APRIL 2010

APRIL 2010

$3.95

APRIL 2010 TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

D E PA R T M E N T S From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Inside Alaska Business . . . . . . . . 8 Right Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Events Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Market Squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Alaska Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

ABOUT THE COVER Alaska Business Monthly presents 100 of Alaska’s leading companies for the 18th year. Moving Forward, Giving Back is the theme for 2010, embodying how Alaska companies, despite the global economy, are staying strong and stable in business endeavors, while remaining community-minded in philanthropy. Leslie Ellis of Credit Union 1 and Barney Uhart of Chugach Alaska Corp. are pictured on the cover.

Photo ©2010 by Chris Arend.

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

VIEW FROM

THE

ARTICLES

TOP

ECONOMY

Cheryl Moody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Three Parameters Plus. By Peg Stomierowski.

Anchorage Forecast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Expect growth later this year. By Bill Popp.

ALASKA THIS MONTH

AGRICULTURE

Great Alaska Sportsman Show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Spring rite signals summer planning. By Nancy Pounds.

Sunshine Barley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 New Alaska strain shows promise. By Mary Edmunds.

HR MATTERS Employee Drug Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Implement policy to save money, manage risk. By Andy Brown.

LEGAL SPEAK Creating Ethical Business Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101 Adopt a modern ethics policy and make it public. By Jeff Waller.

REGIONAL REVIEW The Interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120 Alaska’s Central Region. By Tracy Barbour.

TOWNS

IN

TRANSITION

Anchorage: ‘Flat is Good’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124 Roll with the punches and beat the odds. By Heidi Bohi.

PAGE

18 AGRICULTURE Community Supported Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Alaska CSA movement aims to feed locals. By Mary Edmunds.

MARKETING Steps to Writing an Effective Press Release. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Experts give tips and tales. By Jamie Lober.

MARITIME Alaska Boat Builders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Industry rides economic tide. By Heidi Bohi.

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124

MARITIME

SIDEBAR

M/V Susitna Nearing Completion, Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Variable-draft ferry provides Ketchikan shipyard work. By Heidi Bohi. (continued on page 6)

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

APRIL 2010 TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S ARTICLES

ARTICLES

FILM

HEALTH & MEDICINE

‘Kids Quest’ Travel Adventure Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Children’s television pilot features Iditarod. By Heidi Bohi.

Leg Pain May Signal Peripheral Artery Disease. . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Dangerous if left untreated. By Vanessa Orr.

OIL & GAS

GENERAL BUSINESS

AOGA: In the Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 An organization behind the scenes, but actively involved in, oil and gas efforts statewide.

Holistic Executive Coaching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Learning to live one’s whole life. By Ana Gonzalez Ribeiro.

OIL & GAS

Hiring Shareholders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Alaska Native corporations train work force. By Peg Stromierowski.

Point Thomson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Offshore drilling commenced onshore. By Peg Stromierowski.

NATIVE BUSINESS

TRANSPORTATION Alaska Backhaul Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Carriers, Yukon River villages partner. By Heidi Bohi.

SAFETY Volunteer Protection Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Improving workplace safety and the bottom line.

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant.

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146

FINANCIAL SERVICES Mobile Banking: A Bridge to Somewhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Catching on fast, easy to use and more secure than computer log-ins. By Rachel Kenshalo.

MINING Remote Industrial Power Generation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Mine operations eye natural gas potential. By Patricia Liles.

SPORTS An Alaska Olympics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Let’s hear it for Anchorage 2022! By Markos N. Kaminis.

Special Section CORPORATE 100

PAGE

130

Moving Forward, Giving Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 No ‘ifs’ about it, these companies are today’s shakers.

By Debbie Cutler.

Industry Representation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 2010 Corporate 100 Directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

FINANCIAL SERVICES

SIDEBAR

Teaching Financial Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Junior Achievement of Alaska cornerstone. By Heidi Bohi.

FINANCIAL SERVICES Teaching Children Money Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Start early for successful economic future. By Heidi Bohi.

HEALTH & MEDICINE Start to Take Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Healthy living key to good heart health.

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant.

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Chugach Alaska Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 From bankruptcy to $1 billion gross. By Tracy Kalytiak.

Credit Union 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Helping members, soldiers, employees and neighborhoods.

By Tracy Kalytiak.

ConocoPhillips Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Corporate citizenship at its best. By Tracy Kalytiak.

In Memorium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 A tribute to Jim Bowles. By Tracy Kalytiak.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

FR Volume 26, Number 4 Published by Alaska Business Publishing Co. Anchorage, Alaska Vern C. McCorkle, Publisher 1991~2009

EDITORIAL STAFF Managing Editor Associate Editor Art Director Art Production Graphic Design Photo Consultant Photo Consultant Photo Consultant

Debbie Cutler Susan Harrington Candy Johnson Linda Shogren Janyce Nolan GOE Graphics & Design Chris Arend Judy Patrick Bill Zervantian

BUSINESS STAFF General Manager National Sales Mgr. Account Mgr. Account Mgr. Traffic Coordinator Accountant

Jim Martin Charles Bell John Page Anne Campbell Elaine Collins Mary Schreckenghost

501 W. Northern Lights Boulevard, Suite 100 Anchorage, Alaska 99503 (907) 276-4373 Outside Anchorage: 1-800-770-4373 Fax: (907) 279-2900 www.akbizmag.com Editorial e-mail: editor@akbizmag.com Advertising e-mail: materials@akbizmag.com

Pacific Northwest Advertising Sales 1-800-770-4373 ALASKA BUSINESS PUBLISHING CO., INC.

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY (ISSN 8756-4092) is published monthly by Alaska Business Publishing Co., Inc., P.O. Box 241288, Anchorage, Alaska 99524; Telephone: (907) 276-4373; Fax: (907) 279-2900, ©2010, Alaska Business Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Subscription Rates: $39.95 a year. Single issues $3.95 each; $4.95 for October.

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OM

THE

E

DITOR

Medicare Needs Fixed Help the poor and elderly.

W

e pay into it. We support it. We expect it to be there when we need it.

But Medicare, as we know it, is broken.

The Medicare program, the U.S. national health program for the aged and needy, takes care of certain medical and hospital needs and is paid from federal funds, mainly those we put into it through Social Security.

It’s a system that is supposed to work. But what if doctors don’t accept it?

What if primary-care doctors say no? Turn patients away? Refuse it?

WHERE’S HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT?

A former friend, a mentor really, died a year ago in January from cancer. He once told me he had to drive to the Kenai Peninsula to see his primary-care doctor because his doctor moved there and nobody in Anchorage would see him. That is until he became ill enough to need specialists and emergency services.

On HealthReform.Gov, on a Web page titled HCCD Report Alaska 99516, a woman wrote that her husband paid nearly $100 a month for Medicare, but couldn’t use it because his doctor “opted out.” Why? The answer is simple. It costs more to see a Medicare patient than primarycare doctors are reimbursed for services.

The woman, who lived in Anchorage, at least in December 2008 when her statement was made, went on to say, “My doctor can’t keep the doors open if her Medicare clients comprise more than 20 percent of her clientele.”

HOW BAD IS IT?

The Institute of Social and Economic Research, better known as ISER, conducted a survey in 2009 to see just how many doctors were taking Alaska’s 26,000 Medicare recipients. The results were astonishing.

■ Only five primary-care doctors in private practice were willing to take new Medicare patients in Anchorage, the state’s largest city. The problem is “major” in Anchorage, and a “noticeable problem” in the Mat-Su Borough and Fairbanks. Rural areas had fewer problems.

■ About one out of every 10 doctors opted out of the Medicare system, meaning they will not accept any kind of Medicare payment but will see Medicare patients who pay the full amount out of pocket.

Medicare needs fixed. How? I’m not sure, but I know making cuts in the program is not the answer. One solution would be to pay doctors more for their services to Medicare patients.

Another option would be to allow those who have Medicare to pay part of the bill themselves if they go to a doctor who takes Medicare patients. Another is a complete overhaul of the system.

Yet another are the efforts by Sen. Kevin Meyer, other legislatures and Dr. George Rhyneer, an Anchorage cardiologist, who have been working on opening a nonprofit clinic in Anchorage to serve Medicare patients. Start-up capital will be about $1.7 million and it is hoped some will be allotted in this year’s Legislative budget.

One physician, three nurse practitioners and several medical support personnel will staff it and fundraising is under way.

“I think this is a huge opportunity both to succeed, set ourselves as a national example and build a model that will be copied across the country in years to come,” said Rep. Mike Hawker, co-chair of the House Finance Committee, in a press release dated Feb. 12, 2010.

It will take a village to correct this problem. Let’s start thinking of solutions today. Before it’s too late. Before more find themselves without means to get medical attention.

– Debbie Cutler Managing Editor

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS Health Food Restaurant Opens

A

cai Alaska LLC, a health food eatery, has opened in South Anchorage. The company is located at 750 W. Dimond Blvd., Suite113. Acai Alaska specializes in selling smoothies and acai bowls, snacks made from purple acai berries grown on Amazon rainforest palm trees. Acai berries have been touted for their nutritional value.

Toppings for the smoothies and acai bowls include goji berry, bee pollen, raw cacao, dark chocolate-covered pomegranate, fresh mango, coconut shavings, flax seed and hemp seed.

Acai Alaska also offers healthy food workshops with nutrition specialist Brendan Van Valkenburgh of Avante Medical Center. The eatery also will host other workshops featuring area health experts.

Acai Alaska is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.acaiak.com. ■

Ad Firm Wins Awards

A

nchorage-based Solstice Advertising earned 10 industry awards for work completed in 2009. The firm received nine international Marcom Awards, including four at the platinum level.

The Marcom competition accepts marketing industry entries from all over the world. Solstice also received a Summit International Emerging Media Award. The honor recognizes marketing industry professionals’ work in emerging forms of media. ■

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COMPILED BY NANCY POUNDS

Airports Anticipate Flight Additions

S

tate officials expect expanded and new flight service starting this spring at Anchorage and Fairbanks international airports. The news comes amid travel industry woes in a weak economy.

The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport will see expanded service to Philadelphia; Chicago; Denver; San Francisco; Portland, Ore.; and Houston.

Fairbanks International Airport will offer direct flights to Denver and Salt Lake City beginning this spring.

The changes come from United Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, Continental Airlines, American Airlines, Air Canada, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines and US Airways.

“This is welcomed news as our team has worked hard the past six to eight months in an extremely challenging environment to keep rates and fees competitive at our international airports,” said Christine Klein, deputy commissioner of airports and aviation with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. “It’s key to long-term success while allowing the travelling public a greater variety of flight options.” ■

Grant Supports Native Health Care

S

outhcentral Foundation received a $60,000 one-year grant from the Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund.

This marks the 10th year Southcentral Foundation has received the grant, which aims to increase awareness of

the benefits of early detection of breast cancer. The Breast and Cervical Health Program at Southcentral Foundation educates Anchorage-area Alaska Native women and refers them to low-cost or free mammograms and clinical breast exams in their rural communities. The program also serves women from the Municipality of Anchorage, MatanuskaSusitna Borough and more than 70 rural villages of Southcentral Alaska.

Since October 2000, the Breast and Cervical Health Program at Southcentral Foundation has reached more than 10,000 women with information about the importance of early detection of breast cancer. Program officials estimate more than 10,000 women have been screened for mammograms and clinical breast exams.

Southcentral Foundation officials cite that breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death for Alaska Native women. ■

UAA Students Win Business Contest

T

wo University of Alaska Anchorage students won the Fall 2009 Capstone Business Competition, an international business simulation for college students. Elena Reierson and Chelsey Homan beat 788 other teams in the competition to see who can run the most profitable and productive company. Reierson and Homan were students in professor Edward Forrest’s marketing management course.

“UAA has been participating in this competition for the last nine years, and

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS has finished in the top 10 six other times – but this is the first time we have placed first in two of the success measures,” Forrest said.

For the competition, student teams run a business through computer simulation and make decisions in key areas, including marketing, product research and development, production, human resources and finance. The simulation determines the results when the studentteams enter their business decisions into the computer. Teams are evaluated on their performance based on seven criteria: profits, cumulative profit, market share, return on equity, return on assets, return on sales and stock price. ■

Grant Funds Rural Broadband Project

U

nited Utilities Inc. was awarded $88 million in a loan/grant combination funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service to build infrastructure supporting Internet service in rural Alaska. The funds would extend terrestrial broadband service for the first time to Bristol Bay and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

UUI is a subsidiary of General Communication Inc. The completed project will be able to serve 9,089 households and 748 businesses in the 65 covered communities, company officials said.

The project will also be able to serve public/nonprofit/private community institutions, including regional health care providers, school districts, and other regional and Alaska Native organizations.

The funds consist of a $44 million loan and a $44 million grant, and are

being distributed as part of the Rural Utilities Service’s Broadband Initiatives Program established as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. UUI expects to start work on TERRA-SW this year and complete the project by the end of 2012.

“UUI and GCI have both served the remote rural communities of Alaska for decades,” said Ron Duncan, GCI president and chief executive. “This award is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to close the digital divide for 65 remote rural Alaska communities.” ■

Tour Operator Wins Honor

K

enai Fjords Tours Marine Science Explorers program received the 2010 Alaska Ocean Leadership Award for Ocean Literacy. The award was presented to Kenai Fjords Tours at the SeaLife Center Alaska Marine Gala in the Dena’ina Center in January.

The Alaska Ocean Leadership Awards were established to encourage and recognize outstanding achievements related to ocean sciences, education and management. The award was sponsored by The Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence.

Since 1995, the program has carried more than 38,000 schoolchildren and adult students on five-hour cruises onboard the floating laboratory/classroom, M/V Fjordland, in Resurrection Bay out of Seward. The cruises include four active workshops on marine mammals and seabirds, ecosystems and plankton and other tiny creatures seen with microscopes.

Kenai Fjords Tours is a subsidiary of CIRI Alaska Tourism Corp., which is part of Cook Inlet Region Inc.

Imaginarium, Smithsonian Exhibit to Open at Museum

T

he Anchorage Museum will open the new Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center and Imaginarium Discovery Center on May 22.

The Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center will house more than 600 Alaska Native artifacts on long-term loan from the Smithsonian. Most of these objects have never been displayed before. This effort marks the first-of-its-kind long-term loan agreement for the Smithsonian.

Alaska Native artists, elders and scholars have participated in selecting artifacts for display and have provided helpful information. Artifacts will be displayed in custom-designed cases, which are not sealed, to allow for easy access by Alaska Native artists and scholars.

The Imaginarium Discovery Center is a hands-on, state-of-the-art science center. Many of these 80 exhibits focus on Alaska-related science, such as earthquakes, aurora borealis and the unique composition of Cook Inlet clay.

The center’s high-tech displays include a Magic Planet globe with real-time NASA projections; a Smart Floor projection that responds as children walk or crawl on it; and a 3-D sound installation featuring Alaska nature recordings, such as a polar bear groaning. ■

Book Details Rural Salmon Studies The Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative has released a new book, “Pacific Salmon: Ecology and Management of Western Alaska’s

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS Populations.” The book was published by the American Fisheries Society and covers the freshwater and marine ecology and management of salmon and is this first comprehensive appraisal of the region’s salmon resources. The book includes color maps of the region and plates of Pacific salmon by renowned artist Joseph Tomelleri.

Salmon support subsistence and commercial fisheries important to many rural Western Alaska communities north of Bristol Bay. Salmon returns have been declining in these areas for more than a decade, creating numerous hardships for the communities that depend on this fishery resource. Poor salmon returns have led to severe restrictions on commercial and subsistence fisheries, and to repeated disaster declarations by the State and federal government.

The book can be purchased from the American Fisheries Society, www. afsbooks.org/. ■

Doyon Conducts Oil and Gas Exploration

D

oyon Ltd., the Fairbanks-based Alaska Native corporation, sponsored new oil and gas exploration this winter in the Yukon Flats area. The project, which was to begin by press time, was due to be completed in early April.

Efforts were to survey a 200,000-acre block of Alaska Native lands north of Stevens Village. The land is owned by Doyon and Dinyee, the Alaska Native village corporation for Stevens Village.

The area is adjacent to the trans-Alaska oil pipeline corridor and within 15 miles to 30 miles of the pipeline.

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“Our efforts in the Yukon Flats this winter are part of a multi-year plan to conduct additional exploration on a variety of natural resource projects on Doyon lands, add significant value and thereby attract other companies to conduct follow-on exploration,” said Norman L. Phillips Jr., president and chief executive of Doyon. “An important part of this plan is to work closely with local communities to assure a meaningful economic stake in any project.”

Up to 20 Stevens Village tribal members were expected to be hired during the exploration. ■

DOT&PF Anticipates Banner Construction Year

T

he Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) expects to bid out more than $800 million for more than 100 projects this year; a 33 percent increase from 2009.

“From Kodiak to Kotzebue, Anchorage to Allakaket and communities in between, Alaskans will be working on transportation projects this year,” said Leo von Scheben, commissioner, DOT&PF. Last year, DOT&PF awarded almost $600 million worth of projects, a significant increase above the 2008 total of approximately $400 million.

“State DOT&PF employees and consultants worked extremely hard to increase the number of projects going to bid in 2010,” emphasized von Scheben. “Each project has many phases to complete before going to bid including design, right-of-way, environmental

COMPILED BY NANCY POUNDS reviews and permitting. I am very proud of how our state employees stepped up under pressure and deadlines and produced for Alaska.”

Commissioner von Scheben noted that the downturn in the economy increased the importance of these projects hitting the streets quickly and thus creating jobs.

“However these projects aren’t just about jobs,” von Scheben continued, “these projects mean Alaska families are driving on safer roads, riding on safer ferries, or landing on better runways.”

Fund sources for these projects include the regular federal highway program, state general funds, general obligation (GO) bonds and federal economic stimulus funds.

“If you have driven on the Glenn Highway or Minnesota Drive in Anchorage, you know those ruts were treacherous,” von Scheben stated. “Economic stimulus funds repaved the Glenn Highway last summer from Hiland Road to the Eklutna Interchange, and this summer’s work will result in new pavement from Merrill Field to downtown Palmer. By the end of the summer, commuters between Mat-Su, Eagle River and Anchorage will be traveling on a smooth, safe and rut free surface.”

Every part of the state will see construction activity this year from Barrow to Metlakatla. Work will continue on the Illinois Street project in Fairbanks and Nordale Road in the Fairbanks North Star Borough will receive new pavement. In rural Alaska, Wrangell, Dillingham, Emmonak and Nome, among many other communities, will ❑ see work on their roads.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

VIEW FROM THE TOP

BY PEG STOMIEROWSKI

Photo by Tim Berberich/Courtesy of 3PPI

Cheryl Moody Three Parameters Plus social responsibility and fun. My role ranges from taskmaster to den mother to head chef to quality-control maven.

Cheryl Moody President Three Parameters Plus

C

heryl Moody is a certified professional wetland scientist, with a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology. She has worked in Alaska for more than 28 years, 19 or more with wetlands. She moved here after college and has lived in Sitka, Nome, Soldotna, Anchorage and Palmer.

In 1992, she founded Three Parameters Plus and was sole proprietor until 3PPI incorporated in 2006, with her as president. Moody has experience in natural resource consulting, including wetland delineation, vegetation mapping, impact assessment, air-photo interpretation and digital mapping, permit acquisition and restoration.

She has worked with small private developments and large-scale projects.

The firm has 12 full-time employees in Alaska and six in the Lower 48, with 12 part-time or seasonal workers (likely to rise to 20 by June). 3PPI’s main offices are on International Airport Road, and Moody has moved her home office to Sedona, Ariz., to facilitate U.S. business expansion.

AMB: How’s the view from the top … how do you see your role and challenges?

Moody: Consider the first sentence of our vision: “Three Parameters Plus is about sustainable relationships – with the environment, with our customers, and among ourselves.” My job is to balance those relationships.

The team and I have to foster relationships with the right clients and keep our community together with a mix of integrity, hard work, learning,

ABM: Please describe growth drivers and patterns of 3PPI; what threats or limits does 3PPI face?

Moody: We’ve completed a five-year strategic plan answering those questions. Development and resource protection are drivers. We outgrow the market by doing great work and looking ahead for client interests. Smart development means it’s environmentally sound. The major threat to our industry is from competitors who cut corners.

What limits 3PPI is our ability to attract super scientists to Alaska who share our values and bring the right mix of real-world experience, enthusiasm and energy to be responsive to clients.

This not only requires flexibility for telecommuting, but also provides opportunities for expansion out of Alaska.

ABM: How is the recession affecting business?

Moody: Last year was very tough.

We scrambled for new business and to manage staff resources efficiently. We emerged stronger, with a diversified client base. So far, 2010 has been great in terms of year-to-date revenues and backlog. We improved internal processes and are better equipped to do quality work efficiently. Our greatest challenge is forecasting needs. Before, we’d have a clear picture of client needs by first quarter, enabling us to start hiring summer staff. This year, hiring could be postponed until late April or May. ABM: What have you learned about effectively managing staffing for seasonal fluctuations?

Moody: Our ability to manage this area is often our greatest capability. We extract every moment of the available field season with trained staff who hit the ground running. Our compensation system rewards the extra effort required to collect data during the short Alaska field season. We plan the year around the field season.

Our technology platform is strong, and integrated with our fieldwork, so we are as busy as we want to be offseason. That’s also when we turn to staff development, strategy and R&R. Steve Reidsma, our VP of operations, just returned from an executive management program at Harvard. I’ll be there for six weeks this year, and other staff will be improving technical skills during “off” season.

ABM: What’s least understood about wetlands?

Moody: Wetlands are a treasure to be protected. There will be no more important resource in the 21st century than water. Water already costs more than gasoline in many parts of the world. And nature gave us our own filtering plant. We can develop our planet smartly and still have our most precious resource.

ABM: When balancing social responsibility and business interests is hardest, what do you do differently?

Moody: We don’t approach these situations differently. We have a set of company values and we stick to them.

Social responsibility is good business, just as giving some of our time and corporate dollars to the underserved is good for our souls. Occasionally, clients must deal more directly with such tradeoffs, and conflicts develop.

However, most of them understand we are trying to look out for their longterm interests. ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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ECONOMY

Anchorage Forecast

Photo by Robert Olsen/Courtesy of the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau

Expect growth later this year.

BY BILL POPP about 300 jobs below the 2008 average.

The year started off well with January 2009 employment showing 3,600 jobs above January 2008, but by mid-year, employment data showed no year-over-year employment gains and continued the decline with December 2009 showing 2,500 fewer jobs than December 2008.

In must be noted, however, 2009 employment numbers are subject to revision and will not be finalized by the Department of Labor until later this spring when significant revisions have been made in the past.

Overall, 2009 was a good year for jobs in Anchorage, with a less than 0.2 percent decrease in average jobs.

Looking ahead to this year, AEDC forecasts a loss of 1,200 jobs in 2010, an 0.8 percent reduction in total average jobs from 2009. Although more jobs will be lost in 2010 than in 2009, the losses will continue to be very modest at less than 1 percent with AEDC forecasting a return to modest jobs growth in the second half of 2010.

EMPLOYMENT OVERVIEW Last year marked Anchorage’s first year of job loss in 20 years with average 2009 employment in Anchorage

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HEALTH CARE Anchorage’s health care sector could be considered Anchorage’s rising star.

In 2009, 500 new jobs were added, a 3.3 percent increase over 2008, with AEDC expecting continued growth in 2010. AEDC expects the health care sector to add 200 jobs in 2010 with continued growth in the future. As our population grows and ages, demand for both general and specialty services will continue to increase, requiring more workers in health care.

Photo courtesy of Bill Popp/AEDC

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009 was a brutal year for the global economy with wealth and jobs seeming to disappear overnight.

Alaska did not escape unscathed, but as the dust settled, Alaska fared far better than most, which our recap for 2009 will show. That’s not to say Anchorage didn’t feel some of pain.

Just ask businesses in tourism, construction and transportation and you’ll find examples of the recession’s effects on Anchorage. In the end though, the Anchorage economy was flat and “flat is good.” This will continue in 2010 with Anchorage feeling a little more pain this year, but likely returning to jobs growth late in 2010.

Not only is this the Anchorage Economic Development Corp.’s viewpoint, but also it’s based on the results of the recent AEDC Business Confidence Index survey. Anchorage businesses also think there is reason to be a little more confident in the economy. So, what were the results for 2009 and what is the outlook for 2010?

Bill Popp President and CEO Anchorage Economic Development Corp.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

GOVERNMENT Although government employment increased by 600 jobs in 2009, with employment in Anchorage reaching 31,100 jobs, it is expected to plateau in 2010. In contrast to declining federal employment from 2004 through 2007, 2008 began to show growth, rising to 9,500 jobs in 2009.

Locally, the Municipality of Anchorage expects layoffs of about 70 employees in 2010, with further layoffs possible in 2011, while the school district expects to lose several positions through natural attrition in 2010. This loss will be offset by a small increase in State employment expected in 2010, due to the proposed budget increase of 2 percent in FY2011.

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES In 2009, the business and professional services sector added 200 new jobs, an increase of 1.1 percent from 2008.

AEDC forecasts employment in this sector will hold steady in 2010. This sector includes architecture, engineering, legal, accounting and permitting services that have all enjoyed steady growth in recent year due to increased expenditures in the oil and gas sector, as well as several mining development projects. Unfortunately, these efforts have slowed recently as reflected in reduced capital spending.

OIL & GAS Anchorage lost 200 headquarters jobs in the oil and gas sector in 2009, but AEDC expects the oil and gas sector in Anchorage to hold steady in 2010, with no significant change in employment.

Statewide, employment in the oil and gas industry peaked at a record level of 13,400 jobs in July 2009. However, oil and gas industry employment declined from that peak to 12,900 jobs in December, with additional statewide decline possible in 2010.

Limited oil exploration and reduced capital spending is expected to contribute to the decline in 2010 with repair and replacement projects for aging infrastructure mitigating it somewhat.

Key issues in 2010 will include the success or failure of the open season for the gas pipeline projects, the effect of the global economic recovery on oil

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

prices, and the impacts of producerinitiated cost containment programs on the support industry.

Oil and gas employment numbers understate the impact of the industry on Anchorage where thousands of ancillary business and professional services jobs are intimately linked to exploration and production. Furthermore, as many as 4,000 North Slope oil and gas jobs are held by Anchorage residents.

being mitigated by civil, stimulus and military projects.

In stark contrast to the rest of the nation, the construction sector continued to see some new residential housing construction in 2009. Unfortunately, the expected surge in remodeling due to AHFC’s energy rebate program does not appear to have materialized.

TRANSPORTATION

In 2009, leisure and hospitality sector employment was about 300 jobs

In 2009, average annual employment in the transportation sector saw 200 jobs lost with a continued decline of 200 jobs forecast for 2010.

The projected loss in 2010 for transportation can be attributed to two main factors affecting Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport: softer demand for air cargo due to the worldwide economic slowdown and a potential loss of 117,000 cruise ship passengers to the Southcentral region. AEDC projects a modest increase in cargo volumes in the coming years.

LEISURE & HOSPITALITY (TOURISM)

below the 2008 average. In 2010, AEDC expects the hospitality and leisure sector to lose another 500 jobs, a decrease of 3.3 percent.

The food services sector in Anchorage should stabilize in 2010.

However, lodging will take a hit due to a loss of as many as 117,000 cruise ship passengers.

While leisure and hospitality employment is expected to be down, it is likely a significant share of the decline will be in seasonal jobs held by non-Alaskans.

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WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE Anchorage’s wholesale and retail trade sectors averaged 400 fewer jobs in 2009 than in 2008. For 2010, AEDC expects further decline in this sector with employment averaging about 300 fewer jobs in 2010.

Somewhat contrary to the Department of Labor’s preliminary numbers, this sector added several new retail outlets in 2009, including Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Best Buy, Target, Forever 21, The Sports Authority, with Walgreens opening two new stores and Walmart expanding its South Anchorage location. All of these additions added hundreds of new jobs in Anchorage.

No significant new retail construction is slated for 2010; however, Walmart recently announced plans to expand its midtown Anchorage store to a Super Walmart. Several other national retail chains are also expressing interest in Anchorage.

CONSTRUCTION Anchorage’s construction industry averaged 500 fewer jobs in 2009 than 2008, a decline of 5.3 percent, with AEDC expecting a decline of another 400 jobs in 2010. A larger loss is likely

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15

The Anchorage economy should turn the corner and return to modest growth by later this year.

– Bill Popp President and CEO Anchorage Economic Development Corp.

Photo by Jefferson Johnson

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE IMPROVING For the second year, AEDC conducted a survey of 213 businesses about the economic outlook for Alaska and Anchorage.

The Business Confidence Index for 2010 is 53.6, indicating that the business community has a slightly positive outlook for 2010. (An index between 51 and 100 indicates a positive outlook, while an index below 50 shows a negative outlook.) Businesses expressed somewhat more confidence in the upcoming year than they did at this time last year. In 2009, the AEDC Business Confidence Index was 51.8.

While two years a trend does not make, most indices appear to be moving in a positive direction since 2009.

Respondents to the business confidence survey anticipate increases in gross sales, net profits and capital expenditures, but the outlook for employment was slightly down from 2009.

Although business leaders seem to have a positive outlook for their own businesses, when they look at the larger picture – the Anchorage economy – doubts still remain. Some key findings include: • In terms of gross sales (or operating budgets) a majority of businesses (60 percent) expect an increase in 2010, with 28 percent expecting a moderate or large increase.

•

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•

• With respect to net profits, a majority of respondents (58 percent) expect an increase in 2010. The outlook for 2010 is more positive than was the outlook for 2009 where a minority of respondents (48 percent) expected an increase in net profits.

• One-third of businesses (33 percent) anticipate hiring more workers in 2010, while nearly half of respondents (49 percent) anticipate no change in employment. Of the 17 percent that expect job cuts, most anticipated small decreases.

• Health insurance at 58 percent and federal regulations at 50 percent were rated the most significant barriers to growth for local business with municipal taxes and regulations being the lowest ranked barriers at 28 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

• Thirty-six percent of the respondents think the Alaska natural gas pipeline is the most important project for the future of the Anchorage economy, while 20 percent felt a pipeline from the North Slope to Southcentral is the most important, followed by 15 percent indicating resource development in Cook Inlet is important.

• Sixty-eight percent of respondents think Alaska’s oil and gas tax environment discourages oil production, while 10 percent think it encourages production.

•

•

•

•

BRIGHT FUTURE In closing, I believe that this year’s AEDC Economic Forecast and AEDC Business Confidence Index are indicators that the relatively mild recession we find ourselves in is nearly over. The Anchorage economy should turn the corner and return to modest growth by later this year. Soon, “flat” will be yesterday’s “good.”

Beyond 2010, what does the future hold for Alaska? I am optimistic by nature, and I believe Anchorage and Alaska have a bright future. But, only if Alaskans come together and grasp the opportunities that are inherent in the vast resources of our great state.

Alaska’s economy is first and foremost based on resource extraction, and will be for decades to come. It is unlikely that our state will become a self-sustaining economy anytime soon, given our very small population spread over such a vast landscape.

We have the ability now and in the coming years to plant the seeds of economic diversification and to set the stage for a self-sustaining economy in the future, but it will take years to make it a reality. Now is the time to map out how we are going to get there.

The public, business community and government leaders need to seek common ground on strategic vision for Alaska’s economic future.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Wealth drawn from our natural resources in the coming years will allow Alaskans to invest in the future and create the strong and diverse economic foundation that all Alaskans want – a future that grows the economy while maintaining and improving our quality of life. With a common vision, our future can be very bright. ❑ About the Author Bill Popp, president and CEO, Anchorage Economic Development Corp., has spent more than 30 years in both the Alaska private and public sectors. As president and CEO of the Anchorage Economic Development Corp., he sets the strategic direction in marketing Anchorage and Alaska to companies and global industries considering Anchorage as a place in which to do business and assists local businesses looking to expand outside of Alaska.

Prior to joining AEDC, Popp served as special assistant to Mayor John J. Williams of the Kenai Peninsula Borough (KPB) with a focus on oil and gas development. From 1996 to 2002, he held an elected position on the KPB Assembly and, in 2000, he presided over the Assembly as president. He also has private industry experience as a small business owner.

Popp has served as chairman of the KPB Economic Development Criteria Task Force; project coordinator of the Challenger Learning Center for Alaska; vice chairman of the Alaska Stranded Gas Act Municipal Advisory Group; cochair of Gov. Frank Murkowski’s Agrium Task Force; chair of the Kenai Peninsula Development Coalition; consultant for the British Columbia Provincial Government’s Offshore Oil and Gas Team; and, member of the Cook Inlet Natural Gas Pipeline Terminus Group. He is currently a board member of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce and Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau, UAA College of Business and Public Policy Advisory Board, the Alaska Film Group, chair of the Economic Development Committee for the Municipality of Anchorage, member of the Tri-borough Commission Energy Task Force, member of the Municipality of Anchorage Energy Policy Committee and the Legislative Energy Stakeholders Group, and ex-officio board member of Anchorage Downtown Partnership Ltd.

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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AGRICULTURE

“I expect it will be used in a niche market, health food stores and farmers’ markets, with processing, milling and storage done on farms.”

– Robert Van Veldhuizen ■ Research Assistant ■ University of Alaska Fairbanks.

New Alaska strain shows promise.

BY MARY EDMUNDS

Photo by Brianne Athearn/ Alaska Plant Materials Center

“Sunshine” barley field in production at the Alaska Plant Materials Center (Palmer) in late July 2009.

The crop was harvested the last week of August.

T

hey call it “Sunshine.” Its introduction in January 2009 did not elicit much fanfare. After all, it is neither an oil field nor a gold strike.

It is a new strain of barley developed for small-scale commercial application in the Alaska climate. Work on it was begun in 1993 by Dr. Steven Dofing and was continued by Robert Van Veldhuizen, research assistant at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Barley has actually been grown here for more than 100 years, mainly as feedstock. The Russian colonists brought barley seed with them from Siberia. C.C. Georgeson, a government agent working in Alaska around the beginning of the 1900s, reported that an experimental station in Rampart produced a barley crop in 1901. In the 1980s, there was the painful episode of the Delta Barley Project.

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FAILED ATTEMPT If you were here at that time, you might remember the Delta projects. The trans-Alaska oil pipeline had brought both revenue and optimism to the state.

Then Gov. Jay Hammond thought Alaska should look for renewable resources that would be available when the oil ran out. So, the State developed the Delta Barley Project as a two-phase initiative to promote agriculture in the Delta Junction area.

In 1978, as the first phase, the State created 22 farms averaging around 2,700 acres each. The parcels were awarded by lottery. The State provided loans to the winners so they could purchase the land, clear it and begin production of barley, with Japan as a possible market.

The second phase consisted of 15 additional farms at around 1,600 acres each.

So what went wrong? According to Clem Tillion, a State senator at the

time, one problem was the process.

“They were going to be democratic about it,” Tillion said. “Everybody had a chance for the land instead of farming it out to farmers who already knew how.”

The land in the Delta region was difficult to clear. The farmers were given a three-year deadline, which was too short to get up to sufficient production levels to ship. And it turned out to be far too expensive to complete the railroad line meant to transport the grain from Delta to Valdez. When Hammond left office and William Sheffield became governor, Sheffield decided the project was a failure and ended it.

SUNSHINE BARLEY This new barley is intended for human consumption. As a land-grant school, the university is tasked with doing research to benefit the community, and in spite of the apparent failure of the Delta project,

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

which means it needs less processing.

Sunshine is also resistant to lodging, a trait in which the stem bends and breaks under the weight of the head, making it difficult to harvest. Barley is nutritious, low in gluten and is said to help lower blood sugar and prevent atherosclerosis.

Photo by Mary Edmunds

NICHE MARKET

“Sunshine” barley seed grown and stored at the Plant Management Center in Palmer awaits the coming growing season.

barley is still the grain most adaptable to Alaska growing conditions. The breeder seed was grown last summer in small plots at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm, the Matanuska Experiment Farm, the Delta Junction Research Site and the Plant Management Center in Palmer.

The Plant Management Center planted nine acres last summer and the seed is now stored at their facility, ready for sale to the Alaska Seed Growers Association in April.

The protein-to-carbohydrate ratio in this barley is high. It is hull-less,

Van Veldhuizen doesn’t anticipate that the barley will be grown for export, since there is now too much competition from some of our western states and from western Canada.

“I expect it will be used in a niche market, health food stores and farmers’ markets, with processing, milling and storage done on farms,” he said.

Mention barley and someone will always bring up beer. Alaska has microbreweries. Why don’t we malt barley here? Van Veldhuizen says the new strain is unsuitable for malting.

“The high protein content of Sunshine is against it, since the malting process works with the carbohydrate component, converting starches into sugar,” he said.

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

In addition, the germination time of Sunshine is too slow to make a good malting barley.

Bryce Wrigley, president of the Delta branch of the Alaska Farm Bureau, hopes someone will put together a commercial milling operation that could produce flour for bakeries and homemakers. He has sampled crackers produced in the Cooperative Extension kitchen in Fairbanks.

“If you have a chance to try the university’s graham crackers, boy, I tell you, they are really, really good,” Wrigley said. “I would like to see somebody come along and say, ‘you know, I can make this stuff with all Alaska ingredients.’”

BISON PROBLEM Another problem the Delta project farmers faced still persists. In 1928, about 20 plains bison, a species under the threat of extinction in the Lower 48, were moved to the Delta region.

By 2007, there were approximately 700 wild plains bison in Alaska. After more agricultural land opened up in the Delta area, they thrived.

Bison are grazing animals, feeding naturally on grasses, sedges and vetches.

In the spring, they move in groups of around 100 or more to the Delta River region where they calve in meadows.

Around late August, they move to the 90,000-acre Delta Junction Bison Range, which was set aside when the Delta projects began. Along the way they pay visits to farms during harvest season.

Wrigley described an encounter he had when he went to examine one of his fields. “There were about 150 bison,” Wrigley said. “They took off running and I just have this image burned in my mind. They were an unstoppable force at that point. Heads of grain were just falling to the ground behind them.

It totally wasted that area of the field.

There wasn’t even anything there to combine. It was just heartbreaking.”

Alaska Fish and Game are responsible for managing the herd. About 40 permits are issued each year for hunters, who like the impressive trophies and the tasty meat. Hunting parties are a source of revenue for the town says Phil Kaspari, the agricultural agent with the Cooperative

Extension Service in Delta Junction.

“There are certain factions out there that want to make this a farmer versus hunter issue,” Kaspari said. “And it is unfortunate. It bothers me when it is put into that context.”

He says it is an extremely complicated issue that needs to be addressed.

In fact, it is expected to be addressed in meetings in the near future.

BARLEY OPPORTUNITY Alaska agriculture has always been a subject of debate. We do have cold climate. But other areas have problems like hailstorms or drought. Farmers like Wrigley see an opportunity to provide basic food security for the people of our state.

In the July 1909 issue of the National Geographic, C.C. Georgeson said, “We shall in the near future by selection and breeding, be able to develop varieties which shall be better suited to Alaska than anything we now have and it is therefore certain that the results will be improved upon.” C.C. Georgeson, meet “Sunshine.” And it only took 100 years. ❑

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Fleet Vehicles | Industrial Equipment | Remote Camps & Facilities www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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AGRICULTURE

Alaska CSA movement aims to feed locals.

BY MARY EDMUNDS In this country, when locavores demand locally grown produce, the need is met by Community Supported Agriculture, or CSAs. In most CSAs, consumers invest a fixed amount with a farmer before the growing season starts, when the farmer needs working capital.

In exchange, consumers share in the harvest, receiving weekly boxes of vegetables. They also share in the farmer’s risks, usually weather, blight, or, here in Alaska, moose viewing the crop as an all-you-caneat salad bar.

Access to local produce is of special interest to Alaskans, where transportation is costly and shipping distance impairs nutritional value.

Our short growing season does limit our variety of crops. But the long hours of sunlight and the cooler temperatures give our carrots and beets exceptional sweetness.

Photos by Mary Edmunds

NOT ALWAYS LOCALLY GROWN

A weekly winter subscription box from Glacier Valley Farm in Palmer includes root vegetables, potatoes, squash and greens.

CSAs also may include farms that supplement their boxes with vegetables and fruitsgrown elsewhere during the winter months. Glacier Valley Farm in Palmer, run by Arthur Keyes and Alison Arians, is an example of the hybrid model. They limit their offerings from the Lower 48 to produce from Washington, Oregon and California. Their customers can order on a weekly, monthly or irregular basis. “There has been a demand for year-round delivery from our customers at farmers’ markets,” Arians said. Markets, which, in Alaska, close down at the end of summer.

Another method, known as the subscription model, can deliver food from anywhere, even outside the U.S. Full Circle Farms, popular in Alaska, is an

I

from, how it’s grown or who did the growing. And, a growing number of agricultural entrepreneurs are meeting the demand for what the Japanese call “teikei,” or “food with the farmer’s face on it.”

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

f a carnivore eats meat, and an herbivore eats vegetables, does that mean a locavore eats the locals? No. A growing number of people are concerned about not knowing where their food comes

example. It has provided fresh produce for such unlikely places as Kotzebue.

The subscriber purchases the produce, but has no connection with growers. According to many, this does not comply with the true definition of a CSA. Some CSAs are run as nonprofits and combine the farming with ecological education. In addition to supplying their shareholders, these farms often donate their surplus to local food banks and shelters. Calypso Farm near Fairbanks is an example.

CSA BACKGROUND There are about 1,700 CSAs in the United States, averaging from five acres to 20 acres.

Over a dozen are here in Alaska.

Although most are in the MatanuskaSusitna and Tanana valleys, the remote town of Bethel boasts Tim Meyer’s CSA. It supplies neighbors by growing crops in a tundra landscape.

Community Supported Agriculture has a long history, reaching back to the 1930s in Switzerland, where urbanization was taking land away from farming, similar to the situation today in places like Wasilla and Palmer. Organizers consulted with Rudolf Steiner, best known for his Waldorf schools and for the philosophy of “biodynamism,” where farmers pay close attention to the nature and nurture of the soil.

Originally, a group would buy a farm collectively and hire a farmer to work for them. But, oddly enough, the farmers objected to being managed by people who knew nothing about farming. That approach quickly morphed into one where the farmer was in control and the members were investors.

In the 1980s, Jan Vandertuin from Switzerland visited Robyn Van En’s Indian Hills Farm in Massachusetts.

Impressed with his ideas, she began implementing them. It was she and her group that came up with the term Community Supported Agriculture. The parallel “teikei” movement developed in Japan in the 1980s was in response to mothers worried about the dangers of pesticides and pollutants.

E-PRODUCE The Internet has been a boon for the CSAs. “We couldn’t do it without the Web,” Arians said. Web pages give www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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the consumer information about the program, its costs and schedules. Many CSA sites share recipes and commentaries, making it feel like you are sitting on the porch of the country store.

Mike Emers of Rosie Creek Farm in Ester is enthusiastic about the advantages of a CSA farm, and his enthusiasm is catching. Last year, his 11th season, Rosie Creek Farm had 105 subscribers and is hoping for 150 to 160 subscribers this year. The program is giving Emers the resources to expand acreage under cultivation.

The farm divides its shares three ways: ■ Full season shares, going for $400 for 12 weeks.

■ Early shares of salad greens for $50.

■ Root cellar shares, $25 for three to four weeks.

Sarah and River Bean’s farm in Palmer, Arctic Organics, is now in its 21st season. They sell 150 shares on a first-come, first-served basis. The cost of a share the past year was $565 for the season. They are dedicated to organic methods. The CSA program is helping them finance a root cellar system.

Competition from Full Circle Farm

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Arthur Keyes (left) and Ken Barnhardt from Glacier Valley Farm in Palmer deliver weekly subscription boxes to an Anchorage pick-up site.

in Washington state has encouraged local CSAs to come together to arrive at a clear definition of what a CSA means and to educate the public about it. “The farmer needs to be honest about what he means.” Emers said.

Sarah Bean agrees that a stricter definition might be needed, but reminds consumers of the original point of being in touch with their food sources. “The

consumer should take the initiative in examining the farmer’s methods and operations,” she says.

