Alaska Business November 2021 by Alaska Business

NATURAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT | AUTHENTIC TOURISM | CREDIT UNIONS' CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE NOVEMBER 2021

MARTIN STUEFER Director, HyLab

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CONTENTS NO VEM B ER 2 0 2 1 | VO L U M E 3 7 | NU M B ER 1 1 | AK B IZ M AG . C O M

F E AT U

RES

1 0 FINANCE

2 6 ENVIRONMENTAL

Credit Unions Blend New Tech, OldFashioned Service

Understanding the risks and limiting the use of harmful PFAS

Financial institutions of the future, serving Alaskans now By Alexandra Kay

Improving our understanding and limiting the use of harmful PFAS

1 6 TELECOM & TECH

By Rachael Kvapil

Safeguarding Remote and Rural Data Security and protection strategies for every size business By Tracy Barbour

1 0 2 ENGINEERING

En Route to Safer Roads in Alaska Education, enforcement, and engineering pave the way By Matt Jardin

1 0 8 TOURISM Authentic Alaska

Cultural tourism creates a “pure real” experience for visitors By Amy Newman

1 1 6 NONPROFITS

Cook Inlet Tribal Council By Tasha Anderson

3 4 OIL & GAS

Effectual Drilling Smaller rig promises bigger results By Scott Rhode

AB O

T TH

E C O

VER

Our cover subject, Martin Stuefer, director of the UAF Geophysical Institute’s Hyperspectral Imaging Laboratory, or HyLab, started flying gliders at the age of 15 in Austria, which led to his interest in meteorology and remote sensing. Today he’s also the pilot for the HyLab: an airplane fitted with hyperspectral imaging equipment that can gather information on just about anything for applications across industries statewide. The HyLab is just the latest innovation launched from UAF’s Geophysical Institute, which is celebrating seventy-five years of studying Alaska’s geophysical phenomena. Geophysical Institute Director Robert McCoy says by next year the institute will have 400 researchers pursuing a range of projects studying the aurora, volcanoes, permafrost, earthquakes, glaciers, sea ice, and Arctic weather. “One of the things that I do is try to find new ideas on the horizon and find synergy between groups… mainly staying out of people's way,” McCoy laughs. “They're absolutely bright people, and they work really hard, and they do extremely well. The GI is humming on all cylinders, so just helping the machinery move along.” Cover Photo: Sarah Lewis

IC K

READS

8 FROM THE EDITOR

1 2 2 INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS

1 2 6 ALASKA TRENDS

1 2 2 ECONOMIC INDICATORS

1 2 4 RIGHT MOVES

1 2 8 OFF THE CUFF

4 | November 2021

Alaska Business

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CONTENTS NO VEM B ER 2 0 2 1 | VO L U M E 3 7 | NU M B ER 1 1 | AK B IZ M AG . C O M

SP EC IAL SEC TIO N: NATU RAL RESO U RC E DEVEL O P M ENT 5 2 HUNTING ‘ELEPHANTS’ IN ALASKA

4 0 THE GEOPHYSICAL INSTITUTE AT UAF

Megaprojects made possible by the state’s unique geology

Celebrating seventy-five years of data exploration and extraction

By Isaac Stone Simonelli

By Tasha Anderson

6 0 MINING DIRECTORY 6 4 MODERN PROSPECTING

Small mines and small businesses have an Alaska-sized impact By Scott Rhode and Bailey Berg

8 0 MILLING IN THE LAST FRONTIER A cut above the rest By Isaac Stone Simonelli

9 0 PETER PAN SEAFOOD CO. SLICES OFF A HEALTHY PORTION New ownership with a new vision

Coeur Mining Inc

By Isaac Stone Simonelli

7 2 OPEN PITS OR UNDERGROUND OPS

Sarah Lewis

Suiting a mine’s methods to its environment and commodity By Scott Rhode and Antonio Lopez

Alaska Business (ISSN 8756-4092) is published monthly by Alaska Business Publishing Co., Inc. 501 W. Northern Lights Boulevard, Suite 100, Anchorage, Alaska 99503-2577; Telephone: (907) 276-4373. © 2021 Alaska Business Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No part of this publication June be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Alaska Business accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials; they will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self addressed envelope. One-year subscription is $39.95 and includes twelve issues (print + digital) and the annual Power List. Single issues of the Power List are $15 each. Single issues of Alaska Business are $4.99 each; $5.99 for the July & October issues. Send subscription orders and address changes to circulation@akbizmag.com. To order back issues ($9.99 each including postage) visit simplecirc.com/back_issues/alaska-business.

6 | November 2021

Alaska Business

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H R M AT T E R S

Individual Coverage HRAs (ICHRAs) By Greg Loudon, Principal

n 2019, the federal government released expanded health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) regulations. The new rules allowed HRAs to be used to pay for individually purchased health insurance policies effective in January 2020. How has that turned out for employers and employees? BACKGROUND Prior guidance prohibited employers from paying for an employee’s individual health insurance policy. The introduction of ICHRAs generated great interest from employers and employees alike— especially small employers that didn’t offer beneﬁts. However, despite the enabling regulation, the insurance market was slow to develop products for employers. In the wake of COVID-19, ICHRAs in most states became overshadowed as employers clung to existing beneﬁt plans to maintain stability for their employees. REQUIREMENTS ICHRAs allow employers of all sizes, not just small employers, to provide tax-free funding to an HRA that an employee can use to purchase individual health insurance policies (including Medicare). They can be designed to only reimburse premiums or eligible §213(d) medical expenses.

HR Matters is sponsored content that is provided by

ICHRAs must meet certain requirements: • Participants must have individual health coverage or Medicare • Any limits on eligibility or contributions must comply with rules for speciﬁed classes of employees • Participants must be able to opt out and waive any future reimbursements • Employers must provide a new notice to eligible individuals Minimum class size rules apply when an employer offers a traditional group health plan to one group of employees and an individual coverage HRA to another group based on full-time vs. part-time status, salaried vs. non-salaried compensation, or geographic location, if smaller than a state. APPLICABILITY In states with a robust and competitive individual insurance market, ICHRAs have made some headway towards replacing group health plans, but that does not include Alaska. However, Alaskan employers have found ICHRAs beneficial when hiring remote employees in a new state or carving out benefits for an allowed class. Small employers not required to provide benefits under shared responsibility rules may also be interested in using ICHRAs to provide tax-free contributions toward their employees’ insurance.

Employers are still allowed to offer a standalone HRA to reimburse excepted benefits and a full standalone HRA to retirees. The attractiveness of ICHRAs will depend on the employer’s staffing and benefit-offering goals and on the individual coverage options and vendor solutions available, which may vary from market to market and change over time. See a detailed analysis of the ICHRA’s rules here: s s nc co articles nal rules t o ne ra o tions or If you have any further questions about ICHRAs, reach out to the Parker, Smith & Feek enefits Team.

Greg Loudon is a Principal of Parker, Smith & Feek and leads our Employee Benefits practice. A lifelong Alaskan, Greg has more than 25 years of experience in employee benefits consulting and is active in state and national healthcare reform. Greg can be reached at gsloudon@psfinc.com or (907) 865-6829.

F RO

E EDITO

As I write this, Alaska Business is currently in the process of looking for a new social media manager; our current very special specialist, Arie Henry, is taking the next step in his personal and professional development. We’re also saying goodbye to the exceptional Linda Shogren, who has been doing art production for Alaska Business Publishing Co. for more than a decade and worked in art production for various Alaska media outlets for years and years before that. We’re excited for them because it’s the right time, and the right move, for them—but they’re both leaving really big desks to fill. We’re going to miss their insights and their expertise, and we will be grateful for years to come for the foundation that they built for those who follow in their footsteps. This month we’re running our annual Natural Resource Special Section, which is full of examples of projects envisioned, initiated, and implemented by individuals long gone. It’s impossible to imagine Alaska today without the pioneering work of Alaska’s early miners and loggers, and of course, fishing has been an integral part of Alaskans’ wellbeing for an uncountable number of years. All of these natural resources contribute to the general economic health of the state, but what I love in particular about them is their direct, essential impact on individual communities. Alaska’s roughly $14 billion in economic output attributed to our seafood industry matters to all of us, yet who’s on the boat bringing home the catch matters even more in coastal villages. The health and long-term vitality of Alaska’s forested areas are of national and international concern—and local, sustainable logging and milling efforts provide housing to those in need in Yakutat. And while the mining industry paid $341 million in revenue to local governments, state government, and Alaska Native corporations in 2020, it’s the individual paychecks issued across the state that really connect Alaskans and industry. Alaska’s natural resource development has defined our state’s past and will continue to play a massive role in its future. What’s important is that the players in these industries continue to grow, expand, and innovate, using new tech and implementing higher standards to all kinds of processes. Regulations, permitting, and management plans are essential tools to ensure we’re operating safely and responsibly today—and that we have a beautiful, accessible, and clean Alaska to operate in tomorrow. Alaska can be the answer to global demands, providing minerals and materials necessary for, well, kind of everything: clean burning coal; high-quality lumber; wild-caught, nutrient packed fish; humanely mined copper, gold, silver, and zinc. The applications of just that list are close to endless, and there’s more at our fingertips.

VO L U M E 3 7 , # 1 1 EDITORIAL STAFF Managing Editor Tasha Anderson

907-257-2907 tanderson@akbizmag.com

Digital and Social Media Specialist Arie Henry 907-257-2910 ahenry@akbizmag.com

Editor/Staff Writer Scott Rhode 907-257-2902 srhode@akbizmag.com

Editorial Assistant Emily Olsen 907-257-2914 emily@akbizmag.com

Art Director Monica Sterchi-Lowman 907-257-2916 design@akbizmag.com

Art Production Linda Shogren 907-257-2912 production@akbizmag.com

Design & Art Production Fulvia Lowe production@akbizmag.com

Photo Contributor Kerry Tasker

BUSINESS STAFF President Billie Martin VP & General Manager Jason Martin 907-257-2905 jason@akbizmag.com

VP Sales & Marketing Charles Bell 907-257-2909 cbell@akbizmag.com

Senior Account Manager Janis J. Plume 907-257-2917 janis@akbizmag.com

Advertising Account Manager Christine Merki 907-257-2911 cmerki@akbizmag.com

Full-Charge Bookkeeper James Barnhill 907-257-2901 accounts@akbizmag.com

CONTACT

Press releases: press@akbizmag.com

Postmaster:

Tasha Anderson Managing Editor, Alaska Business

Send address changes to Alaska Business 501 W. Northern Lights Blvd. #100 Anchorage, AK 99503

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8 | November 2021

Alaska Business

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Danicia Shiryayev

Mike Huston

Commercial Loan Officer

Chief Lending Officer

W E B A NK ON A L A SK A NS Northrim is a bank made for Alaska by Alaskans. We are a publicly traded company, headquartered in Alaska and dedicated to supporting the local businesses that power our state. We’re proud to bring Alaskans the solutions they need to achieve more.

F INANC E

10 | November 2021

Alaska Business

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Credit Unions Blend New Tech, Old-Fashioned Service

Financial institutions of the future, serving Alaskans now By Alexandra Kay

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Alaska Business

ince the advent of online banking, the future of brick-and-mortar financial institutions has been called into question. According to conventional wisdom, because of new technologies, traditional banks and credit unions could go the way of the dodo and the dinosaur. And it is true that many consumers have indicated they no longer use traditional tellers for their many financial needs. For example, the number of customers who work with a teller decreased 15 percent between 2007 and 2017, according to Asterisk Intelligence’s “Teller Analytics” report. According to Chase’s recent “2020 Digital Banking Attitudes Study,” about 80 percent of respondents use a smartphone or a computer to complete banking activities, and 85 percent say they save time by managing their finances digitally. It seems as if these changes are here to stay. While many financial institutions were already adapting to this new financial world, the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly hastened them along. In order to remain viable in a swiftly changing landscape and to continue to best meet their members’ needs, financial institutions are making some big changes.

Engaging Members in Different Ways However, “brick and mortar branches are just as important today as they were decades ago,” says Alaska USA Federal Credit Union Senior Vice President for Corporate Relations Dan McCue. “Members find comfort in having access to employees and they tend to build a rapport and a lasting relationship with them, allowing for a greater level of overall member service.” And the stats seem to prove it. According to Novantas, a leading provider of fintech data and decisionmaking support systems, accounts opened at a branch have an 80 percent customer retention rate as opposed to a 50 percent retention rate for those opened online. But transactions that in the past could only be completed with tellers in person—things like deposits, withdrawals, and loan payments—are now things customers are comfortable doing online, so November 2021 | 11

while they might open an account in person, odds are they won’t deposit checks that way. Alaska USA Federal Credit Union, Nuvision Credit Union, and Credit Union 1 have all provided varied avenues for their customers to pursue financial transactions and activities for decades, many of which have been outside of traditional teller lines, and all three institutions understand that they must meet members in ways that are most suitable to them.

“We really feel like we’re partnering with our members versus the old way where you walk in and people start to throw products

Redesigned Branches

at you.”

“Our new member-centric branch design provides members with a greater level of comfort, privacy, and an enhanced overall branch experience,” says McCue. At Alaska USA’s new North Pole branch, there will still be teller pods, but bank employees will also be able to assist members at various locations throughout the branch by using wireless laptops. “This allows members a greater level of comfort as they gain access to their accounts at the tech bar, a couch, a privacy office, or at a teller pod,” he says. With

Chris Brahney, SVP, Nuvision

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the branch’s “concierge approach,” employees can determine needs and direct members to an employee who will complete their transaction. At Nuvision Alaska Credit Union’s soon-to-be stand-alone retail store in Wasilla, there will be some automated teller machines (more about those ATM changes later), but the rest of the branch is designed around conversation areas. One such is a welcoming, comfortable area where members can sit and wait for availability or have high-level conversations about financial services. Alternatively, conversation rooms allow for more private financial discussions, like loan applications that require members to share personal information. Instead of being separated from a branch worker by a desk between them, members and branch personnel will sit sideby-side, sharing screens, identifying issues or problems, and collaborating on solutions. “It really does change the dynamic where we really feel like we’re partnering with our members versus the old way where you walk in and people start to throw products at you,” says Nuvision Senior Vice

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President Chris Brahney. In fact, he says with the credit union’s flipped design, time spent on the technical aspect of the conversation will be minimized from what it was in the past. At Credit Union 1’s Financial Center South, “We took the old model and flipped it to the more personal model,” says President and CEO James Wileman. At the newly refurbished location in South Anchorage, members are personally greeted and have the option to chat with an expert in a chair, nook, or private advisory suite. “With every interaction, we’re aiming for members to feel as personally engaged as they wish to be,” says Wileman. “When members have bigger financial decisions to make— preparing for retirement, financing a home, education, or car—they want to meet with a person face to face,” adds Nuvision’s Brahney. “So that’s where we’re seeing not the death of bank branches but a transition for what their focus is in our members’ lives.”

Taking Advantage of New Technologies While the pandemic sped up the transition to and reliance on technology, it doesn’t look like things will go back to they way they were when it’s over. According to the Chase “2020 Digital Banking Attitudes Study,” about three-quarters of financial institution customers say they will continue to use or begin using digital payment options even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, and 85 percent feel they save time by managing their finances digitally. All three credit unions are leveraging advanced technology to meet the needs and desires of their members. “Members don’t have to wait for tellers to assist them,” says Wileman. “ They can approach a virtual teller machine and do typical functions—or tap the screen and talk to a live Credit Union 1 employee. T hese live reps will be able to help people over the vir tual teller machine.” At Nuvision’s stand-alone location in Wasilla, the credit union is using interactive teller machines as well.

“It’s an ATM on steroids,” says Brahney. “It allows a customer to do any type of transactional activity that they would normally do with a teller in a branch… They still have the option of dealing with a human being through a video transaction.” This allows the credit union to increase availability of hours and reach. So, for example, if a member is completing a transaction through one of the new teller machines and has a question about how to do something, they can simply tap the screen for help and get a live teller who can walk them through a transaction. Another technology Nuvision has adopted is what Brahney calls “omnichannel”: a seamless financial experience no matter where the customer chooses to bank. Brahney gives the example of a member beginning a car loan application in a branch, leaving before the process is complete due to the need for more information, and picking it back up later seamlessly—without the need to start over again—and finishing the application whether in person, online, or over the phone. “We’re using

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technology to give the consumer choice of where they want to do their banking and to make whatever they’re doing seamless,” says Brahney. Alaska USA’s McCue adds that the use of new, convenient digital technologies will provide greater value to members and help enhance the member experience.

Credit Union 1’s new financial center in South Anchorage. Credit Union 1

New Locations All three credit unions also mention location as key in their bid to give consumers what they want. In a recent report on its new North Pole branch, Shannon Conley, executive director of retail financial services for Alaska USA, said, “Relocating the North Pole branch to the mall and updating its look will assist in our efforts to cast our branches as places where people can go to receive financial education, advice, and complete their transactions.” “As people shift from place to place, so do we,” says Nuvision’s Brahney. “We had a branch at the Northway Mall that we were forced to close because the mall was closing, and a lot of people would take that as the perception that we were moving away from the retail focus, but that’s not accurate. Instead, we built a standalone location because we had outgrown the mall space, but we tried to involve the community of Wasilla in the process, and this is something we can all be proud of.” Credit Union 1 already had a branch located near the Dimond Center mall, but Wileman says the upgrade to a financial center is based on market research. Surveys found members would be comfortable with the newer technology but that there would also be the opportunity to connect with tech-hesitant members and help them accomplish their needs: “Prior to building it, we conducted a market study and learned that the community was a perfect spot to try something bold and leading edge, and we think ultimately it will be in tune with members needs in the branch. We’ll take what we learn there and use it going forward.” All three institutions are taking what they’ve learned about their consumers and a changing landscape and using it to build the branches of the future—today.

Renderings of the Nuvision branch under construction in Wasilla. Nuvision

14 | November 2021

Alaska Business

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16 | November 2021

Alaska Business

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ata security is a growing concern for businesses across all industries, especially when it comes to protecting digital assets at remote or rural sites. Adding to the challenge is the persistent shortage of skilled security specialists and semiconductor chips—exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, companies can adopt strategic measures, such as using a third-party provider, to augment their technical resources and safeguard their information. Today companies are placing a greater, and much warranted, emphasis on data security. As cyber criminals constantly find new ways to attack, identifying emerging threats is paramount. Phishing attacks, where hackers try to trick people into revealing private information, remain the single biggest threat to businesses, according to Christian Cheatham, senior solutions architect at Alaska Communications. “Phishing emails can come from trusted vendors’ or coworkers’ email addresses that have been compromised,” Cheatham says. “The tell-tale signs of phishing have

become harder to spot, requiring even more vigilance from employees. Employee awareness training remains the best, first defense against business email compromise.” A cyber insurance policy is another precaution, but some providers are pulling back on ransomware payment benefits. According to Director of GCI Security Architecture and Planning Mitch Kitter, cybersecurity professionals widely believe that most ransomware incidents occur because organizations are not taking basic safeguards such as security patching, spam filtering, and other measures; therefore, insurance companies do not want to pay benefits to companies that fail to deploy fundamental cybersecurity solutions. Furthermore, adds Justin Darin, senior manager of cybersecurity and information assurance with Virginiabased Leonardo DRS, insurance is of no use to customers whose data is compromised, as it mainly protects companies from liability.

“Typically, cloud service providers take care of physical security, but customers will still need to patch their cloud-based operating systems and implement virtual firewalls and other protective measures.” Mitch Kitter Director of Security Architecture and Planning GCI

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“For businesses located in rural areas, security solutions may depend on the type of connectivity they have. In most cases, we’d

having enough skilled staff to satisfy their cyber and data security needs. A shortage of internal cybersecurity expertise can lead companies to attempt to balance operations and system availability while ensuring that technical resources have the time to ensure the security of the system, according to Darin. And depending on the knowledge and experience of the technicians, this could lead to some vulnerabilities being overlooked due to a lack of time.

recommend slightly different solutions for businesses with terrestrial broadband than those with satellite connectivity. For example, for a business using satellite connectivity, we’d recommend their firewall be hosted by their broadband provider at its satellite earth station.” Christian Cheatham, Senior Solutions Architect Alaska Communications

18 | November 2021

JUSTIN DARIN Leonardo DRS

But on the flip side, Kitter says, some organizations put too little time toward protecting their information and systems or do not know where to look for support. Companies in remote locations will have a more difficult time finding trusted resources because those resources are not likely to be located nearby, Kitter says. “Managed detection and response is an example of a service that has emerged as a solution to the dearth of qualified practitioners in rural areas,” he says. “Cybersecurity consulting is now also being performed remotely, and this is making resources more available.” Cheatham has similar thoughts. The scarcity of IT expertise has created a situation where working with a trusted partner can be especially beneficial for companies. It’s not always feasible for businesses to hire and maintain their own staff of technical experts, he says, and working with a managed IT provider gives them access to a breadth of expertise they can count on. For example, he says: “Alaska Alaska Business

Communications is here to provide Alaska businesses with robust end-toend support. Our managed IT customers receive proactive monitoring and alerting, which is critical to thwarting and mitigating cyberattacks. We use a layered approach to security, including firewall management, spam filtering, and end-point-detection and response to ensure our customers’ businesses are protected.”

Working with a Third-Party Provider Companies lacking the technical expertise in house to properly secure their remote and rural sites can partner with a third-party provider like Leonardo DRS, Alaska Communications, or GCI. For example, Leonardo DRS has a team of highly trained, experienced, and certified engineers that ensures all networks and IT systems that it operates or manages meet or exceed industry standards while maintaining the highest level of security, according to Darin. The company offers security solutions that can be tailored to customers of all types and sizes. “We secure end-to-end hybrid cloud solutions while implementing a variety of services,” he says. “These can include the ability to assist or manage system accreditation under the National Institute of Standards Risk Management Framework.”

