orty years after downhill skiers first laid stakes on Mount Alyeska in Girdwood, the world-class Alyeska Resort opened its doors to guests in 1994. Three decades later, the resort is planning a major upgrade and expansion to meet the needs of guests—and the Girdwood community—far into the future.

Spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, resort owner Pomeroy Lodging decided to look at Alyeska’s old master plan to see how the resort could be more attractive to guests and to employees who don’t want or need to make the thirty-minute commute from Anchorage. And not just employees at the resort but telecommuters from anywhere.

“COVID-19 led to people working remotely; because they no longer had to go to the city, they were opting to move to places where they wanted to live, like where they could ski or mountain bike,” explains Pomeroy Lodging Development Manager Willam Laurie. “This created some opportunities for us as a resort town.”

Working with resort master planners SE Group and Skylab Architecture, Pomeroy Lodging spent the last two years nailing down the operational details and gathering community input. The new master plan not only enhances the resort but includes numerous amenities for the 1,700 or so full-time Girdwood residents.

“Quite a few of the things we’ve got planned have been a long time coming, like a rec center for Girdwood and new housing products and commercial space,” says Laurie. “Now we’re in a place where we’re very comfortable with the plan, and we got city approvals in June, so we’re excited and ready to go.”

ising eight floors above a narrow lot on West 31st Avenue in Midtown Anchorage, the Emerald Building seems like a taller tower seen from farther away. Neighboring offices are single-story structures, almost indistinguishable from houses.

The building was one of a kind in 1986 when Charles E. Braun, founder of International Steel Erectors, designed and constructed it. Although its familiar name, Chez Braun, literally means “at Braun’s house” in French, the building has held a series of commercial tenants over the last four decades.

The slender tower overlooks the Anchorage Legislative Information Office, the off-season headquarters for half of the Alaska House and Senate. In June, lawmakers passed several bills aimed at increasing homeownership, in the face of housing supply unable to meet demand. One approach revives the new-home rebate program, an incentive to sweeten the price of energy-efficient construction by $10,000, which could stimulate development of hundreds of new homes.

convergence of key players may finally bring long-held visions of utilizing local North Slope natural gas resources to fruition. The Interior Gas Utility (IGU) is advancing plans to power the Fairbanks area, while Pantheon Resources and the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) are exploring options to supply Southcentral.

IGU had begun the transition away from diesel by trucking natural gas to Fairbanks from its Titan liquefaction facility on the shore of Cook Inlet. Around the time Hilcorp, the inlet’s largest producer, announced a lack of certainty regarding natural gas availability, IGU management had been preparing to proceed with an approximately $60 million expansion project at Titan. Because of the announcement, IGU no longer found it feasible to make a sizable investment into an asset that may become unusable as soon as 2032, when IGU’s last available contract renewal would expire.

he average Alaskan’s residential electricity rate is $0.24 per kWh, according to findenergy.com. That compares to the average price of $0.16 nationally. Only five states have higher average electricity rates. On a monthly basis, on average, the state’s residents see a household electricity bill totaling $140.69, slightly higher than the national average of $138.02.

Averages, though, smooth over an important distinction in how electricity reaches Alaskans. Well, a couple of distinctions; the fundamental difference is whether customers are plugged into a wider grid or if they are an isolated system. Behind the wires, though, utilities differ in a key way. Some are for-profit companies whereas others are not-for-profit cooperatives.

Subdividing those united people into a pantheon of twelve regional corporations represented an experiment in the stewardship of Alaska Native lands and wealth. Leaders must balance entrepreneurial acumen against traditional values; harmonize regional needs among hundreds of villages, each with their own corporations; and preserve the sovereignty of Alaska Native tribes dwelling within a modern technological society. After five decades, the results are encouraging.

he Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act established Alaska Native-owned corporations charged with making a profit and then using those profits for the benefits of their shareholders and communities. Over the last five decades, the regional corporations have all found exceptional levels of success, generating thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue, the profits of which are used for shareholder dividends, Elder programs, education and scholarships, job programs, community projects, and much more. Below are highlights of the activities of each of the twelve in late 2023 and 2024.

onnectivity is crucial in rural Alaska, where reliable internet service has the power to dramatically enhance the quality of life for residents.

