hat do an ammunition delivery service, an indoor playground, and a fantasy-themed event planner have in common? Two things: they started business in 2024, and all three quickly earned enough fans to be voted Best Startup. This year’s best startup businesses all found unexpected ways to tap into community among their clientele.

From a single pallet of ammunition, James and Meredith Lewis built 907 Ammo, Alaska’s first online ammo delivery service.

The couple—both former military and competitive shooters—had been talking about the idea since 2012, when James found himself dashing from one local retailer to another, last minute, trying to locate the bullets he needed for his first Alaska hunting season. He’d been used to life in the Lower 48, where he could hop online, order what he needed, and have nearly any ammunition delivered to his doorstep.

“You can’t just order from Lower 48 stores and have it delivered to Alaska,” he explains. “There’s too many regulations—and that’s created an opportunity for us to do this business.”

Once those regulations were ironed out, the Lewises envisioned a convenient and cheaper way for Alaskans to get their ammunition. By foregoing a retail space, they could pass the savings on to their customers. And Alaskans—who had by 2024 gotten used to Uber, Instacart, and quicker Amazon deliveries—would likely welcome the convenience of ammunition delivered directly to them.

To get 907 Ammo rolling, James initially ordered a single pallet of ammunition that cost him a couple thousand dollars. The expense was a great motivator to commit to the enterprise; so was the fact that, once it arrived, the pallet took up most of the space in the couple’s garage. “Every day we looked at it, and it was an inconvenience—so we had to figure out how to get this business going,” James says.

The Lewises quickly built a website that initially offered just eight products. The very first day the site went live, they received their first order for a caliber of ammunition that happened to be packed in the middle of the pallet.

“We were sweating, trying to get in there, then get it off to delivery for the first time,” James describes. “I remember standing at the shipper’s office until seven on a Friday night, trying to get this first order out the door, because that’s your first impression.”

That first order got to its destination—and earned 907 Ammo its first loyal customer, a client who still buys from the business today.

In just a year, demand for what 907 Ammo can deliver has sparked fast growth: That early website now offers more than 500 different products. Beyond convenience and cost, the business also offers a unique variety of ammunition, bringing brands up from the Lower 48 that have never been available in Alaska before.

The Lewises also depend on partnerships with local retailers. In addition to carrying the full product line from 49th Cartridge Company, 907 Ammo works with the Fairbanks-based vendor to develop specialized ammunition for their customers’ specialized needs.

“Alaskans love supporting small businesses, and the small business community has been really supportive to us, as well,” says Meredith.

For some customers, 907 Ammo seems almost too good to be true. “You get the odd person now and again who’s like, ‘Are you real?’” Meredith shares. “Alaskans also seem to want to meet people face to face; they want to come see the warehouse.”

Although 907 Ammo is primarily a delivery service, the Lewises do offer pickup at their no-frills warehouse, especially for rural Alaskans, who can call ahead and ask for an order to be held until they fly in. The couple is still working out the logistics of offering delivery in places off the road system, but for now, they have been managing two-day delivery anywhere from Homer to Fairbanks, as long as an order is placed by 2 p.m.

“There’s a lot of interest and a lot of demand, especially from folks in communities where they’re subsistence hunting,” James says. “It feels really good, considering the blood, sweat, and tears we’ve put into this. It’s very validating that Alaskans want and need this, and we can serve them.”

Rain means a boost in business for Alaa Sheikh. When unexpected rain hit Anchorage on a Monday this May, the co-owner of Play Palace rescheduled an interview she had on the calendar. “I didn’t realize we’d get rain,” she explains. “It’s always busier here when the weather is bad.”

The following day, the sun was out—but that didn’t mean Sheikh got a break. Anytime she and her business partner, Rebecca Samuel, aren’t welcoming children to the indoor playground, they’re busy giving it a deep clean. To keep Play Palace safe and sanitary for the kids who use it, Sheikh and Samuel do wipe-downs every 90 minutes, plus deep cleans each night.

And they do it all themselves. Just a little over a year in business, the partners are focused on saving their profit and reinvesting it into purchasing new playground equipment and offering new experiences to their clientele. Right now, it’s manageable for a two-person team—although Sheikh admits it can be a lot of work, especially because she plans to go back to school this fall.

At 23, Sheikh never imagined she’d be running her own children’s entertainment business. She and Samuel had been saving money for more than two years with the idea of buying and renting out a fourplex when they pivoted on their business plan.

“It was a connection that happened when we were on vacation,” Sheikh recalls. “In Arizona, they have really cool indoor playgrounds. We put two and two together, and we’re like, okay, this is something we can do.”

Sheikh was researching play equipment and calling potential rental spaces before she’d even returned to Anchorage from vacation.

While it’s not the first indoor playground in Anchorage, Play Palace’s business model offers a unique and convenient alternative for parents looking to occupy their little ones. Its location at the Midtown Mall means families can take a break while shopping to let kids expel some energy in a safe, clean, and fun environment.

