmed geoduck from seed to harvest-able size. Given that the growers net between $8 and $12 per pound for the same clam, the obvious question is: why are others not taking advantage of this apparently lucrative, market-able industry niche? First, there is the upfront investment. Kevin Morin esti-mates he and his investors have spent nearly $500,000 to date to realize his aspirations of a successful geoduck mariculture industry. Last year’s first harvest also marked the first actual return-on-investment for Alaska Shell-fish and its private backers since the Morins started work on the concept more than a decade ago.

The second and more critical factor remains the limited availability of seed. However, the latter may get a boost from collaboration between the grow-ers, organized as Alaska Shellfish Coop-erative, and a mariculture research and education facility at the OceansAlaska Marine Science Center in Ketchikan. The center broke ground in November and will host a variety of methods of mariculture development, training, and applied research and technology trans-fer – including a geoduck nursery and oyster farmer entry program.

giant-siZeD potentialWhen asked if it’s difficult some morn-ings to don the dive gear and prepare for another day spent weighted down, hours underwater, tending to his silent crop, Kevin Morin grins. Alaska Busi-ness Monthly first profiled the former U.S. Navy navigator, longtime com-mercial diver and native Southeaster in September 2004 (“Clam Farms Blossom in Southeast”). At that time, he had al-ready invested eight years of labor, capi-tal and planning in his vision to create a small-business model from which local divers could earn a reasonable portion of a year’s living from an abundant, local natural resource.

As other traditional Southeast indus-tries faced their twilight, Kevin Morin suggested farming geoducks offered an alternative job source, and posed the ultimate in “clean industry” by cultivat-ing an already prodigious native species of Southeast clam.

Ready to take your business to the next level? Talk to Northrim. We can help you spot the turns and opportunities that lie ahead for Alaska. And we have money

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“I saw this as an opportunity to take an industry that was really underused and create an industry that would create a lot of jobs,” he said at the time. “And that’s still what I’m trying to do. I want to be able to look back and say, ‘Hey, I helped make this industry happen.’”

Six years later, although a bit bat-tered from the fight, Kevin Morin nonetheless projects the same entre-preneurial enthusiasm about the local potential for value-added production methods and peripheral jobs, im-proved market flow to his ready sup-ply of China-based buyers, and even his own technological innovations to maximize a diver’s time underwater.

As Southeast Alaska musters its inge-nuity and natural- and people-resources to carry itself forward into this new cen-tury, Kevin Morin and his small group of diver colleagues are its local sons, daugh-ters and ambassadors – each armed with ambitious dreams, technical expertise, proven tenacity and multi-generational ties to the region. For them, Southeast’s future lies in its ability to cultivate a clam with a funny name from a tiny industry niche to its giant potential. q

Kurt Morin displays the style of water hose that divers use to uncover geoducks for harvest on the ocean floor. A pump onboard the boat sends sea water down the

2-inch, 300-foot hose to the nozzle. The diver uses such water pressure to dig the clams from the sea floor, as they can be buried up to six feet deep in sand.


SMALL BUSINESS FEATURE

Paris Bakeryand Café

By stepHaNie Jaeger

In June 2009, Antoine Amouret came to Anchorage as a French tourist. While exploring the city, he

discovered the Paris Bakery and Café and introduced himself to the previous owner, Michel Bieri, a fellow French-man and chef. Bieri said he was looking for a new generation of pastry chef and asked Amouret to work for him. Amo-uret offered to buy the business. After receiving a work visa and completing the necessary paperwork to purchase a business in the United States, Amouret flew back to Anchorage in April 2010. He immediately bought the bakery and

café, and became its head chef, baker and manager. For the past 10 months, Amouret’s work at the Paris Bakery and Café has focused on improving and expanding the business.

Located in Muldoon Square at 500 Muldoon Road in northeast Anchorage between a used appliance store and a laundromat, the Paris Bakery and Café is in an unlikely place to look for a French restaurant. The restaurant has 15 tables and booths, and seats about 50 people. The bistro-café offers table service and serves anything from a cup of coffee to leisurely meals. Hints of

French culture include quiet French music playing in the background, classical-appearing black, brown and white prints on the walls and an edging of Parisian city buildings at the top of the walls surrounding the dining area.

The Paris Bakery and Café serves a variety of foods. The lunch menu offers a mixture of American, Italian and French food, including hamburgers, cheese-burgers, Reuben sandwiches, French dip and other American sandwiches as well as salads, quiche, fettuccini and ravioli. All entrees are served with a choice of soup, salad or French fries.

Owner/head chef Antoine Amouret with a few of his prized French pastries.

French cooking with a passion brings touch of class to east side of town

Photo by Jeff Johnson


The dinner menu offers all the dishes on the lunch menu plus cala-mari, zucchini, chicken and escargot appetizers, dinner crepes with sea-food and chicken, medallion of beef, scampi Bieri, halibut Napoleon, veal and chicken marsala, citrus ginger scallops, New York steak and Dijon pork tenderloin. The café offers a variety of white, red, blush and spark-ling wines. Domestic and imported beers are also available.

The bakery sells a variety of breads including French baguettes, whole wheat bread, seven-grain bread and brioches. Some of the pastries available include cake made with coffee butter cream layered between almond cake and covered with chocolate ganache; fruit tarts; cake made with chocolate mousse, banana mousse and coffee and vanilla flavoring; mixed berry, almandine, peach and lemon tarts; chocolate éclairs; croissants both plain and containing various fillings includ-ing chocolate. The pastries available vary from day to day and during the course of any day.

“In France we are trained to be creative,” Amouret says. “Making food, cooking, baking are my passion. It is not just for making money or baking bread.”

In France you cannot become a chef without a degree. He com-pleted a two-year apprenticeship there where he worked for two weeks learning to cook and the next two weeks training to run a business and supervise employees. He learned the theory and science behind each type of cake and dough.

“Apprentices learn from their mis-takes and how to vary their cooking depending on the humidity and other environmental conditions,” Amouret added. “They learn to add more water when the humidity is low or to cook breads for varying lengths of time depending on the temperature of the water used to start the dough.” These lessons have been particularly helpful in the cold, dry climate of Alaska.

Amouret is also trying to expand the catering side of his business. An orange and white van transports his food to and from corporations in Anchorage for breakfast and lunch meetings. His current catering customers include

Alaska Native corporations, nonprofits and oil companies. Catering is one of the activities he especially enjoys. He specializes in what he calls “decadent petit fours,” which include savory two to three bite-size appetizer petit fours and sweet two to three bite-size dessert petit fours. A complete range of cater-ing serves is also available.

Both French and non-French cus-tomers patronize the business. Many of the Paris Bakery and Café’s cus-tomers come from nearby Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and the east side of the city. Several people come from as far away as Eagle River and south Anchorage including a group of women who get together weekly for lunch. They often meet at the café.

“The staff at the café is always friendly and provides good service,” says Doris Bordine of Eagle River, a regular member of the group. “The food is excellent and Amouret often comes out personally to ask how things are and if we need anything.”

Amouret says he has had little staff turnover since he took over the busi-ness. He personally does most of the cooking and especially likes baking pastries and breads.

“People come here for quality,” Amouret says. “They try it out and then tell their friends and then their friends come.”

Amouret added weekend breakfast or brunch Nov. 1, 2010, Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The breakfast menu includes eggs Benedict, several types of omelets, and the traditional ham, bacon and eggs. Lunch is served Sun-day from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Mon-day through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; dinner is served Tuesday through Saturday, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and the bakery opens at 8 a.m. every day.

The café also features special din-ners on the first Tuesday of each month. These six-course dinners showcase traditional entrees from one region of France. Dishes from Nice were fea-tured in February. Additionally, the bakery and restaurant is beginning a tradition of offering special meals for certain holidays such as Valentine’s Day. All dishes are cooked using spe-cially shopped local produce, fresh seafood, meats and poultry. q


EDUCATION

By louise freemaN

Through its far-flung network of colleges and outreach cen-ters, serving communities from

Kivalina to Ketchikan, Alaska’s higher education system has put a college edu-cation within reach for most potential students throughout the state, no matter where they live. From the unique two-year Ilisagvik College in Barrow, which was founded to provide an education based on the cultural heritage, language and traditions of the Iñupiat, to the Uni-versity of Alaska Southeast campus in Ketchikan, which offers classes in Tlin-git arts and culture, Alaska’s extensive higher education system celebrates the diversity of the state. At the heart of the higher education system in Alaska is the large, far-reaching University of Alaska system, which is divided into three main branches: University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and Univer-sity of Alaska Southeast (UAS). Each branch of the university has its own unique strengths, drawing students from throughout the state.

Flagship campusAlaska’s flagship university campus is centrally located in Fairbanks, earning it the designation of “America’s Arctic

University.” UAF is uniquely situated to provide a base for research into Arctic and sub-Arctic studies.

“Our climate-change researchers are recognized worldwide. Our un-dergraduate and graduate students get to work alongside them and that is incredibly exciting,” said Marmian Grimes, UAF spokeswoman.

Research and teaching are top priori-ties at the UAF campus, with 90 percent of research dollars in the UA system going to UAF.

The University of Alaska Fair-banks has more selective criteria for admission than the other UA cam-puses, which have an open admis-sions policy; however, UAF does have mechanisms in place, such as admit-ting students to a “pre-major” to assist students who do not meet the regular admissions requirements.

The engineering program is espe-cially strong at UAF, accounting for 15 percent of the baccalaureate degrees awarded in 2010. The university offers a wide range of educational opportunities for students, from one-year certificate programs in its Community and Tech-nical College to doctoral studies. The technical college, Grimes said, “is very responsive to industry. We see a need

in industry and we jump on it and start a program to fill that need for what employers say they want.”

The most popular certificates are in the field of health professions, ac-counting for 48 percent of the certifi-cates awarded last year. Until recently, UAF was the only institution in the state to award doctoral degrees, and their flourishing doctoral program still accounts for the largest share of doctorates awarded in Alaska.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks offers scores of courses to students in remote areas of Alaska via the College of Rural and Community Develop-ment, a community college extension with campuses in Kotzebue, Nome, Bethel and Dillingham, as well as centers in six villages in the Interior and the Aleutians. In total, the college provides educational opportunities to students in 160 communities statewide. Most of the classes are offered through distance education, making uses of Internet-based and audio/video tech-nology. Courses focus on work force education and lifelong learning, al-though Associate in Arts degrees are offered in many areas, as well as both baccalaureate and master’s degrees in rural development.

University of Alaska Southeast students receive safety and underground mining training through a partnership between

UAS, Mine and Petroleum Training Services, the Alaska Department of

Labor, and the mining industry.

Alaska Colleges and UniversitiesPutting higher

education within reach for Alaskans

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most stuDentsThe largest branch of the UA system is UA Anchorage and its community campuses, with 20,368 students, com-pared to UAF’s 11,034 students. The Anchorage campus is the largest within the UA system, with 15,662 students.

“Our single strongest identity is in health-related areas,” said Dr. Michael Driscoll, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “We’re the health university for the state.”

The health sciences programs range from certificate programs taking less than a year such as phlebotomist and limited radiography, through Associate of Arts in Nursing, to a medical school operated in cooperation with the na-tionally recognized medical school at the University of Washington. Medi-cal students in the WWAMI program spend one year in Anchorage, one year in Seattle and can spend the final two years in Anchorage. The WWAMI Medical Education Program involves medical education programs in Wash-ington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. For every 10 students Alaska sends to the program, seven or eight end up practicing in Alaska.

“It is a great return on our invest-ment,” Driscoll said.

The nursing program is also espe-cially strong, showing rapid growth over the last few years. The develop-ment of the nursing program was in di-rect response to the needs of the health care industry within the state.

“We design our programs to match the needs of industry and government agencies. We get our students ready to walk in prepared to work in whatever their field,” Driscoll said.

The majority of students at UAA come from the Anchorage area, but the university strives to ensure that rural – especially Alaska Native – stu-dents are successful, with programs such as the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP). A re-cruitment, retention and mentoring program, ANSEP works with students from junior high through doctoral level, nurturing them as they develop academic skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

Another area in which UAA is es-pecially strong is psychology, from the baccalaureate level to the doctoral

level. UAA offers a clinical-community psychology doctoral program in co-operation with UAF, with a focus on rural Alaska. When they are finished, students receive their degree from UAF.

“A significant portion of the students are Alaska Native or from rural com-munities and want to give back to their communities when they are done,” Driscoll said.

One new trend Driscoll has noticed at UAA is more traditional 18-year-old freshmen are deciding to attend college in-state.

“With the economic downturn, they recognize they can get what they need at UAA and not have to go Outside,” Driscoll said.

Many students at UAA have been recognized nationally for their out-standing work. UAA was recently named among the 2010-2011 leading producers of U.S. Fulbright Students by the Fulbright Program, the U.S. govern-ment’s prestigious international educa-tional exchange program.

The UAA system has four branch campuses: Eagle River-Chugiak, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak and Prince William Sound Community College (PWSCC). Each campus has unique programs not offered elsewhere, such as the associate degrees in corrections and digital art, both available through Kenai Peninsula College. The main campus of PWSCC is in Valdez, and the college has geared some of their programs to put graduates to work in the oil industry. One popular degree is Associate of Applied Science in In-dustrial Technology; within that major, students can gear their studies toward oil spill response, safety management or millwright.

“Our strength is our size. We’re small – every student counts,” said Douglas A. DeSorcie, president of PWSCC. “We can keep in touch with our students to make sure they have all the tools they need to succeed. They need to apply themselves, but if they don’t we inter-vene early and say, “Why aren’t you going to class?”

The PWSCC student services staff provides the needed support to students either in the classroom or to those who are taking distance courses. Seventy-five percent of the courses at PWSCC have a distance-learning component.

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southeast campusesThe University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) consists of three campuses – Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan. Business administration is the most popular ma-jor for baccalaureate students at UAS. At the master’s degree level, the larg-est program is the Master of Educa-tion, which is designed to develop the classroom skills of teachers currently practicing in elementary and secondary schools. Career and technical education is an area of strength that UAS plans to develop further in coming years.

“One of the exciting things in career education is that we are developing a new center in mine training because mining is important to Southeast Alaska now with new possibilities opening up in mining. We will expand our offerings in mine training and mine safety, em-phasizing underground mining,” said Dr. Richard Caulfield, provost.

Another program the university highlights is their legislative internship program. Students from all three cam-puses work in Alaska’s capital.

“A number of our graduates have gone on to work in government or take on leadership positions across the state, using the insight they’ve gained into how decisions are made for Alaska’s future,” Caulfield said.

Other strong programs at UAS are environmental studies and marine biol-ogy. These majors “really build on our assets in Southeast Alaska. We have un-dergraduates doing research on glaciers and working in tidelands,” Caulfield said.

largest priVate uniVersityAlaska’s largest private university, Alaska Pacific University, also takes advantage of the state’s natural environ-ment to provide active, hands-on learn-ing. Their emphasis is on experiential learning in the real world, often having the students work on projects that are relevant to the community. The col-lege has students doing research on the Eklutna Glacier for Anchorage Munici-pal Light and Power so it could make projections about the Municipality of Anchorage’s drinking water supply. Students also monitor beluga whales coming in and out of the port for the Port of Anchorage.

APU’s strong commitment to en-vironmental education is reflected in

their participation in Eco-League – a partnership of small private liberal arts colleges around the country that share an environmental focus. These colleges develop curriculum together and offer student-exchange programs. Several APU students participate in the exchange program, going to colleges as far away as Vermont.

With APU’s emphasis on active learning, students are encouraged to participate in programs that take them to sites around the world, where they can both learn and apply that learning in a real-life setting. Psychology majors are currently in Malawi, working with the Malawi Children’s Village, com-bining community service with APU’s counseling curriculum. The psychology program at APU is especially strong, and the college was recently approved for a doctoral program in psychology – the first doctoral program at APU.

The private liberal arts college was founded as a Methodist university and today its Christian heritage is reflected in the “strong dose of ethics” the stu-dents receive throughout their studies, said Dr. Don Bantz, president.

alaska’s only tribal collegeIlisagvik College is the first and only federally recognized tribal college in Alaska. Ilisagvik means “a place to learn” in the Inupiaq Eskimo language.

The college is designed primarily to meet the needs of North Slope Borough residents, but as a public college, it is open to anyone. Students from other parts of the state are welcome.

“We even have students from the Lower 48,” said Pearl Brower, dean of students and institutional development.

The college offers certificates in ar-eas such as wastewater treatment, car-pentry and plumbing, as well as several Associate in Arts and Associate in Ap-plied Science degrees, with a particular emphasis on business, Inupiaq studies and allied health.

smaller schoolsTwo of the smaller private colleges in Alaska are Alaska Bible College in Glen-nallen, with 55 students, and Wayland Baptist University, with 500 students at four sites in Anchorage and additional students at two sites in Fairbanks. Most of Wayland’s baccalaureate students are in the military or working full-time and choose to pursue a Bachelor of Ap-plied Science degree, with an empha-sis in their area of military training or profession, such as business administra-tion or economics. The most popular graduate degree is Master of Manage-ment. Wayland Baptist University is headquartered in Plainview, Texas, and has 13 campuses in the United States and one in Kenya. q

An Alaska Pacific University psychology major in Africa, working with the Malawi Children’s Village, combining community service with APU studies.

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w w w . u a a . a l a s k a . e d u / s c h o o l o f e n g i n e e r i n g • ( 9 0 7 ) 7 8 6 - 1 9 0 0

UAA IS AN EEO/AA EMPLOYER AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.

The School of Engineering provides hands-on learning through its

newly created Rapid Prototype and Manufacturing (RPM) Lab.

The Lab allows students to design and manufacture prototypes

and efficiently test and improve models. With applications ranging

from oil and gas development to the health and medical fields, the

Lab is helping create a new generation of innovators and designers.

Lab equipment in Phase I of the RPM Lab was made possible through BP Exploration Alaska Inc.’s generous donations to the School of Engineering.

UAA SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Applied Engineering and Innovative Design

“Through the RPM Lab we manufacture our own prototypes instead of subcontracting our designs out to the Lower 48. It used to take weeks to complete, but now we can fix our mistakes immediately, expediting the design process.” --Jens Jensen, Mechanical Engineering student

Engineering Alaska’s Future Today


REAL ESTATE

Anchorage Commercial Property Looking Good

Some withdrawal, but overall Alaska holds strong

On a recent afternoon, Grace Mischenko pulled her red suburban into the parking

lot at Tikahtnu Commons, the new 950,000-square-foot shopping complex off Muldoon Road in northeast Anchor-age. The mother of seven from Wasilla says she likes having a shopping choice near the north end of town.

“It’s convenience,” she says, “hav-ing Best Buy, Kohl’s and Target all together just off the highway coming into town. The guys can go their way and I can go mine. I like shopping at Kohl’s, and the Target is nice too.”

Her teenage boys like Best Buy and the Game Stop. “We also like the movie theater,” Mischenko says, “we’ve already gone to the movies there a couple times.”

yes! success!Tikahtnu Commons is one of the recent success stories in commercial lease space in the Anchorage Bowl. Located on 95 acres of land acquired from the federal surplus property program by Cook Inlet Region’s real estate development group, the $100 million project broke ground in 2007. It has attracted major national

retailers, including Kohl’s, which opened its first-ever Alaska location at the Com-mons in April 2009. Just six months ear-lier, Target, America’s second-largest retail chain, opened two stores in Alaska, one of them at Tikahtnu Commons.

“Retail lease space in Anchorage is doing well,” says Jan Sieberts, a longtime expert in Alaska commercial lending, adding: “2011 is going to be a good year for the commercial market. It could be better if the private sector could get moving again. I don’t see a lot of new private construction starting up this year. Most of the construction we see is public construction.”

priVate Down/expansions upSieberts cites the “Gulf of Mexico effect” for some of the slowdown in private-construction spending. The regulatory uncertainty surrounding new development in Alaska’s oil fields is having a negative effect on private-construction spending, Sieberts says.

Expansion of existing retail space is also a positive factor in the overall commercial space picture. Wal-Mart is adding nearly 55,000 square feet to its existing store in midtown. Kendall

Toyota is expanding its automotive retail center on the Old Seward High-way by 80,000 square feet at a cost of approximately $20 million. The proj-ect is expected to be finished before summer 2011.

some in surViVal moDeTwo shopping centers in northeast An-chorage have been struggling. Glenn Square in Mountain View, which began construction about the same time as Tikahtnu Commons, has been disap-pointing. Vacancy rates are unsatis-factory and the parking lot is rarely full. The older Northway Mall, just across Veteran’s Memorial Highway, is likewise struggling, with less than 30 percent of the space under lease. Red Robin has recently pulled out, as have GAP and Banana Republic.

Sam’s Club, which has anchored the east end of the mall for decades, is preparing to relocate to Tikahtnu Commons. Plans are under way to turn Northway Mall into an outlet center, but financing and lease agree-ment issues have slowed the process, according to David Irwin, of Irwin Development Group.

Tikahtnu Commons

By JaCk e. pHelps

© 2011 Ken Graham Photography.com


retail ‘Fine’Nonetheless, Sieberts and other local experts remain optimistic. “Retail is fine, office space is relatively stable and the little strip malls seem to be doing well,” Sieberts says. In a recent forecast for the Building Owners and Managers As-sociation (BOMA), Irwin demonstrated that as of last November, retail sales were up in every major category except drug stores, compared to the same period one year earlier. Average monthly change over the previous 12 months showed the same trend. In addition, the Alaska Department of Labor expects a slight upward movement in employment for 2011. This bodes well for continued growth in available services, including new retail lease space.

No one expects the retail building boom of the previous five years to con-tinue in Anchorage, however.

According to Irwin, nearly 1.57 mil-lion square feet were added to the base in the 2005-2010 period, and more than 1 million square feet in the five years before that. The forecast for the next five years is less than 1 million square feet. Irwin believes, however, that growth may accelerate in other parts of the state, such as Wasilla and Fairbanks, even as it slows in Anchorage. Sportsman’s Ware-house, for example, plans to open a new, 46,000-square-foot location in Soldotna during the first quarter of 2011. Cabela’s is looking at Fairbanks as well as Anchor-age, for opening its first Alaska stores.

oFFice space tightIn the category of office space, the story is similar. JL Properties has been develop-ing the Centerpoint Drive location, be-tween Arctic Boulevard and C Street in midtown, for the past decade. The Arctic

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Slope Regional Corp.’s (ASRC) head-quarters building on the corner of 40th Avenue and C Street, was completed and occupied in 2002. The 10-story building contains 210,000 square feet of Class A office space and is under a 20-year lease to ASRC. Since that time, additional office buildings have been added to the complex, including the five-story Centerpoint Financial Center (2006), the 14-story JL Tower (2008) and the eight-story Centerpoint West (2010). These three buildings added a combined 600,000 square feet of new Class A office space to the city.

Overall, office lease space in An-chorage is relatively tight.

According to Theodore Jensen, of Reliant Advisory Services, the na-tional vacancy rate is 17 percent, with Detroit and Phoenix leading the pace at nearly 30 percent and 25 percent, respectively; in Anchorage it is only 6.6 percent for Class A space. Combin-ing the figures for Class A and B, the rate is slightly over 7 percent.

“The vacancy rate on Class A space is between 5 percent and 7 percent in the entire town,” Sieberts said. “It’s a little higher in the B and C classes, but we’re still ahead of most of the rest of the country.”

As Jensen puts it, this “office va-cancy rate is still considered (to be) very healthy.”

There are very few new office build-ings expected to be completed in 2011. The largest is the 40,000-square-foot project in southwest Anchorage, off C Street near Klatt Road, under con-struction by CIRI. The good news is that this project, for which Sieberts’ Washington Capital Management Inc. arranged the financing, is 100 percent pre-leased, according to CIRI officials. This is the only new office building to come on line this year in south An-chorage. The next largest new structure is a 9,000-square-foot building in the downtown area. More than 900,000 square feet of new office space is in the planning stage around town, according to Jensen, but most of these are on hold due to lack of pre-leasing agreements.

inDustrial weakThe final major category of leased commercial space is the industrial sector. Experts believe this to be

the weakest segment. The average industrial lease listings were nearly 40 percent higher in 2010, than they were at the end of 2003. According to Brandon Walker, commercial sales associate at Bond, Stephens and John-son, this can be attributed to obso-lescence of existing space. Factors such as lack of access to three-phase power, inadequate ceiling heights and lighting and docking problems contribute heavily to the problem. Many Anchorage warehouse facilities were constructed before 53-foot semi-trailers were common. They simply do not provide adequate room for maneuvering trucks at the dock.

The availability of suitable land and the price of what is available, combined with the cost of construc-tion make new investments in industrial lease space less likely over the next few years, experts say. The combined cost will run approximately $225 per square foot, according to Walker’s es-timates. Moreover, the Municipality of Anchorage has zoning restrictions in

place that could further impede new warehousing space. Historically, a lot of the goods available to consumers are already warehoused in Seattle and Tacoma and shipped to Alaska on an as-needed basis. Sieberts believes this trend will continue, given the difficul-ties faced by those who would like to increase the supply of industrial lease space in the Anchorage Bowl.

“It’s just too expensive right now to expand the available industrial lease space in Anchorage,” he says.

In summary, it can safely be said that the commercial lease space sec-tor of Alaska’s economy is holding up well. Compared to the rest of America, Alaska, and particularly Anchorage, has it pretty good. Only time will tell how long this will continue, or whether it will improve. A great deal depends on whether several new oil prospects and opportunities develop and on how successful the state is in diversifying its basic economy. But for now the sector continues to be a bright spot in Alaska’s economic future. q

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Trucking through Canada

NATIVE BUSINESS

Alaska Natives are a proud people whose culture is woven into the fabric of the state. Alaska Na-

tive corporations are a unique model for business and economic develop-ment. As such, Alaska Natives have a relationship with the federal govern-ment quite different from the system of reservations found in other states. The University of Alaska Anchorage has developed special outreach programs to recruit Alaska Natives into the study of a wide range of subjects in the physical sciences and the humanities.

But there is another, though much less known, advantage, which Alaska Na-tives have and it lies in the area of cross-border trucking.

Because of Alaska’s location, sparse and dispersed population, resource exports and manufactured imports, it is highly dependent on cost-effective and efficient transportation. Distance, weather and limited infrastructure make shipping costs higher than in the rest of the United States. Oppor-tunities to systematically lower opera-tional costs are welcome by all shippers

and carriers. There are transportation opportunities for Alaska Natives and the trucking firms that might hire them.

First , some background. The United States runs a trade deficit of around $700 billion. The value of the goods and services we import greatly exceeds the value of our exports. In merchandise trade, we import $340 billion from Canada while sending it only $260 billion – an $80 billion deficit. However, Alaska bucks the trend with a $40 million trade surplus – $520 million worth of exports to

By darreN prokop

2011 ©Jim Lopes

Truck crossing the Canada-United States border.

Cross-border advantages for Alaska Natives


Canada as against $480 million worth of imports. In fact, Canada is the state’s fourth largest export market, after Japan, China and South Korea.

There are two border crossings into Alaska from the Yukon and three from British Columbia. On an annual basis, about 24,000 trucks enter and exit the state; and out of these 76 per-cent are hauling loaded containers. While these trade flows represent less than 1 percent of total U.S.-Canada cross-border trucking activity, these trade lanes offer up an opportunity for Alaska Natives. This arises because of the special legal status Alaska Natives enjoy with respect to a transport activ-ity known as cabotage.

cabotageWhat is cabotage? Simply put it is the transport of freight (or passengers) from one point to another on domestic ter-ritory by a foreign conveyance and/or foreign operator. It is usually an illegal activity except under circumstances agreed to by the foreign and domestic governments involved. It should be noted that while the U.S. and Canada

have maintained a free trade agree-ment for more than 20 years now, cross-border transportation has, by and large, been subject to the same set of trade restrictions. Note that free trade typi-cally involves removing trade tariffs on goods; it rarely covers the non-tariff barriers, which affect transportation. What complicates matters is that each particular mode of transport (i.e., air, truck, rail and water vessel) is subject to different degrees of cabotage re-strictions. Furthermore, the U.S. and Canada do not maintain uniform laws in these areas. Thus, transportation planners in the U.S. or Canada who wish to undertake cabotage in the other country need to be aware of two differ-ent regulatory environments. For this reason, cabotage activity is rare in the U.S. and Canada; but, when it is legally practiced, it is a benefit to the carrier and its shipper customers.

Why is legal cabotage beneficial to a carrier? It is all about filling vehicle capacity. Adding more cargo generates a further source of revenue. Consider an Alaska-based truck traveling the Alaska Highway. The route could be

an export-import run into and out of Canada, or a run to the Lower 48 and back. In either case, when the vehicle has excess capacity while traveling within Canada, filling up the truck with a domestic (i.e., Canadian) load helps to cover all operational costs associ-ated with the round-trip. In effect, ar-ranging for and adding more backhaul freight while returning to Alaska would actually allow the carrier to lower the fronthaul freight rate charged to the Alaska-based shipper. In other words, the extra competition generated by an Alaska truck competing head-to-head for Canadian freight is beneficial to the Alaska-based carrier, the Alaska-based shipper and any Canada-based ship-pers using the new service.

So, how can Alaska trucking com-panies do this? Basically, they need to have drivers who are legally eligible to engage in cabotage in Canada. It turns out that out of all modes of transport trucking has the most flexible cabotage regulations in the U.S. and Canada. But this flexibility extends just to the vehicles and not the drivers. Why? It is because the regulators who interpret


the Customs Act governing vehicles are different from those who inter-pret the Immigration Act governing drivers. This is understandable when noting how countries tend to protect their domestic labor from foreign com-petition more so than they do their domestic goods. Consider the regula-tions applicable to the vehicle. The cabotage freight on a vehicle, as part of an export or import run, must be less than 30 percent of the value and volume of the international freight on board. Think of a return trip along the Alaska Highway with import freight from Calgary to Fairbanks being topped up along the way with strictly domestic freight from Edmonton to Whitehorse. Of course, the vehicle could contain up to 100 percent cabo-tage freight, but this must be part of a repositioning move whereby an in-ternational load has been dropped off and another is being picked up some distance elsewhere along or near the original route. In this case, think of the return trip from Calgary having no im-port possibilities. If the Alaska imports were in Edmonton, the vehicle could

carry domestic freight from Calgary to Edmonton as a means to earn revenue along the way.

eligible DriVersWhile the Alaska-based vehicles have the flexibility noted above, they could not be used in this way unless the driv-ers were allowed under Canadian law to do so. Obviously, Canadian citizens and dual citizens are eligible. But what is little known is that Alaska Natives (who are at least 50 percent by-blood) are also eligible. In fact, all Native Americans and Canadian Aboriginals would be allowed to engage in trucking cabotage in either country. How can this be? It is the result of something we may have heard about in our history classes; namely, the Jay Treaty of 1794.

Used to settle post-revolutionary is-sues between the U.S. and Great Brit-ain, the Jay Treaty brought peace to the two countries at least up to 1812. Significantly, Article III codified the right for Natives of the United States and British North America to have free passage across the international border. This was a practical solution to

the problem of tribes whose traditional lands straddled both sides of the newly emerged border. In effect, members of First Nations (at least 50 percent by blood) in either the U.S. or Canada have the right to travel, work, study and retire in both countries. Today’s im-migration laws in the U.S. and Canada still recognize these unique options. Thus, Alaska Natives are in a position to make a unique contribution to cross-border trucking activity. All truck traf-fic beyond Alaska must travel through Canada and, as noted above, trucks are the only mode of transport now open to flexible cabotage regulations.

Alaska Natives need to be given greater opportunities to overcome their economic problems. In 2009, Alaska Natives had an unemployment rate of 16 percent; with only 7 percent for non-Natives. Per capita income for Alaska Natives is about half the size of that for non-Natives. These disparities are similar in size in other regions of the U.S.; but where Alaska is different is in the pro-portion of total state population. Alaska Natives represent about 15 percent of the state’s population. Across the U.S.


the Native proportion is only 1 percent. Alaska Natives own about 8 percent of Alaska businesses. Across the U.S. the Native proportion is under 1 percent. Thus, there is an important share of the Alaska population, which is underuti-lized relative to its economic potential.