That’s why the Alaska FiberOptic Project is so consequential. The massive initiative will connect up to twenty-one underserved communities along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers with high-speed, fiber optic networks. The project partners—Calista Corporation; Doyon, Limited; Gana-A’Yoo, Limited; Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC); and Alaska Communications—will build, operate, and maintain the fiber-optic network and service.

“Reliable, affordable, high-speed internet is a key to connecting our people with the world, celebrating and advancing our culture, and offering opportunities for young people in our communities,” says Calista President and CEO Andrew Guy.

olten gold filled a brick-shaped mold to form a 600-ounce ingot on July 8, 2024. The metal had been waiting all winter for its chance to shine. The first pour from the Manh Choh gold mine was a moment for celebration.

“From the first discovery hole to pouring the first bar of gold emblazed with the special Manh Choh branding, it has certainly been a journey, but one that sets us up for future success,” said Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, president and CEO of Contango ORE, during the ceremony at the Fort Knox mill north of Fairbanks.

The Manh Choh mine exists on land owned by the Native Village of Tetlin. The tribe entered a partnership with Fort Knox operator Kinross Alaska—a subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corporation—(70 percent) and Contango ORE (30 percent) for the mining project. From the exploration phase to the first gold pour, Kinross Alaska and Contango ORE pledged to honor the traditions of the Tetlin tribe and address any concerns or questions.

ishing is going out of style—at least on a global scale. The world’s fishing fleets have been decreasing since 2019, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In contrast, the fish farming industry has been growing. In 2022, the number of farmed fish in the world finally surpassed that of wild-caught fish.

“Farmed fish” encompasses a variety of cultivated seafood. It can involve breeding and releasing red king crab until the wild population rebounds, growing shellfish or finfish in controlled environments, or a dozen other practices. Hatcheries are the only legal form of finfish aquaculture in Alaska; all other fish farming is forbidden.

While the number of farmed fish is growing, it’s not a new practice. There is evidence that the Chinese farmed fish more than 2,000 years ago, according to the Wilson Center. The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) states that farmed fish is “one of the most resource-efficient ways to produce protein.” Proponents of fish farming claim that it is more sustainable than wild-caught fish because raising fish in a regulated environment avoids overfishing and other environmental harms, unlike fishing on the ocean.

n the dynamic world of marketing, the maxim “content is king” remains as relevant as ever. But today, generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) is transforming how marketing, advertising, and public relations (PR) agencies produce high-quality and consistent content for their clients. At the same time, these agencies are actively shaping strategies to ensure their ethical, transparent, and responsible use of Gen AI.

Gen AI empowers users to quickly create text, images, audio, video, and other content with minimal human input. In essence, Gen AI leverages machine learning algorithms that analyze existing data patterns to synthesize new content. From blog posts and social media updates to advertisements, pictures, movies, and music, Gen AI renders content based on simple text instructions—known as prompts—provided by users. Examples of popular Gen AI tools include chatbots like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini (formerly Bard), as well as text-to-image programs such as Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and DALL-E.

watched as the person put one foot into the kayak. It was wobbly, and they were nervous. Unsure and uncommitted, they kept one foot on the dock.

The kayak started to move away from the dock, and they suddenly realized what was happening. They couldn’t pull it back. They were half in, half out, and had a dilemma. Step back on the dock, and the kayak would drift into the lake. Or step into the kayak and see if they could paddle.

Paralyzed by indecision, the kayak moved farther away from the dock, and the inevitable happened. The span became too great, and they fell into the lake. The kayak drifted away.

This type of story plays out in organizations all the time. Managers move halfway into management, trying to balance their management responsibilities with their individual contributions but doing neither well.

adn.com

matsusentinel.com