MITCH KITTER GCI

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Alaska’s challenging environments, Darin says. The company, which primarily provides schools and health clinics with broadband services and optimized network applications like video teleconferencing, also offers enterprise solutions: managed services, technology support, cybersecurity, and network operations. “Leonardo DRS is dedicated to providing all its customers, no matter the size, with the best-fit and most comprehensive cybersecurity services that include the high security of our core network and satellite services to transport customers' data anywhere in the world,” Darin says. “We maintain our system to the highest levels of security, which has allowed us the ability to be assessed and authorized by the US government and Department of Defense.” Alaska Communications offers a wide range of managed security ser vices, including user education and awareness; virtual private network (VPN) and zero-trust solutions; end-point detection and response; network security and monitoring; security incident and event management; data backup and recover y; and malware prevention, security assessments, and security consulting. Many of the organizations that Alaska Communications supports in rural Alaska are healthcare providers. The healthcare industr y sees a high rate of targeted attempts to steal personal data, Cheatham says. For a healthcare customer, it’s important to have a robust endpoint detection and response and email security platform. Meanwhile, GCI provides a full suite of consulting services that include penetration testing, vulnerability analysis, vendor risk management, and virtual chief information security officer services, according to Michael Hamilton, founder and CISO at CI Security, a vendor that works closely with the Anchorage-based telecom. “GCI also provides managed detection and response, which minimizes the impact of security incidents through rapid identification and remediation, for organizations that do not have access to qualified cybersecurity practitioners,” Hamilton says. “GCI w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

Alaska Business

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also offers managed firewall solutions, where GCI provides firewalls as a service, freeing up staff for more valuable activities.”

In remote or isolated locations such as Juneau, where businesses or government entities may offer WiFi to the public, segregating network traffic is an important safeguard. nensuria | iStock

Beyond the Basics Another trend being driven by the pandemic is that many companies have moved into more of a remote or hybrid staffing plan. Businesses are moving their on-premises hardware and technicians to a cloud environment. “This allows for lowering the cost of hardware and maintenance and shifts a portion of the security responsibilities for the system to a third-party vendor with a dedicated team,” Darin says. However, GCI’s Kitter says companies going to the cloud need to understand their cloud service provider’s security responsibility matrix. This is usually a chart that depicts the security functions provided by the cloud service provider and those that the customer organization needs to manage itself. “Typically, cloud service providers take care of physical security,” he says, “but customers will still need to patch their cloud-based operating systems and implement virtual firewalls and other protective measures.” In rural Alaska, it’s not uncommon for businesses or government agencies to offer free WiFi to the public, Cheatham says. Therefore, segregating network traffic between corporate and guest is an important safeguard. Protecting large data sets with backups has been an essential function for organizations for decades, Kitter says. But in remote sites, limited bandwidth may make it more time consuming to copy large data sets to cloud storage providers. “For organizations that backup their data to tape or optical media, it can be more difficult to store that media in a location far enough away to be isolated from local events such as storms and earthquakes,” he says. This becomes a more daunting obstacle in locations where hardware is not readily available.

According to Alaska Communications’ Christian Cheatham, employee awareness training is the best, first defense against business email compromise. nensuria | iStock

Semiconductors in Short Supply Any company that relies on modern technology has been touched by a global shortage of semiconductors, the microchips at the heart of all types 20 | November 2021

Alaska Business

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“Companies will need to remain up to date with anti-virus and malware protection, and any vendor patches or updates that have been released to their systems are vital to ensuring a lower attack vector to your system.” Justin Darin, Senior Manager of Cybersecurity and Information Assurance, Leonardo DRS

of business equipment. The shortage may result in higher prices or delays in procuring security hardware, Kitter says. “Storage upgrades in the form of larger drives or additional drives are also affected by the semiconductor shortage, as hard drives and solid-state drives also have chipsets in them,” he says. “Organizations may be able to squeeze more value out of existing hardware by utilizing virtualization.” For businesses that are looking to implement a new IT setup within a thirty-day window, the chip shortage can cause several different issues. The first is cost: Companies that need a specific piece of hardware during the shortage will pay a premium price to acquire it quicker. This could lead to a situation where they may not have enough funding to implement other parts of their security plan or obtain all the hardware or staff requirements to maintain the network’s security after implementation. Another problem that can result from the chip shortage is that it may prevent companies from meeting their hardware needs all together. “This could lead to a change in your security approach,” Darin w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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says, “and potentially lead to some vulnerabilities within your system being left open due to the inability to obtain the infrastructure to properly secure it.” He recommends a lifecycle plan for IT systems and sticking to it to avoid surprises. Although semiconductor supply chain disruptions are frustrating for businesses and consumers, working with a provider that has relationships across the logistics spectrum can make a difference. “We help our business customers meet their deadlines through our extensive partner network and purchasing power,” Cheatham says.

The healthcare industry sees a high rate of targeted attempts to steal personal data, says Alaska Communications’ Christian Cheatham. nensuria | iStock

Expert Advice With various companies moving to a hybrid or remote work model postpandemic, one of the key security implementations they should be looking at is ensuring they have a secure virtual private network that will allow their staff to securely connect to company assets from outside the office. The move to a remote work structure may prompt businesses to ensure certain applications only reside within the architecture and are never exposed to the public internet and, hence, are vulnerable to attack. “Along the same lines, companies will need to remain up to date with anti-virus and malware protection, and any vendor patches or updates that have been released to their systems are vital to ensuring a lower attack vector to your system,” Darin says. Cheatham says Alaska Communications advocates layers of security, which provide multiple defenses against cyberattacks. “For businesses located in rural areas, security solutions may depend on the type of connectivity they have,” he says. “In most cases, we’d recommend slightly different solutions for businesses with terrestrial broadband than those with satellite connectivity. For example, for a business using satellite connectivity, we’d recommend their firewall be hosted by their broadband provider at its satellite earth station.” Cheatham, like Darin, also points out that the rise in remote work is a factor that businesses need to consider when planning their cybersecurity strategy. “As the workforce becomes 22 | November 2021

The pandemic is driving the trend of businesses moving into a remote or hybrid staffing plan, which may include transitioning into a cloud environment. AndreyPopov: iStock

Alaska Business

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For businesses in remote or rural areas, like Kodiak, security solutions may depend on the type of connectivity available, according to Alaska Communications’ Christian Cheatham; regardless, he advocates for layers of security. chaolik | iStock

more spread out, we’re assisting our customers in setting up their remote workers with proper security tools to protect themselves and the company,” he says. “For remote workers, it’s important to have tools like content filtering, firewalls, and VPN solutions.” Companies should also consider going beyond the basic requirements to secure their data at remote or rural sites. It would behoove those that are located in rural areas to have a thorough business continuity plan because they are more likely to use it. In the event of a disaster—either natural or cyber—their remote location 24 | November 2021

could cause delays in getting business up and running. “For example, having extra batteries for workstations and generators to back up your operations can be the determining factor in keeping your business running,” Cheatham explains. “Businesses in rural areas may not be able to purchase these things on the spot and have them in real time. Backup plans are essential for good security. At Alaska Communications, our experts help rural businesses create, evaluate, and deploy a comprehensive business continuity plan so they’re ready in the case of a disaster.” Alaska Business

Between the increasing regulatory requirements—such as Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification requirements for defense contractors— and those coming from insurance companies as a condition of coverage, rural organizations are having to address cybersecurity to continue to be competitive. Security products can seem overwhelming and unattainable, Cheatham says. But many businesses can benefit from working with a trusted partner that can create a solution to meet their needs and budget. Even in rural Alaska, cybersecurity services are as close as the nearest keyboard. w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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Finding an End W to the ‘Forever Chemical’ Understanding the risks and limiting the use of harmful PFAS By Rachael Kvapil 26 | November 2021

Alaska Business

hen per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS, first appeared in the ‘40s, this group of synthetic substances was a dream come true. With their unique ability to repel both oil and water, resist temperature, and reduce friction, chemists quickly found a use for them in all types of daily products and industries, such as non-stick cookware, paints, cosmetics, certain outerwear, to-go food containers, firefighting foam, chrome plating, electronics, construction materials, and oil recovery. However, the qualities that make PFAS substances so amazing proved problematic. By the ‘90s, studies found that PFAS substances didn't easily break w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

kzenon | iStock kzenon | iStock

down in the environment and could travel to groundwater and spread into the soil, build up in the food chain, and bioaccumulate in humans. For these reasons, certain kinds of PFAS have been dubbed the "forever chemical," though several companies are investing in technologies to make that nomenclature obsolete.

Two-Edged Sword "PFAS substances are not a monolith," says Rosa Gwinn, Global PFAS Technical Lead for AECOM. "We can't clump them all together." She says PFAS is a complex family of more than 5,000 manmade fluorinated organic chemical substances that can be broken down into polymer and non-polymer families. Polymers don't appear to present a w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

significant concern for human health or the environment. Humans don't metabolize these compounds, nor do they bioaccumulate. However, PFAS substances in the non-polymer family, particularly those composed of alkyl chains, bioaccumulate over time and stay in the body for many years, primarily in blood. PFAS became a global concern about twenty years ago when researchers began identifying potential health and environmental effects. The effects are nearly imperceptible in small amounts, but the potential for adverse health effects increases if tiny amounts are regularly ingested over long periods of time. Early studies identify potential risks to the development of babies and children, and potential problems Alaska Business

with the kidneys and liver in adults, yet scientists are still determining the exact health effects. In general, when people talk about PFAS contaminants in the environment, they are talking about non-polymer substances composed of alkyl chains with toxicology data that appear to create problems at low concentrations. While the science on PFAS toxicity is still evolving, there is an increased pressure to stop producing and using some types of PFAS and clean up PFAScontaminated soil and water. In Alaska, contaminated sites are most often located in places that regularly use Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) to extinguish flammable liquid fires such as fuel fires. Most shipping ports, airports, military installations, November 2021 | 27

and pipeline and refinery terminals rely on AFFF, as do firefighters who use it at training facilities and load it into firetrucks. Paul Nielsen, Director of Sales and Marketing for US Ecology Alaska, says that, until recently, AFFF was really the only way to put out gasoline fires. The aqueous film that spreads across the surface to suppress flammable liquid vapor is what makes AFFF so effective. Essentially, it suffocates the fire while the foam component further suppresses fires by keeping hot fuel from reigniting. Though it saved a lot of property and lives over the years, the water-resistant nature of the PFAS substances made it possible for contaminants to reach sources of drinking water and soil. "Fire Suppression Technicians went their entire careers covered head to toe in this stuff as buildings filled up with foam," says Nielsen. "They sprayed water to wash the foam away. No one back then thought there was a problem. We didn't know what we didn't know."

Instead of cleaning the ground soil, many agencies opt to relocate the dirt to an EPA permitted disposal facility. Moving contaminated soil to an external site requires extra safety precautions to ensure that none of it escapes during loading and transport. US Ecology Alaska

PFAS in Alaska In April, the State of Alaska filed lawsuits against 3M, Dupont, and other

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PFAS manufacturers, claiming they bear responsibility for groundwater contamination at certain sites. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is particularly concerned about Fairbanks, North Pole, Dillingham, King Salmon, and Gustavus, where firefighting foam from airports and their training areas is blamed for PFAS found in drinking water. The lawsuit focuses on two specific chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, the only two types of PFAS regulated under state standards after a rollback by the Dunleavy administration. Alaskans can view a list of PFAS contaminated sites on the DEC, Division of Spill Prevention and Response website. As of September, 106 sites were listed as "Active" (sites with confirmed contamination where remediation efforts are not complete or contamination requires more investigation); 10 as "Cleanup Complete-Institutional Controls"; 8 as "Informational" (a recorded site that doesn't fit neatly into existing categories); and 1 as "Open." This list also contains details about the site's location and file number(s) used to

reference the Contaminated Site Database also found on the website. Though US Ecology Alaska has worked on several remediation projects within the state, Nielsen emphasizes that Alaska doesn't have the same levels of contamination as sites in the Lower 48 after years of large manufacturing companies pouring pollutants directly into water sources. He says the part per trillion (ppt) measurements in Alaska are drops in an Olympic-sized pool compared to other areas of the United States. "The numbers we see here are nothing like the Midwestern US," says Nielsen. "It's comparing apples and oranges." Gwinn agrees Alaska is in a different situation but is entirely sympathetic to people's concerns; however, she worries people are developing a sense of despair from being barraged by a series of urgent messages that don't consider the steps needed to accurately analyze a site, create a remediation plan that includes an alternative source of drinking water, and implement the plan. "There is a great value in remaining

calm," says Gwinn. "We want to fix the problem correctly as soon as possible while keeping the community safe."

Mopping Up Messes Before remediation, Nielsen says the agency responsible for the site contamination needs to identify the source of PFAS, any other potential contaminants at a specific site, and how they are distributed in the environment. From there, agencies should evaluate potential remedial technologies based on the site management goals and select the preferred option(s). Some of these options may require testing in a lab and follow-up site testing. Some standard sampling equipment or containers may actually contain PFAS, so specialists in PFAS testing evaluate the composition of equipment and supplies to avoid cross-contamination during sampling, transport, and storage. The State of Alaska drinking water maximum contaminant levels mirror those of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which are set at a Lifetime Health Advisory Level of 70ppt for the PFAS substances PFOS

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Thermal treatment of PFAS-contaminated soil is a proven remediation method available in Alaska that processes contaminated soil so that it is available for reuse or resell. US Ecology Alaska uses a high-temperature thermal oxidizer that consistently remediates any level of hydrocarbon contamination while using a wet scrubber that assures air quality levels nearly five times cleaner than required. US Ecology Alaska

and PFOA, or if both are present, a total of 70ppt for PFOS plus PFOA. The Lifetime Health Advisory Level is not a legally enforceable federal standard and is subject to change as new information becomes available. Stefano Marconetto, PFAS Global Practice Leader for Golder Associates Corporation, says addressing risks to people and the environment is the primary driver for any remediation. In the case of PFAS, since these contaminants are very stable and can travel long distances, there can also be an incentive to remediate the issue before it becomes more extensive and more costly. In most cases, an agency will seek outside help with PFAS remediation from companies like US Ecology Alaska, AECOM, or Golder. A wide range of treatment methods exist. The most common methods include carbon filtration, ion exchange, landfill disposal, and thermal solutions. US Ecology Alaska offers in-state thermal treatment of PFAS30 | November 2021

contaminated soil using their hightemperature thermal oxidizer, located in Moose Creek, near Fairbanks. Nielsen says their thermal solutions remediate any level of hydrocarbon contamination while assuring air quality levels are nearly five times cleaner than DEC regulations. Soil returned from this process is clean enough for reuse or resale. In Anchorage, US Ecology Alaska also has PFAS contaminated wastewater treatment technologies that offer a compliant alternative to traditional wastewater treatment. This type of disposal is ideal for lowlevel PFAS-impacted non-hazardous industrial wastewater. At times, US Ecology Alaska's clients choose to have their PFAScontaminated waste transported via rail to their secure disposal facilities in Idaho and Nevada. These facilities are designed to handle several hundred types of hazardous waste streams, safely securing PFAS waste materials and ending the mobility cycle. With Alaska Business

negative amounts of annual net precipitation (that is, more evaporation than rainfall), extremely low humidity, and zero discharge, their secure disposal options are preferable to municipal landfills, which lack rigorous containment, leachate management, and advanced environmental monitoring systems. "We always work with our customers to find a treatment solution that works best for their situation," says Nielsen. AECOM research and development has focused on definitive ways to destroy PFAS from contaminated liquids without generating hazardous waste. The leading three alternatives in development today include their DE-FLUORO technology, plasma treatment, and supercritical water oxidation. DE-FLUORO uses the process of electrochemical oxidation to destroy PFAS by breaking the carbon and fluorine bonds, while plasma treatment splits the chemicals apart in the water using an energyintensive process. Supercritical Water w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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Disposal facilities for contaminated soil are best suited for wide-open desert spaces where there is little chance to mix with drinking water sources. US Ecology has two facilities, one in Idaho and another in Nevada. US Ecology Alaska

Oxidation is a process where water is heated above 705°F and at a pressure of 221.1 bar, putting it in a special state of water where certain chemical oxidation processes are accelerated. Organic compounds, usually insoluble in liquid water, are highly soluble in supercritical water. In the presence of an oxidizing agent (such as oxygen), supercritical water dissolves and oxidizes various pollutants. "In about a year, many of these will be commercially viable technologies," says Gwinn. "It’s the golden snitch. Everybody wants it." Golder's research into PFAS destructive technologies has led to two breakthroughs: a ball milling process and electric oxidation of water and wastewater. They also offer several non-destructive methods, including incineration, ion exchange resins, and granular activated carbon. In addition to developing new, cost-effective solutions, Golder also collaborates with universities and research groups worldwide to advance science and knowledge on PFAS. "We find that while PFAS management presents specific challenges and each site demands 32 | November 2021

consideration of its unique aspects, innovative tools are yielding positive results," says Marconetto.

Into the Future While no one denies the need for clean water, several challenges make remediation difficult. Low regulatory criteria allow for a broad interpretation of the EPA's standards. Most states disagree on whether standards should apply to all PFAS or only select chemicals within the class. Likewise, regulatory criteria don't require the use of PFAS destructive technologies, which means the possibility of further contamination through byproducts associated with non-destructive PFAS methods. Finally, remediation takes time and money. The remediation cost depends on on-site characteristics, source of contamination, site management goals, and technology used. Some remediation may cost several million dollars. For many industrial processes, production has shifted to types of PFAS that are currently considered less harmful or use PFAS-free chemistry. There are firefighting foams containing more environmentally Alaska Business

friendly PFAS substances and foams that do not contain any fluorine-based compounds. The biggest challenge is identifying replacement chemistry that provides the same characteristics as PFASbased products without creating harmful effects. Marconetto feels completely replacing harmful PFAS products with less harmful alternatives will take time. "Although restrictions on the manufacturing, imports, and use of some PFAS are now in effect in the United States and several places around the world," he says, "those PFAS are still present in products developed before they were discontinued, like the carpets in our homes." Until regulations are established, Nielsen emphasizes tackling more prominent sources of contamination, like AFFF, versus the smaller commercial products like outerwear and cookware. Nielsen says, "The ultimate goal is to end the PFAS mobility cycle by getting it out of the environment and stop it from being put back using the wide range of proven technologies currently available.” w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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Alaska Drilling and Completions

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Effectual Drilling Smaller rig promises bigger results By Scott Rhode

34 | November 2021

Alaska Business

ometimes, a smaller tool is the right tool for the job. That’s the philosophy behind new technology that Anchorage-based Alaska Drilling and Completions (ADC) is ready to deploy. Co-owners David Ross and Tim Flynn call their novel approach “effectual drilling.” As Flynn, the chief operating officer, defines the term, “We are able to look at how your market is and how we can fit in there to make your market better.” How ADC fits is with a scaled-down rig that promises cost savings and, therefore, more exploration for oil and gas. w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

Utilizing relatively smalll pieces allows for the transportation of an entire drill rig and camp in about fifty flights. Alaska Drilling and Completions

Flynn and Ross both have nearly thirty years of experience as petroleum engineers. Since teaming up to form ADC, they’ve drilled for ConocoPhillips, Repsol, “all major oil lease holders,” says Flynn. The pair have worked in engineering, consulting, and project management, and Ross, ADC’s president, says their all-around service is especially useful for smaller clients who want to monetize a lease. Over the past decade, Flynn says, they noticed that drilling test wells was getting too expensive. “Usually,” he explains, “the geologists are standing there, right at the end, going ‘We should’ve drilled over there. Can we get a deal on the next one?’ We go, ‘It’s $50 million to go out there again.’ It’s not like it gets any cheaper. In fact, it gets more and more expensive because of the permitting, the logistics… I’ll mention permitting again.” For an answer, ADC drew inspiration from Australia and New Zealand, where exploration rigs are hauled by helicopter. But instead of using a heavy Sikorsky Skycrane, ADC envisioned equipment that could be transported by more common aircraft—or even overland by all-terrain vehicles. Ross says, “It just kind of came to Tim and my mind because of where we’ve been and the projects we’ve been involved with.” The result is an innovative combination of proven technologies. As Flynn puts it, “It’s not a new movie, it’s a new act in the movie.”

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The stage was already being set for smaller rigs in Alaska’s oil patch, based on recent trends. According to Ross, “A lot of the reservoirs we’re exploring, up north especially, are much shallower w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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than they used to be back in the Prudhoe Bay days. It did require bigger rigs to do what we were doing, back in the day.” However, Flynn says industry players continued to rely on the rigs they had poured so much capital into. “They’re using development rigs to go out and drill exploration… They have these beautiful, big rigs… they weigh 2 million pounds. Our rig weighs 50,000 pounds.” Ross adds, “It’s extremely expensive, and the risk is getting higher and higher based on the fact that exploration sites are further and further away from any road access.” When the Alaska economy entered recession in 2014, “We saw the writing on the wall,” says Flynn. He and Ross believed oil companies were spending too much and not getting results, and consequently, “The state was not drilling any more holes.” They agreed something had to change. Flynn asked, “Why are we spending all this massive amount of money to bring this massive rig out there when all you need is a small rig to do it?”

36 | November 2021

The Solution The key to effectual drilling is a rig sized for hard-rock mining. With Ross’ well completion knowledge, additional hardware converts it to a tool that can be used for oil and gas applications. As Ross explains, “It required building a rig to API [American Petroleum Institute] specifications. It required putting together a well control system [and] blowout preventer, in addition to the closed-loop mud system.” ADC is currently applying for patents. As Flynn puts it, “No one had technically done it the way we have done it.” True, Flynn says, small-scale oil and gas rigs exist, but not the kind they were envisioning. “You go down to West Texas,” he says, “there are smaller, truck-mounted singles that’ll drive around and pull right up to a well and do what you need to do. You can’t heliport that.” Such trucks, he says, weigh 80,000 pounds; to be compatible with the helicopters available, the load must be no more than 5,000 pounds. The “effectual drilling” rig is made of about fifty pieces, each less than 3,000 pounds. That’s still a lot of assembly,

Alaska Business

Tim Flynn (L) and David Ross (R) drew on their skill as petroleum engineers to modify a small-scale exploration rig (Below). Alaska Drilling and Completions

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taking three to five days to transport fifty loads, depending on remoteness. Although helicopters aren’t cheap, Flynn says airlifting is far more affordable than the alternative. “Everybody thinks ‘helicopter’ and it’s that trigger word: ‘Just bring your checkbook,’” he says. “Well, when you decide to build an ice road, you better bring several checkbooks.” Not that “effectual drilling” is averse to ground transport. If the rig were to be used on the North Slope, for instance, it wouldn’t fly there from its storage yard in Palmer. The trip would take eight, 40foot flatbed trailers. “We’re like a rock band, heading up the road,” Flynn says. Each of the fifty pieces of the rig can stack on a trailer, which can be pulled over rough terrain by a balloon tired Rolligon truck or a tracked PistenBully. According to Ross, “We have such a lightweight rig that we can actually use these vehicles to pull our equipment out over the tundra, once the tundra opening has occurred,” typically in mid-December. Mobility is the key selling point. “They want us to put roads down,” Flynn says. “We’re like: We just don’t need

An "effectual drilling" setup fills just 3 percent of the footprint of a traditional exploration rig. Alaska Drilling and Completions

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Alaska Business

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‘em. Those tracked vehicles support us 100 percent in the winter, and the helicopter can support us 100 percent in the summer.”

