I’ve contributed to the Best of Alaska Business (BOAB) awards and special section since we launched them in 2016. Somehow, every year feels almost like I’ve never done it before. Part of that, I’m sure, is because we’ve only done it six times, with year-long breaks in between.

But even with that factored in, there’s something about BOAB that demands, over and over again, that we reconsider what we’ve done and how it can be better—to nerd out for a moment, this end-of-dungeon boss hasn’t quite revealed its final form.

Maybe it’s because we partner with a new local artist for the cover every year, which drives us to find better ways to celebrate them and their work. Maybe it’s because we reexamine the categories year after year, being open to the idea of changing what they are and how many we have.

And maybe it’s because, even when we make those decisions, it just leads to more questions. If we add categories without removing any—so we can celebrate more companies—do we expand the section or reduce the word count? Or include fewer photos? Or perhaps more photos and a significantly smaller word count? No words? Maybe giant words and tiny pictures… (don’t worry, Art Director Monica Sterchi-Lowman would never allow it).

We want every company listed in the BOAB special section to know that they are there because our readers told us they should be. That’s something special, so the question of how we best represent them is important, to the point that we can’t help but revisit it.

But deadlines happen regardless, and we make the best choices we can without running into them face first.

Maybe one day we’ll wrap up the July magazine, send it to the printer, and think: “We got it. It’s figured out.” I suspect that won’t be the case. It’s more likely that we will be driven again and again to find a perfection that perhaps doesn’t exist. We won’t know until we try all the good options, and there are many, many more good ideas that we would love to find a way to implement.

For 2022, we’re publishing more categories than we ever have, and we’ve included additional reader favorites in almost every one. We’ve added editorial content other than the listings to enrich the section and give you even more insight into a few of the excellent businesses we have the privilege to cover. And, as you’ve already seen, we’ve partnered with an astounding local artist, Sarah Glaser, who delivered a cover that captures the energy and contentment of a fabulous Alaska summer. No improvement is needed there.