The CSA movement is a smallscale business model that won’t feed everybody. But farmers need not only to be able to sow and harvest, they also need to raise capital and to market effectively. And for this, CSA works. ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

MARKETING

Steps to Writing an Effective Press Release

Experts give tips and tales.

BY JAMIE LOBER

W

riting a press release can be an art. And sometimes only the best written ones get published. So how can you, as a small business without a marketing team to promote your business, be assured you make the news at least some of the time by grabbing the attention of editors and reporters who put together print, radio or television news?

There are always the old basics.

Write a catchy headline, include contact information, date the piece and keep it short. But press release experts such as Ryan Macinster, communications director at Anchorage Economic Development Corp.; Steve Gonzalez, business owner at Gonzalez Marketing

26

in Anchorage; Amy Cockerham, vice president of Thompson and Company Public Relations in Anchorage; Kathleen McCoy, president of Alaska Press Club; Slavik Boyechko, marketing and development specialist of Red Cross in Anchorage; and Lyn Whitley, marketing officer of First National Bank Alaska, offer more detailed tips.

“We are a young state and people are pulling themselves up in bootstraps finding new ways to do things, says Macinster. “The last year and a half we were thrust into the national stage and have a venue to talk nationally about the cool things Alaska businesses and entrepreneurs have to offer.” An effective press release all comes down to strategy.

Understand the purpose of a release before you begin.

1 press A press release is designed to prompt a reporter to publish information about your company, or even better, write a story on your company that helps build your reputation as a company, be an expert in your field, and bring business your way. Develop an angle that grabs attention and keeps it. Brag about awards, promotions, new products, new services, new technology, industry news and anything else deemed newsworthy.

If there is bad news floating around about your company, address it. For example, if you know strikers may appear at your doorstep, be proactive and

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

send out a release stating the problem, why your company is a great company, and how you plan to deal with issues.

Don’t let them be the nightly news. Let your company be in control.

2 Offer a catching headline.

The headline should get your message across using few words. The same applies to the subject line of your e-mail since that is how most press releases are distributed. It is important to be realistic. “Think about how your piece would appear in the paper and not necessarily what you would want them to say,” Cockerhams says. “For example, Thompson and Co. is the best business in Alaska is not likely to be the best headline. A better headline would be Thompson and Co. Brings on New Talent because it tells why you should continue reading.”

3 Use an effective lead.

An old-fashioned way of writing a press release, and a tried and true one at that,

is to put who, what, when, where and why in the lead. An example of this was a recent press release distributed by the Seldovia Village Tribe, which stated: “The Seldovia Village Tribe expects to begin operating a new, highspeed passenger ferry in May between Homer and Seldovia.” That tells the whole story and entices the reporter or editor to read further. Or have fun.

Tell a story, ask a question. Be clever.

Use a standard format while being short and to the point. There are many templates you can follow on the Internet. “Some are trained in the inverted pyramid style,” Cockerham says. “This involves putting your most important information first, such as why you are sending the press release in the lead and then following with other materials in descending order of importance, ending with the boiler plate that encapsulates who you and your business are.” Everyone has his or her own preference. “Sometimes if information is complicated, you have to go a little beyond (400 or so words) but generally, you should try to be disciplined and keep it to one page.”

Understand your target 4 audience.

If you are targeting Alaska Business Monthly, for example, you would want to address business aspects of your business. If you are sending a release to the Anchorage Press, something fun and snappy could be in order. Sometimes the audience will be narrower than others. “If you are a candy manufacturer and have come up with a new way to temper chocolate so it takes half the time, the truth is it is huge news in the candy manufacturing business, but probably not many other people out of candy manufacturing will care,” Gonzalez says.

5 Avoid industry-related jargon.

Business owners tend to be so close to their topic that they may fall into the temptation to use acronyms that people outside of their sphere will not be familiar with, says Cockerham. An example would be that although ATIA is familiar to those in the tourism industry,

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

27

others may not know it stands for Alaska Travel Industry Association.

whether your release is newsworthy.

11 Consider

your contact carefully.

15 Choose

6Truth is paramount.

“The core word of news is new so it should be something that will be useful and help others in their day-to-day lives,” says Gonzalez. “In academia, what we end up reporting falls along the lines of scientific discoveries and new programs. In business, it would be a new service, product or partnership.”

Be sure the person you list on your press release as the one to contact for more information will be available.

“You do not want to send a release out and have the contact person unavailable for three weeks on vacation,” Gonzalez says. The contact’s name should go at the top or bottom depending on the style you choose.

Information in a press release must be true. Information that is intentionally misleading damages your business’ creditability and image in the community. The more timely and complete the facts are in your press release, the more valuable it will be to news media.

7

Make a push for the rewards of doing business in Alaska.

If you are targeting an Outside audience, playing up the Alaska lifestyle is always a good strategy to encourage business to come to our state, Macinster says. “We have the ability to go to work and leave at five o’clock to go fly fish in a world-renown stream or park five miles away and hike through the most pristine areas in the world,” he adds.

8

Make sure each paragraph could stand alone.

You could end up getting odd information out there if some part gets pulled or cut due to space issues, says Macinster. When you get a separate point across in each paragraph, you will avoid misunderstandings.

9

Use a show rather than tell style.

You can write a simple release that someone donated $1 million for scholarships, or you can tell a story about the students who are going to benefit to be more powerful, Gonzalez says.

10 Cover the 5 W’s.

If not in the lead, make sure the who, what, when, where, why and how are there in some form, and fairly close to the top. This ensures you tell the whole story, and don’t leave important issues out.”

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12 Time your press release.

If the news is not time-sensitive, you may want to wait until you know journalists will be looking for information, such as around the holiday time when there is not a lot going on. Then, you can try to make it seasonal. “We once had a lead that said that in this tough economy, you can go to Las Vegas or you can try your luck at an unusual game of chance in Alaska,” Cockerham said. “We talk about unusual winter festivals and remind people that we are an all-year destination.”

13 Know when to embargo.

If a business has a new product coming out Feb. 25, you may embargo the press release until noon on that date, Gonzalez says. This means that reporters cannot publish stories on the topic prior to the date you specify. To be safe, it is best only to release stories early to trusted media sources.

not wait if it is an urgent 14 Domatter.

“It’s important to keep customers and the public informed in an emergency.

“For instance, if we have information about financial scams or frauds occurring in our state, we work diligently with local bank and law enforcement experts in the community to issue a timely, factual and informative press release,” Whitley says. The press release is a tool to get information to the public. “If it is a well-written press release given to the right medium at the right time, then the message will likely be delivered,” Whitley added.

16 Include a photo.

This is an automatic advantage. “If you are promoting an author, it would be good to have a nice picture of him and maybe even a picture of the book jacket,” McCoy says. “If it is something about the health department wanting to make sure everybody gets a flu shot, you may include a photo that has a child getting a shot.”

17 Be solution-oriented.

If the news is that studies show children are spending too much time in front of television screens and educators say it is setting them back, you may suggest a great new book that parents can sit down and read together with their children, addressing the growing concern, McCoy says.

18

Do not overlook the basics.

Make sure to include pertinent information such as a contact, date, time and information for a potential media visit at an event, Boyechko says.

When you submit a well-written press release, it may make the news even if it does not trigger an entire story. “Most news outlets have a section of business briefs and business professionals read that to see what other businesses are up to,” says Cockerham. Remember it does not take hiring a public relations firm.

Small and large business owners can write some of the best press releases themselves. ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Smith & “ Parker, Feek understands the complexity of our company and excels, in coordination with our employee benefits team, at providing outstanding service to our employees.

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Melanie Osborne, In House Counsel Ahtna, Incorporated

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MARITIME

Industry rides economic tide.

Photo courtesy of Allen Marine

Allen Marine built 19 vessels for New York Waterway, the company that rescued the majority of the people from the plane that went down in the Hudson River last year. In the photo there are five vessels built by Allen Marine that are involved in the rescue. The second vessel on the scene (and it was close) was an Allen Marine vessel named the Moira Smith, which was named for a women police officer killed in World Trade Center.

BY HEIDI BOHI

T

he health of Alaska’s boat building and repair business is a direct reflection of the strength of the state’s most significant industries.

When commercial fishing harvests are profitable, new boats, overhauls and expensive repairs and modifications keep shops and shipyards buzzing.

The construction industry, which relies heavily on marine transportation to get building materials and supplies to communities statewide, is currently flat – not such a bad thing considering the economy – and expected to continue on this downward ramp.

As a result, builders in the maritime industry report that reduced funds available for roads, hospitals, schools, houses and other projects can be seen reflected in the decreasing number of orders here, too. Oil and gas, which is lobbying for tax breaks to keep top producers from pulling out, will again spend $3 billion on construction this year and three new oil fields are being developed on the North Slope. The largest construction client in the state, this also translates to steady work for boat builders.

Tourism, which is one of the industries hit the hardest by the recession,

30

relies on boats ranging in size from smaller six-pack boats to tour boats and mega cruise ships. At the same time, 97 percent of all goods arrive via water on commercial ships that are built in Seattle, but at some point on their journeys are likely to require maintenance or repair.

HISTORY The significance of Alaska’s history with marine transportation and boat building is often understated. Although most images are limited to postcard renditions of chubby tugboats motoring toward the setting sun, in fact, Alaska’s history is built around marine transportation more than anyplace else in the country. Coastal communities and business rely on container ships, ferries, oil tankers, research ships, barges, lighters, fishing vessels, tenders, tankers, towboats, dredges, cruise ships, tour boats, yachts and skiffs, air boats, dories, hovercrafts and inflatable rubber boats.

Besides the direct benefits from boat building and repairs, there are also equally important sub-industries that contribute to the state’s economy: dry docks, floating drilling and production

platforms for oil and gas, marine rigging and marine surveying.

Despite the diversity and farreaching network of boat building and repair, the industry has a history of being touch and go, says Patrick Eberhardt, owner of Coastwise Corp., whether it’s the trickle-down effects of the struggling fishing industry being felt, or the lagging statewide construction industry.

Coastwise is one of the state’s bestknown naval-architecture and marineengineering firms serving Alaska’s maritime industry, offering professional vessel design, marine structural and systems engineering, port engineering and waterborne transportation analysis to public- and private-sector clients.

Most prominent Alaska vessel owners, operators and shipyards use Coastwise and the company has been involved in the acquisition of nearly all new public vessels in Alaska.

Looking ahead reveals the same story these vendors have lived before.

“It’s hard to forecast because the industry has been sick for so many years,” Eberhardt says.

Not only is it producing fewer naval architects, but also there are a limited number of fabricators. The industry is

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

not supported by vendors and Alaska shipyards have to be subsidized because there is less ship building. The industry is turning to smaller modification jobs – and from month-to-month the bidding and award process changes, while Alaska continues to have to compete against much larger firms Outside.

Although neither the good times or bad times are necessarily tied to the recession, he says, the trickle-down effect from other industries certainly has a measurable impact on what, compared to other Alaska economic sectors, is a “little teeny industry,” that is traditionally supported by the Seattle area for

design and construction. In short, he says, in Alaska, if you build ships and you’re still in business, it’s good. And on the other end, small shops that produce “one-off” handcrafted boats seem to always stay about the same.

BOAT BUILDING VARIES At the same time, Eberhardt says, it is impossible to make sweeping statements about the boat-building industry, because it varies according to the type of boat being built for various economic sectors.

Allen Marine, for example, a fourthgeneration ship builder based in Sitka,

builds aluminum vessels, including new catamaran designs that support the Coast Guard. What also sets them apart is that in addition to building boats, they also operate a fleet of 28 vessels for their tourism business, Allen Marine Tours. Since 1984, the company has built 52 vessels, including 13 78-foot, 150-passenger catamarans and six 65-foot, 97-passenger monohulls.

Allen’s business is very specific to passenger operation vessels and with the state of the cruise ship industry and the reduction in the number of sailings to Alaska, it’s having a direct impact on the vessels used for shore excursions,

M/V Susitna Nearing Completion, Deployment Variable-draft ferry provides Ketchikan shipyard work.

BY HEIDI BOHI

I

n an industry that often piecemeals work together just to stay afloat, the building of the $70 million M/V Susitna catamaran ferry has been a windfall for 60 full-time employees of Alaska Ship and Drydock in Ketchikan who are exclusively dedicated to the completion of this ship scheduled for spring. When they were first awarded the contract in 2005, the facility averaged 82 people a year, compared now to 151 employees.

In addition to the direct employment benefits, the project marks a significant benefit to the company and the state by increasing its manufacturing capacity and knowledge that this work force can be used for producing future ships.

COOK INLET DEVELOPMENT

“The establishment of reliable, year-round sea transportation to ports and unimproved sites in Cook Inlet will offer huge benefits and promote economic development by lowering the costs of transportation and connecting developing communities,” says Lew Madden, co-inventor of the ferry. “The M/V Susitna is the first of this class of ships, but has already been a major contributor to growth in the borough as industry recognizes the benefits of linking the rail and port facilities of Port Mackenzie and Anchorage.

“In Mat-Su’s opinion, the construction of this very unique and complex ship at an Alaska yard has developed and demonstrated the skills, which prove that for this class of ships, Alaska shipbuilders are competitive on a global stage.”

If the Port MacKenzie landing is complete by then, the ferry will dock there until the Anchorage landing is complete and the Mat-Su Borough hopes to be making regular passenger commuter runs across Knik Arm by this October.

While onboard a catamaran tour boat in Prince William Sound, as he watched ice chunks drift into the pontoons, Lew Madden, then with Lockheed Martin, first sketched the original concept for the variable-draft ferry. Five years and more than 20 iterations later, Madden’s idea is the biggest development in the ship- and boat-building industry in decades.

EXPERIMENTAL CRAFT

Officially known as the Office of Naval Research E-Craft, an experimental high-speed transformable hull-form vessel, it is similar to the Navy’s current fleet of catamaran vessels, with one remarkable difference. The vessel will have three distinct modes of operation: a catamaran mode for high speeds, a small-water-area-twin-hull (SWATH) mode for stability in high sea states, and a shallow-draft landing-craft mode that provides substantial buoyancy for maneuvering in shallow water. The ferry will also be the first to vary its draft and the first catamaran to break ice in the world.

The 195-foot long, multi-functional ship will operate yearround and be capable of traveling through high seas and ice.

It will carry up to 20 cars and 100 passengers at up to 20 knots and then on arrival be able to raise and lower its deck to operate from link spans or boat ramps.

The ship also has a center “barge” that can be hydraulically raised and lowered and it is able to adjust the buoyancy of its catamaran hulls while under way. It can even beach itself to load and discharge vehicles up to tank size. The M/V Susitna demonstrates the functionality of a ship that can provide a multipurpose, expeditionary cargo and troop ship that performs efficiently at high speed, in ice and in shallow waters. ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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such as those that rely on cruise ship passenger business and walk-on passengers, such as Kenai Fjords Tours and Allen Marine Tours.

As the market weathers this soft period, companies like this are softening the bottom line with other services such as feasibility studies and conceptual analysis.

“I am optimistic.”

– Eric Sloth, Owner Sloth Boats Homer 32

Photo by Dave Bryant

INDUSTRY ROOTS Marine transportation was a cornerstone of Alaska’s development. Sternwheelers were first introduced to the Yukon River in 1866. Paddle wheels churning, boilers chugging, they moved up and down the river, from after breakup until just before the river froze for the winter. In July 1869, the Alaska Commercial Co.’s sternwheeler Yukon started its first voyage up the Yukon River, pushing two boats with supplies and carrying a government surveying party.

The Klondike Gold Rush began in July of 1897 when two ships docked in San Francisco and Seattle carrying miners returning from the Yukon with bags of gold. Within six months, 100,000 gold-seekers set off to the gold fields. The most common route was by boat, traveling upstream from the mouth of the Yukon River in Western Alaska to Skagway. Those who made it across the passes found themselves at Bennett Lake where boats were built to run the final 500 miles down the Yukon River for the three-week trip to the gold fields, crossing many rapids before making it to Dawson City.

The passage was anywhere from $500 per person to $1,000 per person, and a brochure put out days after the first Klondike news in 1897 emphasized speed, stating the rich man’s journey to the gold creeks took a mere 51 days.

Sitka-based Sitk b d All Allen M Marine i b built ilt th the 65 65-foot f t aluminum l i llanding di craft, ft M/V Qit’ rWik, for the National Park Service and delivered it to Bristol Bay in 2007.

Coastwise Engineering designed the Qit’ rWik for Allen Marine, which has since built another such vessel for the state of California Park Service – the M/V Clam – deployed in the San Francisco Bay area.

The typical vessels were about 170feet long, 35-feet wide and carried up to 250 tons of cargo. They were run by locomotive-type boiler engines, which cost about $2 per mile to operate and burned about 120 cords of wood on a trip from Whitehorse to Dawson. Wood camps sprang up along the river to provide fuel for the sternwheelers during their journey.

It is safe to say that this development ushered in the first significant start of the commercial boat-building industry in Alaska. It started with freight hauling on the Yukon River in Canada during the Gold Rush of 1898. By the early 1900s there were about 350 sternwheelers on the Yukon River and other major rivers in North America. Airplanes and all-weather roads eventually ended the sternwheeler’s supremacy. Bridges built along the highway to Dawson City were too low to accommodate the old river steamers and by 1955 all steamers had been beached.

Prior to the mid-19th century, boats in the United States were built primarily by the people who used them and most were workboats designed for specific uses. These included whaling boats for the Arctic seas, dories for the Grand Banks, log canoes used by oystermen and a huge variety of skiffs and other small craft. Eventually boats became more versatile. The Whitehall was a pulling boat first used in New York harbor as sort of a water taxi. A classic rowing boat, the Whitehall also was found to be well-suited as a sailing vessel and it began to appear in other harbors on both coasts, both with and without sails and was sometimes used for fishing.

About this same time, recreational boating began to grow significantly in the United States, though for the most part, Alaska has had less of a role in building leisure boats for weekend amateurs, instead leaving these to major manufacturers, though there is a handful of craftsmen who specialize in custom,

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

high-end catamarans. Then, in the early ’90s, the demand dropped, resulting from the decline in the economy and personal income declines and a 10 percent luxury tax – which has since been repealed – on pleasure boats worth more than $100,000. Looking ahead, though, Alaska’s boating industry could benefit some from building leisure boats if the 35 to 54 age group lives up to its demographic billing as being big spenders on leisure activities. Other issues such as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, operating licensing, marine wildlife protection laws and various new or increased user fees and taxes, along with consumer debt will play a major role in determining what role Alaska boat builders play in the U.S. market for pleasure craft.

REMODELING BOATS While there is still enough new construction to keep the industry’s businesses employing small teams of builders, most of the industry buzz focuses on total rebuilding or modifying existing vessels, especially as commercial fishing fleets age. Engine re-powers, in

many cases, are completed in order to increase fuel economy or cut emissions.

Increasing the size of mid-body sections serves two purposes: it increases the amount of cargo deck area and increases the hauling capacity in the hull.

A bulk of the business is remodeling commercial fishing boats by adding about six feet and stretching the middle to accommodate on-board refrigeration systems, says Eric Sloth, owner of Sloth Boats in Homer. The depressed economy has had a noticeable impact on the lower number of boats on the market, he says, adding that the cost of building a new boat is more than $1 million and to modify an existing vessel is about $100,000. While he says Alaska should be the premier boatbuilding state, the economy of scale is simply not there and the fishing industry continues to fluctuate too much.

“I am optimistic,” Sloth says, especially when it comes to the business from the fishing industry. “There is always some bright spot – last year it was Bristol Bay, two years ago it was Prince William Sound, and last year some boats in Kodiak had their best years ever.”

As the fishing industry realizes the importance of installing refrigerated sea water systems on their boats, resulting in a higher per pound price, Sloth says he expects the demand for this to greatly increase and it is estimated that there are about 2,000 boats in Alaska that will get this modification as canneries begin to require the fish be refrigerated. Although it is not an easy fix for boats that are only 32 feet to begin with and the cost can be high – up to about $100,000 – especially in an industry whose fishermen have been recoiling since the market crashed 20 years ago.

Silver Streak Boats, based in Anchorage, builds aluminum boats and also does a lot of work in repairs, owner Ben Sherbahn says. Until the economy begins to rally, he doesn’t see this changing as larger boat companies close down or reduce their work week to three days.

“It seems people are fixing their own stuff and modifying it to make it work – they’re getting by with what they’ve got,” he says. “Most boats are paid for, ❑ which can be the best kind.”

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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FILM

‘Kids Quest’ Travel Adventure Show

Photos by Carrie Crook

Children’s television pilot features Iditarod.

Iditarod contender DeeDee Jonrowe teaching “Kids Quest” stars Scarlett Knight (center) and Lauren Dair Owens (right) about the Last Great Race during filming of the pilot episode.

BY HEIDI BOHI

S

carlet Knight, a farm girl from Texas, and Lauren Owens, a lifelong Alaskan who lives in Anchorage, are on a quest. The Last Great Race on Earth – the sled dog event known as the Iditarod – is something their kid fans from across the country are interested in learning more about. And when it comes to travel adventures, it doesn’t get any better than this: more than 60 teams of dogs and their mushers traveling 1,150-miles northwest from Anchorage to Nome, covering the roughest and most breathtaking landscapes in the world. Along the way, they cross mountain ranges, brave frozen rivers, navigate barren tundra and windswept coastlines, all in an attempt to be the first to make it to the finish line.

As the 11-year-olds travel around the state trying to learn more about what the race is all about, the discov-

34

ery trip unfolds like a comedy of errors as they quizzically attempt to try the sport of dog sledding themselves – first, trying to figure out how dog sleds work, then picking the wrong dogs for their team, until Dee Dee Jonrowe, an acclaimed Iditarod contender and the foremost female dog musher competing in the world today, takes the girls by the hand and in the Alaska spirit says, “Girls, I’m going to show you what the race is really all about and what it means to be an Iditarod racer.”

STAY TUNED Although you’ve just gotten a preview of what the TV show “Kids Quest” is about, with any luck, this kids travel adventure pilot will be the next afternoon entertainment for “tweens” across the country, appealing to the demand for

both kids TV shows and any programming that is reality based – both areas that are still hot in Tinseltown.

“Everyone has a show to sell in L.A., so the odds are slim, but everyone is very intrigued by the idea because there’s nothing on the air like this and people are very intrigued by Alaska,” says Lisa Owens, Lauren’s mother and the show’s creator. “The whole point is to teach kids from around the country that Alaska is not off the coast of Hawaii. The perception of what Alaska is about is so different than what people experience when they get here, which is intriguing to producers.”

At first, many of the decision-makers are surprised when Owens suggests Alaska as a talent pool, but when they come to visit, she says they are “blown away by the talent and how diverse Alaska children are in their interests.”

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

ALASKA SPOTLIGHT As the Sarah Palin hype took hold of the country and outsiders were fascinated with the idea of hunting and eating moose, and the state’s natural surroundings, Owens and her daughter brainstormed the idea of a show that would be filmed in Alaska because it is so diverse and most children do not get exposed to all the state has to offer. As the conversation began to include contacts in Los Angeles, they realized the unlimited potential of a storyline that includes other areas.

In addition to the first season, which will explore Alaska, Texas and California, kids from across the country will be asked to submit video stories about what makes where they are from special. Each host is notified of an incoming video chat. From there, Scarlet and Lauren travel to the chosen locale on a “Kids Quest” to scope out the hidden gems, events and other things that make various locations interesting to the viewers who are 6 to 13 years of age.

LOCAL PRODUCTION The pilot was filmed locally in February. Since then, Owens and her agents

DeeDee Jonrowe takes “Kids Quest” stars Lauren Dair Owens and Scarlett Knight for a ride on her sled.

have been pitching different television networks such as Nickelodeon and Discovery Kids, while also trying to secure big sponsorship names. The soonest she expects to know if “Kids Quest” will air is in late April or early May. If the pilot gets picked up by a network, then Owens says she will negotiate terms of the contract for filming and selling

other episodes that each comprise eight to 13 shows.

“My goal is to keep being filmed by a local production group,” she says, adding that Kids Quest was written and shot by Upper One Studios and produced by her company Talent GPS. Kids starring in the show will earn $8 to $12 per episode, which

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their children’s performance skills in acting and music, Owens offers acting and vocal training by industry pros traveling to Anchorage from New York, Los Angeles and Nashville to coach hopefuls from the ages of six through their early 20s. Monthly acting and pop star academies are taught to classes of 15 to 30 students and vary by topic and instructor.

Big name coaching talents include Sterling Knight from the top-rated Disney show “Sonny with a Chance,” Harriet Greenspan who does casting for Nickelodeon and is currently looking for talent for “True Jackson, VP,” and the Disney duo Brandi Brice and Dana Gergely, casting directors for the Disney show called “The Suite Life on Deck.” Classes cover everything from script reading to comedic timing, improvisational skills, recording tips, stage presence, dance technique, songwriting and performance critique. At the end of the class, students perform live at the academy and are given a CD of the song they performed.

SUPPORTING CHILDREN

“Kids Quest” stars Scarlett Knight (left) and Lauren Dair Owens during filming of the pilot episode, which featured the girls learning about the Iditarod from DeeDee Jonrowe.

she says is on the high end, though if the pilot is picked up the AFTRA union rates will considerably bump this figure. To date, she and her husband, Chris, are funding the break-even project with Upper One Studios, which will total about

36

$25,000 by the time this stage of the project is complete.

NATIONAL TRAINING As the founder of Talent GPS, a group of industry professionals and parents of young artists who want to advance

Although Owens is a speech therapist, she started taking an interest in show business when she enrolled Lauren in Alaska Theater for Youth as a way to try and overcome her daughter’s shyness. Since then, her 5-year-old son Micah has also become involved in acting and has auditioned for several movies including “The Pretend Wife” with Jennifer Anniston and Adam Sandler. Along the way, Owens decided to launch Talent GPS as other parents asked her how they could get their children involved. Although there were several theater programs in Anchorage, none of them involved oncamera training.

Most of the kids are interested because they love to act and sing, she says, but at the same time, they are building self-esteem and confidence, and finding their true talents.

“Some kids want to make it big, for some it’s just about another experience they want to have, and for some of them they get into it because they’re gawky kids,” and it’s a way to make them more social and confident, ❑ Owens says.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Our future looks bright.

At ExxonMobil, we believe Alaska’s energy resources are vital to the future of both our state and nation. That’s why we are committed to developing Alaska’s natural gas resources in a responsible manner. It is also why we are investing in communities across Alaska through education, volunteerism and workforce development.

By working with the state, our community partners and our industry peers, we can ensure that all of these needs are met — both for Alaskans and the United States. By working together, we can all succeed. Now that’s a bright future we can all enjoy. exxonmobil.com

Point Thomson – North Slope

R

I G H T UIC

Chris Morgan has been named Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Ukpeagvik Iñupiat Cor poration (UIC).

Morgan has worked in accounting and finance in Alaska for more than 20 years, and has demonstrated expertise Morgan in financial reporting, external audit management, government contract compliance, and board communication. His previous positions include Vice President of Finance for Harbor Enterprises, Alaska’s largest independent petroleum marketing and distribution company; owner of A&F Solutions, a consulting company; and Chief Financial Officer for Arctic Slope World Services, a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.

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COMPILED BY NANCY POUNDS

UAA – FAIRBANKS

Vera Alexander and Gordon Kruse, two University of Alaska Fairbanks professors, received Alaska Ocean Leadership awards during the first Alaska Marine Gala. The event was held at the Alaska SeaLife Center in January. Alexander is a former School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences dean and professor emeritus. Alexander earned the lifetime achievement award. Her career has spanned more than four decades, and she was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. at the University of Alaska. Kruse received the research award. He is a professor of fisheries at the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences in Juneau.

NORTHRIM BANK

Ben Craig was hired as vice president and information technology manager. Craig previously served eight years as vice president of information systems for River City Bank in Sacramento, Calif. Rick Kelly joined Northrim as bank operations manager. Kelly has 11 years of banking industry experience.

NORTHRIM BANK

Sheri Gower and Katie Bates were promoted to vice president at Northrim Bank. Gower is vice president and human resources manager.

Bates is vice president and electronic banking manager. Brian Hove has rejoined the bank as vice president and commercial loan officer in Fairbanks. Hove returns after four years as an aide to the Alaska State Legislature’s Senate Judiciary Committee in Juneau.

Craig

Kelly

KPB ARCHITECTS

Crates

Shane Cates joined kpb architects. He has more than 13 years of architectural experience. Cates earned undergraduate and professional degrees in architecture from the College of Architecture at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

NAC CAN make air cargo easier!

STATE GOVERNMENT

Gov. Sean Parnell appointed Paul Olson of Anchorage to the Anchorage District Court and David Zwink of Wasilla to the Palmer District Court. Olson most recently served as acting Anchorage District Court judge since August 2009, as well as other stints in the role from 1987 to 1988 and from 1996 to 1999. He also has worked as general counsel for General Communications Inc. and as a hearing examiner for the Regulatory Commission of Alaska from 1999 to 2003. Zwink

has served as a magistrate, standing master and District Court judge pro tem in the Palmer District Court since 1990.

EHS-ALASKAINC.

David DeMay of EHSAlaska Inc. was chosen Safety Professional of the Year by the Alaska Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers. DeMay is a project manager and consultant with the Eagle River-based environmental, health and safety DeMay consulting firm. DeMay also is an instructor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Region 10 Training Center at the University of Washington.

ALASKA AEROSPACE CORP.

John Zbitnoff was promoted to vice president and general manager of the Alaska Aerospace Corp. Kodiak Launch Complex. Zbitnoff has worked with the facility since its construction in 1998. He most recently served as director of operations for the launch facility. Todd Leitheiser was appointed deputy general manager of the Kodiak Launch Complex. Leitheiser previously served as deputy director of operations.

CONGRESSMAN DON YOUNG’S OFFICE

Sgt. Joshua Revak was hired to work in Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young’s Anchorage office.

Revak’s role, which runs through 2012, was coordinated through the U.S. House Wounded Warriors Program run through the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer. He will serve as a liaison to Alaska veterans and current military members.

During his tenure in the Army, Revak received two Purple Heart medals, three Army Commendation medals, and other distinguished awards for his service. He served as a battle tank crewman in Iraq for two years in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Vernon Byrd, a biologist at Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, received the Refuge System Employee of the Year Award. The honor was presented by the National Wildlife Refuge Association and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Byrd was recognized for his work to protect marine species of coastal Alaska, such as auklets, puffins, storm petrels and other seabirds. The Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges received the Friends Group of the Year Award. The group aims to protect and champion Alaska’s 75 million acres of National Wildlife Refuges. The group has tackled projects to remove invasive plants, reduce invasive horse populations, and educate local communities and national decision-makers on the importance of National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.

Beth Pendleton was appointed regional forester for the U.S. Forest Service Alaska Region.

Pendleton oversees management of more than 22 million acres of National Forest System lands in Southcentral and Southeast Alaska. Pendleton previously served as the Pacific Southwest Region deputy regional forester since 2006. She also has held several posts in Alaska, including deputy regional forester for operations; director for recreation, lands and minerals.

Five Alaskans were appointed to three-year terms on the Bureau of Land Management’s Alaska Resource Advisory Council. New members are Verne Rupright, mayor, city of Wasilla, representing elected officials; Rachel Klein, land Manager at Kuskokwim Corp., representing the public at large; and Michael Wald, representing commercial recreation. Reappointed members are Teresa Imm, of Anchorage, Arctic Slope Regional Corp., representing Alaska Native Organizations;

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and Suzanne McCarthy, Prince William Sound Community College, of Glennallen, representing dispersed recreation.

SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL OF COOK INLET

Soroptimist International of Cook Inlet presented a $1,000 Women’s Opportunity Award to Anastasia Connolly, a nursing student at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She plans to become a registered nurse and eventually earn a master’s degree in public health.

FCVB elected its 2010 board of directors. They are Mary Richards, chairwoman, All Seasons Bed & Breakfast Inn; Suzy Fischer, chairwoman-elect, Riverboat Discovery & El Dorado Gold Mine; Buzzy Chiu, secretary, Bridgewater Hotel; and Matt Atkinson, treasurer, Northern Alaska Tour Co.

UAA – SOUTHEAST

MICHAEL L. FOSTER & ASSOCIATES INC.

Dunbar

James Dunbar ear ned his professional engineer license.

Dunbar is a project engineer at Michael L. Foster & Associates Inc.’s civil and environmental design group.

He has 11 years of exper ience in civil engineering, technical design and construction management.

FAIRBANKS CONVENTION VISITORS BUREAU

AND

The Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau hired Helen Renfrew as director of meetings and conventions. She most recently worked eight years as sales manager at the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge. Her travel industry career began in 1993 when she worked for the FCVB. Also, the

Caulfield

Richard Caulfield, director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Tanana Valley Campus, accepted the position of provost at the University of Alaska Southeast.

Caulfield leaves his post at TVC after six years. Caulfield is a UAF alumnus and has been a member of the faculty for more than 25 years.

RASMUSON FOUNDATION

Rasmuson Foundation welcomes three new board committee members to the foundation: Bill Corbus, Linda Leary and Aaron Schutt.

Rasmuson Foundation committees are responsible for researching and providing recommendations on foundation business and funding interests to the 12-member board of directors.

“These committee members are leaders in their field, with a rich background in business and philanthropy,’ said Rasmuson Foundation President and CEO Diane Kaplan. “We are excited and pleased to have them as part of the Rasmuson Foundation and look forward to their ❑ valuable input over the coming years.”

Did someone in your company receive a promotion or award? Please submit information, for possible inclusion in Right Moves, to editor@akbizmag.com. Information received is published, space available, two months after receiving the press release. Right Moves is compiled by Nancy Pounds of Anchorage and sponsored by Northern Air Cargo.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

39

BY NANCY POUNDS

Great Alaska Sportsman Show

Photos by Jeremy Hegna/AKSoundz

Spring rite signals summer planning.

The Great Alaska Sportsman Show will have more than 500 booths and draw more than 25,000 people.

The Sportsman Show opened in 1984 at the Sullivan Arena. Shepherd has steered the tradeshow throughout its nearly three decades. He joined the event organizers several months before its debut, helping the struggling coordinators fill the roster of vendors. Shepherd once worked as a boat dealer in California for 10 years before later venturing into office products tradeshow production. He then was offered a job in Alaska to work on the Sportsman Show. The show opened with 150 booths and drew 20,000 people, Shepherd recalled.

He helped attract vendors and attendees with his industry knowledge and boldness to approach potential vendors.

“They just needed someone to tell them the benefits of the show,” he said.

It wasn’t hard to fill the vendor list for the second year, he added.

GREAT GROWTH

S

potting the first robin of spring thrills the soul with hope of a long Alaska summer. Similarly, many Alaskans celebrate the opening of the Great Alaska Sportsman Show as a signal to plan outdoor adventures. This year’s event runs April 8 to 11 at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

“People know when the Sportsman Show comes winter is over,” said Steve Shepherd, president of Aurora Productions Inc., which coordinates the event.

The tradeshow features outdoor product vendors, nonprofit groups, fishing and hunting guide operators and many other offerings. Seminars and workshops cover techniques and tips from fishing, hunting, boating and other activities.

New vendors and manufacturers will line up at the 2010 edition of the Sportsman Show, Shepherd said.

Also, fresh offerings of workshops and seminars are on this year’s schedule.

BOOTHS GALORE This year the Sportsman Show will have more than 500 booths and draw up to 25,000 people during its four-day run, Shepherd said. “It’s the premiere show for the state of Alaska.”

Only the Alaska State Fair in Palmer tops the Sportsman Show based on attendance, due to its 12-day duration, Shepherd noted.

40

In following years, the show expanded to additional space on the second floor of the Sullivan Arena.

“The show grew by 30 to 40 booths every year,” Shepherd said.

Several businesses have participated in the Sportsman Show since its first year, he noted.

The show typically loses about 30 vendors annually, but those spots are quickly filled, and Shepherd says he usually turns away about 30 businesses seeking booth space.

To accommodate more booths organizers reduced booth size from 10-feet by 10-feet to 8-feet by 10-feet. In the early 1990s Shepherd added a 40-foot by 375-foot tent between the Sullivan Arena and Ben Boeke Ice Arena to add more booth space. The Sportsman Show later expanded to space within Ben Boeke and another tent, Shepherd remembered.

The Sportsman Show draws future business for many vendors, and they contribute to the Anchorage economy during their stay for the tradeshow. About 250 vendors attend the tradeshow from out of state or elsewhere within Alaska.

“We have representatives from every area of the state,” he said.

They spend money at hotels, car rentals, restaurants and other Anchorage businesses.

“One of the most significant things it does for our community is its economic impact,” Shepherd said.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

The kids’ fish pond is a top attraction at the Sportsman Show. Many young Alaskans have scored their first catch of rainbow trout at the fish pond.

“I am very blessed to be one of the owners of the event,” Shepherd said. “I am blessed to have the vendor support and enthusiasm year after year.”

Admission is $10 for adults and $2 for children age 12 and younger. For more information, visit www.great alaskasportsmanshow.com. ❑

The kids’ fish pond is a top attraction at the Sportsman Show. Many young Alaskans have scored their first catch of rainbow trout at the fish pond. A 16-foot diameter octagonal pond is stocked from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Elmendorf and Fort Richardson hatcheries.

“My favorite part has always been the children’s activities,” Shepherd said.

A WILD MOMENT A few years ago the Safari Club organized a Sensory Safari booth for children with physical disabilities. Children could experience wildlife by touching taxidermy pelts of wolves, bears, caribou and moose. The first Sensory Safaris were open to the children on Friday morning, before the tradeshow opened to the general public. The Sensory Safari is open to all children during the 2010 Sportsman Show.

Shepherd is proud of the event’s growth and its place as a statewide icon for outdoor enthusiasts.

Large tents placed between the Sullivan Arena and the Ben Boeke Ice Arena add more exhibit space to the Great Alaska Sportsman Show.

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

Mike Landry, President 1.800.257.7726 www.spanalaska.com

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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A P R I L E V E NT S C A L E NDA R •••••••••

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1 to 30

Market 907 Flea Market

1 to 30

Sing-a-Longs at the Zoo

Market 907 is an indoor flea market. It has a variety of food, arts and crafts, specialty clothing and antique vendors display their products each weekend. Located at 7521 Brayton Drive. Visit www.market907.com.

Musician Annie Reeves shares her time and talent at The Alaska Zoo, with young kids and parents, leading groups in singing children’s songs while she plays guitar. Children will join the singing while playing instruments of their own from Annie’s collection for kids. Visit www.alaskazoo.org.

3 to 4

Annual Custom Cycle Show

Alaska Motorcycle Dealers Association brings you the hottest Motorcycle Show in town. This year the event will be held at the Ben Boeke Arena to offer guests free parking and more room for motorcycle displays. Visit www.amcda.com.

8 to 11

Kismet

With delightfully romantic, charming music inspired by Russian composer Alexander Borodin, Kismet is an enchanting story about the life journey of a devoted father and his daughter. This production will be performed by the talented apprentices of the UAA Opera Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Mari Hahn. Final program of Anchorage Opera’s Power of Love series. Visit www.anchorageopera.org.

14

Wildlife Wednesdays at the Zoo

Visit the Zoo Gateway Building for “Walrus and I: Notes and Observations from the Walrus Islands.” Terry Johnson with The University of Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program will share observations of walrus in the Walrus Islands of Bristol Bay, including Round Island. Lecture is free to the public. Visit www.alaskazoo.org.

17

Stone Soup and Other Stories

The Pushcart Players perform this familiar brew of favorites that delight audiences of all ages. Dynamic, participatory and filled with zesty entertainment, “Stone Soup…” is on the gourmet “not to be missed” list for young viewers at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts - Discovery Theatre. Visit www.akjt.org.

22 to 24

Native Youth Olympics

Alaska youth demonstrate their skills in traditional Native games that are based on life skills of past generations. The games test hunting and survival skills and increase strength, endurance, agility and the balance of mind and body. Visit www.citci.com.

22 to 25

Alyeska Spring Carnival

Usher in spring with great skiing and snowboarding, plus zany events such as the Slush Cup - where costumed participants gather speed down the slopes to launch across an ice-cold pond. Visit www.alyeskaresort.com.

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23 to 25

Alaska Women’s Show

Vendors celebrate everything that makes Alaska women unique.

The show features financial seminars, fashion shows, jewelry, health care information and much more. This year’s Keynote Speaker, Olympic Cross Country Skier Kikkan Randall, speaks on the Main Stage Saturday afternoon at the Sullivan Arena. Visit www.aurora productions.net/women.html.

24

Heart Run

Athlete’s young and old, of all abilities, take stride during 5K competitive and non-competitive runs and the 3K Heart Lite event. As the largest foot race in Alaska, the Heart Run remains a fun family day uniting serious runners and casual walkers in the fight against the country’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers – heart disease and stroke. Anchorage School District students, faculty and staff, parents and relatives can join the Heart Run school team program. Visit www.heartrun.com.

27 to May 2

Wizard of Oz

The entire family will be captivated as they travel down the Yellow Brick Road and beyond with Dorothy, Toto and their friends the Cowardly Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow in this lavish production, featuring breathtaking special effects, dazzling choreography and classic songs. Presented by the Anchorage Concert Association at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts - Atwood Concert Hall. Visit www.anchorageconcerts.org.

29 to 30

Harlem Globetrotters

The “Ambassadors of Goodwill” have dunked their way into the hearts of basketball fans both young and old. The Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team will be at the Sullivan Arena. Visit www.ticketmaster.com.

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7 to 11

F

A I R B A N K S •••••••••

Tesoro Arctic Man Classic

The 25th annual Arctic Man is one of the world’s toughest downhill ski and snowboard races and an exciting snowmobile race, all in one.

Event address is 416 Slater Drive, Mile 196 Richardson Hwy, Summit Lake, after Black, Fairbanks, AK 99701. Visit www.arcticman.com.

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Forget Me Not Walk/Run

26

Ira Glass

27

Alaska Rural Energy Conference

The meet includes a 5K and 10K walk/run at the Carlson Center, Second and Wilburn and begins at 9 a.m. After the races gather at Sandy Beach for a picnic and barbecue, entertainment, door prizes and lots of fun. Visit www.forgetmenotmission.com.

Critically acclaimed radio producer, host and storyteller, Ira Glass comes to Fairbanks with a unique one-man performance that uses audio clips, stories and commentaries to amuse enlighten and entertain. Visit www.fairbanksconcert.org.

Alaska Energy Authority and Alaska Center for Energy and Power host experts from around the state. Learn practical information on

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

A PRIL E VE N TS C A L E N D A R energy projects, ideas and solutions for Alaska’s communities. Visit www.uaf.edu/acep/rec/.

30

The Time of Your Life

Follow along with Joe in his search for happiness and answers to the far-reaching enigmas of life. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and the Drama Critics’ Circle Award, this comedy is gleeful, heart-breakingly tender and hilarious. Visit www.fairbanksdrama.org.

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1 to 30

O M E R • • • • • • • • •

Pratt Museum Exhibit

Backyard, Alaska by Michael Walsh and Asia Freeman explores the stories, truths and myths, contained in our backyards. Visit www.prattmuseum.org.

17

Arthur and Esther

A dark comedy performed by Tom Atkinson is a two-act play, taking place over one long day, about a man who loses his job as a community librarian and is thus forced to face other losses he has experienced in his life. Visit www.bunnellstreetgallery.org.

30 to May 2

Sea Kayaking Skills

Spend the weekend in scenic Halibut Cove camping, learning and practicing sea kayaking skills in Kachemak Bay State Park. Coach-tostudent ratios are low and these are fun-filled weekends of learning and making new friends. For more information, phone 907-235-2090 or e-mail Tom Pogson at alaskakayakschool@gmail.com.

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Juneau Symphony Presents “Variations”

Two concerts in one day. The afternoon family show (2 p.m.) will be fun for all ages as each section of the orchestra is introduced through classic family favorites. In the evening (8 p.m.), experience the sophisticated side of Britten, Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky and more.

Visit www.juneausymphony.org.