Components stack on eight, forty-foot flatbed trailers to be hauled over highways or tundra. Alaska Drilling and Completions

Right-Size Savings Exactly how much ADC has invested into creating the “effectual drilling” rig, Ross and Flynn would not disclose. All they say is that their method should be “an order of magnitude” cheaper than conventional drilling. “It’s a lot different than a large rig that sits in a yard and requires many, many people to get it ready to go,” says Flynn. “Ours is much smaller, and requires less men, less diesel burned, less days to move, and we can still drill to 8,000 feet.” Using current methods, Ross explains, “You’re looking at a support structure of having a roughly 250-man camp. You’re supporting that with numerous support vehicles, trucks with tankers hauling disposable fluids off. You’re burning roughly 6,000 to 7,000, maybe even 10,000 gallons a day of diesel. And that’s on an ice pad that’s roughly 600 by 600 feet.” Ross and Flynn claim their “effectual drilling” rig can operate on a 100- by 100-foot area, staffed by a crew of twelve to twenty. They might get away with burning less than 2,500 gallons of diesel per day, running heaters in winter. In summer, they believe the rig might sip as little as 100 gallons of fuel daily. The savings could begin even before the site is set up. According to Ross, “For a snow road operation, we’re looking at about 47 loads to get the entire rig out, and camp, and structure, versus 200, 250 loads minimum.” Further, not being bound to snow roads, Flynn says the rig has another advantage: “Being able to get out in the summer, not having to build a gravel road, and not have to build an ice road, which is not even possible a lot of years down south [in Cook Inlet].”

Additional Applications “Leave no trace” is part of the mission of Alaska Drilling and Completions, as well as a commitment to clean energy. Although their business is mainly geared toward oil and gas, Ross and Flynn envision their rig being used for geothermal prospecting. 38 | November 2021

ADC hopes new, more affordable technology keeps exploration alive for oil and gas and other resources. Alaska Drilling and Completions

“It’s not a new movie, it’s a new act in the movie.” Tim Flynn, COO, Alaska Drilling & Completions

“We can set this rig up on the side of a mountain if we had to,” says Ross, and he says the well-control fixtures work as well for hot water and steam as they do for petroleum. For now, the rig is parked in Palmer, waiting for its first client. ADC unveiled the technology in April and spent the summer testing it. The rig still needs to be winterized before it’s ready for the Slope. Ross and Flynn don’t see anybody else using their approach, at least not yet. Ross says, “ The technology we developed, we feel, has applications throughout the entire state and elsewhere.” One application, Flynn says, would be Yukon River villages. There are natural gas seeps in Fort Yukon, Galena, Alaska Business

and Holy Cross, enough to fuel their electricity needs instead of more expensive diesel. According to Flynn, “effectual drilling” is the key to making that conversion affordable. “Explore for a much smaller amount of money,” he says. “Get down there and see if it’s even viable, versus bringing a big rig and it’s not viable.” ADC’s co-founders say their goal is to develop Alaska’s resources and create more jobs. But how can that happen when their rig leaves 200odd drillers on the curb? “It’s easily looked at as we are taking away jobs,” Flynn says, “but the reality is we have the potential to create tens to hundreds of more jobs than ever would’ve been possible without this technology.” w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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Alaska Business

November 2021 | 39

N AT U R A L R E SO U RC E D E V E LO PM E N T SPEC I A L SEC T I O N

The Geophysical Institute at UAF

Celebrating seventy-five years of data exploration and extraction By Tasha Anderson

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next year the institute will have 400 researchers pursuing projects to increase our understanding of Alaska’s unique geophysical properties.

75 Years of Data Few may know that GI was established by an act of Congress, “mainly because of effects on high frequency communication that’s caused by the aurora,” McCoy explains. “They were always having issues in the Arctic and sub-Arctic with communication—actually global issues with high frequency communication, because it depends on the ionosphere and the ionosphere gets disturbed by the sun.” That specific and targeted directive launched GI, but the institute’s mission and activities has diverged significantly over nearly eight decades, in no small part because of the abundance of natural phenomena the state has to offer. “There’s lot of Alaska Business

Sarah Lewis

n September Alexandru Lapadat became the first recipient of the two-year Schaible Geophysical Institute Fellowship, established by Grace Berg Schaible, a former Alaska attorney general and benefactor of the University of Alaska. In 2018, the fellowship’s endowment received a $2.2 million gift from Schaible’s estate, which provided enough of a financial base that the awarding of fellowships could begin. Receiving the fellowship means Lapadat, a doctoral student from Romania, can focus on his own research in improving the accuracy of earthquake magnitude determinations. Lapadat joins the ranks of hundreds of researchers at the Geophysical Institute (GI) at UAF, a number that has been steadily growing over seventy-five years since the institute was founded. Robert McCoy, GI director, says that number will continue to grow; he anticipates by

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We’re a mission driven organization… it would be more typical for a professor like myself to go out and chase whatever I felt interested in… [but] the grants and contracts that we take on and those that we pursue, we align them with our mission.” Michael West, Director Alaska Earthquake Center

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really interesting geophysical things in Alaska; I joke that we have a mountain of all these things,” McCoy laughs. GI has seven research groups— atmospheric science; volcanology; seismology and geodesy; tectonics and sedimentation; space physics and aeronomy; remote sensing; and snow, ice, and permafrost—that study seven things that “no other university in the United States has,” McCoy says, right outside its door: the aurora, volcanoes, permafrost, earthquakes, glaciers, sea ice, and Arctic weather. “That shapes who we are and what we do,” he says. “And from time to time, industry is very interested.” As an example, he says GI trades data with those working in the oil industry. “Oil companies do a lot of prospecting and a lot of testing, and our guys use that data to get a better understanding of the structure of the Earth, and it goes back and forth,” McCoy explains. “Most of our students, staff, and faculty are out in the field in the summer, running around in helicopters and updating stations, things like that.” The data gathered is immense both in its scale and value. “We have something called Research Computing Services, and there’s about ten people in that group,” he explains. “They maintain UNIX clusters of highperformance computers that we make available to all of GI—actually to all of campus—and they maintain petabytes of storage. A petabyte is a thousand terabytes: it’s a lot.” And even then, it’s not always enough. GI works with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, for which it downlinks from satellites and processes data, and “they want us to have more computing power,” McCoy says, “so we’ve been buying more computers and more storage,” which he says has helped GI stay competitive with other research facilities. Attracting partners in data exploration and research is important for GI, UAF, and the Fairbanks area as a whole. While a small proportion of GI’s projects are funded by the State of Alaska, generally related to flying unmanned aircraft, most of GI’s funding (McCoy says approximately 90 percent) is from federal sources, primarily the National Science Foundation, NASA, USGS, and “increasingly” the Department of Alaska Business

Defense. GI attracts national dollars and brings them to Alaska to the tune of nearly $70 million. “That money is spent on Safeway and Fred Meyer and rent,” McCoy says. “I compare us to an F16 squadron; we have the same kind of impact on the town.” After seventy-five years of quality work and steady expansion, GI is an economic force of its own, both in terms of the money it pulls in and the development of technology and projects that its research facilitates. Data is in many ways a natural resource—once extracted, it lends itself to an almost endless number of projects—and GI is a local leader of data acquisition, assessment, and application.

The Alaska Earthquake Center One GI facility many Alaskans are familiar with is the Alaska Earthquake Center. Most of us have popped onto its website at one time or another, curious about the magnitude of the earthquake that just woke us up or wondering where it was located. And while it’s happy to satisfy our curiosity, the Alaska Earthquake Center has a much larger mission. “For several decades the Alaska Earthquake Center has provided the state of Alaska’s seismic monitoring,” says Michael West, research professor, state seismologist, and director of the Alaska Earthquake Center. “Our primary mandate from the Alaska legislature, written into state statute, is to inform the state of seismic risks and hazards, essentially.” That mandate sets the center apart, West says. “We’re a mission driven organization… it would be more typical for a professor like myself to go out and chase whatever I felt interested in… [but] the grants and contracts that we take on MICHAEL WEST and those that we UAF pursue, we align them with our mission.” For example, he says that he recently passed on an opportunity to work on a large research project looking at global seismic issues, recognizing it was a diversion from the center’s stated w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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Partners and Projects Outside of its primary directive, the Alaska Earthquake Center does take on partners and projects that support its core goals. Last year, as part of a pilot project with the Missile Defense Agency and Lawrence Livermore National Labs, an Alaska Earthquake Center field team installed two new broadband and strong motion stations at Fort Greely. According to Alaska Earthquake Center: A 2020 Perspective, “This mininetwork will help assess site response issues and monitor for strong ground motion.” The report continues, “The Fort Greely effort is going a step further by tracking the seismic frequency of ground motions. Buildings and infrastructure respond differently to low- and high-frequency vibrations. Alarms tailored to specific frequencies can differentiate damaging seismic w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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purpose. So the state statute, “although the language is dated—it’s really important to us,” he says. Even with specific goals, there’s a lot for the Alaska Earthquake Center to cover. According to Alaska Earthquake Center: A 2020 Perspective, in 2020 there were 49,250 earthquakes in Alaska, and the center spent more than 7,000 hours on earthquake analysis. “At the heart of the Alaska Earthquake Center is a network of 250 remote monitoring stations all over the state,” West reports. “We have instrumentation in every corner of the state—from the far Aleutians to Southeast to the most remote parts of the North Slope. Every hundred miles or so, there’s a sensor.” The center devotes significant resources to maintaining the network, including 123 site visits in 2020 alone, to make sure that when there is a seismic event, the center knows “in a matter of seconds.” West says, “When you turn on the radio and you hear, ‘There was a magnitude 4.2 earthquake, turns out it was an aftershock of the 2018 magnitude 7,’ that information is something that we’re processing from all of these stations.” Once the raw data comes in, it’s seismologists that make sense of it and communicate it to the public.

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HyLab Director Martin Stuefer pushes the HyLab aircraft out of the hangar to prep it for a flight. Sarah Lewis

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of almost 480 individual channels. Instead of 3 colors you have 480 colors, and not just colors: it’s from visible to near infrared. So it’s not just an imaging technique—it’s more a measuring technique.” Martin Stuefer, Director, HyLab

waves from other types of vibration, such as heavy equipment working nearby.” The center also has partnerships directly with private entities. For example, it has a longstanding relationship with Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. “We operate a dedicated seismic monitor at each one of the pump stations,” West says. When an earthquake occurs, the Alaska Earthquake Center has specific protocols to contact Alyeska with information about the quake. “If you’re an engineer who is charged with overseeing a section of the pipeline,

you don’t really care if there was a magnitude 5 earthquake 50 miles away or a magnitude 8 earthquake 300 miles away—all you care about is that piece of critical infrastructure that you’re in charge of,” West says. Based on the information the center provides, Alyeska will then prioritize its inspection activities, ranging from immediately scheduling a helicopter to fly to the site to making note that that section of pipeline should be given extra attention during the next routine inspection. The Alaska Earthquake Center entered another partnership in 2020 with Donlin

Gold, which provided financial support for the center to acquire a USArray station approximately 6 miles from the proposed Donlin Gold mine site. In May of 2020, the Alaska Earthquake Center began operating the station, reporting on earthquake activity in the vicinity. According to West, this kind of monitoring is one of the best ways for any natural resource development project to buttress itself against arguments or lawsuits that developing a project creates too much of a risk to the environment in the case of a seismic event. With site-specific data, a company can say, “It turns out

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“With a hyperspectral camera, each linear scene is composed, in our case,

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The HyLab's hyperspectral camera and other instrumentation. Sarah Lewis

a magnitude 7 earthquake shakes the ground this much. We know that because we measured it. It’s not hypothetical, we have a sensor there and we contracted the Alaska Earthquake Center to measure that for us.” West emphasizes that the center does not advocate for any specific project to move forward or be halted. “We do not

take sides on any of these things,” he says. “We are pro data.” He continues, “In fact, some years ago we engaged a fair amount with folks on both sides of Pebble, because I was really uncomfortable with what was showing up. [An early Pebble document] had lots of seismic stuff in it, and likewise, there was at least one or two advocacy groups out there who

were attacking Pebble based on seismic data, and I would say, ‘Look guys, we don’t know much about that area. Neither claim here is accurate because we just don’t know.’ That area has been changing in recent years, and we are getting much better data now. But that is the motivation: without taking sides, let’s just deal in facts.” Even in the face of less controversial

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GI attracts national dollars and brings them to Alaska to the tune of nearly $70 million. “That money is spent on Safeway and Fred Meyer and rent. I compare us to an F16 squadron; we have the same kind of impact on the town.” Robert McCoy, GI Director, UAF

Where It Started, How It’s Changed According to West, “The modern seismic era in Alaska began—no joke—on the night of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. Before the 1964 earthquake there was one sensor in Sitka and there was a sensor on campus here in Fairbanks. “To call 1964 a wake-up call would be a bit of a gross understatement,” he says. But the lesson was learned, and within hours of the quake groups of people gathered to make a plan to track aftershocks with initial temporary instrumentation. As time has progressed, the essence of the center's work hasn't changed, but advances in technology and data processing tools let researchers work faster and more efficiently. Some of the new technology, however, has improved in ways that no one in 1964 could ever have anticipated, Anupma Prakash thanks to an UAF invention that wasn't around until later in the decade: the Internet. “The other day, when we had this little magnitude 4.9, I got the first alert on my phone nine seconds after the earthquake that there had been some strong shaking at a pump station,” West says. “It was actually before the shaking reached me, so this was remarkable… If you're familiar with earthquake early warning—it's not something that we are currently doing in Alaska, though it's certainly our future—this is a little taste of that concept.” w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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projects, data is essential to building sound infrastructure—and not overbuilding to the point that the project is no longer economically viable. “I’m aware of one group in the state that has built an earthen dam to hold back stuff that’s not supposed to get out—that’s a technical explanation,” West laughs. “But they have to decide whether they’re building for a magnitude 6 earthquake or a magnitude 6.5 earthquake… but the costs associated with that difference can be eight figures. You may be talking tens or a hundred million dollars.”

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Hylab Director Martin Stuefer pilots the aircraft and operates the equipment when flying data-gathering missions. Sarah Lewis

Early warning is exactly what Lapadat’s Schaible fellowship is for. According to UAF press release, “He aims to use the Global Navigation Satellite System to measure ground displacement during large earthquakes and analyze that information to quickly and precisely determine magnitude. That would allow alerts to be sent to areas where seismic waves have yet to reach. It’s a major challenge, but information delivered electronically travels faster than the surface S waves of an earthquake. That could mean seconds to minutes of advance warning of potentially disastrous shaking.”

The HyLab The GI is also looking to the future at its Hyperspectral Imaging Laboratory, or HyLab, which in layman’s terms is a super awesome camera installed in a plane that takes highly advanced images chock full of information. HyLab Director Martin Stuefer explains it better: “When you take a picture with your phone, the picture is composed of three different colors: 48 | November 2021

red, green, blue. Your normal camera records three channels and composes a colorful image. “With a hyperspectral camera, each linear scene is composed, in our case, of almost 480 individual channels. Instead of 3 colors you have 480 colors, and not just colors: it’s from visible to near infrared. So it’s not just an imaging technique—it’s more a measuring technique.” The end “image” produced by a hyperspectral camera isn’t a single image. According to Anupma Prakash, UAF provost and executive vice chancellor, “It’s important to know you don’t get one photograph, you get hundreds of photographs for each point. It looks like a big cube, it’s tons of photographs stacked on top of each other. If you trim it down on each point, you will get hundreds of data from hundreds of images from each point. That’s why we can categorize so well what the things are. You can mark the difference between not only the rock types, but the individual minerals within a rock type.” Alaska Business

Mining Data Prakash doesn’t reference minerals out of nowhere. As a professor of geophysics, much of her research has been done in the mining industry; the body of work she’s best known for is her research into coal mine fires around the world and working on environmental mitigation for them. Prakash’s background in mineral mapping, remote sensing, and mining is in part what drew her to the UAF Department of Geosciences (then called the Department of Geology and Geophysics) in 2002. “[UAF] already had a strong remote sensing program that attracted me, and my interest was to build it up. “Alaska has a wealth of data, but the magnitude of the size of Alaska is something that no one understands when you’re looking from the outside,” she says. “And the level of detail we don’t know; there’s so much area in Alaska that is unmapped, and then there is so much potential in Alaska that is untapped… you don’t realize w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

By Aaron Helmericks Senior Director, Energy & Mining, GCI Business

olatility in the global oil market, the recent decline in oil prices and extreme weather patterns in Alaska have made digital innovation in the oil and gas industry essential. To remain competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace, operators in the North Slope must find new ways to increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve safety for employees in the field. While a smart oil field might sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, we are moving closer to this reality with the adoption of technological solutions like Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Augmented Reality (AR) and wearables. These innovative technologies allow oil companies to make faster and better-informed decisions about missioncritical systems through real-time data. With IIoT, wireless sensors connect physical devices, enabling them to talk to each other and to be controlled and monitored remotely. In the past, crews needed to physically visit each location in the field to check for leaks or gather data. But with a push to a smarter digital oil field that allows pulling in previously stranded data, enhanced remote sensors, and remote HD video, workers can avoid unnecessary trips into the field and companies gain real-time awareness with historical behavior analytics. March 2021

Smart glasses with AR support can allow field workers to perform tasks hands free while also allowing the operation control center the ability to see for themselves and make recommendations. It also gives the ability for a field technician to virtually pull in an expert from anywhere in the world for hands on troubleshooting.

GCI is equipping smart oil fields with tech solutions like IIoT and AR to help oil companies make faster and better-informed decisions. Companies are already starting to equip workers with smart glasses and have seen improved safety and efficiency in the field. Other smart wearables are being explored to support worker safety. Many fieldworkers must endure harsh conditions to perform their jobs that might also be miles from the nearest worker, but with a smart wearable the control center could monitor critical health data to ensure employee safety.

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A technician wearing smart glasses with AR allows field workers to perform tasks handsfree while also virtually pulling in an expert from anywhere in the world for hands-on troubleshooting.

Supporting Advancement with Connectivity The concept of a smart oil field is the blending of advanced technology with critical infrastructure which requires increased network reliability and throughput. That’s why GCI has invested in a modern highly resilient backbone network in Alaska to support these initiatives. GCI has partnered with the oil industry since its inception, supporting not just the needs of the industry now, but anticipating the needs decades from now. At the end of 2021, GCI will complete a multiyear upgrade of our redundant fiber network that will support the North Slope region for the next 20 years. Additionally, GCI was the first to bring 5G to Alaska and is planning to expand to key areas on its fiber network. The last mile capabilities of 5G combined with our resilient core fiber network will bring the data connectivity of the future for Alaska businesses. To date, GCI has invested more than $3 billion to support future connectivity for Alaska and will continue to support the critical infrastructure needs of our key industries.

GCI.COM/BUSINESS www.akbizmag.com

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THE OIL FIELD OF THE FUTURE

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An illustration of the HyLab's data-gathering process, which produces a "hypercube" of information that can then be used for various mapping purposes. Airborne Hyperspectral Data Acquisition and Processing in the Arctic: A Pilot Study Using the Hyspex Imaging Spectrometer for Wetland Mapping

the magnitude until you’re actually here. You read about it, but you don’t realize it.” She felt what Alaska truly needed was better, more detailed imaging across the state, and she was instrumental in acquiring the funding to get the HyLab off the ground, applying for and receiving a National Science Foundation grant for the HyLab’s instrumentation. “We didn’t have in-state capacity to do the measurements we needed at any time at our own convenience,” she says, so the idea was to have local capabilities and expertise in detailed mapping. The applications of that, she says, are numerous. “We have strategic minerals that are in commercial quantities that can be explored and mined.” Prakash sees incredible potential for mining in Alaska and for the HyLab to partner with mining exploration efforts. “We know where those big mountain chains are, we know where those big deposits are,” she says. “But we don’t know what’s in at a finer scale within those deposits.” Because the HyLab is a plane, it can gather a tremendous amount of data with an incredibly low impact on the environment, even less than ground crews traversing the terrain on foot. “We can fly missions to anywhere to map,” she says, and identify not just 50 | November 2021

what is there but how much, helping to fine-tune exploration efforts. “This instrumentation and this technology helps you in understanding your minerals at a micro scale, all the way to a large scale,” Prakash continues. “So should I mine here, should I not mine here? What's the commercial value, what's my return on investment? Where should I target? Those are very important questions because you don't just go out and say, ‘I'm going to start drilling a hole here.’”

data for. “Each surface has a certain spectral signature,” says Stuefer. “Soil, vegetation, or water has a certain signature, and if we look at those spectral signatures, we can see how healthy is the vegetation, or what certain stone is lying below the plain, or what’s the water quality—are there any algae in the water, or has the water changed?” Stuefer says the HyLab was deployed for nearly 100 hours this year, gathering data that’s applicable for research in myriad areas.

Minerals and More

What’s Coming

“With hyperspectral you can fly over areas without touching the surface and get a really detailed sense of what mineral is below the flight path,” Stuefer says. “You can cover large areas; you can tell a lot about the minerals you fly over—it’s probably the best tool you can imagine for remote sensing technique.” Minerals have spectral si gn ature s , w h i ch a llows fo r th e creatio n of a sp e c tr a l lib r a r y. “ We th e n co m p a re th is sp e c tr a l lib r a r y w ith th e dat a we g et f ro m a ir b o r n e ove r f li ght s , a n d we c a n m atch ce r t a in lib r a r y co m p o n e nt s w ith o ur f li ght dat a to g et a m a p of ce r t a in m in e r a l s ,” h e s ays . But minerals are just one material that the HyLab can provide essential

The GI, through the HyLab, is the first organization in Alaska to offer hyperspectral imaging. It’s one more step in the organization’s natural evolution as it pursues the mission to “turn data and observations into information useful for state, Arctic, and national priorities.” It certainly won’t be the last step taken as GI continues to understand Alaska. Stuefer says, “There’s a strong interest of the University to help industry, to strengthen the economy in the state, and to strengthen the role of the University in the state.” As long as there are geophysical questions, GI will try to answer them.

