Inside Alaska Business
HEX/Furie
Just when it’s shining bright with new natural gas, the Julius R. Platform in Cook Inlet is no more. That’s because, at the culmination of a successful drilling campaign, it was renamed Allegra Leigh in honor of the first granddaughter born this year to John Hendrix, president and CEO of HEX Cook Inlet. Its subsidiary, Furie Operating Alaska, successfully brought online two new gas wells producing more than 3 million cubic feet per day, and a third well in the Kitchen Lights Unit was reworked and returned to production. Due to the success of the 2025 drilling program, Furie accelerated budgeting for up to four grassroots wells in 2026 and more in 2027.
Ravn Alaska
After bouncing back from bankruptcy in 2020, Ravn Alaska announced on August 14 that it would fly no more. Although abrupt, the cancellation was not entirely surprising, after advance warning that service would stop this fall to the Pribilof Island village of St. Paul. Last year, the company laid off 130 employees, and the former CEO who acquired the carrier at a bankruptcy auction, Rob McKinney, left the company. Ravn was the 2014 rebranding of Era Aviation, which traced its history to the first commercial helicopter operator in Alaska in 1948.
Regal Cinemas
The first multiplex movie theater in Anchorage has closed its curtain. The eight-screen Regal Totem projected its last show in mid-August, as parent company Cineworld restructures after a 2022 bankruptcy. Totem was the first theater in town with more than two screens when it opened in 1976. It was relegated to second-run bargain showings after Regal Cinemas opened a sixteen-screen theater at Tikahtnu Commons in 2010, but first-run movies returned in recent years. Regal also owns the nine-screen theater at the Dimond Center mall.
Panther Minerals
A uranium mine on the Seward Peninsula is too hot for Panther Minerals to handle. The small Canadian company announced in July it would withdraw from the Boulder Creek project, citing seasonal, logistical, and capital considerations. Dave Hedderly-Smith, who owns the claims to Alaska’s largest known uranium prospect, says Panther’s exit is an opportunity to bring in a bigger, better partner. The mine would be located near the Tubutulik River, about 30 miles upstream from Elim.
Premera Blue Cross
The largest health insurance provider in the Pacific Northwest announced improvements to prior authorizations, even as legislation updating state standards was waiting on Governor Mike Dunleavy’s desk. Premera Blue Cross said it would commit to providing near real-time responses for at least 80 percent of electronic prior authorization requests by 2027. Premera, which serves about 163,000 members in Alaska, stated, “These changes are part of a broader, voluntary commitment by [Blue Cross Blue Shield] companies to improve the healthcare experience for everyone.” A few weeks later, Senate Bill 133 became law without the governor’s signature, setting time frames for approvals and directions in case of an adverse determination.
Alaska Sausage & Seafood
Martin Eckmann, son of Alaska Sausage & Seafood founder Herb Eckmann, observed the company’s 50th anniversary this summer by saying, “It’s more than just a storefront; it’s a piece of Anchorage history.” And history was made when, for the first time in its operation, the shop had to stop accepting fish. Record-setting hauls from the Kenai forced an early closure, for lack of anywhere to store the fish. By the next morning, there were already lines at the door. The company posted on Facebook that crews worked several days from 2 a.m. until 11 p.m. to cut, smoke, and package the salmon.
AOGA
ConocoPhillips Alaska swept two of the annual honors given by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association. At the trade group’s conference in August, the company was awarded Project of the Year for Environmental Stewardship and Innovation for horizontal directional drilling under the Colville River to install dual pipelines. The Rising Star Award went to Sydney Long, a senior analytics engineer with ConocoPhillips Alaska. The Contractor of the Year Award for Safety Performance goes to Denali Universal Services, and the Marilyn Crockett Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Mark Ireland, retiring in November as senior vice president of subsurface and exploration at Santos in Anchorage.
ASRC Industrial
A subsidiary of ASRC Industrial with experience in nuclear energy support in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, extended services to New Mexico by acquiring a counterpart in Albuquerque. RSI EnTech, known until 2018 as Restoration Services, is part of the California-based engineering and professional services group owned by Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. And, as of July, so is Sigma Science, a small contractor with the US Department of Energy nuclear complex at Kirtland Air Force Base.
Bell’s Nursery
Local growers of vine-ripened tomatoes and cucumbers are Alaska’s Farm Family of the Year for 2025. Mike Mosesian and his family own and operate Mosesian Farms of Alaska, better known as Bell’s Nursery and Gifts. Raised on a California vineyard, Mosesian moved to Alaska in 1972 and founded Bell’s Nursery four years later. From three locations in South Anchorage, Bell’s supplies Alaska Grown tomatoes and English cucumbers to major retailers.