Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey and Repurposed: How God Turns Your Mess into His Message by Noe Garcia.
What charity or cause are you passionate about?
Alaska Farmland Trust… and I’m extremely passionate about anything in the mental health space.
Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn?
Health and fitness at 50 years old is something I’m trying to develop.
Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert?
Some of the old country greats like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
[He laughs.] A lion or a tiger. The beauty and the power and their strength… Seems like it would be a great companion.
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey and Repurposed: How God Turns Your Mess into His Message by Noe Garcia.
What charity or cause are you passionate about?
Alaska Farmland Trust… and I’m extremely passionate about anything in the mental health space.
Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn?
Health and fitness at 50 years old is something I’m trying to develop.
Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert?
Some of the old country greats like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
[He laughs.] A lion or a tiger. The beauty and the power and their strength… Seems like it would be a great companion.
Off the Cuff
arming is a full-time job for some, but for Scott Hamilton it became a hobby. Raised on a farm across the street from the fairgrounds in Palmer, he studied business at UAA and worked in construction. From ironworker to regional manager, he climbed the ladder at JD Steel, a national fabrication and installation contractor.
“I would ruin a perfectly good pair of business pants in the shop,” he says of his hands-on management.
The employee-owned company set up its Alaska branch on the back acres of Hamilton Farms, and when the time came in 2022 to name its third-ever president, the Alaskan got the nod. Since the promotion, Hamilton splits his time between Palmer and corporate headquarters in Phoenix, where JD Steel is finishing one of its biggest jobs to date, a massive microchip factory.
Scott Hamilton: As soon as I arrive at Hamilton Farms… I’m either checking on the set-up or tear-down of an event or the dryness of hay or the irrigation pipes. Always roam around the grounds.
AB: What do you do in your free time?
Hamilton: All things related to farming, whether it’s harvest season and making hay or building fences… For us, it’s a family event.
AB: What vacation spot is on your bucket list?
Hamilton: You can probably count on one half-severed hand how many times I’ve taken vacations… I’ve been blessed to work and tour all over the country, so I’d probably say Ireland is first on the list.
AB: What’s your favorite local restaurant?
Hamilton: Because I travel almost weekly, my favorite restaurant is my kitchen or my parents’ kitchen… what we used to call MGS: Mom’s Greasy Spoon.
AB: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
Hamilton: I’m a “hike anything, climb anything” type person, but I don’t have, like, this big daring thing. Lots of goals… pushing myself, but pretty vanilla.
AB: What’s your greatest extravagance?
Hamilton: [He laughs.] I am the most unextravagant human being, but I would say a fleet of blue tractors at Hamilton Farms… That would probably be another man’s SuperCub or another man’s Porsche.
AB: What are you superstitious about?
Hamilton: I’m too purpose driven and too guided by faith that there is not a superstition that I [practice anywhere] on the planet.
AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute?
Hamilton: No question, my best attribute is big-picture vision, knowing for myself and for my team exactly who we serve… My worst is probably I’m way too driven, and I have not learned the art of rest and the art of standing still.