Alaska Business

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Becoming RESPEC PDC Engineers Aquisition Brings More Services to Alaska

hen you consider signiﬁcant infrastructure in the State of Alaska, certain projects stand out, like Red Dog Mine development, Anchorage School District renovations, Juneau International Airport improvements, and rural hospital updates. Contained within each of those projects and countless others, you’ll ﬁnd PDC Engineers’ involvement. For over 50 years, they’ve provided horizontal and vertical design solutions across Alaska for every market sector. In May 2020, PDC Engineers took steps to offer even more services and voted to expand. They united with a company that has comparable longevity and specializes in mining, energy, water, natural resources, and data technology. PDC Engineers became a RESPEC company. Since then, they’ve spread the word about their expanded services and products. They wanted their past, current, and future partners to know that they’re still here, just with a different name.

Come January 2022, PDC Engineers will make one final change. They will shed their old brand and fully become RESPEC. Their name and look might be different, but their local staff, offices, and know-how will remain. Matt Emerson, the former president of PDC Engineers and now the Senior Vice President of Infrastructure, knew uniting with RESPEC meant his Alaskan clients would have more experts at their fingertips. Working with Todd Kenner, RESPEC’s CEO and President, he evaluated goals, markets, and teams. They understood the acquisition was a big decision, but Matt and Todd believed in the compatibility of their companies. The cultures aligned, and the acquisition advanced. Over the past 18 months, a shared goal informed every step forward: blend their companies in a way that keeps all employees and all partners on board—and earn more. The approach to client-relations and business development that Alaskans have relied on hasn’t changed. The people you’ve known and trusted for years are still here, but you have access to other talented, vouched-for engineers, scientists, programmers, and developers.

AlaskaBusiness Profile

Now that PDC Engineers and RESPEC have combined forces, Alaska businesses and endeavors stand to gain. You benefit from solutions that blend extra resources with hands-on experiences coming from more places. Alaska mines have already begun to see the benefits of partnering with RESPEC—from exploration and development to reclamation. Your projects also receive better insights, informed by more perspectives. Communities across Alaska, for example, will see how RESPEC addresses water quality issues with watershed models and easy-to-use apps that allow for viewing results, running scenarios, and seeing improvements in real-time. Supporters of RESPEC acquiring PDC Engineers exist outside their company too. Joy Huntington, President of Uqaqti Consulting, discovered that PDC Engineers and RESPEC “shared a high sense of responsibility to reach out and incorporate rural and Alaska Native voices.” Then there’s Dan Carow, a Leidos Project Manager for a National Science Foundation project. He noted that RESPEC combined with PDC Engineers “designs with a project’s lifecycle forefront…[and] brings the experience, wisdom, and talent—the ‘engineering mind’—that helped [them] meet [their] goals.” RESPEC is proving that it gets the job done for Alaska businesses too—just like PDC Engineers have done for more than half a century. RESPEC’s presence in Alaska will ensure the horizontal and vertical designers that you’ve worked with for years will continue to transform your challenges into solutions. PDC Engineers’ name may fade after 2021, but their successes and partnerships with Alaskans will live on through RESPEC. Danny Rauchenstein, Vice President RESPEC Anchorage Office 2700 Gambell St. Ste 500 Anchorage, Alaska 99503 907.743.3200 www.respec.com

Megaprojects made possible by the state’s unique geology By Isaac Stone Simonelli

Jonathan Caine | USGS

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Hunting ‘Elephants’ in Alaska

he valuable mineral deposits investors have brought online or are attempting to bring online in the Last Frontier usually stand out for their mammoth size. There is the Red Dog Mine, the largest zinc mine in the world; there’s the Donlin Gold project, which is one of the largest known undeveloped gold deposits in the world; and then there’s the controversial Pebble Project, which constitutes one of the largest copper and gold discoveries in the world. “In Alaska, people are looking for elephants, because it’s easier to develop elephants—they are more economical,” says Jennifer Athey, geologist and lead data manager for the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS). In the mineral exploration industry, “elephant” is a shorthand term for extremely large deposits. Athey points out that the magnitude of such deposits allows for the construction of roads and other infrastructure needed to bring a mine online. “The nice thing is Alaska has elephants to find, and it also has a lot of smaller deposits, too,” Athey says. “So if that infrastructure is developed over time, then we'll be able to economically develop some of the smaller prospects as well.”

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“A deposit that's perfectly economic in Nevada, and you move it to the Aleutian Islands, and there's no way in heck anyone can make money off of mining it… Enormous deposits are the ones where you can actually make some money.” Rainer Newberry, Economic Geologist (retired), UAF

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A Geologic Puzzle Alaska’s rich mineral resources are due to two complementary factors: the size of the state, which is larger than Texas, California, and Montana combined, and the underlying geology that comprises the Last Frontier. “There's only a very small part of eastern Interior Alaska that is actually part of ancestral North America; everything else has been stuffed onto it over time,” says Curt Freeman, the founder of Avalon Development Corp. and an exploration geologist based in Fairbanks. “You've squeezed fifty different terranes into one area the size of Alaska, 365 million acres. Very few places on earth have that kind of density of different geologic terranes, and that's why you have gold in some areas, copper in some areas, rare earth elements, et cetera.” The geology in the state is often described as a jigsaw puzzle of chunks of terranes—islands and fragments of the continental crust—that have been glommed onto Alaska over the last 200 million years. “What you do end up having in Alaska is a huge hodgepodge of terranes: little pieces of this and that all colliding with each other like bumper cars,” explains Sue Karl, a geologist who has been with the US Geological Survey in Alaska since 1977. These collisions are a result of tectonic movements in the Earth’s crust. “A key term that defines Alaska geology is tectonics. Tectonics means the juxtaposition of various types of rocks by different kinds of faults,” Karl explains, pointing to three primary types of faults that have defined the geology of the state. These are thrust faults, by which rocks are stacked on one another, including the subduction of oceanic crust below continental crust; strike-slip faults, which involve blocks of rock sliding past one another and are the source of most near-surface earthquakes Alaska; and normal faults, which occur where the Earth’s crust is extending and being stretched thin.

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elements: heat and pressure. Working together, heat and pressure mobilize fluids in the systems which leach out minerals with lower melting points or ones that don’t fit in the crystal lattices of normal minerals, then carry them toward the surface. In some systems, like the one that created the Greens Creek deposit, hot water-based fluids are responsible for transporting valuable elements from deep in the crust up along fractures and faults toward the surface. As the fluids rise, they encounter changes in chemistry, changes in temperature, and changes in pressure, which eventually result in minerals crystallizing out of solution, forming deposits. “It's important that the water contain significant amounts of either chloride or sulfide ions in order to transport the gold. Hot water by itself won't do anything,” notes Rainer Newberry, a retired economic geologist from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Without those chemicals, the water wouldn’t be able to latch onto the minerals. “Basically what you're doing is you're melting pieces of the crust and they

54 | November 2021

move upward because they're lighter, and those end up being mineral deposits in different forms in different areas,” Freeman says. Karl points out that each melting and deformation event allows minerals to become more and more concentrated, leading to some of the enormous deposits found in Alaska. While the general role heat and pressure play in creating these deposits are intrinsic to the formation of metal deposits, the exact way they act on different types of rocks in different environments lead to different geological models. There’s enormous variety in the types of deposit models found in Alaska, Athey explains. The robust modeling systems help geologists identify indicators of valuable mineral deposits. These could be as straightforward as knowing to look for trace amounts of gold, silver, or bismuth in soil samples or searching for tin, tungsten, and fluorite in the tin-granite systems on the Seward Peninsula. “I think the key to a lot of this is that the geology for Alaska has just been so dynamic over many, many, many years

Alaska Business

and has produced a lot of these things,” Athey says. For example, there are quartz-vein hosted gold models, as seen at the Pogo and Kensington mines; intrusion-hosted gold models, as seen with Fort Knox; sediment-hosted massive sulfides models, as seen with the Red Dog Mine; and volcanogenic massive sulfides models, as seen at the Greens Creek mine and the Palmer and Niblack exploration projects in Southeast. “There's other different kinds of ore deposit models, and different deposits in Alaska,” Athey says.

Rock Detectives Alaska produces zinc, lead, copper, gold, silver, and coal. However, its mineral resources far exceed what is being mined. There are known deposits of graphite, platinum, tungsten, cobalt, rare earth elements, and other critical minerals. Once exploration geologists know what type of mineral they want to search for, they need to review regional maps to identify the types of geological models that are in the region they are

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N AT U R A L R E SO U RC E D E V E LO PM E N T SPEC I A L SEC T I O N

interested in, explains Freeman. The model gives geologists a better idea of what clues to look for. At their essence many geologists are Sherlock Holmes-style investigators. They collect clues from the surface rocks, from core samples, from chemical analysis, and they develop a story or thesis—founded in hard evidence—for what is beneath their feet and why it’s there. The models they determine provide the framework for understanding the geological history of an area.

Geologist Doug Kreiner and UAF Professor Sean Regan, along with Pogo exploration geologists, look at igneous textures in granitic rocks hosting gold at the Pogo Gold Mine. Jonathan Caine | USGS

Mapping the Terrain Knowing where to focus efforts for identifying elephants in Alaska requires a general idea of what the underlying geology is in any given area. The rugged, remote nature of the Last Frontier makes this no easy—or cheap—feat. “It just takes a long time to build up that repository of information,” Athey says. Various agencies, including USGS, Bureau of Land Management, and DGGS have been working to piece it all together.

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“You've squeezed fifty different terranes into one area the size of Alaska, 365 million acres. Very few places on earth have that kind of density of different geologic terranes, and that's why you have gold in some areas, copper in some areas, rare earth elements, et cetera.”

A field assistant pans for monazite, a phosphate mineral that contains rare-earth elements, as part of a USGS mineral assessment in 2015 in the BLM’s Central Yukon Planning Area. Sue Karl | USGS

Curt Freeman, Founder Avalon Development Corp.

“If you look at a lot of the geology in the Lower 48, and in places like Great Britain, and other places around the world, they've got it so figured out that they've moved on to other kinds of products that they can make for people,” Athey says. “Whereas we're still really doing the initial groundwork. You know, trying to figure out what's really going on and what's there.” A lot of the geologic mapping in the state is forty or fifty years old, Karl points out. “We are updating the maps all the time,” Karl says. “It's really, really critical to understand how the rocks fit together, how old they are, what kind of deformation and tectonic systems they've been affected by.” This information can be used to create a geologic base map, which helps exploration geologists understand what deposit model might be applicable to an area. “You could argue in Alaska that there’s still a lot of baseline data that needs to be collected so that we have more understanding about what kinds of deposits might be out there,” Athey says. In addition to updating geologic maps for the state, USGS works with partner agencies in developing 56 | November 2021

maps that indicate mineral resource potential. These are created from seven different statewide datasets, including geochemistry, geophysics, and rock types. “The rock type has a big influence on what kind of mineral deposit might be present,” Karl says. “You can’t figure out how to look for ore deposits if you don’t know what the rocks are, which requires detailed geologic mapping.” Karl points out the old-timer prospectors covered most of the state, but there is much left to be filled out for on geologic maps. “They were walking around systematically covering every ridge, every stream, looking for gold or whatever,” Karl says. “There is no place in this state that those old-time prospectors didn’t get to. They were amazing. But mostly they weren’t mapping, and they weren’t figuring out the geology like we can now with all our modern tools and technology.”

Economic Realities While gold is never going to go out of style when it comes to the mining industry, there is an increased focus on cobalt, graphite, and rare earth Alaska Business

elements, which are less likely to be found in economic quantities through less modern processes. The key to accessing mineral assets is as much economic as it is tied to the geological process that created them. “A deposit that's perfectly economic in Nevada, and you move it to the Aleutian Islands, and there's no way in heck anyone can make money off of mining it,” Newberry says. “Enormous deposits are the ones where you can actually make some money.” Despite economic barriers—and many argue permitting barriers—to bring a mine online in Alaska, the state continues to be a global hotspot for development. “Alaska is special. It is unique. It has a significantly larger endowment of mineral deposits than most places because of its geologic history,” Karl says. But it’s not just the dynamic geological activity that has produced these deposits that makes Alaska stand out, it’s also all the question marks about what’s actually out there. “That really is the key to... why there are basically elephants here,” Freeman says. “People come here looking for large deposits because you can still find them sitting on the surface.” w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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“The rock type has a big inf luence on what kind of mineral deposit might be present… You can’t figure out how to look for ore deposits if you don’t know what the rocks are, which requires detailed geologic mapping.”

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USGS | Compiled by Frederic H. Wilson, Chad P. Hults, Charles G. Mull, and Susan M. Karl

To see the map in more detail, including the extensive key, visit usgs.gov/media/images/ digital-geologic-map-alaska

Alaska’s highly varied geology is illustrated in this USGS map. For example, the large, off white areas represent unconsolidated and poorly consolidated surficial deposits, which may include stream channel and floodplain deposits, beach sands, talus gravels, glacial drift, or moraine. The northern, light teal strip is sedimentary rocks of the North Slope, including the Nanushuk Formation, the Torok Formation, and the Fortress Mountain Formation. Northwest of Dillingham, the teal streak represents the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of southwest Alaska.

According to Curt Freeman, who founded Avalon Development Corporation, “Fifty different terranes [have been squeezed] into one area the size of Alaska—365 million acres. Very few places on earth have that kind of density of different geologic terranes, and that’s why you have gold in some areas, copper in some areas, rare earth elements, et cetera.”

GEOLOGIC MAP OF ALASKA, 2015

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Donlin Gold is poised to be one of the largest, highest-

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Mining Directory

60 | November 2021

Alaska Business

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Ramzi Fawaz, Pres./CEO 3700 Centerpoint Dr., Ste. 101 Anchorage, AK 99503 amblermetals.com 907-339-8764 The Arctic Project. MINING DISTRICT: Ambler MINING COMMODITIES: Copper, zinc, lead, gold,

and silver YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 2020/2020 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 45-60/45-60

COEUR ALASKA Mark Kiessling, GM 3031 Clinton Dr., Ste. 202 Juneau, AK 99801 coeuralaska.com 907-523-3300 Coeur Alaska proposed an amendment to its Plan of Operations to increase tailings and waste rock storage capacity to reflect positive exploration results, improved metal prices, and ongoing operational efficiencies. MINING DISTRICT: Juneau MINING COMMODITIES: Gold YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 1987/1987 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 380/380

YEARS 1996 - 2021

COLASKA Jon Fuglestad, Pres. 4000 Old Seward Hwy., Ste. 101 Anchorage, AK 99503 colaska.com 907-273-1000 Gravel mining across the state; hard rock contract mining; concrete supply and pumping. MINING DISTRICT: Southeast MINING COMMODITIES: Other YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 1999/1999 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 57,000/800

DONLIN GOLD Dan Graham, GM 2525 C St., Ste. 450 Anchorage, AK 99503 DonlinGold.com 907-273-0200 The primary objective of the 2021 drill program is to complete the work necessary to validate and increase the confidence in recent geologic modeling concepts. The 2021 drill program drilled approximately eighty holes, a total of 24,000 meters. MINING DISTRICT: Aniak MINING COMMODITIES: Gold YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 2008/2008 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 180/150

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AMBLER METALS

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GRANT LAKE CORPORATION

KINROSS FORT KNOX

Paul T. Torgerson, CEO/Pres.

PO Box 73726 Fairbanks, AK 99707 kinross.com 866-561-3636

5223 E. 24th Ave., #14 Anchorage, AK 99508 grantlakecorporation.com 907-521-6480 Grant Lake Corporation owns seven precious metals mining properties in Alaska totaling more than 5 square miles which the company intends to develop and mine, lease, or sell over the next ten years. MINING DISTRICT: Yentna and Hope MINING COMMODITIES: Gold, platinum, silver, copper, rare earth minerals, and precious and semi-precious gemstones YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 1985/1985 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 4/4

GRAPHITE ONE Anthony Huston, Pres./CEO PO Box 1513 Nome, AK 99762 graphiteoneinc.com 907-632-3493 Graphite Creek Project. MINING DISTRICT: Cape Nome MINING COMMODITIES: Graphite YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 2007/2010 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 5/2

HECLA GREENS CREEK MINING CO. Brian Erickson, VP/GM PO Box 32199 Juneau, AK 99803 heclagreenscreek.com 907-789-8100 The Greens Creek Mine on Admiralty Island, approximately 18 miles south of Juneau, 100% owned and operated by Hecla Mining Company. MINING DISTRICT: Admiralty Mining District MINING COMMODITIES: Silver, zinc, lead, and gold YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 1989/1989 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 1,600/460

HOPE MINING CO. Al Johnson, Pres. PO Box 101827 Anchorage, AK 99510 Hopemining.com 907-274-1906 Twelve recreational mining leases, two commercial mining leases. MINING DISTRICT: Seward MINING COMMODITIES: Placer gold, silver YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 1923/1923 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 4/4 62 | November 2021

Jeremy Brans, VP/GM

Gil-Sourdough satellite mine located near Fort Knox and Manh Choh, located close to Tok, near the Alaska Native Village of Tetlin. Both projects will provide ore that will be processed at the Fort Knox mill. MINING DISTRICT: Fairbanks MINING COMMODITIES: Gold YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 1996/1996 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 9,500/730

OXFORD ASSAYING & REFINING CORP. Gene E. Pool, VP/CEO 3406 Arctic Blvd. Anchorage, AK 99503 oxfordmetals.com 907-561-5237 Oxford is proud to be the only Alaska gold refiner, precious metals dealer, and coin dealer to maintain two locations for more than forty years. MINING DISTRICT: Alaska MINING COMMODITIES: Gold, silver YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 1980/1980 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 5/4

PEBBLE LIMITED PARTNERSHIP John Shively, CEO 2525 Gambell, Ste. 405 Anchorage, AK 99503 pebblepartnership.com 907-339-2600 Continuing to work through federal permitting process. MINING DISTRICT: Southwest Alaska-Iliamna MINING COMMODITIES: Copper, molybdenum, gold, silver, rhenium, palladium YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 2007/2007 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 10/10

TECK ALASKA INCORPORATED-RED DOG MINE

YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 1986/1986 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 637/495

TOWER HILL MINES, INC. Karl L. Hanneman, CEO 506 Gaffney Rd., Ste. 200 Fairbanks, AK 99701 ithmines.com 907-328-2800 Updated Pre-Feasibility Study (NI 43101 September 2021) on the Livengood Gold Project. MINING DISTRICT: Livengood, Fairbanks MINING COMMODITIES: Gold YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 2006/2006 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 3/3

UCORE RARE METALS Pat Ryan, Chairman/Acting CEO 210 Waterfront Dr. Bedford, NS B4A 0H3 ucore.com 902-832-5246 Bokan-Dotson Ridge development. Alaska Strategic Metals Complex. MINING DISTRICT: Ketchikan MINING COMMODITIES: Rare earths, PGM, lithium, tantalum, niobium YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 2006/2006 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 12/1

USIBELLI COAL MINE Joseph E. Usibelli Jr., Pres./CEO 100 Cushman St., Ste. 210 Fairbanks, AK 99701 usibelli.com 907-452-2625 Usibelli Coal Mine has continued to invest millions of dollars in support of ongoing reclamation projects on previously mined lands. MINING DISTRICT: Healy MINING COMMODITIES: Coal YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 1943/1943 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 195/155

WHITE ROCK MINERALS

Les Yesnik, GM

Matt Gill, MD/CEO

2525 C St., Ste. 310 Anchorage, AK 99503 teck.com/reddog 907-754-6170

510 L St., Ste. 500 Anchorage, AK 99501 whiterockminerals.com.au +61 437 315 901

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Red Mountain VMS and Last Chance gold project. MINING DISTRICT: Bonnifield MINING COMMODITIES: Zinc, silver, lead, gold YEAR FOUNDED/EST. IN ALASKA: 2010/2016 WORLDWIDE/ALASKA EMPLOYEES: 35/40 contractors w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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Modern Prospecting Small mines and small businesses have an Alaska-sized impact By Scott Rhode and Bailey Berg

64 | November 2021

Alaska Business

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sourdough hunkered along a stream, scrutinizing his pan for pay dirt. A line of cheechakos ascending the Chilkoot Trail, each one hoping to strike it rich with a Klondike claim. The Three Lucky Swedes pulling nuggets out of Nome’s golden sands, triggering the rush of 1899. Rugged individuals are the foundation of mining in Alaska, now often overshadowed by “elephants" like Red Dog and Fort Knox. Yet small companies and prospectors are still out there, exploring the landscape for the next big lode.

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Since 1914, the Livengood prospect north of Fairbanks has been picked over by gold seekers, but the discovery of a new lode in 2007 is spurring development. Livengood Gold Project

Better known these days for its snowmachines and boats, Alaska Mining & Diving Supply got its start, as the name suggests, by selling dredges to gold prospectors. Kerry Tasker

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To this day, however, they do rely on individual prospectors to do basic work that often results in finds.”

Small Companies, Big Results Small mining operations still find some success. In Alaska, just fewer than 200 placer mines produced 60,691 ounces of gold worth almost $77 million in 2018, according to the state Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys. Placer refers to sedimentary deposits broken up by water, an easier target for mining when a prospector lacks the means to extract the resource from hard rock, underground. Which is not to say that placer mining is easy; as all but a small fraction of feverish stampeders learned, gold is an elusive treasure. From small stakes, huge payoffs may follow—though it takes time. The Livengood prospect, 70 miles north of Fairbanks, had been picked over by placer miners since 1914. More intensive exploration began in 2003, and not until 2007 was a new lode discovered, which would outstrip every small placer miner combined: potentially 11.4 million ounces of gold.

In Alaska, just fewer than 200 placer mines produced 60,691 ounces of gold worth almost $77 million in 2018, according to the state Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys.

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Or, for the solo prospector, sometimes the find is its own reward. “Recreational types are mainly in it for the adventure and fun,” says Steve Herschbach, co-founder of Alaska Mining & Diving Supply in Anchorage. “Very often they may, in theory, be finding enough to pay for their efforts, but many never sell what they find. In that regard it is more of a hobby.” Herschbach turned his hobby into a business, thanks to his school buddy, Dudley Benesch, sharing an interest in gold prospecting. In 1976, they started selling gold dredges and the diving gear needed to operate them underwater, only later expanding into boats and snowmachines. Herschbach now lives in Nevada and operates the Detector Prospector website while rockhounding in the high desert. Despite his efforts to continue the tradition of grizzled gold panners, Herschbach concedes that serious prospecting these days is dominated by multinational corporations. “They have large budgets and can employ methods beyond the reach of most individuals.

