Copper Craze

When the water plant and washeteria in Tuluksak was destroyed by fire in January, the transportation industry didn’t wonder what the community would do—it figured out how to help.

And because of the village’s remote location, a winter of heavy snows, and the immediate need, Alaska’s aviators in particular were able to fly in with much needed assistance.

Ryan Air, Yute Commuter Service, Ravn Alaska, and DesertAir all worked to get water and other freight on the ground to provide relief for village residents.

“The villages make up the entirety of our business,” says DesertAir President Joey Benetka, featured on the cover this month with one of the company’s 1944 Douglas DC-3s. “So when we recognized there was a need in the region… we wanted to offer a flight we know would be well-utilized and full to maximum capacity.” Read more about the business community’s efforts to aid Tuluksak in Alaska Problems Require Alaska Solutions.

Cover Photo by Kerry Tasker

ut simply, dredging is the excavation of unwanted materials from a marine environment.

But this simple procedure is key to facilitating a variety of more complex processes. From building new docks to maintaining existing ones, dredging is a crucial piece to maritime success.

And for the Port of Alaska, it’s no different.

he word “unprecedented” was tossed around a lot in 2020, and it can also be used to describe what’s been happening in the residential housing market since the pandemic hit. A mix of low interest rates, lack of inventory, and more time spent at home has resulted in a real estate boom unlike any other.

According to Redfin, a national real estate brokerage, home prices nationwide were up 16.7 percent year-over-year in March. At the same time, the number of homes sold rose 13.4 percent and the number of homes for sale fell 52.5 percent.

or more than two decades, Alaskan Tour Guides has offered multi-day trips in Alaska. In a typical year, the Wasilla-based business takes hundreds of guests on excursions, ranging from exciting sled dog kennel tours and wildlife viewing to sightseeing in breathtaking national and state parks. The company also customizes trips for families and other groups that want to create a unique travel adventure. “Primarily, our travel is along the road system between Homer and Fairbanks,” Owner Doreen Toller says. “We put together the whole vacation for folks, including lodging, transportation, tours, and meals.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, it completely disrupted everything for Alaskan Tour Guides. The company was 75 percent booked at the time—then it was forced to cancel all tours. COVID-19 created too many uncertainties about which businesses would be in operation and how they were going to operate. And Toller wanted to make sure customers received the best possible service.

ccording to Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC) Chief of Staff Dr. Ellen Hodges, the planning, coordination, communication, and dedication that made the vaccine rollout in rural Alaska a success story is striking.

“That project was the most extraordinary project I have ever had the honor to be a part of. We got vaccine out to forty-six villages in something like ten days,” Hodges says. “Everybody kind of had to all be on the same page and all pull together in the same direction for this to be successful.”

n January 16, a fire destroyed the water plant and washeteria in the southwest Alaska village of Tuluksak.

For the village of about 350 people, it was a devastating blow. The water plant was the only source of drinking water in the village, in which the primarily Yup’ik residents lack indoor plumbing and rely on honey buckets, not uncommon in the flat, swampy region. With COVID-19 raging through the region at the time—one-third of village residents had already tested positive—having enough water for even basic sanitation needs, as well as drinking water, was of the utmost importance.

ertain things about life in Alaska are absolutes. Bears will emerge from their dens in the spring. Aurora watchers will chase the Northern Lights in winter. And aviation continues to be a literal lifeline to the 82 percent of communities that lie off Alaska’s road system.

“I don’t think it ever hurts to reinforce that aviation is huge for Alaska,” says Angela Smith, aviation group manager for PDC Engineers. “If the planes stop flying in Alaska, it would be a very different world. They play a vital role in most Alaskans’ daily lives that they just don’t even think twice about it.”

Flying cars could rewrite how the Air Force and civil society do logistics and transportation,” says Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics. It’s an interesting position to take, as many feel one of the most egregious unfulfilled predictions of the ‘50s and ‘60s is that the near future (what we happily call “now”) would feature skies cluttered with flying cars.

And while we are accustomed to the sight of helicopters and drones, they don’t quite fit the vision of flying to the grocery store or jetting to the park.

Agility Prime, a US Air Force program, is just the thing that will “help usher the ‘not yet’ into the ‘now,’” Roper says.

ach year, between 5 billion and 6 billion pounds of wild seafood is harvested in Alaska. Seafood processing accounts for 70 percent of manufacturing employment, and in 2017-2018, the industry provided an average of $5.6 billion in economic activity to the state, directly employing more than 58,700 people.

While there’s no doubt that this industry plays an enormous role supporting Alaskans, its overall impact, both in the United States and abroad, cannot be underestimated.

ed Stevens Anchorage International Airport’s new Airport Director only touched down in the state a few short years ago. And with Anchorage International among the top five cargo airports in the world, Jim Szczesniak had his work cut out for him. Fortunately, things have worked out pretty well since then: for both the Chicago-native and one of Alaska’s leading drivers of business.

“I’ve certainly been busy,” he laughs.

The pandemic has caused a few bumpy rides for other industries, but air cargo has been something of a bright spot. Szczesniak and his team have been hard at work on developing, managing, and leading the airport that serves more than 5 million passengers each year.