eather conditions in Deadhorse make it the ideal setting for the US military’s winter readiness tests. And the Deadhorse Aviation Center (DAC) is the perfect base of operations.

“We have the infrastructure and support staff to help them out,” says Timothy Cudney, who has served as director of the DAC since 2013. “We have the hangars and the meals; we’ve had times where we’ve had 150 soldiers sleeping on the floor in the hangar, with the command team in the regular DAC offices and accommodations.”

Cudney says the military exercises take place every other year, and next month will be the fourth he’s seen since he came onboard. The military sends a staff of roughly 50 to Deadhorse ahead of the exercise to set up, with DAC staff on standby to assist as needed.

ou may be wondering: When is 5G coming to Alaska and how will it change my connectivity—and life? Well, the wait is winding down. The foundation of 5G is being laid, and Alaskans will soon be able to experience the benefits of this advanced technology, according to the state’s providers.

Last summer GCI partnered with multinational networking and telecom company Ericsson to build the nation’s northernmost 5G network in Anchorage. GCI is merging its metro fiber network and radio spectrum holdings with Ericsson’s technology to deliver Alaska’s first standards-based 5G new radio (NR) experience. More specifically, GCI is deploying Ericsson’s 3rd Generation Partnership Project standards-based 5G NR hardware and software to about eighty macro cell sites across Anchorage, according to a June news release. These sites will be supported by backhaul services provided by GCI’s metro fiber network. The project will be complete in 2020, with initial 5G service coming online during the first half of the year.

he cautious optimism with which economists approached Alaska’s 2019 economy turned out to be well-founded, with most experts indicating that the Last Frontier has turned the corner and in 2020 will claw its way out of the recession that followed tumbling oil prices several years ago. However, the recovery is not expected to be uniform, as Anchorage remains in recession and many of the impacts of the state’s budget cuts have yet to play out.

“The most recent macro-economic indicators show Alaska’s economy has begun to grow again and add jobs. In the near-term, there is concern over the effect of state government budget cuts,” Northrim Bank EVP, Chief Credit Officer, and Bank Economist Mark Edwards says. “However, there is renewed optimism in the private sector that a number of large-scale natural resource development projects are advancing and new discoveries of oil and gas are increasing investment activity for exploration and development.”

t was a long and hard-fought battle, but when Alaska’s state budget for FY2020 was finally approved this past August, things weren’t quite as grim as they at first seemed. Still, there were some major cuts—the budget for FY2020, which began on July 1, 2019, was $390 million below the previous year’s approved funding, with spending on capital projects down from $168 million in FY2019 to $144.3 million in FY2020.

The good news is that the majority of construction projects that take place in the 49th State are financed by federal funds; the bad news is that the state’s general fund, which is used to provide matching money to move these projects forward, has been reduced. The general fund is Alaska’s major source of discretionary funding and can be used to pay for government operations, basic services, and capital improvements. While most Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) projects are federally funded, the state is still required to provide matching funds of around 9 to 10 percent.

mid historically low unemployment rates, companies nationwide are struggling to attract and retain qualified employees. And the problem seems to be exacerbated in Alaska by a population smaller than many cities and a declining pool of viable workers.

Consequently, Alaska companies must be even more resourceful in their efforts to acquire and keep employees who are qualified—and a good fit for their business. Aside from offering a competitive salary and benefits as key inducements, employers can also use less obvious lures to appeal to workers’ broader desires—flexibility, professional development, bonuses, and other enticements can all help set a business apart. While incentives can’t resolve labor shortages, they can make employers more competitive in the current job seekers’ market.

oin Junior Achievement for the 33rd annual Alaska Business Hall of Fame, an event that celebrates the past, present, and future of business in Alaska. In 1987, Junior Achievement (JA) began the Alaska Business Hall of Fame to honor outstanding individual leaders of Alaska business. Since then the Alaska Business Hall of Fame has become one of the state’s most prestigious events, inducting new laureates on an annual basis. These individuals are honored for their direct impact toward furthering the success of Alaska businesses, support for JA’s mission and programs, and commitment to contributing to the Alaska economy.

ack Amon and Richard “Van” Hale opened the doors of the Marx Bros. Café on October 18, 1979; however, the two had already been partners in cuisine for some time, having created the Wednesday Night Gourmet Wine Tasting Society and Volleyball Team Which Now Meets on Sunday, a weekly evening of food and wine. It was actually the end of the weekly event that spurred the name of the restaurant: hours after its final service, Amon and Hale were hauling equipment and furnishings out of their old location and to their now-iconic building on Third Street, all while managing arguments about equipment ownership, a visit from the police, and quite a bit of wine. “If you’ve ever seen the movie ‘A Night at the Opera” starring the Marx Brothers, that’s what it was like,” Hale explains.