5 to 11

36th Annual Alaska Folk Festival

The largest gathering of musicians, from throughout Alaska and beyond for a week of performances, workshops and dances. Nine four-hour performances averaging 15 acts each, 14 hours of dances, plus dance workshops, a family concert and 40-plus hours of teaching workshops devoted to every imaginable folk music skill.

Jamming all week long should be enough to wear out even the most dedicated enthusiast at the annual Alaska Folk Fest. Visit www.alaskafolkfest.org

6

Tomas Kubinek - Certified Lunatic & Master of the Impossible

Masterfully played comedy, equal parts old-time clowning and Monty Pythonesque silliness. One performance only at 7 p.m. at the J-D High School auditorium. Visit www.jahc.org. www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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A P RIL E V E NT S C A L E NDA R 10

Hospice Race

One mile and 5K run/walk at Twin Lakes. Proceeds for this event benefit Hospice and Homecare of Juneau. For more information, phone Lori or Tony Yorba, 907-463-3987 or e-mail at tlyorba@gci.net.

23 to May 30

Perseverance Theatre’s “Hansel & Gretel”

Mix four members of a starving family and a spilled jug of milk, children lost in a magic forest, desperate parents and a voracious witch with a strangely oversized oven. Blend these ingredients with the original Grimms fairy tale, folk music traditions of Germany and America and a dollop of Tim Burton-style black comedy. Bake well and we get a tasty new twist on a classic tale. For more information, phone 907-364-2421 or visit www.perseverancetheatre.org.

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E T C H I K A N • • • • • • • •

2 to 16 Hummingbird Festival Juried Art Show

Creative artwork in any medium that includes birds, avian habitat and/or migratory patterns of spring migratory birds will be on display at the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau located at 131 Front St. Visit www.visit-ketchikan.com.

3

Sourdough Stampede

One-mile and 5K flat, bus drive to start, walkers welcome. The event is free for kids and KRC members, $10 entry for the remainder participants. KRC will have a pancake breakfast fundraiser after the race. Visit www.ketchikanrunningclub.org.

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17

Earth Day Triathlon

The triathlon begins with a 1K swim, 5K run and ends with a 20K bike. The entry fee is $15/$10 for 18 and under. Entries can be men, women solos or teams and youth teams. For more information, phone Ian Fulp, 907-486-8670 or e-mail ifulp@city.kodiak.ak.us. Sponsored

by Kodiak Parks and Recreation.

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17

Upper Susitna Earth Day Celebration

A L K E E T N A •••••••••

The Upper Susitna Earth Day Celebration will be held Saturday, April 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar in Talkeetna.

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13

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Tomas Kubinek Comedy Show

Valdez Arts Council presents Tomas Kubinek - Certified Lunatic & Master of the Impossible. Physical comedy show for the entire family. His exuberant one-man show is equal parts comic brilliance, virtuosic vaudeville & irresistible charm. Valdez Civic Center, 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ❑

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100

The Corporate 100

Moving Forward, Giving Back No “ifs” about it, these companies are today’s shakers.

BY DEBBIE CUTLER MANAGING EDITOR

I

was talking with former Gov. Bill Sheffield the other day while visiting the Port of Anchorage, which he heads, and was reminded by him of how dependant our state is on the oil and gas industry and other natural resources.

It’s true, we are a resource-driven state, and without oil, especially, you will soon see the effect on other industries in Alaska. Without oil and gas we might as well turn off the lights, pack up and head southward. It’s either that or be taxed to death, give up our PFDs, and still face huge deficits in the State budget.

Oil is one of the reasons we have a Corporate 100 listing, which features the Top 100 companies in the state, based on a host of factors such as size, number of employees, revenues (if provided), community involvement, services and products, and other factors.

These companies are Moving Forward, Giving Back.

By Moving Forward, I mean staying stable and strong despite the current worldwide recession and decline of oil running through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

By Giving Back, I mean donating to hundreds of worthy causes, serving on boards and commissions, and providing valuable products and services to the state.

These companies share success despite tough times, despite some involved in layoffs and budget cuts, despite fears that run rampant about what will happen to Alaska if, if, if… the gas line never happens, oil exploration doesn’t resume with the Big 3, oil tax issues aren’t resolved, mines shut down or don’t open. If, if, if.

minerals, fish, timber, coal and other natural resources.

They help us diversify, yes, and keep us stable, yes, and provide jobs that in some cases aren’t directly related to oil, yes, but indirectly most have ties to natural resources development.

All year I’ve been hearing “flat is good,” by industry leaders, but these companies aren’t “flat.” They are Moving Forward, Giving Back.

A LOOK AT THREE MAJORS Take three of the companies featured in articles in this Corporate 100 special section: Chugach Alaska Corp, ConocoPhillips and Credit Union 1.

Chugach Alaska gives to United Way, The Alaska Food Bank, American Heart Association, Special Olympics, March of Dimes and KNBA. It employs 1,200 in Alaska, and operates worldwide through a variety of subsidiaries.

ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., which provides jobs to 1,000 in-state and has revenues of $1.5 billion, provides statewide support to almost every nonprofit sector.

And Credit Union 1, which has 255 Alaska employees and revenues of nearly $50 million, averages more than 50 community projects across Alaska each year.

They are not alone. While looking at the Corporate 100, take time to see who they are, what they do, and who they give to. Take time to notice the promise they hold. Take time to focus on the good these companies do to Alaska, its people, its businesses and its economy.

MORE REASON TO CELEBRATE

WHY SOME BIG ONES ARE MISSING

That’s all the more reason we should celebrate the resilience of these Top 100 companies. These are large companies, many of whom employ more than 1,000 Alaskans in jobs throughout the state, more worldwide.

They are here because of natural resources, even if they are not in the natural resources industries, because they serve the people who live and work in the state, and the companies that are headquartered and/or do business in the state because of our plentiful supply of oil, gas,

There are some obvious givers and large companies missing from this listing. It’s not because they aren’t deserving. Some chose not to return a survey, some didn’t list accomplishments or returned near-blank forms, some disappeared because of the promise of newcomers to the list. All in all, we stand by this list and praise the ones who are on it.

Moving Forward, Giving Back. That’s 2010’s Corporate 100. ❑

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100

Moving Forward, Giving Back 2010 Corporate 100 Listed by Industry

COMMUNICATIONS

INDUSTRIAL SERVICES

Alaska Communications Systems

Airport Equipment Rentals

AT&T

Colville Inc.

GCI

Parker Drilling

Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA)

MINING

TelAlaska

CONSTRUCTION Alaska Interstate Construction LLC Cruz Construction Inc. Davis Constructors & Engineers Inc.

Coeur Alaska Usibelli Coal Mine Inc.

NATIVE ORGANIZATION Afognak Native Corp.

Neeser Construction Inc.

Ahtna Inc.

Osborne Construction Co.

Arctic Slope Regional Corp.

Price Gregory International Inc.

Bering Straits Native Corp.

UNIT Company

Bristol Bay Native Corp.

Watterson Construction Co.

Calista Corp.

Alaska Housing Finance Corp.

Alaska USA Federal Credit Union Credit Union 1 Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union First National Bank Alaska

Chugach Alaska Corp.

Cook Inlet Region Inc. Doyon Ltd. NANA Development Corp.

Olgoonik Corp.

The Tatitlek Corp.

Northrim Bank Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska

Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp.

OIL & GAS

Wells Fargo Bank NA

HEALTH CARE Alaska Regional Hospital

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.

Central Peninsula Hospital

Exxon Mobil Production Co.

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Mat-Su Regional Medical Center North Star Behavioral Health Providence Health + Services Alaska

INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES N C Machinery/N C The Cat Rental Store

American Marine Services Group Anchorage Chrysler Center Inc. DOWL HKM Mikunda Cottrell & Co. Inc. NMS SMG of Alaska USKH WHPacific Inc.

TOURISM Hotel Captain Cook Princess Tours

TRANSPORTATION

Koniag Inc.

The Aleut Corp.

Mt. McKinley Bank

SERVICES

Chenega Corp.

Sealaska Corp.

KeyBank N.A.

Alaska Commercial Co. Alaska Industrial Hardware Inc. Construction Machinery Industrial LLC Costco Wholesale Corp.

Spenard Builders Supply Inc. The Odom Corp.

Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc.

Granite Construction Co.

FINANCE, INSURANCE, REAL ESTATE

RETAIL/WHOLESALE TRADE

Flint Hills Resources Alaska LLC Nabors Alaska Drilling

Alaska Airlines Alaska Railroad Corp.

Alaska Sales and Service American Fast Freight Inc. Carlile Transportation Systems Era Aviation Inc. dba Era Alaska Everts Air Cargo FedEx Express Horizon Lines Lynden Inc. Northern Air Cargo Inc. Northland Services Inc. Peninsula Airways Inc. Totem Ocean Trailer Express United Parcel Service

Peak Oilfield Service Co. Schlumberger Oilfield Services Shell Exploration & Production Udelhoven Oilfield System Services Inc. XTO Energy Inc.

UTILITIES Enstar Natural Gas Co. Chugach Electric Association Inc. Golden Valley Electric Association Inc. Homer Electric Association

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Government contracting; security and law enforcement, logistics, operations and maintenance services, information technology and technical support services, engineering, construction, manufacturing and youth training services.

Afognak Native Corp.

215 Mission Rd., Ste. 212 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-486-6014 Fax: 907-486-2514 info@alutiiq.com www.afognak.com

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

Top Executive: Richard Hobbs II, Pres./CEO

Ahtna Inc.

PO Box 649 Glennallen, AK 99588 Phone: 907-822-3476 Fax: 907-822-3495 rtansy@ahtna.net www.ahtna-inc.com

Parent Co. City, State Glennallen, AK

5904 Old Airport Rd. Fairbanks, AK 99708 Phone: 907-456-2000 Fax: 907-457-7609 www.aer-inc.net

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Pipeline maintenance, government service contracts, civil and vertical construction, environmental remediation, fuels reduction, surveying, facilities support services, janitorial services, food service contractors and tourism.

Community Involvement: The Ahtna Heritage Foundation, Walter Charley Memorial, donations to Bean’s Café and the Food Bank of Alaska, scholarships, Alaska Chamber of Commerce member, Anchorage Chamber of Commerce member, Glennallen basketball tournament and sponsor to Breast Cancer Focus Inc.

Top Executive: Ken Johns, Pres./CEO

Airport Equipment Rentals

Year Founded: ...................1977 Estab. in Alaska:................1977 Alaska Employees: .............179 Worldwide Employees: ....6,700

Parent Company: Airport Equipment Rentals Parent Co. City, State Fairbanks, AK

Top Executive: Jerry Sadler, Pres.

Business Type: Industrial Services Business Description: Sell, rent and service heavy and light construction equipment for the construction, oilfield and mining industries, as well as individuals throughout Alaska. Featuring John Deere construction and forestry products in addition to many other major lines of heavy and light equipment.

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Revenue: ..........$63.3 M Alaska Employees: .............655 Worldwide Employees: ....1,942 Worldwide Revenue: .....$236 M

Year Founded: ...................1986 Estab. in Alaska:................1986 Alaska Employees: .............102 Worldwide Revenue: ....$53.8 M

Community Involvement: Anchorage Concert Association, Boy Scouts of America, Anchorage Fire Department, Special Olympics.

Coaching, supporting and funding of little league teams, UAA Engineering scholarships and Grace Christian auctions.

Moving Forward, Giving Back Alaska Airlines

4750 Old Int’l Airport Rd. Anchorage, AK 99502 Phone: 907-266-7230 Fax: 907-266-7229 www.alaskaair.com

Parent Company: Alaska Air Group Parent Co. City, State Seattle, WA

550 W. 64th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-273-4600 Fax: 907-273-4800 rwilhelm@northwest.ca www.alaskacommercial.com Top Executive: Rex Wilhelm, Pres./COO

Alaska Communications Systems

600 Telephone Ave. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-297-3000 Fax: 907-297-3052 execoffice@acsalaska.com www.acsalaska.com Top Executive: Liane Pelletier, Pres./CEO

48

Year Founded: ...................1932 Estab. in Alaska:................1932 Alaska Employees: ..........1,781 Worldwide Employees: ..10,002

Community Involvement: Alaska Airlines leaders serve on the boards of a variety of organizations, including the University of Alaska Foundation, Commonwealth North, the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, Alaska State Chamber and many others.

Top Executive: William MacKay, Sr. Vice Pres.

Alaska Commercial Co.

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier, Horizon Air, together provide passenger and cargo service to more than 90 cities in Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Hawaii and the Lower 48.

Parent Company: The North West Co. Parent Co. City, State Winnipeg, Manitoba

Business Type: Retail/Wholesale Trade Business Description: Largest rural retailer of merchandise and groceries in Alaska, including a wholesale division that sells groceries to more than 150 rural grocery stores, and a meat-packing plant that sells 60,000 pounds weekly.

Year Founded: ...................1867 Estab. in Alaska:................1867 Alaska Employees: .............800 Worldwide Employees: ....1,650 Worldwide Revenue: .....$500 M

Community Involvement: Major sponsor of Girl Scouts of Alaska, ASAA, BBNC leadership workshop, Junior Achievement Alaska, Food Bank of Alaska, American Cancer Society and many other regional and local events.

Business Type: Communications Business Description: Integrated telecommunications provider, offering wireless, Internet, data, local and long-distance services to enterprise and mass-market customers in more than 70 communities across the state. Largest 3G network in Alaska.

Community Involvement: Through corporate contributions and employee volunteer work, ACS strives to improve the quality of living throughout Alaska. ACS and its employees contribute their financial support, time and commitment to many statewide organizations, events and community activities throughout Alaska.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Estab. in Alaska:................1999 Alaska Revenue: ...........$351 M Alaska Employees: .............880 Worldwide Employees: .......900

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Parent Company: State of Alaska

Alaska Housing Finance Corp.

PO Box 101020 Anchorage, AK 99510 Phone: 907-330-8447 Fax: 907-338-9218 ssimmond@ahfc.state.ak.us www.ahfc.state.ak.us

Business Type: Retail/Wholesale Trade Business Description: Tools, hardware, construction supplies, small equipment, safety equipment, ladders, industrial supplies and fasteners.

Alaska Industrial Hardware Inc.

2192 Viking Dr. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-276-7201 Fax: 907-258-3054 aih@aihalaska.com www.aihalaska.com

Top Executive: Steve Percy, Pres.

Year Founded: ...................1959 Estab. in Alaska:................1959 Alaska Revenue: ..........$53.2 M Alaska Employees: .............225

Community Involvement: United Way, Bean’s Cafe, STAR, Boys & Girls Club, Alaska Fine Arts Academy, AKEELA-House, North Star Hockey, AWAIC, Knik Little League, Anchorage Fire Department Search and Rescue, Alaska Peace Officers Association, Anchorage Police Department Employee Association and American Cancer Society.

Top Executive: Mike Kangas, Pres./Gen. Mgr.

601 W. Fifth Ave., Ste. 400 Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-562-2792 Fax: 907-562-4179 info@aicllc.com www.aicllc.com

Year Founded: ...................1971 Estab. in Alaska:................1971 Alaska Revenue: ..........$35.3 M Alaska Employees: .............350 Worldwide Revenue: ....$87.9 M

Community Involvement: Big Brothers/Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring Program, Anchorage School Business Partnership; United Way; Renaissance Zone Rehabilitation Program, Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Anchorage Board of Realtors, and more.

Top Executive: Daniel R. Fauske, CEO/Exec. Dir.

Alaska Interstate Construction LLC

Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Business Description: Self-supporting public corporation with offices in 16 communities statewide. Provides financing for multi-family complexes, congregate facilities and single-family homes, with special loan operations for first-time homebuyer, low- and moderate-income borrowers, veterans, teachers, nurses, public safety officers and much more.

Parent Company: CIRI/Nabors Industries Ltd. Parent Co. City, State Anchorage, AK

Business Type: Construction Business Description: Ice and snow roads, well-site pads, gravel roads, bridges and culverts, structures, airstrips and helipads, gravel islands, dock and port facilities, excavation, communications, pipeline installation, environmental remediation, asphalt and paving, concrete works, complete mine site construction, gravel and aggregate product sales.

Year Founded: ...................1987 Estab. in Alaska:................1987 Alaska Revenue: ...........$117 M Alaska Employees: .............650

Community Involvement: Covenant House, Boys & Girls Club of Alaska, Shriners Hospitals, Boy Scouts of America, Special Olympics, Catholic Social Services, United Way and youth hockey.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

49

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Freight and passenger services. Real estate.

Alaska Railroad Corp.

PO Box 107500 Anchorage, AK 99510 Phone: 907-265-2300 Fax: 907-265-2312 corpinfo@akrr.com www.alaskarailroad.com

Community Involvement: School Business Partnerships, Anchorage Downtown Partnership, member of all Railbelt chambers of commerce, member of Resource Development Council, The Alliance, Commonwealth North. Participates in Rotary clubs and sponsor of the Women’s Run. Community involvement from Seward to North Pole.

Top Executive: Patrick Gamble, Pres./CEO

Alaska Regional Hospital

2801 Debarr Rd. Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 907-276-1131 Fax: 907-264-1143 www.alaskaregional.com Top Executive: Annie Holt, CEO

Parent Company: HCA Parent Co. City, State Nashville, TN

Business Type: Health Care Business Description: 24-hour ER department, Lifeflight Air Ambulance, cancer treatment, neuroscience program, heart center, diagnostic imaging, orthopedic and spine center, Alaska House, rehab unit and sleep laboratory. Cardiac rehabilitation, diabetes and nutrition center. The state’s first Joint-commission certified stroke center.

Year Founded: ...................1914 Estab. in Alaska:................1914 Alaska Revenue: ........$169.5 M Alaska Employees: .............657

Estab. in Alaska:................1963 Alaska Employees: .............900

Community Involvement: Blood Bank of Alaska, Red Cross, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, free monthly immunization clinics, Shriners’ and MDA clinics, free prostate cancer screenings and community health fairs.

Alaska Sales and Service

1300 E. Fifth Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-265-7535 Fax: 907-265-7507 richardd@aksales.com www.aksales.com

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Full line GM dealership, sales new and used, parts, service and body shop.

Year Founded: ...................1944 Estab. in Alaska:................1944

Community Involvement: United Way, Bean’s Cafe, The Food Bank of Alaska, Safe Kids and many others.

Top Executive: Shaun Pfeiffer, Gen. Mgr.

Ahtna, Incorporated

Corporate Headquarters: Anchorage Office: PO Box 649 406 W. Fireweed Lane Glennallen, Alaska 99588 Anchorage, Alaska 99503 Phone: (907) 822-3476 Phone: (907) 868-8250 www.ahtna-inc.com Ahtna, Inc., an Alaskan Native Corporation, is a global company providing exceptional construction and integrated services to both government and private sector clients.

Corporate Capabilities: • Civil Construction • Environmental Remediation Services • Facilities Support Services • Food Service Contractors • Fuels Management • Government Contracting • Janitorial Services • Oil & Gas Pipeline Construction • Surveying • Tourism • Vertical Construction For more information on Ahtna and our subsidiaries, visit us online at www.ahtna-inc.com.

50

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Ed does a bit of everything as a Crowley fuel facility supervisor in Galena. He also does a bit of everything in his community, including serving on the school board, coaching basketball, and being a member of Civil Air Patrol.

Like Ed, Crowley is dedicated to giving back to the communities where we operate. That’s why we’re committed to 100 percent local hire in Western Alaska and to our employees who serve their communities. Because, after more than 50 years in Alaska, we agree with Ed that this is a “great place to work, live and have fun.”

For service in your area, call Crowley statewide at 1.800.977.9771.

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Business Description: Financial deposit and lending services for individuals and Alaska businesses. Mortgage lending, trust services, insurance, title and escrow services. Alaska USA has 58 branches in Alaska, Washington and California.

Alaska USA Federal Credit Union

PO Box 196613 Anchorage, AK 99502 Phone: 907-563-4567 Fax: 907-561-4857 www.alaskausa.org

Community Involvement: Donated to more than 200 community and service organizations statewide. Helps raise money for the Alaska USA Foundation, which provides funds for services for children, veterans, active duty military and their families.

Top Executive: William Eckhardt, Pres.

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.

Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Designed, built, operates and maintains the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, pump stations and Valdez Marine Terminal on behalf of five owner companies: BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Co., ConocoPhillips Transportation Alaska Inc., Unocal Pipeline Co. and Koch Alaska Pipeline Co. LLC.

Top Executive: Kevin Hostler, Pres./CEO

Community Involvement: Contributes to nonprofit organizations and causes that support children and families. The company offers employee matching and volunteer gifts and gives generously to United Way campaigns and numerous other nonprofits where its employees live and work.

PO Box 196660, MS 542 Anchorage, AK 99519-6660 Phone: 907-787-8700 Fax: 907-787-8240 alyeskamail@alyeska-pipeline.com www.alyeska-pipe.com

American Fast Freight Inc.

7400 45th St. Ct. E. Fife, WA 98424 Phone: 253-680-2500 Fax: 253-680-2503 jacobsont@americanfast.com www.americanfast.com

Parent Company: American Fast Freight Inc. Parent Co. City, State Renton, WA

Top Executive: Tim Jacobson, CEO

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Ocean and air freight, household moving and storage, project logistics, third-party warehousing and distribution, cold storage, record and tape storage, shredding services and bypass mail service.

Community Involvement: Provided free transportation for American Cancer Societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vases and daffodils shipments in tandem with Carrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in Fairbanks and Alaska Airlines in Anchorage.

Provided complimentary transportation for Anchorage Chamber of Commerceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move to new building, and more.

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Year Founded: ...................1948 Estab. in Alaska:................1948 Alaska Revenue: ...........$293 M Alaska Employees: ..........1,298 Worldwide Employees: ....1,487

www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1970 Estab. in Alaska:................1970 Alaska Employees: .............786

Year Founded: ...................1988 Estab. in Alaska:................1988 Alaska Employees: .............200 Worldwide Employees: .......365

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 2010 CORPORATE 100 American Marine Services Group

6000 A St. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-562-5420 Fax: 907-562-5426 alaska@amarinecorp.com www.amarinecorp.com

Business Type: Services Business Description: American Marine Corp., Pacific Environmental Corp. and American Hyperbaric Center are a diversified group of companies providing a wide range of services in marine construction, vessel services and oil spill response, with more than 37 years of experience. Other locations are in California, Hawaii and Prudhoe Bay.

Top Executive: Tom Ulrich, VP

Community Involvement: Emergency medical technicians for Alaska professional volunteers.

Anchorage Chrysler Center Inc.

Business Type: Services Business Description: New and used auto sales, service and parts sales.

2601 E. Fifth Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-276-1331 Fax: 907-264-2202 udd@gci.net www.anchoragechrysler.com

Year Founded: ...................1975 Estab. in Alaska:................1994 Alaska Employees: ...........100+

Year Founded: ...................1963 Estab. in Alaska:................1963 Alaska Employees: .............103

Community Involvement: Boys & Girls Club, Iditarod Race, Fur Rendezvous, Aces, Intervention Help Line, Alaska Raceway Park, Downtown Partnership, Boy Scouts of America, Elmendorf Air Force Base, APD Employee Association.

Top Executive: Rodney Udd, Pres.

Arctic Slope Regional Corp.

PO Box 129 Barrow, AK 99723 Phone: 907-852-8633 Fax: 907-852-5733 www.asrc.com Top Executive: Roberta Quintavell, Pres./CEO

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Energy services, petroleum refining and marketing, engineering, construction, government services, resource development, commercial lending, tourism and communications.

Community Involvement: North Slope specific and statewide nonprofit organizations.

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54

www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Employees: ..........3,695 Worldwide Employees: ....8,670 Worldwide Revenue: ...... $1.9 B

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his year, the Anchorage Senior Activity Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Endowment Trust Fund is celebrating a major milestone: its silver anniversary.

The oldest independent trust in the state, the Endowment Trust Fund was established in June 1985 to support the senior centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s programs and operations.

The fund has grown considerably since it was established 25 years ago, reaching $3.47 million in 2007. Its current goal is to reach $1 million in new gifts and bequests by Dec. 31.

The Endowment Trust Fund makes annual allocations from its investments to the centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operating budget. Since 2000, it has appropriated a total of $454,820 to the centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budget. The allocation for last year alone was $90,000.

The Endowment Trust Fund represents a unique, visionary approach to creating a legacy for Alaskansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; future. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To have that kind of vision is incredible, and it fits with the Alaska Frontier,â&#x20AC;? said Jan Knutson, director of the centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Legacy Planning Program.

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Municipality of Anchorage and managed by the nonprofit Anchor-Age Center Inc., otherwise known as Anchorage Senior Activity Center. The center is a popular venue in the community, featuring a restaurant, a fitness center and aerobics room with state-of-the-art equipment, and space to hold weddings and retirement parties. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really a fabulous gathering place,â&#x20AC;? Knutson said.

The Anchorage Senior Activity Center is accredited by the National Institute of Senior Centers and the National Council on Aging. Only about 200 senior centers in the nation hold this prestigious accreditation. The center offers a wide variety of activities and programs for the benefit of its 2,200 members and the community. There are art and computer classes, Friday-night dances with well-known orchestras, health and wellness programs, travel-agency services, a gift shop and a lending library with thousands of donated books. ÄŤÄ&#x153;ĤÄ&#x; Ä&#x153;Ä&#x;ÄąÄ Ä­ÄŻÄ¤ÄŽÄ Ä¨Ä ÄŠÄŻ

The centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s programs thrive on donations to its Endowment Trust Fund. Contributors who donate at least $1,000 to the fund become Legacy Society members.

Legacy Society members can be individuals, families, businesses, foundations and retiree organizations. Through their generosity, legacy donors create lasting gifts that benefit the community for years to come. Donors can invest in the Endowment Trust Fund through any number of ways, including memorials, individual retirement account distributions, life insurance designations, real estate, honorariums, and even coin and art collections.

Typical real estate legacy donors are 70- to 90-plus years old, widowed and/ or donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have children, according to Knutson. They want to leave a bequest to an organization that has been very significant to them as elders. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s their way of giving back,â&#x20AC;? she said.

The Endowment Trust Fund is a tribute to the elders who had the vision to plan for the Anchorage Senior Activity Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future. Joining the centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Legacy Society gives Alaskans a valuable opportunity to support their dream. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the 25th anniversary, you celebrate the successes of the past,â&#x20AC;? Knutson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You also look to the future to think about ways to leave your own personal legacy.â&#x20AC;?

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 AT&T

505 E. Bluff Dr. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-264-7000 Fax: 907-777-2564 alascominformation@alascom.att.com www.att.com/alaska

Parent Company: AT&T Parent Co. City, State Dallas, TX

Community Involvement: Committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its philanthropic initiatives and partnerships, supports projects that create opportunities, make connections and address community needs where customers live and work. In 2008, contributed $169 million through corporate, employee and AT&T Foundation giving programs, and more.

Top Executive: Mike Felix, Pres.

Bering Straits Native Corp.

4600 DeBarr Rd., Ste. 200 Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 907-563-3788 Fax: 907-563-2742 info@beringstraits.com www.beringstraits.com

Parent Company: Bering Straits Native Corp.

Parent Co. City, State Nome, AK

PO Box 196612 Anchorage, AK 99515-6612 Phone: 907-561-5111 www.alaska.bp.com Top Executive: John Minge, Pres.

56

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Property management, construction, mining support services, aerospace support services, facilities and administrative support, information technology and communications, supply and logistical support and electrical contractor.

Year Founded: ...................1876 Estab. in Alaska:................1971 Alaska Employees: .............420 Worldwide Employees: 295,000 Worldwide Revenue: ..... $123 B

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Employees: .............270 Worldwide Employees: .......903 Worldwide Revenue: ..$162.3 M

Community Involvement: Supports the Bering Straits Foundation, multiple law enforcement agencies and many other Native organizations.

Top Executive: Tim Towarak, Pres.

BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.

Business Type: Communications Business Description: Connecting people with their world everywhere they live and work. Solutions include wireless, longdistance, local, data, video and Internet services.

Parent Company: BP plc Parent Co. City, State London, UK

Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Oil and gas exploration and production.

Community Involvement: Supports education, enterprise, leadership and business skills development. BP has major involvement in vocational education and training to prepare Alaskans for work in the oil industry.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1901 Estab. in Alaska:................1959 Alaska Employees: ..........2,000

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Diversified holding company offering build-design, card-lock fueling, corporate services, environmental engineering and remediation, oilfield and environmental cleanup labor, corrosion inspection, stock portfolio, surveying and government services, and construction management.

Bristol Bay Native Corp.

111 W. 16th Ave., Ste. 400 Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-278-3602 Fax: 907-276-3924 www.bbnc.net Top Executive: Jason Metrokin, Pres./CEO

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Employees: .............377 Worldwide Employees: ....1,848 Worldwide Revenue: ...... $1.4 B

Community Involvement: Alaska Federation of Natives, Alaska Village Initiatives, BLM Resource Advisory Council, Resource Development Council, Alaska Wilderness and Tourism Association, SWAMC, BBNC Education Foundation.

Calista Corp.

301 Calista Ct., Ste. A Anchorage, AK 99518-3028 Phone: 907-279-5516 Fax: 907-272-5060 calista@calistacorp.com www.calistacorp.com

Parent Company: Calista

Top Executive: Matthew Nicolai, Pres./CEO

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Government and military contracting, 8(a) contracting, property management, real estate development, construction and renovation, full-service ad agency, publishing and commercial printing, bulk-mail services, remote camp services, catering, janitorial and housekeeping, oilfield services, ANCSA land management, resource development and records management.

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Revenue: ...........$224 M Alaska Employees: .............350 Worldwide Employees: ....1,196

Community Involvement: Corporate member of a chamber of commerce, Commonwealth North, Alaska Mining Group, KOAHNICPublic Radio, and much more.

Carlile Transportation Systems

1800 E. First Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-276-7797 Fax: 907-278-7301 hmcdonald@carlile.biz www.carlile.biz Top Executive: Harry McDonald, CEO

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Alaskan-owned and -operated, full-service transportation and logistics company. Total tonnage in 2009 was 1.3 billion pounds. Incorporated in 1980, Carlile offers multimodal transportation and logistics services between all points in Alaska and the rest of the U.S. and Canada.

Year Founded: ...................1980 Estab. in Alaska:................1980 Alaska Revenue: ...........$122 M Alaska Employees: .............550 Worldwide Employees: .......650

Community Involvement: United Way, Food Bank of Alaska, Anchorage Opera, American Cancer Society, Boy Scouts of America, The Alliance, Boys & Girls Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Bean’s Cafe, Alaska Chamber of Commerce, Salvation Army, and more.

kinross.com

Our People Our Community When Fort Knox Gold Mine was looking for an environmental professional to fill a crucial job at the mine, we didn’t have far to look.

A UAF grad who studied geography and geology, Kindra has long had a passion for the environment.

Kindra already had a few years experience, but found her dream job at Fort Knox where she monitors the mine’s compliance with complex environmental rules. She enjoys being part of the Fort Knox team, and has found the career path she sought without having to leave home.

Hiring qualified Fairbanks residents makes our job at Fort Knox easier, too. Kindra is among the 500 mine employees who call Fairbanks home.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

57

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Central Peninsula Hospital

Business Type: Health Care Business Description: CPH is home to a wide range of inpatient, outpatient and community services. Key inpatient services consist of general surgical services, obstetrics, pediatrics, internal medicine and adult critical care. Heritage Place and Serenity House are a part of CPH.

Top Executive: Ryan K. Smith, CEO

Community Involvement: Central Peninsula Hospital is the first Planetree affiliated organization in the state. Planetree is a leader in personalizing, humanizing and demystifying the health care experience.

Chenega Corp.

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Professional services contracting for the federal government, including life-cycle information technology, international base operations, security services, integrated logistics, training, Intel and military operations, telecommunications, environmental services and more.

Top Executive: Charles W. Totemoff, Pres./CEO

Community Involvement: University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University endowments, Alaska Federation of Natives, Alaska Russian Orthodox Church, Chenega Heritage Inc., Chenega Future Inc., Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and much more.

Chugach Alaska Corp.

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Government service contracting, construction, engineering, IT, manufacturing, education services, environmental, oil and gas services.

250 Hospital Drive Soldotna, AK 99669 Phone: 907-714-4404 Fax: 907-714-0731 marketing@cpgh.org www.cpgh.org

3000 C St., Ste. 301 Anchorage, AK 99503-3975 Phone: 907-277-5706 Fax: 907-277-5700 karen.rogina@chenega.com www.chenega.com

3800 Centerpoint Dr., Ste. 601 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-563-8866 Fax: 907-563-8402 bwelty@chugach-ak.com www.chugach-ak.com

Community Involvement: United Way, Alaska Food Bank, American Heart Association, Special Olympics, March of Dimes and KNBA.

Year Founded: ...................1971 Estab. in Alaska:................1971 Alaska Revenue: ...........$123 M Alaska Employees: .............640

Year Founded: ...................1974 Estab. in Alaska:................1974 Alaska Employees: .............330 Worldwide Employees: ....5,500 Worldwide Revenue: .. $1.077 B

Year Founded: ...................1971 Estab. in Alaska:................1971 Alaska Employees: ..........1,200 Worldwide Employees: ....6,800 Worldwide Revenue: .....$978 M

Top Executive: Ed Herndon, CEO

Moving Forward, Giving Back Business Type: Utilities Business Description: Retail and wholesale electric service within the Railbelt.

Chugach Electric Association Inc.

5601 Electron Dr. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-563-7494 Fax: 907-562-0027 info@chugachelectric.com www.chugachelectric.com

Community Involvement: Various state chambers, AEDC, United Way, Resource Development Council, Commonwealth, BOMA and Association of General Contractors. Trade and industry associations: APA, NRECA, NWPPA, Western Power Producers and G&T Manager’s Association.

Top Executive: Bradley Evans, CEO

Coeur Alaska

3031 Clinton Dr., Ste. 202 Juneau, AK 99801 Phone: 907-523-3300 Fax: 907-523-3330 jtrigg@coeur.com www.KensingtonGold.com

Parent Company: Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp.

Parent Co. City, State Coeur d’Alene, ID

Business Type: Mining Business Description: Mining company.

Year Founded: ...................1948 Estab. in Alaska:................1948 Alaska Revenue: ........$289.5 M Alaska Employees: .............325

Estab. in Alaska:................1987 Alaska Employees: .............100

Community Involvement: Juneau Chamber of Commerce, Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, Haines Chamber of Commerce, Alaska Miners Association, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Juneau Economic Development Council, Southeast Conference.

Top Executive: Tom Henderson, VP/Gen. Mgr.

Colville Inc.

PO Box 340012 Prudhoe Bay, AK 99734 Phone: 907-659-3198 Fax: 907-659-3190 info@colvilleinc.com www.colvilleinc.com Top Executive: Mark Helmericks, Pres./CEO

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Business Type: Industrial Services Business Description: Full-service solid waste services and industrial supply with NAPA. Offshore logistics.

Community Involvement: Sponsor events for membership organizations. Resource Development Council and the Alliance.

Sponsors Alaska Mineral and Energy Resources Education Foundation.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1981 Estab. in Alaska:................1981 Alaska Employees: ...............97 Worldwide Employees: .........97 Worldwide Revenue: ....$75.9 M

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Parent Company: ConocoPhillips Parent Co. City, State Houston, TX

ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. PO Box 100360 Anchorage, AK 99510-0360 Phone: 907-276-1215 www.conocophillips.com

Top Executive: Helene Harding, Acting Pres.

Construction Machinery Industrial LLC

5400 Homer Dr. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-563-3822 Fax: 907-563-1381 www.cmiak.com Top Executive: Ken Gerondale, Pres./CEO

Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Largest producer of oil and gas in Alaska, with major operations on Alaska’s North Slope and in Cook Inlet.

Community Involvement: Provides statewide support to almost every nonprofit sector, including education, environment, arts, health and social services, youth programs and public broadcasting.

Business Type: Retail/Wholesale Trade Business Description: Sells and services heavy equipment for the construction, logging, aggregate, mining, oilfield and agricultural industries throughout Alaska. Represents more than 40 vendors, including Volvo, Hitachi and Atlas Copco.

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Alaska Native-owned company with diversified business interests that include energy and resource development, Alaska tourism and out-of-Alaska destination resorts, telecommunications, real estate development, oilfield and construction services, government contracting and private-equity investments.

Top Executive: Margaret L. Brown, Pres./CEO

Community Involvement: CIRI is a major supporter of various charitable organizations and a participant of fundraising events.

CIRI and its nonprofit affiliate employees are encouraged to become involved in the community, and much more.

60

Year Founded: ...................1985 Estab. in Alaska:................1985 Alaska Employees: ...............95 Worldwide Employees: .........95 Worldwide Revenue: .......$87 M

Community Involvement: Alaska Chamber of Commerce, AGC, ARECA, Alaska Forest Association, Alaska Miners Association, Alaska Support Industry, Alliance, Alaska Women in Construction, ABC, AED, Pacific Logging Congress and Petroleum Club.

Cook Inlet Region Inc.

2525 C St., Ste. 500 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-274-8638 Fax: 907-279-8836 info@ciri.com www.ciri.com

Year Founded: ...................1917 Estab. in Alaska:................1952 Alaska Revenue: ............ $1.5 B Alaska Employees: ..........1,000 Worldwide Employees: ..30,000 Worldwide Revenue: ...... $5.4 B

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Employees: ...............75

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

61

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Parent Company: Costco Wholesale Corp.

Parent Co. City, State Issaquah, WA

Costco Wholesale Corp.

4125 DeBarr Rd. Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 425-313-8100 customerservice@costco.com www.costco.com Top Executive: James Sinegal, CEO

Business Type: Wholesale Trade Business Description: Operates a chain of cash and carry membership warehouses that sell high-quality, nationally branded and selected private label merchandise at low prices. Costco has more than 550 warehouses worldwide, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Japan, Korea and Puerto Rico.

Costco operates two warehouses in Anchorage and one in Juneau.

Year Founded: ...................1976 Estab. in Alaska:................1984 Alaska Employees: .............750

Community Involvement: United Way, Children’s Miracle Network, children’s hospitals, business partners in five area elementary schools, contributors to the Anchorage Literacy Project, and more.

Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Business Description: CU1 provides a unique rewards program, low cost loans, free checking accounts and a wide variety of money management tools to help members achieve their financial goals.

Credit Union 1

1941 Abbott Rd. Anchorage, AK 99507 Phone: 907-339-9485 Fax: 907-339-8501 service@cu1.org www.cu1.org

Year Founded: ...................1952 Estab. in Alaska:................1952 Alaska Revenue: ..........$47.7 M Alaska Employees: .............255

Community Involvement: Each year, Credit Union 1 averages more than 50 community projects across Alaska. In 2009, CU1 also launched a Web site and volunteer campaign dedicated entirely to social services at www.oneforallalaska.org. From Nome to Southeast Alaska, all Credit Union 1 branches are dedicated to giving time and money back to the state.

Top Executive: Leslie Ellis, Pres.

Business Type: Construction Business Description: Oil and gas exploration support, tundra transport, ice roads, ice pads, logistics management i.e. rig moving, rig service and mobile camps, heavy civil construction, roads, airports, pads, erosion control and pipelines.

Cruz Construction Inc.

3852 N. Clark-Wolverine Palmer, AK 99645 Phone: 907-746-3144 Fax: 907-746-5557 info@cruzconstruct.com www.cruzconstruct.com

Year Founded: ...................1989 Estab. in Alaska:................1989 Alaska Employees: .............200

Community Involvement: Academy Career and Tech Education, Eagle River Nature Center, Alaska Moose Federation, Tesoro Iron Dog, Habitat for Humanity, American Cancer Society, local 4-H, local school activities and many more local events.

Top Executive: Dave Cruz, Pres.

Moving Forward, Giving Back Business Type: Construction Business Description: Construction: general, commercial, design-build and construction management. Current projects include: Sand Lake Elementary Renewal, Providence Health Park Tower S, F-22 Squad Ops, Providence Child Care Center, and Regal 16 Theater Tikahtnu.

Davis Constructors & Engineers Inc.

740 Bonanza Rd. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-562-2336 Fax: 907-561-3620 admin@davisconstructors.com www.davisconstructors.com

Community Involvement: Employee “Team Davis”: American Cancer Society Relay for Life Nationwide Top 10 Fundraiser. UAA Advisory Committee member for Construction Management and Design Technology Program. Alaska Community Foundation self directed fund. Contributions: Providence Alaska Foundation, and more.

Top Executive: Josh Pepperd, Pres.

Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Business Description: Denali Alaskan has 16 branches in its statewide network, in Anchorage, Eagle River, Fairbanks, Juneau and Wasilla, and will be adding a 17th branch in Kenai during the spring of 2010. Its member business lending department has a complete range of loans to help Alaska businesses grow.

Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union

440 E. 36th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-257-7200 Fax: 907-222-5806 info@denalifcu.com www.denalifcu.org

4041 B St. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-562-2000 Fax: 907-563-3953 jpayne@dowlhkm.com www.dowlhkm.com Top Executive: Stewart G. Osgood, Pres.

62

Year Founded: ...................1948 Estab. in Alaska:................1948 Alaska Revenue: ..........$43.9 M Alaska Employees: .............287

Community Involvement: Denali Alaskan continues its strong support of United Way, and maintains a social responsibility committee that provides donations to more than 40 social, economic and fraternal organizations throughout Alaska, and more.

Top Executive: Robert Teachworth, Pres./CEO

DOWL HKM

Year Founded: ...................1976 Estab. in Alaska:................1976 Alaska Revenue: ........$151.5 M Alaska Employees: .............210

Parent Company: 51% NANA Corp., 49% manager-owned.

Parent Co. City, State Anchorage, AK

Business Type: Services Business Description: Surveying and mapping, geotechnical engineering and seismic analysis, environmental site investigations and remediation, civil and structural engineering, construction materials engineering, inspection and testing, landscape architecture, land-use planning, transportation planning, environmental documentation and permitting, project management and construction administration.

Community Involvement: Food Bank of Alaska, Providence Hospital’s Children’s Hospital, Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage Economic Development Corp., and much more.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1962 Estab. in Alaska:................1962 Alaska Revenue: ..........$29.1 M Alaska Employees: .............200 Worldwide Employees: .......400 Worldwide Revenue: ....$54.5 M

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Services include oilfield services, utility management, engineering management, land and natural resources development, facility management, construction, tourism, security and catering.

Doyon Limited

One Doyon Pl., Ste. 300 Fairbanks, AK 99701 Phone: 907-459-2000 Fax: 907-459-2060 info@doyon.com www.doyon.com

Community Involvement: Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau, Alaska Federation of Natives and various civic and charitable groups.

Top Executive: Norman L. Phillips Jr., Pres./CEO

Enstar Natural Gas Co. PO Box 190288 Anchorage, AK 99519 Phone: 907-277-5551 www.enstarnaturalgas.com

Parent Company: Continental Energy Systems Parent Co. City, State Troy, MI

Business Type: Utility Business Description: Alaska’s largest energy utility with 129,000 meters serving 345,000 Alaskans. Transmission and distribution gas system.

Parent Company: HoTH Inc. Parent Co. City, State Anchorage, AK

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Scheduled airline services, fixed-wing contract and charter services.

Top Executive: Colleen Starring, Pres.

Era Aviation Inc. dba Era Alaska

6160 Carl Brady Dr. Anchorage, AK 99502 Phone: 907-248-4422 Fax: 907-266-8391 info@flyera.com www.flyera.com

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Revenue: ........$308.5 M Alaska Employees: ..........1,094 Worldwide Employees: ....2,520 Worldwide Revenue: .....$416 M

Year Founded: ...................1961 Estab. in Alaska:................1961 Alaska Revenue: ...........$327 M Alaska Employees: .............180

Community Involvement: United Way, Habitat for Humanity, AWAIC and local chambers of commerce.

Community Involvement: Junior Achievement, Alaska Tourism Industry Association, American Cancer Society, Red Cross and local community involvement around the state.

Year Founded: ...................1948 Estab. in Alaska:................1948 Alaska Employees: .............275 Worldwide Employees: .......275

Top Executive: Bob Hajdukovich, Pres./CEO

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

63

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Everts Air Cargo

6111 Lockheed Ave. Anchorage, AK 99502 Phone: 907-243-0009 Fax: 907-243-7333 shoshaw@evertsair.com www.evertsair.com

Parent Company: Tatonduk Outfitters Ltd. Parent Co. City, State Fairbanks, AK

ExxonMobil Production Co.

