he legal industry consists of services providing legal advice, assistance, or representation; notarial activities; and research in criminal and civil litigation. Some firms focus exclusively on drawing up legal documents and advising clients on legal transactions. Many lawyers based in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau specialize more narrowly in just a few legal disciplines, while those based in rural Alaska often practice more broadly in several areas of the law. Nationally, only 3 percent of civil cases go to trial, so alternative dispute resolution methods—such as mitigation or arbitration, where parties work to reach a mutually agreeable solution to their differences—have become a growing sector for active and retired lawyers.

lthough businesses are capitalizing on cloud-based solutions to enhance their operations, the interconnectedness of the cloud creates unique security risks. Therefore, companies must implement effective cloud security strategies to protect the sensitive and private data—especially health information, personally identifiable data, and payment card information—they have stored online.

“Unauthorized access can lead to data breaches, compromising sensitive information and damaging the integrity of the business,” says Chad Alessi, a solutions architect with New York-based Computer Task Group (CTG) who works for the company’s Alaska office remotely from Katy, Texas. “By implementing robust security measures and staying proactive in addressing vulnerabilities, businesses can safeguard their sensitive data, maintain uninterrupted operations, and uphold the trust of their customers and stakeholders.”

n 1971 the iPhone, Facebook, and Tesla were not yet a glint in a designer’s eye. However, there was one innovation that created a new form of self-determination for Alaska Native people.

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) formed Alaska Native corporations that are responsible for the social, cultural, and economic well-being of the Alaska Native people from their ancestral homelands. The groundbreaking act created socially conscious, shareholder-owned corporations designed from the start to focus on serving the needs of their people rather than growing a stock price.

Aligned with this mission and similar to other shareholder-owned corporations, ANCSA required that Alaska Native corporations keep shareholders apprised of company business.

Although the Meetings and Conventions field is closely tied to the tourism industry, this section focuses mainly on business conferences, trade shows, professional trainings, or academic symposiums: how to host them and how to get the most out of attending them.

Before digging into the agenda, be advised that some extra material outside of this section might be of interest. “Open Lines of Communication” samples some of the communications channels, including in-person meetings, that connect Alaska Native corporations to their shareholders.

Within this section, breakouts are designed to be visited in any order. “Explore Fairbanks Pulls Off Bucket-list Conference” is a first-hand report of a travel journalism conference in Fairbanks that was–get this–written by a travel journalist. “Seeing Eye to Eye” is about how to choose an in-person venue, especially for smaller single-table conferences, and “Voices on Stage” gives advice about planning an agenda and selecting speakers. In “Party Pros,” meet the special vendors who add enjoyment to an otherwise stuffy affair; learn how that enjoyment, far from frivolous, is crucial to the communicative purpose of the event. And please take home some “Sustainable Swag,” using the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference as an example.

Registration badges can be reused for the next event, so please deposit them at the Table of Contents on the way out to the front cover.

Arctic Encounter was founded in 2013 when Rachel Kallander, a Cordova native, was studying law in Seattle and participated in an Arctic science mission. Recognizing how issues affecting the North impact the world, she organized the Arctic Encounter Symposium to shine a light on the challenges facing the Arctic and develop solutions to solve them. The flagship three-day event has grown into the largest Arctic policy event in North America and is held in Anchorage by Kallander and her Alaska-based team, including managing director Jackson Blackwell and program fellow Kristi Nguyen. In 2023, nearly a thousand people from fifteen different countries gathered to provide a voice and platform for Arctic policy, inspiring change for the future.

Image: Jackson Blackwell, Rachel Kallander, Kristi Nguyen, Meeting Champions

verwhelmingly, employers and employees agree that in-person meetings are important for collaboration, improved relationships, production, and communication.

Within Alaska, it is common to hold a meeting in a location away from your office. This provides a way to assemble a work team, introduce new members in person, assist with building interpersonal networks, and strengthen relationships.

Small and home businesses, entrepreneurs, freelancers, community leaders, and even businesses located out of town that want to hold an in-person meeting to help grow their business have a variety of venue options. Hotels, event centers, and other professional meeting room spaces have traditionally provided meeting spaces, but they may not be a viable option depending on cost or availability. Coworking conference rooms and open spaces can fill the meeting room gap, accommodating a variety of in-person meeting needs.

he majority of North Slope infrastructure is financed, constructed, and maintained by private entities to support their oil exploration and production activities. Despite North Slope explorers and operators always having an eye on efficiency, some infrastructure (such as processing facilities) isn’t well suited for sharing among multiple companies. However, other infrastructure does lend itself to common use, such as roads and pipelines, including a notably iconic pipeline: the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS).

lying is magical in a way that a century of air travel has not quite diminished. Pasha Saleh, head of corporate development for Alaska Airlines, appreciates the prestige.

“I started off as a regional pilot for almost a decade, so the idea of regional aviation is really exciting,” Saleh says. “The vast majority of traffic in America goes to something like 300 or 400 airports, but there are 5,000 airports in America. If you could bring those back to life again with sustainable flights, I personally get really excited about that.”

The magic of aviation comes at a price that makes it, at present, unsustainable. A jet flight, depending on distance, might emit as much greenhouse gas per traveler as the entire annual carbon footprint of a single person living in more than one-fourth of the world’s countries. Frequent flyers rack up double, triple, or ten times the emissions.

ommunity pharmacies are the most visible representation of the healthcare system at work. Drugstore chains, including those found in grocery stores, are easily recognizable, although independent pharmacies also have locations inside other health-related facilities like clinics or hospitals. Pharmacists regularly interact with customers who are picking up prescriptions, and they respond to inquiries about over-the-counter medicines and symptoms. In Alaska, pharmacists are recognized as a highly trained medical profession, though this is not the case nationwide. This lack of recognition can create difficulties providing medical services to those who need it most.

or many people, one of the best aspects about Alaska is the incredible amount of adventures and excursions that are available in the state. Businesses in the Great Land offer an unending number of unique and exciting opportunities to see and experience this place we call home.

To balance the wants of a business to provide the activity with limited liability against the participants’ desire to engage in an activity that has known inherent risks, in 2001 the Alaska Legislature enacted a law that would limit the liability for Alaska businesses that engage in risk-laden activities. People who choose to willingly participate in these outings accept the risks as part of the adventure. The statute includes the following language…

What charity or cause are you passionate about?
The Conservation Alliance.

What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
Pour a glass of wine with my boyfriend, Brad, and we do a garden walk… Tour the garden and see what sprouted.

What vacation spot is on your bucket list?
Portugal.

If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
Definitely a fox.

uccess is in the bag for Heather Kelly. Literally, her Heather’s Choice brand of dehydrated foods, packaged in handy pouches, is distributed nationally at REI. As CEO of the multi-million-dollar company she founded in 2014, Kelly oversees a staff of sixteen at her Anchorage kitchen and warehouse, and her team’s happiness makes her most proud. “That’s something that I didn’t see coming as I was building Heather’s Choice out of the back of my pickup truck,” she says.

Yet her path seems inevitable. A national champion collegiate rower, Kelly worked as a rafting guide in Colorado before returning home to Alaska. She applied her studies in sports nutrition to her outdoor recreation needs, creating portable, wholesome meals (bestsellers include buckwheat breakfasts, bison chili, and salmon chowder). “The fact that we have a lightweight, shelf-stable product that can be shipped all across the country is a huge benefit to us,” she observes.