One last point to note is Alaska Natives, hired for cross-border truck-ing, not only enhance the efficiency of the Alaska-based trucking companies, but also they help to reduce the U.S. trade deficit noted above. How? Well, consider how cabotage works.

A Canadian shipper is paying a foreign carrier for a wholly domestic service. This means Canada is im-porting a service the U.S. is exporting. Trade in goods and trade in services are both components in calculating our trade deficit. q

Dr. Darren Prokop

About the AuthorDr. Darren Prokop is a professor of logistics in the College of Business and Public Policy at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He is also the direc-tor of the Master of Science in Global Supply Chain Management Program.

Prokop specializes in transporta-tion economics and its effects on in-ternational trade and supply chain security. He is also engaged in research examining the role of government pol-icy as related to transportation, in-frastructure provision and non-tariff trade barriers. Prokop’s Alaska-based research and publications involve air cargo logistics and port development. In addition to publishing his research in academic journals and trade maga-zines, Prokop is an active consultant to government and business.


TRANSPORTATION

Moving Freight in Alaska

Commodities important to transportation industry

JaCk e. pHelps

Alaska’s isolation from the rest of the country has always made logistics a problematic issue for

the young state. This has not changed significantly in the early 21st century.

Many parts of Alaska are not acces-sible by road and continue to depend on barge and container-ship traffic to bring goods to their communities. This affects both the local people directly, as the supplier of groceries and other needed items, but is also vital to the success of construction companies doing work in remote Alaska locations. In Nome, for example, construction material for the new hospital must be barged in during the narrow window of ice-free seas be-tween mid-June and early September,

said Neeser Construction’s senior proj-ect manager, George Tuckness.

“Logistics planning becomes very important on a project like this. We have to plan to keep materials on site because it can be a long wait for the next barge load,” Tuckness says.

on the waterSeveral companies provide water-borne freight service to Alaska from the Lower 48 and between various ports-of-call within Alaska. These may be divided between those that offer or specialize in barge service and those that utilize container vessels. Lynden Transport, for example, provides both barge service through its subsidiary,

Alaska Marine Lines (AML), and regu-lar steamship service to major ports, such as Anchorage. Lynden also pro-vides direct trucking service to Alaska via the Alaska Highway. Samson Tug and Barge, on the other hand, special-izes in moving cargo by barge.

Other major shippers include Pa-cific Alaska Freightways, Northland Services, American Fast Freight and Horizon Lines. Horizon Lines does not operate barges, depending entirely on Washington-based container ships to move a wide variety of freight from Tacoma to Anchorage, connecting through the Port of Anchorage to the Interior by way of the Alaska Railroad and a network of trucking services. The

Samson Tug and Barge in Resurrection Bay brings a load to Seward.

Photos by Judy Patrick


company also services Kodiak and Dutch Harbor with container vessels, according to a company spokesman.

steam riDeLynden’s steamship service includes connections to such far-flung Alaska lo-cations as Fairbanks, North Pole, Delta Junction, Fort Knox gold mine, Prudhoe Bay, Kenai and Railbelt destinations such as Eagle River, Palmer and Denali Park. Northland Services provides deliv-ery in Western Alaska to major hubs like Dillingham, Naknek, Bethel and Nome, as well as more than 80 small villages, in-cluding those in the Yukon River basin. These shipments include heavy equip-ment, building material, groceries, dry goods and fishing supplies.

alaska’s commoDitiesAccording to the Alaska Office of Eco-nomic Development, bulk commodi-ties also are an important factor in the Alaska shipping business. Coal from the Usibeli Mine near Healy, is moved by rail to Seward and bulk loaded on ships bound for overseas ports. While

the timber industry is a much smaller player now than it was in the 1970s and 1980s, logs are still shipped from Native corporation lands on Afognak Island, Kodiak Island and in Southeast Alaska. Most of them are bound for China, Korea and Japan and are carried on foreign-flagged vessels. On the im-port side of the equation, bulk cement from China has been delivered to Port MacKenzie on the Matanuska-Susitna side of Knik Arm.

A major staple of the shipping in-dustry’s cargo is Alaska fish products. Samson Tug and Barge moves vast quantities of containerized salmon from Prince William Sound (PWS) every summer, said spokesman Jerry Morgan.

“In the summer, we move a lot of fish,” Morgan says. “Canned, frozen and fresh salmon goes out in dry and refrigerated containers.” AML also de-pends heavily on the fishing industry in both PWS and Southeast for a sig-nificant percentage of its business. The cargo is barged to Seattle and is then transshipped to its ultimate markets.

Fish from Kodiak and King Cove

also leave their homeports packed in containers that are then moved by barge. A regular service provided by Samson positions containers at the two ports and, when they are loaded with fish, transports them by barge to Dutch Harbor where they are transferred to container vessels bound for Asia. American President Line, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines, and Maersk Line, headquar-tered in Denmark, are the two main carriers transporting fish from Dutch Harbor to Asian ports, according to industry officials.

Fishing: golD toFreight inDustry

“A lot of people don’t realize how im-portant fishing is” to the freight business in Alaska, says AML President Kevin Anderson. “It is simple economics. If we did not have large numbers of south-bound containers loaded with fish to move every summer, rates would have to be much higher to cover the cost of business. Fishing is critical to getting freight moved north into Alaska.”

a M e M b e r o f t h e u k p e a g v i k i Ñ u p i a t c o r p o r a t i o n f a M i l y o f c o M p a n i e s


The hundreds of container loads shipped each month during the sum-mer makes possible year-round barge service to the small communities in the Southeast panhandle of the state. “The majority of container shipments during the remaining nine months of the year,” says Anderson, “represents a one-way market.”

southeast shippingAML and Northland Services supply the Southeast communities with a wide vari-ety of commodities with their barge ser-vice. They call at Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Sitka, Skagway and Haines. The barges bring in groceries, dry goods, curios, building materials, mining supplies, sporting goods, hard-ware, automobiles, heavy equipment and personal household goods.

“Barges deliver just about anything you can imagine,” Morgan says.

AML calls at Southeast ports twice weekly, according to Anderson, and arrives in Whittier once per week.

“For the communities in Southeast,” Anderson says, “barging is the only way to get things there. The only other choice is air cargo,” which is not a practical or economic alternative for many items.

on the moVeIt may seem odd, but Sitka-based Samson Tug and Barge does not call at Southeast ports, other than Sitka. Rather, its emphasis is on Prince Wil-liam Sound communities, including Cor-dova, Valdez and Seward. As previously mentioned, the company also calls on Kodiak, King Cove and Dutch Harbor.

“We move a lot of oil field ser-vice equipment through Valdez and Seward,” says Morgan. From Valdez, the cargo can be moved to Fairbanks and the North Slope via truck traffic on the Richardson Highway. From Seward, it can connect to the Alaska Railroad and travel to the Cook Inlet fields and points north along the Railbelt.

“The majority of our cargo is con-tainerized,” Morgan says, “but our barges also carry roll on/roll off equip-ment,” including heavy construction machinery. “General commodities and personal goods are included in the con-tainerized shipments.”

AML’s once per week service to Whittier connects Lower 48 shippers

with the Alaska Railroad, which oper-ates a rail-barge and container transfer facility in the isolated port on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. “We have a contract with Alaska Railroad to serve the Port of Whittier,” Anderson says. “On the main deck of our barges we load rail cars, and we have a rack over the top that is loaded with containers.”

This way, each barge can deliver a variety of cargo and shipping modes, making the most of every weekly run. In addition, AML provides barge ser-vice to Cordova and Valdez out of Whittier on a year-round basis. “They are big southbound fish customers in the summer,” Anderson says, “and we provide 12-month inbound service, supplying groceries, staples, building materials and all the other commodities we deliver to Southeast communities.”

trash talksOne commodity that regularly makes the trip south is refuse from communi-ties in Southeast. Towns like Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan need to get rid of large amounts of garbage and trash, and barges are the only reason-able choice for this kind of cargo.

“With all the new regulations, it is ex-tremely difficult to permit new landfills, especially in an area so wet,” Anderson points out. Therefore, garbage from most Southeast Alaska communities is shipped by barge to Seattle and then by rail to landfills in the eastern parts of the Pacific Northwest. The two major receivers of Alaska refuse are Waste

Management Inc., a Houston, Texas, based company, and Allied Waste In-dustries of Scottsdale, Ariz.

Waste Management is the largest refuse-disposal company in the United States, and, according to published company information, is committed to partnering “with communities to manage and reduce waste from col-lection to disposal.” The company’s Washington-based office takes delivery of Alaska refuse in Seattle and sends it by rail to one of its many landfills. The formerly family owned Redanko Ltd., now owned by Allied Waste In-dustries, is based in Bellevue, Wash., and operates a modern, environ-mentally friendly landfill in Klickitat County. Barge services in Alaska are responsible for safely delivering Alaska trash to these two disposal companies.

Removing refuse from Southeast Alaska communities has, since the late 1990s, become an important compo-nent of the barging business in Alaska. According to Anderson, AML collects garbage in 40- and 48-foot, open-top containers in Haines, Sitka, Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan, and delivers it by barge to the Port of Seattle.

then there’s steelScrap steel is another commodity that barge companies regularly transport out of Alaska. SeaTac Marine Services LLC is a Seattle-based marine logistics company that specializes in barging of material. The company regularly calls at Alaska ports and collects bulk cargoes of

Cargo being offloaded at the Port of Anchorage.


scrap to be hauled to the Port of Tacoma for reclamation. AML also hauls scrap to either Seattle or Tacoma, depending on the customer, said Anderson.

“We haul both scrap and contami-nated soil on barges from Southeast Alaska to either Washington port, ac-cording to the needs of our customers,” Anderson said. Under rules formulated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conser-vation, many former industrial sites in Alaska are subject to remediation, and this often entails removal of soil contain-ing petroleum or other contaminants.

When the scope of the remediation project calls for the removal of volumes that cannot be easily transported in bar-rels, or when there is an accumulation of contaminated soil that can constitute a barge load it is transported south on marine equipment under EPA hazard-ous material regulations.

golD, tooA recent addition to the list of prod-ucts moving south on barges is con-centrate from the new Kensington

Gold Mine at Berners Bay, near Juneau. Owned and operated by Coeur Alaska, a subsidiary of Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp., Kensington is an underground gold mine that began producing gold concentrate in June 2010. According to the company, it produced more than 15,000 ounces in the third quarter of 2010. The com-pany expects Kensington to produce an average of 125,000 ounces per year for the life of the mine. Gold is not processed at the mine site, but is shipped as a concentrate. Coeur CEO Dennis Wheeler said about half of the Kensington concentrate will be sold to China National Gold Group, a company based in Beijing, China. The remainder is going to other refiners.

AML has the contract for moving Kensington Gold Mine concentrate from Alaska to Seattle. “We haul it in 20-foot containers (so-called foreign boxes) to Seattle and load them onto foreign vessels for delivery to the Asian purchasers,” Anderson says. This new contract has added a welcome year-round commodity to the list of products moving to market via barge.

During the nine months of the year when the fishing industry is not produc-ing cargo for shippers to haul to markets outside Alaska, there is a trade imbal-ance that results in many empty con-tainers being back-hauled to the Lower 48. That’s why a new production, such as gold concentrate from Kensington, is so important to the shippers.

“We’d love to see new manufactur-ing industries start up in Alaska,” An-derson says. Not only would it create new local jobs, it would contribute to the overall economy, not least by help-ing keep shipping costs under control.

Asked about whether there were incentives available to businesses that may be considering producing new products that could be shipped out of Alaska by barge, all the barging com-panies agreed that there are possibili-ties for competitive shipping prices. “There are certainly opportunities for private-shipping contracts at rates that could be quite attractive,” Samson’s Morgan says. No matter what, barge and container shipments to and from Alaska are a fact of life that is not likely to change any time soon. q


reg IonAl reV Iew

Interior Alaska

Fairbanks at a GlancePopulation per City: Approximately 35,200Location: 360 miles north of AnchorageKey Local Contacts: Fairbanks Mayor Jerry Cleworth, Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins, and Doyon Limited President and CEO Norman Phillips Government Structure: Fairbanks has a council-mayor form of government.Main Industries: Government, mining, tourism, construction and health care Schools: University Alaska Fairbanks Hospitals: Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and Denali Center and the Chief Andrew Isaac Medical Center Airport: Fairbanks International Airport

Resting at the heart of the state

By traCy BarBour

The Interior region represents the virtual center of Alaska. The landscape of Interior Alaska is

dominated by high mountain ranges and wide river flats. The Alaska Range forms the southern boundary of the region and contains North America’s tallest mountain: the 20,320-foot-high

Mount McKinley also known as Denali. The Brooks Range rests at the northern end of the region. Located between the two ranges are the expansive Yukon flats, a huge area of wetlands, forest, bog and low-lying ground at the con-fluence of the Yukon, Porcupine and Chandalar rivers.

The Yukon Flats area, which covers about 11,000 square miles, is protected under the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge. The area is a critical waterfowl-breeding ground and home to a large deposit of crude oil and natural gas, making it a valuable asset to the region.

With its highly continental climate, the Interior’s weather is marked by tem-perature extremes. It has some of the warmest summers in Alaska, as well as

Alaska Department of Labor Economist Alyssa Shanks.

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This intricate carving in front of Fairbanks City Hall was completed as a symbol of the friendship between

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some of the lowest winter temperatures. In addition to its variable weather, the Interior is known for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, Denali National Park and Preserve, the northern lights or aurora borealis, and its gilded past.

As a region, Interior Alaska encom-passes everything from Holy Cross to Tok. Other cities in the area are Fair-banks – known as the Golden Heart City – Anderson, Cantwell, Central, Circle, Delta Junction, Fort Greely, Healy, Livengood, Manley, Nenana, North Pole, Northway and Salcha. Mili-tary installations in the Interior include Fort Wainwright near Fairbanks, Eiel-son Air Force Base just outside North Pole and Fort Greely, which is now a missile base.

“The Interior is an enormous region with communities that have very little in common,” says Alaska Department of Labor Economist Alyssa Shanks. For example, its largest city, Fairbanks, is metropolitan compared to the rural na-ture of many other places in the region. Its economy is driven by a mix of stable government jobs, mining, the military, University Alaska Fairbanks and tour-

ism. Denali, which depends on the tour-ism industry, is totally seasonal. Many of the smaller Interior communities are plagued with high unemployment and a lack of job opportunities.

“It’s hard to make sweeping general-izations about the Interior because the places are so far apart and so different,” Shanks says.

Fairbanks north star borough The Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) is part of the Fairbanks Met-ropolitan Statistical Area. In addition to Fairbanks, it includes North Pole, Ester and College (which encompasses the University of Alaska Fairbanks). Fort Wainwright and Eielson AFB are also part of the borough.

Last year, the FNSB – like the rest of the state – experienced job growth after seeing declines in 2009, according to Shanks’ January 2011 Alaska Economic Trends report. The borough added 800 jobs in 2010, a 2.1 percent jump from 2009 and the greatest percentage of increase in a single year since 2004, Shanks reported. The health care indus-try contributed the most to the overall

growth of the area’s economy, followed by government, construction and pro-fessional and business services. In 2010, health care grew by 400 jobs in ambula-tory care, nursing and residential care and the hospital.

“Demand for local health care may have increased because more proce-dures are available locally,” Shanks stated. “Another possibility is that the prior year’s growth was so muted, it created a backlog of health care jobs to fill.”

Shanks added that in the past, Alaska hasn’t sustained growth that high for more than a year. So health care is likely to grow again in 2011, but at a slower rate of about 200 jobs.

State government in the Fairbanks area expanded by 200 jobs, or 3.8 per-cent in 2010, Shanks said. This was the largest increase in a single year since 2002, due to more firefighters and increased enrollment and jobs at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Shanks also reported growth in con-struction employment in 2010. That area grew by 100 jobs, mainly because of a repair project at the North Pole


refinery. Other construction projects completed last year included the Ruth Burnett Sport Fish Hatchery, Barnett Street Bridge and new housing on Fort Wainwright.

The borough’s leisure and hospi-tality industry also fared well in 2010, maintaining its 2009 level of 4,000 jobs – despite losing 120,000 cruise ship visi-tors that would have made their way to the Fairbanks area.

“Tourist counts from the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Cen-ter show a gain of 61 percent in the third quarter,” Shanks stated in the Trends ar-ticle. “These jumps are likely the result of a rise in independent Alaskan and out-of-state visitors and an increased awareness of the center’s presence.”

military anD high energy cost Distinguishing Factors

In an interview, Shanks said the FNSB’s employment growth in 2010 was not surprising. Deployed troops returned to the area, spending money on a variety of goods and services.

“Because they had the military for the whole year, it didn’t surprise me too

much that there was that much growth,” Shanks says. “Military spending has a positive impact on the local economy.”

The presence of the military is one factor that differentiates the Interior from other parts of the state. The high cost of energy is another distinguishing factor. Energy costs are extremely high in the Fairbanks area, mainly due to the lack of a readily available source.

“In Southcentral Alaska, we have gas that’s really close in Cook Inlet. In Southeast, there are a lot of hydroelec-tric projects,” Shanks said.

One example is the proposed Susitna Hydroelectric Project (the Susitna Dam project) that would supply electricity to Alaska’s Railbelt region. However, the longstanding project is many years down the road.

The new Superior Pellet Fuels plant provides immediate results. The fac-tory – situated between Fairbanks and North Pole – utilizes waste wood to make pellets that can be burned as a clean fuel source. The 12,000-square-foot plant can process about 12 tons of green material every hour or six tons of pellets. It will directly add $4 million

to the local economy, with another $4 million expected in indirect bene-fits, according to a study by the Fair-banks Economic Development Corp.

As another source of alternative en-ergy, a Fairbanks company has opened a wind farm near Delta Junction that pro-vides electricity to Railbelt communities.

Fairbanks oFFers a small-town Feel

Boasting a population of about 35,200, Fairbanks is the transportation hub of Interior Alaska. It is the state’s second-largest city, but it still has a small-town feel, according to Mayor Jerry Cleworth. “I hope we don’t lose that,” he says.

“Many visitors, especially those from Europe, enjoy the city’s country ap-peal,” Cleworth says. Fairbanks’ pristine beauty and contrasting weather is also a draw. Describing Fairbanks, he says, “In January, when it gets cold, there is no wind here. When the sun shines, it’s a glistening winter wonderland. In the summer, it’s an endless summer. We get a lot of visitors that come here just to see the northern lights, and most of the time they’re not disappointed.”

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In a few years, people will have an-other reason to visit Fairbanks. In 2014, Fairbanks will host the 23rd Arctic Win-ter Games. Currently, the city hosts an annual Ice Alaska competition that generates widespread interest. “People come here from all over the world to do carving,” Cleworth says. “They like the ice here because it’s very clear.”

Perhaps no other place in the state has such a golden history as Fairbanks. Native Alaskans have inhabited the area for thousands of years, but gold-rush fever struck in 1902 when Felix Pedro discovered gold in the area. The city sprang up around a trading post operated by E.T. Barnette, who named the city in honor of Sen. Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana. Barnette became Fairbanks’ first mayor when it was in-corporated in 1903. Gold still remains in the area, as evidenced by the nearby Fort Knox and Pogo gold mines.

“Today, Fairbanks’ economy is grow-ing at a modest level,” Cleworth says. That’s thanks in part to the presence of Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wain-wright military installations, which pour money into the borough’s economy.

However, Cleworth says, “They’re our Achilles heel; if they were to close, it would have a major impact on the city.”

major construction projects Fairbanks has a number of impor-tant construction projects scheduled to enhance the city’s infrastructure. University Alaska Fairbanks, for

instance, is constructing a Life Sci-ences building that will include new lab facilities, classroom space and faculty offices. The project is sched-uled to be completed in 2013.

The Tanana Chiefs Conference is moving forward on a $75 million medi-cal center across from Fairbanks Me-morial Hospital. The clinic will replace the current 23,000-square-foot Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center, which provides services to Alaska Natives. The new facility will comprise 100,000 square feet. Its construction is projected to create about 175 jobs, plus 100 per-manent positions that would be needed to operate the center once it’s finished. The project’s anticipated completion date is December 2012.

Additionally, a variety of road im-provement projects are in the works. These will include constructing new roads, as well as repairing and resurfac-ing existing streets.

“In the next year or two, we will be doing more lane miles than we ever did before,” Cleworth says. “My priority as mayor is to protect the infrastructure of the city.” q

The Statue of Liberty is part of a larger carving by Qifeng An of China.

Photo by Donna J. Gardino

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Reducing Cardiovascular Risk

In a state with a reputation for vigorous people who lead active outdoor lifestyles, results from

the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services report, “The Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke in Alaska: Mortality, Morbidity, and Risk Fac-tors, December 2009 Update” came as a surprise to some.

“More Alaskans die of heart disease and stroke combined than any other cause. Of the approximately 3,500 Alaskans who died in 2007, 766 died from either heart disease or stroke,” began the chapter on mortality. It was a wake-up call to many of the state’s leading health institutions that heart health was in serious condition.

“Alaska’s currently high level of pop-ulation risk poses a significant challenge for public health to keep ahead of the curve and reduce the state’s heart dis-ease and stroke burden into the future,”

continued the report. State health offi-cials and medical personnel didn’t take the news lightly. All would argue that it would be foolish to think the challenges concomitant to cardiovascular care in Alaska can or will ever be completely eradicated. However, all are acutely aware that even the smallest of steps toward better heart health can have significant impact.

Since the DHSS report was re-leased more than a year ago, signifi-cant improvement has been made in the field of heart health. Large public-sector health providers have equipped themselves with the latest technology and added renowned cardio specialists to their staffs. In some cases, changes to preventative and post-op care have been made, including more cardiac rehabilitation, which, at the time of the report, “less than one-third of the approximately

15,000 Alaskans who reported hav-ing had a heart attack said they were referred to cardiac rehabilitation.”

Another significant challenge for well-rounded cardiovascular care in Alaska is how best to provide for the 40 percent of the population living in communities with less than 10,000 resi-dents; and on a macro level, maintain-ing cardio protocols on par with other states in the country.

more cath labs, better technology

“Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage (PAMC), has gone from four cath labs to six,” says Bob Hughes, director of the Providence’s Heart and Vascular Center. “And we’ve tremen-dously advanced our care of arrhythmia. We have one of the top electrocardiolo-gists in the country here who performs coronary oblations on arrhythmias.”

Getting Alaskans heart healthyBy Neal weBster turNage

HEALTH & MEDICINE

Providence technician Andrea Hansen helps patient Lynn Dewey prepare for a check up at

Providence’s Heart and Vascular Center.

Michael Sousa prepares for another day’s work in the Providence Heart and

Vascular Center.

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Wolk & AssociatesCareNet Inc.B U S I N E S S P R O F I L E

For more information contact

CareNet Inc. Lorna Mills, RN, Vice President 2909 Arctic Blvd., Suite 101Anchorage, Alaska 99503Phone: (907) 274-5620Fax: (907) 274-5621 [email protected]

Promoting Independence. Enhancing Care. Improving Life.

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

From left to right: Patsy Peshel, Lorraine Hoffman LPN, Lorna Mills RN, Brett Mills RN, Britta Lemley RN and Florence St. Armand all of CareNet, Inc.

CareNet Inc. has been providing de-pendable, private-duty home care services in Alaska since 1996. The

company’s name embodies the distinctive approach it employs to deliver in-home care to older Alaskans.

A nurse-owned and -managed com-pany with 25 years of industry experience, CareNet maintains a staff of skilled reg-istered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nurse aides and homemakers to assist clients. They help clients with ev-erything from personal care and bathing to household chores and errands. Nursing services may include medication manage-ment, post-hospital care and more. Ser-vices are available days, nights, weekends and holidays on an hourly or live-in basis.

“CareNet Inc. is devoted to help-ing older Alaskans remain indepen-dent by providing the highest quality of care that they deserve and require to live comfortably and safely in their own homes,” said Vice President Lorna Mills, RN.

HELPING PEOPLE FIRSTWhile CareNet has a reputation for pro-viding high-quality care, it is proud to differentiate itself as a company in the business of helping people first. The An-chorage-based agency is not a franchise. “CareNet is proud to be a locally owned Alaska company,” Mills said.

CareNet provides personalized atten-tion that begins with a free nursing eval-uation of all new clients and includes the development of an individualized plan of care involving client, significant other and family input. Nursing supervision of the caregivers and an on-call nurse 24 hours a day, seven days a week, also are available. In addition to using a suc-cessful “nurse model” of care, CareNet adopts a flexible approach to scheduling. Mills said: “We do not lock our clients into a contract.”

As another distinguishing characteris-tic, CareNet is meticulous about its staff members – some of whom have worked for the entity since its inception. CareNet

strives to hire locally from area agencies providing personal-care training classes. The company also promotes educational and training opportunities for its staff, including 40 hours of personal care as-sistant training by an RN. Participants receive PCA certification from the State of Alaska Division of Senior and Disabili-ties. Other professional-development op-portunities include Alzheimer’s training and certification, hospice or end-of-life -care training, and continuing education credits for certified nursing assistants.

A RESOURCE TO THE COMMUNITYOne of CareNet’s primary services is

dispensing information to families car-ing for aging adults and children caring for their aging parents. CareNet prides itself on being a valuable resource for the community. This includes providing referrals to other organizations, as well as collaborating with area resources to assist clients who need support. “We take the time to listen to a person’s needs and assist them with the resources that could help,” Mills said.

CareNet is a charter member of the Alaska chapter of National Private Duty Association, a nonprofit organization that enhances the strength and profes-sionalism for private-duty home care

providers through education, advocacy and best practices. CareNet services can be paid for: privately, by long term care insurance, Medicaid, VA or other sup-port programs.

“We recognize that home care choices can be difficult as potential clients con-sider where to find trusted, reliable and affordable care for their loved ones,” Mills said. “Elders deserve the peace of mind, trust and security that a member of the National Private Duty Association can provide.”


Providence recently added new tech-nology for treating atrial fibrillation, which occurs in blood clots. PMAC has two labs dedicated to electrophysiology mapping, whereby it is possible to ob-late without the use of X-rays. PAMC is equally as vigilant in treating stints.

“We’re doing GORE-TEX stints now (the same material utilized in high-tech winter gear), which now eliminates the need to do surgery on stint patients,” Hughes said.

Which of course, addresses cost ef-fectiveness, an ongoing challenge that confronts all health care providers.

Also in Anchorage, Alaska Regional Hospital unveiled a remodeled cath lab in March.

The upgrade, says Ruth Townsend, director of Alaska Regional’s Health Management Center, “will allow the capability to do heart catheterization and interventional radiology in all three of our cath lab rooms. We’re also up-grading a machine that can perform quick turnaround lab tests right at the patient’s side.”

Alaska Regional also offers 3-D echo imaging in cardiac surgery, which en-hances the images pre-op to surgeons; and the facility offers the option of ro-botic heart surgery, the first in the state to do so.

Echo imaging also is a component of Alaska Children’s Heart Center LLC, located on the Providence Campus in

Tips for Heart HealthDon’t smoke or use tobacco productsExercise aerobically at a moderate level most days of the weekTake all of your medications as prescribed to keep risk factors under controlEat a heart-healthy diet low in satu-rated fat, and reach and maintain your desirable weightGet regular health screenings, in-cluding blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes tests – and know your family’s health historySource: Alaska Regional Health Management Center Director Ruth Townsend

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Juneau, AK 907-796-8900www.bartletthospital.org

Quality Community HealthcareRight Here in Your Hometown


Anchorage. The center specializes in treating children with heart disorders and incorporates echo imaging into its retinue of services for children, which also include echo image storage capa-bility and electronic health records.

outsiDe anchorageAnchorage is viewed as the nexus of critical cardio care, but efforts are be-ing made to make that same kind of care available outside the city. Alaska Regional’s Heart Center staff “travels to Fairbanks and Juneau to collaborate with hospitals in those areas to form alliances for services that may not be available locally,” Townsend says.

Karl Sanford, assistant administrator at Fairbanks Memorial, says Fairbanks has greatly improved their heart health services. There was a time when a heart patient with blockage was received in Fairbanks it meant a stint IV then a transfer to Anchorage.

“Now if you show up in the Fair-banks Memorial ER with blockage, you’ll go immediately to our cardio cath lab where a procedure will be per-formed to open up the blockage.”

The hospital, however, does not per-form heart surgery.

The issue of patients in Fairbanks – and further off the grid – in need of a major procedure or diagnosis and cardio care elicits a significant question: what do 40 percent of the population living outside Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau do?

To find the answer, you have to go back to 1995, when, according to public records, federally funded health care agencies within the state collectively decided to band together to provide cost-effective solutions. An alliance was formed. A year later, the alliance was formally chartered as the Alaska Fed-eral Health Care Partnership (AFHCP).

The AFHCP currently puts its ef-forts into telehealth and virtual-clinical teleconferencing. In many instances, diagnosis and assessments can be made via video link and specific referrals can be provided.

Sanford says in some instances health services are provided by city-based physicians who make rounds once a month in remote and rural areas.

“For cardiology, though its not feder-ally funded, we’ve developed access for

providers in rural communities, Denali Park, Delta Junction Kaparuk oil field, amongst others, where cardio patients can be seen right away,” Sanford said.

If a condition is urgent, the provider determines if the patient can wait for the next available commercial flight or if medivac is necessary.

Once a patient can be accessed via an airport, there’s also LifeFlight. Townsend says LifeFlight, Alaska Re-gional’s critical care fixed-wing, air-medical transport program, can make the difference between life and death.

Alaska Regional provides the service to patients needing transport throughout Alaska and the Lower 48 as another viable method of transport. The center, the only one of its kind in the U.S., al-lows fixed-wing aircraft to taxi to the back door.

preVention anD rehabilitation programs on the rise

Though what has been accomplished through the improvement of services and facilities cannot be overlooked, as the DHHS study illuminated,

body scans so detailed we can spot signs of early heart disease or osteoporosis. Information that’s allowing people to lead longer and fuller lives; which is the ultimate reward for technologists like Heidi and Karen – just two of the employees living the promise of People First.

of early heart disease or osteoporosis. Information that’s


preventative and rehabilitative care are crucial. Hospital cardio departments, while taking a more vigilant approach now, still on some level feel that part of the responsibility, as it applies to preventative care, is incumbent upon the individual. It’s a familiar refrain throughout each of the major hospitals now: know the warning signs of a heart attack – discomfort in the chest and upper body region and shortness of breath” are the most common – along with know your family heart health his-tory and your pre-existing conditions such as being diabetic or overweight.

As of late, Alaska Regional has taken great strides to become extremely pro-active in preventative medicine. The center now holds “A Fair of the Heart” community health fair each February. Selected lab tests are offered for free along with educational seminars, blood pressure tests, healthy eating demon-strations and face time with cardio ex-perts to discuss concerns. There’s also a “Go Red for Women,” heart-healthy breakfast for the community to learn about women and heart disease.

Townsend says the staff is provided with continual education about the latest heart-related technologies, new interventions and medications.

“The nursing staff also has cardiac educational requirements that must be met annually,” she said.

When it comes to post-op care, most of the primary hospitals in populated cities have come to realize they were remiss and have begun to face head on the challenge of improvement in the area. First it is important to note, that Alaska hasn’t really been behind the curve; the problem of adequate cardio rehab has been recognized nationally.

“There’s been a big push in the U.S. to keep people out of the hospital and readmissions down,” Hughes said. “Heart failure is the chief problem of readmission.”

Providence now employs a full-time cardio-rehab staff that runs a program exclusively dedicated to address the needs of post-op heart patients.

In Fairbanks, Fairbanks Memorial has similarly taken steps to keep their heart patients healthy post procedure.

“We set up follow up appointments with each cath-lab patient before

they leave the facility,” Sanford said. During the follow up, patients are

counseled in how to make lifestyle changes to improve heart health and are taught how to monitor their own cardiac health. Though the patient has the ultimate decision on whether or not to participate in a cardio rehab program, Sanford says, “It’s made clear to all that the rehab program is designed to return the heart to pre-heart attack stage.”