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“The biggest problem is rules that are written for billion-dollar companies but which do not differentiate between that huge company and much smaller operators… I wish more was done to separate regulations applying to the largest from the smallest.” Steve Herschbach Co-founder Alaska Mining & Diving Supply

68 | November 2021

Tower Hill Mines has invested more than $200 million already, completing a prefeasibility study in 2017. The Livengood project is now in the advanced exploration stage. Before production begins with potentially more than 300 jobs, Tower Hill Mines gets by with just four workers on its payroll. Some small mining exploration can be done in Alaska without any workers at all. Or rather, Outside companies hire contractors to do the legwork, proving up prospective sites before investing millions—if not billions—of dollars on production. Vancouver, British Columbia, is the home base for several Alaska projects, beyond the Pebble Project owned by Northern Dynasty Minerals. Fellow Canadian firms HighGold Mining, Tectonic Metals, Blackwolf Copper and Gold, and Millrock Resources have all sent scouts to various corners of Alaska.

Canada Calls Located in the same building as the Vancouver Bullion & Currency Exchange, HighGold owns multiple small gold claims in central Ontario, but the company considers its flagship project to be the Johnson Tract in Southcentral Alaska. The tract within Lake Clark National Park, across Cook Inlet from Ninilchik, was explored from 1982 to 1995 but then sat idle for a quarter century. In 2019, HighGold entered into a lease agreement with Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) to explore the Native corporation’s ancestral Dena’ina land for gold, copper, silver, zinc, and lead. According to Naomi Nemeth, Vice President Investor Relations at HighGold Mining, the drill program for this year is aimed at expanding the known deposit, as well as testing other nearby prospects. Early results point to the potential of a “highgrade deposit that allows selective underground mining with a small surface footprint and the ability to place a majority of the waste material (spent ore) back underground concurrent with mining,” Nemeth says. Less than two blocks away from HighGold headquarters, up Howe Street in downtown Vancouver, is the office of Tectonic Metals. Exploration earned the company a profit with just the possibility of producible gold: an investment of CA$165 million at Alaska Business

the Coffee Gold Project in the Yukon Territory became a CA$520 million sale in 2016, after Tectonic Metals finished a feasibility study. Now the company is flipping that profit toward four projects in Alaska. The Tibbs and Maple Leaf projects are both on state land in the Goodpaster Mining District, in the mountains east of Pogo Mine. The third current project is Seventymile, in the Eagle Mining District near the Canadian border, where a 25-milelong greenstone gold belt has been unexplored for twenty years. Their final project, Flat, in the Kuskokwim Mountains, presents a rare opportunity: “a large scale, underexplored, intrusionhosted gold system with mineralization beginning at surface,” according to the company’s website. A few blocks east of Tectonic Metals (use an alley as a shortcut) is the downtown Vancouver base of Blackwolf Copper and Gold, across the street from Red Dog Mine operator Teck Resources. Like HighGold, Blackwolf considers an Alaska property to be its flagship. The Niblack project on Prince of Wales Island is now in the advanced exploration phase for a possible underground mine. Niblack has seen considerable investments in infrastructure, including more than 120,000 meters in drilling and an 850-meter-long exploration tunnel with 150 meters of cross cuts that should help with drilling and potential production (they’re also in the process of building a new camp facility). According to Blackwolf’s website, the project is “located at tide water where ore could conceivably be barged to a central processing facility at low cost.” Ultimately the company hopes to identify copper, zinc, gold, and silver. Head toward Vancouver Harbor along Burrard Street, past the headquarters of NovaGold Resources (now in the permitting stage for the Donlin Gold mine along the Kuskokwim River), and there is Millrock Resources. The company bills itself on its website as a “project generator,” discovering and developing gold and copper in Mexico and Alaska. Its Anchorage branch hosts more than a dozen employees. Like Tectonic Metals, Millrock is active in the Goodpaster Mining District, as well as another gold prospect near the village of Pelican, west of Juneau, and a nickel w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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Prospecting gear doesn't necessarily pay for itself, says Alaska Mining & Diving Supply co-founder Steve Herschbach. Big scores are beyond the reach of hobbyists, left instead to exploration companies with large budgets. Kerry Tasker

and platinum prospect in the Interior, west of Paxton. For three projects north of Fairbanks, earlier this year Millrock partnered with a newly formed venture called Felix Gold, named for the pioneer who first discovered gold in the area, Felix Pedro.

Down Under

Geologists study a drill core test from the Livengood prospect. Livengood Gold Project

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Felix Gold calls Australia home. Incorporated in Brisbane, its Alaska subsidiary is responsible for developing the Ester Dome, Liberty Bell, and Treasure Creek projects west of Fairbanks, and technical teams are working with Millrock to generate further projects in the area. Felix Gold draws from the mining and financing expertise in Australia, as does another firm exploring Alaska, White Rock Minerals. Unlike their Canadian counterparts, though, Felix Gold and White Rock are hardly within walking distance of each other. Headquartered in Ballarat, inland from Melbourne, White Rock Minerals has just eight employees in its office. The small firm is mainly interested in a domestic gold and silver deposit called Mt. Carrington, but it also explores in Alaska, with contractors hired out of a branch in Juneau. Exploration in Alaska Business

the Bonnifield Mining District, about 60 miles south of Fairbanks, includes 1,298 mining claims that are rich in zinc, silver, gold, copper, and lead. It’s not the first time deposits have been discovered: previous exploration had found minerals in Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats, but there hasn’t been much modern exploration of the area, a point that the company believes means there’s potential. The international reach of mining corporations in the 21st century has replaced the quaint tales of immigrants like Felix Pedro or the Three Lucky Swedes making their fortunes in the Last Frontier. And lone prospectors like Herschbach see no end in sight. “The biggest problem is rules that are written for billion-dollar companies but which do not differentiate between that huge company and much smaller operators,” he says. “I wish more was done to separate regulations applying to the largest from the smallest.” Big or small, mining exploration at a range of sizes has a place in Alaska. For every Pebble or Donlin Creek, there are a hundred smaller prospects that never make headlines. In an industry that measures output in ounces, every little bit adds up. w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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Photo Courtesy of Judy Patrick Photography | June 2019

JOIN TODAY | AKRDC.ORG RDC is a statewide trade association comprised of individuals and companies from Alaska’s fishing, forestry, mining, oil and gas, and tourism industries. RDC’s membership includes Alaska Native corporations, local communities, organized labor, and industry support firms. RDC’s purpose is to encourage a strong, diversified private sector in Alaska and expand the state’s economic base through the responsible development of our natural resources.

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Open Pits or E Underground Ops Suiting a mine’s methods to its environment and commodity By Scott Rhode and Antonio Lopez 72 | November 2021

Alaska Business

very day, approximately 1,000 Alaskans go to work where the sun never shines. They are the miners in the tunnels at the Kensington, Greens Creek, and Pogo mines. Meanwhile, their cohorts at the Fort Knox, Usibelli Coal, and Red Dog mines labor with blue sky over their heads. Same industry, two different approaches to extracting minerals from the earth. Whether the risks and rewards of open pit versus underground mining make sense for any given site depends largely on the depth and nature of the deposit and the type of ore expected to be found. w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

Coeur Mining Inc

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Open Pit Mining Half of the six producing mines in Alaska are surface mines, where the landscape is scraped away to expose the mineral resource. Teck and NANA Regional Corporation’s Red Dog mine, north of Kotzebue, is a classic example: the country’s largest zinc and lead producer is visible from high altitude as a crater nearly a kilometer wide with concentric terraces leading to the bottom, which is usually filled with groundwater. Alaska’s largest producing gold mine, Kinross’ Fort Knox, exhibits a similar shape: a terraced hollow w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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northeast of Fairbanks. Seven miles away, the companion site of the True North mine remains visible on the landscape, though it has been officially reclaimed and restored after Kinross finished extracting gold from 2001 to 2004. Less evident past mining sites surround the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy, where some pits dug since 1943 have been refilled and covered with fresh vegetation. These types of mines are the most common method of mining throughout the world. Open pit mines are generally established in areas where deposits are found near the surface of the earth and typically become broader as mining progresses. Initially, the ratio of clearance necessary to access the deposit is in favor of the mine, but when it becomes inefficient to clear more of the surface to expand the mine, it is closed and reclaimed. This form of mining allows for maximum maneuverability and access to deposits, making it the most efficient form of mining as most of the deposit is usually retrieved. It is also not subject to limitations in space, so

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With most of its activity inside a mountain, the surface footprint of the Kensington Mine fits on a narrow terrace in a steep valley north of Juneau. Coeur Mining Inc

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Underground Mining As the name suggests, underground mining refers to mining that takes place

below the surface layer of the earth. This includes underground mining techniques such as the bord-and-pillar method and the longwall method. These operations usually entail the construction of a tunnel, as well as supporting essential infrastructure such as vents, that goes beneath the earth’s surface and aligns with the natural mineral deposit. This form of mining usually occurs when mineral deposits are found in a deep layer of the rock strata. Underground mining also requires a bigger investment in compact specialized equipment and is therefore more expensive. This is why underground mining is only employed for mineral deposits that hold a particularly high market value, such as gold or silver. For example, Coeur Alaska’s gold and silver Kensington Mine, which is located in a steep valley northwest of Juneau and has a single terrace with two main buildings at the entrance on the hillside. Gold and silver extracted from underground are transported down a narrow road to a dock on Berners Bay.

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various equipment may be utilized at the same time to enhance the mining process. Working conditions are also relatively safe if the mine is managed appropriately. However, the shape of the mine means landslides and rockfalls are common hazards. The type of rock strata and mineral deposits present also mean water management may be a pressing concern while maintaining or reclaiming the mine. An open pit mine is only an option if the deposit it shallow enough, and this varies by location as well as the type of mineral or ore. Certain types of ore, such as coal and copper, are more common on the top layer of the rock strata than on lower layers. Open pit mining grants access to the majority of the deposit, which makes it a practical option when possible. As open pit mining is also more economically efficient, it can add to the overall profitability of the project if the mineral at hand is of a lower market value.

Patrick J Endres | AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com

Patrick J Endres | AlaskaPhotoGraphicS

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The open pit of Fort Knox Mine dwarfs the Interior's other major gold producer, the underground operation at Pogo, though Pogo has two-thirds the workforce.

Meanwhile, Juneau’s largest local taxpayer, the Hecla Greens Creek mine on Admiralty Island, might be mistaken from the air for a power plant, comprised of two main buildings and a disposal heap—the bustle of mining silver takes place underground. But that small profile allows it to operate inside a federally protected national monument, the only such operation in the country. And Sumitomo’s Pogo Gold Mine, northeast of Delta Junction, likewise has two main buildings in a narrow, compact footprint. Pogo uses the cut-and-fill method, where horizontal slices into ore-bearing rock leave a void that is backfilled, 76 | November 2021

progressing upward into the ore body, while the ore itself is dumped into chutes for removal from the mine’s lowest level. In addition to unique equipment and expertise requirements, underground mining also calls for a greater emphasis on worker health and safety. Miners working in underground mines often face more hazards, such as cave-ins, exposure to toxic gases, or poor temperature regulation. Many of these hazards require constant monitoring so workers may be given ample time to evacuate in an emergency. One underground miner described conditions he experienced working Alaska Business

a 100-foot shaft at Happy Creek near Fairbanks in the 1930s as part of an oral history recorded in 2000 by the Pioneers of Alaska, Igloo #4. Doug Colp recalled lowering a flame into the darkness to check the air quality. “If we lowered the candles or the carbide lamp to the bottom and it didn’t go out,” he said, “then we figured it was safe to go down ourselves. If it went out, we’d still go down,” after flushing the shaft with steam from a boiler. (The recording is now accessioned into the Oral History Collection at UAF [H-200015] and available online at uaf.edu through “Pioneer Miners of Alaska Project Jukebox” at Doug Colp.) w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

ince 1989, Red Dog Mine has been a leader in responsible resource

development in Alaska, founded on the principles of consensus, cooperation and mutual respect between a mining company and the Iñupiat of northwest Alaska.

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teck.com/reddog

Red Dog Mine port site w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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Fortunately, technology has advanced, with air quality now monitored by a variety of instruments and shafts supplied with fresh air pushed by massive fans with power ratings in the hundreds of horsepower. While underground mines require particular planning, they are also are known for their dramatically lower impact on the natural environment. As they stick closer to mineral deposits and do not significantly interfere with the surface, much of the natural surrounding ecosystem remains intact and unaffected by mining operations.

Workers at underground mines, like Kensington, prepare for unique safety hazards, such as roof collapses, unbreathable air, or total darkness. Coeur Mining Inc

Open Pit vs Underground When it comes to comparing open pit and underground mines, it is not a question of which is inherently better, but what is more suitable for the particular circumstances of a site. Some aspects of one method of mining may make it a better option, depending on the area. In general terms, mining operations in areas where the natural environment can withstand disruption, where the mineral deposit is located close to the surface layer of the earth, and where the mineral deposit is plentiful, yet of a lower market value, open pit mining would be the preferred mining method. While mining operations in areas where the natural environment is particularly delicate, where the mineral deposit is located deep within the earth’s surface, and where the mineral deposit is of particularly high market value, underground mines would be more desirable. When considering risk, while underground mines are generally more hazardous for miners, open pit mines are generally more hazardous to the local environment. Ease of access also differs significantly, as open pit mines make it easier for miners to access and retrieve materials, while underground mines are limited in terms of space and equipment, so much of the mineral deposit may never be fully retrieved. Ultimately, each form of mining has its own advantages and disadvantages, and which is better can only be judged appropriately when applied to a potential mining site. 78 | November 2021

Kensington Mine employs 386 workers, including those in the underground shafts and at the mill on the surface. Coeur Mining Inc

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Milling in the Last Frontier A cut above the rest By Isaac Stone Simonelli

he Alaskan spirit of self-reliance and community are deeply ingrained in the small-scale and boutique wood milling operations of the Last Frontier. From dimensional lumber for homes to furniture boards made of live-edge wood that reveals the natural contour and bark of trees, Alaskans are providing for Alaskans. In the rural community of Yakutat, housing is limited and lumber is expensive, says Marvin Adams, the CEO of Yak Timber. Dismal fishing seasons in 2019 and 2020 compounded the troubles for residents in the community and put Yak-Tat Kwaan Alaska Native Village Corporation President Don Bremner on the hunt for creating jobs, Adams explains.

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Community leaders proposed establishing a mill as part of a “Back to Work” plan to help prepare community members for what was expected to be a harsh winter in 2020. At the time, there was no milling operation associated with Yak Timber, which is owned by the Yak-Tat Kwaan corporation and was incorporated in 2018. “It was decided that the best approach was to purchase a portable sawmill and kiln dryer with the idea it would help put our people to work [and] address the need for and price of local lumber resources,” Adams wrote in a business plan for the venture. Located in remote Southeast, lumber supplies in Yakutat were significantly more expensive than in the Lower 48,

Alaska Business

in part due to the costs of transporting it on the monthly Alaska Marine Lines barge service. While the village is serviced by the Alaska Marine Highway, the business plan cited concerns about the reliability of service and access to space for lumber, as well as limited visits to Yakutat. “Another contributing factor to limited local lumber supply is the extreme demand and need of local housing construction and renovation needs,” Adams writes. Milling operations started last December, and at present Yakutat Mill & Lumber, under Yak Timber, focuses on dimensional, green lumber milling, which is the creation of 2x4, 2x6, 2x12, and other lumber often associated with

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lumber to Anchorage, Seattle, and Southeast,” Adams writes. Yakutat Mill & Lumber could not have come at a better time in the market. Demand in the United States skyrocketed during the pandemic, further spiking in May 2021. “We were doing it to create jobs and help the community,” Adams says. “We didn’t have a crystal ball, trying to figure out it was gonna go through the roof.” While prices have since fallen significantly, Adams explains that

the company model wasn’t based on the high prices witnessed over much of the last year, so he is confident in the foundation of the newly minted company. The key for Yakutat Mill & Lumber to break into the export market with its green, dimensional lumber was getting it certified. The lumber was certified by Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau, a nonprofit, accredited lumber and wood products inspection and certification agency based out of Washington.

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construction. Dimensional lumber mills can cut these boards straight out of round logs with blades operating on vertical and horizontal planes at the same time. “In addition to dimensional green lumber, the community can also benefit from economical full dimensional cut, kiln dried local lumber,” Adams writes. “We envision low cost, locally produced dimensional lumber for homes and commercial buildings and apartment units.” The company has already built six tiny homes and sold two of them. These fully insulated dry cabins cost about $30,000 to build. Adams explains that his hope is that the tiny homes the company is building can help people who don’t qualify for various federal or tribal housing programs but are still in need of stable housing. Though it’s a small-scale mill, Yakutat Mill & Lumber is doing more than meeting local demand for lumber and tiny homes—it’s exporting green lumber to other parts of Alaska and Outside. “The second revenue stream is a domestic export of local processed

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Bespoke Lumber Also putting roofs over heads in Southeast is the father-and-son-owned Tenakee Logging Company, a selective logging and milling operation. “We are custom millers,” says Gordon Chew, the father in the operation. “In other words, we don't have a lumber yard. So when we get an order… we cut that timber to any size they want.” Unlike Yakutat Mill & Lumber, which targets its milling operation to meet retail construction needs, Chew explains that his company relies on a w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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“We have our certification, our stamp, that basically allows us to sell lumber either to the state, to government, to tribes, or to the public—retail,” Adams explains, noting that tribes the company had initially approached indicated an interest in the lumber but said they couldn’t use federal dollars to purchase it unless the wood was certified. While greenwood comprises the majority of the board feet Yakutat Mill & Lumber produces, the company is also pushing forward with creating kiln-dried wood. Unlike greenwood, kiln-dried wood has had the moisture concentration taken down low enough to prevent it from shrinking with age, making it ideal for certain types of projects. “When you're getting into the finished wood, you really want to have kiln wood,” Adams says, though he points out that sitka spruce is particularly good greenwood for certain types of building. The company created its kiln, which can be used to dry about 3,000 board feet a week, using a converting kit with a refrigerated container, Adams explains. The kiln-dried wood is also certified. “The real surprise factor, for I think all of us, was the simplicity of getting kilned wood,” Adams says. “We always thought it was a huge, huge, big process that was just really expensive and challenging, but it's really not.” The company has plans to put in four more kilns. While Yakutat Mill & Lumber is looking to expand, it’s already met its primary goals in serving the community and Yak-Tat Kwaan village corporation shareholders, Adams says. The mill has created four full-time jobs and has already helped put roofs over heads.

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“In addition to dimensional green lumber, the community can also benefit from economical full dimensional cut, kiln dried local lumber. We envision low cost, locally produced dimensional lumber for homes and commercial buildings and apartment units.” Marvin Adams, CEO, Yak Timber

broad spectrum of end-user projects to be profitable. These include wood for ship repairs, outdoor decks, house construction, school projects, and high-end specialty pieces for artists, as well as tonewood for instruments. “We actually lose money logging; no one’s paying us to cut the trees,” Chew explains, noting that he and his son, Sterling, buy the trees in advance from the US Forest Service. “Then we go in and fall them, yard them after limbing them, put them on the log truck and bring them home, sorting them in the log sorting yard, and then sell the lumber.” About 75 percent of the yellow cedar Chew mills is for decking projects. Unlike trim, indoor flooring, or other finished wood projects, outdoor timber doesn’t need to go through a kilndrying process, Chew explains. Yellow cedar is a particularly popular choice for decking in Southeast Alaska because of its durability against rot. It’s also a favorite of shipwrights repairing boats in Alaska’s fishing fleet, Chew notes. Yellow cedar is a high value timber, but sitka spruce also has moments where it shines. Sitka spruce, especially

old growth, can provide a different type of high-end product: tonewood. Its nearly flawless vertical grain is used by major guitar manufacturers, as well as for other string instruments, Chew says. While Chew typically sells tonewood to guitar manufacturers, he has also found wood markets for other instrument crafters. “We sell our 2x2s to Native American flute builders,” Chew says. “It’s a thing and it’s pretty popular. They bore them out and then make flutes.” When Chew sees a piece of lumber of particular beauty or quality, he has the habit of setting it aside for artists, as well as musicians. “It's fun to supply timber to people who turn it into $1,200 pieces of art,” Chew says. While not all the lumber produced by Chew and his son are of the quality necessary for building instruments or art, Chew is certain that the boards they bring to market are of a higher quality— straighter, heavier, and with fewer defects—than the milled lumber found at any big box store. The commodity trade of the outside world has little impact on the company,

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which mostly sells to clients in Sitka and Juneau, Chew says. Nonetheless, the Tenakee Logging Company was able to raise its lumber prices before the lumber market turned bearish. “It probably would have impacted us if we were closer to markets, and if we were exporters,” Chew says about the spike in prices earlier in the year. While admitting to occasionally daydreaming of the windfall of profits that could come with an export business, Chew says that the kind of logging operation needed to make that happen doesn’t fit with his business model or value system. “We want to be a part of this for the long run and we want the planet to survive too,” Chew says. “We are in the largest temperate rain forest on the planet, and seven of the seventyseven intact watersheds in the Tongass National Forest are right out my window.” Two to three years ago, Tenakee Logging Company bought its f i r s t ro un d of se co n d - grow th tim b e r to m a r k e t . “The younger timber is new for us. It's like we don't have a market for it,” Chew

Heat-treated lumber from the Yak Timber kiln. Yak Timber

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“We actually lose

Yak Timber loads logs for milling at Yakutat Mill & Lumber. Yak Timber

money logging; no one’s paying us to cut the trees… Then we go in and fall them, yard them after limbing them, put them on the log truck and bring them home, sorting them in the log sorting yard, and then sell the lumber.” Gordon Chew, Co-owner Tenakee Logging Company

says. Nonetheless, he said he was impressed and pleased by the quality of the lumber coming from the younger growth as the company selectively harvests trees. “A lot of old-fashioned loggers, you know, they call me a hobby logger, and it’s sort of true because I’m not mass producing anything. I’m not sawing down the whole forest and laying it down,” Chew says. “But I am rebuilding my community; I am sitting in a beautiful waterfront home that I built with local timber.” Chew says he takes pride in seeing his lumber going to schools for students to learn carpentry and seeing other lumber he milled being used to create homes in remote communities, like the ones his son has built under the company name of Second Growth Homes.