PO Box 196601 Anchorage, AK 99519 Phone: 907-562-5331 Fax: 907-564-3719 www.exxonmobil.com

Parent Company: Exxon Mobil Corp.

Parent Co. City, State Irving, TX

Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Conducting business in Alaska for 50 years, investing billions into local economies. As one of the largest oil producers in Alaska, Exxon Mobil has explored most major Alaska basins over the years.

PO Box 73726 Fairbanks, AK 99707 Phone: 907-488-4653 Fax: 907-490-2290 info@kinross.com www.kinross.com

Parent Company: Kinross Gold Corp.

Parent Co. City, State Toronto, Ontario

Business Type: Mining Business Description: Gold producer.

Community Involvement: Donations, volunteer time, electric rate reduction.

Top Executive: Lauren Roberts, VP/Gen. Mgr.

Enriching Our Native Way of Life

• Government services • Petroleum distribution

Learn more at www.BBNC.net

64

Year Founded: ...................1870 Estab. in Alaska:................1954 Alaska Employees: .............120 Worldwide Employees: ..82,000

Community Involvement: Providing funding to more than 40 nonprofits. Organizations also receive ExxonMobil support in the form of various employee involvement efforts, including Junior Achievement, Habitat for Humanity and the United Way, and much more.

Top Executive: Dale Pittman, AK Prod. Mgr.

• Construction • Oilfield services

Year Founded: ...................1995 Estab. in Alaska:................1995 Alaska Revenue: ..........$39.3 M Alaska Employees: .............280

Community Involvement: Local and village community events, Iditarod, Iron Dog and Sprint team sponsor.

Top Executive: Robert W. Everts, CEO

Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc.

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Freight transportation within Alaska, including scheduled, flag-stop and charter flights. Emphasis is placed on serving the unique needs of each customer along with specializing in the movement of small packages, hazardous materials and oversized freight. Passenger charter operations using Embracer 30-seat aircraft.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1992 Estab. in Alaska:................1995 Alaska Employees: .............500 Worldwide Employees: ..5,000+

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Fairbanks Memorial Hospital 1650 Cowles St. Fairbanks, AK 99701 Phone: 907-452-8181 Fax: 907-458-5324 shelby.nelson@bannerhealth.com www.fmhdc.com

Parent Company: Banner Health Parent Co. City, State Phoenix, AZ

Business Type: Health Care Business Description: General medical and surgical hospital, home care, mental health, cancer center, pain clinic, imaging center, sleep disorders lab, diabetes center, rehabilitation, long-term care and cardiology.

Top Executive: Mike Powers, CEO

Community Involvement: Partners with United Way and American Heart Association. Works with community groups to better address alcohol and drug abuse issues. Banner Health in Alaska includes, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, Denali Center and Tanana Valley Clinic.

FedEx Express

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Air Cargo and express package services.

6050 Rockwell Ave. Anchorage, AK 99502 Phone: 800-463-3339 www.fedex.com

Estab. in Alaska:................1988 Alaska Employees: ..........1,225

Community Involvement: Anchorage Chamber of Commerce member, United Way, March of Dimes and MS 150 corporate sponsor.

Big Brothers/Sisters annual plane pull event/fundraiser. Host of annual Alaskan Airmen’s Alaska State Aviation Trade show and conference and Habitat for Humanity participation quarterly.

Top Executive: Connie Carter, Managing Dir.

First National Bank Alaska

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Employees: ..........1,600

PO Box 100720 Anchorage, AK 99510-0720 Phone: 907-777-3409 Fax: 907-777-3406 marketing@fnbalaska.com www.fnbalaska.com

Parent Company: First National Bank Alaska Parent Co. City, State Anchorage, AK

Top Executive: D.H. Cuddy, Pres./CEO

Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Business Description: First National Bank Alaska is a full-service commercial bank serving Alaskans with a broad range of deposit and lending services, trust and investment management services and Internet banking for individuals and businesses. The bank has 30 branches in 18 communities statewide. Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender.

Year Founded: ...................1922 Estab. in Alaska:................1922 Alaska Revenue: ........$156.5 M Alaska Employees: .............722

Community Involvement: More than $2.1 million in contributions, including donations, sponsorships, low-income housing investments and in-kind donations were given to Alaska communities in 2009, and more.

Providing Service & Value With over four decades of delivering freight to Alaska Asset Based Comprehensive Web Services Electronic Tracing Professional Drivers Dedicated Customer Service Intra-State Alaska Service Visit www.pafak.com or give us a call at any of our Alaska locations for more information or to schedule a pick up.

Delivering Customized Solutions

Anchorage 336-2567 | Fairbanks 452-7971 | Kenai 262-6137 | Kodiak 486-8501 | Fife 800-426-9940 www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

65

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Flint Hills Resources Alaska LLC

1100 H&H Ln. North Pole, AK 99705 Phone: 907-488-5104 Fax: 907-488-0074 jeff.cook@fhr.com www.fhr.com

Parent Company: Koch Industries Inc. Parent Co. City, State Wichita, KS

Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and asphalt.

Estab. in Alaska:................2004 Alaska Employees: .............175

Community Involvement: University of Alaska, Boys & Girls Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, school and business partnership and The Museum of the North.

Top Executive: Mark Gregory, VP

Business Type: Communications Business Description: Integrated communications provider offering facilities-based local and long distance telephone services, Internet and cable television services, statewide cellular/wireless service, data, tele-health and distance education.

GCI

2550 Denali St., Ste. 1000 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-265-5600 Fax: 907-868-5676 admin_mgmt.external@gci.com www.gci.com

Year Founded: ...................1979 Estab. in Alaska:................1982 Alaska Employees: ..........1,600

Community Involvement: Iditarod, Alaska Academic Decathlon, Greater Anchorage Inc., United Way, Providence Cancer Center and more.

Top Executive: Ron Duncan, CEO

Business Type: Utilities Business Description: Golden Valley Electric is a member-owned electric cooperative serving nearly 100,000 Interior Alaska residents for more than 60 years. GVEA is the third largest electric utility in Alaska. Golden Valley has the most diversified fuel mix of electric utilities in the state: coal and oil locally, solar and wind through the SNAP renewable energy programs as well as hydro from Bradley Lake and natural gas from Anchorage.

Golden Valley Electric Association Inc.

PO Box 71249 Fairbanks, AK 99707-1249 Phone: 907-452-1151 Fax: 907-458-6368 info@gvea.com www.gvea.com Top Executive: Brian Newton, Pres./CEO

Year Founded: ...................1946 Estab. in Alaska:................1946 Alaska Employees: .............245

Community Involvement: $21,000 in academic scholarships awarded, United Way contributions exceeding $51,000, and more.

Moving Forward, Giving Back Granite Construction Co.

11471 Lang St. Anchorage, AK 99515 Phone: 907-344-2593 Fax: 907-522-1270 info@gcinc.com www.graniteconstruction.com

Parent Company: Granite Construction Co. Inc. Parent Co. City, State Watsonville, CA

Top Executive: Joe Spink, Reg. Mgr.

3977 Lake St. Homer, AK 99603 Phone: 907-235-8551 Fax: 907-235-3323 www.homerelectric.com Top Executive: Bradley P. Janorschke, Gen. Mgr.

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Year Founded: ...................1922 Estab. in Alaska:................1974 Alaska Employees: .............350 Worldwide Employees: ....4,000 Worldwide Revenue: ...... $2.7 B

Year Founded: ...................1945 Estab. in Alaska:................1945 Alaska Employees: .............123

Community Involvement: Homer Electric Association is a leader in community involvement on the Kenai Peninsula. HEA employees are on the boards of a variety of nonprofit groups, and more.

1717 Tidewater Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-263-5606 Fax: 907-263-5620 www.horizonlines.com Top Executive: Ken Privratsky, Senior VP

Community Involvement: Rotary, sports teams sponsorships, chamber of commerce, Associated General Contractors education program, Resource Development Council, Alaska Miners Association and Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage.

Business Type: Utilities Business Description: Homer Electric Association is a memberowned cooperative providing electric utility distribution and transmission services to the western Kenai Peninsula. HEA has 20,000 members and 28,000 meters on its system. The cooperative serves a mix of rural and urban areas, including service to large industrial customers such as Tesoro, ConocoPhillips and Chevron’s Swanson River Field.

Homer Electric Association

Horizon Lines

Business Type: Construction Business Description: Public and private heavy civil and designbuild, construction, aggregates recycled base, warm and hot mix asphalt.

Parent Company: Publicly Held

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Containership service between Tacoma, Wash., and Anchorage, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor. Feeder barge service to Bristol Bay and the Pribilofs. Connecting carrier service to other water, air and land carriers. Linehaul trucking to Alaska Railbelt.

Community Involvement: Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, Food Bank of Alaska, United Way, Covenant House, Armed Services YMCA of Alaska, Iditarod, Special Olympics Alaska, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage Bucs, Glacier Pilots, ALPAR, and more.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1954 Estab. in Alaska:................1964 Alaska Employees: .............520

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Parent Company: Hickel Investment Co. Parent Co. City, State Anchorage, AK

Hotel Captain Cook

PO Box 101700 Anchorage, AK 99510 Phone: 907-276-6000 Fax: 907-343-2211 info@captaincook.com www.captaincook.com

Business Type: Tourism Business Description: Hotel ownership and operations, commercial building owners, land owners, theatre operations and financial investments.

Year Founded: ...................1965 Estab. in Alaska:................1965 Alaska Revenue: ..........$38.4 M Alaska Employees: .............350

Community Involvement: United Way, downtown partnership, Fur Rondy, Catholic Social Services and American Diabetics.

Top Executive: Wally Hickel Jr., Pres.

Parent Company: KeyCorp Parent Co. City, State Cleveland, OH

KeyBank N.A.

101 W. Benson Blvd., Fourth Flr. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-562-6100 Fax: 907-563-1764 keyexpress@keybank.com www.key.com

Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Business Description: Multi-business line financial services company providing investment management, retail and commercial banking, mortgage lending, retirement, consumer finance and investment banking products and services to individuals and businesses.

Community Involvement: KeyBank invests money and services each year in charitable organizations, event sponsorships and economic development initiatives. Beneficiaries include: Alaska Economic Development Corp., Alaska Federation of Natives, KCC Coast Guard Appreciation Event, Junior Achievement, and more.

Top Executive: Brian Nerland, District Pres.

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Government contracting and consulting, Aerospace composite parts, design and management of construction projects, fluids reprocessing, specialty manufacturing of control systems and alloy distribution, telecom and security contracting, environmental assessment and remediation, information sciences, general construction, technical writing and logistic services, telecom system software, land and natural resource management.

Koniag Inc.

104 Center Ave., Ste. 205 Kodiak, AK 99615 Phone: 907-486-2530 Fax: 907-486-3325 www.koniag.com Top Executive: William Anderson Jr., Pres./CEO

Community Involvement: Koniag Education Foundation, Alutiiq Museum, Gulf of Alaska Coastal Communications Coalition, and more.

HELLO

At Credit Unio

.. .i t â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s O n e f or A ll . n 1...

Fish On! Our credit union is giving oppor tunity and means to Alaskans. (like the means for a new ďŹ shing boat)

2010: we pledge to lend $180 million to our communities.

DV PSH t t

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Year Founded: ...................1825 Estab. in Alaska:................1985 Alaska Employees: .............126 Worldwide Employees: ..15,973 Worldwide Revenue: ...... $5.8 B

www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1971 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Revenue: ...........$116 M Alaska Employees: ...............68 Worldwide Employees: .......839

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M

ia Costello is a lifelong Alaskan with a genuine interest in the state, its people and solving its challenges. Costello, who grew up in Anchorage, is a candidate for House seat 27. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want our future to be one of progress and opportunity,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m running for ofďŹ ce.â&#x20AC;?

With a Bachelor of Art in Government from Harvard, Costello has 20 years of broad experience. Her ďŹ rst political job was writing letters for Gov. Walter Hickel. Then she worked as a public information ofďŹ cer for the Media Support Center. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I worked closely with every department; the experience taught me how state government works,â&#x20AC;? Costello says.

Ultimately, she served as a legislative aide for Rep. Norm Rokeberg and deputy director of communications for Gov. Frank Murkowski. Costello assisted the governor during his visits throughout the state. She also accompanied Murkowski to Asia, where he promoted Alaskaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oil and gas, ďŹ shing, mining and tourism industries. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I feel grateful for the learning experience and for the opportunities provided me,â&#x20AC;? Costello says.

Costello, 41, is also a former JuneauDouglas and Service high school teacher who taught social studies. In Juneau, she taught mixed-age classes, using meaningful, real-world activities. During her second year of teaching, she earned national recognition for creating a government unit in which her students debated the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budget crisis live on public TV in a mock House Finance Committee meeting co-chaired by former representatives Eldon Mulder and Con Bunde.

resource-based economy is strong so that it continues to fund education,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And our schools need to prepare all students â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whether they are headed to college or straight to a job.â&#x20AC;?

ĆŹČŻÉ&#x2020;ȡȟȾÎ&#x17D;ĆĄÉ É É&#x192;ČłÉ

Part of strengthening the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy involves taking a long, serious look at the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s petroleum tax regime. Alaskaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oil production is declining, she says, and there must be a paradigm shift. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not about how much oil the companies are making; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about whether Alaska is competitive in a world market.â&#x20AC;?

On the nonpolitical side, Costello is a former public relations account executive of Bradley Reid Communications, where she worked on the Alaska Travel Industry Association and Red Dog Mine accounts. An instrumentrated pilot whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s owned her own Cessna 150, Costello thrives on being challenged and doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give up easily.

She says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I see things through.â&#x20AC;?

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Elementary School and Mountain Ć&#x17E;Č˝É&#x20AC;Î&#x17D;ȝȽÉ&#x20AC;ČłÎ&#x17D;ȡȟȴȽÉ&#x20AC;ȝȯÉ&#x201A;ȡȽȟÎ&#x17D; View Community Center. Costello, who earned a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree in ȹȽȟÉ&#x201A;ČŻČąÉ&#x201A;Î&#x17D;ƼȡȯÎ&#x17D;ČŻÉ&#x201A;Ëś teaching from the University of Alaska ȝȡȯȴȽÉ&#x20AC;ȜȽÉ&#x192;É ČłË˛ČľČťČŻČˇČşËˇČąČ˝ČťÎ&#x17D; Southeast, values education and wants Í&#x2021;ȝȯȡȺÉ&#x201A;Ƚ˜ȝȡȯȴȽÉ&#x20AC;ȜȽÉ&#x192;É ČłË˛ČľČťČŻČˇČşËˇČąČ˝ČťÍ&#x2C6; the state to do the same. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need to make sure that our 2CKF HQT D[ (TKGPFU QH /KC %QUVGNNQ ;WMQP %JCTNKG .QQR #PEJQTCIG #-

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Business Type: Transportation Business Description: The combined capabilities of the Lynden companies includes truckload and less-than-truckload transportation, scheduled and charter barges, rail barges, intermodal bulk chemical hauls, scheduled and chartered air freighters, domestic and international air forwarding, international ocean forwarding, customs brokerage, trade show shipping, remote-site construction, sanitary bulk commodities hauling and multi-modal logistics.

Lynden Inc.

6441 S. Airpark Pl. Anchorage,AK 99502 Phone: 907-245-1544 Fax: 907-245-1744 information@lynden.com www.lynden.com Top Executive: Jim Jansen, CEO

Community Involvement: Red Cross of Alaska, Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, Jr. Iditarod, Armed Services YMCA, and more.

Mat-Su Regional Medical Center

PO Box 1687 Palmer, AK 99645 Phone: 907-861-6000 Fax: 907-861-6559 k.aguirre@msrmc.com www.matsuregional.com

Parent Company: Community Health Systems Parent Co. City, State Nashville, TN

1740 S. Chugach St. Palmer, AK 99645 Phone: 907-745-3211 Fax: 907-761-2481 www.mtasolutions.com Top Executive: Greg Berberich, CEO

Business Type: Health Care Business Description: Mat-Su Regional Medical Center includes 74 beds in private rooms, six operating rooms, an enlarged emergency department, including three specialized bays for trauma, cardiac and orthopedic needs, a full complement state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging equipment, a cardiac catheterization lab and expanded medical surgical wing.

Year Founded: ...................1935 Estab. in Alaska:................1935 Alaska Employees: .............650

Community Involvement: Actively involved in health planning with other providers in the community, MSRMC provides a number of health fairs, educational events and partners with other local agencies to address injury prevention, drug awareness and other issues.

Top Executive: Position open 2/1/10

Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA)

Year Founded: ...................1947 Estab. in Alaska:................1954 Alaska Revenue: ...........$680 M Alaska Employees: .............682

Parent Company: MTA Parent Co. City, State Palmer, AK

Business Type: Communications Business Description: A member-owned communications cooperative that provides business, residential communications, digital TV, directory advertising, wireless and IT business support throughout Alaska.

Year Founded: ...................1953 Estab. in Alaska:................1953 Alaska Employees: .............389

Community Involvement: MTA believes in supporting the communities they serve by collaborating with various nonprofit organizations through sponsorships, donations and providing volunteers. They take great pride in supporting youth participation, community spirit and education programs, and more.

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Mikunda Cottrell & Co. Inc.

3601 C St., Ste. 600 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-278-8878 Fax: 907-278-5779 landersen@mcc-cpa.com www.mcc-cpa.com

Parent Company: Mikunda Cottrell & Co. Inc.

Top Executive: James Hasle, Pres.

Business Type: Services Business Description: Tax planning and preparation, auditing, compliance audits, financial statement preparation, business valuation, litigation support, personal financial planning, estate planning, fraud and forensic accounting services, bookkeeping services, business and financial accounting, and internal control and Sarbanes-Oxley solutions.

Year Founded: ...................1977 Estab. in Alaska:................1977 Alaska Revenue: ..........$14.5 M Alaska Employees: .............406

Community Involvement: Alaska Council of School Administrators, Better Business Bureau, Bean’s Cafe, American Lung Association, Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis, Downtown Soup Kitchen, and much more.

Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Business Description: Full-service community bank. All business lending including, SBA- and USDA-guarantee programs. All mortgage lending programs including AHFC, FHA, VA and conventional. All types of consumer loans and commercial loans. Complete menu of deposit products and services.

Mt McKinley Bank

PO Box 73880 Fairbanks, AK 99707 Phone: 907-452-1751 Fax: 907-456-5982 www.mtmckinleybank.com Top Executive: Craig Ingham, Pres./CEO

Estab. in Alaska:................1964 Alaska Revenue: ........$17.43 M Alaska Employees: ...............84

Community Involvement: Chamber of Commerce, local and state, all Rotary clubs, Habitat for Humanity, United Way of the Tanana Valley, numerous community sponsorships, significant contributor to community and charitable organizations.

Business Type: Industrial Equipment and Services Business Description: Caterpillar machine sales, parts, service and rental. Caterpillar engines for marine, power generation, truck petroleum and industrial applications. Sales and rental of Caterpillar and other preferred brands of rental equipment and construction supplies.

N C Machinery/N C The Cat Rental Store

6450 Arctic Blvd.

Anchorage, AK 99519 Phone: 425-251-5800 Fax: 425-251-5831 sfield@ncmachinery.com www.ncmachinery.com

Year Founded: ...................1776 Estab. in Alaska:................1776 Alaska Employees: .............192 Worldwide Employees: ....1,000

Community Involvement: NC is active throughout the state, including associations such as the Associated General Contractors of Alaska, Alaska Miners Association, Alaska Mineral and Energy Resource Education Fund, Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown Coalition, Alaska Oil and Gas Association, Petroleum Club and much more.

Top Executive: John J. Harnish, Chair/CEO

Moving Forward, Giving Back Nabors Alaska Drilling

2525 C St., Ste. 200 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-263-6000 Fax: 907-563-3734 www.nabors.com

Parent Company: Nabors Industries Ltd. Parent Co. City, State Houston, TX

Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Oil and gas well drilling.

Parent Company: NANA Regional Corp.

Inc. Parent Co. City, State Kotzebue, AK

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Engineering and construction, resource development, facility management and logistics, and information technology and telecommunications.

Community Involvement: United Way, Mable T. Caverly Senior Center, Dare to Care, Alaska School Activities Association, YMCA and Anchorage Crime Stoppers.

Year Founded: ...................1964 Estab. in Alaska:................1964 Alaska Revenue: ........$221.3 M Alaska Employees: .............485 Worldwide Employees: ....4,000 Worldwide Revenue: ...... $3.5 B

Top Executive: Dennis A. Smith, Pres.

NANA Development Corp.

1001 E. Benson Blvd.

Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 907-265-4100 Fax: 907-265-4123 info@nana.com www.nana.com Top Executive: Helvi Sandvik, Pres.

Community Involvement: Aqqaluk Trust, Nature Conservancy, Resource Development Council, Alaska Chamber of Commerce, United Way, Campfire of Alaska, AFN and ANSEP.

Neeser Construction Inc.

Business Type: Construction Business Description: NCI is a general contracting firm engaged in large commercial construction with design-build as its specialty.

Examples are: Hospital, parking structures, correctional, educational, retail, medical office buildings, military construction, convention centers and high rise.

Top Executive: Gerald Neeser, Pres.

Community Involvement: Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation, American Cancer Society, AWAIC, Food Bank of Alaska, Catholic Social Services, Armed Services, YMCA, Asian Alaskan Cultural Center, Salvation Army, United Way and many others.

2501 Blueberry Rd. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-276-1058 Fax: 907-276-8533 jerry_neeser@neeserinc.com www.neeserinc.com

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Employees: ..........3,000 Worldwide Employees: ....9,300 Worldwide Revenue: ..$1,258 M

Year Founded: ...................1970 Estab. in Alaska:................1974 Alaska Employees: .............263 Worldwide Employees: .......270 Worldwide Revenue: .....$149 M

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 NMS

5600 B St. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-273-2400 Fax: 907-273-2424 information@nmsusa.com www.nmsusa.com

Parent Company: NANA Development Corp.

Parent Co. City, State Anchorage, AK

Business Type: Services Business Description: Camp services, food and facilities management, security, hotel management and staffing.

Parent Company: Universal Health Services Inc. Parent Co. City, State King of Prussia, PA

Business Type: Health Care Business Description: Largest inpatient and residential behavioral health provider in Alaska serving youth ages four through 17 across the state.

Parent Company: Saltchuk Resources Parent Co. City, State Seattle, WA

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: NAC offers quality air cargo services throughout rural Alaska, from small package express to oversized shipments. Charter services, a certified repair station and groundhauling services round out NAC’s offerings.

Estab. in Alaska:................1974 Alaska Employees: ..........2,500

Community Involvement: United Way, Adopt-A-Highway and Green Star.

Top Executive: Mary P. Quin, Pres.

North Star Behavioral Health 2530 Debarr Rd. Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 907-258-7575 Fax: 907-279-1438 northstarinfo@unsinc.com www.northstarbehavioral.com Top Executive: Andrew Mayo Ph.D, CEO

Northern Air Cargo Inc.

3900 Old Int’l Airport Rd. Anchorage, AK 99502 Phone: 907-243-3331 Fax: 907-249-5194 info@nac.aero www.nac.aero

Year Founded: ...................1984 Estab. in Alaska:................1984 Alaska Employees: .............430

Community Involvement: Providing free CEU opportunities to professionals in the field, donates to many nonprofit programs in the state, charity walks and more.

Year Founded: ...................1956 Estab. in Alaska:................1956 Alaska Employees: .............300

Community Involvement: NAC supports community and educational events across the state. NAC is a major sponsor of the Iditarod, ALDAR, The Red Cross, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum and many other organizations also receive support.

Top Executive: David W. Karp, COO/Pres.

Moving Forward, Giving Back Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Marine transportation services to and from Alaska.

Northland Services Inc.

PO Box 24527 Seattle, WA 98124 Phone: 206-763-3000 Fax: 206-767-5579 sales@northlandservices.com www.northlandservices.com

Community Involvement: Sponsorship of the Iditarod, Nome, the Golden North Salmon Derby, Southeast; Sockeye Classic, Western Alaska; Boys & Girls Club, Anchorage; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; Multiple Sclerosis Society, The Beads of Courage program and much more.

Top Executive: Tom Martin, CEO

Parent Company: Northrim BanCorp Parent Co. City, State Anchorage, AK

Northrim Bank

PO Box 241489 Anchorage, AK 99524 Phone: 907-562-0062 www.www.northrim.com

Year Founded: ...................1977 Estab. in Alaska:................1977 Alaska Employees: .............300

Top Executive: Marc Langland, CEO

Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Business Description: Northrim Bank is a commercial bank that provides personal and business banking services with 11 branches in Anchorage, Eagle River, Wasilla and Fairbanks and an asset-based lending division in the state of Washington. The bank differentiates itself with a “Customer First Service” philosophy. Affiliated companies include Elliott Cove Capital Management LLC, Residential Mortgage LLC, Northrim Benefits Group LLC and Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC.

Year Founded: ...................1990 Estab. in Alaska:................1990 Alaska Revenue: ..........$57.2 M Alaska Employees: .............280

Community Involvement: At Northrim, they take an active part in building the communities they serve, and more.

Olgoonik Corp.

360 W. Benson Blvd., Ste. 302 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-562-8728 Fax: 907-562-8751 ocinfo@olgoonik.com www.olgoonik.com Top Executive: Mike Sandstrom, CEO

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Parent Company: Olgoonik Corp.

Parent Co. City, State Wainwright, AK

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Alaska Native organization providing construction management, environmental remediation, supply chain management, oilfield services, facilities management, technical administration and heavy equipment rentals and operation to government agencies and commercial companies worldwide.

Community Involvement: Olgoonik Corp. and its subsidiaries support a variety of community activities, promote continuing education and provide shareholder jobs, scholarships and job training programs.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1973 Estab. in Alaska:................1973 Alaska Revenue: .............$85 M Alaska Employees: ...............92 Worldwide Employees: .......590

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Osborne Construction Co.

Business Type: Construction Business Description: General contractors focusing on commercial, industrial, military, civil, housing and design-build projects for state and federal agencies. Selective work in private market. The number of Alaska and worldwide employees includes full-time and part-time employees.

Top Executive: George Osborne Jr., Pres.

Community Involvement: ABC of Alaska, AGC of Alaska, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers of Alaska, youth hockey programs in Anchorage, Food Bank of America, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Camp Goodtimes, and more.

PO Box 97010 Kirkland, WA 98083 Phone: 425-827-4221 Fax: 425-828-4314 occ@osborne.cc www.osborne.cc

Parker Drilling

1420 E. Tudor Rd. Anchorage, AK 99507 Phone: 907-339-4000 Fax: 907-339-4001 bobi.akers@parkerdrilling.com www.parkerdrilling.com

Parent Co. City, State Houston, TX

2525 C St., Ste. 201 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-263-7000 Fax: 907-263-7070 www.peakalaska.com Top Executive: Mike O’Connor, Pres.

Year Founded: ...................1934 Estab. in Alaska:................1968 Alaska Employees: .............175 Worldwide Employees: ....3,000 Worldwide Revenue: ..$829.8 M

Community Involvement: Alaska Hire a hero- Parker Drilling’s Alaska division participates in the “Hire a Hero” program, recruiting returning service members of the US military.

Top Executive: David C. Mannon, Pres./CEO

Peak Oilfield Service Co.

Business Type: Industrial Services Business Description: Contract drilling, drilling and production rental tools, advanced rig design, engineering, rig construction, extendedreach drilling, drilling in environmentally sensitive and harsh/remote climates, training and HSE programs.

Year Founded: ...................1987 Estab. in Alaska:................1988 Alaska Employees: .............156 Worldwide Employees: .......173 Worldwide Revenue: .......$59 M

Parent Company: Peak Alaska Ventures/ Nabors Alaska Services Corp.

Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Alaska general contractors, providing fabrication, construction, facility maintenance, tank cleaning, ice and gravel road construction, drilling support, rig moving, crane services, camp facilities, logistics and rolligon transport services.

Year Founded: ...................1987 Estab. in Alaska:................1987 Alaska Revenue: ...........$125 M Alaska Employees: .............585

Community Involvement: United Way, The Alliance, Resource Development Council and various chamber of commerce groups.

YOU KNOW US, BUT DO YOU KNOW ALL THAT WE DO? Calista Corporation is the second largest of the 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations.

We are dedicated to our Shareholders, our customers, and our mission.

We are the parent company of 15 subsidiaries, providing services ranging from telecommunications and marketing to construction and facility management.

Delivering excellence in the projects we build, the services we offer, and the jobs we provide.

301 Calista Court, Suite A, Anchorage, AK 99518 + t: (907) 279-5516 + f: (907) 272-5060 + calista@calistacorp.com

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Locally owned and operated airline providing service to 39 communities throughout Southwestern Alaska, Pribilof Islands and the Aleutians. Contract and charter service available statewide.

Peninsula Airways Inc.

6100 Boeing Ave. Anchorage, AK 99502 Phone: 907-771-2500 Fax: 907-771-2661 info@penair.com www.penair.com

Community Involvement: Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau, Boy Scouts of America, Alaska Air Carriers Association, Boys & Girls Club, Alaska Shriners, Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum and Anchorage Cargo Association.

Top Executive: Danny Seybert, Pres.

Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska

2550 Denali St., Ste. 1404 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-258-5065 Fax: 907-258-1619 www.premera.com

Parent Company: Premera Blue Cross Parent Co. City, State Mountlake Terrace, WA

Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Business Description: Health insurance and related benefits/ services for individuals, small groups and large groups.

Parent Company: Quanta Services Parent Co. City, State Houston, TX

Business Type: Construction Business Description: EPC heavy industrial contractor, infrastructure, power, pipeline, communications, and electrical and mechanical services statewide.

Top Executive: Jeff Davis, Pres.

Price Gregory International Inc.

301 W. Northern Lights Blvd., Ste. 300 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-278-4400 Fax: 907-278-3255 dmatthews@pricegregory.com www.pricegregory.com

Year Founded: ...................1955 Estab. in Alaska:................1955 Alaska Revenue: ..........$70.1 M Alaska Employees: .............500

Year Founded: ...................1945 Estab. in Alaska:................1952 Alaska Employees: ...............36

Community Involvement: Life of Alaska Donor Services, Alaska Health Fair, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, American Lung Association, Breast Cancer Focus, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Ketchikan General Hospital, Covenant House, United Way of Anchorage, Alaska Association of Health Underwriters, American Diabetes Association, Hope Community Cottages, Boys & Girls Club, Alaska 8(a) Association, and much more.

Community Involvement: The Alliance, RDC, Nature Conservancy, Workforce Development and various others.

Year Founded: ...................1921 Estab. in Alaska:................1974 Alaska Revenue: .............$56 M Alaska Employees: .............250 Worldwide Employees: ....3,000 Worldwide Revenue: ...... $1.4 B

Top Executive: David Matthews, VP/AK Mgr.

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John Page Advertising Account Manager j_page@akbizmag.com Cell: (907) 242-7957 • 100,000 monthly readers • CEOs and top executives • Airline seatback distribution • Hotel distribution • State Legislature & government Reach Alaska's top business leaders for as little as 2 cents per reader, for a full-page color advertisement.

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Princess Tours

800 Fifth Ave., Ste. 2600 Seattle, WA 98104 Phone: 206-336-6000 Fax: 206-336-6100 aklodges@princesstours.com www.princesslodges.com

Parent Company: Carnival Corp./Princess Cruises Parent Co. City, State Miami, Fl. / Santa Clarita, CA

Business Type: Tourism Business Description: Cruises, tours and hotel operations throughout the state. Charter services.

Parent Company: Providence Health + Services Parent Co. City, State Seattle, WA

Business Type: Health Care Business Description: Providence serves Alaskans in six communities: Anchorage, Eagle River, Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Kodiak Island, Seward and Valdez. Providence Health + Services Alaska is the state’s largest private employer. PH&SA includes Providence Alaska Medical Center.

Community Involvement: At the heart of Providence is a deep commitment to minister to those who need the organization the most.

From providing hot dinners for the homeless, to advocating for better health care for the uninsured, to supporting organizations that shelter needy families, Providence is honored and proud to serve Alaska.

Year Founded: ...................1902 Estab. in Alaska:................1902 Alaska Employees: ..........4,172

Parent Company: Schlumberger Ltd. Parent Co. City, State Houston, TX

Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Provides people and technology, working together to offer exploration and production services during the lifecycle of the oil and gas reservoir.

Year Founded: ...................1934 Estab. in Alaska:................1956 Alaska Employees: .............600 Worldwide Employees: ..70,000

Community Involvement: Active in state and local business and travel industry trade associations. Provides financial and in-kind support to civic and charitable organizations statewide.

Year Founded: ...................1976 Estab. in Alaska:................1985 Alaska Employees: ..........3,000 Worldwide Employees: ..25,000

Top Executive: Charlie Ball, Pres.

Providence Health + Services Alaska

3760 Piper St., Ste. 2021 Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 907-212-3145 Fax: 907-212-2038 phsainfo@provak.org www.providence.org/alaska Top Executive: Al Parrish, CEO

Schlumberger Oilfield Services

2525 Gambell St., Ste. 400 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-273-1700 Fax: 907-561-8317 www.slb.com Top Executive: Chris Barton, Gen. Mgr.

Community Involvement: Active participants in oil- and gasspecific organizations, as well as long-term supporters of a variety of community programs, including Habitat for Humanity, United Way and a school-business partnership.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Sealaska Corp.

One Sealaska Plaza, Ste. 400 Juneau, AK 99801 Phone: 907-586-1512 Fax: 907-463-3897 webmaster@sealaska.com www.sealaska.com

Parent Co. City, State Juneau, AK

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Forest, timber and wood products, marketing, silviculture, land management, financial investments, fabrication, information technology consulting, environmental remediation, consulting, logistics, security, manufacturing, construction and construction aggregates.

Year Founded: ...................1971 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Employees: .............171 Worldwide Employees: ....1,069 Worldwide Revenue: .....$125 M

Community Involvement: Celebration, culture and heritage, education, leadership development, nonprofits in the region, scholarships.

Top Executive: Chris E.McNeil Jr., Pres/CEO

Shell Exploration & Production

3601 C St., Ste. 1000 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-770-3700 Fax: 907-646-7142 www.shell.com/us/Alaska

Parent Company: Shell Oil Co. Parent Co. City, State Houston, TX

Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Integrated oil and gas company, international.

Parent Company: SMG Parent Co. City, State Philadelphia, PA

Business Type: Services Business Description: Anchorage Convention Centers: Dena’ina and Egan, Sullivan Arena, Anchorage. Ben Boeke and Dempsey Anderson Ice Arena and the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.

Community Involvement: Involvement and contributions to numerous organizations.

Estab. in Alaska:................2005 Alaska Employees: ...............40 Worldwide Employees: 108,000

Top Executive: Pete Slaiby, VP/Shell AK Exploration/ Appraisal

SMG of Alaska

1600 Gambell St. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-279-0618 Fax: 907-274-0676 pontt@sullivanarena.com www.sullivanarena.com

Year Founded: ...................1977 Alaska Employees: ..........1,000

Community Involvement: SMG of Alaska, Inc. is proud to be a community partner. They participate in many functions to help support nonprofits, and to assist with the growth and development of local business.

Top Executive: Joe Wooden, Regional Gen. Mgr.

Moving Forward, Giving Back Spenard Builders Supply Inc.

810 K St., Ste. 200 Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-261-9120 Fax: 907-261-9142 info@sbsalaska.com www.sbsalaska.com

Parent Company: Pro-Build Parent Co. City, State Denver, CO

Business Type: Retail/Wholesale Trade Business Description: Provides a full line of building materials and home-improvement products to fill the needs of residential and commercial contractors, remodelers and homeowners.

Year Founded: ...................1952 Estab. in Alaska:................1952 Alaska Employees: .............850

Community Involvement: Numerous community groups and events, including Habitat for Humanity, March of Dimes and Boys & Girls Club.

Top Executive: Ed Waite, Pres.

TelAlaska

201 E. 56th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-563-2003 Fax: 907-565-5539 custsvc@telalaska.com www.telalaska.com Top Executive: Brenda Shepard, Pres./CEO

The Aleut Corp.

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Business Type: Communications Business Description: Advanced network solutions throughout Alaska, local services to 26 rural communities. Services include local telephone, advanced voice and data solutions, dial-up and highspeed Internet, WiFi wireless Internet and cable television. Customer service offices located in Anchorage, Seward, Nome and Unalaska.

Launched cellular phone service to eight communities in 2009.

Year Founded: ...................1968 Estab. in Alaska:................1968 Alaska Employees: ............. 110

Community Involvement: Alaska Run for Women, Alaska Zoo, Armed Services, YMCA, Unalaska Fire Fighters Ball, Seward Senior Center, Nome Arts Council, Cooper Landing Museum, and more.

4000 Old Seward Hwy., Ste. 300 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-561-4300 Fax: 907-563-4328 info@aleutcorp.com www.aleutcorp.com Top Executive: Troy Johnson, CEO

Parent Company: American Broadband Communications Parent Co. City, State Charlotte, NC

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Government contracting, oil and fuel storage, transportation and sales, oil and well testing services, real estate, telecommunications and industrial instrumentation.

Community Involvement: Scholarships, career development, burial assistance, Aleut Foundation, AFN, Aleutian Financial Inc., Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, First Alaskans Institute, Aleutian Housing Authority, Aleutian Pribilof Islands Community Development Association, regional school districts, wellness centers, health consortiums, city and village corporation and regional tribal groups.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Employees: .............135 Worldwide Employees: .......850 Worldwide Revenue: $146.06 M

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 The Odom Corp.

240 W. First Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-272-8511 Fax: 907-264-0259 www.odomcorp.com

Parent Company: The Odom Corp.

Parent Co. City, State Bellevue, WA

Top Executive: John Odom, CEO/Chair

Business Type: Retail/Wholesale Trade Business Description: Licensed wholesale alcoholic beverage distributor, franchised soft drink distributor.

Community Involvement: Alaska Aviation Museum, Alaska Native Justice Center, Alaska Run for Women, Alaska Zoo, ALPAR, Alaska State Athletic Association, American Heart Association, American Red Cross, Arctic Winter Games, AWAIC’s Ski for Women, Boy Scouts of America, Boys & Girls Club (statewide), Catholic Social Services, Challenge Alaska, Challenger Learning Center, Junior Achievement, Habitat for Humanity, Morris Thompson Cultural, and more.

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Alaska Native Village Corp. specializing in realistic military training support, including culturally correct role players, foreign culture and language training, logistics services, construction, sign manufacturing and installation, facilities maintenance and operation, information technology development, support and training, property management, custodial and janitorial services and food services.

The Tatitlek Corp.

561 E. 36th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-278-4000 Fax: 907-278-4050 info@tatitlek.com www.tatitlek.com Top Executive: Roy Totemoff, Pres./CEO

Year Founded: ...................1933 Estab. in Alaska:................1933 Alaska Revenue: ...........$123 M Alaska Employees: .............377 Worldwide Employees: .......977 Worldwide Revenue: .....$331 M

Year Founded: ...................1971 Estab. in Alaska:................1973 Alaska Revenue: .............$25 M Alaska Employees: .............170 Worldwide Employees: ....3,200 Worldwide Revenue: .....$107 M

Community Involvement: Actively involved with a variety of sponsorships and community involvement such as: The Copper Mountain Foundation providing scholarships, and more.

Totem Ocean Trailer Express 2511 Tidewater Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-276-5868 Fax: 907-278-0461 gkessler@totemocean.com www.totemocean.com

Parent Company: Totem Ocean Trailer Express Parent Co. City, State Federal Way, WA

Top Executive: Greg Kessler, Dir. Of AK Commercial

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: A privately held Alaska corporation and vessel-operating common carrier. Runs a fleet of roll-on/roll-off trailer ships, between the ports of Tacoma, Washington and Anchorage.

Year Founded: ...................1975 Estab. in Alaska:................1975 Alaska Employees: ...............55 Worldwide Employees: .......150

Community Involvement: Food Bank of Alaska, ALPAR, United Way, Seward Polar Bear Festival, UAF, Providence Children’s Hospital, Anchorage Concert Association, Imaginarium, Alaska SeaLife Center, Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Catholic Social Services, Salvation Army, Alaska Junior Theatre, Covenant House, Bean’s Cafe, Alaska Pacific University and University of Alaska Anchorage.

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Oilfield services, construction management, electrical and mechanical system installation.

Udelhoven Oilfield System Services Inc.

184 E. 53rd Ave. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: 907-344-1577 Fax: 907-344-5817 www.udelhoven.com

Community Involvement: American Diabetes, American Heart Association annual Heart Walk, Junior Achievement, Green Star, United Way and more.

Year Founded: ...................1970 Estab. in Alaska:................1970 Alaska Revenue: ...........$131 M Alaska Employees: .............503 Worldwide Employees: .......555 Worldwide Revenue: .....$144 M

Top Executive: Jim Udelhoven, CEO

Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp.

PO Box 890 Barrow, AK 99723 Phone: 907-852-4460 Fax: 907-852-4459 info@ukpik.com www.ukpik.com

Parent Co. City, State Barrow, AK

Business Type: Native Organization Business Description: Engineering and construction, architecture, surveying, telecommunications, government contracting, regulatory and stakeholder consulting, oilfield services and marine operations.

Community Involvement: Education through scholarship foundation, local Barrow radio station KBRW, Barrow Whaling Captains Association, Barrow Whaler Athletic Foundation, organizations that work to improve and promote cultural awareness and more.

Top Executive: Anthony Edwardson, Pres./CEO

Business Type: Construction Business Description: Commercial general contractor providing design-build and construction management projects throughout Alaska.

UNIT Company

620 E. Whitney Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-349-6666 Fax: 907-522-3464 fallguy@unitcompany.com www.unitcompany.com

Year Founded: ...................1973 Estab. in Alaska:................1973 Alaska Revenue: ...........$126 M Alaska Employees: .............600 Worldwide Employees: ....1,900 Worldwide Revenue: .....$310 M

Year Founded: ...................1977 Estab. in Alaska:................1977 Alaska Revenue: .............$55 M Alaska Employees: ........50-130

Community Involvement: Various community involvements within the state and local communities.

Top Executive: Michael J. Fall, Pres.

Moving Forward, Giving Back United Parcel Service

6200 Lockheed Ave. Anchorage, AK 99502 Phone: 907-249-6242 Fax: 907-249-6240 sdepaepe@ups.com www.ups.com

Parent Company: United Parcel Service Parent Co. City, State Atlanta, GA

PO Box 1000 Healy, AK 99743 Phone: 907-683-2226 Fax: 907-683-2253 info@usibelli.com www.usibelli.com Top Executive: Joseph E. Usibelli Jr., Pres.

Parent Company: Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. Parent Co. City, State Healy, AK

Business Type: Mining Business Description: Coal mining and coal marketing.

Community Involvement: United Way, Denali Borough school district, ELC Daycare, Kids in Motion, Tri-Valley Community Library, Healy hockey, Morris Thompson Cultural Center, Tri-Valley Volunteer Fire Department, Girl Scouts, Boys & Girls Club, retirement community of Fairbanks, Yukon Quest, KVAC, WEO and more.

USKH

Business Type: Services Business Description: USKH disciplines include architecture, civil, structural, transportation, traffic, mechanical, electrical engineering, environmental services, land surveying, asbestos and lead-base paint consulting, airport planning and design, landscape architecture, GIS, planning and public involvement.

Top Executive: Timothy J. Vig P.E., Pres./Principal

Community Involvement: United Way, Kiwanis, AWAIC, Youth Court, S.T.A.R., Crime Stoppers, School Business Partnership, Anchorage Public Libraries and sponsored Holly Brooks trip to the 2010 Olympics to compete in Nordic Skiing.

2515 A St. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-276-4245 Fax: 907-258-4653 lgray@uskh.com www.uskh.com

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Year Founded: ...................1907 Estab. in Alaska:................1985 Alaska Employees: .............952 Worldwide Employees: 450,000 Worldwide Revenue: ....... $51 B

Community Involvement: United Way, HeartRun, MS Duck Race, $10,000 grant award, UAA Global Logistics, Anchorage Airport Operations Council, Master and Technical Advisory Board, World Trade Center board member, Anchorage Chamber of Commerce and Bean’s Cafe.