How all of the changes recently initi-ated will impact heart health statistics in the next DHSS update remains to be seen. It’s highly likely deaths from heart-related illnesses will have declined. That is if the state can continue to attract top-of-the-line talent. Physicians, San-ford says, don’t seem to have a problem finding the state’s top facilities, one of the reasons Alaska keeps pace with the rest of the country in respect to cardio treatment and technology. q

Technician Ruth Townsend, Alaska Regional Hospital’s Health Management Center Director, works with patients in a

cardiac rehabilitation class.

Dr. Carson Webb (right) and technician Dan Walsh perform a cardiac catheter-ization in the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Porter Heart Center Cath Lab.

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Find Real HealthCare Reform

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HEALTH & MEDICINE OP-ED

The Patient Protection and Afford-able Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, also known as health care re-

form, is receiving mixed reviews from both advocates and opponents of the bill. Some provisions have proven dif-ficult to implement and regulators are slowly rolling out guidance. As health plans have their first renewals follow-ing Sept. 23, 2010, we are seeing the removal of lifetime maximums, and the phase-out of annual maximums. The law eliminates pre-existing condi-tion exclusions for children under age 19. Children can now stay covered to age 26, and new plans are paying for expanded preventive care.

By early February 2011, rulings were released in four federal court cases on different lawsuits brought against the federal government challenging the constitutionality of the PPACA. Two of the cases were decided in favor of the federal government, and two have ruled that the individual mandate – the requirement that everyone in the country purchase insurance – is uncon-stitutional. The State of Alaska joined Florida and 25 other states in a suit in Federal District Court challenging the individual mandate as a violation of Congress’ Commerce Clause powers. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson ruled that not only was the individual man-date unconstitutional, but because the PPACA lacks a severance clause, the entire law must be thrown out. From a practical standpoint, Vinson is cor-rect. With no individual mandate, then the entire bill is in jeopardy. All of the popular provisions within PPACA cost

money. In 2014, pre-existing condition limitations will be eliminated for ev-eryone, not just children. We can only afford this if everyone is included in the insurance pool. If you are allowed to wait to purchase health coverage until you need it without any penalty, most rational people will wait until they are sick – driving up costs for everyone else.

Regardless of one’s opinion on the specifics of the PPACA, the necessity of reforming our health care industry is paramount. Our current spending on health care is unsustainable.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medi-care and Medicaid Services (CMS) re-ports the following data regarding U.S. spending on health services.

This steady increase in health care spending limits employers’ ability to invest in other areas and may threaten their viability. More businesses face the difficult decision to sacrifice the quality of health coverage provided to their employees, or eliminate it alto-gether. Cost-shifting through increased deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, or increased employee contributions is common.

So why have we lost control of health care costs? What, or who, is driving the rampant cost increases? Compli-cated regulatory and pricing environ-ments, provider shortages, technology advances allowing treatment of more complicated diseases, an aging popu-lation, chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity … all result in a tremendous increase in cost.

broken DeliVery anD payment moDel

Most consumers are disconnected from the financial purchase of their care. We have grown to expect that a doctor visit only costs $25 (our co-pay), or that our antibiotic costs $35 – oblivious that the doctor is really being paid $250 for that office visit, several hundred more for the chest x-ray, and our medication costs more than our monthly car payment.

Our current model of health care delivery in Alaska is called fee-for-service. A provider performs a ser-vice and we pay for it. Fundamental economics, willing seller and willing purchaser – this should be an efficient model, but it’s not.

By greg loudoN

Demand adaptation and innovation

Greg Loudon


the newest drug. Dr. B’s approach is different. He chooses to order more extensive services up front or gives in to his patient’s request for the new-est medication.

Is Dr. A more virtuous? Not neces-sarily. But people do exactly what they are incented (paid) to do. Run more tests – you have a lower chance of be-ing sued, your patients think you’re thorough and you get paid more in fees. Before you know it, defensive medicine, patient demand, increased technology, higher overhead and more staff have changed the way that you run your practice.

Add to this mix a provider shortage and the lack of competition and it yields yet higher prices.

how Do we change the system?

In 2003, health savings accounts (HSAs) joined an alphabet soup of personal health accounts (FSA, HRA) supporting the consumer-directed health plans (CDHP) concept. CDHP plans feature a large deductible, which can be funded from the employee’s health account. Employees spend their own money from health accounts or from their pocket until the deductible is met. Variations allow employees to own the money outright, or carry it over from year-to-year. The concept is simple: we behave differently when our own money is at stake.

Remember some of the factors driv-ing our health care costs – chronic dis-eases? These few conditions drive the majority of all health care spending. Ironically, you can save more money on these conditions by spending more money – early on.

Wellness plans and disease manage-ment programs address this problem directly. Keep people healthy and they won’t get sick. Unfortunately, we don’t always engage in behaviors that keep us healthy. We don’t sleep or exercise enough, we eat and drink too much, and generally don’t pay attention to our health until we are forced to go to the doctor. Doctors get paid to perform services. In fact, they are paid more if we stay unhealthy because they must perform more services. Wellness plans create incentives and opportunities to stay healthy. There has to be a strong

We have difficulty figuring out the price of our care, but it is equally dif-ficult to determine the quality of care. To purchase a new car, you rely on readily available statistics to make an informed decision, and you under-stand the quality difference between the $80,000 Mercedes and the $20,000 Kia. Armed with information, you weigh price and quality and make a determination of value.

How many have called different providers and shopped prices on an annual physical? Even if you knew

that a visit to Dr. A costs $350, and a visit to Dr. B $2,000, which one of-fers the best value? With your health at stake are you going to buy the low bidder? Maybe. If you knew that out-comes were similar, you may choose the lower cost.

Why do Dr. A and Dr. B charge such different amounts for a similar service? Before handing out a script for a statin, Dr. A pushes her patients to lose weight and start exercising more. She would rather lose a patient then give in to a patient’s desire for

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welcome the opportunity to enlighten their patients and discuss their treat-ment plan. If your physician doesn’t, find someone else.

President Obama is right – health care costs have grown to an unsustain-able level and they have to be brought under control or our country will suffer. The PPACA doesn’t appear to provide the right kind of health care reform, and our current delivery system cannot adapt and innovate unless you demand it. Your business, and the future pros-perity of America require it. q

About the AuthorGreg Loudon is an employee benefits account executive for Parker, Smith & Feek, one of the 100 largest insurance brokerage firms in the nation. Respon-sible for the design and implementation of employee-benefit programs for a va-riety of governmental, Taft-Hartley and private-sector clients to provide health and welfare consulting and brokerage services. Loudon is an active in Alaska legislative issues and an experienced, in-vited speaker on employee benefits topics.

employer commitment to wellness to be effective, but data shows a good well-ness program delivers a positive return on investment.

Disease management (DM) focuses on the segment of the population hav-ing chronic disease, with proactive treatment mitigating expensive hos-pitalization. A DM vendor identifies patients through review of claim data. DM nurses provide patients regular monitoring, coaching and assistance to manage their disease.

These two programs are so effec-tive that nearly every major insurer offers some form of them as a way to reduce costs. But more often, it is the large self-insured employers that are driving these programs. Why? Insurers have a job to do for their clients, but they also have to remain profitable. Because employers often change in-surers based on pricing, insurers may have a more volatile turnover rate than a large employer. The insurer wants to keep patients healthy for the next two or three years, but they have less incentive to focus on changes that will yield results 10, 15 or 20 years down the line. An employer with a steady work force may have an employee for their entire career. Keeping that employee healthy saves money. The incentives are aligned.

new moDels?In parts of the country, large employ-ers are building their own clinics on campus and hiring their own medical providers. By having medical services available at the work site, employees spend less time away for an appoint-ment. The employer pays only for the direct salary of the doctors and nurses that provide the care and rent for the space. While there are few employers in Alaska large enough to make this pencil out, we may see it in the coming future. Other health plans are adopting alter-native care models such as collabora-tive care or the patient-centered home. While these programs aren’t available in Alaska today, they may be developed in the future

Even if you can’t participate in one of these alternative care models – you can demand more from your provid-ers. Question the care you receive. I am optimistic most physicians will

We are humbled and honored to be the only hospital in Alaska on the Top 50 “Best Hospitals” list for Orthopedics.

That’s the Top 50 in the whole U.S.

Thanks to the staff at Alaska Regional, as well as to our orthopedic and spine physicians for this outstanding

achievement.

To learn more about the best orthopedic services in Alaska, please call 264-1471.

Making the top 50 “best hospitals” is big.being the only alaska hospital on the top 50 list is better.

better.


Data security is growing in importance, as more people use mobile devices to access

corporate networks and organizations strive to meet government and indus-try standards for protecting their cus-tomers’ information.

Digital data amounts to more than bits and bytes. It represents the l i feblood of organizat ions , says Bill Ketrenos, vice president

of information security and enter-prise networking for Structured Communication Systems, which has offices in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Illinois, Nevada and California.

Companies store and transmit huge volumes of data, including customer and personnel records, intellectual property, trade secrets and other pro-prietary assets. Securing this informa-tion against malicious attacks, accidents or negligence is vital to their operations. “Every aspect of the business is touched by technology,” Ketrenos says. “It’s not just their back-end systems; it’s also the way they’re communicating and touch-ing their customers.”

approaches to securing Data Data security is a broad concept that involves the protection of sensitive in-formation against loss, corruption or unauthorized access. For Ketrenos, it centers on three fundamental tenets: availability, integrity and confidentiality.

The availability of data is essential because, as Ketrenos puts it: “If you can’t get to it, what good is it.”

Confidentiality is especially impor-tant when intellectual property or other private information is concerned. Integ-rity addresses the accuracy or validity of the data. In banking, for example, it’s

crucial for customers to have access to current and up-to-date data.

“They have to be able to validate their account information,” Ketrenos says. “They have to know that what their account says is what they actually have.”

Todd Clark, CEO of Anchorage-based DenaliTEK, thinks of data secu-rity in terms of data loss, productivity loss and the disclosure of sensitive information – not necessarily in that order. He outlines three levels of se-curity for companies. First, there’s a best-practices approach. This involves having adequate perimeter protection (such as a firewall), adequate backups, antivirus and periodic reviews by ex-perts to assess typical vulnerabilities.

The next level, Clark says, is to have a security plan developed by an IT firm that has taken a specific look at the de-tails of your business. At the highest level, large companies can develop a complete security policy – which can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

“We meet with the president and CFO and ask questions about the sensitivity of their data and potential threats,” Clark says, describing his com-pany’s approach. “Typically, the higher the security the less convenient and more costly it will be for the end user.”

Clark says large companies tend to take data security more seriously, and

Data SecurityTECHNOLOGY

By traCy BarBour

More than protecting bits and bytes

Bill Ketrenos, vice president of information security and enterprise

networking for Structured Communication Systems.

Companies store and transmit huge volumes of data, including customerand personnel records, intellectual property, trade secrets and other

proprietary assets. Securing this information against malicious attacks,accidents or negligence is vital to their operations.


they have more resources to address the issues. people running smaller busi-nesses – without any trade secrets or legal obligations for security – often feel digital security is something that only large companies need. They feel taking security measures is less critical if they don’t have any trade secrets or aren’t required to do so legally.

However, Clarks disagrees. “In reality, there’s a rudimentary level of data security that all businesses need,” he says.

Disaster protection is an important component of data security, says Shawn Fuller, president and CEO of TekMate LLC. Disaster protection uses on-site virtual servers and remote storage to ensure the availability of information in the event of natural disasters, server crashes and accidents.

“What good does it do to spend thousands of dollars to keep a hacker out,” Fuller asks, “if you don’t have a reliable backup solution?”

He advocates a two-tiered approach to data security. The first tier is to secure the data. The next tier should address how to protect the data from internal and external threats. Whether a com-pany focuses on safeguarding data from the outside or the inside will depend on its industry. Professional services companies, for example, might con-centrate on protecting their customer data from employees. Public companies

with valuable trade secrets might be wary of outside threats.

For Alaska Communications, protecting customer information is a principal concern. The company has a vast amount of information un-authorized users might want to ac-cess. That includes customers’ names, phone numbers and credit card infor-mation. “We think there’s an impor-tant trust relationship between us and our customer,” says Vice President of Process Transformation and IT Rus-sell Girten. “The last thing we want to happen is a violation of our custom-ers’ trust. We do everything we can to protect that.”

growing threats The threats of loss or stolen data are very real and potentially devastating. They’re also growing. Data breaches involving personally identifiable in-formation increased by more than 600 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to the Theft Research Cen-ter. Research by Symantec indicates that hacking accounted for more than 60 percent of the identities exposed in 2009, a 22 percent increase over 2008. Also in 2009, physical theft or loss accounted for 37 percent of data breaches that could lead to identity theft, and credit card information was the most commonly advertised item for sale underground.

Shawn Fuller, president and CEO of TekMate LLC.

Russell Girten, Vice President of Process Transformation and IT at Alaska Communications Systems.


Data loss results from a wide range of causes, from malicious attacks and fraud to accidents. Hackers use viruses, worms, spam and other methods to wreak havoc on a company’s network. However, the most common threats to data security are employees and others with access to corporate information.

Whether stolen by hackers or em-ployees, data is a valuable commodity. There’s a booming black market for functional credit card numbers, and identity thieves routinely use Social Security numbers to obtain loans. No matter how the data loss happens, the results are the same: lost business, lost customers and lost reputations.

Fuller says much of the data loss oc-curring today is a result of internal leak-age. To minimize the risk, companies are increasingly turning to data leakage protection (DLP) solutions. A DLP sys-tem allows companies to monitor and detect unauthorized transmissions of data through e-mails, instant messages and Web traffic, as well as data stored on local and USB drives and sent to a printer or fax machine. “It scans for any data leakage rules that you set up for your company,” Fuller says.

compliance anD best practices

Government and industry regulations require many organizations to adopt data security measures regarding the use of personal information. They also mandate significant penalties if and when a breach occurs.

The legal standards that apply gener-ally depend on the industry involved. For instance, the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulates the use of private information in the health care industry. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 pre-scribes specific mandates for financial reporting, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act applies to the banking industry.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) stipulates requirements for businesses that store, process or transmit payment card-holder data. Alaska Communication, for example, adheres to PCI DSS and various best practices.

“If you look at our network, our cus-tomers’ credit card information is some of the most secure that we have in the

company. The number of locked doors that we have to open (to access informa-tion) and who’s allowed to open those doors is something that’s held with highest levels of security,” Girten says.

Alaska Communications uses en-cryption, tamper-resistant digital cer-tificates and other practices to protect data. For its popular online payment option, the company “hides” and “splits up” customers’ information to thwart would-be hackers. A similar level of precaution was used last year when Alaska Communications moved its wireless customers’ credit card infor-mation to a new billing system. “When we did those moves and how we did them was a closely guarded secret,” Girten says.

mobile DeVices pose higher risk

As organizations rely more on the In-ternet and mobile devices to transfer information to and from their network, they’re finding it increasingly harder to protect their valuable digital assets. Many employees are using their own personal devices for work, which po-tentially increases the risk.

The most prevalent means of data loss is through the theft or loss of mobile devices such as laptops, smartphones and USB drives. Many smartphones and laptops have been lost or stolen from office buildings, airports and even employees’ homes.

Clark of DenaliTEK says many com-panies are not adequately addressing security around the use of mobile de-vices. These devices, much like wireless access points, can be a serious security risk if not dealt with properly.

“These devices can be used to hack into a corporate network or other entry points,” Clark says.

But the apprehension around se-curity goes beyond the possible loss of an employee’s smartphone, Clarks says. It also includes the breach of information through Bluetooth technology, which allows the wire-less transmission of data over short distances. Bluetooth mobile phones can be the target of “bluebugging” and “bluesnarfing” schemes designed to steal customers’ phone num-bers, contact names and other personal information.

Macintosh devices, like the popu-lar iPhones and iPads, are also harder to manage and secure, says TekMate’s Fuller. Mac devices aren’t well integrated in company networks. These devices cannot be wiped out remotely once an employee leaves the company, which can put a company’s information at risk.

Alaska Communications is less con-cerned about the type of mobile device being used than the kind of data be-ing accessed. Publicly available infor-mation like calling plans and pricing is generally available to employees through mobile devices, Girten says. Access to proprietary information is normally restricted to select individuals and through company-issued devices.

security trenDsA number of digital security trends are taking place among businesses in Alaska and elsewhere. As employees and cus-tomers demand access to real-time in-formation, organizations are looking at IT more strategically, according to Ketrenos of Structured Communication. They’re also changing their approach to digital security. Companies are reducing their security risk through the centraliza-tion and virtualization of information.

Businesses want to provide access to data in a ubiquitous fashion, Ket-renos says. So instead of having data sit on a mainframe, data center or an end user’s PC, they’re using “virtual” solutions to provide mobile or remote access to information.

“With virtualization, users aren’t really accessing the server,” Ketrenos explains. “The application is running on the company’s data center, and the user’s mobile device is simply act-ing as a terminal that lets them view the information.”

Alaska businesses are also taking a fundamental approach to analyzing risk. They’re also changing the way they view the perimeter of the network.

“In the past, they felt that if they used a firewall, intrusion prevention technology and antivirus, they were secure,” Ketrenos says. “Today, people are looking at all the places where data is residing and being used, and that leads back to mobile devices. That information needs to be available to people who are located not just within the firewall environment.”


security strategies anD solutions

The key to effective data security, Ketre-nos says, is assessment and understand-ing. He encourages companies to hire an expert to evaluate how they’re using in-formation in their business and to secure appropriate processes and technology to ensure the availability, integrity and confidentiality of their information. Struc-tured Communication offers a variety of security assessments to help customers identify their security risks and exposure.

For large companies, the evaluation could be complex; for smaller ones it could amount to a few enlightening questions. These types of assessments are vital for any size business, Ketrenos says. “If you lose customer’s informa-tion, you might be out of business,” he says. “I think every business needs to take appropriate measures to address their risk.”

Like Ketrenos, Clark also advises companies to invest in using outside expertise to disclose their vulnerabili-ties. This could range from having someone take a cursory look to a full-blown security plan. DenaliTEK offers a host of IT solutions, including risk assessments, compliance analysis, and network design, implementation and support. The company also provides cloud-based solutions to give clients reliable and secure networked e-mail, file storage, sharing, communications and desktop management without the use of on-site servers.

TekMate, which is an Alaska Com-munications partner, also offers a range of services to address organizations’ se-curity needs. It can provide the appro-priate intrusion protection systems to help clients’ detect information security breaches and other threats. TekMate can also implement firewall services and ensure they’re properly updated.

“It’s very important that the software solutions they have running on their desktop and mobile devices are up to date,” Fuller says. “If they’re not, those are known holes that will allow people to get into their data.”

Businesses lacking the time or ex-pertise to keep up with their IT require-ments can opt for TekMate’s Constantly On IT service. “We manage every-thing,” Fuller says. “We become their full IT operation.” q

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OK, I’ll admit it. I’m scared. I’m afraid our economy will tank if we don’t do more in the way of oil and gas exploration. I’m afraid environmentalists will stop development of major job-producing projects that benefit the state as a whole as well as individuals in the regions where work is ongoing or potential work planned. And I’m afraid Alaska will not recover and we

will be taxed to death, lose our dividends and do without vital services and growth opportunities.But then I look at a list like the Corporate 100 and see many Champions of Industry, those that show Power, Performance and

Productivity. They are good corporate citizens, employ thousands upon thousands of individuals, and provide much benefit to the state.And I think: Diversification. And I think: We can do it!One thing Alaska has always had is backbone, forward thinking and ability to change.We’ve been through our own recession, but now remain independent and strong despite the economic horrors of the Lower 48.

Let’s face it, with brainpower like executives in these top companies display, maybe we can change Alaska.As I write this, oil is more than $100 a barrel, mainly due to conflicts in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Money is ching-

chinging into the state. But we are running out of oil. As I write this, Native corporations are doing well, getting 8(a) contracts that help them diversify and grow and become independent of SBA contracts. But that too is in flux.

But I’m counting on leaders like those who head the Corporate 100 companies on this list to change the state. The ball is in their court, and ours. It’s for all of us who care about the economic conditions to bring forth new ideas, new industry, new tax laws, new …. Let’s seize the opportunity.

– Debbie Cutler Managing Editor

Tank or Thrive?

The Alaska State Chamber is an invaluable institution that fosters dialogue and cooperation between Alaskan businesses and policy-makers. ExxonMobil is proud to be a partner with the Chamber and to help the organization promote a positive business environment in Alaska. – Bill Brackin

• JOIN the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce “to promote a positive business environment in Alaska.”

• NETWORK with Alaska’s top business leaders.

• INVOLVEMENT in four major events where you can voice your business’s concerns.

• ADVOCACY in Juneau. With our lobbying staff, we can work together on issues of common interest to protect business interests in Alaska.

• UNIQUE advertising opportunities!

FOUNDED IN 1953

Two Offices to Serve You: Juneau Headquarters Anchorage Office

P: 907-586-2323 I F: 907-463-5515 P: 907-278-2722 I F: 278-6643

w w w . a l a s k a c h a m b e r . c o m

e f

Bill Brackin, ExxonMobil - Alaska Public & Government Affairs Manager

“ “

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2011 CORPORATE 100ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2011 CORPORATE 100

Power ~ Performance ~ ProductivityChampionsof Industry

Corporate 100 Leaders Key to Survival

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2011 73kinross.com

We’re putting up somebig numbers

It’s great to celebrate accomplishments and at the Fort Knox Gold Mine we are doing just that. As of the end of January, we achieved 4,000,000 man hours worked without a lost-time incident. Big numbers like that don’t come easy in our business, where moving tons and tons of material and operating complex machinery are everyday assignments.

Our 4,000,000 milestone comes from a workforce that is committed to working safely, and embracing the procedures and policies that make it happen. Our safety culture asks workers to look after one another, as well as themselves. As our incident-free record demonstrates, it’s helping prevent accidents and injuries on the job.

Our 500 dedicated Fort Knox employees deserve to celebrate. Our team has set a new Alaska record for incident-free operations at a large metal mine. That big number reflects their shared commitment to working safer and to working smarter each and every day. And, with that kind of attitude, the next big accomplishment could be right around the corner.

4 ,000 ,000

2011 CORPORATE 100 Listed by Industry



ConsTruCTionAlaska Interstate Construction LLCDavis Constructors & Engineers Inc.

Granite Construction Co.Neeser Construction Inc.Osborne Construction Co.

Roger Hickel Contracting Inc.UNIT Company

Watterson Construction Co.PCL Construction Services Inc.

FinanCe, insuranCe, real esTaTeAlaska Housing Finance Corp.

Alaska USA Federal Credit UnionCredit Union 1

Denali Alaskan Federal Credit UnionFirst National Bank Alaska

KeyBankMt McKinley Bank

Prudential Jack White/Vista Real EstateWells Fargo Bank, N.A.

HealTH CareAlaska Regional Hospital

Fairbanks Memorial HospitalMat-Su Regional Medical Center

Providence Health + Services Alaska

indusTrial serviCesAlaska Ship & Drydock

ASRC Energy Services Inc.CH2M Hill

Colville Inc.Construction Machinery Industrial

Cruz Construction Inc.Jacobs Engineering Group

Schlumberger Oilfield ServicesUdelhoven Oilfield System Service

USKH Inc.Peak Oilfield Service Co.

PND Engineers Inc.

MiningAnchorage Sand & Gravel

Coeur Alaska Inc.Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc.

Usibelli Coal Mine Inc.

naTive organizaTionAfognak Native Corp./Alutiiq

Ahtna Inc.Arctic Slope Regional CorporationBering Straits Native Corporation

Bethel Native CorporationCalista Corporation

Chenega CorporationChugach Alaska Corporation

Cook Inlet Region Inc.Doyon Limited

Koniag Inc.NANA Regional Corporation

Olgoonik CorporationSealaska CorporationThe Aleut Corporation

The Kuskokwim CorporationThe Tatitlek Corporation

Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation

oil & gasAlyeska Pipeline Service Co.BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.

ChevronConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.

Flint Hills Resources Alaska LLCMarathon Oil CorporationNabors Alaska Drilling Inc.

XTO Energy Inc.

reTail/WHolesale TradeAlaska Commercial Co.

Alaska Industrial Hardware Inc.Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Center

Cal Worthington Ford of AlaskaCarrs Safeway

reTail/WHolesale Trade cont.Costco Wholesale Corp.

Spenard Builders Supply Inc.The Odom Corp.

TeleCoMMuniCaTionsAlaska Communications

AT&TGCI

MTA Inc.TelAlaska

TransporTaTionAlaska Airlines

Alaska Railroad Corp.American Fast Freight Inc.

Carlile Transportation SystemsCrowley

Era Helicopters LLCEverts Air CargoFedEx ExpressHorizon Lines

HoTH Inc. dba Era AlaskaLynden Inc.

Northland Services Inc.Pacific Alaska Freightways Inc.

Ryan Air Inc.Span-Alaska Transportation Inc.

Totem Ocean Trailer Express

Travel & TourisMAlyeska Resort

Hotel Captain CookUSTravel

uTiliTyChugach Electric Association Inc.Golden Valley Electric AssociationHomer Electric Association Inc.

Matanuska Electric Association Inc.




Afognak Native Corp./Alutiiq215 Mission Rd., Ste. 212Kodiak, AK 99503Phone: 907-486-6014Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveRichard Hobbs, Pres./CEO

Business Type: Native Organization

Business Description: Village Corporation

Community Involvement: Alutiiq Museum, Native Village ofAfognak, Junior Achievement of Alaska, Port Lions School,Special Olympics, Alaska Native Justice Center and more.

Year Founded: 1977Estab. in Alaska: 1977

EmployeesAlaska: 170Worldwide: 5,313

Gross RevenueAlaska: $33.13MWorldwide: $782.80M

Ahtna Inc.PO Box 649Glennallen, AK 99588Phone: 907-822-3476Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveKen Johns, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Native Organization

Community Involvement: Food drives, sponsorships,donations, community functions and more.




Alaska Airlines4750 Old Int'l Airport Rd.Anchorage, AK 99502Phone: 907-266-7230Fax: 907-266-7229www.alaskaair.com

Top ExecutiveBill MacKay, Sr. VP-Alaska

Parent CompanyAlaska Air GroupInc.

Seattle, WA

Stock SymbolALK

Business Type: Transportation

Business Description: Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier,Horizon Air, together provide passenger and cargo serviceto more than 90 cities in Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Hawaiiand the Lower 48.

Community Involvement: Company leaders serve onboards of a variety of organizations, including the Universityof Alaska Foundation, Commonwealth North, the AlaskaAviation Heritage Museum, Alaska State Chamber andmore.


EmployeesAlaska: 1,788Worldwide: 9,573

Alaska Commercial Co.550 W. 64th Ave.Anchorage, AK 99518Phone: 907-273-4600Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveRex Wilhelm, Pres./COO

Parent CompanyThe North West Co.

Winnipeg, MBCanada

Stock SymbolNWF.UN

Business Type: Retail/Wholesale Trade

Business Description: Largest rural retailer ofmerchandise and groceries in Alaska, including a wholesaledivision that sells groceries to more than 150 rural stores,and a meat-packing plant.

Community Involvement: Major sponsor of Girl Scouts ofAlaska, ASAA, BBNC leadership workshop, JuniorAchievement Alaska, Food Bank of Alaska, AmericanCancer Society and many other regional and local events.




Alaska Communications600 Telephone Ave.Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-297-3000Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveAnand Vadapalli, Pres./CEO

Stock SymbolALSK

Business Type: Telecommunications

Business Description: Alaska Communications is aleading provider of high-speed wireless, mobile broadband,Internet, local, long-distance and advanced data solutions.

Community Involvement: Through corporate contributionsand employee volunteer work, we strive to improve thequality of life throughout Alaska.


EmployeesAlaska: 813Worldwide: 835

Gross RevenueAlaska: $341.52M

Alaska Housing FinanceCorp.PO Box 101020Anchorage, AK 99510Phone: 907-330-8447Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveDaniel Fauske, CEO/Exec. Dir.

Parent CompanyState of Alaska

Juneau, AK

Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate

Business Description: Statewide self-supporting publiccorp. providing single- and multi-family financing, energyand weatherization programs, and low-income rentalassistance.

Community Involvement: Big Brothers/Big Sisters, UnitedWay, Chamber of Commerce, Clean-up Day, ProjectHomeless Connect, StandDown, Paint the Town, ResourceDevelopment Council.




Afognak Native Corp./Alutiiq215 Mission Rd., Ste. 212Kodiak, AK 99503Phone: 907-486-6014Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveRichard Hobbs, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Village Corporation

Community Involvement: Alutiiq Museum, Native Village ofAfognak, Junior Achievement of Alaska, Port Lions School,Special Olympics, Alaska Native Justice Center and more.




Ahtna Inc.PO Box 649Glennallen, AK 99588Phone: 907-822-3476Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveKen Johns, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Native Organization

Community Involvement: Food drives, sponsorships,donations, community functions and more.




Alaska Airlines4750 Old Int'l Airport Rd.Anchorage, AK 99502Phone: 907-266-7230Fax: 907-266-7229www.alaskaair.com

Top ExecutiveBill MacKay, Sr. VP-Alaska

Parent CompanyAlaska Air GroupInc.

Seattle, WA

Stock SymbolALK


Business Description: Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier,Horizon Air, together provide passenger and cargo serviceto more than 90 cities in Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Hawaiiand the Lower 48.

Community Involvement: Company leaders serve onboards of a variety of organizations, including the Universityof Alaska Foundation, Commonwealth North, the AlaskaAviation Heritage Museum, Alaska State Chamber andmore.







Alaska Industrial HardwareInc.2192 Viking Dr.Anchorage, AK 99501Phone: 907-276-7201Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveMike Kangas, Pres./Gen. Mgr.


Business Description: Retail, tools, hardware andconstruction supplies.

Community Involvement: United Way, Bean's Cafe, STAR,Boys and Girls Club, Alaska Fine Arts Academy, AKEELA-House, North Star Hockey, AWAIC, Knik Little League, AFDSearch & Rescue, AK Peace Officers, APD and more.




Alaska InterstateConstruction LLC301 W. Northern Lights Blvd, Ste. 600Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-562-2792Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveSteve Percy, Pres.

Parent CompanyCook Inlet RegionInc.

Parent CompanyNabors IndustriesLtd.

Hamilton Bermuda

Stock SymbolNBR

Business Type: Construction

Business Description: AIC builds builds ice and snowroads, well-site pads, gravel roads and islands, bridges andculverts, structures, airstrips and helipads, dock and portfacilities, pipeline installation and more.

Community Involvement: AIC supports Boys and GirlsClub of Alaska, Shriners Hospitals, Boy Scouts of America,Special Olympics, Scotty Gomez Foundation, United Way,Challenge Alaska and more.




Alaska Railroad Corp.PO Box 107500Anchorage, AK 99510-7500Phone: 907-265-2300Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveChristopher Aadnesen, Pres./CEO

Parent CompanyState of Alaska

Juneau, AK


Business Description: Freight, passenger and real estateservices.

Community Involvement: School Business Partnerships,Anchorage Downtown Partnership, member of all Railbeltchambers of commerce, member of Resource DevelopmentCouncil.




Alaska Regional Hospital2801 DeBarr Rd.Anchorage, AK 99508Phone: 907-276-1131Fax: 907-264-1143www.alaskaregional.com

Top ExecutiveAnnie Holt, CEO

Parent CompanyHCA

Nashville, TN

Business Type: Health Care

Business Description: 24-hour ER department, LifeflightAir Ambulance, cancer care center, neuroscience center,heart center and cardiac rehabilitation, diagnostic imaging,orthopedic and spine center, and more.

Community Involvement: Blood Bank of Alaska, RedCross, American Heart Association, American CancerSociety, free immunization clinics, free community healthfairs, and more.



Alaska Ship & Drydock3810 Tongass Ave.Ketchikan, AK 99901Phone: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveRandy Johnson, Pres.