And in Southcentral… Though looking to expand into dimensional lumber, like both Yak Timber and Tenakee Logging Company, Ron Wehrli of Eagle River Sawmill & Kiln 86 | November 2021

Aerial view of the sorting yard at Yak Timber. Yak Timber

Alaska Business

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currently specializes in epoxy resins and milling live-edge slabs. His local, service-disabled veteran owned business started in 2017 as a home-based retirement business turning pens, bottle stoppers, and a variety of wood art. That expanded when he found a birch burl that he loved. A woodworker for most of his life, Wehrli “whittled away at it” for a while before taking it to Parker Rittgers, the manager for Wood-Mizer Alaska, for advice on what to do. Rittgers cut slabs out of it. “I was pretty impressed,” Wehrli says. “I asked him about purchasing an LT28, and his story there was, ‘Well Ron, let me tell you something about buying a sawmill: It's a lot like building a shop. You get it all done, step back and look at it, and realize it’s already too small.’” Wehrli ended up purchasing the Wood-Mizer LT40 Wide and then set about building a kiln. “I'm specializing more in the liveedge sector,” Wehrli says, while noting that he is able to do some dimensional milling. Running the one-man operation, with friends helping out where they can, Wehrli says he can’t keep up with the orders. Nonetheless, he’s continued to expand his work and the tools he has, including importing a Lucas 72-inch dedicated slabber. The demand is primarily from people wanting live-edge tabletops, headboards, shelving, and custom countertops, Wehrli says. “The live edges, you know, it's been around for a long time, hundreds of years,” Wehrli says. “It has never really gone out of style.” Wehrli explains that he works with a lot of DIY woodworkers looking for lumber for projects and seeking advice on how to use epoxy. His voice brightens when he talks about the results: customers coming back to his shop and pulling out their phones to share a picture gallery of their project with him. “It's the caliber of people and their attitude, which is just awesome all the way around, that walk through the door,” Wehrli says. “It makes me feel good to see people building quality heirloom furniture right out of the gate.” 88 | November 2021

Yak Timber has already built six tiny homes and sold two of them; they cost about $30,000 to build. Yak Timber

Yakutat Mill & Lumber focuses on 2x4, 2x6, and 2x12 boards, those often associated with construction. Yak Timber

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Peter Pan Seafood I Co. Slices Off a Healthy Portion New ownership with a new vision By Isaac Stone Simonelli 90 | November 2021

Alaska Business

t was all hands on deck at the end of 2020 as new ownership took charge of the storied Peter Pan Seafoods company, now Peter Pan Seafood Co., preparing for their first season at the helm. “We had a great season. The new ownership group came in with a strong vision and made a lot of commitments, and we’ve done what we set out to do, despite the challenges that come with being in a pandemic,” says Peter Pan Seafood Co. vice president of operations Jon Hickman. “We’re excited to continue moving in the right direction and building on this first season.” w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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While Maruha Nichiro seemed to see only a sinking ship, McKinley Capital and its partners saw an opportunity to breathe new life into one of the oldest seafood companies in the state—and capitalize on an Alaska brand. “There is a ‘wild, sustainable’ perception of Alaska seafood that is worth a premium grade,” says Rob

Gillam, CEO and chief investment officer for McKinley Capital. “If you sell a fillet that doesn't go into those US markets and channels that support that premium, you're not going to get the premium.” Peter Pan Seafood Co. is now a vertically integrated seafood processing company with Northwest Fish, founded by entrepreneur Rodger May, as the international sales and marketing arm. As a vertically integrated company, Peter Pan Seafood Co. is more agile

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The Japanese seafood goliath Maruha Nichiro offloaded the flailing Peter Pan Seafoods last year—for a loss of nearly $28 million—to a joint venture between Rodger May of Northwest Fish; the Na’-Nuk Investment Fund, managed by McKinley Capital; and RRG Capital Management. Maruha Nichiro cited operating losses due to intensified competition, which led to soaring raw fish prices, as well as high costs due to poor catch and a drop in production. “The Company’s financial performance will not be expected to improve as the competition for raw fish materials is expected to intensify in the w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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future,” a Maruha Nichiro news release stated when it announced its move to sell the company.

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Peter Pan Seafood Co.’s processing facility in King Cove. Peter Pan Seafood Co.

Peter Pan Seafood Co.’s processing plan at Port Moller. Peter Pan Seafood Co.

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and able to adapt to market needs, Gillam says. From the onset, the management team of the company has been focused on value-added products. “The start for us was to redirect supply that had been going to a low-margin commoditized buyer to somebody who appreciates fresh,” Gillam says, pointing toward grocery stores as an example: the seafood footprint in US grocery stores is the fastest growing space. “That means that within the growth profile of grocery, seafood is growing the fastest. So there's more demand for wild, for fresh, for sustainably harvested,” Gillam says. “We want to take advantage of that. So that’s value added, rather than just sending it to any old buyer at any old price, especially in places where they don’t care about Alaska as a fishery.” Value-adding seafood means doing more than chopping off the head and gutting the fish, but it can be as straightforward as cutting the fillets or skinning those fillets and portioning them, Gillam says. He makes the argument that freshness is an added value because the fish has to be handled fast, kept cold, and moved far. At the height of the salmon harvest, Peter Pan Seafood Co. was running dozens upon dozens of C-130 plane loads of fresh fish from Bristol Bay to the Outside, Gillam notes. Hickman, who has been part of the seafood industry in Alaska since the ‘80s, sees the portioning of fillets as a big winner for Peter Pan Seafood Co. this year and into the future. “We're getting portions out into the market for retailers,” Hickman says. These include salmon portions, as well as cod, black cod, and halibut. “Part of this whole new Peter Pan thing was bringing Northwest Fish into the fold, and that’s Rodger May. That's his background. That is his forte. He knows what customers want. He knows it right now. He's been doing this all his life.” Gillam is also looking at more typical value-added products. These are the situations where processors ask: can it be sized differently, can it be marinated, can it be bagged and frozen, can it be canned?

N AT U R A L R E SO U RC E D E V E LO PM E N T SPEC I A L SEC T I O N Aerial view of Peter Pan Seafood Co.’s facilities at Sand Point. Peter Pan Seafood Co.

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The Community Fleet But to add value to a product, a seafood processing company needs to have a product. And, in the seafood industr y, that comes from the fleet. Prior to the takeover, Peter Pan Seafood Co.’s reputation among captains in the fleet was repor tedly faltering. “I think we're developing a pretty open relationship with our existing fleet and with our new fleet. We've grown our fleet by more than we

Peter Pan Seafood Co.

forecasted,” Gillam says, without going into specifics. Now listed among the company’s core values is the statement: “Our fleet is our family: We take great pride in our fleet and provide the best service and support possible.”

Hickman explains that it’s not just about taking care of their current fleet but also helping out other captains. “If you're a fisherman and you're not fishing for me and you're broken down and my guys are all taken care of, if I can help you out, we're going to help you out.” That mentality was missing from Peter Pan Seafood Co. the last few years, Hickman says; however, he’s confident that taking care of people in the communities the company operates in creates a foundation for the longterm growth of its fleet. The company, headquartered in Washington, runs

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plants in Dillingham, King Cove, Port Moller, and Valdez, along with support facilities in Naknek and Sand Point. “So one of the things that's important to us/me, as someone who grew up in and around the Bristol Bay region, is that, you know, you have an emphasis not just on the margin, which obviously going up the value add helps, but you have a focus on the fishermen, you have a focus on the resource itself—making sure that you're sustainably harvesting it—and the communities in which you do this,” Gillam says. “We at McKinley typically look for Alaska-themed investments that have a good risk return potential for investors. But they are not only Alaska themed, there's some other knock-on benefits. And we try to make thoughtful longterm investments.” In the case of Peter Pan Seafood Co., this comes back to investing in local communities while supporting sustainable harvesting practices. Hickman, who did a long stint working for Peter Pan Seafood Co. operations in King Cove years ago, says it's been rough to see what the community has been going through.

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“That's all-around demand,” Gillam says. “That's kind of our proprietary thinking… some of the fun stuff that we're going to do in the coming couple of years is in that category.” Hickman, clearly excited about the prospects of what Peter Pan Seafood Co. can do, is quick to point out that the company is only just getting started under the new management. “I think this is the tip of the iceberg,” Hickman says. “You’ve got to remember this is a first-year deal. This is out of the box. None of our plants had any capital improvements, and we still had a great year.”

N AT U R A L R E SO U RC E D E V E LO PM E N T SPEC I A L SEC T I O N Peter Pan Seafood Co.’s Valdez location. Peter Pan Seafood Co.

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N AT U R A L R E SO U RC E D E V E LO PM E N T SPEC I A L SEC T I O N Peter Pan Seafood Co.’s processing facilities in Dillingham. Peter Pan Seafood Co.

“I spent a lot of winters in King Cove. Good people, hardworking people,” Hickman says, pointing out how difficult it has been to watch them no longer thriving or competing in the market. “It was hard to see struggles in the community,” Hickman says. He made it clear that he was glad that he and Peter Pan Seafood Co. can be a part of turning things around in the community. Hickman points out that without the seafood processing plant up and running, jobs are few and far between in King Cove, as well as in Dillingham. “We need to focus an equivalent amount on being a good partner and being a good neighbor and being a good citizen of the community, as much as we do on actually running a seafood business,” Gillam says. While some of that investment is through job creation, there are other ways Peter Pan Seafood Co. is supporting local communities. This 98 | November 2021

year, the company donated more than 14,600 meals within Dillingham. Some of the salmon donated was used for cultural programs to teach people how to safely can and preserve the catch. Peter Pan Seafood Co. also got involved with the Bristol Bay Food Bank, donating 500 pounds of fish for their free community canning classes. “When it comes to community contributions, you’ve got to be strategic, and you can't give money to everything, but you need to be part of that,” Hickman says. “In King Cove, we put a sizable donation for helping purchase an ambulance.”

Good Business For Peter Pan Seafood Co., investing in communities also involves listening to communities. Gillam explains that the company has spent a lot of time on what they call “town halls.” These have been opportunities to collect feedback from communities, Alaska Business

employees, clients, and other stakeholders, Gillam says. Hickman points out that cooperation and respect are fundamental to Peter Pan Seafood Co.’s growth in the coming years. “People need to go into this realizing that every fisherman has a business plan, every community has a business plan,” Hickman says. “And if you look at those communities and say, ‘You know what, we don't care about your business. We only care about ours,’ that doesn't work.” The goal is to reinvigorate communities, to get people excited about working at the plants, excited about bringing fish to the plants, Hickman says. As part of this plan, the company made an early, mid-June, baseprice commitment for Bristol Bay sockeye salmon. “ We are checking the boxes and keeping our promises,” Hickman said in a release about the w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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Peter Pan Seafood Co. Vice President of Operations Jon Hickman, who spent “a lot” of winters working in King Cove, says it’s hard to see economic hardships in the community, and he looks forward to how Peter Pan Seafood Co. can help the community thrive again. Peter Pan Seafood Co.

commitment. “ This is the first time in many years that a major processor has posted a price this early in the season, with most waiting until the majority of the Bristol Bay harvest has been completed.” The company explained that the early base-price commitment of $1.10 per pound was made to “intentionally put the fleet at ease that they will receive a fair price for the long hours and hard work they are about to endure participating in the world’s largest sockeye fishery.” 100 | November 2021

Earlier in the year, Peter Pan Seafood Co. offered prices as high as $12.60 per pound for sockeye and $20 per pound for kings in the Copper River Flats Fishery. The company explained that it recognized that 2020 had been a difficult year for many Alaskans and hoped that setting the price early would help families better plan their finances for the year. “No disrespect to any other player, but our business model is to come in and participate in the resource and Alaska Business

participate in developing the return and keep some of the money and that profit here in the state,” Gillam says. Gillam makes no pretense about Peter Pan Seafood Co.’s plan to reorganize the players and the rules in the industry to better take care of the fleet, the company, and the communities. “ Truth is, it's a great business,” Gillam says. “It's a great business because we have something that the world wants: we have wild Alaskan salmon.” w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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ENG INEERING

En Route to Safer Roads in Alaska Education, enforcement, and engineering pave the way

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By Matt Jardin

rive to Seward or Homer for a weekend summer getaway enough times, and as sure as you are to witness the gorgeous Alaska scenery along the way, you’ll inevitably run into an hours-long delay caused by a head-on collision. Hopefully you really enjoy the view, because once caught in the wait, chances are you’ll be staring at it for a while. Traffic incidents such as these do not go unnoticed by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF). Every accident is analyzed and discussed with community leadership and law enforcement in an effort to minimize collisions that result in hospitalizations or fatalities.

The Three Es For the DOT&PF central region— which is home to 460,000 Alaskans 102 | November 2021

(65 percent of the state’s population) across the Municipality of Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Kenai Peninsula, Whittier, Dillingham, and Bethel—traffic safety begins with the three Es: education, enforcement, and engineering. The first E, education, begins as a conversation between the DOT&PF and community leadership like the Anchorage Assembly or Palmer or Wasilla City Councils. Since they collect their own data on traffic patterns, local governments can provide the DOT&PF with its most accurate look at what traffic concerns most affect the people who have to live with them. “We meet with communities and take suggestions,” says Scott Thomas, traffic and safety engineer for the DOT&PF central region. “It was in Bird or Indian where a resident suggested that we update the reflectors on Alaska Business

Turnagain Arm. Now you’ll notice on all our guardrails in these corridors there are bright reflectors that show up at night. That was a suggestion that’s now a standard for us.” Enforcement, the second E, is exactly what it sounds like: relying on local law enforcement officials to reinforce safe driving. This is especially helpful in mitigating traffic accidents during the time it takes for an engineering solution to go from conception to completion. For good measure, all incidents, from minor speeding infractions to major car crashes, are also reported to the DOT&PF, further increasing the pool of data it has available to improve safety down the road. “Goal zero is we want safer roads for everybody—to stop fatalities, cut back on collisions, and decrease the number of serious injuries,” says Sergeant David w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

“Absolutely everything we do has to be durable. Our state dollars that fund maintenance are so tight that we can't decide to do a great idea that's going to take a lot of time and resources to run because that wouldn't get other

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important things done, like snow removal.” Shannon McCarthy, Spokesperson, DOT&PF

Noll, Traffic Unit supervisor for the Anchorage Police Department (APD). “When [the DOT&PF] takes engineering or design or speed limit changes into effect—and they're doing that based on data we provide them—we definitely see a change in collision patterns.” A prime example of this relationship in action occurred after the approval of SB261. Passed in 2006 by the Alaska Legislature at the request of then-Governor Frank Murkowski, the bill tasked the DOT&PF with finding new education, enforcement, and engineering solutions to known traffic and infrastructure issues based on onthe-ground reporting from the APD, w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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“We meet with communities and take suggestions… It was in Bird or Indian where a resident suggested that we update the reflectors on Turnagain Arm. Now you’ll notice on all our guardrails in these corridors there are bright reflectors that show up at night. That was a suggestion that’s now a standard for us.” Scott Thomas Traffic and Safety Engineer DOT&PF

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which resulted in the addition of new speed signs, speed stencils, rumble strips, reflectors, turn lanes, passing lanes, and more.

Corridors to Communities All traffic in the DOT&PF central region is considered in one of two categories: rural and urban. The rural category includes what the DOT refers to as the four safety corridors: the Seward Highway on the Turnagain Arm, the Sterling Highway east of Soldotna, and the Parks Highway and Knik Goose Bay Road outbound from Wasilla. Originally, all four of these two-lane highways were able to adequately accommodate traffic, from daily commuters to commercial drivers and anyone escaping town to fish, camp, or hike. However, with population growth over the years, traffic has drastically outgrown the safety corridors’ original capacities. For example, the Parks Highway between Wasilla and Big Lake carried 20,000 cars per day a decade ago, according to the DOT & PF, and will carry double that number a decade from now. “When you have this type of congestion, people start to make choices that they normally wouldn't,” says Shannon McCarthy, spokesperson for the DOT&PF central region. “Normally they might wait for a bigger gap before they make a turn. Then there’s speeding, distracted driving or, heaven forbid, someone who is intoxicated. A lot of things can happen.” On these safety corridors, the primary objective is to minimize headon and multi-vehicle collisions that immobilize traffic or result in fatalities or hospitalizations. The most consistent way to accomplish such a goal has been to widen two-lane highways to four lanes and construct a median down the center. During the average turnaround of seven to ten years for major engineering solutions, the DOT&PF employs a variety of reliable short-term fixes, which include widening shoulders to increase visibility and pullover space, creating turn lanes to eliminate rearend collisions, and laying down rumble strips to reduce run-off-the-road crashes, all of which have reduced fatal or hospitalizing collisions, according to the DOT&PF. Alaska Business

Urban Balancing Act The second traffic category, urban traffic, has many more factors, accounting for not only driver-todriver collisions but also collisions with pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and, to a lesser extent, moose (which, despite being a common concern among Alaska drivers, only factor into 5 percent of reported collisions, with 2 percent resulting in serious injury between 2013 to 2017). For solutions to these urban traffic safety concerns, the DOT&PF has looked to the Lower 48 for inspiration. While many of the strategies employed nationally have proven to be effective, such as variable speed zones and zipper merging, not all would be a good fit in Alaska. Implementing those would require the DOT&PF to maintain a 24/7 operations center, which is not a viable option in Alaska. According to the department, durability is the operative word. “Absolutely everything we do has to be durable,” says McCarthy. “Our state dollars that fund maintenance are so tight that we can't decide to do a great idea that's going to take a lot of time and resources to run because that wouldn't get other important things done, like snow removal.” But some ideas have been implemented. One urban traffic safety solution that made the jump from the Lower 48 led to reconstructing the intersection at Lake Otis Parkway and East Tudor Road in Anchorage to have a smaller box zone with pedestrian islands, which forces turning drivers to slow down and results in fewer pedestrian collisions. And just about a mile away, roundabouts off the Seward Highway onto Dowling Road have, according to the DOT & PF, reliably decreased traffic congestion. More recently, the diverging diamond interchange on Muldoon Road has juggled north- and southbound lanes to minimize conflict points on the way to and from the busy Tikahtnu Commons shopping area while also reducing congestion on and off the Glenn Highway. All these solutions have been so successful at either reducing traffic collisions or providing valuable insights, according to the DOT & PF, that some of them are being expanded. The existing w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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roundabouts at Seward Highway and Dowling will be widened to allow for more vehicle passthrough, and the smaller box zone template at East Tudor and Lake Otis will make its way west to Tudor and C Street. West Tudor Road will also be the site for an upgraded safety solution: LED sidewalk lighting, which should double the visibility of the current sidewalk lighting without additional cost. The DOT & PF estimates the increased lighting can reduce pedestrian collisions by 25 percent, especially during the darkest months of fall and winter.

Driving Down Incidents It’s certainly a challenge to continuously monitor and maintain traffic safety amidst constantly shifting vehicular trends, but the realities of data collection also have an effect on how quickly road-related solutions can be implemented. Data need to be collected over time and then analyzed and processed to provide responsible agencies with actionable information. Point of fact, much of the DOT&PF’s current traffic data is from 2013 to 2017. This lag time can require a bit of

anticipatory speculation on the part of engineers. But according to McCarthy, predicting human behavior is part of the job. Roadway engineers take great steps to ensure that all drivers—whether they’re not fully caffeinated, distracted by children in the back seat, or simply lost in thought—have the widest range of visibility and information to remain alert and safe. While engineers anticipate the behavior of drivers, drivers generally react in the moment to road conditions they find unacceptable or inconvenient without much thought for why those conditions may exist. Communication with the public is essential as the DOT&PF works to manage expectations. For example, at a basic level, many drivers don’t know what agency— state, federal, or local government—is responsible for road maintenance. In actuality, the funding source can result in wildly different project stipulations, environmental considerations, and turnaround times. “We integrate with other municipalities, boroughs, and service area districts, and their practices can be different,” says Wolfgang Junge, director

for the DOT & PF central region. “You can build an expectation that the city will clear the sidewalk, but when you get to the DOT’s chunk of road, maybe it's a different expectation. We try to coordinate as closely as we can, but in reality, the different types of streets bring with it a different set of methodologies. So managing public expectations is a challenge because most people don't really see the difference.” Despite these challenges, fatalities and hospitalizations caused by traffic collisions in Alaska are trending down overall, both in rural and urban categories. Looking ahead, with bids going out at the beginning of 2022 to convert the aforementioned safety corridors into four-lane divided highways, the DOT&PF is confident that it will soon hit an important milestone to bring Alaska collisions down to the national average. “We’re having fewer crashes per driver per mile,” says Thomas, the central region engineer. “Our biggest goal is to hold this long-term trend and close in on the national average. We've come close a few times, but eventually we’ll beat it.”

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TO U RISM

Authentic Alaska Alaska Native Heritage Center

Cultural tourism creates a “pure real” experience for visitors By Amy Newman

n the waters surrounding Hoonah, the small Tlingit village located on Chichagof Island west of Juneau, fishermen used to watch cruise ships sail by, carrying thousands of visitors in and out of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. As the same scene unfolded each summer, it planted the seed for what would eventually become Icy Strait Point, Alaska’s only Native-owned and operated port of call. “For many years, people would be in their fishing boats and watch as tourists came to visit the homeland but

108 | November 2021

weren’t really experiencing the home of the Hoonah people,” says Mickey Richardson, director of marketing for Huna Totem Corporation, which owns and operates Icy Strait Point. “And so, it was kind of like, ‘Why are they going to visit our homelands and not coming to visit us?’ is really where the idea started.” It’s an idea that has taken root across the state. As tourists show a growing interest in gaining a deeper understanding of the people and places they're visiting, tribal Alaska Business

organizations and tour operators have begun offering an increasing variety of activities to accommodate that demand. And that makes cultural tourism a big part of Alaska's overall tourism industry. According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association’s 2019 Alaska Tourism Economics Fact Sheet, 39 percent of visitors participate in cultural activities, which encompasses more than sixty museums and cultural centers around the state, making it the third most popular visitor activity, w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

tied with day cruises. A 2017 report prepared by McDowell Group found that 12 percent of visitors specifically participated in one or more Native cultural activities or tours, spending an average of $997 per visitor. Richardson believes that the interest in cultural tourism springboards off ecotourism and its focus on responsible, sustainable travel. The real draw for tourists, he says, isn’t the tour itself, but rather the authenticity it lends to their travels. “People are just hungry for what I like to refer to as ‘pure real,’” he explains. “It’s more about engaging in the local culture. They just want authentic experiences; that’s what people are just craving.” Falen Mills of Kake Tribal Tourism in Southeast Alaska understands the sentiment. “I know when I travel, that’s what I go for,” she says. “I look for people who have lived there all their lives; I want to know more about it.”

Exploring and Perpetuating Alaska Native Culture Alaska's cultural tourism industry is borne from a desire to ensure that the state’s full history, which began “10,000 years ago, not when they struck oil,” is preserved and shared, says Emily Edenshaw, president and CEO of the Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) in Anchorage. “Alaska always has been and always will be a Native place,” she says. “Cultural tourism is really an avenue for Native people to preserve and to perpetuate our culture while sharing it with the world.” That simultaneous desire to provide a full portrait of Alaska’s indigenous cultures and share them with visitors raises the question: are cultural activities created specifically to draw tourists in, or are tourists attracted to them because they already existed? The answer is a bit of both. ANHC lets visitors experience Alaska’s five major indigenous groups through artist demonstrations, exhibits, and artifacts housed in the Hall of Cultures; authentic, life-sized Native dwellings erected around Lake Tiulana (a small body of water on the property); and traditional dancing, drumming, storytelling, and other w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

“People are just hungry for what I like to refer to as ‘pure real.’ It’s more about engaging in the local culture. They just want authentic experiences; that’s what people are just craving.” Mickey Richardson, Director of Marketing, Huna Totem Corporation

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Sitka Tribal Tours offers wildlife and rainforest tours as well as storytelling and dance demonstrations at its cultural center. Sitka Tribe

demonstrations performed at The Gathering Place. It is arguably one of Alaska's most well-known and, with more than 100,000 visitors each year, most visited cultural centers. But when Alaska Federation of Natives passed a resolution in 1987 calling for its creation, its purpose was to create a “safe place for [Alaska

Natives] to come together and be in community in a healing place,” Edenshaw says. “It wasn’t created to attract tourists.” The tourism aspect, she says, is just a small part of ANHC’s overall mission, which is to perpetuate and revitalize the Alaska Native culture and support the population,

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whether through language programs, culture clubs, outreach, or entrepreneurship classes and support for Alaska Native artists. The same is true of the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s (SHI) Walter Soboleff Building, which opened in downtown Juneau in 2015. Designed to serve as a cultural and research center to promote Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian heritage and promote cross-cultural understanding, the draw for tourists is a secondary benefit. “We knew we wanted guests to come here and learn, but I don’t know that we understood the level of demand,” says Ricardo Worl, SHI’s marketing and development director. “Cultural tourism is part of our mission, but it’s probably a lower priority.” For other organizations, attracting tourists was intentional from the start. Kake Tribal Tourism was the first to begin offering cultural tours in the early ‘90s, Mills says. Sitka Tribal Tours offered its first tour in 1994 after its director questioned why cultural opportunities were lacking and worked to create them, says Dale Lindstrom, tribal tours manager.

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“We want to tell our stories,” Lindstrom says of the rationale for offering cultural tours. “We don’t want someone else telling our story.” With more than one-third of Alaska's tourists seeking cultural attractions, cultural tourism makes economic sense as well, providing a financial boost to local economies through an infusion of tourist dollars and seasonal jobs. “We’re putting our community members to work and providing economic growth to the community,” Lindstrom says. “All of my staff are either Tlingit themselves or they were born and raised here in Sitka and they are from another Native entity here in Southeast.” In Hoonah, Icy Strait Point creates more than 260 jobs each season, roughly 80 percent of which are local and Alaska Native hires and, one year, almost every high school student, which Huna Totem Corporation president and CEO Russell Dick considers “a significant point of pride.” ANHC’s Edenshaw says supporting cultural tourism and, for non-Native tour operators, partnering with Native organizations not only makes

business sense but—from an ethical standpoint—ensures that depictions of Alaska are accurate. “Why wouldn’t you want to do it?” she says. “Not only is it the right thing to do, but it’s better for business. There’s so much research out there that shows when people experience cultural tourism, they stay longer, and they spend more money.”

Activities Inspired by Culture Tourists have numerous cultural tours and activity options available, from traditional museum displays and cultural demonstrations to typical Alaska adventure activities, like wildlife viewing or guided hikes, that tour operators imbue with Alaska Native history. Icy Strait Point is centered around the restored salmon cannery, which Huna Totem acquired in 1996, and houses a museum, arts and crafts displays, and restaurants. In addition to Alaska Native dance performances and other demonstrations, Icy Strait Point offers typical Alaska adventures, like bear viewing, whale watching, and a 5,330-foot-long zip line. Though

the latter wouldn’t be considered traditional Native activities, each carries a cultural perspective. “All of our development is built around Native values; it’s about wilderness, it’s about the environment, it’s about who we are, with a little bit of excitement as well,” Richardson says. “Every tour that we run has some Native cultural element built into it. Whale watching, ziplining, kayaking, there’s always a story that’s built into that activity.” Visitors to the Walter Soboleff Building—its design is inspired by a traditional Tlingit tribal house and includes art that symbolizes the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people—can take a 40-minute tour and view artifacts and artwork depicting the tribes’ culture and history, Worl says. Sealaska also hosts traditional ceremonies and is expanding the building to include an arts campus that will allow it to host demonstrations and an outdoor art market. Visitors to Kake typically watch a carving or weaving demonstration, hear guides share Tlingit legends at the village’s two totem poles, and watch a dance performance before joining a wildlife viewing or hiking tour. Guides

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also board the boats, which carry fewer travelers than the ships that visit larger ports of call, to welcome their arrival and talk to visitors. “Sometimes they want to know all about the language, sometimes they want to see demonstrations, sometimes they want to flat out know what it’s like to live in Southeast Alaska,” Mills says. Small, subtle details and personal accounts lend richness and authenticity to tours and give guests a glimpse into what life was like—and still is like for Alaska Natives. At Sitka Tribal Tours, regalia is woven into staff uniforms, and guides share tidbits about Sitka’s history and offer Tlingit place names on hikes and bus rides, while Native dancers often greet tourists disembarking at Icy Strait Point. And guides are encouraged to share their stories, which can turn any activity, from a bus ride to a hike, into an opportunity to teach about Alaska Native history, values, and culture. “We encourage every employee out there, even our facility folks, to engage with guests and share a part of who they are and their own story,” Dick says. “We’re not going to script anything. It’s personal to them, how they interpret their culture. And that’s a real experience, and [guests] are taking a real piece of somebody home with them. That’s where it becomes real and authentic.” Mills agrees that personal stories have the greatest impact. “The stories that I tell for the most part are my personal stories from growing up, putting up subsistence food with my mother and grandmother, and now my kids are doing it,” Mills explains. “That’s what I think makes it feel genuine.” Even tour companies that don’t specifically offer cultural activities are incorporating Alaska Native culture into their tours. Worl says there has been a “growing demand” in recent years from small tour operators asking for Tlingit place names to use throughout their tours, so Sealaska is “working on creating sort of a cheat sheet that any tour operator can have for their guests to look at for Tlingit vocabulary.”

Traditional Tlingit drummers greet cruise ship visitors at Icy Strait Point, the only Alaska Native owned and operated port in the state. Huna Totem Corporation

Alaska Native Games participants demonstrate the Eskimo Stick Pull at the Alaska Native Heritage Center’s The Gathering Place. Alaska Native Heritage Center

The Gathering Place at the Alaska Native Heritage Center offers visitors a chance to watch traditional Native activities, such as the one-hand reach. Alaska Native Heritage Center

Native Values in Mind Discussions about cultural appropriation, exploitation, and who is entitled to share indigenous stories 112 | November 2021

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have become more prominent in recent years. Native organizations are not immune to these discussions. Lindstrom says these are internal conversations that Sitka Tribal Tours has before offering any new activities to ensure that everything offered is done “appropriately, respectfully, and that we’re following our cultural protocols.” Edenshaw says ANHC consults with cultural advisory committees before displaying artifacts or creating exhibits to ensure the historical aspects are accurate and that they are not sharing sacred artifacts the tribe doesn’t want to be displayed. When conversations for Icy Strait Point first began, Richardson says the cruise line’s initial approach was to “build it out sort of like a Disneyland.” But Huna Totem was firm in its resolve to not go that route. “If we’re going to build something like this, it’s going to be with our own Native values in mind and in a very authentic way,” he says. “What we want is for people to come visit Hoonah in our homeland and walk away and talk about who we are as Native people, what our culture is, what our heritage is.” What keeps tours and activities of fered by Native groups from being exploitative, Lindstrom says, is the ownership. “For us, everything that we do, we own,” he explains. The traditional Tlingit Clan House where the Naa Kahidi dancers perform, the tour buses, even the content of Sitka Tribal Tours are created and owned by the tribe. “And so, there’s really no exploitation of the Tlingit tribe from somebody who is not of Tlingit descent or Native descent.” Collectively, cultural tourism activities, in whatever form, offer tourists a fuller and more complete understanding of Alaska and its people. “The Tlingit people have been here as long as these trees and these bears, and we’re part of the human ecology,” Worl says. “We view ourselves as part of the land, the same as the animals.” Edenshaw agrees. “I live in a state where there are more than twenty Native languages,” Edenshaw says. “There’s a rich community to be proud of. It’s not just glaciers and brown bears and mountains. There’s history right in your backyard." 114 | November 2021

By encouraging guides to share their personal stories, Icy Strait Point ensures that guests learn about Alaska Native culture and values even when participating in activities like its ziprider, the longest and tallest in the world. Huna Totem Corporation

Guides at Icy Strait Point are encouraged to share their personal stories, turning even a bus ride or the zipline into a cultural experience. Huna Totem Corporation

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NO NP RO F IT

Transparency and Communication

How Cook Inlet Tribal Council puts people first By Tasha Anderson

ook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) is all about people: its employees, its clients, its community. So it’s no surprise that the organization was recognized by our readers in our annual July Best of Alaska Business (BOAB) awards in two categories: Best Place to Work 250+ Employees and Best COVID-19 Response. According to one BOAB survey respondent, “CITC remained open for services throughout the pandemic as a critical service for some of Anchorage’s most in-need people. They staggered appointments with on-site presence as needed and used all of the available technology to keep operations fluid… CITC was hit hard by both the earthquake and the pandemic; however, their value of resilience really shined through for their employees.” Many, many others wrote in as part of the BOAB survey process to report how CITC puts people first every day—and in any crisis. This directly exemplifies CITC’s mission, which is “To work in partnership with our people to

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develop opportunities that fulfill our endless potential.” CITC is a large organization with a wide array of services that it provides to people throughout the community. The nature of the nonprofit’s mission connects it with people during times of transition or crisis, as it provides child and family services, youth empowerment services, employment and training, leadership and workforce development, and substance misuse recovery services. CITC has five core values that guide decision-making as it develops and implements programs and partnerships: being interdependent, resilient, accountable, respectful, and humorous. “One of our newest values that we’ve added is humor,” says President and CEO Gloria O’Neill. “We walk alongside our participants, and many days we see stories of both challenge and triumph. In some of that challenge, we need humor: How do we take moments to have humor, sometimes, in the most serious conversations that we may have with people?” Alaska Business

The Earthquake For the last half decade in Alaska, a sense of humor has been vital for everyone as the state has worked through a recession, a massive earthquake, and a global pandemic. Compared to the unexpectedness, novelty, and global scope of the pandemic, in retrospect the November 2018 earthquake in Southcentral feels almost commonplace. And for many, they fortunately saw little damage or disruption to their lives outside of the short-term shock and the need to share “Where I was” stories for a few months. But for CITC the earthquake had a much more significant effect. “We knew within an hour of that earthquake that we would not be able to inhabit our building,” says O’Neill. A December 2018 CITC release stated: “Initial assessments reveal the building is structurally sound but severely damaged and currently deemed unsafe for public traffic.” O’Neill recalls, “Immediately, we had to think about moving our 250 employees out of our home, find space, w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

set up the accounting department so we could get employees their paychecks the following week—and we had TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] benefits that had to be paid within 48 hours. We had to take care of people who relied on us for their basic needs in addition to all of our other programs.” It was “a huge lift,” she says, to move 250 employees to new locations (along with office equipment, furniture, or supplies), which CITC accomplished within approximately three weeks to once again be fully operational. “We created the technology that was needed to connect with people, like phone trees that let us connect with participants. We had to strategically organize because our 250 employees went to different locations throughout Anchorage,” O’Neill says. It wasn’t until December 2019 that CITC was able to start up operations in its building. “Flash forward to early March—a pandemic!” O’Neill laughs. “We said: Ok. Let’s take a deep breath, but we can do this, we have the ability to move quickly.”

The Pandemic The COVID-19 crisis loomed for some time before crashing down on Alaska, but even with some notice, it was impossible to anticipate the challenges it would deliver. But for CITC, the question wasn’t if to continue services, but how. “We decided right away, being a critical infrastructure organization, that we needed to keep our doors open,” O’Neill reports. “We serve people in crisis and the most vulnerable, and not everybody has access to technology or even to a phone to call us.” Instead of building barriers between employees and clients, CITC immediately focused on how to operate safely while retaining communication and relationships. “We moved quickly to put safety protocols in place.” Within two weeks, cleaning processes were established, and personnel that could be transitioned to work away from the building were working from home offices. However, because of the nature of the services CITC provides, not everyone could work from home. “What leadership said,” O’Neill explains, w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

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“is, if we’re going to ask some of our frontline staff to show up and provide that direct service to people who have no other means of connecting with us, leadership is going to show up.” The leadership team at CITC determined to work from the building along with frontline staff. “We weren’t afraid, we just weren’t afraid,” she says. “We’re called to this mission, this mission is in our heart, and this is when we do our best work, in crisis. We learned that through the earthquake, and we learned that through COVID.”

Pandemic Programs

CITC knew from early in the pandemic that it couldn't eliminate all face-to-face interactions, so it developed plans to socially distance when possible and follow specific safety protocols in all other situations. Cook Inlet Tribal Council

CITC's FabLab, a digital fabrication resource center for workforce training and development with high-tech design programs, industrial grade manufacturing machines, and programming tools. Cook Inlet Tribal Council

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According to CITC Chief Operating Officer LeeAnn Garrick, the organization’s pandemic response involved “small things and big things” to meet the needs of the people it serves. “We made sure that somebody was here to answer calls; we had our mail drop open; we made sure forms were available for folks; we didn't miss any general assistance payments, childcare payments, or any of those things; we communicated back out to our participants to make sure they knew, ‘The rest of the world is sort of on fire, but we've got you.’ We did a lot of outreach with our participants to make sure that they were okay… we made sure that our elders who were alone had a way to connect with us and had what they needed.” CITC scheduled two large food drops at the Clare Swan Early Learning Center where people could drive up and “we filled the back of their vehicles with food,” Garrick says. The nonprofit followed that up with a recipe and online cooking show to help those who were perhaps unused to cooking at home or just needed fresh ideas. CITC also made sure to have a presence at the congregate shelter established at the Sullivan Arena. “We went down there and realized, ‘This is right where we need to be.’” CITC made sure to be there, helping people find employment or temporary housing. “We worked really close with the Muni[cipality of Anchorage] on some rapid rehousing work for about fourteen months,” Garrick recalls. They had employees on site that could help people get IDs or related documentation, and CITC also placed w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

its recovery team on site to help anyone struggling with addiction. Last summer, CITC launched even more programs and services to address the shifting conditions of the pandemic. “We did over 8,000 hours of tutoring for students, both virtual and in-person,” Garrick says. “Some students don't have families where the structure's really stable, so we offered to have them come in—everybody's wearing a mask, and distanced, and all those sorts of things—but it was important to us to make sure those students had someone to help them with their homework, that they got a snack… There were several that had situations going on in their family around the pandemic in unemployment, family violence, things like that, that it was really important to us to make sure that they had a safe place to go.” O’Neill adds, “When the vaccines came out, we did an amazing amount of education: we hired a COVID-19 public health manager, and his only job was to do that. We brought mobile vaccination clinics on-site, and we worked with SCF [Southcentral Foundation] to provide our non-Native staff the opportunity to

get vaccinated.” According to Chief Administrative Officer Tabetha Toloff, some pandemicinspired programs and initiatives will live on at CITC after the pandemic has been put to rest. For example, “One of the things that we did—that we're going to keep doing—was we acquired a virtual job fair platform,” she says. “We hosted several citywide job fairs throughout the year and successfully connected a number of people to new careers.” Across industries, finding qualified employees is a major concern, and job fairs like CITC’s benefit employees and employers alike. “We're keeping abreast of the different trends related to recruitment, employee development, and retention across the State of Alaska and the Lower 48. We are experiencing the same workforce challenges that other organizations are,” Toloff says.

Family of Employees Throughout the pandemic, CITC also launched programs and initiatives specifically to support its own staff. “When school started up, we had a lot of employees who were struggling to juggle work and helping their kids

with the schools’ online system,” Toloff says. “With LeeAnn’s team, we set up computer labs with onsite tutors, and employees were able to bring their school-aged children to work. “They were very structured tutoring sessions,” she continues. “So employees could actually come to work knowing that their kids were in a safe place and being productive.” O’Neill, recognizing the mental toll that the pandemic was taking on everyone, gave every employee, including those working remote from home, a thirty-minute wellness break during the day to get up and move about, reset, or get fresh air. “I really encouraged staff to be mindful about their mental health and created support for our staff whenever they needed that,” she says. CITC’s attention to their employees’ needs has been heightened over the last two years as the pandemic has added pressures across the board, but their quest to support their people began long before the first news of a novel coronavirus. Toloff says more than five years ago CITC was rewriting its sustainability plan

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with a “huge focus” on employees. “We focused on work-life balance, training and development, and compensation and benefits,” she says. “One of the things we did was extend a four-week paid sabbatical to employees after five years of service.” In many ways CITC’s mission is to care, and it’s important for employees to feel that mission in order to convey that caring on to the people they serve. So how does the organization make sure every employee feels—and participates in—that culture of care? According to O’Neill, it’s through “transparency and communication: communicating to our employees how much we value their connection to the mission, their heart, their passion, their dedication, and overall commitment to what they do.”

The Mission

Because of the November 2018 earthquake, CITC already had experience with quickly building new lines of communication, which helped it adapt when the pandemic began to affect its operations. Cook Inlet Tribal Council

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The people-first approach at CITC is found in the company’s leadership, including the board. “Our board is amazing,” O’Neill says. “The tribal leadership on our board is very thoughtful, they're forward thinking, they're extremely supportive, and that was important to how we were able to respond to both the earthquake and COVID.” She’s also proud of CITC’s employees, which she describes as “an incredible team of dedicated staff.” “I'm proud that, when COVID was first named a pandemic, as one of our first priorities, we raised money for a participant emergency fund for people who had nothing,” O’Neill says. “We didn't know what federal or local government support might look like, so we raised money from our partners across the community to be there for our people.” Even as the pandemic continues to create unanticipated circumstances month after month, O’Neill is confident in her team and hopeful for Alaska’s future. “Our mission is all about the potential of people; we are glass-is-half-full people,” she laughs. “I was reminded today, as things are shifting so rapidly, that we need to continue to listen, both with an open mind and an open heart, and not feel like we have to have all the answers. What we have to do is stand solidly in our mission.” w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

United Way of Anchorage 1pg

Giving back is about more than money. “It’s about making meaningful connections with our neighbors and creating positive change in the communities where we live and work. At ConocoPhillips Alaska, we make it a priority to lend our time and talent to those in need—especially in times of crisis. UNITE with us and United Way of Anchorage to move our community from surviving to THRIVING.”

Erec S. Isaacson, President ConocoPhillips Alaska w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

Alaska Business

United Way of Anchorage

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INSIDE AL ASK Ravn Alaska The new venture for out-of-state air travel by Ravn Alaska’s sister brand is beginning to take off. Northern Pacific Airways has purchased its first Boeing 757, plus another five in various stages of acquisition, with the goal of connecting Anchorage to the Lower 48 and Asia sometime next year. The new service would include routes to Orlando, Florida, as well as to Tokyo, Japan and Seoul, South Korea from the disused North Terminal at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. ravnalaska.com

Usibelli Coal Mine Usibelli Coal Mine fulfilled a fortyyear promise to restore an open pit at the Poker Flats area near Healy. According to the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), a final inspection this summer determined that reclamation of the 367-acre site was complete. The process involved refilling the original land contour and then waiting ten years for new vegetation to take root. DNR releases the last $411,000 of the $2.5 million bond that Usibelli posted in the ‘80s when it began extracting 25 million tons of coal. usibelli.com

Nuvision’s mortgage department and include a drive-through facility, the first for Nuvision in the Valley. nuvisionfederal.com

Corps of Engineers A Florida-based firm gets to build a mega-project near North Pole. The US Army Corps of Engineers– Alaska District awarded a $36 million contract to Bauer Foundation Corporation. The Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project is no ordinary foundation, though, entailing an eight-mile-long earthen dam with a 6,200 linear feet concrete barrier wall to prevent erosion of the Moose Creek Dam, which regulates the flow of the Chena River through Fairbanks. The estimated $148 million project is scheduled to begin next spring and take two years to complete. The Corps’ Alaska District describes it as its largest civil works project in thirty years. bauerfoundations.com

Astra Space

Nuvision Nuvision Alaska Credit Union broke ground on its first standalone retail store in Wasilla. Located in the Shoppes at Sun Mountain commercial district, uphill from Cottonwood Creek, the branch is scheduled to open in 2022. The branch will house

EC O

A B U

The Alaska Aerospace Corporation’s first commercial customer is hoping to halve its bad luck, rather than double it, by pairing with a similarly struggling rocket launch rival. California-based Astra Space signed a $30 million deal to build engines for Texas-based Firefly, using Firefly’s proprietary “Reaver” design, according to documents reported by The Verge. In August, Astra Space’s Rocket 3.3 skidded sideways off the pad at Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak Island and failed to reach orbit. A week later, Firefly’s first orbital

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SINESS test failed shortly after launch from California. astra.com | firefly.com

Coinme The virtual world of cryptocurrency is coming to the real world of Alaska supermarkets. Selected Carrs-Safeway stores in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau will host fifteen self-service kiosks that let shoppers purchase bitcoin for cash. The kiosks are like those that sort loose change, but now operator Coinstar is partnering with Coinme, the largest licensed cryptocurrency cash exchange in the United States. Transactions require an account with Coinme using its app, as well as paper money only; the machines do not accept metal coins for that purpose. coinme.com | coinstar.com

MOA “I want to see an Anchorage with new cranes in the sky,” says the municipality’s new mayor, Dave Bronson. To help realize that vision, Bronson named an Economic Revitalization and Diversification Advisory Committee. Among the dozen members are state Commerce Commissioner Julie Anderson, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport manager Jim Szczesniak, Anchorage Economic Development Corporation president Bill Popp, GCI senior vice president Paul Landes, and Dimond Center owner Hugh Ashlock. The panel’s first report is due in January. muni.org

ATO

ANS Crude Oil Production 485,829 barrels 6% change from previous month

ANS West Coast Crude Oil Prices $78.78 per barrel 9% change from previous month

Statewide Employment 349,300 Labor Force  6.6% Unemployment

9/29/21 Source: Alaska Department of Natural Resources

9/30/21 Source: Alaska Department of Natural Resources

8/1/21. Adjusted seasonally. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

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RIG DOT&PF  A new cabinet commissioner is in charge of the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF). Governor Anderson Mike Dunleavy appointed Ryan Anderson to the job, replacing John MacKinnon, who had been commissioner since December 2018. Anderson, a twentyyear veteran of the department, previously oversaw DOT&PF’s Northern Region. He has a bachelor’s degree in geological engineering from UAF.