Top Executive: Scott DePaepe, AK Div. Mgr.

Usibelli Coal Mine Inc.

Business Type: Transportation Business Description: Express small-package pick-up and delivery, air cargo service, international clearance of small- package customhouse brokerage, aircraft ground support and aircraft maintenance. Flight Training Center.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Year Founded: ...................1942 Estab. in Alaska:................1942 Alaska Revenue: .............$60 M Alaska Employees: .............125

Year Founded: ...................1972 Estab. in Alaska:................1972 Alaska Employees: .............127 Worldwide Employees: .......177

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 2010 CORPORATE 100 Business Type: Construction Business Description: General contractor. Current projects include: Fort Wainwright barracks, Fort Richardson barracks, Fort Wainwright COF and Chester Valley school renovation.

Watterson Construction Co. PO Box 220670 Anchorage, AK 99522-0670 Phone: 907-563-7441 Fax: 907-563-7222 info@wattersonconstruction.com www.wattersonconstruction.com

Community Involvement: ABC of Alaska, Alaska Zoo, YMCA, S.A.M.E., Catholic Social Services, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Junior Achievement, YWCA and Habitat for Humanity.

Top Executive: Bill Watterson, Pres.

Wells Fargo Bank NA

PO Box 196127 Anchorage, AK 99519 Phone: 800-869-3557 Fax: 907-265-2879 www.wellsfargo.com

Parent Company: Wells Fargo and Co. Parent Co. City, State San Francisco, CA

Top Executive: Richard Strutz, Alaska Region Pres.

Business Type: Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Business Description: Diversified financial services company providing banking, insurance, wealth management and estate planning, investments, mortgage and consumer finance. The nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading Internet bank and small business lender. Serving Alaskans from Barrow to Ketchikan.

Year Founded: ...................1852 Estab. in Alaska:................1916 Alaska Revenue: ...........$297 M Alaska Employees: ..........1,100 Worldwide Employees: 281,000 Worldwide Revenue: .... $88.7 B

Community Involvement: Contributes more than $1.5 million annually and thousands of volunteer hours to nonprofit organizations across Alaska. Through this giving, the bank helps fund various programs for education, preserving local art and culture, and more.

WHPacific Inc.

300 W. 31st Ave. Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: 907-339-6500 Fax: 907-339-5327 jpurvis@whpacific www.whpacific.com

Parent Company: NANA Development Corp.

Parent Co. City, State Anchorage, AK

Business Type: Services Business Description: Architecture (design, sustainability construction services), building engineering (mechanical, electrical, structural and civil), transportation (design planning and aviation), surveying, water resources (civil water and wastewater) and land development/energy.

Top Executive: John Rense, Pres.

Community Involvement: Abused Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Aid in Crisis, AGC Education Committee, Alaska Center for the Environment, Alaska Christian College, Alaska District Export Council, Alaska Firefighters, Alaska Native Heritage Center, and much more.

XTO Energy Inc.

Business Type: Oil & Gas Business Description: Oil and gas production.

810 Houston St. Fort Worth, TX 76102 Phone: 817-885-2334 Fax: 817-885-1990 vaughn_vennerberg@xtoenergy.com www.xtoenergy.com

Community Involvement: Participates in the communities where the company operates. In Alaska, XTO Energy has supported the Peninsula Winter Games, Kenai Peninsula College, the Kenai and Nikiski Chambers of Commerce, several peninsula high school programs and scholars, and the Iditarod. Funds special programs for Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy, and to eliminate the tragedy of Elk Chronic Wasting Disease. Contributes regularly to American Heart Association, American Red Cross, and more.

Top Executive: Bob Simpson, Chair

Transportation Tank & Trailer Service Center Before

Year Founded: ...................1981 Estab. in Alaska:................1981 Alaska Revenue: .............$90 M Alaska Employees: .............125

After

Year Founded: ...................1981 Estab. in Alaska:................1981 Alaska Employees: ...............70 Worldwide Employees: .......444

Year Founded: ...................1986 Estab. in Alaska:................1998 Alaska Revenue: .............$90 M Alaska Employees: ...............31 Worldwide Employees: ....3,334 Worldwide Revenue: ...... $7.5 B

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www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ April 2010

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100

Chugach Alaska From bankruptcy to $1 billion gross.

BY TRACY KALYTIAK

T

wenty years ago, it seemed Chugach Alaska Corp. was experiencing one financial catastrophe after another.

The regional corporation for the Prince William Sound area was created in 1971, encompassed five Native villages and the cities of Seward, Whittier, Valdez and Cordova. It busied itself with minor construction and maintenance on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, as well as timber and fish processing.

Its troubles began when the Exxon Valdez, in March 1989, spilled 11 million gallons of oil into the sound.

Then, timber prices plummeted after the corporation built a more than $20 million sawmill in Seward in 1990. A blaze at the company’s large Orca canning facility on Labor Day that year destroyed the plant’s loading dock and freezing plant after a massive pink salmon run that summer.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At the time, it had revenue of less than $10 million and net losses of nearly $64 million.

Fast-forward two decades. Now, Chugach Alaska Corp. is ranked among the state’s Top Corporate 100 because its decision to delve into government contracting opened lucrative financial vistas for the company.

Chugach Alaska billed more than $1 billion last year – up from $950 million the preceding year. It employed

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6,604 people, with 1,031 employees in Alaska, as of December 2009.

“When you contract with the government and invoice on time, they typically pay on time,” said Chugach Alaska President Barney Uhart.

SOLID GROUND Uhart helped steer CAC through its lengthy recovery and onto solid financial ground after former CEO Mike Brown recruited Uhart in late 1993.

Chugach Alaska needed to find some lines of business that weren’t capital intensive or resource based, and Uhart had been involved virtually his whole adult life with government contracting.

“I met everyone who worked for the company, memorized all their names within the first couple of days, that’s how small it was,” Uhart remembered of his earliest days with CAC. “From a financial standpoint, obviously they were in the bankruptcy and everything was going to the creditors that was coming in.”

WHERE IT COUNTS Uhart says CAC decided to delve into government contracting and homed in on service-sector enterprises, also known as base operations.

© 2010 Chris Arend

Chugach Alaska President Barney Uhart

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

“Which really could be anything,” Uhart said. “We do anything from a soup-to-nuts type effort where you do everything from working on airplanes on the flight line to cutting the grass to maintaining buildings.

It’s very broad. It might involve all or just one or two components.”

Uhart said CAC was awarded its first government contracts in August 1994. One was a small contract for family housing maintenance at the old Adak Naval Air Station. The other contract was for base operations at the King Salmon airport, an old Cold War facility the government wanted to keep prepared for feeding and housing troops in case it was needed for short-notice training missions.

Chugach Alaska applied for and received certification under the SBA 8(a) business-development program and then launched marketing campaigns that focused primarily on the U.S. Department of Defense.

CAC also won a contract for operating the U.S. Department of Labor Job Corps Center in Palmer – which it still operates.

CAC eventually was operating on about every significant military installation in Alaska, including Elmendorf and Fort Richardson, Fort Wainwright, Eielson Air Force Base, King Salmon, Galena and Shemya Island.

CAC then began looking outside Alaska for more business opportunities.

The types of contracts CAC tended to prefer were service-oriented, longer-term contracts, rather than shorter-term construction contracts, Uhart said.

CAC had secured a number of the longer-term contracts being awarded in Alaska at the time because there only a few Alaska Native corporations were involved in government contracting at the time.

When the competition for those contracts began heating up within Alaska, CAC focused its attention on military installations in the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Rim, Hawaii, some of the U.S. terrorities like Midway and Wake islands.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Uhart said, Chugach Alaska branched

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into construction, information technology and some environmental work.

FOLLOW THE MONEY The type of construction contracts CAC favored tended to be longer-term ones – known as Saber contracts – for smallscale projects of less than $750,000.

“They would hire a contractor who’d station themselves on the base,” Uhart said. “Any project that was under that amount they would issue to that Saber contractor as a task order. They weren’t

major standalone projects like, go build a building or go build us a new runway. They were more like, our runway needs repair, go fix this part of the runway, or go remodel those offices in that building.”

“It is a pleasure working with Chugach Industries Inc.,” Commander Len Schilling, public works officer for Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, said in a provided statement.

“They take great pride in supporting the Navy’s mission and it shows in their quality of work, responsiveness to

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unpredictable demands, and their spirit of partnering with the Navy team.”

BRANCHING OUT Uhart said that after developing skill sets for completing those projects, Chugach branched out into other types of projects, including construction of Elmendorf Air Force Base’s F22 fighter engine maintenance facility; the $115 million Army Battalion headquarters facility in Louisiana; the $35 million National Institutes of Health visitors center in Bethesda, Md., and other projects between Guam and the East Coast. Chugach Alaska has worked in 36 states and a dozen foreign countries and U.S. territories.

“We’re scattered around pretty good right now,” Uhart said.

Chugach Alaska was awarded $90 million in government stimulus money for projects outside Alaska involving pavement upgrades, road upgrades, structural and energyefficiency upgrades, utility systems and water systems.

In the future, Chugach Alaska is looking toward involving itself in projects associated with Alaska gas and spur lines, projects in the West Pacific region of Asia and diversifying into markets that are not traditional for the company.

Uhart envisions the company potentially launching environmentally responsible guided tourism opportunities for the 250,000 acres it owns in the Prince William Sound region.

“We’re cautious because of the value and the nature of those lands,” Uhart said.

Also, he said, CAC is exploring ways to bring broadband Internet services to areas that are underserved, providing more opportunities for shareholders in remote areas to participate in contracts.

Now that it has put its financial woes behind it, Chugach is now looking at enhancing the benefit programs it provides to shareholders – providing dividends, training, scholarships, internships, apprenticeships and shareholder development programs.

“I’d like to bring more opportunities into the Chugach region,” ❑ Uhart said.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100

Credit Union 1 Helping members, soldiers, employees and neighborhoods.

Photo courtesy of Credit Union 1

This crew of Credit Union 1 employee volunteers worked from set-up to take-down at the first-ever Mountain View Street Fair last August. The fair attracted an estimated 3,500 people.

BY TRACY KALYTIAK

L

ong ago, Mountain View was a place where working folks with modest incomes lived in their own homes and formed a tight community.

Construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline brought with it an influx of people and not enough homes to house them all, and so Mountain View was rezoned to accommodate multi-family buildings. “That’s when the transiency and lack of connectivity to neighbors took place,” said

86

Jewel Jones, executive director of the Anchorage Community Land Trust.

Businesses moved, leaving behind a scattering of pawn shops and quick-cash outlets. In a place where residents walked to their destinations or relied on public transportation, there were no banks.

“There was nothing in terms of loans, financial counseling and education,” Jones said. “Credit Union 1 came to us and said, ‘We like that piece of property. We want to be in this area; it’s underserved.’“

COMMUNITY MINDED Its fervent attention to community needs in the areas it serves is one reason Credit Union 1 earned a spot in the Corporate 100.

Credit Union 1 CEO Leslie Ellis set the company on its successful course two years after she first went to work as a teller in 1981 with what was then the Alaska School Employees Federal Credit Union. The organization had been chartered in 1952. Ellis’ husband’s Army career as a JAG officer

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

had brought the couple to Anchorage from New Jersey.

When Ellis first became general manager in 1983, the credit union was struggling to recover from embezzlement and a bevy of operational problems. Mopping up the mess and keeping the business alive through the catastrophic economy of the mid-1980s taught valuable, long-lasting lessons, Ellis said.

“We were able to remain profitable through all that,” she said. “That really set the tone, the pace, for where we are now.”

Ellis said the one thing that has guided the company through economic dips is being financially disciplined, controlling costs and making sure lenders are exceptionally good underwriters.

“Because the key to being a nonprofit, our primary source of revenue, comes from making loans to our own members,” Ellis said. “But by the same token, if you have too many of those loans go bad, there are problems.”

CREATING A NICHE Ellis said Credit Union 1 learned to be a prudent lender and is careful in that area. “For us, our niche is not anything that’s commercial or construction related,” she said. “We just loan to regular people, our regular members. We don’t have any big projects or shopping centers. We’re really in the retail consumer business. We learned to stay in our niche and do what we do well and if we expand into other areas, to be diligent in our preparation.”

The state’s economic pain eventually eased and the credit union became known as Frontier Alaska State Credit Union. In 1995, it joined with FedAlaska Federal Credit Union and formed what is now Credit Union 1, doubling the company’s size overnight.

“The two organizations synched up made for a better branch distribution,” Ellis said. Credit Union 1 now has 14 branches that serve Ketchikan, Kodiak, Nome, Soldotna, Eagle River, Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Credit Union 1 earned $47.56 million in revenue this year and employs 260 people; two of whom work for the company remotely.

The company now has 57,000 members. “We’ve been growing 3 percent to www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

87

5 percent every year in membership,” Ellis said.

Ellis says she believes it is important for corporate citizens to give back to the communities they serve.

GIVING BACK Credit Union 1 starts by helping its own employees become more productive and less stressed in balancing work and family demands, by providing them access to on-site childcare at the credit union’s Little 1’s Learning Center. The Center for Child Development at Providence Alaska Medical Center manages the facility.

Members receive the benefit of expanded technology, as well as a program that rewards members for saving money and using services the credit union offers.

Members may also seek help from the company’s credit solutions program, which deals solely in loans for people with no credit or banged-up credit.

“It’s for people who want to reestablish their credit,” Ellis said. “There are people who have had hard times and it makes it really hard for them to get back on track.”

Credit Union 1 helps get these people positioned to get loans for such things as a used car, so they can go back to work, or a credit card with a small line of credit so they can establish credit.

In the larger community, Credit Union 1 employees volunteer at places like Bean’s Café, The Children’s Lunchbox and the Fairbanks Rescue Mission.

Credit Union 1 helps people discover financial fitness, and will teach any group that asks for help. The company has separate programs tailored for teens, young adults, people who are middle-aged or older.

WAR REWARDS And for three years, Credit Union 1 and its employees have sponsored soldiers who have been serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

At first, the organization sponsored a platoon.

“We’ve sent hundreds of boxes, with personal-care items, laptops and movies and books and games,” Ellis said. “When the platoon came back to town, to Fort Richardson, we had a huge party for them with pizza and beer

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www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

so we could meet them. Credit Union 1 now sponsors an entire battalion – 130 soldiers – and plans to welcome those soldiers home as well.

“The credit union does contribute some corporate funds, but the staff fundraises as well,” Ellis said. “It’s a real grassroots effort here.”

LIFE TO MOUNTAIN VIEW Now, the company is breathing new life into one of Anchorage’s oldest neighborhoods.

“We’re in the midst of something I wanted to do for many years, and that’s open a branch in Mountain View,” Ellis said.

Credit Union 1 organized the first Mountain View Street Fair last August, an event that drew 3,500 people – three-and-a-half times more attendees than expected.

“I actually believe this has helped us be a more successful credit union,” Ellis said. “We’re recognized for community service work. There’s a lot of bad stuff going on; people want to be part of something that’s good, that’s helpful.”

Jewel Jones says Credit Union 1 is showing courage by committing to Mountain View.

“What they’ve been doing is absolutely tremendous,” Jones said. “This is more than a business venture.”

Credit Union 1 has talked to neighborhood residents about how they want the credit union to look, Jones said. More important, the company’s financial literacy outreach efforts have the potential for helping the people living in Mountain View forge better lives.

“If you’re in a community that’s underserved, if you don’t have these kinds of institutions here, people think they only have pawnshops and quick-cash places,” Jones said.

Teaching financial literacy – especially to children – will help bring knowledge to a community, get its residents the loans and other financial services they deserve.

“They can use that knowledge throughout their lives,” Jones said.

“What Credit Union 1 is doing speaks to other private-sector investors, that maybe they ought to be looking to make an investment in that commu❑ nity themselves.”

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Supporting Our Shareholders Through a Tradition of Excellence 561 East 36th Avenue • Anchorage, Alaska 99503 Phone: (907) 278-4000 • Fax: (907) 278-4050 www.tatitlek.com

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100

ConocoPhillips Alaska Photo courtesy of Dustin Solberg, The Nature Conservancy Alaska Field

Corporate citizenship at its best.

ConocoPhillips summer college interns assist on a salmon passage project site on a tributary to the Little Susitna River in summer 2009.

BY TRACY KALYTIAK

F

our days before an avalanche claimed his life, Jim Bowles said serving as president of ConocoPhillips Alaska was the best assignment of his career.

“We’re a very important piece of ConocoPhillips,” Bowles said. “It’s a fun place to work – lots of great people, lots of challenges.”

ConocoPhillips Alaska, under Bowles’ leadership since October 2004, is again this year named to the Alaska Business Monthly Corporate 100, a prestigious listing of the state’s top 100 companies.

The company employs approximately 1,100 people in Alaska. Its net income in Alaska in 2009 was $1.5 billion, compared to $2.3 billion in 2008.

Bowles, in his last media interview, talked about challenges and opportunities ahead, including ConocoPhillips’ joint-venture natural gas pipeline with BP; lengthening the life of its oil fields; plans to explore Chukchi Sea

90

PIPELINE PROGRESS

commitments. BP and ConocoPhillips must obtain Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and National Energy Board certification before proceeding with construction.

Bowles seemed excited about the prospect of ConocoPhillips and BP going to open season this month on their 1,730to 2,000-mile open-access natural-gas pipeline project. The pipeline is expected to deliver more than 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the North Slope to markets in Alaska, Canada and the Lower 48.

“We jointly kicked that off about two years ago, Denali, and that’s advanced to a large degree,” Bowles said.

Denali invested more than $130 million between mid-2008 and January 2010 on such things as fieldwork, engineering and stakeholder engagement.

Open season is a process in which the pipeline company seeks customers to make firm, long-term transportation

ConocoPhillips is employing a twoprong approach to extend the life of its 30-year-old Kuparuk field.

First, Bowles said, the company is using coiled-tubing drilling to recover more oil than the company otherwise would have recovered.

And, it is extracting about 16,000 barrels a day of heavy oil – a type of crude that has higher viscosity and density than light crude oil – from its West Sak oil field, Bowles said.

ConocoPhillips has added two satellite fields – Fiord and Nanuq – to its Alpine field. Those fields are producing about 35,000 barrels a day, and the company is trying to add a third field,

hydrocarbon resources; the economic downturn; and what the company is doing to cut costs while enhancing safety.

KEEPING OLD FIELDS IN PLAY

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

CD5, which is the first oil field planned for development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Feb. 5 denied a key permit for the project, delaying its construction by at least a year beyond what was anticipated. ConocoPhillips already had received other required permits from the state and the North Slope Borough.

CD5 would be a $600 million to $650 million project once it moves forward, Bowles said, and after CD5 the company will proceed with plans to develop another NPR-A stepout known as Greater Moose’s Tooth.

Alpine satellites account for 40 percent of the current total production at Alpine, which was about 102,000 barrels of oil per day in 2009.

ASSESSING CHUKCHI HYDROCARBON RESOURCES Twenty-ten is the first year since 1965 that ConocoPhillips (including its predecessor companies) has not drilled an exploration well, Bowles said.

“I think when we look forward, we are putting most of our focus on the

Chukchi for big exploration,” he said.

“It’s a big petroleum basin that has the potential for very large reserves.”

Bowles said the company has been collecting site clearance and environmental baseline data for two years.

“If you have a discovery, it’s probably a minimum of 10 years to bring that discovery on to production for the first time,” he said. “That means 10 years of design, construction and drilling work.”

After that work is finished, Bowles estimated the fields could produce for 20 to 30 years or more.

“They would be long-life fields,” he said. “(The potential for jobs) would be huge, because to do a development in the Chukchi Sea would be multibillion dollars of cost.”

ConocoPhillips currently plans to drill its first Chukchi exploration well in 2012.

GRAPPLING WITH A SOUR ECONOMY The recent economic downturn prompted ConocoPhillips to cut costs by laying off 80 people from its work force in the first quarter of 2009 and examining

ways to pare its North Slope operations.

“We’re still watching (costs) pretty closely because oil prices have been very volatile,” Bowles said.

The company is grappling not only with that volatility’s effect on costs, he said, but also with a progressivity measure in the state’s tax system that bumps up the oil production tax 4 percent for every $10 increase in oil prices.

“It’s an ongoing issue,” he said.

“That greatly affects how we view our long-term economics.”

Bowles said he favored a bill Alaska Rep. Craig Johnson, R-District 28, proposed that would halve the progressivity rate and create a more favorable investment tax credit structure for new wells drilled or old wells revisited.

“It’s a much more fair progressivity rate and something that we could support,” Bowles said.

Gov. Sean Parnell has also introduced a bill that would expand incentives for exploration drilling to include development drilling and encourage incremental short-term investment in drilling and workover activity in the core producing fields.

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One area in which costs have not been cut is safety, Bowles said.

ConocoPhillips’ spending on pipeline inspection and maintenance has more than doubled since 2004.

“Pipeline inspections are really the front end of trying to detect any of these leaks before they occur and we have more than tripled the numbers and the amount of inspection that we had been doing over the last two years,” Bowles said.

ConocoPhillips has been stepping up its efforts to prevent incidents, he added.

“We’re looking at a very aggressive

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program of upgrading our pipeline systems, to try to put new pipe in the ground or new pipe on the surface, to give us longer life without problems,” Bowles said. “We are operating a 30-year-old field, but I’m really pleased at our performance of Kuparuk with respect to pipeline leaks.”

Bowles chuckled before correcting himself – “lack of leaks.”

FORGING A REPUTATION Business and community-service leaders say ConocoPhillips cultivates respect

among organizations with which it interacts. Bowles said the company contributed more than $9 million to community organizations statewide in 2009.

Michele Brown, president and CEO of United Way of Anchorage, says ConocoPhillips has been an extraordinary philanthropist and community partner in a number of ways.

“Certainly their financial support – over a million dollars in corporate and employee giving,” Brown said of the company’s bequests to United Way. “The other thing noteworthy about them is that their employees are involved in volunteer work, pounding in nails, serving on boards in the community. It’s in their culture, and they ingrain that spirit in the newcomers.

They really walk the talk.”

ConocoPhillips “walks the talk” on its work sites as well, according to firms it does business with.

Steve Murphy is president of ABR Environmental Research, a small Alaska-based biological-consulting firm that has worked for ConocoPhillips and its predecessor companies since 1981.

“ABR has a strong environmental ethic; we want to work with companies that are doing the right thing,” Murphy said. “Over the years, ConocoPhillips has demonstrated a very strong environmental program we want to be a part of.”

Murphy says ConocoPhillips allows ABR to do studies that are not required by permits, and generate sound, longterm baseline data.

“They’re supportive of science-based decision-making,” Murphy said. “We’ve never had any pressure to change our conclusions or anything like that. Issues that come up with permitting on the North Slope, we had seven years of baseline data. There was good information. People weren’t just guessing what the problems might be.”

Jim Udelhoven, president of Udelhoven Inc., says his company provides project managers, functional checkout people and inspection people for construction jobs at ConocoPhillips’ Alpine development.

“We have a very good working relationship with their people, all the way across from the field people to the management,” Udelhoven said. “We have a level of trust that is really at the top.” ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100

A tribute to Jim Bowles

BY TRACY KALYTIAK

J

im Bowles was a boy in grade school when he made an album, “My Life Story,” for a class assignment.

Inside a brown construction paper cover were black and white pictures of himself from his earliest years spent in Alaska, with descriptions of what he most loved about living there.

“Here I am at the age of 3 atop the snow shoveled from our driveway in Alaska. I enjoyed the snow very much.

My daddy built me an igloo in my back yard, and I went sled riding often,” one caption stated. Another photo showed him fishing on a creek near a bridge: “I like to fish very much. Here I am when I was four in Alaska.”

Bowles eventually found his way back to the state he had loved as a boy, and, in fewer than six years as president of ConocoPhillips Alaska, made an indelible impact as a corporate business leader, philanthropist, conservation advocate and friend.

People from all those spheres mourned Bowles, 57, after he died Feb. 13 in an avalanche near Spencer Glacier, while snowmachining with friends.

University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton says he received a call about Bowles’ death at 1 a.m. the following day while on a trip to California.

“It was overwhelming,” Hamilton said. “My wife was just sobbing. He was just so alive. His death was shocking because he was so alive. That’s why it hit everybody so hard. There was a certain amount of invincibility about him.”

Bowles’ life began in Fayetteville, Ark., where he later graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1974. He joined Phillips Petroleum upon graduation and moved to Odessa, Texas, where he met his wife, Kathy. The couple married in 1977 and moved to Norway, where their two daughters, Jennifer and Rebecca, were born. Over the following years, the family moved

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to Texas, Montana, Oklahoma, back to Norway and then to Houston, Texas.

Bowles retired as president of Phillips Americas Division in 2002 and spent time at his ranch near Kerrville, Texas, and with family in Pagosa Springs, Colo.

In 2004, he emerged from retirement to become president of ConocoPhillips Alaska.

Bowles immediately plunged into a whirl of charity and conservation endeavors. He played a critical role in ConocoPhillips’ funding of the Providence Cancer Center, the Integrated Science Building at the University of Alaska Anchorage and upgrading of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge’s Potter Marsh access and facilities. He also supported the efforts of United Way of Anchorage, Covenant House, Camp Fire USA of Alaska and the Nature Conservancy.

Susan Ruddy, president of Providence Health Foundation, met Bowles shortly after his move to Alaska. Ruddy served on the Nature Conservancy board with Bowles.

“We had a board meeting in Seward and then we all went out on a boat on Resurrection Bay,” Ruddy remembered. “One of the things that was terrific about Jim was how he just dove into life.

He could be very serious in a meeting and very analytical, insightful – and 20 minutes later he could be in his boat clothes and out on the water and just cutting up. He was just marvelous that way.”

Bowles’ wife, Kathy, was along on that Resurrection Bay boat trip as well, and Ruddy remembers seeing © Chris Arend 2010 the couple leaning

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

on the rail, “shoulder to shoulder, in what was clearly such comfortable companionship.”

Ruddy said she and Bowles began working together on the Providence Cancer Center project in 2005, at a stage when they were beginning to raise money for its construction.

“I had tried to analyze through feasibility studies what I thought we could raise for the cancer center,” Ruddy said.

“I thought we could do $20 million but that it would take us about five years to get there.”

ConocoPhillips gave $5 million, which made it possible for the cancer center fundraisers to reach $22 million in just two years.

“It was very personal to Jim; his mother died of cancer,” Ruddy said.

“Jim was very committed to having a cancer center in Anchorage, Alaska, for people who have to deal with cancer in Alaska. It went above and beyond whether it was a good philanthropic idea for ConocoPhillips.”

Bowles was also a fervent outdoors enthusiast. He ran in Seward’s grueling Mount Marathon race; hunted Dall sheep in the Brooks Range, as well as bear in the Prince William Sound area and deer on Kodiak Island; and caught salmon, rainbow trout and Arctic char in rivers throughout the state.

Mark Nelson, president and CEO of ASRC Energy Services, knew Bowles through work and also fished many times with him.

Before he died, Bowles sent Nelson a Christmas card that said, “Mark, thanks for all the fishing tips, Jim Bowles.”

“He’s joking a little bit,” Nelson said.

“About four or five years ago, he and I had a bet. He owed me money, which was not the norm. He took a five-dollar bill, and he rolled it up like a cigarette – really, really tight – and tied fishing line around it and then left about a three-foot stringer on it.” Bowles came into Nelson’s office and threw that fivedollar bill at him.

“He says, ‘Here’s your money’ in a funny way and laughed,” Nelson said.

“He’s got this kind of infectious laugh.

It’s one of those situations where you think, do you reach out and grab your five bucks, because he’s just going to be yanking.”

Photo courtesy of ConocoPhillips

ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY’S 2010 CORPORATE 100

Jim Bowles, right, July 4, 2009, running the Mount Marathon Race in Seward.

Nelson said he still has that rolled-up five-dollar bill.

“It’s kind of a sad thing for me to see that, because I was putting that with the card and was going to put it up here in my office,” Nelson said. “That’s one of my prize possessions. To have so much fun with a guy like that and then he’s gone, it certainly reminds all of us how quickly life can be over and to cherish what you have.”

Bowles also hunted regularly with Bob Kean, vice president at Doyon Universal Services.

On one hunting trip, the other men drew straws to see who would be stuck hunting with Bowles the next day.

“It wasn’t that we didn’t want to be with Jim, it was just that he was so

physically fit that trying to keep up with him was brutal,” Kean said.

Bowles’ physical prowess was almost legendary among his friends.

“It was hilarious because he would head for the tallest mountain, the farthest area from where we were, and at warp speed,” Kean laughed. “The man was punishing, but he was a joy to be with at camp.”

UA President Mark Hamilton said Bowles was an example in many ways.

“But you’re not going to emulate him,” Hamilton said. “I mean, that’s got to be something that just pours out of your being. You can’t say, ‘Oh gosh, I think I’ll grow up to be like Jim Bowles.’

You just can’t. You can’t. He was just a very special human being, no doubt ❑ about it.”

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HR MATTERS

Employee Drug Testing Implement policy to save money, manage risk.

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eter worked for ACME Corp., a medium-sized company, and had been a good employee for 12 years. He was punctual and competent and never had any discipline problems. He was also open about using marijuana regularly on the weekends and the company did not mind since it never seemed to affect his job performance.

The new owner, Paul, added a new drug-free workplace policy and began random drug testing employees. Peter’s test came back hot and he was suspended. He tried to fight the discipline by stating everyone knew he smoked pot and he only did it outside work on his own time. He also pointed to his excellent work history as a reason why his punishment was unwarranted.

Notwithstanding Peter’s history and objections, ACME told him he would have to stop using marijuana or he would be discharged. Peter refused and was let go. He then consulted an attorney about suing ACME for wrongful termination since he only used drugs when he was off work.

LEGAL PROTECTION Both Alaska and federal law permit employers to test employees for use of controlled substances. Additionally, those laws protect the employers from lawsuits based on those drug tests as long as the employer has a drug policy and genuinely bases its actions on a valid test. The law calls this “good faith” and it is meant to discourage using a drug test as a pretext for getting rid of employees.

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An effective drug policy is not tricky.

If you already have one in place, employers are required to make it available to employees for their review. If you do not already have a drug policy, implementing a new drug-testing policy is not difficult. However, once your policy is in place, you have to give your employees at least 30 days notice before you can test them under the policy.

After the time restriction has passed, an employer may conduct an employee drug test for any job-related purpose consistent with business necessity, according to the law.

As an employer, you cannot require the employee to pay for either the entire actual costs for drug testing or reasonable transportation costs if the required test is conducted at a location other than the employee’s normal work site. You also must keep the employee on the clock when he or she is being tested, even if the testing site is away from the workplace.

DRUG POLICY The reason drug-testing policy is not difficult is that Alaska law mandates 10 requirements in any drug policy; those requirements are: 1. A statement regarding drug use by employees. Explain what you want to accomplish through the policy. Do you want a drug-free workplace? Is your concern safety? Is your industry regulated under federal law and you want to be in compliance? Outline your reason for the policy in this section.

2. Personnel subject to testing. Consider if you want all employees to be tested

© Chris Arend 2010

BY ANDY BROWN

Andy Brown

and if some employees will be tested more frequently than others, machinery operators for example.

3. Circumstances under which testing may be required. Generally, there are four circumstances: as part of a preemployment screening, a random screen, as part of an incident investigation and reasonable suspicion. An employer may choose any, all or name options not indicated in the statute, but you must let the employee know when they could be tested.

4. Substances for which testing will be done. An employer does not need to give a list of substance by name, it may be done by category. For instance you could say illegal narcotics, opiates, marijuana, depressants, alcohol, etc.

5. A description of the testing methods and collection procedures to be used.

If a test comes back positive, the test

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

The legal protections for employers instituting a drug-testing policy make it far more advantageous than risking other liability that may arise without one. If an employee is impaired and causes harm while acting as a representative, the absence of a testing policy could be costly to your reputation and your bottom line.

must be confirmed by a separate process and reviewed by a licensed physician or osteopath. Licensed test centers are familiar with this process.

6. Consequences of refusing a test. Since you are allowed to test employees, the refusal to take a test can be considered insubordination. How you deal with refusals should depend on your disciplinary philosophy.

7. Any adverse personnel action that may be taken based on the testing procedure or results. I have seen policies that terminate, suspend and allow for treatment programs while maintaining employment. Again, the action is up to you. The law does not mandate any punishment at all.

8. The employee’s right to obtain the written test results and the obligation of the employer to provide written test results. The employee must request the test results within six months of the test and the employer has five working days after a written request is made to provide a written copy of the test results.

9. A statement that, if the employee requests, the employee has a right to explain any positive test in a confidential setting. The employee must make the request in writing and within 10 working days of being notified of the positive test. The employer then has 72 hours to provide the confidential setting and permit the employee to explain, prior to taking any adverse action based on the test.

10. A statement of the employer’s policy regarding the confidentiality of the test results. You cannot release any test results, positive or negative, to anyone except the person tested or their representative – and you need the representative to be identified in writing, an employer representative who evaluates the test or hears the employee’s explanation, or under a court order.

TRAINING REQUIRED If you choose to test employees when there is a reasonable suspicion, the law requires some training for those making the assessment. Any employer who does allow for a reasonable suspicion test must have at least one designated employee with at least 60 minutes of training on alcohol misuse and an additional 60 minutes of training on the use of controlled substances, regulations state. In spite of this requirement, there is no standard for the alcohol and drug misuse training, however. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development does not provide it and they have no published benchmark. I have actually called and asked them about training standards and they referred me to any one of the drug-testing facilities in Anchorage.

RISK MANAGEMENT Even though State law protects employers from lawsuits based on drug testing employees, there are risks if you im-

properly disclose information about the tests. The law outlines a four-part test to allow an employee to sue an employer and all four parts are necessary for the suit to be successful. First, there must be some disclosure to an unauthorized party. Second, the disclosure must be a false positive result. Third, the disclosure must be negligent. Finally, the legal elements of defamation of character must be satisfied.

The legal protections for employers instituting a drug-testing policy make it far more advantageous than risking other liability that may arise without one. If an employee is impaired and causes harm while acting as a representative, the absence of a testing policy could be costly to your reputation and your bottom line. ❑ About the Author Andy Brown, J.D., MPA, a labor and employment attorney who grew up in Alaska, left his law practice in the Lower 48 to return to Alaska as a senior consultant with The Growth Company Inc. in Anchorage. Brown has more than 16 years of broad-based human resources experience, including legal compliance, compensation, salary surveys and collective bargaining agreements. He has extensive investigative experience and worked as an investigator for both the U.S. Army and the State of Utah, Department of Workforce Services. He currently lives in Eagle River with his wife and four children.

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LEGAL SPEAK

Creating Ethical Business Standards Adopt a modern ethics policy and make it public.

A

business that does not provide specific ethics guidance to its employees is inviting its personnel to decide what is best for the business based upon each individual’s own ethics, rather than the business’ core values. A business can only act through its personnel. Most businesses would not be comfortable allowing their personnel, at any level, to set the ethical standards by which the world will view the company. But without an ethics policy, this is exactly what is occurring.

With today’s nearly instantaneous media, and the ability of the public to text, blog and tweet to hundreds and thousands of consumers about any questionable behavior of a business, more and more companies are developing their own ethics policy to protect their image. The news is filled with stories of Ponzi schemes, payments of outrageous bonuses and shady behavior from businesses across the nation alienating customers and vendors alike.

Nothing injures a business faster than a perceived lack of integrity or allegations of unethical behavior.

MODERN POLICIES Adopting an ethics policy, including placing the policy on the company Web site, allows a business to show its personnel, customers and competitors a serious commitment to more than a minimum standard of conduct. Mod-

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ern ethics policies allow a business to inform the world of its integrity and establish a level of commitment to a higher business ethics culture.

Unlike some archaic policies of conduct, modern ethics polices set forth the expectations and culture of the business in everyday, easy-to-understand language. It used to be that an ethics policy was as complicated and as user-friendly as the United States Tax Code. Most often, the convoluted policy did little to educate employees.

Now, the focus of a policy is to guide and inform so that personnel from top to bottom have a clear understanding of what is expected.

KEY ELEMENTS Ethics policies, large and small, have several key elements, including a statement of core values and purpose, code of conduct, Internet use guidance, reporting provisions, including protection for any personnel reporting a violation, and penalties for enforcement of the policy. Considering the broad scope of an ethics policy, it should be tailored to work in concert with any existing employee handbook, sexual harassment guidelines, safety handbook and other policies.

The statement of the core values and purpose begins the policy and allows the business to inform its personnel and the public what ethical areas are crucial to the business. The statement can be

© Chris Arend 2010

BY JEFF WALLER

Jeff Waller

as short as a paragraph or can include several pages of principles and ethics.

The values and the purpose will differ with each type of business, but the statement should reflect the challenges faced by that particular company. This is not a statement of the minimum standard; rather, this is a designation of what the business aspires to achieve with regard to its integrity and public image.

After the statement of core values and purpose, policies usually address a code of conduct, which includes internal and external considerations – how personnel act toward each other and the public. This is an opportunity for the business to delineate what conduct is considered repugnant to its core values. Guidance on internal actions often focuses on handling privileged information, company assets and conduct toward other personnel.

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A common external issue involves gifts received by company personnel from vendors and independent contractors doing business with the company. For some companies, unless the gift is an attempt to gain an advantage through improper influence, there is no problem. Some companies do not allow personnel to receive any gift of any type, no matter how small. Some will set forth a list of acceptable gifts, like coffee mugs or calendars. While each company decides what is appropriate for that company, the personnel should be informed what is allowed. Because sources of gifts are often vendors and independent contractors doing business with the company, the trend is to require such third parties to follow the ethical guidelines or risk losing the company’s business.

INTERNET USE One area of a policy that typically addresses both internal and external interactions is the ethical guidance for Internet use at work. This can range from e-mail etiquette to use of private, privileged or proprietary information.

The availability of e-mail, tweets, posting on networking sites, blogs and other Internet uses has become so commonplace that some personnel think nothing of sharing information from work with the world. How does it look for your company if a manager spends the day sending out tweets about relaxing in wine country while on a business trip? Likewise, do you want an unacceptable joke being circulated through company e-mail, even if only between two employees? What happens later if a discrimination or harassment suit is filed and this joke surfaces? Is it acceptable for company personnel to operate a side Internet business during working hours, or if after hours, can the personnel use the Internet at work for the side business? Can personnel download software, music, videos and other files on to their work computer?

Can personnel use the intra-company e-mail list to forward political messages to everyone at work? Considering the

vast potential for ethic issues, this area often occupies a substantial section in an ethics policy.

VIOLATIONS An ethics policy normally will have specific guidance on who must report ethics violations and how violations are reported. This area of the policy is often one of the most contentious. As a practical matter, the policy must have a mechanism that not only allows reports of violations, but also encourages reports. Most policies also make it a violation to fail to report an ethics violation. Typically, there is some resistance to the idea that innocent personnel can be guilty of violating the ethics policy if the individual witnesses a violation and fails to report it. But, company personnel that turn a blind eye toward a problem are encouraging more of the same, which can damage everyone involved.

The policy should protect any personnel reporting a violation and prohibit retaliation for reporting. While this seems selfevident, the protections must be clear, obvious and believable or company personnel fearful of retaliation will not report violations. Various methods of protection can be used – ranging from anonymous reporting to the use of outside counsel in some cases. As with any provision of an ethics policy, if the company truly wishes to preserve and protect its integrity, then it must be ready to administer the policy with an even hand and in a fair manner.

Most ethics policies also allow any third-party – whether customer, vendor, independent contractor or member of the public – to report a possible ethics violation. Reporting of this type might seem like an invitation for baseless complaints; however, most businesses would gladly receive 100 baseless complaints rather than let a single critical ethics violation escape detection.

Lastly, the ethics policy usually includes a short provision stating the penalty for a violation. Depending upon the business culture and the severity of the violation, these can range from a verbal reprimand to immediate termination,

if appropriate and not prohibited by any other contract, statute, regulation or company policy. Many companies make a violation of the ethics policy an action to be handled under the company’s existing disciplinary procedures.

ADOPTING POLICY The above-discussed provisions are only a skeleton of the matters that can be addressed in an ethics policy because each policy, like each business, is unique to the specific challenges and circumstances that a business faces daily. Developing an appropriate ethics policy typically includes input from management, human resources and an attorney. Once the ethics policy is adopted and personnel are familiarized with its provisions, the overwhelming benefit to the business will be the guidance that the policy can provide for preventing ethics violations or guidance the next time one of its personnel is faced with a gray-area issue.

In response to the public’s demand for transparency in business, the trend is for companies to adopt a clearly worded ethics policy and place a copy of it on their Internet site, further demonstrating to the world the business’ commitment to integrity and ethics.

This shows the public that the business is not only serious about ethics, but also that it is being upfront about what is expected from its personnel. Putting your ethics policy on your Internet site is a lot like companies that are going green using a Web site to inform customers about all the steps the business is taking to protect the environment – if it is a good thing, you want your customers, ❑ and your competition, to know.

About the Author Jeff Waller is a senior associate attorney at Holmes Weddle & Barcott P.C. in Anchorage. His practice includes litigation, construction law, employment law, insurance defense, and real estate matters. Prior to becoming an attorney he owned and operated several of his own businesses.

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OIL & GAS

AOGA: In the Know An organization behind the scenes, but actively involved in, oil and gas efforts statewide.

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Photos by Judy Patrick

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he Alaska Oil and Gas Association, known well in the industry by its acronym AOGA, is a nonprofit trade association representing the oil and gas industry. It’s comprised of 14 member companies – Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., Anadarko Petroleum Corp., BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Chevron, Eni Petroleum, ExxonMobil Production Co., Flint Hills Resources Alaska, Marathon Oil Co., Petro Star Inc., Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska Inc., Shell Exploration & Production Company, Statoil, Tesoro Alaska Co. and XTO Energy Inc. These companies “represent the majority of oil and gas exploration, production, transportation, refining and marketing activities in Alaska,” according to AOGA’s Web site.

The organization’s mission is three-fold.

“Foster the long-term viability of the oil and gas industry in Alaska.

“Provide a forum for communication and cooperation with members, the public and local, state and federal governments.

“Develop common industry positions and provide input on local state and national legislative and administrative actions that affect the petroleum industry in Alaska (through its board of directors, five standing commitees, and several work groups).”

Pioneer’s Oooguruk oil field. Photo taken summer 2009 during a spill drill.

In other words, “AOGA represents the majority of oil and gas activities in Alaska,” it’s Web site boldly states.

The association, located at 121 W. Fireweed Lane in Anchorage, puts out bimonthly newsletters called “straight talk.” The January/February issue was filled with news about Cook Inlet Belugas, ExxonMobil, oil production decline, a profile on a Point Thomson manager, a state budget update and a note from executive director Marilyn Crockett about “Navigating the Coming Decade.”

Crockett, in this report, outlines five areas of concern for the coming decade:

• The Federal Administration • Environmental Lawsuits • The Alaska Coastal Management Program (ACMP) • Taxes • The Gas Pipeline She states the federal administration is a concern because three out of every four Alaskans believe Washington, D.C., politics, regarding issues relating to the industry, will have a negative impact on developing the state’s resources. As examples she cites: critical habitat for polar bears and beluga whales in Cook Inlet and the Arctic Ocean and decisions on the Outer

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Continental Shelf (OSC) five-year leasing program.

Environmental lawsuits have always been an issue, but seem more prevalent today. Crockett states, “Lawsuits continue to be a vehicle for groups wanting to halt oil and gas development in Alaska. While the industry is a long way from winning the war, two recent victories include decisions regarding the protection of polar bears and walruses in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.”

Delays and increased costs of development of the state’s oil and gas projects are also concerns. Two bills pending in the State Legislature in early March, would reverse the Alaska Coastal Management Program permitting system, which would result in delays and cost increases.