Business Type: Industrial Services

Business Description: Formed in 1994 as a privatecooperation, ASD's mission is to perform shipbuilding andrepair in support of fleets operating in the Southeast AlaskaInside Passage, North Pacific and Bering Sea.

Community Involvement: ASD operates the KetchikanShipyard through a public private partnership with AIDEA,the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and the City of Ketchikan.




Alaska USA Federal CreditUnionPO Box 196613Anchorage, AK 99519Phone: 907-563-4567Fax: 907-561-4857www.alaskausa.org

Top ExecutiveWilliam Eckhardt, Pres.


Business Description: Financial services.

Community Involvement: Donated to more than 200community/service organizations statewide. Helps raisemoney for the Alaska USA Foundation, providing funds forservices for children, veterans, active duty military/families.





Alyeska Pipeline ServiceCo.PO Box 196660, MS 542Anchorage, AK 99519-6660Phone: 907-787-8700Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveThomas Barrett, Pres.

Business Type: Oil & Gas

Business Description: Designed, built, operates andmaintains the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, pump stations andValdez Marine Terminal on behalf of five owner companies.

Community Involvement: Contributes to nonprofitorganizations and causes that support children and families.The company offers employee matching, volunteer gifts andmore.



Alyeska ResortPO Box 249Girdwood, AK 99587Phone: 907-754-1111Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveMark Weakland, GM/VP

Business Type: Travel & Tourism

Business Description: Alaska's premier year-rounddestination resort. The Hotel Alyeska has 304 guest roomsand 30,000 sq. ft. meeting and banquet space for up to 500.World-class skiing right from the hotel in winter.

Community Involvement: Support communityorganizations in Girdwood, Anchorage, Alaska and beyond.Contributes cash and in-kind services to more than a dozenlocal Girdwood nonprofits, Anchorage community schoolsand more.



American Fast Freight Inc.7400 45th St. Ct. E.Fife, WA 98424Phone: 253-926-5000Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveTim Jacobson, CEO

Parent CompanyAmerican FastFreight Inc.

Renton, WA


Business Description: Ocean/air freight, householdmoving and storage, project logistics, warehousing anddistribution, cold storage, Alaska intrastate and Alcantrucking.

Community Involvement: Great Alaska Shootout 2010sponsor, Irondog 2011 sponsor, donated trailers to FoodBank of Alaska, Red Cross supporter, Alaska GeneralContractors sponsor.






Anchorage Chrysler DodgeCenter2601 E. Fifth Ave.Anchorage, AK 99501Phone: 907-276-1331Fax: 907-264-2202anchoragechryslerdodge.comwww.anchoragechrysler.com

Top ExecutiveRodney Udd, Pres./CEO


Business Description: New and used auto sales, serviceand parts sales.

Community Involvement: Boys & Girls Club, Iditarod Race,Fur Rendezvous, Aces, Intervention Help Line, AlaskaRaceway Park, Downtown Partnership, Boy Scouts ofAmerica and more.




Anchorage Sand & Gravel1040 O'Malley Rd.Anchorage, AK 99515Phone: 907-349-3333Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveDale Morman, Pres.

Business Type: Mining

Business Description: Building material supplier.

Community Involvement: Business Partner with Alaskaschool districts.



Arctic Slope RegionalCorporationPO Box 129Barrow, AK 99723Phone: 907-852-8633Fax: 907-852-5733www.asrc.com

Top ExecutiveRex Rock Sr., Pres./CEO


Business Description: Energy services, petroleum refining& marketing, engineering, construction, governmentservices, resource development, commercial lending,tourism and communications.

Community Involvement: North Slope specific andstatewide nonprofit organizations.



Gross RevenueAlaska: $1.44BWorldwide: $2.33B

ASRC Energy Services Inc.3900 C St., Ste. 701Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-339-6200Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJeff Kinneeveauk, Pres./CEO

Parent CompanyArctic SlopeRegionalCorporation

Barrow, AK


Business Description: AES offers expertise from theearliest regulatory stage to exploration, drilling support,engineering, fabrication, construction, project management,operations and maintenance and field abandonment.

Community Involvement: Supporting and focusing onactivities that promote a healthy community, AESvolunteers, fundraises, and offers sponsorship to charitable,youth, educational, and cultural organizations.




AT&T505 E. Bluff Dr.Anchorage, AK 99501Phone: 800-478-9000Fax: [email protected]/alaska

Top ExecutiveMike Felix, Pres., AT&T Alaska

Parent CompanyAT&T

Dallas, TX

Stock SymbolT


Business Description: Solutions include wireless, long-distance, local, data, video and Internet services.service.

Community Involvement: Committed to advancingeducation, strengthening communities and improving lives.AT&T and AT&T Foundation philanthropic initiatives andpartnerships support projects addressing community needs.



Bering Straits NativeCorporation4600 Debarr Rd. Ste., 200Anchorage, AK 99508Phone: 907-563-3788Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveGail Schubert, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Government service contracts,construction, property management, IT, aerospace services,logistics, green energy, mining support and facilities O&M.

Community Involvement: Supports Bering StraitsFoundation, Alaska Federation of Natives, Inuit CircumpolarCouncil-AK, NACTEC, Scotty Gomez Foundation and localorganizations.






Bethel Native CorporationPO Box 719Bethel, AK 99559Phone: 907-543-2124Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveAnastasia Hoffman, Pres./CEO


Business Description: BNC delivers a broad range ofservices including project management, construction, realestate investment, telecom, environmental design,demolition/abatement and logistics support services.

Community Involvement: Bethel Native Corporation,through vendor and employment opportunities, activelyfosters an environment of inclusion and participation in themany communities in which we perform our services.




BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.PO Box 196612Anchorage, AK 99515-6612Phone: 907-561-5111Fax: 907-564-4124www.alaska.bp.com

Top ExecutiveJohn MingŽ, Regional Pres.

Parent CompanyBP PLC

London England

Stock SymbolNYSE: BP


Business Description: Alaska oil and gas exploration andproduction. BP spent more than $1.9 billion with Alaskacompanies in 2009.

Community Involvement: BP and its employees supportmore than 700 education, youth and community serviceorganizations in 49 different communities across Alaska.



Cal Worthington Ford ofAlaska1950 Gambell St.Anchorage, AK 99501Phone: 907-276-5300Fax: 907-278-8172www.calworthingtonford.com

Top ExecutiveDeanna Slack, Gen. Mgr.

Parent CompanyWorthington Oil andGas Corp.

Carlsbad, CA


Business Description: New and used car dealer.

Community Involvement: Boys and Girls Club, CovenantHouse, United Way, Anchorage Concert Association,Anchorage Baptist Temple, Pacific Northern Academy,United States Army.





Calista Corporation301 Calista Ct., Ste. AAnchorage, AK 99518-3028Phone: 907-279-5516Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveAndrew Guy, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Government contracting, remoteand camp services, resource development, construction andengineering, real estate, publishing, advertising and media,heavy equipment sales-rental-service.

Community Involvement: Involvement with AK Chamber,Anchorage Chamber, Resource Development Council, JRAchievement, AK Mining Association, KYUK radio, AKNative Heritage Center, Rotary, Boys and Girls Club & GirlScouts.




Carlile TransportationSystems1800 E. First Ave.Anchorage, AK 99501-1833Phone: 907-276-7797Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveLinda Leary, Pres.


Business Description: Full-service transportationcompany.

Community Involvement: United Way, Food Bank ofAlaska, Anchorage Opera, American Cancer Society, BoyScouts of America, The Alliance, Boys/Girls Club, BigBrothers/Big Sisters, Bean's Cafe, Salvation Army and more.




Carrs Safeway56 Debarr Rd., Ste. 100Anchorage, AK 99504Phone: 907-339-7704Fax: 907-339-7793www.safeway.com

Top ExecutiveGlenn Peterson, Anchorage Dist. Mgr.

Parent CompanySafeway

Pleasanton, CA

Stock SymbolNYSE: SWY


Business Description: Retail food, drug and fuel.

Community Involvement: Food Bank, breast and prostratecancer, Great Alaska Shootout, Salvation Army, ProvidenceAlaska Foundation, Armed Forces, YMCA, MDA, EasterSeals, ALPAR, UAA and more.





Visit us at: www.Eklutnainc.com

Birchwood Industrial Park

An ANCSA village corporation developing the economic landscape of the Anchorage area

Master Plan Gravel Extraction

Industrially zoned 157 acres of prime real estate conveniently located off the Glenn Highway next to the Birchwood Airport. Rail spurs located next to the site make this property strategically located for easy movement of heavy equipment and construction materials.

• Long-term lease opportunities

• Lay-down storage yard

• Office and warehouse leases

Coming

Soon!

CH2M Hill949 E. 36th Ave., Ste. 500Anchorage, AK 99508Phone: 907-762-1500Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveThomas Maloney, Area Manager

Parent CompanyCH2M HILL

Englewood, CO


Business Description: CH2M HILL is a full-service,engineering, construction and O&M serving AlaskaÕs energy,natural resources, transportation, facilities, environmentaland utilities markets.

Community Involvement: CH2M HILL reaches out in thecommunity through employee volunteerism, WorkforceDevelopment and School Business Partnerships, supportingthe community we live and work in.



Gross RevenueAlaska: $600.00MWorldwide: $6.00B

Chenega Corporation3000 C St., Ste. 301Anchorage, AK 99503-3975Phone: 907-277-5706Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveCharles Totemoff, CEO/Pres.


Business Description: Gov't contracting: Intel & operationssupport, security, technical & installation services, healthcare & environmental, professional services, light mfg.Commercial property and hotel management.

Community Involvement: AK Fed. of Natives, AK RussianOrthodox Church, Chenega Heritage Inc., Chenega FutureInc. Wounded Warrior Project AK, AK Native HeritageCenter, AK Vocational Technical Center, Chugach SchoolDist.



Gross RevenueAlaska: $1.10B

Chevron3800 Centerpoint Dr., Suite 100Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-276-7600Fax: 907-263-7904www.chevron.com

Top ExecutiveJohn Zager, Gen. Mgr.

Parent CompanyChevronCorporation

San Ramon, CA

Stock SymbolCVX


Business Description: Oil and gas exploration andproduction. Presence in Cook Inlet since 1957.

Community Involvement: Habitat for Humanity, UnitedWay, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, The Arctic SlopeScholarship Fund, Alaska Health Fair, Multiple SclerosisSociety and others.






Colville Inc.Pouch 340012Prudhoe Bay, AK 99734Phone: 907-659-3189Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveEric Helzer, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Arctic full-service fuel logisticcontractor, solid waste services and industrial supply, NAPA,True Value, VIPAR, offshore logistics.

Community Involvement: Sponsors events formembership organizations, including ResourceDevelopment Council and the Alliance; sponsors AlaskaMineral and Energy Resources Education Foundation.




ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.PO Box 100360Anchorage, AK 99510Phone: 907-276-1215Fax: okwww.conocophillips.com

Top ExecutiveTrond-Erik Johansen, Pres.

Parent CompanyConocoPhillips Inc.

Houston, TX

Stock SymbolCOP


Business Description: Largest producer of oil and gas inAlaska, with major operations on Alaska's North Slope andin Cook Inlet.

Community Involvement: Provides statewide support toalmost every nonprofit sector, including education,environment, arts, health and social services, youthprograms and public broadcasting.




Construction MachineryIndustrial5400 Homer Dr.Anchorage, AK 99518Phone: 907-563-3822Fax: 907-563-1381www.cmiak.com

Top ExecutiveKen Gerondale, Pres./CEO


Business Description: CMI sells, rents and services heavyequipment.

Community Involvement: Sponsors schools sports teamsall over Alaska, involved in numerous fundraisers.




Chugach AlaskaCorporation3800 Centerpoint Dr., Ste. 601Anchorage, AK 99503-4396Phone: 907-563-8866Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveEd Herndon, CEO


Business Description: Chugach Alaska Services Inc., awholly owned subsidiary of CAC, provides commercialconstruction, personnel services, service commitment andsafety.

Community Involvement: United Way, Alaska Food Bank,American Heart Association, Special Olympics, March ofDimes and KNBA.



Chugach ElectricAssociation Inc.5601 Electron Dr.Anchorage, AK 99518Phone: 907-563-7494Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveBradley Evans, CEO

Business Type: Utility

Business Description: Retail and wholesale electricservice within the Railbelt.

Community Involvement: Various state chambers, AEDC,United Way, Resource Development Council,Commonwealth, BOMA and Association of GeneralContractors.




Coeur Alaska Inc.3031 Clinton Dr., Ste. 202Juneau, AK 99801Phone: 907-523-3300Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveGuy Jeske, VP, US Operations

Parent CompanyCoeur d'AleneMines Corp.

Coeur d'Alene, ID

Stock SymbolCDE


Business Description: Mining company.

Community Involvement: Juneau and Alaska StateChambers of Commerce, Haines Chamber of Commerce,Alaska Miners Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters, JuneauEconomic Development Council, Southeast Conference.





40 Years...Thanks to our customers and employees, we’ve been privileged to serve Alaska’s oil industry for over 40 years. Our goal is to build a company that provides a service or builds a project to the complete satisfaction of its customers.

We shall strive to be number one in reputation with our customers and our employees.

We must perform safely.

We must provide quality performance.

We must make a profit.

We shall share our successes and profits with our employees.

Work can be taken away from us in many ways, but our reputation is ours to lose.

Our reputation is the key that will open doors to new business in the future.

Cook Inlet Region Inc.2525 C St.., Ste. 500Anchorage, AK 99509-3330Phone: 907-274-8638Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveMargaret Brown, Pres./CEO


Business Description: CIRI is one of 13 regionalcorporations established by the Alaska Native ClaimsSettlement Act of 1971 to benefit Alaska Natives in CookInlet region.

Community Involvement: CIRI has a strong commitment tobeing a responsible corporate citizen is a major supporter ofvarious charitable organizations and fundraising events.




Costco Wholesale Corp.4125 DeBarr Rd.Anchorage, AK 99508Phone: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJames Sinegal, CEO

Parent CompanyCostco WholesaleCorp.

Issaquah, Wash.

Stock SymbolCOST


Business Description: Operates a chain of cash and carrymembership warehouses that sell high-quality, nationallybranded and selected private label merchandise at lowprices, and has more than 550 warehouses worldwide.

Community Involvement: United Way, Children's MiracleNetwork, Children's Hospitals, business partners in areaelementary schools, volunteers in Anchorage LiteracyProject and other philanthropic endeavors.



Credit Union 11941 Abbott Rd.Anchorage, AK 99507Phone: 907-339-9485Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveLeslie Ellis, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Full-service financial institutionfocused on providing excellent service, products and value.Specialized loan departments and real estate lending.

Community Involvement: CU1 embraces the credit unionspirit of "people helping people" by volunteering, donating,educating and encouraging financial well-being.






907-334-6788 u 2741 Debarr Road, Suite C210 u Anchorage, AK 99508

www.akboneandjoint.com

SERVICES OFFEREDInjectionsTotal knee replacementTotal hip replacementTotal shoulder replacementJoint revision surgery of the knee and hipArthroscopic surgery of the kneeArthroscopic surgery of the shoulder General orthopedics

u

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Dr. Tim Kavanaugh & Dr. Brian Carino

Your Path to Mobility

Our staff is dedicated to providing the highest quality orthopedic care and treatment of patients.

Crowley201 Arctic Slope Ave.Anchorage, AK 99518Phone: 907-777-5505Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveBob Cox, VP

Parent CompanyCrowley MaritmeCorporation

Jacksonville, FL


Business Description: Fuel distribution, marine services,tanker escort and spill response throughout Alaska.

Community Involvement: Crowley supports statewideevents like the 2011 Iron Dog and AFN. In addition, wesupport youth and healthy lifestyle oriented activities in thecommunities where we do business.



Cruz Construction Inc.7000 E. Palmer-Wasilla Hwy.Palmer, AK 99645Phone: 907-746-3144Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveDave Cruz, Pres.


Business Description: Remote Arctic projects, O&Gexploration support, ice roads and pads, camps, portableshops, rig support, tundra transportation, heavy civilconstruction, airports, roads and logistics management.

Community Involvement: Academy Career and TechEducation, Eagle River Nature Center, Alaska MooseFederation, Habitat for Humanity, American Cancer Society,Iditarod and other local events.



Davis Constructors &Engineers Inc.740 Bonanza Ave.Anchorage, AK 99518Phone: 907-562-2336Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJosh Pepperd, Pres.


Business Description: Commercial construction anddesign-build.

Community Involvement: Employee Team Davis:American Cancer Society Relay for Life Nationwide Top 10Fund Raiser. Employee Fund donations: Safe Harbor, FoodBanks, Boys & Girls organizations and others.






An Alaska Native Corporation

Proven Performance,Grounded in our Values,Dedicated to the Future for our Peoplewww.chenega.com

Denali Alaskan FederalCredit Union440 E. 36th Ave.Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-257-7200Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveRobert Teachworth, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Complete financial services centerfor Alaskans.

Community Involvement: Financial educationpresentations to local groups & schools. Donationscommittee supports more than 40 groups throughout Alaska.




Doyon LimitedOne Doyon Pl., Ste. 300Fairbanks, AK 99701-2941Phone: 907-459-2000Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveNorman Phillips, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Oilfield services, drilling/pipelineinfrastructure construction, gov't services, security, utilitymgmt., natural resources development, remote site support,construction, engineering and tourism.

Community Involvement: Fairbanks Chamber ofCommerce, Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau,Alaska Federation of Natives and various civic andcharitable groups.




Era Helicopters LLC6160 Carl Brady Dr., Hangar 2Anchorage, AK 99502Phone: 907-550-8600Fax: 907-550-8608alaskamarketing@erahelicopters.comwww.erahelicopters.com

Top ExecutiveW. Randy Orr, VP

Parent CompanySEACOR HoldingsInc.

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Stock SymbolCKH


Business Description: Alaska's original helicoptercompany, safely flying customers since 1948. Offeringcharter service, O&G support for North Slope and CookInlet, and flightseeing tours in Juneau and Denali Nat'l Park.

Community Involvement: Work with the Anchorage andJuneau Convention and Visitors Bureaus for variousfunctions as well as the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.






Serving Alaska with pride and environmental stewardship for more than 50 years.

Our strength comes from our people. Experience. Trust. Dedication. Commitment. These continue to be our most important assets.

www.horizonlines.com 877.678.7447

Everts Air Cargo6111 Lockheed Ave.Anchorage, AK 99502Phone: 907-243-0009Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveRobert Everts, Owner

Parent CompanyTatonduk OutfittersLtd.

Fairbanks, Alaska


Business Description: Air Cargo transportation withinAlaska, including scheduled and charter flights. On demand121 passenger charter service using Embraer 120, 30 seataircraft.

Community Involvement: Local and village communityevents, Backhaul Recycling Program, Iditarod, Iron Dog andSprint team sponsor.




Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc.PO Box 73726Fairbanks, AK 99707Phone: 907-488-4653Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveLauren Roberts, VP/Gen. Mgr.

Parent CompanyKinross Gold Corp.

Toronto, Ontario

Stock SymbolKGC


Business Description: Gold producer.

Community Involvement: Donations, volunteer time,electric rate reduction.



Fairbanks MemorialHospital1650 Cowles St.Fairbanks, AK 99701Phone: 907-452-8181Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveMike Powers, CEO

Parent CompanyBanner HealthSystems

Phoenix, AZ


Business Description: General medical and surgicalhospital, home care, mental health, cancer center, painclinic, imaging center, sleep disorders lab, diabetes center,rehabilitation, long-term care and cardiology.

Community Involvement: Partners with United Way andAmerican Heart Association. Works with community groupsto better address alcohol and drug abuse issues.





FedEx Express6050 Rockwell Ave.Anchorage, AK 99502Phone: 800-463-3339Fax: 907-249-3178www.fedex.com

Top ExecutiveConnie Carter, Managing Director

Parent CompanyFedEx Corp.

Memphis, TN

Stock SymbolFDX


Business Description: Air cargo and express-packageservices.

Community Involvement: Anchorage Chamber ofCommerce member, United Way, March of Dimes and MS150 corporate sponsor. Big Brothers & Big Sisters annualplane pull event and fundraiser.



First National Bank AlaskaPO Box 100720Anchorage, AK 99510-0720Phone: 907-777-3409Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveDH Cuddy, Chairman/Pres.

Parent CompanyFirst National BankAlaska

Anchorage, AK

Stock SymbolFBAK


Business Description: First National Bank Alaska is a full-service commercial bank serving Alaskans with a broadrange of deposit and lending services, trust and investmentmanagement services and Internet banking.

Community Involvement: More than $2.7 million incontributions, including donations, sponsorships, low incomehousing investments and in-kind donations were given inAlaska.




Flint Hills Resources AlaskaLLC1100 H&H Ln.North Pole, AK 99705Phone: 907-488-2741Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveMike Brose, VP

Parent CompanyKoch Industries Inc.

Wichita, KS


Business Description: Refiner and distributor of gasoline,diesel, jet fuel and asphalt.

Community Involvement: University of Alaska, Boys andGirls Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, school and businesspartnership and The Museum of the North.





“After all the years we’ve shared,

KSKA, KAKM, and APRNcontinue to contributeto our quality of life -every day.

That’s why we planThat’s why we planto support it every year,and always will . . .even after we’re gone.”

Brooke & Pat CorkeryAPTI Leadership Circle Visionariesand Legacy Circle Members and Legacy Circle Members

25th Anniversary Dinner

For information on how you can become an APTI Visionary or join the Legacy Circle, please contact Kris Rognes at (907) 550-8435

Alaska Public Telecommunications, Inc3877 University Dr

Anchorage, AK 99508kska.org · kakm.org · aprn.org

GCI2550 Denali St., Ste. 1000Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-265-5600Fax: 907-868-5676www.gci.com

Top ExecutiveRon Duncan, CEO

Stock SymbolGNCMA


Business Description: Integrated communications provideroffering facilities-based local and long distance telephoneservices, Internet and cableTV services, statewide cellular/wireless service, data, tele-health and more.

Community Involvement: Iditarod, Alaska AcademicDecathlon, Greater Anchorage, Inc., United Way,Providence Cancer Center and more.



Golden Valley ElectricAssociationPO Box 71249Fairbanks, AK 99707-1249Phone: 907-452-1151Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveBrian Newton, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Generates and distributeselectricity.

Community Involvement: $21,000 in academicscholarships awarded, United Way contributions exceeding$51,000. Cell Phones for Soldiers program participant.




Granite Construction Co.11471 Lang St.Anchorage, AK 99515Phone: 907-344-2593Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJoe Spink, Regional Mgr.

Parent CompanyGraniteConstruction Inc.

Watsonville, CA

Stock SymbolGVA


Business Description: Public and private heavy civil anddesign-build, construction aggregates, recycled base, warmand hot mix asphalt, road construction, bridges, piling, andsitework.

Community Involvement: Rotary, sports teamssponsorships, Chamber of Commerce, Associated GeneralContractors education program, Resource DevelopmentCouncil, Alaska Miners Association, Nordic Ski Associationof Anchorage.





A solid Future

Bering Straits Native Corporation is honored to have won the largest construction contract in the region in recent years. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, BSNC formed subsidiary Inuit-NCI, Joint Venture with Neeser Construction to build a $90.4 million, state-of-the-art hospital to benefit our region through jobs and improved health care.

We’re building our future one step at a time.

beringstraits.com

Nome (907) 443-5252 | Anchorage (907) 563-3788

bering straits native corporation

W e ’ r e w o r k i n g t o b e n e f i t o u r s h a r e h o l d e r s o f t o d ay a n d t o m o r r o w.

Homer Electric AssociationInc.3977 Lake St.Homer, AK 99603Phone: 907-235-8551Fax: 907-235-3313www.homerelectric.com

Top ExecutiveBrad Janorschke, Gen. Mgr.


Business Description: Member owned electriccooperative. Electric utility provider for most of the westernKenai Peninsula, from Sterling to Kachemak Bay.

Community Involvement: Leader in communityinvolvement on the Kenai Peninsula. HEA employees are onthe boards of nonprofit groups. Employees have taken onleadership roles in United Way, Relay for Life, Rotary andmore.



Horizon Lines1717 Tidewater RoadAnchorage, AK 99501-1036Phone: 907-263-5606Fax: 907-263-5620www.horizonlines.com

Top ExecutiveMarion Davis, VP/Gen. Mgr., AK Div.

Parent CompanyHorizon Lines Inc.

Charlotte, NC

Stock SymbolHRZ


Business Description: Containership service betweenTacoma, WA, and Anchorage, Kodiak, Dutch Harbor, AK.Feeder barge service to Bristol Bay and the Pribilofs.Connecting carrier service to other water, air, land carriers.

Community Involvement: Anchorage Chamber ofCommerce, AK State Chamber of Commerce, Food Bank ofAK, United Way, Covenant House, Armed Services YMCAof Alaska, Iditarod, Special Olympics AK


EmployeesAlaska: 285Worldwide: 1,895Worldwide: $1.16B

Hotel Captain Cook939 W. Fifth Ave.Anchorage, AK 99501-2019Phone: 907-276-6000Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveWalter Hickel Jr., Pres.


Business Description: Private athletic club, fourrestaurants, 10,000-bottle wine cellar, four-diamond dining,547 rooms including 96 suites.

Community Involvement: United Way, United States CoastGuard Foundation and Special Olympics Alaska.




92


HoTH Inc. dba Era Alaska4200 Old Int'l Airport Rd.Anchorage, AK 99502Phone: 907-266-8394Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveBob Hajdukovich, Pres./CEO

Parent CompanyHoTH Inc.

Fairbanks, AK


Business Description: Scheduled passenger/cargoservices. Air charter services.

Community Involvement: The success of Frontier Alaskais dependent upon the communities served.




Jacobs Engineering Group4300 B St., Suite 600Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-563-3322Fax: 907-563-3320www.jacobs.com

Top ExecutiveTerry Heikkila, Alaska Ops. Mgr.

Parent CompanyJacobs EngineeringGroup Inc.

Pasadena, CA

Stock SymbolJEC


Business Description: Specialties include environmentalcompliance assessments, environmental remediation,energy conservation, design-build and Title II construction,and O&M.

Community Involvement: In 2010, employees donateditems to wounded soldiers in Afghanistan, green beans tothe Food Bank of Alaska, and gifts through the Angel TreeProgram.




KeyBank101 W. Benson Blvd., Ste. 400Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-562-6100Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveBrian Nerland, Alaska District Pres.

Parent CompanyKeyCorp

Cleveland, OH

Stock SymbolKEY


Business Description: Lending and deposit services forconsumers and businesses of all sizes, mortage services,investment services, wealth management.

Community Involvement: Significant investment in ourcommunities through charitable organizations and economicdevelopment initiatives.



KONIAG Inc.194 Alimaq Dr.Kodiak, AK 99615Phone: 907-486-2530Fax: 907-486-3325www.koniag.com

Top ExecutiveWilliam Anderson Jr., Pres./CEO


Business Description: Gov't contracting, constructiondesign/mgmt., fluid reprocessing, environmental services,control systems/alloy distrib., security contracting, infosciences, database engineering, telecom software.

Community Involvement: Koniag Education Foundation,Alutiiq Museum, Gulf of Alaska Coastal CommunicationsCoalition, Alaska Federation of Natives, Alaska Native ArtsFoundation and more.




Lynden Inc.6641 S. Airpark Pl.Anchorage, AK 99502Phone: 907-245-1544Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJim Jansen, CEO


Business Description: Multi-modal Transportation andLogistics.

Community Involvement: Red Cross of Alaska, AlaskaAviation Heritage Museum,Jr. Iditarod, Armed ServicesYMCA, Food Bank of Alaska, Big Brothers/Big Sisters,Alzheimers Resource of Alaska and United Way of Alaska.


EmployeesAlaska: 700Worldwide: 2,198Worldwide: $720.00M

Marathon Oil Corporation3201 C St.Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-561-5311www.marathon.com

Top ExecutiveCarri Lockhart, Production Mgr.-AK

Parent CompanyMarathon Oil Corp.

Houston, TX

Stock SymbolMRO


Business Description: Marathon ranks as one of thelargest natural gas producers in Southcentral Alaska alongthe Kenai Peninsula.

Community Involvement: At Marathon, philanthropy is anintegral part of our business and an investment incommunities where we live and work.






Mat-Su Regional MedicalCenterPO Box 1687Palmer, AK 99645Phone: 907-861-6000Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJohn Lee, CEO

Parent CompanyCommunity HealthSystems

Nashville, TN

Stock SymbolCYH


Business Description: A progressive, 74-bed, acute-carehospital offering a full range of health services for the Mat-Su Valley and surrounding communities.

Community Involvement: Free health education andscreenings, donations to local charities, classroom space tohealth-focused support groups. Since doors opened in 2006:Welcomed 3,689 newborns and admitted 20,927 patients.



Matanuska ElectricAssociation Inc.163 E. Industrial WayPalmer, AK 99645Phone: 907-745-3231Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJoe Griffith, Gen. Mgr.


Business Description: Electric cooperative providingelectric power distribution services.

Community Involvement: New roundup program withmembers rounding up their bills to the next dollar - moneygoes to those in need of financial assistance in ourcommunities. Scholarships to members and theirdependents.



Mt McKinley BankPO Box 73880Fairbanks, AK 99707Phone: 907-452-1751Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveCraig Ingham, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Full service community bank. Allbusiness lending including SBA and USDA guaranteeprograms. All mortgage lending programs including AHFC,FHA, VA and conventional. All types of consumer loans andcommercial loans.

Community Involvement: Chamber of Commerce, localand state, all Rotary clubs, Habitat for Humanity, UnitedWay of the Tanana Valley, numerous communitysponsorships, significant contributor to community andcharitable organizations.




Enriching our Native way of life.

Our people. Our land. Our companies.RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT

Learn more. View Responsible Development, a video showcasing BBNC’s land and resource vision at www.bbnc.net.



MTA Inc.1740 S. Chugach StreetPalmer, AK 99645Phone: 907-745-3211Fax: 907-761-2481www.mtasolutions.com

Top ExecutiveGreg Berberich, CEO


Business Description: A communications cooperative thatprovides business and residential communications, digitalTV, Internet, directory and TV advertising, wireless phonesand accessories, and IT business support.

Community Involvement: MTA believes in supporting thecommunities we serve by collaborating with variousnonprofit organizations through sponsorships, donations andproviding volunteers throughout Alaska.




Nabors Alaska Drilling Inc.2525 C Street, Suite 200Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-263-6000Fax: 907-563-3734www.nabors.com

Top ExecutiveDennis Smith, Pres.

Parent CompanyNabors IndustriesLtd.

Hamilton Bermuda

Stock SymbolNBR


Business Description: Oil and gas well drilling.

Community Involvement: United Way, Mable T. CaverlySenior Center, Dare to Care, Alaska School ActivitiesAssociation, YMCA and Anchorage Crime Stoppers, Habitatfor Humanity.



NANA Regional CorporationPO Box 49Kotzebue, AK 99503Phone: [email protected]/regional

Top ExecutiveMarie N. Greene, President/CEO


Business Description: NANA manages the surface andsubsurface rights to more than 2.2 million acres of land innorthwest Alaska to the benefit of more than 12,500 Inupiat.

Community Involvement: NANA is a sponsor of theANSEP program, the Aqqaluk Trust, WEIO, ASAAbasketball tournament, United Way, and numersousstatewide and regional events






Neeser Construction Inc.2501 Blueberry Rd., Ste.100Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-276-1058Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJerry Neeser, Pres.


Business Description: General contracting firm.

Community Involvement: Healthy Alaska NativesFoundation, American Cancer Society, AWAIC, Food Bankof Alaska, Catholic Social Services, Armed Services, YMCA,Asian Alaskan Cultural Center, Salvation Army, United Wayand many others.




Northland Services Inc.PO Box 24527Seattle, WA 98124Phone: 206-763-3000Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveLarry Stauffer, Pres./COO


Business Description: Marine transportation services toand from Alaska.

Community Involvement: Sponsorship of Iditarod, Nome;the Golden North Salmon Derby, Southeast; SockeyeClassic, Western Alaska; Boys & Girls Club, Anchorage;Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; Multiple Sclerosis Society andmore.