Play Palace offers a variety of toys, games, and equipment to engage children of all ages. While everything is designed with kids in mind, Sheikh points out that accompanying teens and even adults enjoy the playground too.

“What’s funny is, I often see the adults playing here. We have a giant Connect Four game and a giant Tetris, and the adults and older kids just love that,” she says.

Although Sheikh and Samuel worked hard to source the right equipment for their playground, Sheikh says Play Palace’s success isn’t really about the toys or even the space. It’s about the experience.

“It’s about how you make people feel when they come in, how you treat them, and what type of vibes you’re putting out.”

Play Palace’s “vibe” is community minded. In addition to revenue-generating events, Sheikh and Samuel regularly do giveaways of free playtime through their Facebook page. This summer, they plan to use a portion of their sales to provide food for the homeless population in their area.

Since opening, Play Palace has expanded to hosting birthday parties and pop-up events, with appearances by costumed characters, like Bluey and Bingo from the ABC Kids show Bluey or the pups from Paw Patrol. Sheikh and Samuel throw events just for kids, as well: dance parties, slime parties, and build-your-own-ice-cream-sundae parties. They even had a kid-friendly New Year’s Eve balloon drop.

“We’re just trying to create space that’s unique and different and just for kids,” Sheikh says.

It’s clearly something families are craving: Play Palace now has families who come by regularly and hype the business through word of mouth. Best of Alaska Business voters also ranked Play Palace as one of the Best Indoor Recreation Activities—above trampoline parks, climbing gyms, and game arcades—and having the Best Customer Service on par with First National Bank Alaska and Credit Union 1. A triple winner in its first year. It’s exciting, Sheikh shares, to know customers voted for Play Palace as one of 2024’s best startup businesses because it means people believe in what she’s doing.

Last year, Brianna Cotter logged into Facebook to check RSVPs for a party she was organizing. Initially meant as a book-themed celebration for some friends’ birthdays, the event had shifted to an excuse to dress up and have a fun time with whomever wanted to buy tickets.

Suddenly, more than 600 people were interested in attending.

“I did not expect it!” Cotter says. “I went from [having] a fun little social dinner for six or seven girls to having hundreds of people wanting to come and dress up and pay to be part of this event.”

Cotter immediately went into planning mode—and found herself unexpectedly launching Alaska Enchanted Events, an event organizing business that specializes in “magical experiences” inspired by popular fantasy books.

Her first event—the one that was supposed to be a few friends glamming up and chatting about their favorite book series—was held in October 2024 at the Hilton Anchorage, a venue Cotter had to secure when the attendee headcount climbed into the hundreds. The Alaska Starfall Ball took its inspiration from the popular Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas and featured a cast of actors who embodied characters based on the ones Alaska’s fantasy readers had fallen in love with.

“It’s something so many of us have in common, this love for books,” Cotter explains. “[These events] are actually really popular all over, but here in Alaska, we don’t have anything like it. There’s a niche here that nobody has touched.”

Cotter’s first event also offered attendees a themed dinner, professional photography, photo booths, and—for VIP ticket-holders—a swag bag full of products from Alaska vendors. Guests could get a book-themed flash tattoo, buy a custom-designed Alaska Starfall T-shirt, or shop with several local vendors who sold fantasy book-related items.

Organizing all these details was a one-woman job; Cotter doesn’t have any employees. She also balances a day job and being a mom, so to get everything done she relies on a network of local businesses, volunteers, and the community of readers that her first event brought together.

“It feels like I struck gold here in Alaska with the people and the businesses here that want to be part of this because there’s nothing else like it,” Cotter says.

She most closely works with Sterling-based Leilani Love Creative, a more conventional event planning service whose owner, Tatyanah Shassetz, collaborates with Cotter on elaborate decorations to bring a fictional world to life. Cotter contracts with local vendors for lighting, photography, music, and entertainment, such as a quintet from the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra.

Cotter also relies heavily on volunteers—a reflection, she says, of the desire that brought people together for the Starfall event in the first place.

“I have women over here, gluing moss on a wall with me,” she describes. “A lot of people have made friendships through this, and I think it’s because it’s hard, as you get older, to create relationships with other women. They’re looking for that.”

The success of last year’s event paved the way for this year’s Calanmai Spring Equinox Masquerade, another well-attended festival inspired by the same fantasy series. For that event in May, Cotter added a vendor market that featured thirty-two businesses and local authors.

Only one day out from holding the Calanmai Masquerade, Cotter was already considering ideas for future festivals, including a dragon-themed event inspired by Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series and a yule ball at Christmastime. In the meantime, interested fantasy fans can rent costumes and backdrops from Alaska Enchanted Events.

Cotter credits those same fans as the reason her one-woman startup has gotten attention this year.

“I feel like people want to be part of something,” she says. “They feel so passionate about what this is and what it stands for.”