And then of course there are taxes, taxes, taxes. At the time of this writing, the Alaska Senate found fault current laws and asked for a quick resolution. “A comprehensive evaluation is needed to ensure Alaska is positioned to attract the capital investment dollars necessary to stem production decline into the future,” Crockett wrote.

Finally, the gas pipeline is a huge project that can make or break Alaska.

As two competing projects face open season, an important step to build this massive pipeline that will reach from the North Slope to Canada and the Lower 48, the drama unfolds.

“The open season will reveal potential shippers’ interest in the projects,” she stated.

A LOOK AT 2007 The most recent study done by Information Insights and the McDowell Group for AOGA, dated June 2008, also found on the AOGA Web site, details what life was like two-and-a-half years ago in the oil and gas industry.

Then, as today, the oil and gas industry outspends more than all nongovernmental industries. According to the report, the companies that make up these industries contribute the majority of funds to the state general fund through taxes and royalties. They also create thousands of high-wage jobs and donate millions to charitable organizations throughout the state. www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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percent of U.S. oil production is from Alaska, and petroleum is still the state’s most important natural resource sector.

Oil production is concentrated on the North Slope, with a small amount from Cook Inlet, which also produces natural gas. The petroleum industry creates jobs directly and indirectly through production; through revenues for state and local governments; and through special state savings accounts created with oil revenues.

Only a small share of the 53,000 jobs for Alaskans that depend on petroleum production are direct production jobs.

Petroleum production, exploration and development activities also create jobs in oilfield support, construction and other industries.

BREAKDOWN OF JOBS

Pioneer’s Oooguruk oil field. Photo taken summer 2009 during a spill drill.

Some key findings of the report, are ◆ “The average primary company pays a monthly wage of $12,737 – 3.5 times as follows. higher than the statewide average ◆ “The industry generates 12 percent of private-sector jobs in Alaska and 21 perof $3,627. cent of private-sector payroll. ◆ “Oil and gas revenues represent 88 per◆ “Employment and payroll include direct cent of Alaska’s unrestricted general fund sources. Oil tax revenue has a sigimpacts of 4,497 jobs and $643.8 million nificant effect on the state’s ability to in payroll for primary companies. ◆ “Indirect and induced effects include provide services to Alaskans. $5 billion industry spending in Alaska on ◆ “The industry pays local property taxes goods, services and capital, generating totaling $236 million (FY2007) and 8,410 support industry jobs and $769.2 $15.6 billion in oil and gas production million in payroll. property.” ◆ “An additional 28,837 jobs, with $987 million in payroll, are created throughout According to a more recent upthe rest of the Alaska economy by sup- date from the Institute of Social and port industry spending on payroll and Economic Research, University of purchasing, and by primary company Alaska Anchorage, Scott Goldsmith, employee spending.

Dec. 2008 and Oct. 2009, about 12

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In 2007, a breakdown of those jobs, as detailed in the McDowell/Insights report, was as followed. ◆ Municipality of Anchorage, 1,649 area residents in oil and gas extraction, refinery and pipeline sectors, with combined wages of $294.6 million ◆ Fairbanks North Star Borough, 353 borough residents in the industry, with associated payroll of $39.4 million ◆ Kenai Peninsula Borough, 939 borough residents in the industry, with associated wages of $99.1 million ◆ Mat-Su Borough, 830 Mat-Su residents in the industry, with $98.2 million in wages.

Note: None of the jobs were located in the borough. ◆ North Slope Borough, most of the work in the industry occurs here, but employment and spending occur elsewhere ◆ Valdez-Cordova Census Area, 284 people in the industry, with associated wages of $35.5 million.

It’s true, the industry is facing some cutbacks, and exploration by majors has come to a standstill, but the oil and gas industry is still the state’s hope, be it through the proposed gas line, new finds, new opportunities or tapping into existing infrastructure.

And you can bet AOGA has its thumb to the pulse of this heartbeat of Alaska. For more information, visit the AGOA Web site at www.aoga.org. ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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OIL & GAS

Point Thomson Offshore drilling commenced onshore.

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/www.pointthomsonprojecteis.com

BY PEG STOMIEROWSKI

Exxon Mobil Corp. applied in October 2009 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a federal permit to develop the Thomson Sand Reservoir by 2014. The Point Thomson Project aims to tap into the largest discovered, undeveloped natural gas field in Alaska. Exxon estimates more than 1,500 people and 150 companies have worked on the project in the last year.

I

n a high-stakes game of hurry up and wait, drilling resumed last year in a remote and long dormant oil and gas field at Point Thomson on Alaska’s eastern North Slope. By the second week of February, even as ExxonMobil officials, in a UPI report, heralded its first development well at the site as a milestone toward meeting anticipated heightened energy demands, there were no sure bets on what lies ahead at Point Thomson.

Although it is believed to hold 8 trillion to 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and hundreds of millions of barrels of liquids, both crude oil and condensate, the Point Thomson site has never produced oil or gas, as Reuters has reported, despite leases dating back to the 1960s.

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to revoke ExxonMobil and partners’ Point Thompson unit, suggesting the lessees had not received a constitutionally mandated hearing before the unit was revoked.

In ensuing weeks, some parties in the dispute were tight-lipped and cautious about commenting as their next moves were contemplated. Motives of state officials were being publicly questioned and hearings appeared to be a possibility.

“ExxonMobil has consistently stated that the essential elements for the success of an Alaska gas pipeline include excellence in project execution, durable and predictable fiscal terms, and alignment between the State of Alaska and producers,” ventured Exxon’s David Eglinton. “We believe that these key requirements can be achieved.”

NEW ACTIVITY

LEGAL OPTIONS

The new busyness followed grueling construction last year of an ice road to the area, opening the way to development that eventually could help underpin a proposed natural gas pipeline to the Lower 48. Work at the site proceeded after State officials reversed course and permitted limited development by ExxonMobil and its work partners, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips.

Previously, State officials had challenged the status of the unit and the leases on State land in the 106,201-acre Point Thomson field. The challenge was linked to inactivity in regard to the leases over several decades.

Another switch occurred when State Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason in January reversed the State’s decision

Kurt Gibson, deputy director of the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, said in late January that Alaska’s attorney general was evaluating legal options. While there is some question how aggressive they may be, State officials have been pressing Exxon on North Slope development for years in the lease dispute.

The parties have been in settlement discussions since fall 2008 and will continue to be, Gibson said, declining to speculate on the immediate potential of hearings or movement for clarification or an appeal. Officials have tried to emphasize that whether or not a gas line happens, Gibson said, movement of condensate and development of the underlying oil rim are valuable in and of themselves.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/www.pointthomsonprojecteis.com

The Point Thomson Project calls for construction and operation of a minimum of five wells drilled from three pads, including PTU-15 and PTU-16, already under way from the central pad. Other proposed facilities include a gravel airstrip, cargo dock facility, in-field gravel roads, ice roads, in-field pipelines and a gravel mine.

OPEN SEASON Meanwhile, on Jan. 29, Wall Street Journal online sources were reporting on the filing of plans with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), for the first time in North Slope history, seeking approval to conduct the first natural gas pipeline open season to begin development of Alaska’s natural gas resources.

The Alaska Pipeline Project (APP), a joint effort of Exxon Mobil and TransCanada Corp., will begin its open season in April, reportedly providing its offering to shippers for assessment over 90 days. Denali Pipeline, a rival venture of BP PLC and ConocoPhillips, also was expected to file paperwork this month (April), Gibson said, and didn’t seem likely to begin its open season until July, around the time when the competing exercise would be concluding.

SUBJECTIVE STATE In her ruling last January, Judge Gleason suggested the State had failed to

act impartially and had, for example, broken its own rules by not holding a special hearing before cracking down, in order to give Exxon a chance to show what it was doing.

A year or more earlier, State officials reportedly had expressed skepticism that the company would produce on a plan to drill and start producing by 2014. But in January 2009, Tom Irwin, Alaska’s natural resources commissioner, relented. His decision then to allow Exxon to retain two of the 31 leases on a conditional basis and drill into them opened the way for construction of the ice road as a prelude to further work. In essence, the company moved toward displaying readiness to commit resources despite ongoing uncertainty about whether a gas line would materialize in a decade.

Irwin’s decision had partially reversed an earlier decision by Kevin Banks, State Oil and Gas director, that the leases had expired, the latest move in a legal struggle for development

control in the Point Thomson field, which was first discovered in the late 1970s.

A written statement at the time issued by ExxonMobil, according to the Anchorage Daily News, stated that the decision cleared the way for construction of nearly 50 miles of ice roads needed to transport the drilling rig and associated equipment, materials, camps and personnel to the Point Thomson site. “This is good news for Alaska,” a spokesman was quoted as saying, “and especially for the 50 Alaska companies and more than 200 people working at Point Thomson today.”

HIGH STAKES The economic and other stakes in this wresting match are high. With the North Slope representing the largest undeveloped natural gas resource in the country, the natural gas and condensate field at Point Thomson is believed to hold roughly a quarter of the area’s 35 trillion

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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cubic feet of known natural gas resources – and about 200 million barrels of liquid condensate that can be carried through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

ExxonMobil Production Co. announced in a Dec. 9, 2009, news release that it had resumed drilling on the two wells and anticipated reaching total depth by the end of this year.

The company reportedly had drilled to about 5,000 feet, as deeply as permitted, during the ice-free summer season. In addition, 30,000 tons of fuel, equipment and supplies had been delivered in 120 barge runs to Point Thomson from the Prudhoe Bay West Dock some 60 miles to the west.

According to a Jan. 22, 2010, news release, Rich Kruger, ExxonMobil Production Co. president, in a keynote address to political and business leaders at the 2010 Meet Alaska Conference in Anchorage, cited the potential of the activity at Point Thomson in pressing the assertion that Alaska has the opportunity to be a major supplier of natural gas for North America.

“We believe it underpins the success of the Alaska Pipeline project,” he stated, according to the news release: “The owners’ commitment to achieving progress at Point Thomson is demonstrated by investments, which have now topped $1 billion.”

The speech focused on ExxonMobil’s readiness to work with the State to develop Point Thomson. Despite formidable technical challenges in drilling and production of a high-pressure gas reservoir, the project was proceeding well, the update stated, with the initialstage aim of processing 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

That potentially would aid in production by 2014 of about 10,000 barrels a day of liquid condensate for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline system, ExxonMobil reported, with capacity for up to 10,000 more barrels of oil a day. After processing, the natural gas would be recycled into the reservoir, “making Point Thomson the highestpressure gas recycling operation in the world.”

PROGRESS MADE Dale Pittman, Exxon’s Alaska production manager, was quoted in a

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Dec. 9, 2009, news release as echoing a sense of progress made. He agreed the company was moving toward the anticipated start of production in 2014 and expressed appreciation to contractors and even regulators, adding, “We are working to resolve the unit and lease dispute with the Department of Natural Resources to ensure Point Thomson’s development continues.”

The news release reported project owners had invested more than $300 million in drilling and development activities, with 80 percent of that amount spent in Alaska This had been accomplished, Pittman was quoted as saying, with an eye toward employee and environmental protection. “Safety of the people and the environment at Point Thomson is the project’s top priority,” he reportedly stated.

In an April 2009 news release, ExxonMobil reported that it had mobilized the drilling rig for the project.

Owned by Nabors Alaska, the rig was upgraded for the high-pressure drilling required at Point Thomson and moved from Deadhorse to the drilling site in modules – some weighing more than 1 million pounds.

Since there were no permanent roads to the remote location, the ice road was constructed along the Beaufort Sea shoreline, by Fairweather E&P Services and Nanuq/AFC, so heavy equipment and materials could be moved in, it was reported. Construction crews also had completed installation of camps and support facilities, but Eglinton and other sources declined to elucidate on these projects.

By the anticipated beginning of production, according to the news release, the 250 workers at the site would probably double. In addition to ExxonMobil, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. were listed by the Anchorage Daily News as participating in project mobilization activities.

A company brochure explained that the Point Thomson project aims to minimize environmental harm through use of a gravel pad, offshore drilling from an onshore pad and use of the ice road, the construction of which was one of the project’s first steps. More than $1 billion had been spent on drilling 19 wells and

doing eight three-dimensional seismic surveys, the brochure said.

Among the challenges and risks that argued for a phased approach, the company brochure listed 10,000 psi (pounds per square inch) injection pressures – more than twice as high as others at Prudhoe Bay; 3,000 psi separator pressures; the project’s directional and abnormal drilling pressure, and the variable reservoir rock quality and permafrost thickness. Key goals listed, besides bringing Point Thompson into production and positioning it for gas sales, were

risk management, future expandability and greater ultimate recovery.

Worldwide, by 2030 demand for natural gas is expected to be 55 percent higher than it was in 2005, Kruger was quoted as telling the Meet Alaska crowd, adding that Alaska was ready to step up to the challenge of finding newer and cleaner-burning resources.

The Point Thomson project makes ExxonMobil the fourth producer operating on the North Slope, with the others being BP, Conoco-Phillips and Pioneer. ❑

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109

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Alaska District/www.pointthomsonprojecteis.com

Producer and injector wells, PTU-15 and PTU-16, drilled offshore and onshore from the central pad using long-reach, directional drilling technology, are part of the ExxonMobil Point Thomson project drilling program. Exxon drilled PTU-15 to a measured depth of more than 16,000 feet, using Nabors rig 27-E, which received $35 million in upgrades prior to mobilization to the Point Thomson central pad site in April 2009. The shore-based rig directionally drilled under the Beaufort Sea to the targeted gas reservoir more than 1.5 miles offshore. Reservoir quality and performance results of these wells will be used to optimize subsequent well design and placement. Onshore drilling rigs will pump offshore oil and gas. The red line is the approximate boundary of the Thomson Sand Reservoir.

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www.akbizmag.com â&#x20AC;˘ Alaska Business Monthly â&#x20AC;˘ April 2010

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/www.pointthomsonprojecteis.com

The proposed Point Thomson project is to extract natural gas (and possibly oil) from the Thomson Sand Reservoir, produce liquid gas condensate in a central processing facility, and transport condensate (and oil) via pipeline to market, with residual gas injected back in the reservoir, conserving it for future use. Exxon’s gas cycling plant will make Point Thomson the highest-pressure gas cycling operation in the world.

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FAQ 1. What is ExxonMobilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposed project at Point Thomson?

ExxonMobil is proposing to produce up to 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of liquid gas condensate, and possibly oil, from the Thomson Sand Reservoir on the Beaufort Sea Coast. The condensate (and any oil) would be transported via pipeline to market, while unused â&#x20AC;&#x153;dryâ&#x20AC;? gas will be reinjected for possible future use. This project requires authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to ensure compliance with federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The proposed development includes: â&#x153;š Construction and operation of a minimum of 5 wells drilled from 3 onshore pads (84 acres). â&#x153;š Directional drilling from the onshore pads to reach offshore resources. â&#x153;š Processing and support facilities â&#x153;š A temporary shoreline â&#x20AC;&#x153;bridgeâ&#x20AC;? made of shipping barges and mooring dolphins. â&#x153;š Minor dredging of the sea floor at the bridge site to accommodate the barges. â&#x153;š An airstrip, 12 miles of in-field roads, and a bridge ramp made of gravel. â&#x153;š A gravel mine (resulting in a pit used as a water source).

Ice roads. â&#x153;š About 10 miles of in-field gathering pipelines. â&#x153;š A new 22-mile pipeline west to connect with the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.

2. What is ExxonMobilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in the project?

ExxonMobil is applying to the Corps for federal authorization of the proposed project. If the Corps authorizes the proposal, and other state and borough requirements are met, ExxonMobil can implement the proposed development.

3. What agencies are involved with NEPA and the EIS? The Corps is the lead federal agency for the proposed Point Thomson project. As the lead agency, the Corps is responsible for overseeing the development of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and consulting with other federal, state, and local agencies, tribal governments, and interested members of the public.

Cooperating agencies working with the Corps include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR). Cooperating Agencies have jurisdiction by law, or special expertise. Responsibilities include assisting to identify issues of concern, and providing meaningful and timely review throughout the NEPA process.

4. Why is the Corps of Engineers the lead federal agency?

The Corps is the lead federal agency because the proposed project requires compliance under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, laws which are under the Corpsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; jurisdiction.

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5. Is ExxonMobil’s proposed project a done deal?

No. This proposal requires authorizations, permits and approvals from federal and state agencies and the North Slope Borough. The Corps is responsible for ensuring that the project will comply with all applicable federal laws.

6. What are some of the issues and impacts that will be considered in the environmental review process?

The Corps is responsible for analyzing the potential biological, social, economic, and physical impacts of the project.

Major topics of concern to be analyzed in depth in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement include: ✹ Fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species and critical habitat. ✹ Effects on subsistence activities.

✹ Hydrology and wetlands. ✹ Noise. ✹ Air and water quality. ✹ Socioeconomics. ✹ Cultural resources. ✹ Secondary and cumulative impacts, as well as significant issues raised by the public during the comment periods.

We invite your comments on these topics so that all impacts can be identified in the EIS and alternatives developed if necessary. Some information has already been compiled by ExxonMobil in their November 2009 Environmental Report.

7. Is ExxonMobil’s project going to impact whaling, hunting, fishing and a subsistence way of life?

The Corps wants information on these topics, which will be addressed in the Environmental Impact Statement.

8. What are the potential benefits of this project?

According to ExxonMobil, this project would have benefits to individuals, local

communities, and the nation, which include: ✹ Creating temporary jobs during drilling, engineering, procurement, and construction. ✹ Creating long-term jobs that support permanent operations. ✹ Helping the U.S. meet domestic energy demand. ✹ Reducing dependence on foreign oil sources. ✹ Helping offset declining North Slope oil production. ✹ Helping maintain the efficiency of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.

9. What is the project schedule?

Public comments were due to the Corps

by Feb. 25 for consideration in the Draft EIS. The Corps estimates that they will complete the Final EIS by July 2011.

Following completion of the EIS and if authorization is received, ExxonMobil has proposed to start production in the summer of 2014.

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (www.pointhomsonprojecteis.com)

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

(continued on page 114)

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Aerial view of Point Thomson.

Photo: Business Wire

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Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/www.pointthomsonprojecteis.com

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the lead federal agency for the Environmental Impact Statement development process. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources are Cooperating Agencies. The first formal phase of the EIS process, scoping, included public meetings in Fairbanks, Kaktovik, Nuiqsut, Barrow and Anchorage. Comments were due by Feb. 25, and a report is expected in April. The Corps hired the engineering and environmental firm HDR Alaska Inc. to develop the EIS for the Point Thomson Project. A Record of Decision on the Point Thomson EIS is expected in August 2011.

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TRANSPORTATION

Alaska Backhaul Program

Carriers, Yukon River villages partner.

Photo courtesy of Crowley Marine Services

Backhaul program scrap shipments waiting to be loaded onto a Crowley barge along the shores of the Yukon River in Alakanuk.

BY HEIDI BOHI

A

fter 50 years of statewide barge, trucking and airline companies delivering millions of pounds of freight to rural Alaska villages, several of these transportation leaders have decided it’s now time to do their part to haul out the scraps and remains of these same products seen littering the landscape and front yards, and spilling out from local landfills.

Removing this waste from these remote villages is almost as costly – and cost prohibitive – as it is to ship it in, especially in light of the recent fuel crisis.

As a result, these hazardous materials pile up for years. Broken-down cars and construction equipment, computers, lead acid batteries, electronics, used oil and glycol, fluorescent light bulbs and kitchen appliances are some of the items taking up space in landfills and

116

polluting the air, soil and water, eventually harming fish and wildlife that locals rely on for their subsistence lifestyle.

INCENDIARY BURNING Many villages use a wide variety of combustion methods to rid of these materials, ranging from less expensive open burning to more costly high temperature, multiple-chambered incinerators and thermal oxidation methods. Although the higher temperature combustion systems cause less pollution, they are often more cost prohibitive than burn-barrel, burn-cage and burn-box methods, which cause more pollution.

The environmental and health issues associated with incineration are air pollution from gases, particulates (smoke) released during combustion, and contaminants in the bottom ash.

Pollutants in air emissions include acid gases, trace metals, trace organic compounds, particulates, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.

Acid gases such as hydrogen chloride and sulfur dioxide result from burning waste that has high levels of chlorine and sulfur (e.g., plastics and paper). Lead and cadmium (typically from batteries) are trace metals that are found in both fly ash and bottom ash. The contaminant dioxin has drawn the greatest controversy because it is known to cause cancer at high doses and is known for persisting in the environment and the food chain.

YUKON RIVER WATERSHED Although most of what is backhauled is fairly typical, in Nenana, while working with the Yukon River InterTribal Watershed Council (YRITWC)

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Photo by Sonta Hamilton

backhaul program, Solid Waste Director Stephen Price says while taking Freon out of broken-down refrigerators, he opened the top freezer of one of the units and it was full of wet VHS tapes dating back to the ’70s and ’80s.

Later that day, it was a chest freezer full of dead ducks. And in Grayling, the crew was moving an old van and the entire bottom fell out. Although the average haul is pretty regular, he says, “The regular stuff can be weird, too.”

YRITWC has started to address solid waste issues in the Yukon River watershed, such as prolonging the life of landfills and removing materials that are possible soil, air and water contaminates. Since launching one of the state’s largest backhaul programs, YRITWC has processed more than 15 million pounds out of 53 communities, averaging about 3 million to 5 million pounds a year, depending on the size of the villages targeted and serving 66 member villages. In Emmonak alone, 13 totes of batteries were removed from the community then sent to an Anchorage battery recycling specialist. Although larger

Draining fluids in Nenana as part of the backhaul program.

communities, such as Hooper Bay, Galena, Emmonak, Fort Yukon and St. Marys proportionately produce more waste, the smaller villages have just as much need, Price says.

COORDINATING EFFORTS As a solid waste technician, Price helps villages coordinate with community members and transportation companies to haul trash away – often using

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117

the program must make do by taking turns with the various communities during the peak May-August season.

WORKING TOGETHER As one of the original supporters of the program, Crowley initially donated its backhaul services and today charges a nominal 10 cents per pound fee to cover some of the hard costs associated with fuel and for villages to take ownership in the process, says Endil Moore, freight distribution manager. YRITWC prepares the loads and transports them to the barge landing before the hazardous materials are transported to a storage area in Nenana where Alaska Railroad and trucking companies cooperatively transport the load from Yukon River villages.

Photo courtesy of Crowley Marine Services

cargo planes or river barges – and recycling firms that accept the waste.

Statewide partners include Crowley Marine Services, Alaska Railroad, Total Reclaim Northland Services, Inland Barge, AirLand Transportation, Lynden Air Cargo, Weaver Brothers, ABS Alaskan, Interstate Batteries, Arctic Wire and Rope, C&R Pipe, ALPAR, Alaska Metal Recyclers, Northern Air Cargo, Grant Aviation, Everts Air Cargo, Frontier Flying Service, Arctic Transportation Services, Wright Air, Peninsula Airways, Hageland, ERA Aviation and Alaska Cargo Express.

Community needs continue to outweigh resources available for funding the program, which pieces together its annual budget with grants from federal funding agencies, Indian assistance programs and in-kind contributions.

Although a $2 million budget would come closer to meeting the extensive backhaul needs of the program, for now

Alakanuk resident readying scrap for removal through the backhaul program.

— Endil Moore Freight Distribution Manager Crowley Marine Services 118

Total Reclaim received more than 16,000 pounds of electronics collected from road villages in one week as part of the backhaul program. www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Photo by Stephen Price

“We’ve been taking stuff out to the villages for almost 100 years.

If we’re taking it out there, we should be able to contribute something to bringing it back.”

Photo by Stephen Price

Backhauling vehicles in Grayling.

“We’ve been taking stuff out to the villages for almost 100 years,” Moore says. “If we’re taking it out there, we should be able to contribute something to bringing it back.”

Everts Air Cargo is working in conjunction with Kawerak Inc., Bering Air, Ryan Air, Interstate Batteries, Total Reclaim, the city of Nome and 15 outlying villages. The goal is to establish a sustainable program to encourage and enable Alaskans in rural villages to be active participants in maintaining a healthy living environment. Specifically, Everts is facilitating the backhaul of these materials from hub locations to Anchorage and Fairbanks.

The first lift was from Nome and included more than 1,500 pounds of used batteries that were collected from villages outside of Nome, Manny Masony, account executive and the program’s manager says of the four-month development effort.

“One of our goals is sustainability and I have always personally had a passion for preserving the environment,” Masony says, adding that company owners are 100 percent behind the latest effort.

Although the backhaul rate is normally about 25 cents per pound, as is the case with Crowley, Everts is offering communities a reduced rate while partnering with other vendors

and airlines to be able to expand the program’s scope of services. Once the backhaul items are brought to Nome from the villages, they are flown to Anchorage, where they are recycled or sent south by barge or truck for disposal.

Implementation of the program began when Kawerak, the regional nonprofit corporation for the Bering Straits region approached Everts and requested assistance with hauling hazardous materials and recyclables out of the region’s villages. When Masony started researching the problem and possible solutions, he says the need became even more evident based on cancer statistics in rural Alaska, many of which are in part attributed to contamination from harmful fumes created by burning waste and hazardous materials.

TRAINING ELEMENT Training is also a key component of backhaul programs. Everts produced guidelines for the program so that it can be duplicated from village to village.

YRITWC conducts solid-waste-handling training sessions, CPR, first aid, Freon removal and emergency response and incident command sessions. Its backhaul “How To” manual also provides the technical assistance to communities that want to develop or enhance their own backhaul programs. ❑

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REGIONAL REVIEW

The Interior,

Alaska’s Central Region National Park Service photo by Kent Miller

Looking toward the west at Mount McKinley in Denali National Park. Thorofare Pass is in the foreground.

BY TRACY BARBOUR

Denali National Park and Preserve at a Glance ■ Established in 1917, Denali National Park and Preserve is one of the largest national parks in the United States.

■ The 6 million-acre park includes North America’s tallest mountain, 20,320-foot-tall Mount McKinley, a designated wilderness area and an international biosphere reserve.

■ Denali National Park and Preserve has one road: the Denali Park Road, which is the main avenue for visitors to see and experience the park.

■ The Denali Park Road stretches for more than 90 miles, but only the first 15 miles are paved and open for travel by park visitors in private vehicles throughout the summer season.

■ Summer travel beyond Mile 15 is by shuttle or tour bus, or under human power. The park’s summer season runs from late May through early September. An average 400,000 people visit the park annually.

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s its name signifies, Alaska’s Interior region occupies the very core of the state. The region geographically sits between the Brooks and Alaska ranges, where it is home to a breathtaking landscape.

The Interior is renowned for its beautiful display of northern lights, effervescent mineral springs and Mount McKinley – North America’s highest peak.

Another important element of the Interior is the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, which transports crude oil from the North Slope down to Valdez. The trans-Alaska oil pipeline traverses 800 miles of rugged mountains, rivers and tundra, crossing the Brooks, Alaska and Chugach ranges. It carries about 15 percent of the nation’s domestic oil production. The above-ground section

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Photo courtesy of the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Forty-three percent of our employment is government-related.

That’s a good thing because government jobs help to buffer the city against normal economic activity.”

– Jim Dodson President and CEO Fairbanks Economic Development Corp.

Photo by Angie Cerny/Courtesy of the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau

of the pipeline is a popular attraction for tourists visiting Fairbanks, the region’s chief city.

In terms of climate, Interior Alaska is well known for its wide variance in temperatures. Situated just below the Arctic Circle, the region’s weather ranges from virtually hot to freezing cold. Temperatures in Fairbanks, for example, can reach the upper 80s in the summer and plummet under -40 during winter. The Interior also has long days in the summer. At the summer solstice, Fairbanks has 24 hours of daylight and bright twilight.

Centennial Foot Bridge in downtown Fairbanks.

FAIRBANKS, THE REGIONAL HUB Fairbanks is the main population center of the Interior region and the secondlargest metropolitan area in the state.

It is home to about 35,000 people. The Fairbanks North Star Borough, populated mainly of Fairbanks and North Pole, contains about 97,000 residents.

Dubbed the “Golden Heart City,” Fairbanks sits about 360 miles north of Anchorage. It’s easily accessible from the George Parks Highway and serves as an

important access point to the Interior and Arctic regions.

Fairbanks has a mixed economy primarily fueled by oil, military, government, tourism, mining and education.

The city is heavily supported by the government, which helps to promote a stable economy, according to Jim Dodson, president and CEO of Fairbanks Economic Development Corp.

(FEDC). “Forty-three percent of our employment is government-related,” he says. “That’s a good thing because government jobs help to buffer the city against normal economic activity.”

Compared to the rest of the state and country, Fairbanks’ economy “isn’t doing too badly,” says Alaska Department of Labor Economist Alyssa Shanks.

However, she says the city is experiencing losses in a number of sectors, including construction, hospitality and tourism.

Retail trade – which surged last year after the opening of several major stores – is also going down. But that’s consistent with what’s happening with the rest of the nation, Shanks says. She adds that retail trade is a secondary piece of the economy that varies according to other factors. “If I lose my job, I’m not going to spend as much,” she says. “If I get a better job, I’m going to spend more.”

While job losses are being forecasted for this year, Fairbanks generally has a

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National Park Service photo by Kent Miller

Bus rounding turns on Polychrome Mountain in Denali National Park.

lower unemployment than other parts of the region. Last November, for example, the city’s unemployment rate was 7.9 percent. That compares to 14.6 percent for the Interior’s Yukon Kuskokwim Census Area where almost 24 percent of its 5,700 residents are below the federal poverty level. Incidentally, low salmon runs on the Yukon River have recently led the federal government to declare the fishery a disaster. Salmon runs on the river have been down dramatically for the last two years after deep state cuts in harvest limits.

MAJOR EXPANSIONS UNDER WAY On a more positive note, enrollment at University of Alaska Fairbanks is going up. The increase in enrollment stimulated employment in 2009, and Shanks expects to see more of the same this year.

A spike in enrollment, she says, is typical during recessionary times. “When we see the economy turn sour, more people go back to school or go to school instead of entering the labor force,” Shanks says.

Another bright spot is the expansion of the Fort Knox Mine, one of the largest gold-producing areas in Alaska.

The open-pit mine, located about 26 miles northeast of Fairbanks, is hiring additional heavy-equipment operators.

The buildup is part of the multi-milliondollar exploration of Canadian-based Kinross Gold Corp., which owns the mine. According to Kinross Gold Corp, the Fort Knox Expansion Project is expected to extend the life of the mine

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from 2012 until 2018. The project will double the life-of-mine production to 2.9 million gold ounces. Additionally, it will increase Fort Knox production to an average 370,000 gold ounces per year during the five years starting in 2010.

The Alaska Railroad Corp. is also expanding its presence in the area.

The Alaska Railroad is undertaking an 80-mile extension from North Pole to Delta Junction that will provide yearround access over the Tanana River.

The extension will benefit a variety of rail users – particularly the Army and Air Force, which conduct joint training in areas south of the Tanana River. “It will allow the military 12 months access to their training grounds,” Dodson says.

“It’s an exciting opportunity.”

The extension will enable the military to avoid using vehicle convoys along the Richardson Highway to reach their training areas. This, in turn, will reduce congestion and wear and tear on the road.

IMPACT OF THE MILITARY AND OTHER INDUSTRIES Interior Alaska is home to four military instillations: Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Eielson Air Force Base near North Pole, the National Guard’s Clear radar station at Anderson and Fort Greely near Delta Junction. The military has a major impact on the region’s economy. In the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the military creates 38 percent of total revenue, 30 percent

of the employment and about 11,000 out of 50,000 jobs, according to a 2009 Economic Baseline Study by FEDC. The military is also among the borough’s top-paying industries. “We are a military town, and those who don’t recognize that are in for a rude awakening if anything happens to the military,” FEDC’s Dodson says.

Other high-paying industries in the borough, according to FEDC’s study, are pipeline transportation, refineries, utilities, and oil and gas. The annual average per-job incomes of these industries exceed $150,000, $135,000, $135,000 and $105,000, respectively.

These figures include all payments for benefits and allowances for part- and full-time wage and salary employees, as well as self-employed jobs.

At the lower end of the scale are tourism jobs. The tourism industry generates 4 percent of the borough’s total revenue, but workers in this industry earn an annual average income of less than $30,000. That’s not surprising, according to Dodson. “If you look at the statistics for the state, the average income for the tourism industry is about $17,000,” he says. “Those are annualized jobs, and that industry works four months of the year.

Although many tourists visit the Fairbanks area to experience the northern lights or bubbling hot springs or Alaska Pipeline, the nearby hamlet of North Pole is also a major attraction. North Pole, with its year-round Yuletide theme, is perhaps one of the most distinctive towns in Alaska. Its 2,000 or so residents experience the essence of Christmas every day of the year. The city’s streets display colorful decorations and whimsical names like Snowman Lane. And there’s a worldrenowned Santa Claus House, where tourists can visit with Santa and see real reindeer.

DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE A KEY ATTRACTION The Denali National Park and Preserve is Alaska’s fifth-most visited destination, according to the state’s Alaska Visitor Statistics Program. Its popularity makes the Denali Borough have one of the most seasonal work force in the state.

The work force of the borough – which has around 1,850 residents – runs from

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1,000 jobs in late winter to more than 4,000 during peak season. Most of those workers come from elsewhere to fill leisure, hospitality and other service employment generated due to tourism and the park.

Denali National Park is renowned for the 20,320-foot-high Mount McKinley, copious wildlife and beautiful scenery. Each year, the park receives an average 400,000 visitors. In 2008, as many as 430,000 people flocked to the park, according to Public Affairs Officer Kim Fister. “People are coming here because they’re hoping to see bears or moose, the sheep, the caribou and wolves,” she says.

The park is easy to reach via the Parks Highway and Alaska Railroad. In addition, the Denali Park Road extends more than 90 miles into the park. “It provides one of the best opportunities anywhere to see the wildlife and other sights that Alaska is known for,” Fister says. “You can see Mount McKinley around Mile 10 or 9.”

Most of the park’s visitors travel from the Lower 48; the next-largest groups come from overseas and within Alaska.

Visitors can explore the park by foot, bicycle, private vehicle or bus. They can reserve an interpretive tour bus for a formally narrated trip along the length of the park road. Or visitors wanting to walk, hike or access campgrounds can take a shuttle bus for a more informal experience. And contrary to popular belief, visitors don’t have to make reservations months in advance to get a bus in the park, according to Fister.

Regardless how visitors access the park road, they’ll encounter a special landscape, Fister says. Many people haven’t been to a place like this,” she says. “There aren’t rows of buildings.

There’s this significant land with great critters … and a feeling of being in this very wild place.”

To make it easier for visitors to enjoy the park, a number of improvements have been completed over the years. A new Denali Visitor Center opened in 2005, and the Eielson Visitor Center was rebuilt in 2008. This summer, the park will build a new rest area east of Savage River and revamp the Teklanika rest stop at Mile 30. The facility will feature

vaulted toilets – which are, essentially, high-tech outhouses. The all-concrete, non-water toilets will include a ventilation system to minimize odor. “It will be a nicer rest area and more efficient to maintain,” Fister says.

As another upcoming development, the National Park Service is waiving entrance fees to Denali National Park for current and retired members of the U.S. armed forces and their families over the Memorial Day weekend. The fee waiver is designed to honor and recognize these individuals for their contributions to the nation. The park’s entrance fee is $10 per person or $20 per vehicle, and is good for seven days.

The Denali National Park has offered an entrance fee waiver for the military on Veteran’s Day, which is celebrated on Nov. 11. But this is the first time fees are being waived for military members over the Memorial Day weekend, from May 29 to May 31. “The park wanted to honor members of the military, those serving now and those who have served, by waiving fees during a time we can say thanks to a larger ❑ audience,” Fister says.

Architects•Engineers•Surveyors

Helping Grow Your Community Since 1957 Design Alaska, Inc. 1-800-668-8919 mail@designalaska.com www.designalaska.com www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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TOWNS IN TRANSITION

Anchorage: ‘Flat is good’

© 2010 Chris Arend

Aerial view of downtown Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city.

Roll with the punches and beat the odds.

BY HEIDI BOHI

C

ost of living, cutbacks, longrange planning, budget deficit, transportation and traffic issues, education, streets and road maintenance, city infrastructure, economic diversification, social perils, environmental issues, public health, employment – these are just some of the challenges facing every city in the country.

And Anchorage is no exception.

America’s current economic mess also is becoming a fiscal crisis for local governments and cities that face budget shortfalls for 2009 and 2010, some of the worst in 50 years – and are expected to become even worse in 2010 and 2011. Even Anchorage, as it

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settles into its new administration with one eye on the prize and the other on the practicalities of running Alaska’s largest city, faces a $10 million to $20 million deficit in 2011.

Which is why Mayor Dan Sullivan says he is going to re-focus priorities on basic city issues. “City government isn’t that complicated and it should not be made complicated,” he says matterof-factly, as he prepares to mark his one-year anniversary in office this July.

“We’re going to focus on a few things and do them very well.”

AN EYE TO THE FUTURE Public safety, restoring the city’s fiscal health, and economic development are

what the mayor says he hears are the top concerns of locals living in the corridor from Girdwood to Eagle River.

Although he’s never been one who will play along to get along when it comes to handling his naysayers, when it comes to his hometown of 51 years, he pays close attention to the voters who sent him to City Hall with almost 57 percent of the vote.

As has been the case with his mayoral predecessors, too, public safety is again on the top of the list of what’s important to residents. Over the past six years, crime has risen dramatically in the categories of aggravated assault, simple assault, rape and robbery. Although the statistics for murder are

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

PREPARING TO BE PREPARED “It’s a matter of being better prepared to put the cops where the crime is,” Sullivan says, citing other cities that have done this with great success. The first step in this direction was to make a change in the leadership, which Sullivan did by appointing Mew. With that, Sullivan says, will come new methodologies that result in a well-trained force.

At the same time, under the Sullivan administration, talk is centered on the idea of advancing “community policing,” a collaborative effort between the police department and Anchorage residents, putting officers closer to the people in the city’s neighborhoods so they can help identify suspects, detain vandals and bring problems to the attention of the law, ranging from reporting violations like graffiti, loud music, inebriates and street-level drugs, and to felonies, such as robberies and homicides. The approach also is expected to reduce the department’s workload and make

the approach to policing preventative rather than reactive.

CUTS IN FIRE, THOUGH BUDGET RISES The Anchorage Fire Department, which welcomed a $650,000 addition to its budget, is ending rolling closures of its apparatus this year, a concern of residents who followed announcements on Facebook and Twitter to see which were shut down. According to Insurance Service Office (ISO), which audits risk in metropolitan areas for insurance companies, offline fire equipment often causes safety ratings to drop, resulting in an increase in homeowners’ insurance rates.

Although the administration says that maintaining frontline personnel by not laying them off is a priority for the fire department, with few other choices for reducing the projected deficit while still maintaining basic city services, Sullivan recently announced that the department eliminated the wilderness rescue team and also cut back other specially trained teams to save $150,000 a year. Even with these cuts, the department grew by 10 percent this year because of the lucrative contracts, says Sarah Erkmann, Sullivan’s spokesperson.

“In other words, the budget still grew because personnel costs for current employees increased to the extent that overall budget reductions did not make up the difference,” she says. “It’s counterintuitive, but a reality we’re dealing with.”

THE ‘ENGINE ROLLS’ In terms of economic development, Greg Jones, director of the Office of Economic and Community Development, says, Anchorage is doing several things to “keep the economic engine rolling,” adding that the city has not suffered in terms of local economic development activity. While residential building has dropped slightly, Jones says, last year, the city issued $460 million in construction permits, reflecting mainly commercial activity.

“Our primary goal is to improve the permitting process to make it easier for developers to understand regulations and comply with them, to speed up the timing of permits, and to make it easier

Photo courtesy of the Municipality of Anchorage

down from last year – the numbers fluctuate from about 10 to 20 murders a year – the final statistics for 2009 have not been confirmed in this area.

Although the administration does not know the reason for increases or decreases in police department statistics, as part of its efforts to figure out how to effectively place police officers in neighborhoods, the municipality has made funds available for commissioning a “deployment audit” of the department within the next year so the city can arm newly appointed Chief of Police Mark Mew with data for determining the best way to maximize his resources.

The exercise will look at the police force in terms of how it is deployed: Is it adequately staffed? Is the amount of middle management cumbersome or lacking?

Although in the past, the pat response to this question was the department was simply lacking in resources.

Sullivan says with the addition of about 90 police officers in about the past five years – the same time frame that parallels the increase in crime – possible solutions for setting crime rates on a downward incline are today more a question of how to deploy these resources.

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan.

to get consistent messages out to all of them,” Jones says. In light of personnel reductions, he says this has meant employing technology to maintain the responsiveness of the permitting and inspection processes.

Road improvement also continues to be on the top of the administration’s list, as it looks to foster the development of new infrastructure. In addition to the U-Med District, summer road improvements will reduce traffic at the Lake Otis and Tudor intersection and surrounding roads.

Under Jones’ direction, Anchorage is also rewriting Title 21, the section of the municipal code that regulates land use and development. The regulations address zoning, subdividing, and such development standards as parking, landscaping, lighting, drainage, open space and stream setbacks.

A PRETTY CITY As part of the implementation of “Anchorage 2020: Anchorage Bowl Comprehensive Plan,” the Planning Department initiated a comprehensive rewrite of the land-use code to modernize the city’s land-use regulations so they include development techniques and design standards; make the code more useable and easier to understand, and implement recently adopted plans and policies.

“When we talk about jobs and

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Photo by Jefferson Johnson

Expanse of Anchorage as it stretches toward Chugach mountains.

economic development, we like to keep it simple,” Sullivan says. “Businesses want to be in a city that’s safe and well maintained. When new businesses come in, that’s the first thing they look for. It’s not about building new facilities, but about making sure roads and parks are spruced up and that the city invests in public safety. That’s what creates jobs: when a city is doing what it should be doing and well.”

Looking ahead, Sullivan and Jones say one of the most exciting things about the potential of Anchorage is the redevelopment of areas like Spenard, Mountain View and Fairview, communities that are starting so see both public and private money being invested for economic, cultural and housing improvements. This development is contingent on the Title 21 rewrite project being complete so all processes are first in place.

“The development of Anchorage is going to be the redevelopment,” Sullivan says, pointing to the significant redevelopment of the midtown area where JL Properties built a high-density business park where an older mobile home park once stood. “We look for communities that have momentum and then we help them,” Jones says.

Comparatively speaking, Anchorage continues to weather the economic

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slump, the mayor says, while other communities nationwide are faced with major declines in revenues. The challenges it has had to face are because of uncontrollable, outside effects, such as

the global economy, while “the local core economy continues to perk along at a steady rate,” he said.

“We’re fairly flat. Flat is good.”

WE’LL BE OK

“There are some real advantages of living in Anchorage.

We have a more diversified portfolio than many cities, we have several major economic engines and a beautiful natural setting. This all bodes well for Anchorage’s longterm future.”

— Dan Sullivan Mayor, Anchorage

Effects on the construction industry have been almost negligible. Reduced travel-related revenues from the local bed tax, the result of fewer visitors for business and pleasure, has been one of the most noticeable hits to city coffers resulting from the recession. The market crash also meant a $51 million loss to a city investment account, Sullivan says, and additional costs of labor contracts are contributing to the shortfall, too. But, unemployment is up only marginally, new businesses continue to locate to Anchorage and the surrounding area, and the quality of life is unbeatable.

Despite problems most comparable cities are also facing, Sullivan says Alaska’s largest city has more reasons to optimistically look toward to the future than to dwell on the challenges.

“There are some real advantages of living in Anchorage,” Sullivan says.

“We have a more diversified portfolio than many cities, we have several major economic engines, and a beautiful natural setting. This all bodes well for ❑ Anchorage’s long-term future.”

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

SAFETY

Volunteer Protection Program Improving workplace safety and the bottom line.

BY DEBORAH JEANNE SERGEANT

W

hat if you could lower workers’ compensation insurance premiums, decrease workplace injuries and downtime, raise morale and increase your chances of attracting terrific applicants, all without spending a dime?

It’s not a fantasy – it’s the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health (AKOSH) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). Begun in 1982 by Federal OSHA and implemented

by AKOSH as a State-led program in 1997, VPP was designed to create a partnership among management, employees and OSHA compliance officers to enhance workplace health and safety.