Olgoonik Corporation360 W. Benson Blvd., Ste. 302Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-562-8728Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJune Childress, Pres.


Business Description: Construction, environmentalremediation, oilfield, logistics, facility management andtechnical security services worldwide

Community Involvement: Olgoonik Corporation and itssubsidiaries support community activities, promotecontinuing education and provide shareholder jobs andscholarships


EmployeesAlaska: 89Worldwide: 514Worldwide: $135.00M



Our clients helped make us who we are today. •AssetBased •CompleteLower48Coverage •Intra-StateAlaskaService •ProfessionalDrivers •DedicatedCustomerService •ComprehensiveWebServices

www.pafak.com 800.426.9940 Anchorage 336.2567 Fairbanks 452.7971 Kenai 262.6137 Kodiak 486.8501

©The Valdez Museum and Historical Archive

Osborne Construction Co.PO Box 97010Kirkland, WA 98083Phone: 425-827-4221Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveGeorge Osborne Jr., Pres.


Business Description: General contractor focusing ondesign-build, housing, civil, military, commercial andindustrial. Selective work in private market. Alaska andworldwide employees include full and part time employees.

Community Involvement: ABC of Alaska, AGC of Alaska,Procurement Technical Assistance Centers of Alaska, youthhockey programs in Anchorage, American HeartAssociation, Arthritis Foundation, AK Peace Officers andothers.




Pacific Alaska FreightwaysInc.431 E. 104th Ave.Anchorage, AK 99515Phone: 907-336-2567Fax: 907-336-1567www.pafak.com

Top ExecutiveEd Fitzgerald, CEO


Business Description: Transports freight between theLower 48 and Alaska. Trucking services in Alaska.

Community Involvement: Rotary, chambers of commerce,American Cancer Society, Special Olympics, youth sportsprograms, YMCA, Alaska food banks, Boy Scouts ofAmerica, youth scholarship funds, Boys & Girls Club andmore.



PCL Construction ServicesInc.1400 W. Benson Blvd., Ste. 510Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-243-7252Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveH. Ivany, Construction Mgr.

Parent CompanyPCL ConstructorsInc.

Edmonton, ABCandad


Business Description: The PCL family of companies has acentury-long tradition of excellence, hard work and a can-doattitude. They are construction leaders in buildings, civilinfrastructure and heavy industrial markets.

Community Involvement: Food Bank of Alaska and UnitedWay.






The Olgoonik team of companies

delivers cost-effective, on-target

solutions worldwide.

n Environmental Servicesn Supply Chain Managementn Oilfield Services

n Construction Managementn Technical Securityn Facilities Management

907.562.8728 | olgoonik.com

11.10

Peak Oilfield Service Co.2525 C St.Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-263-7000Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveMike O'Connor, Pres.

Parent CompanyCook Inlet RegionInc.


Business Description: Oilfield general contracting, heavycivil construction, ice-road construction, crane support,drilling support, all-terrain vehicle transportation and remotecamps, power generation and communication

Community Involvement: United Way, The Alliance,Resource Development Council and various chamber ofcommerce groups.



PND Engineers Inc.1506 W. 36th Ave.Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-561-1011Fax: 907-563-4220www.pndengineers.com

Top ExecutiveDavid Pierce, PE, Pres.


Business Description: Civil, structural, marine,geotechnical, coastal, Arctic engineering, hydrology, survey,permitting, inspection, sanitary/waste water systems andmore.

Community Involvement: Engineering (UAA), Boy Scoutsof America, Boys and Girls Clubs, Catholic Social Services,Citywide Cleanup, Society of Women Engineers, UnitedWay.




Providence Health +Services Alaska3760 Piper St., Ste. 2021Anchorage, AK 99508Phone: 907-261-3145Fax: [email protected]/alaska

Top ExecutiveAl Parrish, Chief Exec.

Parent CompanyProvidence Health +Services

Seattle, WA


Business Description: The Sisters of Providence firstbrought health care to Nome in 1902 during the Gold Rush.Today, Providence serves Alaskans in five communities:Anchorage, Mat-Su, Kodiak, Seward and Valdez.

Community Involvement: At the heart of who we are is adeep commitment to the poor and vulnerable in ourcommunities, from providing hot dinners for the homeless toadvocating for better health care for the uninsured.




www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 201198 RyanAir

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Prudential Jack White/VistaReal Estate3801 Centerpoint Dr., Ste. 200Anchorage, AK 99503-3934Phone: 907-562-6464Fax: 907-562-5485info@prudentialjackwhitevista.comwww.prudentialjackwhitevista.com

Top ExecutiveGregg Gunnarson, Pres.

Parent CompanyVista Real EstateInc.

Anchorage, AK


Business Description: Real estate sales and leasing:residential, commercial and property management.

Community Involvement: Charity fundraiser dinner forSunshine Kids, spring and fall highway cleanup and UnitedWay Day of Caring, United Way employee contributions.



Gross RevenueAlaska: $22.13M

Roger Hickel ContractingInc.11001 Calaska Cir.Anchorage, AK 99515Phone: 907-279-1400Fax: 907-279-1405contact@rogerhicklecontracting.comwww.rogerhickelcontracting.com

Top ExecutiveMike Shaw, Pres.


Business Description: General contractor - commercialand road work.

Community Involvement: YMCA board member, AGC ofAlaska board member, United Way, Tocqueville Society,and financial support to many nonprofit organizations.




Ryan Air Inc.6400 Carl Brady Dr.Anchorage, AK 99502Phone: 907-562-2227Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveWilfred Ryan, Pres.


Business Description: Air cargo, scheduled and charteroperations, contract ground services and support.

Community Involvement: We sponsor sports teams at thecommunity level; dog-mushing event sponsors; we providefundraising events in villages and volunteers.





Take advantage of customized solutions, fewer fees, and local service.n Checking, loans, and depository servicesn 24/7 online account managementn Business Visa® Check Cardn Insurance, bonds, and employee benefitsn Retirement servicesn Investment management

563-4567 | (800) 525-9094 | www.alaskausa.orgFind out what Alaska USA can do for your business.

Alaska USABetter for your business

Your savings federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. Government Agency.

Schlumberger OilfieldServices2525 Gambell St., Ste. 400Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-273-1700Fax: 907-561-8317www.schlumberger.com

Top ExecutiveLees Rodionov, Gen. Mgr.

Parent CompanySchlumberger Ltd.

The Hague TheNetherlands

Stock SymbolSLB


Business Description: Provides people and technology,working together to offer exploration and production servicesduring the life cycle of the oil and gas reservoir.

Community Involvement: Active participants in oil and gasorganizations, as well as long-term supporters of a variety ofcommunity programs, including Habitat for Humanity, UnitedWay and School Business partnerships.



Sealaska CorporationOne Sealaska Plaza, Ste. 400Juneau, AK 99801-1276Phone: 907-586-1512Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveChris McNeil, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Forest products, silviculture/landmgmt., financial investments, plastics injection molding,fabrication, mfg., IT, logistics, security, environmentalconsulting, construction, aggregates, and more.

Community Involvement: Celebration, culture andheritage, education, leadership development, nonprofits inthe region, scholarships.




Span-Alaska TransportationInc.2040 E. 79th Ave.Anchorage, AK 99507Phone: 907-349-3606Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveMike Landry, Pres.

Parent CompanySpan-AlaskaTransportation Inc.

Auburn, WA


Business Description: Freight transportation from allLower 48 points to Alaska, less than truckload (LTL) andtruckload. In-state overnight services from Anchorage toFairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula.

Community Involvement: Annual supporter of Alaska foodbanks, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, AWAIC and CovenantHouse.






Spenard Builders SupplyInc.810 K St., Ste. 200Anchorage, AK 99501Phone: 907-261-9105Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveEd Waite, Pres.

Parent CompanyProBuild HoldingsInc.

Denver, CO


Business Description: Provides a full line of buildingmaterials and home-improvement products to fill the needsof residential and commercial contractors.

Community Involvement: Numerous community groupsand events, including Habitat for Humanity, March of Dimesand Boys and Girls Club.



TelAlaska201 E. 56th Ave.Anchorage, AK 99518Phone: 907-563-2003Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveBrenda Shepard, Pres./CEO

Parent CompanyAmericanBroadbandCommunications

Charlotte, NC


Business Description: TelAlaska is a full servicetelecommunications company serving 25 rural communitiesand providing advanced network services to urban markets.

Community Involvement: Alaska Zoo, Armed ServicesYMCA, Unalaska Fire Fighters Ball, Seward Senior Center,Nome Arts Council, Cooper Landing Museum, and manymore.



The Aleut Corporation4000 Old Seward Hwy., Ste. 300Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-561-4300Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveDavid Gillespie, CEO


Business Description: Government contracting, oil andfuel storage, commercial and residential real estate, graveloperations, oil well testing and instrumentation.

Community Involvement: Aleut Foundation, scholarships,burial assistance, culture camps, language, environmentalprotection, economic development, housing, vocationalrehab and more.


EmployeesAlaska: 168Worldwide: 883Worldwide: $159.00M

The KuskokwimCorporation4300 B St.Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-243-2944Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveMaver Carey, CEO


Business Description: Alaska Native corporation.

Community Involvement: Kuskokwim EducationalFoundation.




The Odom Corp.240 W. First Ave.Anchorage, AK 99501Phone: 907-272-8511Fax: 907-264-0259www.odomcorp.com

Top ExecutiveJohn Odom, CEO/Chair

Parent CompanyThe OdomCorporation

Bellevue, WA


Business Description: Licensed wholesale alcoholicbeverage distributor, franchised soft drink distributor.

Community Involvement: AK Aviation Museum, AK Zoo,ALPAR, American Cancer Society, Rotary, Boys & GirlsClub, Junior Achievement, Anchorage School Athletics,Armed Services, YMCA, ASYMCA, AHA, ADA, Beans Cafeand more.




The Tatitlek Corporation561 E. 36th Ave.Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-278-4000Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveRoy Totemoff, Pres./CEO


Business Description: Alaska Native Village Corporation.

Community Involvement: Active in a variety ofsponsorships and community involvement, including TheCopper Mountain Foundation providing scholarships,Tatitlek Culture Week, Alaska YMCA, Salute to the Militaryand more.






Totem Ocean TrailerExpress2511 Tidewater Rd.Anchorage, AK 99501-1044Phone: 907-276-5868Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveGeorge Lowery, Alaska Dir.

Parent CompanyTotem OceanTrailer Express

Federal Way, WA


Business Description: A privately held Alaska corporationand vessel-operating common carrier. Runs a fleet of roll-on/roll-off trailer ships between the ports of Tacoma, Wash.,and Anchorage.

Community Involvement: AK Food Bank, ALPAR, UnitedWay, Seward Polar Bear Fest, UAF, Providence Children'sHospital, Anchorage Concert Association, Imaginarium,Alaska SeaLife Center, Anchorage Museum, Bean's Cafeand more.



Udelhoven Oilfield SystemService184 E. 53rd Ave.Anchorage, AK 99518-1222Phone: 907-344-1577Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJim Udelhoven, CEO


Business Description: Oilfield services, constructionmanagement, electrical and mechanical system installation.

Community Involvement: American Diabetes, AmericanHeart Association annual Heart Walk, Junior Achievement,Green Star, United Way and much more.




Ukpeagvik InupiatCorporationPO Box 890Barrow, AK 99723Phone: 907-852-4460Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveAnthony E. Edwardsen, Pres./CEO


Business Description: UIC is the Native VillageCorporation for Barrow and provides construction,architecture and engineering, regulatory consulting,technical and professional services, marine operations andmaintenance.

Community Involvement: Education through scholarshipfoundation, Barrow radio station KBRW, Barrow WhalingCaptains Association, Barrow Whaler Athletic Foundationand more.






UNIT Company620 E. Whitney Rd.Anchorage, AK 99501Phone: 907-349-6666Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveMichael Fall, Pres.


Business Description: Commercial general contractor.

Community Involvement: Various community involvementwith kids sporting organizations, Covenant House, CFMAscholarship involvement.




Usibelli Coal Mine Inc.PO Box 1000Healy, AK 99743Phone: 907-683-2226Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJoseph E. Usibelli Jr., Pres.


Business Description: Coal mining and coal marketing.

Community Involvement: United Way, Denali SchoolDistrict, ELC Daycare, Kids in Motion, Tri-Valley CommunityLibrary, Healy hockey, Morris Thompson Cultural Center,Tri-Valley VFD, Girl Scouts, Boys & Girls Club and more.




USKH Inc.2515 A St.Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-276-4245Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveTimothy Vig, Pres./Principal


Business Description: Architecture; civil, structural,transportation, mechanical and electrical engineering; landsurveying; airport planning and design; planning;environmental services; landscape architecture.

Community Involvement: United Way, Kiwanis, AWAIC,School Business Partnerships, Olympian Holly Brooks.






USTravel999 E. Tudor Rd., Ste. 200Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-561-2434Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveMark Eliason, Pres./CEO

Parent CompanyEliason InvestmentCo. LLC

Anchorage, AK


Business Description: USTravel is the largest independenttravel management company in the Pacific Northwest.

Community Involvement: Anchorage Convention &Visitors Bureau, American Red Cross-Alaska Chapter,Junior Achievement Alaska, Anchorage South Rotary,Alaska Travel Industry Association, United Way, SKALAnchorage and more.




Watterson Construction Co.6500 Interstate Cir.Anchorage, AK 99518Phone: 907-563-7441Fax: 907-563-7222info@wattersonsconstruction.comwww.wattersonconstruction.com

Top ExecutiveBill Watterson, Pres.


Business Description: General building contractor.

Community Involvement: ABC of Alaska, Alaska Zoo,YMCA, S.A.M.E., Catholic Social Services, University ofAlaska Fairbanks, Junior Achievement, YWCA and Habitatfor Humanity.




Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.301 W. Northern Lights Blvd.Anchorage, AK 99503Phone: 907-265-2730Fax: 907-646-7829www.wellsfargo.com

Top ExecutiveRichard Strutz, Alaska Reg. Pres.

Parent CompanyWells Fargo &Company

San Francisco, CA

Stock SymbolWFC


Business Description: Wells Fargo team members provideAlaskans with banking, insurance, investments andmortgage solutions from 60 offices across The Great Land.

Community Involvement: Each year, Wells Fargo invests$1.5 million in more than 280 nonprofits and schools inAlaska. Alaska team members volunteered 10,000 hours in2010.



XTO Energy Inc.52260 Wik RoadKenai, AK 99611Phone: 907-776-2506Fax: [email protected]

Top ExecutiveJack Williams, Pres.

Parent CompanyExxon MobileCorporation

Irving, TX

Stock SymbolXOM


Business Description: Oil and gas production.

Community Involvement: XTO Energy Inc. enjoys activeparticipation in the communities where the companyoperates. In Alaska, XTO supports and funds many eventsand groups.




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Alaska Regional HospitalStriving for better, not bigger

By traCy kalytiak


S P E C I A L S E C T I O N

When Rosemary Kline first started working for Alaska Regional Hospital, patients getting a hip

or knee replacement could expect a trau-matic experience.

“Twenty-five years ago, someone getting a total joint replacement would stay in the hospital for two weeks; they bled like crazy; they didn’t have the scopes like they do now so they’d come back with a foot-long incision from surgery,” said Kline, a registered nurse who works as director of Alaska Regional Hospital Orthopedic and Rehab Services. “I can’t tell you how many times people come in apprehensive about joint replacement.”

orthopeDic accomplishmentsThose skittish patients quickly learn that getting a hip or knee replaced is a radi-cally different experience than it used to be. At Alaska Regional, joint-replacement patients attend “joint camp,” to learn what will happen to them and what doctors will expect them to do before and after surgery to ensure a successful result.

Titanium joints are lighter. Patients can use pumps to give themselves pain medica-tion when they need it, instead of having to call a nurse for help. They start moving and walking almost immediately after surgery.

Orthopedics is a particularly strong field for Alaska Regional, a 48-year-old facility listed as one of the Alaska Business Monthly’s 2011 Corporate 100. A U.S. News & World Report magazine study, “2010-2011 Best Hos-pitals,” listed it as the 47th best hospital in the country for orthopedics.

Alaska Regional was the only facility listed in the top 50 hospitals for any of the 16 adult-care specialties the magazine examined at nearly 5,000 hospitals na-tionwide; the study used data related to patient outcomes, quality of care, physi-

cian perception and staffing rates in determining rankings.

comprehensiVe serVicesThe hospital also has grown highly regarded cardiovas-cular, cardiac surgery and neuroscience programs, in addition to offering com-prehensive inpatient and outpatient services, tech-nologically advanced sur-gical services and cancer resources. Its critical-care air ambulance transports patients di-rectly to Alaska Regional’s emer-gency department.

Annie Holt, the hospital’s chief executive officer, said hospital officials and staff are constantly looking at ways they can continue to improve patients’ experiences and the quality of services.

“Since we are the smaller of two acute-care hospitals in An-chorage, we are always striving to be better, rather than bigger,” said Holt, who has helmed the 1,000-employee facility since 2009. “Each week, members of our management team and I visit with patients and their families to learn about their experience

Annie HoltChief Executive Officer

Alaska Regional Hospital

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during their stay at our hospital. I am consistently told it feels like fam-ily here in our facility and that our patients appreciate the combination of cohesiveness and professionalism demonstrated by our staff.”

expanDing employee rolesThe hospital has worked to improve efficiency without sacrificing that quality of patient care. Holt says the hospital uses process-improvement methods to analyze workflow, im-prove safety for patient care and elim-inate unnecessary steps. Examples include use of an electronic medica-tion administration record barcode scanning system that verifies the right patient is getting the right medication dosage at the right time.

“This system was mainly devel-oped to increase patient safety, and has resulted in reduction of medica-tion errors, medication turnaround times and timely reporting,” Holt said. “We use a similar system for blood transfusions.”

Alaska Regional’s so-called PACS – picture archiving and communica-tion system – is another example of how the hospital is enhancing effi-ciency. Digital radiology images can be accessed and viewed immediately by physicians at any station through-out the hospital rather than being archived in a patient film library for staff to retrieve and deliver.

“In some instances, we’ve ex-panded the role of our employees in existing positions to improve workflow or efficiency,” Holt said. “We use physical therapy technicians to assist the therapists by preparing and transporting patients, adjusting equipment and otherwise freeing up the therapist to concentrate on pro-viding skilled treatment.”

community supportAlaska Regional supports the com-munity through millions of dollars in unpaid health care costs, in addi-tion to taxes paid each year to local government, Holt said.

“In 2009, we absorbed the cost of over $28 million in uncompen-sated health care,” she said. “And, as one of the largest local taxpayers and the only tax-paying acute-care


hospital in the Municipality of An-chorage, Alaska Regional paid nearly $3.5 million in Alaska taxes.”

The hospital augments the num-ber of physicians who practice at the facility by looking to parent company H CA’s phys ic ian re -cruiting division, which “sources” physician candidates for HCA’s 170 -p lus hosp i t a l s . Curren t ly , Alaska Regional has a medical

“In 2009, we absorbed the

cost of over $28 million in uncom-pensated health care. And, as one

of the largest local taxpayers

and the only tax-paying acute-

care hospital in the Municipality

of Anchorage, Alaska Regional paid nearly $3.5 million in Alaska

taxes.” —Annie Holt

Chief Executive OfficerAlaska Regional

Hospital


staff of more than 450 indepen-dent practitioners.

“They are experts in supporting us to meet the needs of our communi-ties,” Holt said.

The number of spine-surgery pa-tients at the hospital has increased more than 200 percent in the last year; 38 percent of all orthopedic-surgery patients there were spine patients.

Dr. James Eule, an orthope-dic spine-fellowship-trained sur-geon, performs almost all of his operations at Alaska Regional. He explained the number of spine sur-geries has risen dramatically due to an influx of spine surgeons in Anchorage, new technology being available nationwide, and because people would rather have their spine surgery closer to home if it can be done well.

“More Alaskans thought they had to go to Seattle to get a complicated spine surgery,” Eule said. “Now they realize they can get it here.”

An Alaska Regional patient, Bevist St. Luise, 60, had knee-replacement surgeries last April and in Decem-ber, after suffering for years with disabling knee pain.

“Just the joints were worn out,” she said.

St. Luise couldn’t play on the beaches near Kenai with her grand-children, couldn’t shop for groceries unless she rode in a cart and took painkillers, couldn’t use stairs with-out excruciating pain.

“My daughter works there, that is where she wanted her mother to go,” St. Luise said. “They answered questions I didn’t realize I had. I felt really taken care of all through the whole process.”

St. Luise’s husband, a former heavy-equipment operator, hyper-extended both his knees after falling over a knee-height trailer 20 years ago. He has been seeing an Outside physician ever since.

“His doctor said to go ahead and go (to Alaska Regional), you’ve got good care there,” St. Luise said.

Now, St. Luise’s knees occasion-ally ache, but the sensation is no lon-ger a “constant drain” on her.

“Life is good,” she said. “Life is really good.” q

Arctic Slope Regional Corp.Delivering benefits to shareholders

By traCy kalytiak



Close to 39 years ago, Arctic Slope Regional Corp. sprang into be-ing, formed to oversee 5 million

North Slope acres the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act bequeathed on the Inupiat people, as well as generate wealth and jobs for the corporation’s 3,800 shareholders.

Its early decision to form joint ven-tures with experienced business part-ners, learn from those “tutor” partners, and then buy them out and create wholly owned subsidiaries developed into a fruitful pattern for ASRC, which diversi-fied from oil and oil-related construc-tion into energy services, petroleum refining and marketing, construction, government services and resource de-velopment. Now, Barrow-based ASRC has 11,000 shareholders on its rolls.

“It’s important for people to keep in mind that when they see ASRC as a $2.3 billion company, there was a time during our humble beginnings when our leaders worked for no pay,” said Rex A. Rock Sr., ASRC’s president and chief executive officer. “Only through hard work and long-term planning are we where we are today. We live by our mission of actively managing our busi-nesses, our lands and resources, our investments and our relationships to enhance Inupiaq cultural and economic freedom with continuity, responsibility and integrity.”

proViDing Vital beneFitsIn its history, ASRC has paid out more than $483 million to its shareholders in the form of direct dividends and, since 2000, ASRC has distributed more than $90 million in earnings to support a wide range of socio-economic programs for those living in its region.

With continuing uncertainty in the economic environment, Rock said, it’s

more important than ever to main-tain a long-term vision that enables ASRC to provide vital benefits for its 11,000 Inupiat shareholders and make the best use of its lands, which contain oil and gas, coal and base metal sulfides. Known resource reserves on ASRC land include the Alpine oilfield and the Western Arc-tic coalfields.

business moDelAS RC’s pattern of partnering with and learning from established busi-n e s s e s e v o l v e d as the corporation gained experience. It acquired Houston Contracting Co. and created Natchiq Inc., a holding company for oilfield service and con-struction companies that

included Alaska Petroleum Contractors, GSL Oilfield Service, Entech and VRCA Environmental Services. That move ignited growth that doubled ASRC’s rev-enue between 1985 and 1989. 1990 was a banner year for ASRC – revenues

Rex A. Rock Sr.President and

Chief Executive OfficerArctic Slope Regional Corp.

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climbed 94 percent and the number of employees rose to 1,500.

“By all measures, ASRC entered the 1990s as the prime example of the benefits a regional corporation could deliver to its shareholders,” according to a corporate history, “It ranked as the largest of the 13 regional corporations, comprising 14 wholly owned subsidiaries and 20 operating divisions.”

reVenue FluctuationsCongress’s prohibition of oil ex-ploration and development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain curbed ASRC’s desire to grow an oil-production opera-tion and turned its attention toward acquiring diverse businesses outside Alaska’s borders.

I n 2 0 0 8 , A S R C r e p o r t e d $2.297 billion in revenue, which marked the first time in the corpora-tion’s history it broke the $2 billion mark. That year, ASRC distributed almost $65 million in total dividends of $61.10 a share to its shareholders – up from $58.55 a share – around $60 million, total – the year before.

In 2009, revenues were $1.95 bil-lion, down around 15 percent mainly due to instability in commodity prices, a drop in fuel sales due to high oil prices and the lingering effect of ASRC’s Valdez refinery shutdown, due to a fire in December 2008.

“As we close the books on 2010, we saw our revenues exceed $2.3 bil-lion,” Rock said. “We are still deliber-ate in building an organization that crosses industries, market segments and geographic regions – and will see the best opportunities that match our values when they arise.”

The corporate website details the ASRC family of companies, including ASRC Federal Holding Co. with subsidiaries Analytical Ser-vices Inc., ASRC Aerospace, ASRC Communications, ASRC Manage-ment Services, ASRC Primus, ASRC Research and Technology, InuTeq, Mission Solutions Engineering and World Technical Services Inc.; Petro Star Inc. with aviation, heating fuel, lubricants, marine, refining and re-tail divisions; ASRC Construction Holding Co. with subsidiaries ASRC

Working for people and nature in Alaska

Corporate PartnersABR, Inc.Accent Alaska.com-Ken Graham AgencyAlaska Business MonthlyAlaska Communications Alaska Rubber & Supply, Inc.Alaska Steel CompanyAlaska Wildland Adventures Alyeska Pipeline Service Company American Marine Corporation Arctic Slope Regional CorporationBristol Bay Native Corporation Calista CorporationCarlile Transportation Systems, Inc. Chevron North America Exploration & Production CIRI Clark James Mishler Photography CONAM Construction Company Denali National Park Wilderness Centers, Ltd.

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SKW Eskimos, ASRC Constructors, ASRC Civil Construction, ASRC Construction Technologies, ASRC Gulf States Constructors and ASRC Builders; and Alaska Growth Capi-tal, which uses private and public money to issue small business loans from $100,000 to $10 million, guar-anteed by the Small Business Ad-ministration and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

regulatory hurDlesASRC has taken action to address difficulties related to recent fuel sale

“As we close the books on 2010, we saw our revenues

exceed $2.3 billion. We are still delib-

erate in building an organization that

crosses industries, market segments

and geographic regions – and will

see the best oppor-tunities that match

our values when they arise.”

— Rex A. Rock Sr.President and Chief

Executive OfficerArctic Slope Regional

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reductions and volatile commodity prices. After the Petro Star refinery went back online in November 2009, ASRC worked to meet the federal deadline of providing ultra-low sulfur diesel by December 2010.

“When a portion of our business is related to oil exploration, develop-ment and support, we certainly have a stake in making sure there are no unreasonable, unnecessary and over-reaching regulatory hurdles to jump over,” Rock said.

The most formidable of these hur-dles, Rock said, concerned “critical habitat” designation for polar bears on the North Slope. ASRC, along with the North Slope Borough and other Alaska Native groups, notified the U.S. Interior Department of their intent to sue because of that issue.

“Our independent analysis found that even a one-year delay in pro-duction for a relatively small field on the Slope – 190 million recov-erable barrels – would add up to a loss of more than $200 million in royalties and tax revenues over 15 years,” Rock said. “For a larger field – something like 700 million recoverable barrels – that number jumps to nearly $580 million.”

Rock says the designation is a poor attempt at legislating climate change through regulation.

“The Department has recognized that this designation will not have any impact on the primary threat to polar bears – the loss of sea-ice habitat – but it could cripple our communities,” he said. “That’s why we’ve been forced to seek the help of the courts, and why we take this matter so seriously.”

strategic planThe groundwork for sustainable earnings has been laid over many years at ASRC, Rock said.

“Our founding members began building a combination of operating businesses and investments,” he said, “That now serve as the foundation of our current strategic plan, which includes increasing sustainable fi-nancial earnings, encouraging village economic development and the cross-generational transmission of our Inu-piaq values.” q

ConocoPhillips AlaskaCommitted to Alaska

By VaNessa orr



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For more than 50 years, the State of Alaska and ConocoPhillips have worked together to develop the

region’s natural resources and to create economic opportunities. And while the last two decades have seen a decrease in the production of oil and natural gas, the company remains committed to the state and its future.

“There is still a lot of oil left in Alaska, on the North Slope in particular,” said Trond-Erik Johansen, president, ConocoPhillips Alaska. “From a job standpoint, Alaska has many exciting opportunities, but it also faces many challenges. But I am convinced that by working together – the industry and the State – we should be able to tackle these challenges and unlock new potential.”

As the largest oil and gas producer in the state, ConocoPhillips had a net production of 230,000 barrels of oil per day in 2010, and averaged 82 million cubic feet of gas per day. The company has a major ownership interest in two of North America’s largest oil fields on the North Slope; Kuparuk, which it operates, and Prudhoe Bay. It also oper-ates the Alpine oil field on the western North Slope.

cook inlet gas“In Alaska, all of our gas interests are in the Cook Inlet area, including the offshore Tyonek platform and the on-shore Beluga River natural gas field,” Johansen said. “Most of that gas is de-livered locally, though some is exported through our Kenai Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility.”

The company, which is headquartered in Anchorage, is also a 28 percent owner in the trans-Alaska oil pipeline system and a 50 percent owner in Denali - The Gas Pipeline Project.

In 2010, ConocoPhillips decided to shut down the Kenai LNG plant after 40 years of op-eration after shipments end in roughly mid- to late-May.

“We are not disman-tling the plant; we are putting it into ‘mothball mode,’” Johansen said. “We will preserve and maintain it, so that when an opportunity arises for import or possibly export, it can be reopened.”

ConocoPhillips be-gan exploratory drilling in the National Petro-leum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) in 2008, and also obtained 98 lease blocks covering more than 550,000 acres in the Chukchi Sea. While the company has currently stopped exploration projects in the NPR-A, Johansen

said they do have plans to drill in the Chukchi in approximately two years.

“In the past, we did exploration work in the NPR-A area, but we chose not to continue that work last year, and don’t plan to work there again this year for two reasons,” Johansen said.

Trond-Erik JohansenPresident

ConocoPhillips Alaska



“Because of the current tax situation in Alaska, there are

billions of barrels of oil that have yet to be unlocked. When you look at the Lower 48

and the rest of the world, you see more

viscous oil being produced because

of a better tax environment.

“Companies will take more risks

because they will get more reward. In Alaska, the current

environment has oil companies taking on the risk, but getting

less reward.”

— Trond-Erik JohansenPresident


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“First, we believe the area shows less geologic potential than it did years ago, which is in line with what the U.S. Geologic Survey says. Second, the fiscal regime in Alaska complicates our willingness to invest more money at that site.

ocs shows promise“Our main focus now is on the off-shore outer continental shelf leases in the Chukchi Sea, which show good in-dicators of both oil and gas reserves,” he said. “We hope to start a drilling campaign there in 2013, and are now working with the federal government on permitting. We’ll do exploratory drilling first, than appraise what we find. If we are successful, this will be-come a new ConocoPhillips produc-tion area.”

There are many challenges facing companies trying to get oil and gas out of the ground, including the fact that drilling sites are becoming more remote as they explore new areas, and that the oil left in the ground is heavier and more viscous than what has previ-ously been extracted.

“Because of the current tax situa-tion in Alaska, there are billions of barrels of oil that have yet to be un-locked,” Johansen said. “When you look at the Lower 48 and the rest of the world, you see more viscous oil being produced because of a better tax environment. Companies will take more risks because they will get more reward. In Alaska, the current environment has oil companies taking on the risk, but getting less reward.”

According to Johansen, the tax structure and oil companies’ unwill-ingness to invest in more exploration is having further effects as well.

“In the past, the trans-Alaska oil pipeline transported 2 million bar-rels of oil a day; now it’s down to 600,000 barrels,” he said. “Unless the State encourages companies to go after in-field drilling, such as utilizing the resources at Kuparuk and Alpine, it puts pipeline operations at risk.”

gooD exampleIn 2010, ConocoPhillips employed 1,100 people in Alaska between

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its Kenai, Anchorage and North Slope operations, and earned ap-proximately $1.7 bi l l ion in net r evenue s . The company pa id $1.6 bill ion in production taxes to Alaska, plus State and federal corporate income taxes and royal-ties, which numbers were not dis-closed. In addition, the company gave back to the communities it serves through charitable means.

