Who’s supporting who? When it comes to industry support services, niche vendors could not exist without industrial clients—whether in oil and gas, mining, or other sectors—that hire them. Yet those clients are free to focus on their main business thanks to the scaffold of support services, whether supplied by multinational or mom-and-pop contractors.
Spill response is one example. Our cover shows Alaska Chadux Corporation teamed up with the US Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team in Utqiaġvik, demonstrating response equipment for North Slope residents. Read more about spill prevention and response in Rachael Kvapil’s article “Remove and Restore.”
This issue also features stories about off-grid energy and mancamp maintenance. These are the jobs that must be done, often without glamor or glory, to hold together the metaphorical bricks of Alaska’s economic foundation.