During the application process and thereafter, VPP can become an important part of your overall safety program.

YOUR CHOICE As its name denotes, this is a voluntary program, a sort of self-run safety accreditation that’s guided by OSHA representatives in cooperation with company safety leaders. VPP focuses on four elements: management leadership and employee involvement; work site analysis; hazard prevention and control; and safety and health training.

Because of the many benefits the program offers, VPP’s popularity has increased nearly 200-fold in the past nine years. At the same time, workplace deaths have decreased 14 percent, a seeming causal relationship.

‘BEST OF THE BEST’ Bill Nickerson serves as VPP coordinator and safety consultant to the Alaska Department of Labor and

Workforce Development’s Occupational Safety and Health Consultation and Training. He views a company with a VPP safety program as “the best of the best. It shows employees, the industry and the community that they’re a leader in the safety field,” he said. “It’s all about proactive safety.”

VPP status confers to a company more benefits than just bragging rights. According to the Alaska Department of Labor, “on average VPP participants experience 52 percent fewer workplace accidents than their competitors.”

“For the past several years, we’ve continued to reduce the number of injuries and illnesses,” said Jeff Carlson, North Slope HSE director for ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. in Anchorage. “Since joining VPP in 2006, that trend has continued to decline and VPP contributes to that.

“We’ve embraced VPP and seen the value of it.”

Carlson’s words ring true. As of 2009, ConocoPhillips had the only office tower in Anchorage with VPP status.

In recent years, ConocoPhillips has earned VPP status in all of its Alaska locations.

“It shows we’re committed to top safety performance,” Carlson said.

“For the last several years, we’ve continued to reduce the number of injuries and illnesses. Joining VPP … contributes to that.”

ConocoPhillips’ Kuparuk Oil Field, the second largest oil and gas production field in the nation behind Prudhoe Bay, has been certified by VPP, which Carlson calls “a great accomplishment.”

Especially if yours is an industry fraught with potential hazard, maintaining a high safety standard can help attract talent and competent applicants. VPP status can also reduce overhead for replacing employees.

“It does take the resources of staff time,” said Natalie Lowman, director of media and marketing for ConocoPhillips. “A lot of people spend a lot of time working on it. It is a time commitment to work with OSHA. Your work force and management team have to be supportive of pursuing VPP.”

PRAISE FOR VPP Dawn Ring, safety manager for TelAlaska, headquartered in Anchorage, has observed her company’s accident incident rate decrease 63 percent since writing a safety plan as part of achieving VPP status. (Previously, TelAlaska had no formal safety plan.) The 100-employee company has also enjoyed a $100,000 reduction in its annual workers’ compensation insurance premium, which will significantly impact TelAlaska’s bottom line.

“Indirect costs have gone down, too,” Ring said. “To get qualified employees to work for us in outlying areas is challenging.”

The communications company has branches in Nome, Seward and Unalaska.

“It’s very beneficial to keep (these employees) from getting injured in relation to their well-being and also the cost of getting them out of there and someone else there to replace them,” Ring said. “It’s helped (employees) in that they’re very efficient and good

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at what they do because of safety. If you’re efficient at safety, you’ll be efficient at everything you do.”

Workplace Applause

MERIT AND STAR STATUS

Nationwide, 2,161 workplaces have achieved VPP status under either the federal program or the State program. Alaska functions under a State program. The following workplaces have achieved VPP status in Alaska:

VPP Merit status means that a company has met all the minimum VPP standards and is working on improvement. VPP Star status denotes meeting all requirements and going beyond minimum standards.

VPP Merit sites earn exemption from AKOSH general schedule surprise enforcement inspections for three years. VPP Star sites enjoy five years’ exemption. But these privileges are well-earned after completing arduous rounds of evaluation and paperwork.

VPP status is designed to augment your existing safety program by helping your company grow beyond minimum OSHA standards to become even safer.

Ring recalled that after contacting OSHA to express interest in VPP, representatives audited company facilities and programs and interviewed employees to determine how close the company was to VPP status.

It took about three years for each of TelAlaska’s three sites – Dutch Harbor, Nome and Seward – to achieve Star status.

Ring was pleased with how the program involved employees.

“Everyone wants to be safe, but it’s so much more than being compliant,” she said. “The employees helped us write this program. They are the line workers who know the hazards better than anybody. Once we got that involvement, it skyrocketed from there.”

She added that the program recognized the employees’ input, which helped foster esprit de corps.

“The employees drive the program,” Ring said. “It’s helped morale because they feel the company cares about their safety. For a small company that has fewer resources and may not have a safety manager, it’s a great way to lead into a worldclass safety company.”

ANOTHER HAPPY ENDING The big guys aren’t the only ones to achieve Merit and Star status. Once

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AES Prudhoe Bay Air Logistics of Alaska, Inc. Alaska Clean Seas Prudhoe Bay Operations BP Central Power Station (CPS) BP Exploration Alaska – Endicott Field BP Exploration Alaska, Gas Plants BP Flow Station 2 & Crude Oil Topping Unit ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. Alpine Field ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. Grater Kuparuk Area ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. Beluga River Unit ConocoPhillips Anchorage Office Tower ConocoPhillips North Cook Inlet Unit Insulfoam Inc. Nikiski Field Office – Tyonek Oil Platform Ops Peak Oilfield Service Company, Beluga River Unit TelAlaska – Nome TelAlaska – Seward TelAlaska Inc. USPS Anchorage Spenard Station USPS Anchorage VMF USPS Juneau Mendenhall Post Office UniSea Dutch Harbor

Anchorage Fairbanks Anchorage Prudhoe Bay Anchorage Prudhoe Anchorage Prudhoe Bay Anchorage Kenai Anchorage Kenai Anchorage Nikiski Nikiski Nome Seward Unalaska Anchorage Anchorage Juneau Dutch Harbor

Star Star Star Star Star Star Merit Star Star Star Star Star Star Star Star Merit Star Merit Star Star Star Star

2010 VPP Conference Want to learn more about VPP? Consider attending the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA) conference May 11-13 in Anchorage, which serves OSHA’s Region 10, comprised of Alaska, Oregon, Idaho and Washington states.

“Prior to ConocoPhillips joining the VPPPA, the conference rotated among three states, but not Alaska,” Carlson said. “Since joining, we’ve been able to bring that health and safety conference to Alaska for the first time this May. It’s a great opportunity for Alaska employers to have access to that conference.”

Previous years, about 250 to 300 have attended the Region 10 conference. VPPPA, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, acts as a liaison among several organizations, including OSHA, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and others to help create and carry out programs to improve occupational health and safety. For more information on the meeting, visit http://www.regionxvpppa.org/ default/assets /File/VPP-AK-flyer-2010.pdf

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

Insulfoam in Anchorage completed the two-year Star process, Daryl Sobek, general manager, was pleased with the benefits.

“It helped us organize all our facets of safety and it helped us get our paperwork in line,” he said. “It’s easier now to communicate with OSHA.” He added that once the paperwork has been organized, it’s easier to maintain it that way.

Ring believes that many managers associate OSHA “with someone coming in and citing them,” she said.

“With VPP, you partner with OSHA and they help you.”

When working toward VPP status, safety officers and other employees work with the consulting side of OSHA. If major safety gaffes turn up during the initial analysis phase, a company can withdraw its application, clear up the safety issues, and reapply later.

Once a company achieves VPP Star status, the process only begins.

“It’s a philosophy of continual improvement,” Carlson said. “You have to continue to improve health and safety evaluation systems.”

As Lowman alluded, achieving VPP status does require some paperwork and a commitment to developing a safer workplace.

“VPP may not be for everyone,” Sobek said, “But everyone should take a look at it.”

NEW NEWS In January, OSHA stated in a press release that new changes slated to take effect May 9 will allow mobile and remote work forces to participate in VPP. “OS HA is proud to recognize the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safety and health,” said Thomas M. Stohler, acting assistant secretary of labor for OSHA. “These program revisions will allow more companies to participate in the VPP, which has contributed to improved workplace safety…. Establishing partnerships and encouraging continual process improvement are part of OSHA’s balanced approach to workplace safety and health.” ❑ www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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FINANCIAL SERVICES

Mobile Banking: A Bridge to Somewhere

Catching on fast, easy to use and more secure than computer log-ins.

Photos courtesy of Alaska USA Federal Credit Union.

Alaska USA members can check account balances, transfer money, and even pay bills with UltraBranch Mobile.

BY RACHEL KENSHALO

L

ately, more of us are finding ourselves attached to our mobile devices. Cellular phones and PDAs evolved into mobile devices, which can do everything from start your car to instantly upload photos and video to the Web. What were once cumbersome and expensive brick-like devices that were notorious for having poor reception and limited service areas have now become ubiquitous. We use our phones to update our social networking sites and to help us choose the perfect restaurant for dinner. They can even act as GPS tracking devices.

For many of us, our mobile devices are the first things we look at each morn-

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ing and the last things we put down at night. It only makes sense that more and more of us are doing our banking via our phones as well.

TowerGroup, a financial services industry research and advisory services firm, predicted in 2009 that mobile banking usage would grow from its current approximate 10 million users to more than 53 million active users in 2013, despite a general downturn in the banking industry.

The firm reported that the economic downturn will actually fuel growth in mobile banking, as financial concerns prompt consumers to watch their money more closely. People are

demanding real-time access to their financial information, and credit unions and banks are quickly picking up on this trend.

“The ubiquity of mobile devices, coupled with customers’ cravings for information on the go, is creating the perfect opportunity for banks to extend the reach of their banking services using the most personal possession for consumers – the mobile phone,” the May 2009 report states.

THE NEW WAVE OF CUSTOMERS Here in Alaska, local financial institutions are capitalizing on the growing number of techno-savvy consumers

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and developing innovative products to assist in conducting business on-thego. Alaska USA Federal Credit Union offers a product called UltraBranch Mobile, which provides instant account information via a special Web site, designed for viewing with a mobile browser. Customers simply point their mobile device to go.akusa.org, and after logging in, they can check account balances, monitor transactions, transfer money between accounts and pay bills.

The service also comes with a locator to help customers find the nearest Alaska USA branch or ATM, and provides real time interest rate information.

Dan McCue, senior vice president of corporate administration at Alaska USA, says UltraBranch Mobile is the first product of its kind to make its debut at a local financial institution. “There are several non-local institutions with branches in Alaska that offer mobile banking, but Alaska USA is the only locally owned and operated financial institution to offer this service so far,” he explains.

‘BEAUTY’ IN MOBILE BANKING But McCue is not just a paid talking head. He uses the service himself. “The beauty of UltraBranch Mobile is that it allows me to check my account and account details via my iPhone. It is safe, easy and quick to use. I like having the flexibility to check something when I’m traveling or not close to a computer,” he says.

McCue reports that UltraBranch Mobile log-ins grew more than 300 percent in 2009, starting with an average of 7,000 log-ins per month to more than 21,000 at year-end. He attributes the increase in use to higher consumer awareness of the product, and its usefulness in conducting business on-the-go – which consumers are demanding, according to recent studies.

NATIONAL LOCALS GO MOBILE, TOO National banks that operate within Alaska offer similar services. KeyBank Alaska currently enables online banking customers to check balances, make payments to payees that have already been established through online banking, and move money among KeyBank accounts. Again, users simply

point their browsers to a special Web site designed for viewing on mobile phones, m.key.com, and as long as they are enrolled as an online banking user, they can log on and access account information.

“Our research tells us that clients continue to want options for conducting their banking business: branches, ATMs, online banking and banking by phone, are all good examples,” says Brian Wold, district retail leader of KeyBank Alaska. He adds that KeyBank Alaska plans to develop more mobile banking services and expects to expand their offerings later this year.

That sentiment is echoed by McCue of Alaska USA, who claims the financial institution plans to debut an actual application for mobile devices, where users could access their account instantly by clicking on an icon, instead of having to point their mobile browsers to a Web site.

APPS TO HAVE Of course many Alaskans choose to bank with larger, national financial institutions. Some, such as Wells Fargo, have developed applications for mobile devices such as the Blackberry and iPhone that provide instant access to account information – no need to navigate around a Web site, and the applications are often faster than mobile Web sites.

Tessa Copeland, a 30-something Anchorage professional, uses the Wells Fargo application on her iPhone to manage her finances. She says she first learned of the Wells Fargo application when she purchased her iPhone and became “obsessed with finding apps that I had to have.”

She describes the application as very user-friendly, in that it takes her straight to her account balance after she enters her password. “I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but I don’t

balance my checkbook,” she laughs.

“So it’s very convenient to instantly check my account balance, even if I don’t have access to an ATM or a computer.”

As an office manager and co-owner of a local restaurant, Copeland often finds herself juggling multiple priorities.

“Anything that makes it easier to find out how much money I have available at a moment’s notice and that eliminates having to step foot in a bank is certainly more convenient in my book” she adds.

A SAFE BET Consumers wary of conducting financial business via their phones because of security concerns should be relieved to know that in most cases, it’s actually safer than online banking through a traditional computer.

The operating systems of mobile devices are often more secure than those of computers, in that they don’t enable plug-ins to their Web browsers or background processes to occur. In addition, the wide variety of operating systems in use today makes it more difficult for hackers, in that they have to figure out how to crack a number of different systems in order to access personal information.

According to KeyBank’s Web site, users need not panic if their phone is ever lost or stolen. The banking application does not store personal information on the mobile device, and users are required to enter an ID and pass code at each log in.

Josh Lucca, an Anchorage business analyst, uses a variety of applications on his iPhone for conducting online transactions. The busy professional and father has installed Wells Fargo, PayPal and eBay applications.

“I do my regular banking with Wells Fargo, and before they developed the app, I used the browser,” he says. “I’ve also paid some bills using PayPal and purchased things off eBay that way, too.”

The eBay application offers alerts so “buyers can sneak in that last-minute

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bid on a hard-to-find item without having to keep the app open,” the Web site explains. “In addition, sellers can check on their sales and everyone can act on time-sensitive information on the spot without a computer, whether it’s leaving feedback, responding to messages or checking out today’s Deal of the Day. eBay is open for business anytime, anywhere on the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.”

All of the mobile banking applications profiled are free to download, but many require a one-time online registration. And by all indications, mobile banking is quickly catching on in Anchorage, at least among the professional, techno-savvy crowd. This trend is mirrored by an increased desire for mobile banking options by consumers nationwide, according to the 2009 TowerGroup study.

BRIDGE TO SOMEWHERE

Photo ©2010 Keith Robertson

“Financial services executives understand that mobile banking is a bridge to much more feature-rich, value-added mobile payments solutions,” said Charul Vyas, analyst in TowerGroup’s Emerging Technologies practice. “The ubiquity of mobile devices, coupled with customers’ craving for information on the go, is creating the perfect opportunity for banks to extend the reach of their banking services using the most personal possession for consumers – the mobile phone. At a time when every customer counts, mobile banking is an avenue for banks to reach new audiences and grow their business.”

Indeed, as consumers increasingly rely on their mobile devices for more than social networking and entertainment, the phones’ utility as a business management tool is becoming more and more apparent. And because the current economic downturn means financial institutions are eager to cater to customer demands for portability and instant service, mobile banking is a natural byproduct of a nation of consumers looking for ways to tighten their belts and monitor finances more closely than ever. Alaska banks, by all indications, are staying abreast of financial trends and innovating new ways to market to technologically ad❑ vanced consumers.

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FINANCIAL SERVICES SIDEBAR

Photo courtesy of Junior Achievement of Alaska

Teaching Financial Literacy Junior Achievement of Alaska cornerstone.

BY HEIDI BOHI

T

he importance of financial literacy for youth may be slowly creeping into the minds of parents, educators and the business community, but for Junior Achievement of Alaska it is a cornerstone of its program and a concern that drives much of what it does.

Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed by providing in-school and after-school programs for students focusing on three key content areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

Today, state chapters reach 4.2 million students nationally, with an additional 4.3 million students served by operations in 118 other countries worldwide.

Educating and inspiring youth to value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives is the organization’s purpose – based on the national model – and ensuring that every youth in Alaska has the fundamental understanding of the free enterprise system is its mission.

But when it comes right down to it, what this means to Alaskan youth is: “We’re going to make sure you know what money is, how it’s used, and how to get it,” according to the organization’s platform.

Junior Achievement of Alaska volunteer Lisa Tom with kindergarten students in Newtok.

UNIVERSAL CONCEPT

PREPARING LEADERS

“Financial literacy is a universal concept no matter where you’re growing up,” says Jan Craig, senior program manager for Junior Achievement of Alaska. “Quality of life is a concern to young people, but they need guidance to get there. It takes a community to raise a child.”

In Alaska especially, where different cultural influences and regional economies play a critical role in developing children’s ideas about money and their future, it is important to make sure that statewide youth share standard, accepted ideas about financial literacy and what it means to be work ready so they are prepared for future opportunities.

This is especially important in a state where many households cannot rely on a cash economy only, but instead make ends meet with a mix of cash, subsistence, sharing and other noncash trading. The result is that youth are not exposed to standard economic values and have different realities of financial literacy in a world that does not typically recognize their lifestyle.

Junior Achievement fills this gap by talking to youth about topics such as credit, the advantages and disadvantages of it, the importance of a good credit rating, online banking and the difference between a credit card and a debit card.

“Programs like Junior Achievement are important because a community sends messages that we care about them and we want them to be successful in school,” says Flora Teo, president of Junior Achievement of Alaska. “If we want to have a bright future and set the stage, we need to prepare those leaders as much as we can and that starts with an understanding of economics and work ready and literacy.”

This is especially critical for Alaska Natives, according to a national report that says on average only 46.6 percent of these students graduate from high school. Released in February, “The Dropout/Graduation Crisis Among American Indians and Alaska Native Students: Failure to Respond Places the Future of Native People at Risk” report was published by The Civil Rights Project, University of California Los Angeles Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

“We help youth with goals,” Teo says, so they have the resources to ask critical, life questions: “Where is my hope? Where am I going? What am I going to do? We help them establish goals and give them some hope for ❐ the future.”

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FINANCIAL SERVICES

Teaching Children Money Skills Start early with savings accounts.

Photo courtesy of Dawn Hoxie

The Hoxie boys enjoying the summer of 2009, pictured Lucas, Zachary and Brandon.

BY HEIDI BOHI

W

hen the three Hoxie boys reached the age of about five, at a time when most children have little regard for money, each of them was given $5 and taken to the bank to open their first savings account.

Today, Zachary, 18, Brandon, 16, and Lucas, 13, have $2,000, $500 and $200, respectively, in their accounts, which have over the years had even higher balances, and as each begins to take on outside jobs, are growing as the boys deposit more money than weekly allowances into their accounts.

START YOUNG As a parent and a manager for Northrim Bank, their mother, Dawn Hoxie, felt it was her responsibility to get the boys to start thinking about

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saving and managing money at a young age. She tapped into Northrim’s Kid’s Club Savings Account program, one of several investment clubs available for kids under 18 at banks and credit unions statewide. There is no monthly service charge, participants are given a free gift when they open an account, and special contests and prizes are featured throughout the year.

“Once they started seeing their accounts grow, the more they saved, the more they wanted to save,” she says. At the same time, it is teaching them critical life lessons about money, setting priorities, and charting their financial course in life by teaching them basic money-management skills.

Although interest rates are very low now, a bank is a safer place to keep their money than a piggy bank, it is at

least earning some interest, and they are not as likely to spend it when it is not easily accessible, she says.

Since starting their accounts, Hoxie says, her boys are using their developing interest in personal finance to set spending priorities and understand the difference between wants and needs.

Zach, the oldest, is using some of his money to fund his education at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and he paid for a trip he took to Germany last fall. He also pays for his own gas, which helps him plan his weekly spending, and has since started a checking account, requiring him to regularly monitor the available balance.

LEARNING

TO

SAVE

Although banks and credit unions with these youth savings programs

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certainly hope that as they mature into adults these children will continue to bank with their institution, all agree that their investment is also a way to teach children to make room for charitable contributions part of their financial plan, helping make communities in Alaska a better place to live. Ultimately, this knowledge will also make them better citizens.

“There’s a wide variety of things we want to get kids to think about,” says Bobbie Craig, assistant marketing officer for First National Bank Alaska. “As part of teaching children to save, we try to get them to think not just of themselves, but of short-term goals, such as buying a card for their parent, saving money for a bicycle, video game, or even a family trip. We also stress the importance of having charitable goals and saving money for those charities.”

SETTING GOALS Currently in its sixth year, First National’s annual coloring contest for youth between the ages of kindergarten and sixth grade is one of the most popular youth programs at the bank and is based on the American Bankers Association “Teach Children to Save” national program. Focused on teaching children to set goals, a fundamental building block of teaching youth to save, Craig says, the coloring contest requires children to visualize and draw pictures of what their goal for saving money is. Over the years, the results have varied from pictures of dolls, attending church youth group, and money for college, to pictures of pipe for installing plumbing in their family’s home. The pictures are then posted in the local branches.

“Once you have a goal, you can budget on how you’re going to achieve that and when you talk about budgeting you talk about long-term goals for getting a loan. By making a concrete picture of it and developing it from that point forward helps outline how they’re going to achieve that goal,” Craig says.

First National also hosts presentations throughout the school year, geared toward those between the ages of kindergarten and young adults

“Money gives people, both young and old, decision-making opportunities.”

— Catalina Myers Marketing Officer Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union entering college or the work force.

The youngest ages are encouraged to visualize goals and get them to save on a daily basis “like ants that save food in the winter,” Craig says of one of the elementary teaching aids. Second and third graders learn some of the ways they can earn money, how to save, how to spend responsibly – which can also be another way to save – the difference between needs and wants, and how to get past impulse buying. Learning to calculate interest and simple budgeting skills are the primary focus for grades four through six.

“Our goal is to help the next generation become more financially successful and to help them reach their financial goals,” Craig says. “It helps the Alaska economy when they’re more financially savvy.”

FINANCIAL ILLITERACY According to the banking industry, financial literacy among American youth is at an emergency stage.

Those who graduate from college and high school enter the real world with less than eight hours of financial education to prepare for the rest of their lives. Several other indicators also prove why this critical problem needs addressing with action, especially as leaders point to the current economic crisis as an example of what can happen when adults are not financially literate.

One-third of high school and college students carry a credit card, and 28 percent already roll over debt month-to-month, according to the 1999 Youth and Money Survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the American Savings Education Council. In polls, they indicate that they need more financial education, while parents

admit they have little luck teaching it. Although 94 percent of children learn money management from their parents, most mothers and fathers (57 percent) flunked a financial literacy test conducted for the National Council on Economic Education. The children themselves answered only 52 percent of the questions correctly.

Since most children depend on their parents for financial advice, it is a case of the blind leading the blind.

Lew Mandell, a professor of finance and managerial economics at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business in Seattle, Wash., and a senior fellow in the Aspen Institute’s Initiative on Financial Security in Washington, D.C., has devoted his career to studying consumer financial behavior, attitudes and literacy. Best known in recent years for his work on the financial literacy of young Americans, he has demonstrated that financial education, as currently administered in the classroom, does not appear to have any lasting impact on financial literacy.

Although the financial literacy movement has gained steam over the past decade, scores have been falling on tests that measure how much practical knowledge students have about things such as budgeting, credit cards, insurance and investments. A 2008 JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy survey of college students found that students who had taken a personal finance or money management course in high school scored no better than those who had not.

“We need to figure out how to do this the right way,” Mandell says of the current methods that are not working, adding that neither parents or students are to blame. “We as a

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FINDING SOLUTIONS Early this year, Pres. Barack Obama signed an executive order creating an Advisory Council on Financial Capacity to help improve Americans’ financial literacy. The council advises him on promoting and enhancing financial literacy and capability in the United States, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

“This effort is important to help keep America competitive and assist

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Photo by Greg Martin Photography/Courtesy of Northrim Bank

society blame parents for an awful lot of stuff,” he says. “Here, we’re dealing with an age of sophisticated financial instruments. It really is out of the realm of home teaching,” and left unchecked could result in devastating consequences, such as bankruptcy, dysfunctional families undergoing continual financial-related stress, and children who suffer from the dissolution marriages.

JumpStart directs objectives to encourage curriculum enrichment to ensure that basic personal financial management skills are attained during the K-12 educational experience.

Where financial management classes are even offered, they are typically incorporated into elective classes, not mainstream classes, which very few kids take, according to the coalition. Where it does exist, it is usually in the business track for non-collegebound students, so college-bound kids are overlooked.

Many children are unable to balance a checkbook and most have no insight into basic survival principles involved with earning, spending, saving and investing. The result is that they fail in the management of their first consumer credit experience, establishing bad financial management habits, and stumbling through their lives learning only by their mistakes.

Although many school-age children have credit cards, they do not understand the lasting consequences of misusing them and end up ruining their credit rating without even understanding how it happened. School superintendents are fully aware of the growing need and politicians also find that it is in important issue to their constituents.

Northrim Bank’s Kids Club mascot, Peri, at the annual customerappreciation barbecue in Anchorage

the American people in understanding and addressing financial matters, which contributes to our national financial stability,” he said.

Among its duties, the council will advise Obama on financial education efforts, promoting financial products and services beneficial to consumers, and understanding how the financial products and services can be used effectively. Membership includes the secretaries of Treasury and Education and up to 22 members appointed by

Obama who don’t work for the federal government. Unless it is extended, the council will end in two years.

Last spring, legislation was also introduced in Congress to promote youth financial literacy by providing grants to states that would assist educational agencies and public schools with providing financial education programs to students in kindergarten through grade 12, and to implement financial education professional development programs for teachers and

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administrators, though to date nothing has happened with HR 2012.

In the meantime, banks and credit unions are stepping in to help try and fill this void by offering an action item parents can take to try and begin to remedy the situation.

SAVING ENCOURAGEMENT Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union offers the Kids Prospector Club for those up to the age of 12, which features the mascot Sourdough Buck who has ridden in on his fictitious mule Dusty to go to Denali Alaskan to deposit gold nuggets from the Klondike into a savings account. In addition to the free membership, every time kids put money in their account they get a prize, and a newsletter includes fun activities and financial advice. During a holiday issue, the newsletter had an article telling children that it is better to make a homemade project than to go over their holiday budget.

Another issue, also written by Sourdough Buck, gives spending tips such as evaluating the need for purchases before spending, setting

goals for spending to avoid impulse purchases, setting a limit on how to spend on an item to make sure they have money left over, and shopping around for purchases to find good deals. Savings tips include discussing savings plans with parents, and making a plan for money received as gifts.

“We believe that financial education and instilling values to save is important because in adulthood it will help these kids in their everyday lives,” says Catalina Myers, marketing officer for the credit union.

The credit union’s Teen Club, which offers its Teen Power account for youth aged 13 through 17, offers 24/7 access to savings and checking accounts, and Visa check cards. A savings incentive program pays teens to save by issuing a dividend and offers special programs, such as the scholarship award, which awards $1,000 to 10 senior students who are members of the credit union and have a grade point average of 2.25 or higher from across the state to help offset the high cost of education. In addition to saving and spending tips, the newsletter

for this program includes financial definitions, money tips for college students, basic information on checking accounts, and even guidance on saving for retirement.

Brass Magazine, produced by young adults for young adults aged 18 to 24 who have positive balances in their basic savings and checking accounts, is a free resource that provides information on making, managing and multiplying money. Articles cover everything from retirement planning to hosting cheap parties, while focusing on the money handling aspects of each decision so they learn how to balance finances with bills, while also continuing to save.

“Money gives people, both young and old, decision-making opportunities,” Myers says. “Educating, motivating and empowering children to become regular savers and investors will enable them to keep more of the money they earn and do more with the money they spend.

Everyday spending decisions can have a far more negative impact on children’s financial futures than any investment decisions they may ever make.” ❑

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HEALTH & MEDICINE

Photo courtesy of Take Heart Alaska

Janice Gray, RN, Take Heart Alaska

Healthy living key to good heart health.

BY DEBORAH JEANNE SERGEANT

F

iguratively, the heart is the most essential part of anything: the heart of the matter, the heart of the story, the heart of a company, to name a few.

And literally, the heart is vital to bodily function, yet many people’s lifestyles reflect habits and practices that damage their body’s most essential organ.

Among Alaskans, heart disease is the second-leading cause of preventable death and stroke is No. 4.

Janice Gray, RN nurse consultant I and program manager for Take Heart Alaska’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program, said, “Work site health promotion programs can effectively help your employees get healthier and avoid getting sick.”

Of course, you can’t be the health police, hovering over employees and nitpicking their choices. However, your influence at the workplace is important and can help your business’ bottom line.

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Gray said that high-quality heart health programs indicate a cost saving of $2 to $4 per each dollar invested.

“Work site health programs help recruit and retain employees,” she added.

Before initiating a heart-healthy company culture, it is important to understand what contributes to and detracts from heart health. The experts agree that avoiding tobacco and controlling weight are the two pillars of good heart health.

SMOKING NO. 1 RISK “Smoking cigarettes is the number one risk factor for developing blocked coronary arteries,” said Stephen Jones, heart surgeon for Alaska Cardiothoracic Surgery in Anchorage. “It’s old news and not glamorous, but it can’t be over-emphasized.”

Stan Watkins, a physician with the Alaska Heart Institute LLC in Anchorage agrees that “if you smoke, quitting

smoking is the easiest and most bang for the buck for improving heart health.”

So why is smoking so bad for the ticker? Jones explained that smoking causes irregularities in the way lipids are deposited in the arterial walls. Exposure to tobacco can cause those lipids to rupture or collapse and thus block an artery’s blood flow to the heart causing a coronary incident such as a heart attack.

“We see patients who have quit smoking 10 or 15 years ago who still have damage from smoking,” Jones said. “If you quit smoking in your youth, you probably won’t end up with acute coronary syndromes, but the sooner one quits, the better one is.”

Secondhand smoke is not safe, either.

“Thirty minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke can raise the nonsmoker’s risk of heart attack or a cardiac event,” said Laura Muller, tobacco control manager for the American

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Photo courtesy of Fit for Health

over-the-counter anti-smoking products, a quitter has a much greater chance of becoming a non-smoker.

In addition to quitting smoking, people can use drugs to help improve blood flow to the heart. Upon their doctor’s advice, taking lipid-lowering drugs such as Pfizer’s Lipitor and a daily baby aspirin may help people with high levels. Some alternative health practitioners also recommend taking niacin supplements as well.

OBESITY NO. 2 RISK Obesity represents the second most important issue for harming heart health.

“Excess weight demands excess work on the heart to supply blood,” Jones said. “Our hearts are like the engine on a car. If it’s overloaded, it has to work harder.”

At 65 percent, obesity rates in Alaska are slightly higher than the national average and are increasing, according to The Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke

Tips for Heart Health So what can you, as an employer do to encourage heart-healthy living among your employees? Try the following tips: Leslie Kleinfeld Owner Fit for Health

Lung Association in Anchorage.

Quitting smoking has never been easier. New prescription drugs such as Pfizer’s Chantix and GlaxoSmithKline’s Zyban can help block nicotine receptors in the brain to decrease the pleasure derived by smoking. Along with lifestyle modification and the use of some of the plethora of nicotine gum, mints, patches and other

1. Offer a health insurance benefit that’s proactive in nature with coverage for health screenings, for example.

2. Make the workplace a no-tobacco zone (contact the American Lung Association Anchorage at 907-276-5864 for help in writing a policy).

3. Post the toll-free number for the Alaska Quit Line, 888-842-QUIT, so employees can obtain free support and nicotine replacement products.

4. Host a heart health fair open to the public to make available screenings and information relevant to heart health (bonus: it’s terrific PR for your company).

5. Let employees work a flexible schedule that can allow them to pursue exercise and lower their stress level.

6. When ordering lunch for the staff, pick a place with heart-friendly options.

7. Start a lunchtime walking program.

8. Offer healthful snacks in the break room and conference room such as fruit and low-fat baked pretzels.

9. Post heart health tips in public areas around the workplace and include them in paychecks and in the company newsletter. The Metropolitan Height/Weight chart (http://www.bcbst.com/mpmanual/hw.htm) and information from www.mypyramid.gov are good places to start.

Chronic Disease Deaths, Alaska, Per 100,000 Population Photo courtesy of the Alaska Heart Institute

Cause of Death All Causes Cancer Lung Cancer Breast Cancer (Females Only) Diseases of the Heart Coronary Heart Disease (Ischemic) Cerebrovascular Disease (Stroke) Diabetes Diabetes (any mention) Stan Watkins MD Alaska Heart Institute

Deaths 3,466 857 257 47 627 367 169 93 276

Age-Adjusted Rate 756.4 181.9 54.0 17.6 147.9 85.5 43.6 22.4 64.4

Source: Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics, 2008

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©2010 Sebastian Kaulitski

in Alaska: Mortality, Morbidity and Risk Factors updated December 2009.

As the number of morbidly obese people increases, those who are moderately overweight may become more comfortable with their excess pounds, Jones fears.

“More people are thought of as normal because they’re not as big as the huge guys,” he said.

To accurately assess one’s weight, it’s important to measure against the norms indicated by the medical community, not other people.

In most cases, excess weight is caused by poor diet and lack of exercise, the third and fourth factors related to heart health. Poor diet contributes to high cholesterol levels, excessive salt intake, and a lack of nutritious foods.

“I think we tend to look for the magic bullet of ‘if I eat this food or don’t eat that food that’s the answer,’” said Leslie Kleinfeld, owner of Fit for Health in Anchorage.

TESTS TO HELP As a general rule, Kleinfeld advises clients eat unprocessed, more natural foods and engage in exercise periodically all day.

Is it a Heart Attack?

Signs, symptoms and what to do.

Am I having a heart attack? Watch for the following signs and remember, the longer you delay treatment, the more heart muscle is dying. Know the warning signs and symptoms of a heart attack.

Reported by Men and Women • Discomfort, fullness, tightness, squeezing or pressure in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back.

• Pressure or pain that spreads to upper back, shoulder, neck, jaw, or arms.

• Dizziness or nausea.

• Clammy sweats, heart flutters or paleness.

Reported Most Often by Women • Overwhelming or unexplained fatigue.

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.

• Stomach or abdominal pain or indigestion.

• Unexplained feelings of anxiety or weakness, especially with exertion.

Four things to do if you are having heart attack signs or symptoms.

• Call 9-1-1.

• Tell the medical staff that you are having heart attack symptoms.

• Chew and swallow one regular full-strength aspirin.

• When you arrive at the hospital or clinic, insist on a thorough cardiac evaluation.

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Reducing Heart Attack Risk You can reduce your risk of having a heart attack – even if you already have coronary heart disease or have had a previous heart attack, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NHLBI reports the key is to take steps to prevent or control your heart disease risk factors, and offers six steps that will reduce your risk of having a heart attack.

• • • • • •

Stop smoking.

Lower high blood pressure.

Reduce high blood cholesterol.

Aim for a healthy weight.

Be physically active each day.

Manage diabetes.

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Watkins encourages patients to have their cholesterol checked annually and have their C-reactive protein (CRP) measured.

“It’s a measurement of inflammation in the blood,” he said. “Beyond the risk of high cholesterol and hypertension, elevated CRP carries a higher risk for heart attack.”

More than 40 percent of people with heart disease have no measurable factors related to heart disease.

For this reason, Watkins recommends that patients who have a family history of heart disease but no other factors should have a calcium score test taken.

“If you have calcium buildup in heart arteries,” he explained, “you have plaque buildup. The extent of calcification is an indicator of your likelihood of heart attack.”

“It all comes back to balance,” Kleinfeld said. “It’s a big picture approach, but these are all things we’re personally able to do. It’s always in our control. We have to change our awareness and lifestyle habits to have a healthy heart.”

Most of the heart-healthy habits are widely known and Gray believes that Alaskans are hearing the message, but “habits are hard to change …. Getting support at work at home and from friends can make all the difference in becoming healthier. ❑

Goals for a Healthy Heart • Do moderate aerobic exercise 150 minutes a week or 30 minutes a day.

• Do strengthening exercises two days a week.

• Eat nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

CHANGING HABITS Medication such as AstraZeneca’s Crestor can help lower CRP “for people with normal cholesterol but elevated CRP,” Watkins said.

It seems like a new weight loss diet is born every day; however, GlaxoSmithKline’s alli product is a FDA-approved over-the-counter medication that works by blocking the absorption of 25 percent of a person’s fat intake. Because fat is more calorically dense than protein or carbohydrates, alli can help its users decrease their caloric intake.

The pharmaceutical company supports alli users with a diet and exercise program found at www.myalli.com.

Healthy Numbers

In Alaska Overall Cardiac Services 2010 Cardiology Services 2009, 2010 Coronary Intervention 2008, 2009, 2010

Do you know your healthy heart numbers? Gray listed the following health statistics as important factors in maintaining a healthy heart.

• • • •

Blood Pressure 120/80 or less Total Cholesterol less than 200 LDL (bad cholesterol) less than 100 HDL (good cholesterol) greater than 40 • Triglycerides less than 150 • Fasting Glucose 70-100 • Waist Circumference: women 35 inches or less, men 40 inches or less

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HEALTH & MEDICINE

©2010 Aaliya Landholt

Leg Pain May Signal Peripheral Artery Disease Dangerous if left untreated.

BY VANESSA ORR

A

s people age, it’s not uncommon for aches and pains to develop in the body. And while sometimes these aches may just be the result of stiff muscles or a lack of movement,

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other times they can be signaling to the person that there is something wrong.

This is the case with PAD, or peripheral artery disease, which left untreated, can potentially lead to limb loss. Patients

who suffer from PAD also have a much higher risk of heart attack or stroke.

“Peripheral artery disease is a very common disease in Americans over the age of 65,” explained Chakri

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Inampudi said. “The disease takes a while to develop, and as high as 70 percent to 80 percent of people who are affected are asymptomatic at any given point.”

WALKING PAIN

Photos courtesy of Spectranetics

PAD affects the arteries outside the heart and brain, and is most common in the arteries of the pelvis and legs.

Similar to coronary artery disease and carotid artery disease, the most common cause of PAD is a hardening and narrowing of the arteries.

“The body can compensate for arteries narrowed up to 50 percent without showing symptoms,” said Inampudi.

Higher than 50 percent, and the blood vessels can still supply enough blood to muscles when a person is at rest, but can no longer provide enough blood to the muscles when a person is walking or moving. The muscles then release chemicals that cause pain. The most common complaint of people who have PAD is claudication, or pain in the calf, thigh or hip muscle that occurs after walking a certain distance. The pain

there's a reason...

Spectranetics’ excimer laser produces pulsed bursts of ultraviolet (UV) light energy that vaporize blockages in the arteries. This energy is transmitted along flexible glass fibers encased in tiny catheters, which can be passed through the arteries right to the location of the blockage. The UV light energy is then focused on the blockages that need to be treated, restoring blood flow to the limb.

Inampudi, MD, a vascular and intervention radiologist for Alaska Radiology Associates, Providence Alaska and Imaging Associates of Providence. “The disease affects slightly more men than women and is often seen starting in patients ages 55 and up.”

Peripheral artery disease, the most common form of peripheral vascular disease, can present with a number of symptoms, including cramping, pain or tiredness in the leg or hip muscles while walking or climbing stairs. Typically, this pain goes away with rest.

According to the American Heart Association, about 8 million Americans have PAD, though its symptoms can often be mistaken for something else, and it often goes undiagnosed even by health care professionals.

“One of the problems with PAD is that most people are asymptomatic,”

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Fairbanks Memorial Hospital the definition of a community hospital

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Laser atherectomy, a new treatment option for peripheral artery disease (PAD), is a minimally invasive procedure that treats blockages within peripheral arteries using a Spectranetics excimer laser, pictured above.

stops after the person rests for a while.

“As the disease progresses, a person will begin to feel ‘rest pain,’ Inampudi said, “which means that the blood vessels are tight enough to cause pain in the leg even while at rest. Left untreated, patients may begin to see redness and tissue damage, and at later stages, the legs may turn blue. The skin ulcerates, or breaks down, which can lead to gangrene and amputation.”

According to Inampudi, the speed at which the disease develops depends on a person’s underlying medical condition and risk factors.

“It may take 10 to 20 years for a nondiabetic, nonsmoker to develop PAD, though a person with diabetes may go from developing the first symptoms of the disease to amputation in as little as five years. People with diabetes who smoke will be affected even more quickly.” Smokers have four times the risk of PAD than nonsmokers, and those with high blood pressure or high cholesterol are also more at risk for PAD.

EASY TO DIAGNOSE Peripheral artery disease is easily diagnosed through a simple, painless test that can be performed during a person’s regular physical exam. A physician checks the pulses in the arteries in the legs and feet by feel and with a stethoscope, listening for bruits, a noise that can may signal narrowing of the

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arteries. Blood pressure in the ankles can also be compared to blood pressure in the arms for an ankle-brachial index, or ABI, and segmental pressures.

“If a physician suspects peripheral artery disease, he or she will first confirm it by doing noninvasive methods such as ABI with segmental pressures and ultrasound,” said Inampudi.

“Treatment will initially consist of conservative medical management, which may include recommending lifestyle changes like smoking cessation, diet and exercise, controlling hypertension, lipid management and controlling diabetes.

WHEN PROGRESSION OCCURS “If the disease continues to progress, the physician will need to determine which specific blood vessels are being affected and to what extent they are affected,” he continued. “In those cases, CT or MR angiography is performed to map the extent of the disease.”

If the blood vessels are in the pelvis, a patient can undergo minimally invasive procedures, such as balloon angioplasty and/or stent placement. If the vessels are located in the superficial femoral artery (below the groin), the treatment, even though it is still minimally invasive, is a bit more complex.

“Older stents and balloon angioplasty alone did not work well work in this area because these vessels are exposed to a lot of outside forces such as pressure, torsion and stretching,” said Inampudi. “It’s the same with blood vessels under the knee.”

Newer, FDA-approved devices are now available that have much better results, equal to the results of open surgery. If a person requires open or bypass surgery to deal with blocked blood vessels, a synthetic, tube-like material can be used to create a bypass graft from the groin to the knee.

“We can also use patients’ veins, which is better than using a synthetic material,” said Inampudi. “These are pretty aggressive surgeries; the patient may have a scar from the groin to the knee.”

Approximately 80 percent of the vessels are still open at the end of five years, though because of morbidity, these surgeries are not performed for patients with claudication. It is only

recommended for patients who have developed “rest pain” or have further disease progression.

LASER TREATMENT A minimally invasive laser atherectomy procedure is also offered at Providence Alaska Medical Center by Inampudi, who was one of the first interventional radiologists on the West Coast to use the excimer laser.

“The number one advantage of the laser is that therapy can be offered earlier on in the symptomatic phase; patients with claudification can undergo laser treatment,” he said.

An outpatient procedure, patients go home the day of treatment or the next day, and stay conscious throughout. It is also generally less expensive than a typical open procedure and causes very little tissue injury.

“In an open surgery, a patient is in the hospital for up to three days, and it’s two weeks before they return to normal mobility,” Inampudi said.

“They also require cardiac clearance, which is not the case for minimally invasive interventions.”

Despite the fact that peripheral artery disease affects 10 percent to 25 percent of Americans age 55 and over, and that most cases can be managed with lifestyle changes and medication, many people, and even some health care providers, are not aware of the options available for treatment.

“There is some tendency for doctors to not know what to do with PAD,” Inampudi said. “Some studies show that only 50 percent of patients have the pulses checked in their legs during a physical exam, which is the best way to find the disease before the person presents with significant problems.”

Even after treatment, individuals and doctors must be aware that the disease can, and often does, progress.

“PAD does come back,” Inampudi said. “I always tell patients that it’s like cleaning out a pipe. The underlying disease process has not gone away. They need to get their other risk factors controlled to stop producing plaque. As long as those risk factors are present and symptoms reoccur, we may need to intervene and per❑ form repeat treatments.”

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GENERAL BUSINESS

Holistic Executive Coaching Photos courtesy of CF Boltz.

Learning to live one’s whole life.