“Last year, we helped more than 300 organizations in ways ranging from monetary donations to providing human resources help or employee volunteers,” Johansen said.

The company donated more than $6 million in 2010, with a large share going toward the University of Alaska

and education purposes, as well as hospitals and health care needs.

In this tough economic climate, ConocoPhillips also takes a leading role in the development of new tech-nologies to help further the develop-ment of the state’s natural resource industry.

“We provide the technology and skills of our knowledgeable employee base, as well as work with the con-tracting community to unlock more potential,” Johansen said.

Recent legislation by Gov. Sean

Parnell has him hopeful that the State and the oil industry will continue to work together to improve Alaska’s production forecast. The legislation proposes tax credits for drilling new wells, a lower base tax rate for ex-ploration areas outside of existing fields, and a cap on production taxes at 50 percent.

“In many ways, the bill that the gov-ernor put out there is a step in the right direction,” he said. “Alaska has a big future if the right investment climate is in place.” q

“In the past, the trans-Alaska oil

pipeline transported 2 million barrels of

oil a day; now it’s down to 600,000

barrels. Unless the State encourages companies to go

after in-field drilling, such as utilizing the

resources at Kuparuk and Alpine, it puts

pipeline operations at risk.”

— Trond-Erik JohansenPresident



Pacific Alaska Freightways Celebrates 50 Years in Alaska

TRANSPORTATION

Washington-state company buildslasting relationships with alaskans

By molly disCHNer

After 50 years in Alaska, there isn’t much that surprises the people at Pacific Alaska

Freightways, a Fife, Wash.-based ship-ping company. The company moves almost everything a person could need to Alaska and around the state. Like the U.S. Postal Service, they do it in all sorts of conditions.

“Everything that you touch and feel and see that constructs anything that is worn by anyone has to be shipped into Alaska,” said Joan Johnson, the company’s Alaska sales executive, who is based in Fairbanks.

But for PAF, the business is about building relationships, not just the boxes they move.

“Our ability to be around 50 years later is a testament to our clients up in Alaska asking for us,” said Director of Sales and Marketing Curt Dorn, who works out of the company’s Fife headquarters.

moVing anything, eVerythingThe company’s clients range from the hospitality industry to oil field construc-tion. It moves anything that is sold wholesale to electricians or is needed by retail stores to sell to the public. Retail needs range “from dog food to candy to clothing, china, fabric,” Johnson said.

With such a long history in the state and the wide range of goods shipped, there are just a few things that stand out as unusual. Like the 55 gallons drums someone wanted brought north.

“A client called today about ship-ping fuel up from the Lower 48,” Johnson said. “I didn’t ever envision shipping fuel.”

Can she make it happen? “Yes,” she said. “Yes.”Once, Johnson helped orchestrate

the move of five sports cars for a group of businessmen who planned to drive from Prudhoe Bay to the southern tip of South America.

“It was the Porsche Cayennes,” she said. “They were brand new to the market.”

She got the cars to Fairbanks. The drivers flew in and picked them up there, and drove north to Prudhoe before embarking on the cross- continent adventure.

“It was crazy,” she said.Johnson also handles another de-

livery that’s a little different. PAF is responsible for transporting a giant Christmas tree to Alaska for a Fairbanks hotel every winter.

“We ship it every year,” Johnson said. “And it’s huge.”

The size isn’t the only thing that makes shipping the tree interesting. Logistically, the company has to time it just right because of the fire-proof chemicals sprayed on the tree to make it safer to put on display.

Some things are just interesting be-cause of the logistics of getting them

anniVersary

PAF Anchorage terminal prepares a customer’s load for delivery.Photos courtesy of Pacific Alaska Freightways


moved. Raw sheets of granite are one item taking particular care.

“It has special packaging and it has to be handled in a certain manner,” Johnson said, adding not every item has an exciting story because many items are packaged and just another invoice. “There’s not that sentimental effect to it,” she said, and mentioned the company moves households from time to time – an interesting process no matter the item.

“They’re all fun,” she said.Like with the Christmas tree, timing

can be an issue.Johnson said they have two sailings

from Fife each week. It takes four nights to get from the Washington terminal to Anchorage, and one or two more to get delivered to Fairbanks, depending on whether the goods come by truck or train. Goods going to the company’s terminals in Kodiak and Kenai termi-nals are on slightly different schedules.

Pacific Alaska also has agents, but not full-on terminals, in smaller towns such as Juneau and Ketchikan. In addi-tion to transporting goods from Outside to Alaska, they transport goods from one community to another within the state, sometimes relying on assistance from other shippers.

Johnson said her clients are good at understanding the timing.

“People have gotten pretty good at planning,” she said.

Although those logistics can be

tricky, weather doesn’t often delay their shipments.

In 50 years, PAF has weathered a number of natural phenomena. Some – like the most recent volcano explo-sion in Southcentral – have had little effect on their shipping. But weather

events that affect the ocean can be more problematic, Johnson said.

people FactorUltimately, it’s not the goods that make Pacific Alaska tick. It’s the people, Dorn said.

Pacific Alaska Freightways founding Smith family in the 1960s, from left, Norm, Alain, Joe, with youngest brother

Monty on his father’s lap.

PAF remains a privately held corporation with the Smith family actively involved, from left, Norm (Treasurer), Alain (President),

Monty (IT Director) and Joe (Chairman of the Board).

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“We’re here because of (our clients),” he said.

Johnson moved to PAF after four years in the shipping industry. Before she worked at PAF, she said she’d talked to PAF clients who weren’t willing to ship with other companies because they had a long-time relationship with PAF.

Slowly, she got to know the owner, Joe Smith. They started talking a little and developed a rapport. Eventually he had a job offer for her at PAF’s Fair-banks office, which was then located in the railroad industrial area.

“So I accepted,” she said. “And I was shocked.”

The facility wasn’t at all what she expected. There was old wooden floor-ing. She didn’t even have her own office that first year.

“The next year, they built on an of-fice,” she said.

Most noticeably, they only had three doors at their Fairbanks center. That’s small for a company whose entire busi-ness is about moving goods. Doors are the garages for trucks to enter.

“In the freight business, it’s all about product and on-time delivery,” she said.

She learned that the business was built on strong customer relationships, not facilities.

“Sometimes you feel more like friends and family than business as-sociates,” she said.

According to Johnson, some of the company’s clients have been with the company for decades, and even longer than she has.

“We’ve identified that having a good working relationship cultivates a good business relationship,” she said.

Part of their strategy involves work-ing with each customer individually.

“You kind of customize how we de-liver the freight to what their needs are,” she said.

The business also tries to stay in-volved in the community.

In Fairbanks, that means John-son i s involved in Rotary , the Chamber of Commerce and other local service.

“We’re strong supporters of advocat-ing for awareness with the American Heart Association,” she said.

In other cities, the company gets in-volved how and where they can.

growing FacilitiesOver time, the business has had to grow their facilities in order to serve their customers. In 2001, PAF moved to a facility on Peger Road in Fairbanks. It has 21 doors.

“To think in 17 years we went from three doors to 21 doors,” she said.

Johnson estimated that having 21 doors means PAF can handle about seven times the volume of goods.

Fairbanks isn’t the only terminal that’s grown over the last five de-cades. Johnson said the company built their Fife headquarters pretty recently. “In 1999, they built our fa-cility in Fife to be closer to Tacoma,” she said. Prior to that, they were closer to Seattle.

Dorn that said running a national business focused on Alaska requires a lot of communication. “Our com-munication is critical,” he said. Execu-tives frequently travel north, and they use all communication tools available: e-mail, Internet, phones and more.

Dorn said he enjoys visiting the state. “It’s beautiful, breathtaking,” he said. His favorite part of Alaska is Homer. “I love it,” he said.

The trips help solidify what hap-pens daily via electronic and other means of transmission. “Talking and listening,” he said. “The communi-cation that we have from Fife to our terminals in Alaska is very good, very positive.”

Pacific Alaska might be headquar-tered in Washington state and serving Alaska, but Johnson says they have partners all across the country.

“We can pick it up in Wichita, Kan., and get it all the way to Fairbanks,” she said.

So what’s next for the company that can get goods from any zip code in the Lower 48 to any zip code in Alaska?

“Our biggest success is that we have a big loyal base of clients out there and we’re going to continue to expand it,” Dorn said.

The company will match their growth to their client’s needs, he said. That means focusing on service and client satisfaction. “Building a future with them,” is how he described it. “We’re going to continue doing the same thing we’re doing now.” q


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Google is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on large-scale infrastructure by building

deep-ocean, wind-energy generating platforms even though it probably already is, pound for pound, the most profitable company on the planet. China is spending billions on roads and bridges when they have already become an economic superpower rivaling Japan, Europe and the United States. Yale and Harvard, managed by some of the best minds in the invest-ment community today, allocate a large percentage of their investment dollars toward infrastructure projects. All of these companies are placing capital into large-scale infrastructure because these are the types of investments that pay off in a way very few other investments can match.

Do we need more jobs in Alaska that pay better than minimum wage and do we need a greater degree of inde-pendence from the vagaries of the oil market? If our answer to these questions is yes, then we should consider which infrastructure projects will provide these benefits. The first one that comes to mind is the extension of the Alaska Railroad to Port MacKenzie (Port Mac for short.) If you have any doubts about this project, just think about how the American West was really won, not by horse or stagecoach, but by a transcon-tinental railway system built right after the Civil War and still used today.

Initial funding was provided by the Alaska State Legislature last year for the extension of the railroad to Port Mac from the railroad’s main line. Gov. Sean Parnell has included additional funding for it in his initial budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. The project, when

completed in 2014, will probably cost around $250 million and will generate hundreds of construction jobs in the process. When the project is finished, the new line will provide rail service from the Interior to tidewater at Port Mac on the west side of Cook Inlet in the Mat-Su Borough.

important inVestmentThe rail extension at Port Mac is impor-tant because our investment in this class of infrastructure will provide enormous benefits for Alaska and Alaskans for the next 100 years. If estimates made by its supporters are anywhere close to correct, the new rail extension will eventually generate more than 4,000 good paying jobs in Alaska. It will pro-vide access to our resources for some of the largest ocean-going vessels in the world, many of which require almost twice the draft provided in Anchor-age. It will make our natural resources more competitive in world markets. We can, at last, set up a manufactur-ing base for our resources that gives Alaska the opportunity to leverage this infrastructure development into real economic progress, so Alaska is not just a resource extraction state similar to resource-rich, job-poor third world countries that never really get ahead of the curve.

Diversification is a portfolio- management strategy that is a well- documented mechanism for managing risk. In this case, if we diversify away from our dependence on oil dollars we reduce the risk of a catastrophic failure of our economy similar to what happened in the mid-to-late 1980s. Our economy is regaining its strength after the recent recession, but if the price of oil were to

collapse for an extended period of time Alaska would be reduced to borrowing against our future. The first thing we would hear, and we have heard it in the past, is: “Let’s tap the Permanent Fund.” Diversifying the economy is key.

our next step If we are to compete on a global level, Alaska must take the position that our resources should be developed by, and for, Alaskans. A well-known local economist recently said “Incentives matter!” Let’s offer financial incentives similar to those offered to Cook Inlet energy producers. Maybe we could get ahead of the curve instead of it getting ahead of us. q

About the AuthorLee Henry, CCIM, is a registered rep-resentative with Pacific West Securities Inc., and a commercial associate broker at Re/Max Properties Inc. in Anchorage. He has lived in Alaska for more than 30 years and likes to take the long view.

Extending the Rail Lineat Port MacKenzie

InVest Ing In AlAskA By lee HeNry

The next great investment for Alaskans

OP-ED


Photo by Judy Patrick Photography

A laskans are increas ingly worried there may not be a $40 billion-plus, 48-inch

pipeline built from the North Slope to Alberta, at least any time soon. Hopes for a large-diameter pipeline to Valdez to a natural gas liquefac-tion, or LNG, plant seems equally elusive.

There was more optimism in 2010 when two consortiums working on a gas pipeline had spent $150 million each on cost estimates and preliminary technical investigations. This was serious money. The companies held open seasons, pe-riods when gas-shipping contracts are solicited. One group, headed by Trans-Canada Corp., a pipeline company, hoped to have contracts signed by the end of the year. Negotiations are still continuing in early March. The compet-ing project, the Denali pipeline owned by BP and ConocoPhillips, held its open season later in the 2010 summer.

There have been disappointments

before on a gas pipeline. One attempt in the 1980s was an effort to build into Canada along the Alaska Highway, the same route being proposed today. The effort collapsed when gas prices in the Lower 48 dropped, a situation eerily similar to today.

Another effort, in the early 1990s, involved North Slope producers team-ing up to look at a LNG, project in Val-dez. It was concluded the Asian market couldn’t absorb the volumes of LNG required to make a Valdez project vi-able. Today there are huge amounts of LNG being sold in Asia from Southeast Asia and Australia, and there doesn’t seem to be room for Alaska LNG. ConocoPhillips was unable to sell even small quantities of liquefied gas from its existing Kenai LNG plant. The plant’s owners, ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil, decided to close the facility.

relieF From agiaDisillusionment on the gas pipeline has

reached the point where several State legislators argue that it’s time to recon-sider the State’s endorsement of the TransCanada project under the State’s Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, or AGIA. The State has committed up to $500 million in a subsidy to Trans-Canada in return for agreements by the pipeline company to certain terms mainly involving tariffs and schedules. So far, the State has paid $134 million to reimburse TransCanada for expenses and Gov. Sean Parnell has asked legisla-tor’s approval for another payment of $160 million next year.

The State subsidy bothers lawmak-ers because it seems to project will go given the size of the surplus of shale gas in the Lower 48. What also con-cerns legislators is the agreement with TransCanada limits the State in pursu-ing an alternative gas project, at least one handling enough gas to make it viable. One alternative the State is considering is a “bullet line,” a 24-inch

OIL & GAS

Elusive Pipeline Dreams

Waiting for suitable demand

By mike BradNer

The Central Gas Facility (CGF) on the North Slope in August.


pipeline that would bring gas from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska where new gas supplies are urgently needed. It could be built if the big pipeline is seriously delayed. But that pipeline will be limited to 500 million cubic feet of gas per day because this limit is agreed to in the TransCanada contract. If the State helps a larger project, there is a treble-damages li-ability to TransCanada.

The State’s team working on bullet line studies will complete a report on cost estimates and feasibility this sum-mer, but many who have looked at ini-tial cost estimates conclude that larger gas volumes must be moved to make the project economic. The TransCanada contract appears to preclude this.

The State’s AGIA contract with TransCanada was former Gov. Sarah Palin’s major achievement in her year-and-a-half as Alaska’s governor. Palin had rejected the plan her predecessor, Frank Murkowski, had worked on. This involved a business partnership between the State and three major North Slope gas owners in developing a pipeline. What Gov. Palin pursued, which came to be AGIA, was for the State to offer an incentive in return for a pipeline developer agreeing to a the State’s conditions, or “must haves,” as the governor put it in speeches.

These mostly involved the structure of the pipeline tariff, or transportation fee, and financing terms that affect the tariff. The tariff is important because the transportation cost of the gas af-fects the State’s tax and royalty income. Other AGIA “must haves” include the pipeline company proceeding to work toward licensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission even if there were no contracts signed to ship gas.

A key objective of Gov. Palin was to attract a pipeline company to develop and control the project rather than to have the producing companies own and control the pipeline. She worried about monopoly power. The governor hoped that more than one pipeline com-pany would show an interest, but in the end only TransCanada Corp. agreed to the AGIA terms and applied for an AGIA license. At the same time that TransCanada’s proposal was received ConocoPhillips announced that it would pursue its own pipeline project outside

the AGIA process. BP eventually joined ConocoPhillips in what would become the Denali pipeline project.

ExxonMobil Corp., another gas owner on the Slope, has aligned it-self with TransCanada but has also been careful to point out that it has not agreed to the AGIA terms and will not become a full partner with the pipeline company until relief from AGIA is offered. Ironically, some of the State’s $500 million is being paid to ExxonMobil for that company’s work on the project.

FunDamental DiFFerencesFormer Gov. Murkowski’s proposal for the project was fundamentally dif-ferent than the path followed by Palin. The partnership approach involved the State agreeing to fiscal certainty on tax and royalty administration terms, a condition the producing companies still require, and then tak-ing a 20 percent ownership share in the pipeline. The concept of partial ownership by the State, with a per-centage roughly parallel to the State’s royalty and tax share of production


(about 20 percent) was that the State would essentially ship its own State-owned royalty gas and earn profits rather than having the royalty gas shipped by another pipeline owner, which would earn profits in shipping the State’s gas.

There are complications to such an arrangement, but an advantage is that the State would earn from its pipeline interest in addition to taxes and royalties from gas production on the Slope. Pipeline revenue would be steadier and more dependable than production tax and royalty income that are driven by market prices that can be volatile. Gov. Murkowski’s team saw this as a way for the State to establish more stability in its gas revenues.

During the negotiations in 2006, Murkowski also persuaded the three producer companies to agree to a major revamp of the State’s oil and gas production tax, switching from a tax based on gross revenues to one based on net profits. Getting the com-panies to agree to this was no small accomplishment because it involved

an increase in tax payments over what was previously paid.

Murkowski also included a pro-vision for an investment tax credit as an inducement for producers to invest in Alaska and reap a reduc-tion in taxes through the tax credits. This provision is still in the State tax law and has become very important in encouraging new exploration by independent companies.

Gov. Murkowski got the companies to agree to the tax and pipeline part-nership package and brought the pro-posals to the Legislature. Meeting in special session in the summer of 2006, lawmakers focused their attention on the tax change and gave only a cursory review to the pipeline ownership plan. The tax part of the deal was approved but, to the industry’s chagrin, not the pipeline part. The tax law, known as the Petroleum Profits Tax, or PPT, was changed by Gov. Palin and the Legis-lature in 2007 into what is known now as the “Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share” law, or ACES. Gov. Parnell has now brought the ACES tax to the Legislature for modification.

time anD patienceDespite the bleak market outlook, Gov. Parnell says he believes it’s still too early to give up on the gas pipeline, or even on AGIA. The gas project is huge and it should be no surprise that working out the shipping arrangements, which involve huge financial commitments by the gas shippers, are taking longer than expected. TransCanada deserves more time, and patience, the governor has said.

Supporting Parnell’s position is Larry Persily, an Alaskan who is now the federal gas pipeline coordinator. Persily said no matter how grim things look now in the Lower 48 gas market there are things happening that bode well for Alaska gas in the long run. For one thing, environmental prob-lems with shale gas are becoming more evident and drillers are encountering political opposition and the likelihood of increased regulation, which will add to costs.

Mark Myers, now the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Vice Chancellor for Research and a former U.S. Geologi-cal Survey director, has said shale gas


drillers are now tapping the easier, more productive parts of the big shale forma-tions. As time goes by they will drill farther and deeper, and into parts of the formations that are less productive and where costs will be higher.

Persily said shale gas may eventually turn out to be a help for Alaska because the availability of gas from shale will help flatten the volatility of gas prices, which will encourage the U.S. power industry to build more and larger gas-fired power plants. That natural gas is clean burning and less polluting than coal, which is now the mainstay of U.S. power generation, is a big selling point. Persily’s point is that more demand for gas overall will eventually create a market big enough to absorb not only shale gas, but also Alaska’s gas.

getting to the cruxWhat really matters are the views of the major North Slope gas owners who will sign the checks. These include Exxon Mobil Corp., BP, ConocoPhillips and Chevron Corp. These are sophisticated companies used to tackling huge proj-ects requiring years to put together.

These companies do have the financial resources to make the pipeline hap-pen, and in spite of the current glut of shale gas may look out into the future and agree that shale gas will eventually face limits, but that its availability will eventually boost North American gas demand, including for Alaska’s gas.

Meanwhile, there are others who have joined the discussion. Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has suggested it’s for Alaska to consider other options for stranded North Slope gas. In her annual address to the Legislature, Murkowski suggested one or more gas-to-liquids plants could to built to convert gas to high-quality liquid fuels that could be shipped in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, which is now running at one-third capacity.

Gas-to-liquids typically relies on a proven technology, the Fischer Tropsch process, that does chemical conversion of the methane in natural gas, recom-bining the molecules with the aid of catalysts to form more complex hydro-carbon molecules found in liquid oil products. A refinery unit is part of the plant process for the making of diesel,

jet fuel, gasoline or even petrochemi-cals. One idea is to put such a plant on the North Slope and ship the liquids through TAPS, segregating them from crude with a “batch” technique using pipeline pigs as separators. Another idea is to build the plant in Fairbanks, or even Southcentral Alaska, with gas delivered through a larger and more economical “bullet line.”

David Gottstein, an Anchorage busi-nessman, has suggested the State help finance a large-diameter pipeline to Fairbanks to serve a smaller 24-inch pipeline to Southcentral Alaska and industrial customers in Interior Alaska, possibly including a gas-to-liquids plant. Richard Peterson and his com-pany, Alaska Natural Gas-to-Liquids, have done a substantial amount of work on an Alaska GTL project, including working with Sasol, the South African energy company, and Shell, both of which have commercially proven gas-to-liquids processes. There is no lack of creative ideas that could be put to work. Gov. Palin’s AGIA plan may yet work, but many Alaskans worry it has become a straitjacket. q


GAS & OIL

By mike BradNer

Cook Inlet Economic ImpactKenai Peninsula ready for industry revival

The closure of the Kenai lique-fied natural gas plant this spring deals another blow to what re-

mains of the Kenai Peninsula’s once-vibrant industrial sector. The LNG plant is following in the wake of the closure of the Agrium Corp. fertilizer plant a few years ago. Both plants were sources of good-paying jobs for the north peninsula region.

Now, only the Tesoro refinery re-mains at Nikiski, the industrial zone on the North Kenai Road north of the city of Kenai.

Victims oF circumstanceThe LNG and fertilizer plants, built 50 years ago, were victims of changing circumstances. Both plants rely on the natural gas-producing fields that once enjoyed high production rates. As gas supplies dwindled, the price of gas in-creased in recent years to the point that the fertilizer plant could not get gas it could afford, nor could it even get com-mitments from producing companies to supply gas.

The LNG plant was a victim of circum-stances, too, of tightening gas supplies to the plant and changes in a complex Asian natural gas market. The plant’s owners, ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil, said they could not get the desired price from buyers for the relatively small volume of LNG the plant would ship.

ConocoPhillips and Marathon say they will maintain and keep the plant intact against the possibility it can be used in some other way, perhaps as a part of a program to import LNG for supplemental gas supplied for the regional utilities.

reFinery saFe For nowThe Tesoro refinery seems secure, at least for now. Tesoro recently com-pleted a significant investment in the plant to reduce the benzene content of its fuels, and is planning another invest-ment to further reduce benzene.

A few years ago Tesoro also made a large investment in a unit for the plant to produce ultra-low sulfur diesel. This is now required by the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency for use in trucks operating on highways and mo-bile off-road equipment.

Putting this kind of money into the plant would seem to be a signal the company doesn’t intend to close the refinery. However, this plant faces its own set of challenges. Tesoro once considered closing it and supplying its Alaska retail outlets from the com-pany’s refineries in Washington state and Hawaii. If circumstances change or problems develop the company may revisit the idea.

graDual inDustry DeclineThe Kenai Peninsula will likely always be home to the gas production industry that previously supplied the plants but will now continue to serve Southcentral electric utilities and Enstar Natural Gas Co., which supplies gas for space heating.

Gas reserves in the older fields are running down, which concerns the utili-ties, but there is also new gas explora-tion under way.

The closure of the plants seems sym-bolic, however, of a long and gradual decline in the regional petroleum in-dustry. Oil production peaked in Cook Inlet at about 140,000 barrels per day

in the 1970s, but has now declined to about 12,000 barrels per day. Employ-ment in production operations has dropped, too. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development said oil production jobs accounted for about 6 percent of the jobs in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, but about 16 per-cent of the wages paid in the borough in 2008. Industry jobs are high-paying, averaging $86,700 per year in 2008. That’s far above the average pay of all workers in the borough, which was $38,850 per year in 2008. These figures actually understate the economic con-tribution because the job and payroll totals do not include workers in the refinery or the LNG plant, which are classified as manufacturing jobs by the Labor Department.

exploration rejuVenationWhat seems ironic is the LNG plant closure is happening just as the Cook Inlet oil and gas industry, which pro-vides the foundation for the industrial plants, is seeing the start of a rejuvena-tion. New companies are on the scene, including large and small independents making investments and exploring. The discoveries are still small in scale, and in some cases companies are develop-ing, or redeveloping, discoveries made earlier that were thought to be marginal or uneconomic. If these continue, and

Photo by Judy Patrick Photography

The Nikiski area is home to many industrial facilities including the LNG plant and a refinery. Pictured is the Tesoro Refinery.


if there is enough of them, they could set the stage for a rebound of the penin-sula’s petroleum-based manufacturing, but probably in some form that can’t be foreseen now.

Some examples of new develop-ments include the work by Armstrong Oil and Gas, a Colorado company, in developing new gas wells at the small North Fork gas field east of Homer, on the peninsula. Armstrong has com-pleted a new pipeline to connect with new pipeline built by Enstar Natural Gas Co. from Ninilchik to Anchor Point, north of Homer. The North Fork field won’t be a big gas producer, at least now, but having gotten the wells into production Armstrong is very bull-ish about expanding the field with new drilling. There is more potential for gas in the area, the company believes.

Two Australian companies are also exploring. Linc Energy has drilled a gas exploration well in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough that encountered gas, although the well is still being tested for commercial production. Although this is in the Southcentral region rather than the Kenai Peninsula, Linc Energy’s

success will motivate others to explore, including on the peninsula. Linc is plan-ning more exploration of Cook Inlet’s west side near Trading Bay.

Service companies based in Kenai support the west Inlet activity, so proj-ects there benefit the entire region. An-other Australian company, Buccaneer Energy, is exploring for gas on the pen-insula itself near the long-established Cannery Loop gas field south of the city of Kenai. Also, NordAq Energy Inc., an Alaska firm, has drilled to test gas prospects in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on a lease with Cook Inlet Region Inc., CIRI, the Alaska Native corporation for Southcentral Alaska that owns subsurface rights in some locations in the refuge.

jack-up rigs comingIn another development that is im-portant, Buccaneer and Escopeta Oil and Gas, another independent, plan to bring jack-up rigs to Cook Inlet this summer to drill test wells in deeper waters of the Inlet. These efforts have the potential for discovering signifi-cant new oil and gas accumulations,

many geologists believe, in prospects located in waters beyond the reach of wells drilled from on-shore or on one of the offshore platforms. Floating drill-ships and jack-up rigs have previously been used to explore in Cook Inlet, but not for 25 years or more. In the meantime, companies have re-looked at offshore areas previously explored using new exploration tools, such as three-dimensional seismic. With these newer techniques geologists believe they have found possible deposits of oil and gas previously undetected, when older seismic technology was used.

On the other side of Cook Inlet another independent, Cook Inlet En-ergy, is redeveloping the small Redoubt Shoal and West MacArthur River oil fields. Both were shut down in the bank-ruptcy of Pacific Energy Resources, the previous owner.

Cook Inlet Energy is a new subsid-iary of Miller Petroleum of Tennessee, formed to take over and operate the assets acquired in the Pacific Energy bankruptcy. The company has been producing about 1,000 barrels per day of oil from wells in the West


MacArthur field and plans to repair and redrill wells on the Osprey platform that produced for a period from the Redoubt Shoal field. Cook Inlet Energy also has plans to drill for more oil, and gas, in the West MacArthur field. The company already has brought a small drill rig to the Inlet’s west side to drill gas wells and hopes to bring a larger drill rig for drilling deeper wells aimed at finding oil.

It’s worth noting these ventures are being aided by measured incen-tives put in place by the State. The redevelopment of Redoubt Shoal and the West MacArthur River fields is possible because of a temporary re-duction of royalty extended to several marginal Cook Inlet fields some years ago, as well as a set of generous invest-ment tax credits. The same tax credits are boosting exploration on the Kenai Peninsula and the effort to bring a jack-up rig to the Inlet.

A step at a time, these efforts could succeed in more oil and gas being pro-duced, but if a larger company enters the scene, like Apache Oil, things will elevate to a new level.

apache may proViDe boostApache, a major independent com-pany, has been acquiring leases in Cook Inlet over the last year with in-tentions to do exploration. The com-pany has also indicated it is looking to acquire more properties. An obvious prospect is the Cook Inlet holdings of Chevron Corp., which are for sale. Included in this are the 10 offshore oil-producing platforms owned and operated by Chevron, and the major-ity of the Inlet’s oil-producing fields. Whether Apache will purchase these depends on whether the company be-lieves the production can be expanded. The fields are mature, many having produced for several decades, and the platforms and wells are aged.

In purchasing them, Apache would also be assuming large liabilities, mainly the cost of removing the platforms once production is terminated. However, having a company like Apache active in Cook Inlet will provide a big boost for others, an endorsement by a large and respected independent.

What is also often overlooked is that another once-independent company, now part of a much larger one, has been


operating two mature Cook Inlet oil producing platforms for years. This is XTO Corp. which purchased the plat-forms from Shell years ago, invested in redevelopment, and has continued to operate them profitably. The fact that XTO can continue to operate aged facilities provides an example for oth-ers, like Apache, looking at Cook Inlet.

rebuilDing the inDustryIf there is to be another petroleum-based manufacturing industry for the Cook Inlet region, what might it look like? The two State gas corporations, the Alaska Natural Gas Develop-ment Authority, or ANGDA, and the Alaska Gas Development Authority, or AGDC, have both sponsored studies of possible industries. So has the State’s main industrial development corpora-tion, the Alaska Industrial Develop-ment and Export Authority, or AIDEA.

ANGDA commissioned a study of what it might take to rebuild and ex-pand the existing LNG plant. It found that substantial amounts of money to upgrade the plant and meet new federal regulatory standards would be needed.

AGDC commissioned studies of a gas-to-liquids project linked to a gas pipe-line built from the North Slope. This might be possible if a pipeline is built.

AIDEA has considered a different idea, a coal-to-liquids project based on large coal resources at Beluga across Cook Inlet from Anchorage. Coal-to-liquids uses a process similar to that in gas-to-liquids, the Fischer-Tropsch process. Similar plants in South Africa, Qatar and Malaysia now make high-quality fuels and other products from feedstocks like coal and natural gas.

AIDEA found the coal-to-liquids idea to have possibilities. Tyonek Na-tive Corp., a landowner in the Beluga area, is very interested in the idea. A Beluga coal-to-liquids plant would be within the Kenai Borough and part of its tax base. No doubt experienced ser-vice companies based in Kenai would play a major role in the development of such a plant.

The closure of the LNG plant ends at least this chapter of the Kenai Pen-insula’s history, but it’s worth reflect-ing on the success of the fertilizer and LNG plants as innovative industrial

ventures in their time. Large gas discoveries were made in the 1960s but they were found as companies searched for oil, a more valuable prod-uct. The gas was “stranded,” much like North Slope gas is today, with no way to move it to market.

The idea that developed was that if the gas couldn’t be shipped in gaseous form, as there was no pipeline, it could be converted into a different form, even a new product, that could be shipped.

Union Oil of California (now owned by Chevron) built a fertilizer plant to convert its gas into fertilizer, a solid, and ammonia, a liquid. These products could be shipped and sold readily.

ConocoPhillips and Marathon built a LNG plant to liquefy the gas at low temperatures and ship it in spe-cial tankers. This was the world’s first long-distance shipping of LNG on a regular basis, and it pioneered the very large LNG business that exists today. Both ventures demonstrated private sector entrepreneurship in converting a problem – stranded gas – into an op-portunity. There is no reason why this can’t happen again. q


Impact of Current Oil-Tax System Forces Alaskans to

Make Tough Decisions

By saNdra yi

Dave Cruz’s Alaska roots run deep. His first job was working on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline

and he built a successful business servic-ing the North Slope. Now, Cruz’s fam-ily may have to uproot for new lands.

“We have to follow the work, so we made the choice to move our oilfield support to North Dakota,” Cruz says. “North Dakota has a more favorable tax environment, they are more pro-business and they have a how-can-I-help-you attitude instead of what’s-in-it-for-us attitude.”

