Koniag is excited to welcome TecPro to its Energy and Water business sector. Based in Anchorage, TecPro is a well-established industrial electrical and security services provider whose clients and projects span Alaska, the Lower 48, and Hawai’i. Koniag Chairman and CEO Ron Unger says, “TecPro has an experienced, knowledgeable staff and has a history of winning valuable contracts in Alaska and across the Pacific Northwest. With TecPro’s addition to the Koniag family, we can continue to grow and diversify in pursuit of our mission—continually increasing benefits and opportunities for our Shareholders.” TecPro will join Dowland-Bach, Glacier Services, Big G Electric & Engineering, and newly acquired Great Northern Engineering in Koniag’s Energy and Water sector.
koniag.com

Trihydro Corporation has completed the acquisition of California-based consulting firm Jacobson James & Associates (JJ&A). The acquisition diversifies and broadens Trihydro’s market presence and enhances the firm’s ability to better serve its West Coast and national client base with expanded resources and expertise. With similar solutions-focused cultures, both companies are committed to serving as trusted advisors when partnering with clients on projects. In addition to enhancing Trihydro’s core service areas of complex environmental clean-up, stormwater, hazardous materials management, and natural resource permitting, JJ&A strengthens Trihydro’s regulatory planning and strategy services and adds new areas of expertise to the team, such as forest resiliency planning, biomass management, and post-fire stabilization and restoration.
trihydro.com | jacobsonjames.com

Engineering News Record ranked R&M Consultants at #484 on their 2021 Top 500 Design Firms List. R&M is the only fully Alaska-based firm represented. “The real challenge in 2020 was how to help our employees navigate through the change and stress of the pandemic,” says Len Story, R&M’s CEO. “Thankfully, we have created a team that was able to adapt quickly, effectively, and worked hard at finding the right balance between work and life. Our team’s collaboration and support for each other was truly something special, and under these circumstances, we ended up having one of our best years ever.” R&M closed 2020 with a revenue of $25.5 million. Projects consisted mainly of transportation improvements, rounded out with work in the general building, water supply, and sewer/waste sectors.
rmconsult.com

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has released its first-ever children’s book entirely in the Haida language, x̅aad Kíl. The book, Nang Jáadaa Sgáana ‘Láanaa aa Isdáayaan, or The Woman Carried Away by Killer Whales in English, is part of SHI’s award-winning Baby Raven Reads program.

The traditional Haida story features a hunter who successfully hunts a sea otter and forgets to thank the otter for its life. When he gifts the otter to his wife, it comes back to life and swims away. She jumps in after it and is captured by the SGaan, the killer whales. An adventurous rescue begins. “The story is so ancient but we are still telling it today. The power of oral tradition is infinite,” says Janine Gibbons, Haida artist and illustrator of the book.
sealaskaheritage.org

Alaska Pacific University (APU) has chosen to become a test-blind school and will no longer consider standardized test scores when determining undergraduate admissions or merit-based scholarships. APU is the first university in Alaska to implement this change in procedure. The decision continues the university’s mission to expand equity and access initiatives for all students. As a test-blind university, the APU Admissions office will take a more holistic and meaningful approach to each applicant by prioritizing their experiences and goals in place of test scores. Scholarship consideration will follow a similar procedure, offering students equal access to an affordable education.
alaskapacific.edu