BY ANA GONZALEZ RIBEIRO

Donna Boltz Owner/Operator Perceptive Leadership

T

he age-old debate, “Are leaders born or made?” is one that has been discussed for years. If you were to ask Donna Boltz, she would probably say some experienced leaders can always use a bit of help to sharpen their innate skills, while others need a push in order to become leaders.

Boltz is a retired Army colonel who works as a certified leadership coach, leader development adviser and a personal fitness trainer. She has more than 25 years experience in the field. As owner and operator of Perceptive Leadership, Boltz gives custom-designed leadership coaching and personal training to executives.

She coaches mid-level and senior leaders in crucial leadership skills, such as mental toughness and energy management.

She spent time learning about leadership through both institutional design and in some of the toughest real-life proving grounds a leader can experience. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., during her years in the academy and working with different organizations, she learned that leadership skills are increased by exposure to teamwork.

SECRETS TOLD “My personal secret to success was to operate across all domains – and when I faltered in an area, I could see the impact on my team or organization,” she says. In 2006, while she worked as deputy director for the Port of Anchorage, and after spending nearly 30 years in leadership positions while in the Army, Boltz decided it was time to retire so she could have more time to take care of her ill mother and meet family obligations.

She then attended Georgetown University’s Leadership Coaching Certification program to “add some science to the art and some art to the science of what I understood about working with leaders,” she says. Perceptive Leadership resulted from her years of experience and certification at Georgetown.

THE LEADERSHIP ‘PRIVILEGE’ “I always considered leadership to be a great privilege. It was, in my experience, an honor to be entrusted with leadership responsibility for a group, team or organization. I also knew leading could be a fun and creative job – after all, it’s all about relationships.”

She found coaching executives on leadership skills satisfying. “Coaching does that – it builds upon the creativity, skills and resourcefulness of leaders to strengthen their leader presence and sharpen their leading practice.”

THE BALANCING ACT Boltz established her company to work directly with leaders facing the challenge of achieving their work and career goals in the greater context of living full and balanced (whole) lives. As she puts it, her work is based on a holistic approach to executive coaching. It includes mental, emotional, spiritual and physical domains.

“I’ve never been about telling leaders to do it their way. I respect that each leader will bring themselves most effectively into their positions. If leaders want to do their jobs better, live their lives more fully, care about their teams and are up for the learning and practice of leadership, I want to work with them.”

She says a perceptive leader is one with a keen self-awareness. It is a leader who understands each person sees the world through a unique lens that was created from his or her own life experiences. “Perceptive leaders use this understanding to enable them to connect with and inspire their teams,” she adds.

According to Boltz’s Web site, perceptive leaders: • Quickly assess situations, identify problems and generate multiple viable solutions.

• Use insight and understanding to connect with and inspire others.

• Juggle multiple demands – and still find time for “what matters.”

• Lead with energy and balance.

• They are the leaders people say they would follow anywhere.

For individuals who do not have these qualities, but would like to develop them, the key is to be a life-long learner. “It is important to acknowledge that leading is a practice and a journey – not a destination,” she says.

“To be an exemplary leader, one must stay tuned in to new learning and growth opportunities. Sometimes that means taking on our greatest fears and setting tough goals. Leaders are teachers and leaders are learners.” Perceptive leaders are empowered and live life in real-time, it not only advances focus but also promotes the achievement of goals she explains.

She also advises women and men leaders to get active and have an intentional plan for fitness. “Energy truly begets energy – and leaders need a lot of energy. Have a plan of self-care that includes intentional eating, sleeping and exercise. Your team counts on you to show up – it will never be selfish to take care of yourself, because your well-being is critical to your team.”

Reaching a state of balance in life should not be destined to one specific time period, like a weekend or a vacation, she explains.

“Often you hear people talk about work/life balance. Balance is achieved across a continuum of time and activities.

If a leader is attending to – and by that I mean intentionally living – their physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual lives, they more effectively can live in balance. No more living for the weekend. ❑ I call it living one’s whole life.”

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NATIVE BUSINESS

Alaska Native corporations train work force.

Photo courtesy of Calista Corp.

Calista Corp. shareholders working at the Donlin Creek gold mining prospect, which expects to employ 1,500 to 2,000 during construction and 600 to 800 during mine operations, expected to last at least 20 years. Owners NovaGold Resources and Barrick Gold Corp. have a shareholder hire program in place for the Calista region mine project.

BY PEG STOMIEROWSKI

A

laska Native corporations (ANCs), cognizant of the potential chill factor in some shifting winds in federal contracting, continue to help their own through shareholder hire efforts.

“We’re all working hard to maintain what we’re benefiting from now,” said Vicki Otte, executive director of the Association of ANCSA Regional Corporation Presidents and CEOS. Under federal law, as reflected in a report last summer by the University of Alaska Institute of Social and Economic Research, ANCs are able to exercise a preference for American Indian and Alaska Native applicants, and they face shareholder pressure to hire their own people. The ISER review was partly in response to a 2006 Government Accountability Office report recommending increased Small Business Administration oversight of 8(a) contracting activity.

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8(A) RULES To qualify for 8(a), a socially or economically disadvantaged party – not just a figurehead in the position – must own and control at least 51 percent of the business. Additional assistance is targeted to veterans, women and handicapped persons. A series of 8(a) amendments from 1986 to 1992, ISER noted, exempted ANCs from limitations on the number of qualifying subsidiaries, from some restrictions on size and minimum time in business, and from the ceiling on the monetary value of sole-source contracts. Consequently, between 1988 and 2005, the number of 8(a) ANC subsidiaries grew from one to 154 subsidiaries owned by 49 ANCs. The dollar amount of 8(a) contracts to ANCs, it reported, grew from $265 million in fiscal year 2000 to $1.1 billion in 2004, about 80 percent of which was in sole-source contracts.

If substantial changes in (8a) proce-

dures or enforcement do come to pass, all ANCs aren’t likely to be impacted the same. It seems safe to expect that those firms hardest hit would be those most heavily invested in (8a) governmentcontracting projects.

As the ISER report and local sources also noted, using internships, scholarships, on-the-job coaching and other incentives, Native companies dedicate a substantial amount of time and expense to recruiting, training, developing and retaining Native employees.

Otte, a Doyon shareholder, heads the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act regional association, and is on the board of her village corporation. “My village corporation, we’re so small we know everybody,” she said.

Under interviewing procedures, she said, many candidates in Alaska expect to be asked whether they are shareholders or enrolled in the corporation.

These days, she added, many corporations

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are using more sophisticated recruitment and hiring procedures, including adding that type of question to the application.

What people may not realize about ANCs, several sources noted, is that with growth and expansion, the trend over at least a decade has been that most (80 percent) of employees are not Alaska Natives. Of 40,000 employees, she said, 25,000 are laboring outside of Alaska.

It’s almost impossible, Otte added, to hire in rural Alaska and expect the person hired to work in the Lower 48 – say, at an enterprise in Alabama.

GROOMING SHAREHOLDERS Back when ANSCA ushered in widescale change in 1971, finding qualified help from shareholders was no sure bet, and the education-and-training element took time to produce demonstrable results, with younger generations benefiting in more ways from newer opportunities. Over time, the corporations created scholarship foundations and stepped up efforts to encourage shareholders toward higher education and greater employability.

As for business development, each

corporation began the process differently, and generalities were tough to draw. From the beginning, the corporations tended to be unique enterprises with changing interests based on a variety of hiring and business factors.

Today, with many subsidiaries engaged in enterprise fields differing from those of parent firms, diversification is ongoing. CIRI, for example, diversifies in many fields, among energy, real estate, oil field services, tourism, wireless communication and renewable energy. But according to Jim Jager, CIRI director of communictaions, 8(a) companies represent only a tiny portion of its business.

Overall, economic data cited in ISER found regional ANCs were profitable in 2007, showing combined revenues of $3.9 billion and profits of $483.7 million. The year before, ANC combined assets were reported at $3.8 billion, with an average return on assets of 13.1 percent. Shareholder equity totaled $2.35 billion, “up from the $962.5 million in original capitalization under ANCSA,” ISER reported.

Jagers says there’s been evidence of

some dramatic reversals in the traditional Alaska business model evident as more of the ANCs have navigated the currents of change and moved from surviving to thriving. ANCs more often are going out into the world, doing business and bringing profits back into home territory, he said, altering the more familiar pattern of out-of-state interests coming into Alaska, exploiting the state’s natural resources and taking money out.

On the personnel front, Southcentral Foundation’s Kristin Helvey pointed, as an ANC-system success story, to the career of the foundation’s CEO, Katherine Gottlieb, who started at SCF as a receptionist and over many years was mentored and groomed for advancement, rising to become acting executive director in 1991 and then executive director in 1992, which changed in 1996 to president and CEO. Three of Southcentral’s VPs were mentored in-house and promoted, she added, and others are even now being guided through the succession-planning process. All board members are Alaska Natives.

At CIRI, of the corporation’s six C-level executives, three are shareholders

Doyon, Limited provides high-quality • oil field services • security • engineering management • construction • facility management • tourism

LEADER in

All We Do

Doyon Values • financially responsible • pride and respect in Native ownership • socially and culturally responsible • commitment to the long-term • honesty and integrity • commitment to excellence • respect for employees

WWW.DOYON.COM Doyon, Limited (907) 459-2000 Doyon Drilling Inc. (907) 563-5530 Doyon Universal Services (907) 522-1300

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and five are Alaska Natives, Jager said.

While shareholder- and Alaska-hire are actively encouraged, he added, the most significant factor in placement and performance is a candidate’s qualifications.

TRAINING PROGRAMS One entity that’s up to its ears in the training process is Southcentral Foundation, a CIRI-related private, nonprofit health care provider serving 55,000 and employing 1,400. With an annual budget of $181 million, SCF is constantly training to fill personnel needs in its 67 departments, said Sandra Bohling, human resources director. In 2009, she said 72.7 percent of its work force was of Alaska Native or American Indian heritage, up from 67.5 percent in 2008.

The foundation offers several trainings lasting from eight to 18 weeks.

An eight-week administrative program that begins each month results in employment for about 15 to 20 trainees per cycle. The trainees spend three weeks in the classroom and five weeks in one of the agency’s departments or clinics. They study the SCF mission and values, customer service, conflict

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resolution, phone, computer and other job skills. Most move into full-time positions with benefits.

A 16-week dental assistant academic and clinical training, offered once or twice a year, enlists about 15 trainees in each class, and an RN case-manager program aims to boost Native RN hiring, Bohling said.

While these students are learning the ropes, Southcentral holds meet-and-greet opportunities so managers may get to know them. In addition, it attempts to retain hirees and foster career growth through checklists that help employees chart their own career progress, potentially from entry to supervisory levels and all the way up to VP or CEO of a corporation.

SCF and other programs also offer educational leave and scholarships to Alaska Native and American Indian employees who wish to further their education. Some school aid may be tied to continuing to contribute work to the corporation.

While Southcentral works to recruit Alaska Natives and American Indians, Bohling said, its recruiters attend conferences around the country.

Bohling, who worked for the federal government before joining Southcentral Foundation, says Native corporation training and education efforts help bring diversity to other workplaces as well, as staff members move on to wider employment opportunities.

At Southcentral, employees are inspired by the corporation’s mission and vision, she said: “We take pride in the work that we’re doing here,” she said, especially when SCF services are being directed to the Native population. “We are a highly regulated industry.” As an example, she gave U.S. health care in general, but also at SCF. “Through all that, we are able to maintain a family like atmosphere. I don’t know how many other companies walk their talk like we do.”

Other recruitment and training initiatives are under way, sometimes with State and ANC assistance. One program, Alaska People Inc., under Cook Inlet Tribal Council, is training candidates for a diversity of jobs at Anchorage’s Tikahtnu Commons shopping center, ranging from construction to retail management at the mall.

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Photo by Chris Arend/Courtesy of NANA Development Corp.

EMPOWERING ALASKA NATIVES How preferences have been applied in a wider sense to ANCs under SBA contracting policies in recent years has critics complaining the 8(a) program has allowed some Native corporations and tribal firms to obtain federal contracts without limiting dollar amounts and without competition.

Proposed revisions published in the Federal Register in late October 2009 could block some from eligibility based on growth and forbid Native and tribal firms from joint ventures and subcontracting resulting in a majority of the work being done by large, non-Native firms.

In many quarters of Alaska, of course, those can be taken as fighting words, and several officials and representatives have defended the unique and complicated role of the ANCs in Alaska’s development.

Sheri Buretta, board chair of Chugach Alaska Corp. and Otte’s predecessor at the ANCSA association, was quoted in the Anchorage Daily News as saying the program has allowed Native corporations to survive and thrive, helping to make

NANA shareholder Jimmy Mills, an environmental intern from Noatak, reseeds part of 27 acres. Land no longer needed for active mining at Red Dog is returned to a natural state through the planting of native grasses. ANCs and village corporations have shareholder preference for jobs, meaning an advantage to qualified shareholders, or Alaska Native people applying to Red Dog Mine for employment.

the transition into a more competitive global marketplace.

“This program [8(a)] allows us to empower our people,” she was quoted as saying. “It’s a shift from federal policy

where there’s a government handout.

This actually creates organizations that are capable of providing for themselves, and it’s a role model for our people to be able to stand up for themselves.” ❑

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MINING

Photo courtesy of Red Dog Mine.

Red Dog mine operators drilled five holes in 2005 as part of a natural gas drilling program. Red Dog’s operating team hopes to find in a known shallow shale rock formation enough natural gas to eventually replace some or all of the 14 million gallons of diesel consumed by the hard rock mine each year for its electric power generation.

Remote Industrial Power Generation Mine operations eye natural gas potential.

BY PATRICIA LILES

F

Red Dog’s operating team hopes to find in a known shallow shale rock formation enough natural gas to eventually replace some or all of the 14 million gallons of diesel consumed by the hard rock mine each year for its electric power generation.

“We’ve been working on this program since the late 1990s, and it has culminated in this review of all the

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or more than a decade, managers at the Red Dog Mine in northwest Alaska have been slowly but steadily advancing a minerals exploration project. But unlike most drilling and geological studies conducted at Red Dog, the world’s largest producer of zinc, this long-term program is targeting natural gas as the natural resource to be extracted.

information we’ve gathered,” said Jim Kulas, manager of environmental and public affairs at Red Dog. “Right now we have our consultants doing a reservoir analysis. The outcome will determine our next steps.”

Availability of natural gas from a local source would not only cut the mine’s operational costs, but also provide cleaner emissions for

the industrial operation, he noted.

“Our power generation costs could be offset,” Kulas said, in a mid-February telephone interview. “We’re burning diesel, so we are affected by the rise and fall of that commodity. It’s not too bad now, compared to a year ago.”

Other mine operations and mine developments in Alaska are considering the economic and environmental potential that natural gas could provide. Those include existing operations like Fort Knox and Usibelli, which currently buy electric power off the state’s Railbelt grid, and development projects like Donlin Creek and Pebble.

“Regardless of being on the Railbelt grid, we still purchase significant electricity as a retail customer,” said Bill Brophy, vice president of customer relations at the Healy-based Usibelli Coal Mine, which participated in a wildcat gas exploration well drilled last summer in the Nenana Basin. “So if any local gas were to be discovered, and prove more affordable to use to generate our own power on a wholesale or small scale, it would clearly be logical for us to pursue that.”

Photo by Bill Zervantain/Bill Z Photography

SUMMER SEALIFT SETS COST Reservoir analysis is anticipated for the Red Dog shale gas program. Unlike diesel fuel purchasers on the state’s railroad network, road or year-round barge system, Red Dog does not immediately realize drops in the cost for fuel. That’s because the mine’s fuel supplies, along with other consumable products required in the production of zinc and lead concentrate, are delivered in summer months to a seasonally ice-free port facility located on the Chukchi Sea, part of the State-owned Delong Mountain Transportation System.

Fuel deliveries typically come to Red Dog three times a year, Kulas said.

The first barge typically arrives at the DMTS port in late June or early July, carrying a load of diesel for the mine.

Another fuel delivery typically comes in the middle of the shipping season, and the fuel holding tanks are usually topped off at the end of the shipping season, usually in late September or early October. Whatever price the mine pays for fuel during that time frame

Jim Kulas, manager of environmental and public affairs, at Teck Cominco Alaska Inc., gave media a tour of Red Dog last summer, and discussed upcoming hopes for use of natural gas on site to power the mine.

is the key cost in generating electric power throughout the rest of the year.

“We experienced for last year’s sealift some of highest costs we have seen in buying our fuel – that was everyone’s experience last summer,” Kulas said, referring to the 2008 summer sealift.

“Then the economy took a downturn, and so did fuel prices, but our cost of doing business didn’t drop.”

Developing natural gas as a costeffective and environmentally sensitive replacement for diesel fuel has been a

long-term goal at Red Dog. The program has received attention and funding for several years now, since mineral exploration crews first noticed the presence of natural gas during drilling work in the late 1990s.

A total of five holes have been drilled in the shale rock formation, with recent work targeting efforts to pump water out of those holes in order to measure gas production.

“The feedback from the engineers is that the rate of gas flow has increased

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over the last year or so, probably not to the point to be sufficient yet,” Kulas said last fall. “It’s so critical to have waterfree holes, so there is no pressure …. dewatering the holes has been more difficult than we anticipated.”

Consultants working on the program have been working this winter to complete a reservoir analysis for the potential gas resource, which is located on land owned by NANA a few miles from the Red Dog mill complex The technical study will help determine what will be required to extract

the known gas from the shallow formation and whether there is an adequate amount of gas to potentially supply the mine. As of mid-February, the study was not complete.

Now one of the longest-running large-scale hard rock mines in Alaska with more than two decades of operation, Red Dog is expected to produce zinc and lead another 20 years or more, if the mine can secure updated versions of federal- and State-approved water discharge permits.

That permitting process for access-

ing the Aqqaluk deposit and continuing to operate the mine’s water treatment and discharge system under new regulatory approvals, began in May 2007 and stalled early this year. Environmental activists filed appeals of recently approved State and federal water-discharge permits, putting the mine’s continued operation in question after this fall.

That’s because the ore is running out in the main deposit area that has been mined since Red Dog began operating in 1989. In a mid-February press release, mine operating partners Teck Resources and NANA Regional Corp. said that if the permitting conflict continues to be unresolved after May 2010, the mine could experience some level of a shutdown in October, which would continue until permits were finalized.

While the permitting conflict has stalled, leaving the near-term future of Red Dog uncertain, consultants working on the natural gas reservoir analysis

“The cost of the fuel will be highly dependent upon the means of delivery to the generators and the fees and tariffs associated with it.

Until those costs are understood, it is difficult to predict the impact natural gas might have on this market.”

— Delbert Parr Environmental Manager Fort Knox Gold Mine

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are expected to conclude that stage of study this year.

“We’re patiently waiting to see what it looks like and what it tells us so we can make a decision,” Kulas said.

POGO AND FORT KNOX Other Alaska mines are eyeing gas potential. The geological benefit of a world-class mineral deposit located near a potential energy resource, as in the case of Red Dog, has not been the typical development scenario for other mine projects in Alaska.

Most of the other large-scale operating mines in Alaska have either been located close enough to existing power infrastructure to connect to the Railbelt power grid, or have built their own stand-alone power-generation system.

Both the Fort Knox open-pit gold mine, located about 25 miles northeast of Fairbanks, and the Pogo underground gold mine, located about 40 miles northeast of Delta Junction, opted to connect to the existing power grid. Both projects were located dozens of miles away from the Railbelt grid and the existing load structure served

by the Fairbanks-based Golden Valley Electric Association.

Pogo developers constructed in 2004 a 50-mile long, 138-kilovolt transmission line along the route of a new access road built to the remote mine site in the upper Goodpaster River drainage. The underground mine draws up to 13 megawatts of power from the Railbelt grid.

At Fort Knox, construction in the early 1990s of a transmission line provided access for the 35 megawatts of electric power needed by the open-pit mine, and GVEA with a new, large industrial customer that initially helped lower electric rates for residential customers.

Now, GVEA no longer reduces electric costs for other users due to the economies of scale realized from Fort Knox. For the mine, power costs have become an important factor in annual operating expenses.

Back in the 1990s and into 2000, monthly electric costs at Fort Knox were about $1 million, or about $12 million a year. In 2009, Fort Knox paid a total of $28.9 million for its

electric power, according to Delbert Parr, environmental manager at the mine. Including the mine’s consumption of diesel fuel, those energy expenses made up about 40.7 percent of the mine’s operating costs in 2009.

As a result of those increasing electric expenses and also because of a growing stockpile of low-grade ore, Fort Knox’s owner Kinross Gold opted to build a heap-leach processing facility at Fort Knox. Initial dirt-moving work began in late 2007 and the first gold-bearing ore was loaded last fall.

According to Kinross, some 3.7 million tonnes of ore were stacked on the heap by the end of the fourth quarter, producing approximately 7,400 gold equivalent ounces, the company said in a mid-January press statement.

Production from the heap leach, a low-energy consumptive method of extracting gold from its host rock, is helping to reduce per-ounce production costs at Fort Knox. Cost of sales for the fourth quarter decreased to $450 per ounce gold equivalent from $591 the previous quarter, the company said in its 2009 fourth quarter report.

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Photo by Patricia Liles

Fort Knox owners spent $103 million to build a valley heap-leach facility at the open-pit gold mine near Fairbanks, a project completed in 2009. The heap produced more than 7,000 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter, helping to lower the mine’s production costs with a low-energy method of extraction.

An additional benefit in adding the heap leach – the mine life at Fort Knox will be extended by about two years, thanks to gold extraction from ore previously considered uneconomic to process through the mill facility.

Fort Knox, Pogo and other Interior industrial power users could potentially benefit from natural gas development, should a pipeline ever deliver that energy source to Interior Alaska.

“The availability of natural gas has the potential to reduce electricity costs at Fort Knox and for all GVEA customers by reducing the fuel cost component of our rates,” Parr said. “However, the cost of the fuel will be highly dependent upon the means of delivery to the generators and the fees and tariffs associated with it. Until those costs are understood, it is difficult to predict the impact natural gas might have on this market.”

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USIBELLI WAITING Usibelli’s gas-exploration program is on hold. The Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy is another of Alaska’s producers that has contemplated benefits from the use of natural gas in its operation. Usibelli participated with three other partners in an exploration drill program last year in the Nenana Basin, targeting natural gas.

With partners Doyon Ltd., Arctic

Usibelli participated with three other partners in an exploration drill program last year in the Nenana Basin, targeting natural gas.

Slope Regional Corp. and Rampart Energy, Usibelli helped to fund the 2009 drilling program, estimated to cost about $15 million. Results from that drilling program have not been publicly discussed, as of mid-February.

The consortium is “currently analyzing the results to evaluate where to go from here,” Brophy said.

The coal mining company also participated in the State’s shallow-gas leasing program during the early part of the decade. When that program was terminated by the State, applicants with pending leases were allowed to convert their proposed leases over to conventional gas exploration licenses.

Usibelli applied in 2003 for shallow gas leases on 46,000 acres of State land located north and east of its existing coal mine site near Healy. The company’s application to convert that acreage to an exploration license is cur❑ rently on hold, Brophy said.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

SPORTS

An Alaska Olympics?

Let’s hear it for Anchorage 2022!

BY MARKOS N. KAMINIS

W

ith all the attention Alaska’s Canadian neighbor to the south received this February, we got to dreaming. Just what are the chances of Alaska winning an Olympics bid anyway? Furthermore, is the project even feasible enough to discuss, and how great would the endeavor be to prepare Alaska to make a viable bid? We take a hard look at Alaska’s chances at becoming at least North America’s next candidate to host the Winter Olympic Games. Assuming our state’s chances of winning the approval of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are within reach, we thought we would explore costs and benefits to a hypothetical Alaskan Olympics. Our conclusion runs counter to contemporary skeptics, and for reasons they may have overlooked, we are psyched for Anchorage 2022!

A STATE THAT ACCEPTS CHALLENGE With regard to the effort necessary to make a viable bid and to successfully host the Olympic Games, we swiftly concluded that this state has overcome much greater challenges. Building the Alaska Highway, for instance, now that was hard. Filling a few missing cogs,

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and building facilities for the Winter Game sporting events; shoring up our infrastructure; and generally preparing the area to receive a great influx of international visitors and attention; heck, that would be easy in comparison, if not fun.

Alaska has unique characteristics that capture the soul, creating an impression on prospective tourists, and IOC members alike, of a far away exotic land of ice and ocean. We have got that going for us already, plus the backing of the most developed nation in the world.

Before we can draw up a plan though, we would need to decide just whereabouts in Alaska we might put on the big show. It did not take us long to determine that Anchorage is the most viable of Alaska’s metropolitan locales.

It is the city that has the least to overcome anyway, and therefore the most to offer today. First and foremost, it is easily accessible from the outside world, as the city already serves as Alaska’s hub for statewide tourism. The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport handles a great number of flights, albeit cargo for the most part. Still, Anchorage moves about five times more people than the airports in Juneau and Fair-

banks do each year. Plus, Anchorage’s nearly 9,000 hotel, motel and bed & breakfast rooms offer a base of lodging significantly greater than Alaska’s other towns. While wonderful landscape is commonplace across Alaska, hotel accommodations and airport access is not.

So Anchorage it is!

WINNING YET? Now that she has won the primary, let’s see how well she would stand in the general election. The IOC elects host cities following a twostage process. Cities wishing to stage the Games in question become “Applicant Cities” some nine years ahead of the actual event. In a period of a year, the IOC Executive Board then selects a number of applicants to be considered “Candidate Cities.” From the group of candidates, the IOC holds a staged election process, voting several times. Finally, one city is left and chosen to be host, and the IOC and the National Olympic Committee of the candidate city’s home country form an Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) and preparations get under way.

The deadline for submitting bids

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

for the Winter Games of 2018 passed in October of 2009. Thus, the next Winter Games Anchorage could possibly bid for would be the Games of 2022. While that is quite a ways off, it only allows a few years to prepare a bid.

BUT ARE WE BIG ENOUGH? We are guessing that the argument brewing in readers’ minds against an Alaska town hosting the Olympics is going to be population size, and while Alaskan hearts are huge and our great vistas even vaster, our cities do not come close to matching the populations of recent candidates like New York, Paris, Moscow and London. However, the Winter Olympics, which are the games Alaska would obviously seek to host, are regularly bestowed upon smaller towns. For instance, Sochi, Russia, the host of the Winter Games of 2014, has a population of only 400,000. The population of Anchorage is a wet 290,588! Still based on the facts shown here, Alaska has a fighting chance.

A small town is generally going to have less than satisfactory infrastructure heading into its candidacy for the Olympics. However, Anchorage is not far from capable today. Thus, another argument against Anchorage is overcome. We do not have to build it, and trust that they will come. Anchorage only has to ensure that it will build whatever is necessary, and considering Alaska’s effort should be backed

by Uncle Sam, any question of risk should be overcome.

HOTELS READY Anchorage has significant infrastructure already in place for a solid start toward its candidacy.

The city’s 9,000 room accommodation capacity matches well enough against candidates of the past and present. The area has top-notch ski resorts, including Alyeska, which has “the right stuff” for a top-quality competition. Alyeska has already hosted the U.S. crosscountry skiing championships in 2009 and 2010. The latest Nordic meet was the final U.S. Olympic team qualifier

Winter Games

Host Population

2022 – Anchorage

290,588

2018 – Undecided (PyeongChang, S. Korea)

48,746

2014 – Sochi, Russia

400,000

2010 – Vancouver, Canada

578,041

2002 – Salt Lake City, Utah

182,000

ahead of the 2010 Olympics. The resort is no secret though, as Outside Magazine rated Alyeska one of the 16 best ski resorts in North America. That’s another positive to note for the IOC. Alyeska just got a little better, too, with the addition of its Alyeska Pipeline Super Pipe, a halfpipe that could see a disciple of Shaun White someday pull a Double McTwist 1260.

Okay, so we have established that Anchorage is Olympics capable. Let us now explore the next step, which is actually applying for candidacy. As you might have imagined, if applying were easy, everyone would do it. Still, the Olympic Committee only gets about three to eight applications per event. The same factor that limits college applications is also behind Olympic bidding limits; it’s the application fee. The IOC demands a $150,000 payment, and in an economy like today’s, that’s a hard sell without a guarantee. The 2018 Winter Games have just three candidates bidding, PyeongChang, Munich and Annecy, France. PreGames spending would not end with the application fee though, as consultants might be hired, and a wonderful Web site and professional film would be produced to pitch the city. Anchorage might also employ a public relations firm to help it win the bid.

term economic benefits, but that may be a misconception. In fact, one has to wonder if Greece’s massive 9 billion euro investment in the Summer Games of 2004 positioned it to break its back in 2010. Philip Porter, a professor of economics at the University of South Florida, authored an article with D. Fletcher on “The Economic Impact of the Olympic Games: Ex Ante Predictions and Ex Poste Reality.” He also produced a similar work on the non-impact of Super Bowls on local economies, where he found “no measurable impact on spending associated with the event.” He states, “The projected spending and spillover benefits of regional impact models never materialize.” (Porter 1999, p. 61). Porter explains that capacity constraints cause hotel room prices to increase with no change in occupancy, and that higher room rates drive out a portion of regular traffic. Thus, according to Porter, who I heard say as much on Bloomberg Radio around the time of the last Super Bowl, net spending in areas other than hotel rooms also changes little or not at all.

In Jeffrey G. Owens’ Fall 2005 article for The Industrial Geographer titled, “Estimating the Cost and Benefit of Hosting Olympic Games: What Can Beijing Expect from Its 2008 Games?” Owens argues that impact studies from recent Games prove that misconceptions drive overly optimistic economic expectations.

WORTH THE RISK?

Porter and Owens seem to weaken the case for short-term economic benefits from hosting mega-events. Still, we are not quite sure yet, especially when it involves the Winter Games, and the lowprofile towns that throw them. We have

THE WEAK LINK Is it worth it though? Let’s explore the costs and benefits of putting on the Olympic Games. It is generally thought that investments made in Games preparation establish long-

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

157

broken up potential gains into shortterm and long-term categories. While short-term benefits would normally be expected in tourism, employment, business investment and advertising spending, it looks like Porter’s argument only partly dilutes the tourism benefit, which he argues would be offset by lost local traffic. The Olympics would certainly spur job growth for construction projects, event operation and general local business support.

The long-term economic benefits that one might expect from the hosting of an Olympic Winter Games might be where Porter and Owens fall short.

The benefits include: infrastructure improvements and resulting opportunities; population growth and related local and state economic benefits; increased tourism due to lasting publicity; and greater business investment and increased conventions and events activity.

However, according to Owens, errors are commonplace in economic impact studies, and some even mislabel costs as benefits. In our assessment, we admit that “infrastructure benefits” seems to partially fall into that square.

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Owens and others also question the multiplier effect. This is when money begets money, via increased spending within the economy due to a special source, i.e. the Olympics. However, if an initial error is made in calculating direct benefits, then the multiplier becomes a magnifier of imperfection.

Owens also points out the general tendency to overlook opportunity costs in this analysis, meaning that other uses of funds are being set aside that might have offered better economic returns.

MEMORY MAKER Still, I think our readers will agree that the small towns that throw Winter Olympic Games live on in our memories for a lifetime. They become destinations we might visit some day. Can we say that Torino, Italy, was ever on anyone’s short list of places to see in Italy before the Olympics? Has not most of America had Lake Placid engrained on their minds, and if you were in New York State, might you not spend a weekend there? People are already visiting PyeongChang, South Korea, and it’s not even a host city yet.

It seems clear that the long-term benefits are the reason investing in the Winter Games works for small towns, while those same value-adds may not exist for the big, already widely known cities that throw the Summer Games.

Nobody is visiting Los Angeles, Athens or Beijing because they threw the Olympics. The brand building that Winter Game hosts gain goes a long way. Whistler was already well-known among skiers as one of the top resorts in North America, but now it is on the tip of the tongue of non-skiers as well.

Also, hosting the Winter Olympics might make Anchorage an interesting place for an American migrant, who becomes aware of it, to make his new home. Therefore, the city’s population might benefit, and so its economy would expand. The positive publicity would help the entire state’s tourism industry, n ot just Anchorage’s. The whole of the world would see what wonders the city and Alaska have to offer, and Anchorage would live on in the minds and hearts of the world for decades. So, let’s hear it for Anchorage 2022! ❑

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

A

L A S K A

BY JOEL AINSWORTH

TR

E N D S

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

The Future of Alaska Oil E

ach year, the Alaska Department of Revenue publishes its “Revenue Sources Book,” which reports the previously collected tax revenues for the State. It also projects expected revenues for the next 10 years. Alaska’s tax revenue is broken into four categories: restricted and unrestricted oil revenue, and restricted and unrestricted revenue from non-oil sources. Currently, the Alaska Department of Revenue projects revenues from oil will continue to make up at least 87 percent of the general fund over the next decade.

As part of the report, a forecast of North Slope crude oil production is provided. The graph above shows the relative percentage of crude oil production from current and future oil fields. It is displayed as three categories: fields currently producing, “under development,” and “under evaluation.” Production listed under development consists of projects being currently funded, or

awaiting approval in the immediate future. Production listed as under evaluation, are projects considered to be located in technologically viable reserves, but whose costs and risks are still being researched. In 2019, the Department of Revenue projects approximately 47 percent of crude oil production will come from ❑ developing and prospective fields.

Source: Alaska Department of Revenue, Tax Division

ALASKA TRENDS HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU THIS MONTH COURTESY OF PACIFIC PILE & MARINE

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

159

A

L A S K A

Indicator

GENERAL Personal Income – Alaska Personal Income – United States Consumer Prices – Anchorage Consumer Prices – United States Bankruptcies Alaska Total Anchorage Total Fairbanks Total EMPLOYMENT Alaska Anchorage & Mat-Su Fairbanks Southeast Gulf Coast Sectoral Distribution – Alaska Total Nonfarm Wage & Salary Goods-Producing Service-Providing Natural Resources & Mining Logging Mining Oil & Gas Extraction Construction Manufacturing Wood Products Manufacturing Seafood Processing Trade/Transportation/Utilities Wholesale Trade Retail Trade Food & Beverage Stores General Merchandise Stores Trans/Warehouse/Utilities Air Transportation Truck Transportation Information Telecommunications Financial Activities Professional & Business Svcs Educational & Health Services Health Care Leisure & Hospitality Accommodation Food Svcs & Drinking Places Other Services Government Federal Government State Government State Education Local Government Local Education Tribal Government Labor Force Alaska Anchorage & Mat-Su Fairbanks Southeast Gulf Coast

160

T

R E N D S Previous Report Period

Year Over Year Change

(revised)

Year Ago Period

29,943 12,077,636 193.456 215.935

29,943 12,077,636 193.456 215.935

29844.00 12131245.00 191.34 216.18

0.33% -0.44% 1.11% -0.11%

December December December

86 65 16

85 41 13

84 63 14

2.38% 3.17% 14.29%

Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands

December December December December December

322.76 184.54 41.01 34.49 31.65

325.88 147.12 41.41 34.49 30.00

331.09 187.82 43.52 35.45 32.47

-44.26% -1.75% -5.78% -2.69% -2.52%

Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands

December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December December

306.5 35.7 270.8 15.1 0.1 15.1 12.9 14.0 6.6 0.3 3.3 61.9 6.2 35.5 6.2 9.8 20.2 6.1 3.1 6.8 4.2 14.2 24.5 39.6 28.7 26.6 6.0 16.8 11.4 85.8 16.4 26.2 8.1 43.2 24.7 3.3

310.5 39.7 270.8 15.2 0.2 15 12.8 15 9.5 0.3 5 61.7 6.2 35.5 6.1 9.8 20 6.1 3.2 6.8 4.2 14.3 24.7 39.5 28.6 27 6.1 17 11.5 85.3 16.2 26.2 8.1 42.9 24.5 3.3

306.6 36.9 269.7 15.4 0.2 15.3 13.1 15.0 6.5 0.4 2.7 62.5 6.2 36.1 6.2 9.5 20.2 6.4 3.2 7.0 4.4 14.5 24.6 37.3 27.3 28.2 6.4 17.9 11.5 84.1 16.7 25.6 8.0 41.8 23.7 3.5

-0.03% -3.25% 0.41% -1.95% -50.00% -1.31% -1.53% -6.67% 1.54% -25.00% 22.22% -0.96% 0.00% -1.66% 0.00% 3.16% 0.00% -4.69% -3.13% -2.86% -4.55% -2.07% -0.41% 6.17% 5.13% -5.67% -6.25% -6.15% -0.87% 2.02% -1.80% 2.34% 1.25% 3.35% 4.22% -5.71%

Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands Thousands

December December December December December

354.60 199.93 44.73 38.08 36.21

355.15 199.40 44.85 37.68 36.60

358.77 200.99 46.74 38.73 36.32

-1.16% -0.53% -4.31% -1.69% -0.31%

Period

Latest Report Period

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

3rd Q09 3rd Q09 2nd H09 2nd H09

Number Filed Number Filed Number Filed

Units

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

SPONSORED

Indicator

Units

Unemployment Rate Alaska Percent Anchorage & Mat-Su Percent Fairbanks Percent Southeast Percent Gulf Coast Percent United States Percent PETROLEUM/MINING Crude Oil Production – Alaska Millions of Barrels Natural Gas Field Production – Alaska Billions of Cubic Ft. ANS West Cost Average Spot Price $ per Barrel Hughes Rig Count Alaska Active Rigs United States Active Rigs Gold Prices $ Per Troy Oz. Silver Prices $ Per Troy Oz. Zinc Prices Per Pound REAL ESTATE Anchorage Building Permit Valuations Total Millions of $ Residential Millions of $ Commercial Millions of $ Deeds of Trust Recorded Anchorage – Recording District Total Deeds Fairbanks – Recording District Total Deeds VISITOR INDUSTRY Total Air Passenger Traffic – Anchorage Thousands Total Air Passenger Traffic – Fairbanks Thousands ALASKA PERMANENT FUND Equity Millions of $ Assets Millions of $ Net Income Millions of $ Net Income – Year to Date Millions of $ Marketable Debt Securities Millions of $ Real Estate Investments Millions of $ Preferred and Common Stock Millions of $ BANKING (excludes interstate branches) Total Bank Assets – Alaska Millions of $ Cash & Balances Due Millions of $ Securities Millions of $ Net Loans and Leases Millions of $ Other Real Estate Owned Millions of $ Total Liabilities Millions of $ Total Bank Deposits – Alaska Millions of $ Noninterest-bearing deposits Millions of $ Interest- bearing deposits Millions of $ FOREIGN TRADE Value of the Dollar In Japanese Yen Yen In Canadian Dollars Canadian $ In British Pounds Pounds In European Monetary Unit Euro In Chinese Yuan Yuan

BY

PACIFIC PILE & MARINE

Period

Latest Report Period

December December December December December December

Previous Report Period

Year Over Year Change

(revised)

Year Ago Period

9.0 7.7 7.7 8.3 12.6 9.7

8.2 7.2 7.7 9.5 12.6 10

7.7 6.6 6.9 8.5 10.6 7.1

16.88% 16.67% 11.59% -2.35% 18.87% 36.62%

December December December

16.93 13.00 75.117

16.91 12.40 76.524

21.76 13.88 37.70

-22.20% -6.31% 99.25%

December December December December December

8 1172 1134.87 17.67 1.10

8 1107 1127.00 17.82 1.10

12 1782 818.02 10.29 N/A

-33.33% -34.23% 38.73% 71.83%

December December December

21.62 5.25 16.37

11.15 5.36 5.79

11.22 3.40 7.82

92.62% 54.49% 109.18%

December December

905 305

893 312

783 180

15.58% 69.44%

December December

450.75 85.70

317.39 67.90

358.55 70.38

25.72% 21.76%

December December December December December December December

34617.9 34706.0 106.6 515.5 (130.8) 7.5 473.7

34037.1 34171.2 62.1 911.2 78.5 6.9 739.8

28839.5 29291.7 -158.1 756.6 339.7 21.2 386.6

20.04% 18.48% 167.43% -31.87% -138.50% -64.62% 22.53%

3rd Q09 3rd Q09 3rd Q09 3rd Q09 3rd Q09 3rd Q09 3rd Q09 3rd Q09 3rd Q09

1,924.56 42.13 93.50 1,183.18 13.28 1,687.97 1,658.77 429.20 1,229.57

1,924.56 42.13 93.50 1,183.18 13.28 1,687.97 1,658.77 429.20 1,229.57

1953.70 48.62 84.94 1202.89 14.17 1739.91 1658.29 417.74 1240.54

-1.49% -13.35% 10.09% -1.64% -6.32% -2.99% 0.03% 2.74% -0.88%

December December December December December

89.78 1.06 0.62 0.68 6.83

89.24 1.06 0.60 0.67 6.83

91.30 1.24 0.67 0.74 6.85

-1.66% -14.54% -8.33% -7.93% -0.40%

Data compiled by University of Alaska Center for Economic Development.

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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ADVERTISERS INDEX AES Employment Services Inc.. . . . . . . . . 119

Delta Leasing LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Olgoonik Development Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Ahtna Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Design Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

OPTI Staffing Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Alaska Aggregate Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Dimond Center Hotel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Pacific Alaska Freightways . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Alaska Air Cargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Dowland-Bach Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Pacific Pile & Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Alaska Cover-All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Doyon Ltd.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Parker Smith Feek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Alaska Housing Finance Corp. . . . . . . . . . . 84

Dynamic Properties-Matthew Fink . . . . . . . 52

Peak Oilfield Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Alaska Interstate Construction LLC . . . . . 113

Eklutna Native Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Pen Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Alaska Mechanical Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

ERA Alaska. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

People Mover/Share-a-Ride . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Alaska Public Telecommunication. . . . . . . . 24

ExxonMobil Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Personnel Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Alaska Regional Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Polar Supply Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Alaska Sales and Service Fleet Elite . . . . . 13

Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc. dba Kinross Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Alaska USA Federal Credit Union. . . . . . . 137

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. . . . . . . . . . . 143

Richmond Steel Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

American Marine/PENCO. . . . . . . . . . . .8 - 10

Fairweather LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Rosie’s Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

First National Bank Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Scan Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Floyd and Sons Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Sealaska Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Anchorage Senior Activities Center . . . . . . 55

GCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Seekins Ford Lincoln Mercury Fleet . . . . . 112

Arctic Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Granite Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 & 123

Span Alaska Consolidators. . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Arctic Office Products (Machines). . . . . . . . 89

Great Originals Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

State of Alaska Department of Revenue. . . 54

Arctic Slope Telephone Association . . . . . . 96

Horizon Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Stellar Designs Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

ASRC Energy Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Hotel Captain Cook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Sundog Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

AT&T Alascom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

International Data Systems Inc. . . . . . . . . . 54

Susitna Energy Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

B2 Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

J.S. Redpath Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

TecPro Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Bering Straits Native Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Jens’ Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

The Growth Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Bill Z Photography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Judy Patrick Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

The Superior Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Bowhead Transport Co. LLC . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Junior Achievement of Alaska. . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Tatitlek Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Brice Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Kenai Peninsula College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Tobacco Prevention Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Bristol Bay Native Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Land’s End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Tongass Substance Testing. . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Calista Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP. . . . . . . . . . 79

Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Carlile Transportation Systems . . . . . . . . . . 73

Lynden Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Umiaq LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Certified Residential Specialist . . . . . . . . . . 71

Mia Costello for State House . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Unit Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Chandler Corp./Puffin Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Mikunda Cottrell & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

University of Alaska Southeast . . . . . . . . . . 23

Chenega Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Moss Adams LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Chiulista Services Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Muzak - Sound Tech LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

University of Alaska Statewide Corporate Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Chris Arend Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

NCB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Usibelli Coal Mine Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Colville Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Nenana Heating Services Inc.. . . . . . . . . . 117

Valley Saw Mill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Construction Machinery Industrial LLC. . . 163

New York Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Volunteer Protection Program . . . . . . . . . . 129

Corporate Council on the Environment. . . . 83

North Star Behavioral Health . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Washington Crane and Hoist . . . . . . . . . . 114

Credit Union 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Northern Air Cargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 & 39

Wells Fargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Crowley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Northwest Ironworkers Employers Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

West-Mark Service Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Cruz Construction Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

162

Princess Tours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

XTO Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • April 2010

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Information contained in this document is subject to change. Expiration date 6/30/10. © 2010 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC.