Hitachi logo
Hitachi machines being used in Seward Highway, AK
PROTECTING YOUR REPUTATION AND YOUR BOTTOM LINE.
Hitachi machine
A thousand factors impact your bottom line every day. Some in your control, some well beyond it. One thing you have the power to choose is who you work with.

Our job is to keep you moving forward. Our machines are engineered with a “get it done” mentality and our After Sales Solutions are designed to keep you up and running.

The tougher your job gets, the easier it is to see we’re here when you need us most.

Alvin Ott headshot
Alvin Ott
Fairbanks Branch
Mining Sales
Jay Ahrenholz headshot
Jay Ahrenholz
Anchorage Branch
Sales Rep.
hitachicm.us | Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas Inc.
Construction Machinery Industrial logo
IN THE WORLD
Hitachi, the best in construction equipment technology

IN ALASKA
CMI, the best sales and product support lineup

IN YOUR CORNER
The Winning Team
www.cmiak.com

Anchorage, Alaska (907) 563-3822
Toll Free (800) 478-3822

Juneau, Alaska (907) 780-4030
Toll Free (888) 399-4030

Fairbanks, Alaska (907) 931-8808

Ketchikan, Alaska (907) 247-2228

November 2022 | VOLUME 38 | NUMBER 11 | AKBIZMAG.COM

Contents

Features

45 Year of TAPS

45 Years of TAPS

800 miles between Alaska as it was and Alaska today
By Tara O’Hanley
Ahtna, Inc.

Office of Broadband

Taking the lead on expanding Alaska’s internet connectivity
By Vanessa Orr

Tools for the Future, Today

Capitalizing on VR, AR, and AI
By Tracy Barbour

The Story of Three Bears

Tok was too small, cities are too big, and the retail chain’s future is just right
By Katie Pesznecker

Into the West

The promise and process of the Ambler Access Project and West Susitna Access Road
By Tracy Barbour

Round and Round

Rebuilding the Dowling Road and Seward Highway interchange
By Amy Newman

Thin Airwaves

Local radio broadcasters do more with less
By Scott Rhode
Alaska Business

Thin Airwaves

Local radio broadcasters do more with less
By Scott Rhode
Alaska Business
Thin Airwaves

45 Years of TAPS

800 miles between Alaska as it was and Alaska today
By Tara O’Hanley
Ahtna, Inc.
Special Section: Natural Resource Development
Green energy needs minerals, and Alaska should provide them
By Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse
Mapping Alaska is good business
By Hillary Palmer & Ed Fogels
Using Alaska’s waterways to provide power
By Rachael Kvapil
Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric
Niche products put Alaska timber to creative uses
By Nancy Erickson
A chorus sings the praises of Alaska’s ocean bounty
By Scott Rhode
Alaska’s big mining picture
By Alexandra Kay
Coeur
Alaska’s big mining picture
By Alexandra Kay
Coeur
Producing, Permitting, and Prospective Mines
An international partnership for mineral security leaves Alaska miners scratching their heads
By Vanessa Orr
Coeur
More Questions an Answers
An international partnership for mineral security leaves Alaska miners scratching their heads
By Vanessa Orr
Coeur

About The Cover

If you’re looking for an expert on the mining industry in Alaska, look no further than our November cover subject, Deantha Skibinski, the executive director of the Alaska Miners Association, which encourages and supports responsible mineral development. Before taking on that role, she worked for the Resource Development Council, where she was a projects coordinator advocating for the mining and tourism industries.

In this issue, she lends her insights on the Minerals Security Partnership, an international agreement with the goal to catalyze investment from government and the private sector in minerals projects that adhere to high environmental, social, and governance standards. In theory, it should be good for Alaska, which is rich in several critical minerals, has a long record of responsible mining, and is well positioned geographically to deliver minerals around the world. “More Questions Than Answers” provides more information on the Minerals Security Partnership, including why that theory may or may not play out.