As the president of Cruz Construc-tion, a Palmer-based company that pro-vides exploration support and tundra transportation to the oil, gas and mining industries, Cruz has experienced the impact of ACES oil tax (Alaska’s Clear & Equitable Share) directly.

“In 2007 through ’08, we were able to employ a couple hundred people all winter,” Cruz says. “Now we’re able to employ a dozen. We had Anadarko, Chevron, FEX, Brooks Range, ConocoPhillips, Pioneer that were exploring on the North Slope. Today, we have only one exploration

well that’s going to happen – and that will be done in March of this year.”

Cruz is now one of the thousands of Alaskans supporting Gov. Sean Parnell and his call to restructure ACES, which was enacted in 2007 under then-Gov. Sarah Palin. It raised the oil produc-tion tax base rate to 25 percent, applied against the production tax value. It also set a progressivity rate of 0.4 percent, signifi-

cantly boosting taxes, particularly when oil prices are high. And, under ACES, as oil prices increase, the marginal tax rates can climb to more than 80 percent.

Parnell’s House Bill 110 (HB 110) aims to lower oil production’s base tax rate from 25 percent to 15 percent for new field and adjust the production tax calculation on an annual basis instead of monthly. Although it doesn’t eliminate progressivity, it slows the rate at which it rises, and uses tax brackets. The bill would reduce the overall government profit, but it aims to restore the opportu-nity for earnings with more investments.

“The state may still provide one-sixth of the domestic oil supply, but the volume from existing wells is drop-ping steadily. We’re at risk of seeing irrevocable production decline, which threatens the pipeline. Our state needs to increase our competitiveness and grow our economy,” Parnell said.

make alaska competitiVe coalition Forms

After Parnell introduced HB 110, a group of Alaska organizations and individuals formed the Make Alaska

GAS & OIL

In April 2007, FEX stacked the Doyon Arctic Wolf after drilling

in northwest NPR-A. Cruz Construction moved the rig,

shown throughout this article.

Photos courtesy of Cruz Construction


Competitive (MAC) Coalition to edu-cate Alaskans about the negative im-pacts the current oil production tax has on jobs and businesses.

“We’re not arguing for the State to give the oil industry a handout,” said former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles, member of the Make Alaska Competi-tive steering committee. “What we need is for the State to adopt a tax structure that encourages jobs and investment in Alaska. We need policies that work so Alaskans can go to work.”

Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development’s research shows shows the oil and gas industry lost about 1,700 jobs since December 2008, when employment peaked. At a time when the industry is investing in the Lower 48 and foreign countries, it is not investing in Alaska.

“Alaska must remain a competitive environment for oil companies to do business. If not, we all lose,” said Jim Jansen, CEO of Lynden and co-chair of the Make Alaska Competitive Coalition. “We are already starting to see the oil companies take their investment dol-lars elsewhere. This is a time when we

should be encouraging investment in Alaska, not taxing the industry to death.”

The MAC Coalition’s supporters and steering committee members come from throughout Alaska and work in different business sectors. It includes Koniag President and CEO Will Anderson, Carlile Transportation Systems CEO Harry McDonald, for-mer Alaska House Speaker Gail Phil-lips and Ed Rasmuson (the full list can be found at www.MakeAlaskaCom-petitive.com). In addition to Knowles, two other former Alaska governors are

calling for reform: Govs. Bill Sheffield and Frank Murkowski.

But MAC says the common bond is that supporters are all “Alaskans who rely on a strong economy for good jobs, commerce and healthy communi-ties.” The coalition also says it’s com-mitted to not accepting any funds from oil producers.

“This is not big oil sending the message. This is your economy talk-ing,” said Mark Hamilton, former University of Alaska president and MAC Coalition steering committee


member. “The trans-Alaska oil pipe-line is two-thirds empty and explo-ration activity on the North Slope is vanishing. This should be alarming to Alaskans and we intend to make sure the public is aware.”

2011 oil explorationLast year, Alaska’s most active explorer, ConocoPhillips did not drill an explora-tion well for the first time in 45 years, and it says it has no plans to drill a well in 2011. In fact, while more than 900

exploration wells were drilled across the United States last year, only one was drilled on the North Slope. This winter, only a lone exploration well is planned.

“Thousands of more jobs are at risk,” Cruz said. “My own company is a microcosm of what’s happening throughout Alaska’s oil industry now and what will happen throughout Alaska’s economy soon if we continue to drive away investments with un-friendly taxes and regulations. Three years ago, we were flying high and

employed 200 Alaskans through the exploration season. Then came the ACES oil tax, and it was like someone turned off the faucet.”

That trickle is also being felt in the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. At about 600,000 barrels per day, the pipeline is two-thirds empty, and in 2010, it declined by about 7 percent. It’s a scenario that has industry insiders pondering the question: How low can it go? At some point it will simply become too expensive for produc-ers to continue to pump oil through the


pipeline or technical issues will force its closure. Some fear that day could come five to 10 years from now.

“When that happens, Alaska is in for a rude awakening,” Hamilton said. “No flow means no dough. And, when the oil industry isn’t paying the bills, guess where the government will come looking. But even if we implemented a statewide income tax and abolished the Permanent Fund dividend, it wouldn’t come close to making up what the oil industry pays to State government.”

Currently, the oil industry pays more than 85 percent of Alaska State govern-ment. And according to the Anchorage Economic Development Corp., revenue and employment resulting from oil and gas activity accounts for approximately 40 percent of the state’s economy.

the lure oF north DakotaWhile Alaska struggles to encourage more exploration on the North Slope, North Dakota’s oil production has doubled in the last three years. More than 160 drilling rigs are active, and in less than a decade, projections show it will surpass Alaska, becoming the second-leading oil-producing state, trailing only Texas. Compare that to the North Slope, where the number of active rigs has dwindled to 12.

North Dakota already has the na-tion’s lowest unemployment rate at less than 4 percent and the state projects it will add 25,000 new jobs this year.

“North Dakota is competitive. Alaska is not. It’s as simple as that,” Hamilton said. “It’s not because North Dakota has more oil reserves. Alaska doesn’t have an oil resource problem. It has an investment problem.”

For his business to survive, Cruz must follow the oil. Cruz Construction started working in North Dakota sev-eral months ago and now employs 40 full-time employees.

“Alaska is losing investments to places like North Dakota where they under-stand that lower taxes and a business-

friendly environment mean more jobs, more business, more prosperity and a brighter future. Without the investments, we’re losing our future,” Cruz said.

Cruz and his family love living in Alaska and the unique opportunities it offers. But the mountains, fish and sun-filled summers are no competition for security and job prospects.

“Our parents left Alaska better for my generation. Our responsibility is to leave Alaska for the next generation. I built my career on oil in Alaska,” Cruz said. “What about my kids’ future?” q

towns In trAns It Ion By Heidi BoHi


KodiaK: The emerald isle

The City of Kodiak, consistently ranked as one of the nation’s busiest ports for seafood land-

ings, is used to weathering the uncertain and volatile climate of the commercial fishing industry, which is often para-lyzed by State and federal regulation and management decisions, compli-cated politics, and the unpredictable moods of Mother Nature.

So when city officials look at the general ledger and see revenues hold-ing steady in a sea of economic in-security, instead of focusing on local issues that never go away – every community has them – they appreci-ate the city’s relatively healthy econ-omy. This results from sales taxes that also indicate this coastal community of 6,261 people will realize a modest 2 percent growth this year.

“We are not seeing anything that would give us any reason for concern,” says Aimee Kniaziowski, city manager. Stability has been the trend for the past

several years and based on that ten-dency and other indicators, she expects this economic stability to continue.

maritime hubThe marine waters around Kodiak are among the most productive in the North Pacific and the area’s highly pro-ductive salmon industry results, in part, from more than 800 salmon streams. According to a National Marine Fish-eries Service report, Kodiak remains the third largest port in the country – after New Bedford, Massachusetts and Unalaska-Dutch Harbor – when it comes to value of commercial fishery landings, with $103.8 million, up from $98.7 million the year before. Kodiak also is listed as the fourth largest port in the country when it comes to the volume of commercial fisheries land-ings with 282.9 million pounds.

Commercial fishing and processing has been the mainstay of Kodiak since the early ’80s and currently accounts for

55 percent of the private-sector work force. The seafood industry employed nearly 6,600 people across the Kodiak Island region, with 3,664 employed in harvesting and 2,934 employed in processing. Besides the direct economic benefits of harvesting herring, halibut, cod, Pollock, crab, scallops and five species of salmon, the city is a hub for Southwest Alaska’s maritime industry and the local economy also benefits from support services for the fishing fleet and businesses supporting those employed by it. There are also several government and educational entities that operate fisheries-related research facilities including the Fishery Indus-trial Technology Center, which houses scientists who do research in fish har-vesting technology, seafood science and processing technology.

The multi-million dollar Kodiak Fisheries Research Center also is a research institute for State and fed-eral researchers committed to the preservation, enhancement and man-agement of North Pacific marine eco-systems and resources.

The Kodiak Island Borough As-sembly and the Kodiak City Council are considering cooperatively hiring a fisheries analyst to advise the two bodies on fisheries issues that impact Kodiak, Kniaziowski says, adding there is concern about recent reduc-tions in halibut quotas. Based on the International Pacific Halibut Com-mission stock assessments and rec-ommendations earlier this year, the Kodiak fishery could take a big hit. Area 3A, which is the central Gulf of Alaska, could drop to 14.36 mil-lion pounds, down 28 percent from 20 million pounds last year, and Area 3B, representing the western Gulf of Alaska, may be looking at 7.52 million pounds, which is a 25 percent decrease from 9.9 million pounds in 2010.

Maritime hub increasing tourism to diversify economy

View of downtown Kodiak from the water.

Phot

os c

ourte

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f KIC

VB


tourism growingAs the rest of the state suffers from double-digit downturns in the visitor in-dustry, Kodiak holds its own, says Janet Buckingham, executive director of the Kodiak Island Convention and Visitors Bureau (KICVB). She said Kodiak is a more exclusive destination that benefits from repeat visitors who are high-end travelers with more disposable income.

“Last year was anecdotally very strong and many charter boat fisher-men said it was their strongest year ever,” Buckingham says.

Although Kodiak is a fishing town first – followed by the U.S. Coast Guard and other government entities as major employers – tourism is growing as locals begin to see the economic development benefits associated with 30,000 to 40,000 visitors traveling to the “Emerald Isle, the second largest island in the United States after the Big Island in Hawaii, for legendary bear viewing and sport fishing. Last year, 22 cruise ships deliv-ered 19,000 passengers throughout the summer season – this year ship numbers will drop to 15, in part due to the cruise lines redeploying vessels to European destinations. As is the case statewide, Buckingham says about 25 percent of cruise ship passengers end up returning to Kodiak as independent travelers once they have experienced local attractions.

“They are walking into the authentic Alaska experience,” Buckingham says of both independent travelers and cruise ship passengers. Several improvements are under way to enhance pedestrian use and visitor satisfaction. The city

has budgeted $700,000 to design and construct a pedestrian-improvement project along the preferred route that takes cruise ship passengers from Pier 2 where the ships dock, along the water-front canneries and processing plants. An additional $1.6 million, the result of the State cruise ship head tax collected this year, will be used for additional pedestrian and parking improvements along this popular street. The city will also install landscaping and other pe-destrian amenities upon completion of a large water and sewer project to be undertaken in the main downtown area.

marketing FocusLooking ahead to the next couple of years, Buckingham says the KICVB will focus on marketing Kodiak to both the international inbound markets and the travel trade such as travel agents to capture part of the 72 percent of inter-national travelers and about 35 percent of the domestic visitors who use travel agents when booking trips. Most do-

mestic inquires come from California, Texas and Florida. The international market comprises those from Germany and Canada, though Brazil is an emerg-ing market.

The 8,500-square-foot Kodiak Har-bor Convention Center, completed in 2009, allows the community to also market to those wanting a place for meetings and small conventions up to about 430 people.

“Travelers are looking for a unique experience and value and they are do-ing a lot of research on how to spend their money on what they perceive to be a unique world-class experience so it’s the perfect time for Kodiak to capi-talize on this,” she says.

housing shortageAlthough Kodiak has yet to address the housing shortage, especially during the peak summer tourism and fishing seasons when there is a big population influx, the city continues to advance other needed improvements. The new Kodiak Police Station was completed this winter, replacing what was the oldest public facility in the state. The $25 million, 28,250-square-foot facility includes police department operations, an emergency operations center, a jail facility that holds 22 adults, and two juvenile holding cells.

In 2009, the city invested $17.5 mil-lion in the boat yard and boat lift proj-ect, and is in the pre-design stages to replace City Pier 3, which services in-bound and outbound freight container shipments – a project expected to cost at least $18 million. Also in the pre-design stage is a $13.5 million project to replace the 1960s-era library and a $2.9 million improvement project for Baranof Community Park. q

Kodiak harbor is dominated by vessels in the commercial fishing fleet.

The new Kodiak Harbor Convention Center in downtown Kodiak.


Hydroelectric Advances in Alaska

ALTERNATIVE ENERGYSPECIAL SECTION

Harnessing cleaner, cheaper powerBy VaNessa orr

Above: The dawn of hydrokinetic energy in Alaska.

Living in Alaska, one often deals with inclement weather. But while rain and sleet and snow

can sometimes be an inconvenience, the elements can also be a benefit for residents wanting lower electric bills. Hydropower, or power that is derived from the force of moving water, has long been a source of energy in the 49th state and interest in this renewable resource continues to grow.

Despite having earned a reputa-tion as a leader in oil and gas pro-duction, Alaska also has made major inroads in harnessing this alternative natural resource.

“To have hydropower, you need el-evation and water, and we have lots of that, especially in Southeast Alaska,” said Scott Willis, vice president of generation, Alaska Electric Light and Power Co. (AEL&P).

Hydropower currently accounts for approximately 24 percent of the state’s power generation, and provides 100 percent of the electrical power in Juneau, the state’s capital city.

“When you look at electric rates in Alaska, you can see that the commu-nities with the lowest rates are those with the most hydroelectric facilities,” Willis said. “Our utility is paying the same price for fuel as it did in 1893,

Photos courtesy of AP&T

Left: AP&T’s Hydrokinetic River Turbine Project on the Yukon River at Eagle.


because the fuel we use to run our hydroelectric plants is water.”

That’s not to say building a hydro-electric facility is cheap, however.

“Building a hydroelectric plant is capital intensive – there are a lot of costs in building dams and tunnels and pipelines,” Willis said. “But while hydro facilities cost a lot to build, they are cheap to run. They last a long time, which provides for low, stable rates over the long term, compared to the cost of diesel generation, which can fluctuate quite a bit as the cost of oil rises. There’s no more inexpensive power generation than that provided by an ‘old’ hydro plant.”

olD conceptionWhile all the talk about renewable en-ergy has brought the concept of hydro-electric power to the forefront, the fact is, Alaska has been using this form of energy for more than 100 years.

“We’ve been in the renewable en-ergy business since 1893,” said Willis of the utilitity’s Gold Creek Plant, a 1.6 MW run-of-the-river plant built that year, and then rebuilt in 1914 after the original powerhouse burned down.

Juneau’s mines also needed power to run, which resulted in the 3.6 MW Annex Creek plant and the 6.7 MW Salmon Creek plants being built by mine owners. AEL&P bought these plants in the 1970s and still runs them today. Together, the Gold Creek, An-nex Creek and Salmon Creek plants provide about 15 percent of Juneau’s energy demand.

Snettisham, the largest hydroelectric facility in Southeast at 78 MWs, pro-vides approximately 65 percent of the town’s energy needs.

“One problem with hydro plants is their limited capacity; as demand grows, you reach the plant’s capacity,” Willis said.

Snettisham came online in two phases to meet demand, with the sec-ond phase beginning in 1989. When that demand was exceeded in 2009, AEL&P started bringing the 14.3 MW Lake Dorothy Plant online, which was originally identified as a potential hydro site in the 1950s. The Lake Dorothy plant will be brought online in two phases, with the second phase getting under way as demand requires.


“Lake Dorothy meets 20 percent of the city’s demand, which now means that all of Juneau’s power is hydroelec-tric,” Willis said. “There are initiatives in many states to get more renewable resources into the generation mix, and Juneau is already there, which is a really remarkable thing.”

manDating changeWhile Juneau has successfully harnessed the power of its waters, other places in Alaska are working to do the same. In 2010, the Alaska State Legislature passed an energy policy that directs the state to receive 50 percent of its electrical generation from renewable and alterna-tive energy sources by 2025. In order to do this, the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) was given funding for the prelimi-nary planning, design, permitting and field work required for the Susitna and Chakachamna hydropower projects, as well as other projects along the Railbelt.

The Chakachamna project, located on the west side of Cook Inlet, would provide 330 MW of energy to the Rail-belt grid. The Susitna project, which would consist of one dam at Watana, approximately 75 miles northeast of Talkeetna, would have a 700 MW ca-pacity. Public meetings on the feasibil-ity of these large hydropower projects began in February.

low impact hyDropowerAlaska Power & Telephone (AP&T), an investor-owned utility based in Port Townsend, Wash., has also made ma-jor inroads in providing hydroelectric power to the 33 communities it serves in Alaska, a few of which are above the Arctic Circle, some are in the Wrangell-St. Elias region, along the border with Canada, and on islands in Southeast.

“Fifteen years ago, 98 percent of what we provided to our customers was fossil fuel energy,” said Mark Mc-Cready, director of marketing, AP&T. “In the last 15 years, we have flipped our portfolio so 70 percent of the energy we provide comes from small hydro renewable energy projects. This is a huge shift for us and for our customers as they are not nearly as subject to rate swings and the whims of the market as it relates to fuel costs. Beyond the eco-nomic benefit is a much less impacted and cleaner local environment.”

All of AP&T’s hydroelectric projects have received low-impact certification from the Low Impact Hydropower In-stitute (LIHI), except Black Bear Lake (because of its age).

“In order for a project to receive the low-impact certification, it must meet certain water quality standards, fisheries standards, watershed protec-tion standards and more,” McCready said. “We specifically seek to identify plant sites that won’t have an adverse impact on native species or create a big footprint.”

One of AP&T’s most challenging projects to date is deployment of the first 25 KW low-impact hydrokinetic river turbine in the Yukon River near Eagle. The in-stream turbine, a four-blade vertical axis unit mounted on a floating platform, produces no emis-sions, requires no dam and poses very little risk to marine life.

“We got the turbine up and running at the end of July of last year, and it ran for two weeks before we had some physical problems with the machinery that were overcome with the help of our supplier,” McCready said. “The bigger challenge was the nature of the project – harnessing the tremendous energy of the Yukon River itself. It is a huge, powerful river, and after a big rainfall, there were problems with debris com-ing down the river that clogged the tur-bine’s intake. The initial design of the diversion boom structure in front of the turbine didn’t prove to be successful.

“At this juncture, before we put the turbine back into the water after spring breakup, our goal is to have the suppli-ers’ engineers and our engineers devise a better diversion option to enable the machine to remain in uninterrupted operation for longer stretches of time.”

During the two weeks the turbine ran, it consistently fed 15 KW to 17 KW into the energy grid at Eagle.

“There are more kilowatts to be had,” McCready said. “It simply boils down to refining the technology and the efficiency of the unit and coming up with a diversion structure that won’t compromise the flow. The benefits Mother Nature has to offer in terms of energy production are not easily nor cheaply harnessed, yet we hope to move the needle in terms of helping to mature this technology.” q


Millions of years ago, near the place now called Chena Hot Springs, magma bubbled its

way upward from deep inside the earth, solidifying into underground forma-tions of granite rich in uranium and thorium. Those elements decayed, gen-erating heat.

“Granite rock isn’t sedimentary rock; it cracks really nicely in all different directions depending on where the stresses are,” said Gwen Holdmann, director of the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. “The rock itself is hot and that heat can be transported to the surface through

circulating ground water. It’s very site-specific – you might be able to drill two miles deep and hit hot rock, but getting that heat to the surface is another matter entirely. You would need to have pathways for water to circulate through that rock, and then come to the surface either naturally, like at a hot springs, or artificially, by using a pump.”

clean renewable energyThat heat generated by the earth itself is geothermal energy – a clean, renew-able resource that puts water as hot as 700 degrees Fahrenheit to work pro-

ducing power in the U.S. and around the world in myriad ways. Geothermal energy – like that eventually harnessed five years ago at Chena Hot Springs – can produce electricity and heat, or cool homes and businesses and indus-trial complexes.

“Although areas with telltale signs like hot springs are more obvious and are often the first places geo-thermal resources are used, the heat of the earth is available everywhere, and we are learning to use it in a broader diversity of circumstances,” according to the Geothermal Energy Association.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGYSPECIAL SECTION

Developing Alaska’s steamy resourcesBy traCy kalytiak

Photos courtesy of Gwen Holdmann/Alaska Center for Energy and Power

Geothermal exploration is happening 40 miles from Nome, at Pilgrim Hot Springs,seen here with a geothermal pool in the foreground.


Geothermal energy is considered renewable because the heat emanat-ing from Earth’s interior is essentially limitless. It is estimated to carry the potential for 42 million megawatts of power and is expected to remain so for billions of years, ensuring an in-exhaustible supply of energy.

Hot geothermal water can appear on the surface as hot springs or gey-sers. Most geothermal water – known as geothermal geysers – stays deep un-derground.

The use of geothermal resources has a long history. Romans used geothermal water to treat eye and skin disease and, at Pompeii, to heat buildings, according to the Geothermal Energy Association, and medieval wars were even fought over lands with hot springs. The first known “health spa” was established in 1326 in Belgium at natural hot springs. And for hundreds of years, Tuscany in central Italy produced vegetables in the winter from fields heated by natural steam. Tuscany is also where, in 1904, people built the first geothermal power plant, at a place where natural steam was erupting from the earth.

alaska’s projectsThe Alaska Energy Authority lists on-going geothermal energy projects at Mount Spurr, Mount Markusin, Man-ley Hot Springs, Pilgrim Hot Springs, Naknek, Tenakee Hot Springs, Pelican and Hoonah, Akutan, Bell Island and on the Seward Peninsula, as well as developments at Bernie Karl’s Chena Hot Springs, which has been operating for approximately five years. Some of these locations may be practical for small-scale geothermal development, while the AEA estimates Mount Spurr and Mount Markusin could support larger-scale power production.

Holdmann says a $4 million U.S. De-partment of Energy award, matched with $700,000 in State-matching funds, be-came available last year and is being used to test innovative techniques for identify-ing and quantifying low- and moderate- temperature geothermal systems simi-lar to the one at Chena Hot Springs.

“That’s one thing we’re actively working on here at the University of Alaska Fairbanks,” Holdmann said. “The issue is that drilling is very ex-pensive for geothermal systems. What

Alaska Center for Energy and Power student researcher Peter Illig collects data at Granite Mountain geothermal

resource near Buckland on the Seward Peninsula.


we’re trying to do is see if a resource is developable by doing airborne sur-veys instead of just drilling. We’ve been using techniques that have been de-veloped at the university for studying volcanoes and underground coal fires.”

One of the airborne surveys last fall was done about 40 miles from Nome, at Pilgrim Hot Springs. Researchers will be verifying that airborne data with a ground-based survey, to determine whether heat seen at the surface with infrared photography comes from a geothermal source rather than being from heat absorbed by the sun, vegeta-tion or different slope angles.

“Our researchers will be able to pro-cess out all that noise using advanced computer algorithms and get a good idea how much is geothermal,” Hold-mann said.

Most of the $4 million, Holdmann said, is paying for drilling to verify the air-borne- and ground-based research results.

In addition to drilling, the main chal-lenge to establishing geothermal energy sources for communities in Alaska is proximity of those resources to places where people live and the high costs of transmission infrastructure.

“The cost of transmission is the show-stopper for many otherwise viable geo-thermal projects,” she said. “Another issue is land ownership. In places like Manley and Tenakee Springs, there’s a lot of private land ownership, people who have different ideas about whether

that resource ought to be developed. For example, when you develop a resource like Chena Hot Springs, you impact the resource. It might be reversible but some people might not want that.”

regulation anD taxationAlaska legislators last session passed a bill sponsored by State Sen. Lesil McGuire, which established a 1.75 percent royalty obligation for gross revenues derived from the production, sale or use of geo-thermal resources under a lease during the first 10 years immediately after the geothermal resource first generates gross income. After that first 10 years, the roy-alty obligation would rise to 3.5 percent of the gross revenues. The bill also trans-ferred authority from the Department of Natural Resources to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission over permitting and inspection of geothermal wells, and provided for a regulatory cost charge for geothermal wells. The bill, signed into law, took effect July 1, 2010.

exploration anD DeVelopmentExploration and development of geo-thermal resources is occurring at the volcanic island of Akutan, 730 miles west of Anchorage, where exploration drilling took place last summer.

Located in the heart of the Ber-ing Sea fishery, Akutan is home to North America’s largest seafood plant, owned by Trident Seafoods, which processes more than 3 million

Geothermal bathhouse used by residents of Tenakee Springs, a Southeast community of about 100 people located on Chichagof Island.


If Mount Spurr gets a power-purchase agreement and a State commitment to build the transmission infrastructure and road, the geothermal plant Ormat builds could provide an estimated 50-100 MW net, to the Railbelt power grid.

Ormat has been using a $2 million grant from the Alaska Energy Au-thority, with the company matching that grant with $2.1 million of its own money. The company has been recom-mended for a further $2 million AEA grant, subject to further company ex-penditure in excess of $3 million.

Last year’s Senate Bill 243 took one cent off the projected power rate, but additional incentives will be needed to enable geothermal to compete on a straight-cost basis, Thomsen said.

“If the State wants to help us with that gap (between current power prices and the potential cost of geothermal), we can offer the ratepayers a much lower price,” Thomsen said. “If the State can’t help us with that, we need to offer the ratepayers a higher price, and that could or could not make the project viable.” q

pounds of fish products per day.The addition of a new harbor, a proj-

ect to build a new airport and marine link and other capital improvements, as well as existing demand, indicate power demand could easily top 10 megawatts during the next several years, a 2010 Alaska Business Monthly article stated.

“They identified the resource, have a good idea where to drill and develop a project,” Holdmann said. “They’re seeking funding to move forward.”

An estimated $40 million cost of transmission is the main obstacle for development of the Nome’s Pilgrim project, which has the potential for generating 5 megawatts of power for a community that needs between 5 MW and 10 MW. Nome, now, relies on die-sel fuel. In 2007, Nome Joint Utilities spent $2.6 million for diesel.

“This could potentially displace al-most all of that,” Holdmann said. “But it’s 40 miles from Nome. Transmission is the deal-breaker for these kinds of projects.”

Mount Spurr is the project with the most significant potential for Railbelt power customers.

Paul Thomsen, director of policy and business development for Ormat Technologies, told the Alaska House Resources Committee on Jan. 24 that the company’s summer 2010 small-bore drilling program on Mount Spurr vol-cano, located on the west side of Cook Inlet, confirmed the likely existence of a significant geothermal source.

Ormat has had 15 leases of 36,000 acres of State land on the south flank of the mountain since September 2008 and, Thomsen said in January, has in-vested about $5 million in the project. The company operates geothermal plants and other facilities in 71 countries and has worked on projects in Alaska since 1975.

Slim-hole drilling is expected to continue this year to depths of up to 4,000 feet. Next year, he said, Ormat could drill a full-sized production well to see if there is a commercially viable geothermal reservoir.

What the Mount Spurr projects needs to proceed is a power-purchase agree-ment and a State commitment to spend $70 million to $80 million for 25 miles of permanent access road and 40 miles of T-line to Chugach Electric’s Beluga plant – Chugach intends to start a detailed routing study this year.


Southeast Real EstateREAL ESTATE

As the Lower 48 real estate sales market goes, so Southeast Alaska does not go – at least ac-

cording to local agents. Instead, winter is surprisingly the time to list a home in the Panhandle.

Don’t clutter our summerWhen homeowners down South are tidying their houses to list in the spring, Southeasters are busy getting ready to savor the blissful months of favorable weather in summer for work and play, not necessarily to sell their homes. In-stead, the Panhandle’s primary home sales season is winter, when folks have ample time to think about a new pur-chase and to coordinate a move.

“Southeast’s economy is seasonal to a great degree and it’s based around the summer months,” says one long-time agent who has sold houses in southern Southeast for 16 years. “So the typical cycle in real estate in Southeast, at least Ketchikan, things right after holidays pick up and go constant until middle of April. That’s about the time the weather gets really nice and people get outside.”

The listing season slows from April to July, as residents cram a year’s worth of outside activity into a few precious months. Then home listings jump again after July 4th through December, when there is a lull for the holidays and the cycle restarts.

For many, the timing of listing a

home is driven by a variety of external factors – a need to relocate for work, financial pressure to sell quickly, and even an opportunity to move up to a nicer or larger property. So, unlike the Lower 48, where the late spring listing cycle is almost concrete for those wish-ing to take advantage of families relo-cating or to coordinate a move when children are out of school, the Southeast Alaska market is seen as more insular, according to industry watchers.

recent market DistortionsEven the best-laid plans for home sell-ers and buyers across the nation were disrupted by recent distortions in the real estate market. Between the fallout

Panhandle prefers winter sales

In a trend that would surprise real estate sales experts down South, winter and fall remain the best times to list a house in Ketchikan, according to agents.

Photos courtesy of Nicole A. Bonham Colby


of the subprime lending and subsequent wave of foreclosures, nothing is nor-mal in the market of late. However, agents say, if you can look beyond those surface fluctuations, there is still some trend data to recognize.

In Ketchikan specifically, the last 12 years has been one of sharp ups and downs, though the local market perhaps weathered the extreme fallout of the Lower 48 housing crisis a bit better than most. In the late 1990s, the local pulp mill shut down and the market predictably declined through 2002, when it bottomed out having taken a 15 percent to 20 percent hit, according to industry watchers. The market aggressively recuperated by 2004 and 2005 with an upswing of up to an 8 percent to 12 percent range of appreciation. Then, in the fall of 2008, following the financial crash, local sales activity went to almost zero for the next several months. One agent reported an “incredible lack of confi-dence in the marketplace.”

But by spring of 2009, local sales agents saw limited recovery, with some price runoff – a 5 percent to 7 percent drop in local market prices.

Compared, however, to the ongo-ing crisis visible in Lower 48 cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix and elsewhere, Southeast Alaska’s data is surprisingly stable. While the region remains a buyer’s market, agents are not seeing huge discounts necessary to simply sell houses.

commercial actiVityIn the commercial property realm, the trends are less obvious or easily tracked. The plaza property in Ketchikan has seen renewed occupancy – and from businesses more typical of mall traffic. If any commercial distress is obvious, it is tourism related. At the height of the downtown in tourism traffic, tenants could pay upward of $50,000 simply for the privilege of a prime lease space. In those days, the lease rate was reportedly upward of $10 per square foot. Now, if tenants are paying $4 or $5 per square foot, it’s considered high.

rental trackIn the rental arena, a number of un-related factors played a role in the decreased rental market. For the last

four years, a number of construction projects kept regional rental activity high. The past winter saw a more typi-cal cycle, with a 20 percent vacancy rate from November through February. The efficiency apartments and smaller units that are good seasonal rentals are predictably vacant now.

“After last summer, a lot of people

went into this winter without a lot of expansion plans,” one agent reported. Projections for next summer look bet-ter from the tourism-impact factor, as ships are increasing activity, includ-ing much-anticipated Disney-branded ships. “Everyone is looking forward to next summer as the restarting of up-ward growth.” q

Summer is best kept for outdoor activities for southern Southeasters, who typically sell their properties in two periods: mid-January through mid-April, and mid-July to early November. Some agents attribute the counterintuitive trends to Southeasters’

saving warm-weather summer months for outdoor activities — work and fun.


Techy Gadgets

Technology can change your life. The evidence of that is far reaching. While the intent of

this article is not life changing – it is highlighting practicality in the technol-ogy available to Alaska’s business and general consumer communities, with the added advantage of simultaneous broad, and useful, applications.