ACDA  He challenged, then endorsed, Dave Bronson in the race for mayor of Anchorage in April, and now Mike Robbins is working Robbins within the new administration. Robbins has been hired by the Anchorage Community Development Authority (ACDA) board of directors as its new Executive Director. He replaces Andrew Halcro, who resigned in March. A longtime local business owner himself, Robbins will oversee ACDA’s mission of economic revitalization, financial stability, and supporting development projects. “I have the utmost confidence in Mike Robbins to aggressively pursue economic expansion and diversification for our city,” says Mayor Bronson.

NOAA Fisheries  NOAA Fisheries announced its hire of Bael Baldwin-Schaeffer as a new Tribal Research Coordinator in Anchorage. She joins the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s

T M

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Communications Program to foster relationships with subsistence communities and fishing. Baldwin-Schaeffer has both a science background—a bachelor’s degree in sustainability studies and a master’s in environmental science from APU—as well as ties to local communities. In BaldwinSchaeffer her previous work, she led a collaborative study examining offshore gold mining and effects on structural habitat for juvenile red king crab in Norton Sound.

Sitnasuak Financial Services  Sitnasuak Financial Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nome-based Sitnasuak Native Corporation, hired Sharon K. Elliott as President, Elliott overseeing the operations of both Fidelity Title Agency of Alaska and MatSu Title Agency. Elliott’s diverse financial background in Alaska and Washington state includes eighteen years in real estate, loan origination, and title and escrow closing. Most recently, Elliott was founder and president of Alaska Exchange Corporation, now Alaska Exchange Company, which opened in Anchorage in 1993.

KeyBank KeyBank is making moves in its Alaska commercial division.  Tracy Morris has been promoted to the division’s Senior Vice President, where she works with large corporate businesses. Morris began her banking career more than eighteen years ago on the retail side while attending UAA, where she studied

business management as a student-athlete. Morris sits on the advisory board for Providence Hospital.  KeyBank also brought in Morris Jake Askren as Commercial Analyst. He brings more than twenty years of experience as a small business banking specialist. In this role, he assists the commercial bank unit in approving loans by analyzing Askren financial statements to determine credit worthiness and identify known and unknown risks. Most recently he served as branch manager at the Benson branch.

Tlingit and Haida  The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska brought aboard Misty Browne as Manager of the 477 Temporary Assistance Browne for Needy Families (TANF) department. Browne oversees daily management of the TANF program, which provides financial assistance to families while emphasizing work participation, education, family stability, and selfsufficiency for Alaska Natives in Southeast Alaska. Browne earned both associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in psychology.

R&M Some personnel at R&M Consultants are leveling up, while a former colleague returns.  Andrea Story, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at R&M Consultants, was named a Fellow by

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the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS). SMPS fellows represent the highest level of experience and leadership in marketing Story and business development within the design and building industry. Story calls her fellowship a “gift” to the Alaska chapter of the society, which she helped re-establish in 2011.  Robert Colles, a Project Engineer at R&M Consultants, successfully passed the Principles and Practice of Engineering Exam, gaining Colles his Alaska license in civil engineering. Colles earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from UAF and joined R&M in 2014 as an intern in the Materials Laboratory. Now a member of R&M’s Airport Engineering Group, he develops specifications for projects such as the Newtok Airport Relocation, Bethel Airport Main Runway Reconstruction, and Dillingham Runway Rehabilitation.  Former R&M employee Clark Rosencrans is back with the firm as Group Manager of Special Inspections. Since his first stint from 2012 to 2016, Rosencrans Rosencrans has worked for the Municipality of Anchorage as a structure inspector and code abatement officer. Now that he has rejoined R&M, Rosencrans is already busy inspecting security vestibule upgrades at Anchorage public schools, as well as the construction of the Homer Chemical Storage Building. In his off time, he races his 1966 Ford Fairlane at the racetrack in Palmer.

Peter Pan Seafood Co.  Peter Pan Seafood Co. welcomed Michael De Caro to its team as Vice President of retail sales and product

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development. De Caro leads the team developing new retail items and portion control as the company produces more valueDe Caro added products under new ownership. De Caro comes to Peter Pan with years of experience in the restaurant industry, where he trained as a chef, before he eventually began working as a seafood supplier in Seattle.

AIDEA  The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) welcomed Dave Heimke as Chief Operating Officer. Heimke Heimke previously served as executive vice president of risk and engineering at Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. He first came to Alaska in 1985 after working at scientific research stations in Antarctica. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in electrical engineering from UAF. As chief operating officer, Heimke is responsible for leveraging AIDEA programs to foster public and private investments for Alaska.

AEDC  Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) welcomed Kate Matheson as its new Development Director, Matheson where she is responsible for all revenue and event functions as well as investor relations. Matheson holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Auburn University and comes to AEDC from United Way of Anchorage, where she worked as the director of workplace giving.

Alaska Business

New York Life  Yoshi Ogawa, an agent for New York Life Insurance Company, has earned a master of science in financial services from American Ogawa College, an accredited institution specializing in insurance and financial services education, located in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Ogawa has been a New York Life agent since 2007 and is associated with New York Life’s Alaska General Office in Anchorage.

NSAA  The Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage (NSAA) tapped one of America’s top cross-country skiers, Kikkan Randall, as Randall its new Executive Director. Randall grew up in Anchorage and participated as a child in NSAA’s Junior Nordics program, which eventually led to five Olympic appearances and a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Games. Randall comes to NSAA with experience in nonprofit management and community engagement.

NorthForm Architecture  Heather Sealy, a founding partner of NorthForm Architecture, has earned professional registration as an architect from the state Sealy Division of Professional Licensing. Sealy holds a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Idaho and is a member of the American Institute of Architects. She has thirteen years of experience designing building projects across Alaska and is currently working on the new Prince William Sound Science Center in Cordova.

November 2021 | 125

AL ASK

A TRENDS

ven before the gold rushes that put Juneau, Skagway, Nome, and Fairbanks on the map, Alaskans have been pulling precious and useful materials out of the ground. Native cultures statewide unearthed deposits of soapstone and jade to carve and polish into dazzling artifacts. Copper nuggets were fashioned into fishhooks and blades or traded to Russian colonists. Nowadays we use copper in our electrical wiring, zinc in our pennies, coal in our power plants, and stone aggregate in our pavement, concrete, and masonry. The mining sector in Alaska employs about 4,700 workers, according to the Alaska Miners Association (AMA), and those workers are responsible for some world class output. The silver from Greens Creek and the zinc and lead concentrate from Red Dog are the most of any mines in the US. Beyond those major production sites and the other giants at Fort Knox, Kensington, Pogo, and Usibelli, miners are busy at 120 gravel and sand pits and at 169 small placer claims. The industry converts the earth under our feet into gold in our banks, figuratively and literally. This issue has a rich vein of content, scooping loads from mega mines in "Hunting Elephants in Alaska" (p. 52), introducing smaller players in "Modern Prospecting" (p. 64), and assaying the pros and cons of "Open Pits or Underground Ops" (p. 72). In this month’s installment of Alaska Trends, we take data from the AMA’s annual “Economic Benefits of Alaska’s Mining Industry” and compare 2019 to 2020. Where is the industry at risk of a cave-in and where is the real pay dirt? Let’s dig in. SOURCE: Alaska Miners Association, "The Economic Benefits of Alaska's Mining Industry"; February 2021 Alaska Miners Association, "The Economic Benefits of Alaska's Mining Industry"; February 2022

$4B Exploration The mining industry spent $4 billion on exploration since 1981; $127 million was spent in 2020.

$430M Development The mining industry invested $430 million into construction & capital investments in 2020.

$2B Total Value In 2019, the total export value of the mining industry was $1.9 billion, or 38% of Alaska’s total exports.

$117M Impact Statewide State government revenue through licenses, rents, royalties, fees, taxes, & other government-related payments totaled $117 million in 2020, a 5 million increase over the $112 million received in 2019. Mining license tax, rents & royalties $5M increase State material sales, large mine permit program receipts, misc. fees, & other taxes $2.5M increase

State-Owned Facilities In 2020, the mining industry paid $28.4 million to the Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority for the use of state-owned facilities (DeLong Mountain Regional Transportation System & Skagway Ore Terminal), a $6M increase over the $22.8 million spent in 2019.

Alaska Railroad Corporation for moving coal, sand, & gravel $2.M decrease Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority for the use of state-owned facilities $5.6M increase 126 | November 2021

Alaska Business

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Created New Jobs In 2020, direct & indirect jobs attributed to Alaska mining industry totaled 9,600, an increase over the 9,400 total jobs in 2019.

Red Dog Upper Kobuk

Jobs by Mine Livengood

Graphite Creek

Fairbanks

Fort Knox Northern Star Pogo Usibelli

Donlin Gold

Fort Knox Greens Creek Kensington Northern Star Pogo Red Dog Usibelli Coal

Manh Choh

2020

2019

769 440 386 515 741 102

820 440 385 450 800 100

-51* N/C +1 +65 -59* +2

Potential Jobs by Mine Anchorage

Pebble

Graphite Creek Livengood Pebble Donlin Gold

Palmer

Kensington

Juneau

370 330 850 1,000 * -Includes contractors

Greens Creek

Niblack

90+ Communities The mining industry provides year-round jobs for residents of 90+ communities throughout Alaska, half of which are found in rural Alaska. In 2019, they provided jobs in 70 communities.

$150M Payroll Increase

2x State Average

The mining industry paid $890 million in total direct & indirect payroll (not including highly competitive benefit packages) in 2020, a $150 million increase over the $740 million paid in 2019.

The mining industry continues to provide some of Alaska’s highest paying jobs with an estimated average annual wage of $112,800, more than twice the state average ($55,140) for all sectors of the economy in 2019.

$12M More in Local Impact Local governments received $49 million in 2020, a $12 million increase over the $37 million received in 2019 in property taxes, direct payments and local spending.

$11.3M More From Red Dog The Northwest Arctic Borough received $14.9 million, and $8 million was paid to the Village Improvement Fund, in 2020. In 2021, Red Dog paid $26.2 million to the Northwest Arctic Borough plus $8 million to the Village Improvement Fund, an overall increase of $11.3 million. w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

Northwest Arctic Borough from Red Dog

Fairbanks North Star Borough from Fort Knox

City & Borough of Juneau from Greens Creek

City & Borough of Juneau from Kensington

Other

2020 2019 Alaska Business

November 2021 | 127

AT A G L ANC E What book is currently on your nightstand? The one that I'm most engrossed in right now is a book by Frank Soos, who taught creative writing at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for many years, called Unpleasantries: Considerations of Difficult Questions. What’s a charity or cause that you’re passionate about? The one that I've probably been most passionate about, going back many years, is supporting our local public radio and television station, KUAC. What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work? Hockey season's underway—my twelve year old plays hockey, so a lot of my evenings after work are going to be spent at the local hockey rink. What vacation spot is on your bucket list? Costa Rica is up there—it's a place that I've always wanted to visit—as well as the Mediterranean islands. If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?

128 | November 2021

Photos by Sarah Lewis

A giraffe: it’s my wife's favorite animal and I think it'd just be cool to have a giraffe. We'd probably have to buy a new house with cathedral ceilings, but just having a giraffe in your yard, that stands out. It'd be cool to be known as the giraffe house: people are given directions somewhere, “Well, you just take a left turn down by the giraffe house.” “Oh, yeah, I know where that is.” [he laughs] Alaska Business

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F F

E C

F F

Scott McCrea B

efore stepping into the role of President and CEO of Explore Fairbanks in June,

Scott McCrea was the director of tourism for the organization for seven years. “[Tourism] is an amazing industry to work in, especially here in Alaska where we have this bucket list destination that people dream of visiting,” he says. “The team here is very good at what they do, and they’re passionate about our destinations, so I feel very rewarded that I get a chance to come in and work with these amazing people each and every day.” Alaska Business: What do you do in your free time? Scott McCrea: During the summer months, we're big fans of getting outside here and hiking—there’s great hiking here within the Fairbanks area—getting out on the Chena River for canoeing and rafting trips. AB: Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn? McCrea: I'm new as the president and CEO here at Explore Fairbanks—I'm four months in. So I've been trying to work on getting better at some of those areas that pertain to my job that I didn't really have a lot of experience or knowledge in, just so I can try to be the best I can. It sounds rather boring and mundane, but reading books on board development and nonprofit accounting kind of take up the skills that I'm learning right now. AB: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done? McCrea: I grew up in logging camps in southeast Alaska as a young person, and one of my first jobs as a young teenager was the camp garbage boy. So that involved picking up the trash from around the trailers at camp and taking them out to the local garbage camp, where, on any given night during the summer, [there] would be five or six grizzly bears there, waiting for their dinner. Then to make it worse, I suppose, I had to dump all the garbage out, back the truck away, and then run back with a can of gas—because we wanted to try to burn the garbage to keep it from spreading out too much. So I'm there, thirteen years old, tossing gas on this big pile of garbage and then making a trail to light it. Between the fire and the bears, I'd say that's pretty daring. w w w .a k b iz m a g .c o m

AB: What’s your favorite local restaurant? McCrea: You can't ask that question, because I have to love them all [he laughs]. I will say, what's great is that the Fairbanks dining scene is one that's evolved so much over recent years. AB: Other than your current career, if you were a kid today, what would your dream job be? McCrea: The job that is my dream, going back to even when I was five years old and into adulthood, was to be a writer, some type of novelist. AB: What’s your favorite way to exercise? McCrea: When I do get out and exercise, I enjoy running. AB: Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert? McCrea: Bands like Queen; Pink Floyd from when they were touring with The Wall; U2, The Joshua Tree—there's a lot of bands I'd love to have seen when they were touring for a particular album that really kind of defined their career. AB: What’s your greatest extravagance? McCrea: I would say travel, but I wouldn't even put it in the category of extravagance; I look at travel as an investment. There's just so much about travel that really helps bridge some of the divide we have within the world, learning new cultures, meeting new people, it's just a great experience. AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute? McCrea: My best attribute is that I'm very much an empathetic person. And I think, in a leadership role, in this day and age when people are having so many struggles and challenges… being understanding, and caring, and empathetic towards other people is an important attribute to have. But, on the flip side, my worst attribute is maybe there's times I can be overly empathetic and let those feelings get in the way of difficult decisions that have to be made. But I'd rather err—with the world we live in right now—on that side of being too caring.

Alaska Business

November 2021 | 129

ADVERTISERS INDEX Afognak Leasing, LLC.............36 afognakleasing.com Afognak Leasing, LLC...........106 afognakleasing.com Airport Equipment Rentals .................................. 131 airpor tequipmentrentals .com Alaska Communications Systems..................................... 3 acsalaska.com

Conrad-Houston Insurance Agency ....................................12 chialaska.com

Hecla Greens Creek Mining Company ................................ 73 hecla-mining.com

Construction Machinery Industrial ................................... 2 cmiak.com

Holmes Weddle & Barcott .....83 hwb-law.com JAG Alaska .............................. 75 jagalaska.com JENNMAR ............................... 57 jennmar.com

Pacific Dataport .....................25 pacificdatapor t.com

Kinney Engineering, LLC......103 kinneyeng.com

Pacific Pile & Marine.............123 pacificpile.com

Kinross Fort Knox ...................61 kinross .com

Parker Smith & Feek ................. 7 psfinc.com

Leonardo DRS ........................69 leonardodrs .com/alaska

Petro Marine Services ............91 petromarineser vices .com

Lynden ..................................132 lynden.com

PIP Marketing Signs Print .....110 pipalaska.com

Donlin Gold ............................46 donlingold.com

Material Flow & Conveyor Systems, Inc............................28 materialflow.com

PND Engineers Inc. ................47 pendengineers .com

Dorsey & Whitney LLP.......... 111 dorsey.com

MT Housing Inc. .....................35 mthousing.net

Equipment Source, Inc .......... 31 esialaska.com

MTA - Matanuska Telephone Association ............................. 21 mtasolutions .com

Cook Inlet Tug & Barge Inc....93 cookinlet tug.com cowork by RSD .......................53 coworkbyrsd.com Credit Union 1......................... 13 cu1.org

Alaska Executive Search (AES)..........................113 akexec.com

Crowley Fuels .........................65 crowley.com

Altman, Rogers & Co..............19 altrogco.com Anchorage Chrysler Dodge ...................................119 anchoragechr yslercenter.com Anchorage Sand & Gravel......55 anchsand.com Arctic Information Technology.............................23 arc ticit.com

NOVAGOLD ............................59 novagold.com Oxford Assaying & Refining Inc.............................63 oxfordmetals .com

Alaska Earth Sciences ............ 73 alaskaear thsciences .com

Alaska Railroad ....................... 17 akrr.com

NorthStar Supply LLC.............83 nor thstarsupplyak .com

Cruz Companies ....................95 cruzconstruc t.com Delta Constructors.................81 deltaconstruc tors .net

First National Bank Alaska........ 5 fnbalaska.com

Nenana Heating Services, Inc........................... 44 nenanaheatingser vices .net

AT&T ........................................ 15 at t.com

Foss Maritime .........................61 foss .com

Carlile Transportation Systems...................................97 carlile.biz

Fountainhead Development..........................45 fountainheadhotels .com

Central Environmental Inc.....94 cei-alaska.com

GCI ..........................................49 gci.com

Nortech Environmental & Engineering ............................84 nor techengr.com

Colville, Inc ............................. 37 colvilleinc.com

HC Contractors ......................85 hccontrac tors .net

Northern Air Cargo ..... 124, 125 nac. aero

Conam Construction Co ..... 117 conamco.com

HDL Consulting Engineers ..107 hdlalaska.com

Northrim Bank.......................... 9 nor thrim.com

New Horizons Telecom, Inc. ..........................................74 nhtiusa.com

Power Brokers LLC.................79 progen1.com Providence Health & Services Alaska ......................................87 providence.org Quintillion Networks............130 R & M Consultants Inc..........103 rmconsult.com RESPEC.................................... 51 respec.com Renewal by Andersen ............39 renewalbyandersen.com Resolve Marine Group ...........93 resolvemarine.com Resource Development Council ................................... 71 akrdc.org

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt..................................101 schwabe.com/locations-anchorage-alaska SmithCo Side Dump Trailers..89 sidedump.com Span Alaska Transportation LLC.................66 spanalaska.com Stellar Designs Inc..................19 stellar- designs .com T. Rowe Price ........................115 alaska529plan.com Teck Alaska Incorporated ...... 77 teck.com The Plans Room ................... 117 theplansroom.com TorcSill Foundations ..............99 torcsill.com Tutka, LLC ...............................29 tutkallc.com UA Local 375 Plumbers & Pipefitters..............................105 ualocal375 .org United Way of Anchorage....121 liveunitedanc.org US Ecology .............................33 nrcc.com Usibelli Coal Mine ..................54 usibelli.com West-Mark Service Center..... 12 west-mark.com Yukon Equipment Inc.............43 yukoneq.com

Don't miss an issue!

a kb iz ma g .c o m

Amplify Your 2022 Marketing Strategy By Charles Bell, VP of Sales

s it too early to be thinking about strategic plans for 2022? Of course not—and in fact, most people are already well into planning their marketing for next year. Are you? Let us help you get started: If you haven’t already done so, check out the 2022 Alaska Business Media Kit, which is full of opportunities to promote your business and reach decision-makers and influencers within the Alaska business community through our print and digital magazine, our website, and our weekly Monitor newsletter. And don’t forget, we’re now also the publisher of Associated General Contractors of Alaska’s The Alaska Contractor magazine—and we can help you reach that audience too. We realize that not all advertising

goals (and budgets) are equal. As long as you are looking to reach the business community, we can help. Neuroscience studies have proven that advertising in print media is more effective than a digital-only strategy at creating long-term recall and brand identity by helping increase engagement and purchase intent. Developing a marketing plan as part of your overall business strategy is a solid investment. Allow us to help you create a plan that will build your brand awareness, open new business opportunities, and showcase your company as an active participant in the local business community. Amplify your 2022 marketing strategy: Contact us and request our 2022 Media Kit! – S P O N S O R E D

130 | November 2021

Charles Bell is the Vice President of Sales at Alaska Business Publishing Co. and is known for his witty puns and successfully helping advertisers reach their target audience. Having worked at Alaska Business since 1998, Charles is well-versed in Alaska’s economic landscape and looks forward to assisting magazine clients with their marketing endeavors.

CHARLES BELL

907-257-2909 | cbell@akbizmag.com

C O N T E N T–

Alaska Business

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907.456.2000 | airportequipmentrentals.com

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Alaska Business November 2021

Articles inside

OFF THE CUFF

ALASKA TRENDS

RIGHT MOVES

ENGINEERING

MILLING IN THE LAST FRONTIER

ENVIRONMENTAL

OIL & GAS

TELECOM & TECH

HUNTING ‘ELEPHANTS’ IN ALASKA

OPEN PITS OR UNDERGROUND OPS

FINANCE