From the Editor

The Corporate 100 — Keeping Alaska Employed
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he Corporate 100 is our chance to recognize and celebrate the companies that keep Alaskans working in good times and bad. The companies themselves are important to the health of our economy, but it’s the employees that really keep us all going. This marks the second year of many to come that we feature one of an organization’s longest-running employees—this year the amazing Bev Crum, ER Nurse Manager for the Emergency Department at PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center—while giving some insight into how a company manages to retain quality employees like Crum for decades and decades (in this case, four of them).

Along with a directory of the state’s largest employers, we profile three organizations that qualified for the Corporate 100 list to learn about what they look for in an employee, the ways they show their staff appreciation, and how they give back to the community. It’s not enough just to employ people—to be truly successful at running a company of any size, employees have to be happy, healthy, and fulfilled. The companies we profile in the Corporate 100 Special Section starting on page 26 have found a formula that works for them, their employees, and their communities.

Kathryn Mackenzie

Kathryn Mackenzie
Managing Editor, Alaska Business

The companies themselves are important to the health of our economy, but it’s the employees that really keep us all going.
At a time when many of the industries that form the backbone of Alaska’s job market are rebounding from several rough years and beginning to fill positions again, knowing who to hire, how to teach new-hires about the company’s culture, and retaining those employees long-term becomes increasingly important.

This year the Alaska Business Corporate 100 reported they employ more than 73,740 people in Alaska. The same companies employ roughly 2.3 million people worldwide. Trident Seafoods has the most Alaskan employees, reporting 4,941 in 2018. It’s companies like Trident Seafoods and all of the Corporate 100 that have helped reduce Alaska’s unemployment rate from 7.3 percent last year at this time to 6.5 percent as of January, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. While that’s higher than the national unemployment rate, it still helps bolster the largely-held notion that Alaska is finally leaving the bad times behind and looking forward to a better, brighter future.

Of course, April at Alaska Business is largely about the Corporate 100, but we couldn’t stop there. In this issue we talk about new methods of manufacturing, including the exciting world of 3D printing; take a look at how our tourism industry is performing from a tourist’s perspective; and offer you the opportunity to get to know Littler Mendelson Shareholder Renea Saade a little better in Off the Cuff.

Congratulations to every company on the Corporate 100 list that has worked so hard to keep Alaska employed. We’re thrilled to honor you in this issue of Alaska Business.