There are obvious technology ad-vancements business users and general consumers simply cannot live without – or at least, cannot ignore. Those in-clude milestone advancements, such as the iPhone, iPad, Androids and the thousands of “pad” computers and su-persmart phones evident at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this past January in Las Vegas. At last count, there were more than 300,000 applica-tions, or apps, for the iPhone and iPad – more than 100,000 for the Android. Whether you are traveling on a plane in cramped space, relaxing at home, or reading a business report after hours in bed, published material is fast becom-ing mostly electronic.

Nowadays, you can read whatever you like – whenever you like – without the social stigma that goes with the hot artwork on the cover of your favorite paperback – thanks largely to the Nook, Kindle, Sony or multitude of compat-ible apps for your phones and pads.

Nevertheless, there are already vol-umes of published material devoted to these best selling must-haves. Most likely, the majority of readers already have one or more of these devices; and most likely a two-year or more contrac-tual commitment to a favorite carrier to go along with it. With that in mind, this article points you in the direction of something new – techy toys that offer practical application.

eVerything’s better with more signal on it

Even the smartest phone is limited when wireless coverage is limited. If your home or office is on the edge of wireless coverage, you have most likely uttered an expletive or two about dropped calls. Enter Wilson Electronics Inc. This small, techy company offers in-building and in-car sophisticated signal boosters to improve wireless coverage. Alaska’s rough terrain creates considerable dead or seemingly dead zones, and/or spotty coverage, for all our carri-ers – some more than others. But this compact (antennas sold separately) SIGNALBOOST™ raises the floor and smoothes the dips in signal.

The big advantage is these devices require no physical contact with your phone. They do have direct-connect

models. But the wireless bi-directional booster, while a bit more expensive, is more diverse because it can be used by multiple phones, and works with all cell phones and data cards. It is simply an amplifier, or repeater. But it will bring you inside from the cold – or, in my case, from standing on one leg, on a rock, under the spruce in the front yard just to find the single location on my property where I can complete a cell phone call. With this innova-tive device, an external antenna picks up the weak signal, amplifies it, and rebroadcasts it inside the auto, truck, RV, boat, home or business. Models are available for all cellular frequen-cies and it doesn’t matter if CDMA, GSM, G3, or G4 (dual band 800-1900 MHz). There are models for a single room, or entire home or office. Not only does it minimize dropped calls, you can expect faster data rates and increased coverage.

Perhaps this product is not as glitzy as the new Android or iPhone, but it will make them work better. Find out more online at www.wilsonelectronics.com. That said, no: it does not extend a Wi-Fi cloud.

on the roaD again anD can’t wait to get your cell phone pluggeD in

When you have to read your boarding pass to remember which airport you are at, or the TSA blue shirts know you by name, you qualify as a seasoned traveler. I am not to that point, but I do spend a lot of time in airports ready to leave on a jet plane. Seems wherever I go, I am scrambling to find a charger for my laptop, phone or both. Oft times, it requires a homerun slide to beat an-other traveler to the single remaining

TECHNOLOGY

By keNt l. ColBy

Practicality for Alaska’s business leaders

Wilson Electronics DB Pro Kit is a home or office signal booster.

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outlet on the end-row seat, under the window, next to the snack bar, or in those few places where there are ac-tually traveler-centric power stations. Then the question is which to charge: the power-hungry laptop, so you can finish the PowerPoint presentation, or the phone, so you can call your client to convey arrival and meeting times.

Not much we can do about airports that are behind the business-friendly curve, but we can recommend a new lightweight, dual-function charger. The Targus Premium Laptop charger is thin, it multitasks and it is good-looking. The AC model weighs in at 11 ounces. Bet-ter than the weight is its shape and size. It is about the size of a BlackBerry or external hard drive, which makes it one of the smallest chargers on the market. The power prongs fold in, out of the way, and are less bulky. The product offers added portability, and swivels to fit into either horizontally or ver-tically oriented outlets and not block adjacent outlets. This half-pint charger is big enough to charge your laptop and phone.

Ideal for travel, the APM69US comes with nine laptop tips, one mini-USB tip for cell phones and cameras, and one iPhone tip. With the masses of air travelers behind you, there is an included 12-volt adaptor for use in the rental car.

Targus attempted to cover every-thing with this charger. It has a thin, light-weight cord that includes an elas-tic band for cable management. All tips clip easily into an integrated storage clip that clips to the power cord, keeping them with the charger. Register your charger with Targus and receive an ad-ditional free tip for the second laptop and/or cell phone and free tips for fu-ture laptops and cell phones. Long-term compatibility: What a novel idea.

The only downside, the power cord does not have a hidden wraparound on the charger itself. Consequently you have the charger and the “thin, light-weight” power cords to keep track of. The upside, even with the cords, is that the product is about half the size of the charger/power supply that came with your laptop. If you carry a laptop that has a power brick that requires its own wheeled case, check the compatibility list before you buy.

If you look at this type of informa-tion, the charger is RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) com-pliant. Good to know. Find out more online at www.targus.com/us/powerall.

Don’t get lost in the name oF aDVenture

Alaskan’s have more space for outdoor adventure than just about anyone else in the country. Busy executives chained to a desk or airplane 24/7 must break the ties periodically and appreciate time for themselves in Alaska’s big country. For such occasions, it is a good idea to keep track of yourself, and let others know where you are, as well.

Outdoor enthusiasts know the name DeLorme and the company’s accom-plishments in the mapping and GPS arenas. DeLorme has helped us keep track of where we are for years now. At January’s CES, DeLorme demonstrated its unique GPS navigation and com-munication capabilities utilizing the custom-text messages of SPOT satel-lite technology. Now our families and friends can track us. Better yet, when you are in trouble from a life-threatening event or other critical emergency, SPOT, using the GEOS International Emergency Response Center, alerts the appropriate agencies worldwide. With the DeLorme SPOT team, you now have a new way to explore in the Last Frontier and to do it safely. Whether on the inland waterways or the coastal waters of Alaska, the trails and back roads, even outside cell cover-age, the rugged DeLorme GPS keeps you on track. Paired, the two products allow you to send text messages and to e-mail accounts and social network sites. Emergency SOS is included.

“This is really two great products in one,” says company Vice President Caleb Mason. “DeLorme and SPOT have both pioneered a number of first-to-market innovations. Combining our unique GPS capabilities with SPOT’s satellite delivery has produced a one-of-a-kind navigation and communi-cations solution, for peace of mind wherever you go.”

The SPOT product uses both the GPS satellite network to determine your location and the Globalstar net-work to transmit messages and GPS coordinates to others, including an

international rescue coordination center. The idea is: Peace of mind wherever you go. Explore and stay connected. Find out more online at www.delorme.com.

when they are not at homeSakar International is expanding its family of Kodak Webcams with afford-able models for Macs and PCs. These cameras are in the $19.99 to $29.99 range (MSRP). These hard-working cameras make video calling affordable and easy with clear full-motion live im-ages and still-image capture at up to 1.3 megapixels. And check this out, they come with built-in parental con-trols. At just $19.99 the KODAK S101 Webcam offers one-touch emailing, built in noise-canceling microphone, plug-and-play USB with no need to

Kodak offers free standing or tri-pod mountable, full-featured webcams.

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download drives, and is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP and Mac OSX 10.5x and above. The $29.99 model (KODAK Dual Webcam D101) compliments all the features of the S101 and adds a special form factor to allow

the webcam to mount on most LCD displays or stand alone on the desktop and it comes with a m i n i - t r i p o d . These Kodak cameras also offer drag-and-drop image up-loads to social networking and image sharing sites. The two-unit option – the KO DAK Dual Webcam D101 Twin Pack

(MSRP $59.99) – offers one to keep and one for the kids away at college, your vacation on the sandy beaches of the Caribbean, or business partners on a skiing trip to Aspen or Salt Lake City. Video chat is the way of the future

and these inexpensive Kodak cameras simplify video chatting over services such as SKYPE and YAHOO!, AOL and MSN Instant Messenger as well as Google Talk and iChat AV for Macs. Even in the boardroom, these cameras will pull the video conference together.

Using one of these cameras, you can share the day’s activities from home and the office. They open a completely new world of video recording and photos, drag-and-drop uploading, and noise-canceling microphones, mini-tripods and other accessories. They run at a full 30 FPS. They are face-detection and motion-detection capable.

Sakar International Inc. designs and manufactures a wide range of tech-nology, toy and consumer electronic produces. Find more information online at www.sakar.com.

Kodak helps consumers, businesses and creative professionals unleash the power of pictures. Find out more online at www.kodak.com/go/followus. q

DeLorme Earthmate GPS PN-60w with

SPOT Satellite Communicator.

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Young Alaskans Celebrate KidsDayAlAskA th Is month

APR

16 By NaNCy pouNds

The siren call of “free” beckons like none other. This month, “KidsDay” will again provide free attractions to children in Anchorage. Area families can discover

hours of adventure by visiting KidsDay Central and then one of many Promise Partner locations such as the Alaska Zoo, Anchorage Museum or Imaginarium, among others.

KidsDay is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center features more than 100 ex-hibitors and a street fair on two adjacent side streets. Other locations included in KidsDay are the Alaska Zoo, the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, the Alaska Museum of Natural History, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center and the Imaginarium, the Alaska State Troopers Law Enforce-ment Museum and the National Park Service public lands information center.

nurturing wayAnchorage’s Promise – the Alliance for Youth, a nonprofit organization, coordinates KidsDay. The group also works with community groups, schools, businesses and parents to foster services and awareness of ingredients for nurturing children. The recipe includes caring adults, safe places to build academic and other skills, healthy lifestyles, effective education and opportunities to serve others.

“KidsDay is about fun, exploration and encouragement,” said Debbie Bogart, executive director. “Most importantly, it is about helping all young people know they are cared for and supported by their community and their families.”

historyThe event began in the 1980s and was coordinated by the nonprofit organization Kids Place Project, Bogart said. In 2004, Anchorage’s Promise took over as KidsDay organizer. Anchorage’s Promise began working with youth-service pro-grams and community groups aiming to increase participation.

Today, about 15,000 people participate at the vari-ous venues.

One of the biggest changes throughout the event’s his-tory was moving from the Egan Civic and Convention Center to the larger Dena’ina Center, Bogart said. “This

allowed us to stretch, add more exhibitors,” she said. New venues are added by organizers each year.

In 2009, KidsDay organizers coordinated a visit by baby kangaroos; in 2010, two baby Bengal tigers were featured. This year’s special animal will be announced closer to the event date.

Also, two entertainment stages will feature performances by young people, and 150 youth volunteers will help during KidsDay. “KidsDay provides an opportunity for our com-munity to celebrate Global Youth Service Day,” Bogart said.

The international event highlights learning through serv-ing others with a weekend marking the effort set for April 15-17. Anchorage’s Promise also coordinates service-learning classes for middle and high school teachers.

Last year KidsDay organizers gathered input from the teen volunteers to help structure the event with increased appeal to teens, Bogart said. Plans include an open mic and local performances in music, dance and drama. Teen City Center Stage will provide an opportunity for teens, who have grown up with KidsDay to return with activities geared toward them. The event also will feature a fashion show, doodle tables for leaving ideas and thoughts plus teen information booths to provide information on volunteer opportunities.

a gooD place For youthA representative of America’s Promise will attend the event to officially recognize the Municipality of Anchorage as one of the nation’s 100 Best Communities for Young People, Bogart said.

KidsDay exhibitors say the event provides an opportunity to connect with community members and increase partici-pation in program services. KidsDay participants have told Bogart the event provides them with new, affordable ideas about activities for their families.

After the long hours coordinating KidsDay, Bogart’s personal favorite aspect is seeing excited, smiling children delight in the activities. She treasures watching “families enjoy a day with each other and knowing just how much our community cares about each and every young person.” For more information, visit www.anchoragespromise.org. q

Imaginarium, museums, other attractions free for a day

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With the help of Fire Station 1, hundreds of

children explore fire safety and

become familiar with emergency

services.

During KidsDay, more than 100 youth-oriented vendors provide creative and fun learning activities that draw parents to their

exhibits to learn more about the resources they

can access.

• • • • • • • A n c h o r A g e • • • • • • •

4/7 Thursday Night at the FightsBoxingafullroundofsevenmatcheswithfullbarandconcessionsavailable.Reservedseats$35.00,generaladmission$16 (pricesincludeservicecharge).Ticketsatthedoor.HeldattheEganCenterwithdoorsopenat6:30p.m.,eventat7:30p.m.Contact:263-2800.

4/9 Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson CenterTheannualAnchorageMuseumgalaisoneoftheseason’smostcel-ebratedsocialartevents.Guestsenjoyfinefood,wineanddecadentdessertsattheDena’inaCivicandConventionCenter.Thegalafea-turesaliveandsilentauctionofsomeofthestate’sbestoriginalart.Fundsraisedhelpsupportthemuseum’sexhibitions,communityandeducationprograms,andthepermanentcollection.Dena’inaCenter.Contact:907-929-9200or907-929-9201.

4/9 – 4/10 Alaska Custom Cycle ShowCheckoutthecoolestmotorcyclesinAlaska!Enteryourmotorcycleintooneof themanyclassesavailableatwww.amcda.com.Thiseventwillhavedoorprizes,livedemonstrations,vendors,foodandentertainment!Agreatwaytokickofftheridingseasonandseewhatlocalmotorcycledealershavereadytoride.BenBoeke10a.m.-5p.m.Contact:907-229-2055or907-279-9748.

4/16 Walk MS Getyourexercisewiththepledge-based4-milewalkaroundLakeHoodinAnchorage.ProceedsbenefittheMSSocietyAlaska.Joinhundredsofotherwalkersandseefirst-handthepowerful,positiveeffecttheWalkMShasoneveryoneinvolved.MillenniumHotel,8a.m.registration,10a.m.walk.Contact:907-562-7317.

4/16 – 4/17 Spring Fling for Women Trade Show DAMMStraightProductionsInc.presentsthe“SpringFlingforWomen”tradeshow.Timeistobedetermined.HeldattheEganCenter.Contact:MichaelFisher:907-344-1007.

4/17 Ed Asner as FDR Aone-manplaystarringEdAsnerasPresidentFranklinD.Roosevelt.WatchasFDRexploresthelifeofoneofAmerica’sbest-lovedpresi-dentsandtheeventsanddecisionsthatshapedanation.Apowerfulplayfollowstheiconicpresidentashereflectsonhisyearsinoffice,frominaugurationtothetrialsofWorldWarII.DiscoveryTheater,2p.m.and6p.m.Contact:907-263-2787.

• • • • • • • F A i r b A n k s • • • • • • •

4/5 – 4/9 Tesoro Arctic Man Ski & Sno-Go Classic ThousandsofextremeskiersandsnowmachinersgathereastofFairbankseveryspringfordaysofpracticeandfun,culminatingin thisextremewinter race.Skiers takea lonedescentbeforegraspingtheirsnowmobilepartner’stowropeforanadrenaline-filledclimbatspeedsrangingfrom70-90mph.Thenafinalplummettoafinishlineinfrontofthousandsofpeople.RaceisscheduledtostartApril8at1p.m.,awardsceremonyscheduledfor6p.m.April9,withraffledrawingat10p.m.Contact:907-456-2626orvisitwww.arcticman.com.

4/15 Fairbanks Outdoor ShowFishingcharters,huntingexpeditions,boats,ATVs,trailers,rafting,kayaking,outdoorgearandwear, fishingandhuntingsupplies,campingsupplies, taxidermistsandmuchmore.Comesee themore than140vendors fromalloverAlaskaand theLower48.Informationalseminarsthroughoutthedayincludehowandwheretofish,outdoorsafetyandmuchmore.CarlsonCenter.Contact:907-451-7800.

April events cAlendAr


• • • • • • • g i r d w o o d • • • • • • •Every Weekend Alyeska Ski & Snowboard BusLookingforaneasywaytogettoAlyeskafromAnchorageorEagleRiver?TheAlyeskaSki&SnowboardBusisyourtickettoskiingandridingatAlyeskaResort.Thebusisopentoallages,offeringtripsonSaturdaysandSundaysfromfourCarrs/Safeways.Round-tripbustransportationandall-dayliftticketforonegreatpriceisnewthiswinterandonlyavailableonlineatwww.alyeskaresort.com–clickonMountain,thenclickonAlyeskaSkiBus.Contact:907-754-2274.

4/22 – 4/24 Alyeska Spring Carnival & Slush CupWithoneofthelongestskiseasonsinNorthAmerica,AlyeskaResortembracesspringintypicalAlaskanfashion.TheSpringCarnivaltakesadvantageofthelongdayswithextendedhoursofliftoperations,greatspring-skiingconditions,andAlyeska’slargestandmostpopularwinterevent,SlushCup,wherecompetitorsdressedinzanycostumesattempttoskimacrossa90-footlongpooloffreezingwater.Otheractivitiesincludeateamtug-of-war,kid’sfunraces,BigAircompandlivemusic.Contact:907-754-2111.

• • • • • • • • J u n e A u • • • • • • • •4/11 – 4/17 The Alaska Folk Festival TheAlaskaFolkFestivalbringstheentiretownofJuneautogetherforperformancesrangingfromschoolgroupstoprofessionalstoat-homehobbyists.Manypeoplecomefrommilesawaytoseeandparticipateinthisfestiveweek-longevent.Admissionisfree.Contact:907-463-3316(8102).

• • • • • • • • k o d i A k • • • • • • • •

4/14 – 4/16 ComFish AlaskaComFishAlaska,Kodiak’sannualfisheriestradeshowforAlaskanCommercialFisheriesfeaturesseminarsandforums,vendorboothsandfisherieseducation.TheKodiakChamberofCommercestartedComFishin1980asamarinetradefairtobeheldinconjunctionwiththeannualCrabFestivalinMay.Itcontinuedtogroweachyearasmorevendorswishedtoparticipateandisnowaverypopularvenueforresidents,commercialfishermen,theU.S.CoastGuardandothervisitors.ExpertsareinvitetospeakaboutissuesconcerningAlaska’scommercialfishingindustry.Moreinformationatwww.comfishalaska.com.

• • • • • • • • w A s i l l A • • • • • • • •

4/16 Wasilla Community Health Fair ValleyResidentialFirstPresbyterianChurchofWasillaisofferingfreehealthscreenings,healtheducationandlow-costbloodtestsforage18andolder:chemistry/hematologybloodtest$45(panels27differentfunctions,fast12hoursprior)thyroidbloodtest$30,prostatebloodtest$25,VitaminDbloodtest$50.A1Cbloodtest$25.Drinklotsofwater.Bringastampforresultstobemailed.Runs9:00a.m.to1p.m.Contact:907-278-0234.

4/17 An Evening with Randy NewmanRegardedas“Oneofthemostveneratedsongwritersofhisgeneration”byUSAToday,filmcomposerandmusicianRandyNewman.WitnessanAmericanmusiclegendasheperformsfavoritesincluding:“Louisiana,”“LeaveYourHatOn,”and“You’veGotaFriendinMe”fromToyStory.HeisanOscar-winning,five-timeGrammywinneraswellasathreetimerecipientofEmmyaward.Jointhefreepre-performancetalkledbyalocalexpertat6:30p.m.Onoccasion,theartistjoinsaswell.Noticketnecessary.Starts7:30p.m.AlaskaCenterforthePerformingArts.Contact:907-263-2787.

4/30 Mat-Su Walk & Roll for Hope JoinHopeCommunityResourcesforadayoffunandfundraisingintheMat-SuValley.Suitableforallages.Check-inat8:30a.m.attheMenardSportsComplexinWasilla,walkstartsat9a.m.AllfundsraisedgotosupportAlaskanswhoexperiencedisabilitiesintheMat-SuValley.Informationatwww.hopealaska.orgorcontact:907-433-4916.


April events cAlendAr

AlAskA Trends hAs been broughT To you This monTh courTesy of AmericAn mArine/Penco

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

Since the United States was taken off the gold

standard and changed to a full fiat currency in 1971, inflation has become a sig-nificant concern among its citizens. The effects of inflation reduce the value of currency over time and therefore increase the price of goods. As a result of this phenomenon, a dollar received today has more value than a dollar received tomorrow. This continual devaluation of currency undermines the savings of the citizenry; it requires the earning of interest or appreciation of principal to maintain the future equivalent value of current savings (preserving the individual’s purchasing power in the future).

The chart shows the cumulative increase in personal income and inflation (as measured by the consumer price index) for Anchorage, Alaska, and the U.S. since calendar year 2000. While the inflation figures for Anchorage and the U.S. are very similar, with Anchorage experiencing 0.61 percent higher cumulative inflation, the personal income of Anchorage and the U.S. show a substantial

divergence. Anchorage’s cumulative increase in personal income is approximately 17.15 percent greater than the overall United States. This chart illustrates that when taking inflation into consideration, the personal income for those individuals in Anchorage would have increased 43.48 percent since calendar year 2000 in comparison to 26.95 percent for the United States. The additional 16.54 percent increase in purchasing power in Anchorage over the United States suggests the relative prosperity of Anchorage residents has increased in relation to the overall United States. q

AlAskA trends

Personal Income Outpaces Inflation Anchorage versus U.S.

Source: Personal Income: http://www.bea.gov/ (Personal Income), http://www.bls.gov/ (Consumer Price Index)

By william Cox


Year Over Year

Change

YearAgo

Period

Previous ReportPeriod(revised)

Latest Report PeriodPeriodUnitsIndicator

GENERALPersonal Income – Alaska US $ 3rd Q10 31,373 31,373 30,284 3.60% Personal Income – United States US $ 3rd Q10 12,590,671 12,590,671 12,156,914 3.57% Consumer Prices – Anchorage 1982-1984 = 100 2nd H10 195.46 195.46 193.456 1.03% Consumer Prices – United States 1982-1984 = 100 2nd H10 218.58 218.58 215.935 1.22% Bankruptcies Alaska Total Number Filed December 92 73 84 9.52% Anchorage Total Number Filed December 64 54 63 1.59% Fairbanks Total Number Filed December 14 13 14 0.00%

EMPLOYMENTAlaska Thousands December 331.04 331.71 326.93 1.26% Anchorage & Mat-Su Thousands December 188.12 186.86 186.19 1.04% Fairbanks Thousands December 43.55 43.45 42.79 1.77% Southeast Thousands December 35.02 35.35 34.76 0.75% Gulf Coast Thousands December 33.12 33.95 32.65 1.43% Sectoral Distribution – AlaskaTotal Nonfarm Thousands December 308.2 311.7 307.2 0.33% Goods Producing Thousands December 33.6 38.5 34.7 -3.17% Services Providing Thousands December 274.6 273.2 272.5 0.77% Mining and Logging Thousands December 14.1 14.2 14.6 -3.42% Mining Thousands December 14.0 13.9 14.5 -3.45% Oil & Gas Thousands December 12.0 11.9 12.2 -1.64% Construction Thousands December 12.6 13.9 13.6 -7.35% Manufacturing Thousands December 6.9 10.4 6.5 6.15% Seafood Processing Thousands December 2.9 4.7 3.0 -3.33% Trade/Transportation/Utilities Thousands December 61.0 60.6 61.6 -0.97% Wholesale Trade Thousands December 5.8 5.9 6.0 -3.33% Retail Trade Thousands December 35.3 34.9 35.6 -0.84% Food & Beverage Stores Thousands December 6.0 5.9 6.3 -4.76% General Merchandise Stores Thousands December 10.0 10.0 10.1 -0.99% Trans/Warehouse/Utilities Thousands December 19.9 19.8 20.0 -0.50% Air Transportation Thousands December 5.4 5.4 6.3 -14.29% Truck Transportation Thousands December 2.9 2.9 3.0 -3.33% Information Thousands December 6.2 6.3 6.4 -3.13% Telecommunications Thousands December 4.2 4.2 4.2 0.00% Financial Activities Thousands December 14.6 15.0 14.4 1.39% Professional & Business Svcs Thousands December 25.0 24.6 24.5 2.04% Educational & Health Services Thousands December 41.7 42.7 39.7 5.04% Health Care Thousands December 29.9 30.7 28.8 3.82% Leisure & Hospitality Thousands December 28.8 26.8 28.7 0.35% Accommodation Thousands December 6.4 5.9 6.2 3.23% Food Svcs & Drinking Places Thousands December 18.5 17.4 18.6 -0.54% Other Services Thousands December 11.2 11.4 11.5 -2.61% Government Thousands December 86.1 85.8 85.7 0.47% Federal Government Thousands December 16.5 16.2 16.6 -0.60% State Government Thousands December 25.9 26.3 25.7 0.78% State Education Thousands December 8.0 8.2 7.8 2.56% Local Government Thousands December 43.7 43.3 43.4 0.69% Local Education Thousands December 25.2 25.0 24.7 2.02% Tribal Government1 Thousands December 3.8 3.8 3.6 5.56% Labor Force Alaska Thousands December 360.33 359.93 358.67 0.46% Anchorage & Mat-Su Thousands December 202.39 200.83 201.56 0.41% Fairbanks Thousands December 46.88 46.67 46.51 0.80% Southeast Thousands December 38.32 38.40 38.36 -0.10% Gulf Coast Thousands December 37.14 37.69 37.14 0.00%

AlAskA trends


Data compiled by University of Alaska Center for Economic Development.

S p o n S o r e d b y A m e r i C A n m A r i n e / p e n C o

Year Over Year

Change

YearAgo

Period

Previous ReportPeriod(revised)

LatestReportPeriodPeriodUnitsIndicator

Unemployment Rate Alaska Percent December 8.1 7.8 8.8 -7.95% Anchorage & Mat-Su Percent December 7.1 7 7.6 -6.58% Fairbanks Percent December 7.1 6.9 8 -11.25% Southeast Percent December 8.6 7.9 9.4 -8.51% Gulf Coast Percent December 10.8 9.9 12.1 -10.74% United States Percent December 9.1 9.3 9.7 -6.19%

PETROLEUM/MININGCrude Oil Production – Alaska Millions of Barrels December 18.97 18.19 20.30 -6.55% Natural Gas Field Production – Alaska Billions of Cubic Ft. December 12.79 11.66 13.00 -1.68% ANS West Cost Average Spot Price $ per Barrel December 89.75 83.93 75.12 19.48% Hughes Rig Count Alaska Active Rigs December 7 7 8 -12.50% United States Active Rigs December 1711 1683 1172 45.99% Gold Prices $ Per Troy Oz. December 1,392.03 1,370.84 1,134.87 22.66% Silver Prices $ Per Troy Oz. December 2934.90 2654.09 1767.29 66.07% Zinc Prices Per Pound December 1.14 1.14 NO DATA

REAL ESTATEAnchorage Building Permit Valuations Total Millions of $ December 15.80 12.80 21.62 -26.90% Residential Millions of $ December 3.56 2.94 5.25 -32.26% Commercial Millions of $ December 12.25 9.86 16.37 -25.18%Deeds of Trust Recorded Anchorage – Recording District Total Deeds December 1149 1270 783 46.74% Fairbanks – Recording District Total Deeds December No Data No Data 180

VISITOR INDUSTRYTotal Air Passenger Traffic – Anchorage Thousands December 368.74 338.47 358.55 2.84%Total Air Passenger Traffic – Fairbanks Thousands December 74.58 64.84 70.38 5.97%

ALASKA PERMANENT FUNDEquity Millions of $ December 38,425.10 37,002.60 34,617.90 11.00%Assets Millions of $ December 38,768.60 37,405.40 34,706.00 11.71%Net Income Millions of $ December 176.9 117.8 106.6 65.95%Net Income – Year to Date Millions of $ December $1,347.1 ($353.5) $515.5 161.32%Marketable Debt Securities Millions of $ December -61.3 -142.8 (130.8) 53.13%Real Estate Investments Millions of $ December 13.4 20.5 7.5 78.67%Preferred and Common Stock Millions of $ December 1,221.8 (299.2) 473.7 157.93%

BANKING (excludes interstate branches)

Total Bank Assets – Alaska Millions of $ 3rd Q10 2,068.99 2,068.99 1,964.14 5.34% Cash & Balances Due Millions of $ 3rd Q10 37.35 37.35 41.17 -9.28% Securities Millions of $ 3rd Q10 131.40 131.40 116.19 13.09% Net Loans and Leases Millions of $ 3rd Q10 1,110.96 1,110.96 1,167.14 -4.81% Other Real Estate Owned Millions of $ 3rd Q10 15.76 15.76 11.78 33.70%Total Liabilities Millions of $ 3rd Q10 1,823.80 1,823.80 1,734.68 5.14% Total Bank Deposits – Alaska Millions of $ 3rd Q10 1,785.53 1,785.53 1,702.13 4.90% Noninterest-bearing deposits Millions of $ 3rd Q10 479.89 479.89 447.46 7.25% Interest- bearing deposits Millions of $ 3rd Q10 1,305.64 1,305.64 1,254.67 4.06%

FOREIGN TRADEValue of the Dollar In Japanese Yen Yen December 83.37 82.45 89.78 -7.14% In Canadian Dollars Canadian $ December 1.01 1.01 1.06 -4.43% In British Pounds Pounds December 0.64 0.63 0.62 4.01% In European Monetary Unit Euro December 0.76 0.73 0.68 10.48% In Chinese Yuan Yuan December 6.65 6.65 6.83 -2.57%



A d v e r t i S e r S i n d e xAhtna Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79Alaska Airlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150Alaska Bone & Joint Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86Alaska Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46, 47Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau. . . . . . . . . . . . .117Alaska Executive Search Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Alaska Housing Finance Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135Alaska Media Directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147Alaska Public Telecommunications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90Alaska Regional Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67, 107Alaska State Chamber of Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72Alaska Traffic Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37Alaska USA Federal Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99Altius Consulting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147Alutiiq Oilfield Solutions LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106, 123Ameresco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139American Fast Freight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106American Marine/PENCO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151Amerigas Propane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147Anchorage Chrysler Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94Anchorage Opera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150Arctic Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126Arctic Fox Steel Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126Arctic Office Products (Machines) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113ASRC Energy Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131AT&T Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Azimuth Adventure Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140B2 Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69Bartlett Regional Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62Bering Straits Native Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91Bethel Native Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Bowhead Transport Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53Bristol Bay Native Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93Calista Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95Cape Fox Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50CareNet Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61Carlile Transportation Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17CCI Industrial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Chenega Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87Chris Arend Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154Cloud49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71ConocoPhillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Construction Machinery Industrial LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155Corporate Council on the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109Credit Union 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58Crowley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Cruz Construction Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122Davis Constructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81Delta Western . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Design Alaska. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Dowland-Bach Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121Dynamic Properties - Matthew Fink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43EDC Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Eklutna Native Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82, 83Engineered Fire & Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126ERA Aviation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105ERA Helicopters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136Fairbanks Convention & Visitors Bureau . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57Fairbanks Memorial Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63First National Bank Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5GCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75Golden Valley Electric Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135Great Originals Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58Green Star Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147Horizon Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88Hotel Captain Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66Hydraulic Repair and Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113Judy Patrick Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Junior Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Kakivik Asset Management LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127Kendall Ford Wasilla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101Kinross Fort Knox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114Lynden Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137Material Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Microcom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115Millennium Hotel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

MTA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39NALCO Energy Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126NANA Regional Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89New York Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Northern Air Cargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24, 25Northrim Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Northwest Ironworkers Employers Association . . . . . . . .107Nu Solutions Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71Olgoonik Development Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97Pacific Alaska Freightways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96Pacific Pile & Marine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8, 9, 10Parker, Smith & Feek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Peak Oilfield Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123Pen Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110People Mover/Share-a-Ride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150Pippel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Princess Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114Pyramid Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Rosie’s Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147Ryan Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98Seekins Ford Lincoln Mercury Fleet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Span Alaska Consolidators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125Spenard Builders Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Stellar Designs Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146STG Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141Sullivan’s of Alaska Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149Sundog Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147Superstar Pastry & Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146The Superior Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110The Growth Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62Tobacco Prevention Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Totem Ocean Trailer Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Udelhoven Oilfield Systems Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77University of Alaska Anchorage/School of Engineering . . .41Washington Crane & Hoist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49Waste Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Wells Fargo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156XTO Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

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