Inside Alaska Business
The Binkley Company
News remains daily on the Anchorage Daily News website, but in July the paper stopped printing six days each week. The state’s largest newspaper now puts out printed editions on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In a message to readers, publisher Ryan Binkley noted that only 7 percent of readers interact with content in print; most use digital platforms. Furthermore, print subscriptions have steadily declined while digital subscriptions rose to 19,000. Print subscribers will continue to have access to content published every day on the website, along with an “e-edition” that replicates the layout and features of the print newspaper.
Mat-Su Sentinel
A former Anchorage Daily News reporter joined the hyper-local journalism movement by launching the Mat-Su Sentinel. Amy Bushatz began posting stories on her website in June, and some of her reporting was picked up by the big city newspaper. With a focus on local government in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the Mat-Su Sentinel is organized as a nonprofit supported by the Tiny News Collective, a national fundraising network established in 2021. Subscriptions, including a weekly newsletter, are free.
Raw Market
Shoppers in Girdwood gained an organic option for buying fruits and vegetables. Raw Market opened in July at a former thrift store, just around the corner from the town’s main grocery store, Crow Creek Mercantile. Raw Market co-owners James Glover and Michelle Young were in the construction business, but Glover sees a future in aquaponic gardening, and the store creates an outlet for such produce. The shop also sells bulk spices and dry goods, houseplants, and refillable housewares. A smoothie bar serves the Raw Market brand of cold-pressed juices.
Tommy’s Burger Stop
Twice the winner in the Burger Joint category of the Best of Alaska Business awards, Tommy’s Burger Stop expanded with a second location. The new shop near Dimond and Arctic Boulevards holds more seating than the original storefront in Spenard. Owner Tommy Persons says customers have asked for more room to sit down and enjoy his Cajun-inspired fare, Philly cheesesteaks, and Double Musky pie using a dessert recipe from the Girdwood restaurant that his parents own.
Burlington Stores
National off-price retailer Burlington relocated its South Anchorage store eastward along Dimond Boulevard. The location on West Dimond closed, and the store moved into the former Bed Bath & Beyond at the Dimond Crossing shopping center, across from the Dimond Center mall. The company operates a second store at Tikahtnu Commons in Northeast Anchorage. With more than 1,000 locations nationwide, Burlington sells apparel for women, men, and kids; footwear; infant supplies; toys; and pet supplies.
Hilcorp
The largest oil and gas operator in Cook Inlet and Prudhoe Bay is entrenching its position. Hilcorp announced in June that it would take over two North Slope units developed by Italian energy company Eni. The Oooguruk and Nikaitchuq fields, located in near offshore waters northwest of Prudhoe Bay, produce about 22,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The transaction price was not disclosed, and the deal is pending regulatory approval. Hilcorp also secured a major piece of Cook Inlet hardware by purchasing the Spartan 151 jack-up rig for nearly $40 million. Previously owned by Enterprise Offshore Drilling, the rig was brought to Alaska in 2011 by Escopeta Oil to explore in the Kitchen Lights Unit. Hilcorp hired the rig in 2019 for mid-channel exploration before it was sent to Seward for storage.
Verizon
Verizon recently expanded its network across Alaska, adding spectrum at eighty-nine cell sites to increase network capacity by approximately 30 percent. This additional spectrum provides greater bandwidth and higher data speeds for Verizon customers in Homer, Anchor Point, Kenai, Soldotna, Seward, Meadow Lakes, Denali Park, Two Rivers, and Pleasant Valley. Part of Verizon’s massive, multi-year, nationwide network transformation, this expansion comes as Verizon celebrates ten years in Alaska, serving 87 percent of the state’s population. Verizon will be able to expand the footprint for its LTE Verizon Home Internet broadband service.
RIM Architects
RIM Architects, founded in Anchorage nearly forty years ago, is rebranding as GHD Design, a business line of Australia-based global professional services company GHD, which bought RIM Architects. The acquisition adds RIM’s 75 employees at offices in Alaska, California, Hawai’i, Guam, Idaho, Florida, and Washington, DC, to a staff of 11,000 around the world. GHD and RIM have partnered on projects before, and the company looks forward to adding RIM’s federal contracting experience. RIM spread its ownership among a dozen senior personnel, whereas GHD has a partial employee-ownership structure.