“It was a big storm here at the beginning,” Amon says, but that storm laid the foundation for a decades-long partnership. “The strength of our partnership is we’ve both really committed to the same vision of the kind of restaurant we want to have and the kind of experience we want to provide… We’ve been really transparent with each other, and we both know where all the money is. I think that after forty years, we’ve managed to work a few things out,” he laughs.

r. Deena Bishop is being honored as the Junior Achievement (JA) of Alaska Educator of the Year for her outstanding support of community partnerships, JA’s experiential programs, and emphasizing career readiness for students. “Dr. Bishop’s hands-on approach to leadership is admirable, and her commitment to delivering the best education to Anchorage students every day is outstanding. Strong, collaborative partnerships between the business community and schools are important for students,” says JA President Flora Teo.

orn and raised in New York City, David Lawer came to Alaska in 1971 to work on a construction crew to help pay his way through college and law school. After graduating from law school, he returned to Alaska and in late 1976 entered private practice law in Anchorage.

att Brown has been selected as the Junior Achievement (JA) of Alaska Volunteer of the Year for his outstanding support of JA in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. “Volunteers like Matt allow JA to reach students that we normally would not be able to serve in Alaska. The dedication that he and his team in Kenai have to promoting K-12 financial literacy, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship in schools is a priceless investment in our youth and takes many hours of dedication and hard work,” says JA President Flora Teo.

how up on time and work hard with a good attitude,” is the advice that has guided Aaron Schutt from his first job at Fast Eddie’s Restaurant in Tok through his career path to today as president and CEO of Doyon.

“I’ve changed career paths and education paths so many times. Through all of that it’s about knowing you can be successful if you work hard and spend the time to find people to help you,” says Schutt.

he Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was passed in 1971, establishing 12 regional corporations and more than 200 village corporations throughout the state. And while the act required that regional corporations and village corporations share possession of their traditional lands and the resources harvested from them, a number of these entities have chosen to partner in other ways as well.

In some cases, regional corporations have provided education and training to members of village corporations so that they could gain ground in specific business areas, such as the federal contracting arena. Other times, they have assisted village corporations when their communities were in need or when they required the support or backing of an entity with more resources. Working together, both types of corporations provide scholarships to shareholders and their descendants and job opportunities through shareholder hire programs.

haring revenues from natural resource development is one of the core tenets of ANCSA, which granted village corporations the surface rights and regional corporations the subsurface rights to the lands that were conveyed to them in the agreement.

Revenue sharing requirements have enhanced cooperation between the village and regional corporations that own the 44 million acres that were transferred by the federal government through ANCSA and has created opportunities for economic growth for those organizations and the regions and villages they serve.

limate change is putting additional pressure on the already complex, yet vital, role geotechnical engineers play in the Last Frontier’s mining industry. It is an issue the engineering community is working to address according to HDL Geotechnical Services Manager Doug P. Simon.

"We are often designing projects that we hope will last for decades, and climate predictions are estimates at best with no one knowing for certain what the climate will look like in ten years, let alone decades from now," says Simon. "Geotechnical engineers need to stay informed about the latest information on the climate predictions and how to incorporate the uncertainties into designs.”

ccording to Setting the Bar for Global LNG Cost Competitiveness, published in October by McKinsey & Company, a global market intelligence and analytics group focused on the energy sector, “By 2035, global liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand is expected to increase to between 560 million metric tonnes per year (MTPA) and 600 MTPA, up from 315 MTPA in 2018.” But that looming demand is no secret. From October 2018 to October 2019, eight LNG projects have reached a final investment decision (FID), boosting available supply by 84 MTPA, and “this capacity addition is expected to prolong excess supply in the global LNG market into the late 2020s, well beyond the 2022-2023 forecast of just a year ago. However, the Qatar North Field LNG Expansion—the world’s most cost-competitive source of LNG, expected to add a further 33 MTPA of supply—may, depending on its construction start date, extend the expected period of oversupply by a couple of years.

he Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) provides Alaskans with an opportunity to get off the beaten path with the Remote Recreational Cabin Sites (RRCS) program, which offers state land for private ownership in remote areas of the state.

But before Alaskans can begin building the cabin of their dreams, a lot needs to happen.

DNR Resource Specialist Justin Wholey says the first step requires DNR staff to research and identify potential staking areas, after which the public is given a chance to comment on the chosen areas. Once the public comment period closes, the director’s office chooses which staking areas to approve.

nowmachining is a truly exciting way to experience Alaska’s backcountry with its towering mountain peaks silhouetted against an immense expanse of sky; unmatchable shades of blue captured in glacial ice; and networks of trails winding through thick forests and over frozen lakes. There is a rewarding exhaustion that comes from many miles covered in a day filled with sights that can only be seen by snowmachine—one that Derek Ruckel and Amanda Clayton of Alaska Wild Guides of Girdwood know well.

Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center, Anchorage: Four new Alaskans will be inducted and recognized with this prestigious award. Attended by more than four hundred business representations, the program consists of a networking reception, dinner, and awards ceremony.
juniorachievement.org

Dena’ina Center, Anchorage: The mission of the Alaska Staff Development Network is to improve student achievement by providing researched-based online learning and face-to-face professional development programs for Alaska’s teachers and school administrators.
asdn.org/2020-alaska-rti-mtss-effective-instruction-conference/

Shake off the winter blues by checking out Kid Fest, a three-day event packed with kid-friendly fun. Kids and parents alike will enjoy exciting games, inflatables, laser tag, mini golf, and great food at the Carlson Center.
kidfestak.org

The university also received a five-year, $16 million grant to expand UAF’s Biomedical Learning and Student Training program, which engages students in biomedical research.
uaf.edu

oe Schierhorn is the chairman, president, and CEO of Northrim Bank. He stepped into the role of president and CEO in June 2017 after a long career at Northrim that started in 1990 when he was hired as vice president, commercial loan officer, and regulatory compliance manager. “One of the things that attracted me to the finance industry was the ability to deal with people,” Schierhorn says, which is his favorite part of his daily work. “As the bank has grown, so many of our customers too have grown… [and I’ve] developed strong personal relationships with a number of customers over almost a thirty-year time period. I really like developing long-term relationships.”