Cover Photo: Photo Arts by Janna
Alaska Business (ISSN 8756-4092) is published monthly by Alaska Business Publishing Co., Inc. 501 W. Northern Lights Boulevard, Suite 100, Anchorage, Alaska 99503-2577; Telephone: (907) 276-4373. © 2022 Alaska Business Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Alaska Business accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials; they will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self addressed envelope. One-year subscription is $39.95 and includes twelve issues (print + digital) and the annual Power List. Single issues of the Power List are $15 each. Single issues of Alaska Business are $4.99 each; $5.99 for the July & November issues. Send subscription orders and address changes to circulation@akbizmag.com. To order back issues ($9.99 each including postage) visit simplecirc.com/back_issues/alaska-business.

From the Editor

Alaskans have been working on energy solutions for decades. Our state has been at the forefront of developing and deploying microgrid projects designed to take advantage of our many natural resources—wind, hydro, solar, coal, biomass, oil, or natural gas—in various combinations. Alaska is a natural proving ground for energy systems and innovations that must function in extreme conditions at the end of complicated supply chains with minimal maintenance. Keeping every Alaskan warm in the winter, powering lifesaving equipment off the road, and keeping lines of communication open across the state is a big ask—and it all needs to be done affordably.
Alaska Business logo
Volume 38, #11
Editorial Staff
Managing Editor
Tasha Anderson
907-257-2907
tanderson@akbizmag.com
Editor/Staff Writer
Scott Rhode
907-257-2902
srhode@akbizmag.com
Social Media
Carter Damaska
907-257-2910
enews@akbizmag.com
Editorial Assistant
Emily Olsen
907-257-2914
emily@akbizmag.com
PRODUCTION Staff
Art Director
Monica Sterchi-Lowman
907-257-2916
design@akbizmag.com
Design & Art Production
Fulvia Caldei Lowe
production@akbizmag.com
Website Manager
Taylor Sanders
webmanager@akbizmag.com
Photo Contributor
Kerry Tasker
BUSINESS STAFF
President
Billie Martin
VP & General Manager
Jason Martin
907-257-2905
jason@akbizmag.com
VP Sales & Marketing
Charles Bell
907-257-2909
cbell@akbizmag.com
Senior Account Manager
Janis J. Plume
907-257-2917
janis@akbizmag.com
Senior Account Manager
Christine Merki
907-257-2911
cmerki@akbizmag.com
Full-Charge Bookkeeper
Accounting Manager
907-257-2901
accounts@akbizmag.com
CONTACT
Press releases:
press@akbizmag.com

Postmaster:
Send address changes to
Alaska Business
501 W. Northern Lights Blvd. #100
Anchorage, AK 99503

Government
MTA
Office of Broadband
Taking the lead on expanding Alaska’s internet connectivity
By Vanessa Orr
T

o take part in the global economy, communication is key. Yet parts of Alaska still lack access to high-speed internet or to any internet at all.

To help improve access, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), provides $42.5 billion to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption programs in all fifty states, Puerto Rico, and other US territories. The funds will be administered to each location by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) newly established Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth.

STEP INTO ALASKA’S FUTURE WITH UAF eCAMPUS
  • Encourage your employees to complete their degree or certification – all online!
  • UAF eCampus Business Partnerships offer discounts.

Contact Teresa Thompson to get started:
tathompson2@alaska.edu
907.455.2090

UAF is an AA/EO employer and educational institution and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual.

University of Alaska Fairbanks logo

STEP INTO ALASKA’S FUTURE WITH UAF eCAMPUS

  • Encourage your employees to complete their degree or certification – all online!
  • UAF eCampus Business Partnerships offer discounts.

Contact Teresa Thompson to get started:
tathompson2@alaska.edu
907.455.2090

UAF eCampus logo

UAF is an AA/EO employer and educational institution and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual.

Telecom & Tech
Alaska Airlines | Airspace Intelligence
Tools for the Future, Today
Capitalizing on VR, AR, and AI
By Tracy Barbour
V

irtual reality (VR) was supposed to be the next big thing in the early ‘90s. Then the World Wide Web happened, and VR was sidelined for almost thirty years. Now, the technology to immerse users in a simulated setting is the next, next big thing, rebranded in some quarters as the “metaverse,” which blends innovations in hardware, networking, and artificial intelligence (AI).

VR’s sleeker and more pragmatic sister technology, augmented reality (AR), blends digital elements into the real world; it projects information on top of what the user is already seeing. The most familiar example is the 2016 game Pokémon Go, which superimposed imaginary creatures onto the environment viewed through a smartphone screen. AR, VR, and AI have since graduated beyond their initial uses in gaming and entertainment to much broader business applications.

All About
Possibility.

See where you can go with CU1.

All About
Possibility.

See where you can go with CU1.

cu1.org / 907.339.9485
Insured by NCUA

Credit Union 1
Media & Arts
Rick Goodfellow
KLEF
Thin Airwaves
Local radio broadcasters do more with less
By Scott Rhode
T

wo years ago, I was sitting in the tiny room where I had worked for nearly a quarter century. My entire professional radio career was spent in the newsroom at KENI in Anchorage. At that point in 2020, the studios in the Dimond Center were practically empty as a COVID-19 precaution; only essential personnel worked at the station in person. I had a badge that said I, as a news reporter, was essential.

My audience was relatively deserted, too. Radio stations depend so much on drivers listening in their cars that COVID-19 crashed ratings by keeping people at home.

2023 Media Planning – We Can Help
Portrait of Janis Plume

By Janis Plume
Senior Account Manager

D

on’t wait until 2023 to plan your marketing and advertising! The time to prepare is now—before the bell rings in the new year. You can start right now with thinking through these questions:

  1. Do you know your audience? Periodically review your target audience. Have you changed the services or products you offer, and should that prompt a change of approach and message? Has the target audience for your business changed?
PND Engineers, Inc. logo
PND locations
Providing innovative multidisciplinary engineering services since 1979
PND Engineers Inc
Retail
Alaska map with Tree Bears locations
The Story of Three Bears
Tok was too small, cities are too big, and the retail chain’s future is just right
By Katie Pesznecker
T

he Three Bears Alaska grocery and retail chain began as an unassuming roadside store and has blossomed over the decades.

“We’re definitely an Alaska company,” says Three Bears’ CEO Dave Weisz. “We started in Alaska. Our employees are all Alaskan. We will be moving up in the next few years in the range of about 1,200 employees to staff all the new locations we have going on.”

Supporting
Industry and
Economic
Development
in Alaska
with Insurance, Employee Benefits, and Risk Management Consulting.
Parker Smith & Feek logo
97% of our clients continue to do
business with us year after year.
#thePSFdifference
907.562.2225
turning the page
Shamrock shaped image with a photo of a meat fridge
Three Bears Alaska Supports 4-H
By Julie Stricker,
UAF Cooperative Extension Service
I

n early August, John Green, the meat buyer for Three Bears Alaska grocery chain, was in a familiar spot: the arena at a local 4-H livestock auction.

Before the Kenai Peninsula Ag Expo ended, Green purchased the grand champion beef, champion medium weight hog, reserve champion medium weight hog, and market lamb.

Within a few days, the animals had been processed and were available at the Kenai and just-opened Sterling Three Bears stores. The refrigerated stand holding the meat was draped with banners displaying the 4-H clover and a sign that told shoppers the meat had come from members of the Kenai Peninsula District 4-H at the 2022 Junior Market Livestock Auction.

Carlile
TRUST YOUR
SHIPPER.
We are industry leaders providing innovative solutions for over 40 years.
TRUST YOUR
SHIPPER.
We are industry leaders providing innovative solutions for over 40 years.
Carlile
Natural Resource Development
NATURAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
E

conomists consider resource extraction to be a primary activity. Without raw materials, the secondary sector (manufacturing) would twiddle its thumbs in idle mills and factories, and without workers supporting those two, the tertiary sector (services) would pass the same dollars around among themselves until the bills wore out.

Natural Resource Development
Coeur
More Questions Than Answers
An international partnership for mineral security leaves Alaska miners scratching their heads
By Vanessa Orr
I

n June, the United States and other countries established the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) to bolster critical mineral supply chains. The goal, according to the announcement made at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention, is to ensure that critical minerals are produced, processed, and recycled in a manner that supports the ability of countries to realize the full economic development benefit of their geological endowments.

ENGINEERING RESULTS TO MEET ALASKAN CHALLENGES SINCE 1979
Tank Inspections
Engineering Design
Phase I & II ESA
Industrial Hygiene / CIH
Environmental Remediation
Hazardous Materials Management
Regulatory Compliance Support
Certified Inspection Services
HSE Program Development
Contingency Planning
Energy Efficiency
Sanitary Surveys
Tank Inspections
Engineering Design
Phase I & II ESA
Industrial Hygiene / CIH
Environmental Remediation
Hazardous Materials Management
Regulatory Compliance Support
Certified Inspection Services
HSE Program Development
Contingency Planning
Energy Efficiency
Sanitary Surveys
Nortech logo
FAIRBANKS
907-452-5688
ANCHORAGE
907-222-2445
JUNEAU
907-586-6813
ARCTOS Alaska star logo
Learn more at www.nortechengr.com
FAIRBANKS
907-452-5688

ANCHORAGE
907-222-2445

JUNEAU
907-586-6813

Learn more at www.nortechengr.com
Nortech logo
ARCTOS Alaska star logo
resourceful solutions
KEEPING NATURAL RESOURCES CLIENTS ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF MARKET TRENDS AND AHEAD OF THEIR COMPETITION.
Attorneys from Dorsey & Whitney are deeply engaged in helping mining, energy, and natural resources clients across the full lifecycle of exploration, development, production and beyond, providing timely and effective counsel to companies in Alaska and around the world. We provide comprehensive representation, helping clients with everything from transactions and financing to litigation, regulatory, and environmental compliance.
Top Ranked Law Firm in Alaska; Leading environment, natural resources & regulated industries practice box
Dorsey logo
resourceful solutions
KEEPING NATURAL RESOURCES CLIENTS ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF MARKET TRENDS AND AHEAD OF THEIR COMPETITION.
Attorneys from Dorsey & Whitney are deeply engaged in helping mining, energy, and natural resources clients across the full lifecycle of exploration, development, production and beyond, providing timely and effective counsel to companies in Alaska and around the world. We provide comprehensive representation, helping clients with everything from transactions and financing to litigation, regulatory, and environmental compliance.
Top Ranked Law Firm in Alaska text box
Leading natural resources & environment practice box
Miner's helmet sitting on a rock, gloves
Natural Resource Development
Coeur
Producing, Permitting,
and
Prospective Mines
Alaska’s big mining picture
By Alexandra Kay
S

ix. The question “How many large mines are operating in Alaska?” can be answered with one hand plus an extra finger. Six large-scale mineral producers collectively employed nearly 2,700 workers in 2019. Alaska’s mines produced nearly $4 billion worth of non-fuel minerals in 2021, from vast quantities of zinc and lead to precious gold and silver. More projects are lined up to join them, aiming to enlarge the statewide mineral portfolio to a second or third handful of mines, extracting copper, cobalt, and rare earth elements (REE). What follows is an overview of Alaska’s mines, those in production and in the advanced exploration or permitting stages.

Extensive Inventory, Statewide Delivery
the back of a truck with dust flying through the air
Dust Control Solutions

SWPPP & Erosion Control

Geomembrane Liner

Asphalt Maintenance

Geotextiles

Drilling Fluids

Industrial Grade Salt & Calcium Chloride

Northstar Supply logo
gravel and aggregate
10788 E. Grandview Drive, Palmer | (907) 357-1147 | www.nssalaska.com
Natural Resource Development
The Realities of Net Zero
Green energy needs minerals, and Alaska should provide them
By Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse
O

rganizations around the world are focused on addressing climate change. Most major corporations are rearranging priorities and reallocating capital and personnel to determine the most efficient path to achieve Net Zero (where emissions of carbon dioxide or methane are eliminated or balanced by removal from the atmosphere). The Paris Climate Accord focused the efforts of participating governments to achieve Net Zero by 2050—that’s less than thirty years away. Specifically, the Net Zero objective is driven by achieving two main gargantuan transitions: changing to non-carbon-based fuel for both the transportation and energy sectors. These are virtuous objectives for sure, but where is all the metal going to come from that will allow this galactic shift to occur?

collage of Lynden workers

DELIVERING GEOSPATIAL AND TECHNOLOGY

SOLUTIONS TO ACHIEVE OUTSTANDING RESULTS

A nationally ranked firm with a local presence

Hillary Palmer
hpalmer@Dewberry.com

LYNDEN, Innovative Transportation Solutions logo
We are the
PIPEFITTERS & WELDERS
of the UNITED ASSOCIATION
We are the PIPEFITTERS & WELDERS of the UNITED ASSOCIATION
Building Alaska’s
Pipelines for Over 40 Years
UA Local 375 Union Hall logo
UA Local 375 Union Hall
907-479-6221
local375@ualocal375.org
MCF Fairbanks logo
N.S.C.A. logo
Joint Apprenticeship Training Program
907-456-5989
jatc@ualocal375.org
MCF Fairbanks logo
UA Local 375 Union Hall logo
UA Local 375 Union Hall
907-479-6221
local375@ualocal375.org
N.S.C.A. logo
Joint Apprenticeship Training Program
907-456-5989
jatc@ualocal375.org
UA Local 375 is in the top 5 apprenticeship programs in the nation.

APPRENTICESHIP INTERVIEWS YEAR AROUND

Natural Resource Development
Where It’s At
Mapping Alaska is good business
By Hillary Palmer & Ed Fogels
A

laska is big and remote, so it’s no surprise that it lags the rest of the country in the accuracy and detail of its maps. Mapping can be expensive, but the good news is that mapping in Alaska has taken a huge leap forward over the last decade, benefiting the Alaska public, government, and private sector businesses, such as the resource development industry.

It was just ten years ago that pilots in Alaska were at risk of being forbidden to fly by instrument. The best available elevation data at that time was generated in the ‘60s using older methods which sometimes resulted in mountains being out of place by a half mile or more. This posed serious risks to aviation safety and other industries that require accurate information. The State of Alaska initiated an effort to create an accurate digital basemap of the entire state.

Natural Resource Development
Liquid Energy
Using Alaska’s waterways to provide power
By Rachael Kvapil
AEA
W

ater lit the muddy streets of Juneau City, as the gold mining town was known in 1893. That was the year Alaska Electric Light & Power (AEL&P) started providing service from a simple water wheel. Two decades later, the utility developed the Annex Creek, Salmon Creek, and Gold Creek hydropower plants, and they remain in service, generating 3.6 MW, 6.7 MW, and 1.6 MW, respectively.

Juneau is awash in hydropower, especially since the federal government build the Snettisham project in 1973. Water tapped from two lakes 28 miles southeast of Juneau drives 70 percent of Juneau’s electricity, with a peak output of 78 MW. Another 20 percent comes from the Lake Dorothy facility on the east bank of Taku Inlet, generating up to 14 MW from the flow of water down a 5-foot diameter penstock. And that’s just Phase 1; AEL&P has plans to double the output from Lake Dorothy, as demand warrants.

Natural Resource Development
JUNEAU HYDROPOWER AND J-POWER ADVANCE SWEETHEART LAKE HYDROELECTRIC
In September, Juneau Hydropower announced an approximately $200 million joint development agreement with J-POWER, a Tokyo-based developer, for the construction of the 19.8 MW Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Facility, which would be located approximately 30 miles south of Juneau on the east shore of Gilbert Bay.
Natural Resource Development
Bethany Goodrich | Sitka Conservation Society | Sustainable Southeast Partnership

Natural Resource Development

Bethany Goodrich | Sitka Conservation Society | Sustainable Southeast Partnership

‘Every Tree Tells a Tale’

Niche products put Alaska timber to creative uses
By Nancy Erickson
R

ising from the sawdust of its past prime, Alaska’s timber industry is focusing on value-added products made in Alaska with locally grown wood. The 400 jobs the sector currently supports is a pale shadow of the industry in the early ‘90s, when ten times as many Alaskans worked in the business.

In fact, the forest sector was Alaska’s second-largest industry in the ‘70s, but large-scale logging and milling are gone. In its place, smaller operators turn Alaska’s remaining wood harvests into niche products.

Natural Resource Development
Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute
Voices of Seafood
A chorus sings the praises of Alaska’s ocean bounty
By Scott Rhode
“A

laska seafood has so much to offer,” says Ashley Heimbigner. “It’s often a game of choosing which messages are best for the audience.”

Choosing messages is Heimbigner’s job as communications director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI). The public/private partnership, established by state statute in 1981, marked its 40th anniversary last year by revamping its alaskaseafood.org website to deliver its message more effectively. In addition to becoming more mobile friendly, the redesign streamlined access to ASMI’s recipe library.

Alaska’s #1 Marine Transportation Company.
We take pride in
providing excellent
services in a very
unique and challenging
environment.
Image by John Gomes.
Phone: (907) 248-0179 | www.cookinlettug.com
Transportation
Nuvision Credit Union
Into the West
The promise and process of the Ambler Access Project and West Susitna Access Road
By Tracy Barbour
U

nchanged for almost thirty years, Alaska’s highway system has seen no new long-distance roads added to the network since the Dalton Highway was opened to the public in 1994. Even then, the haul road had been completed for more than sixteen years, with no new major highways added to the roster. The westernmost extent on Alaska’s (and North America’s) connected road system remains the bend in the Sterling Highway at Anchor Point. However, two ambitious road projects would claim the title if either of them succeeds in pushing farther west.

Construction
Alaska DOT&PF
Round and Round
Rebuilding the Dowling Road and Seward Highway interchange
By Amy Newman
O

ne of Anchorage’s largest construction projects in 2022 was the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ (DOT&PF) $43 million reconstruction of the Dowling Road/Seward Highway interchange. Work on the federally funded, multi-phase project will replace and expand the Dowling Road roundabout and the Seward Highway overpass, both of which are nearing the end of their useful life. Construction on the interchange began in May and is expected to be completed in 2023.

Work on the interchange is also the culmination of a decades-long project designed to increase safety and improve the flow of traffic along the Seward Highway from 36th Avenue to Rabbit Creek Road. Traffic along the highway has outpaced growth projections made in the early 2000s.

Material Flow and Conveyor Systems Inc.
Toll Free
877-868-3569
Phone
907-868-4725
Fax
907-868-4726
6112 Petersburg St.
Anchorage, AK 99507
Visit Our Website:
www.materialflow.com
Oil & Gas
Nuvision Credit Union
45 Years of TAPS
800 miles between Alaska as it was and Alaska today
By Tara O’Hanley
F

orty-five years after the first tanker left Valdez carrying North Slope oil to market, many of today’s worries echo past headlines. Inflation was a major concern. Energy costs were skyrocketing. New construction was stalled due to increasing costs, a shortage of available labor, and constraints on the global supply chain. Far-off wars were influencing global energy commodity markets. And, like today, drilling for oil in the Arctic was offered as a solution—albeit today it comes with heightened concerns for the environment.

Inside Alaska Business

Sealaska

The Alaska Native regional corporation for Southeast is one of sixteen minority-owned businesses selected by Apple for its Impact Accelerator program. The tech company is providing mentorship to selected businesses, especially toward climate change solutions. Sealaska is recognized for “nature-based solutions,” such as its timber subsidiary transitioning last year from logging to selling carbon offsets. Apple also selected an energy storage company in Hawaii, a recycling company in Las Vegas, and an electric utility in the Navajo Nation.
sealaska.com

Economic Indicators

ANS Crude Oil Production
468,511 barrels
0.7% change from previous month

9/29/2022
Source: Alaska Department of Natural Resources

ANS West Coast Crude Oil Prices

$86.91 per barrel
-14.2% change from previous month

9/30/2022
Source: Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Statewide Employment
362,100 labor force
4.6% Unemployment

8/1/2022. Adjusted seasonally.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Right Moves
Credit Union 1
Credit Union 1 (CU1) solidified its top executive team with a couple of promotions.
Mark Burgess
Burgess
Mark Burgess is now President and CEO, after serving in both roles on an interim basis for the last six months. Burgess moved to Alaska from New Hampshire in 2018 to serve as CU1’s chief technology officer. CU1 Board Chairman Steve Cavin says, “After interviewing several talented nationwide applicants, we determined that Mark has exactly what Credit Union 1 needs to lead this organization into the future.”

Alaska Trends

M

ining, like most other industries, bounced back in 2021 compared to the year before. According to the annual Economic Benefits of Alaska’s Mining Industry report compiled for the Alaska Miners Association (AMA) by McKinley Research Group, employment averaged 5,400 workers throughout the year, up by 700 compared to 2020. That’s the equivalent of adding an entire Pogo or Red Dog mine—except, of course, the number of major mines remained steady.

Projects in the permitting or development stage, years in the works, are nearly a reality. When, for instance, Donlin Gold begins operations, the open pit mine would employ an estimated 1,000 workers. That would be like plopping a brand-new Alaska Railroad or Alyeska Resort into the state’s economic landscape. Smaller prospects, like Graphite Creek or Livengood, are each on the scale of adding a Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport or every Subway restaurant in the state, in terms of workforce.

At a Glance

What book is currently on your nightstand?
I don’t have time for books, but I do subscribe to The New Yorker, and I like to read the poetry first.

What charity or cause are you passionate about?
I am always concerned about shelter, especially shelter for abused women.

What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
Unfortunately, I head for the refrigerator [she laughs].

What vacation spot is on your bucket list?
Nagasaki… the home of Puccini where he wrote Madame Butterfly, which is of course one of my favorite operas.

If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
Hmm. I guess I should probably say, because I live in Alaska, a moose, a bear, or a caribou—but that probably wouldn’t be my first choice.

Connie Yoshimura outside with her dog

At a Glance

What book is currently on your nightstand?
I don’t have time for books, but I do subscribe to The New Yorker, and I like to read the poetry first.

What charity or cause are you passionate about?
I am always concerned about shelter, especially shelter for abused women.

What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
Unfortunately, I head for the refrigerator [she laughs].

What vacation spot is on your bucket list?
Nagasaki… the home of Puccini where he wrote Madame Butterfly, which is of course one of my favorite operas.

If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
Hmm. I guess I should probably say, because I live in Alaska, a moose, a bear, or a caribou—but that probably wouldn’t be my first choice.

Photo Arts by Janna

Off the Cuff

Connie Yoshimura
I

mprobably, Connie Yoshimura parlayed an MFA in poetry from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop into a career finding homes for Alaskans. The owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Alaska Realty learned to close a deal before she ever sold a house, beginning as a waitress. “I would try to figure out what was good in the kitchen that night,” Yoshimura recalls, “and then I would try to figure out what the customers might enjoy. If I could put those two together, then I got a larger gratuity.”

DIGITAL EDITION ADVERTISERS INDEX
John Deere | AER logos
Anchorage
907.522.6466
The Largest and Most Diverse Equipment Fleet Across Alaska.
The Rental Zone
907.474.2000
Delta Junction
907.895.9898
Fairbanks
907.456.2000
Prudhoe Bay
907.659.2000
Kenai
907.335.5466
The Largest and Most Diverse Equipment Fleet Across Alaska.
Anchorage
907.522.6466

The Rental Zone
907.474.2000

Delta Junction
907.895.9898

Fairbanks
907.456.2000

Prudhoe Bay
907.659.2000

Kenai
907.335.5466

collage of Lynden workers
Top 49ers 2022 logo

Thank You Alaska!

Thank you to our friends, neighbors, and valued customers for your ongoing support and partnership, and special thanks to each of our dedicated employees for their continued care, expertise, and ingenuity as we all work together to keep Alaska moving. We look forward to continuing to serve our communities by providing multi-modal transportation and logistics solutions across the entire state!

LYNDEN, Innovative Transportation Solutions logo
Alaska Business logo
Thanks for reading our November 2022 issue!