Alaska Business Monthly articles from May 2003

Alaska Business Monthly archives from May 2003

"Pacific Environment". (From the Publisher).
May 1, 2003... SIMPLE GREEN FOR THE BERING SEA "If you've eaten fish lately, there's a 50 percent chance it came from the Bering Sea," according to the advance blurbs put out by the environmental activist advocate Pacific Environment. The organization,...

ASCG Inc. opens Nome office. (General).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... ASCG Inc. has opened a new office in Nome. The office represents ASCG's community development services division and will provide professional engineering and architectural services for rural communities in the Bering Straits region. "This...

Northrim Bank moves Aurora Village Branch. (Banking).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Northrim Bank's (Nasdaq: NRIM) Aurora Village Branch has moved from the Aurora Village Carrs store to Northrim's new West Anchorage Branch at 2709 Spenard Rd., which is on the corner of Spenard Road and West Northern Lights Boulevard, said Marc...

ACS Wireless launches Voice Connect. (Technology).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Alaska wireless phone users began dialing into a new high-tech tool recently-with their voices. The latest in voice recognition technology is the first application of its kind available in the state. ACS Wireless launched Voice Connect, an...

Alaska Symphony of Seafood winners hit Boston. (Fishing).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Spanking new products, selected as top winners of the Alaska Symphony of Seafood new products competition, made a splash recently at the International Boston Seafood Show. Seafood buyers from all over the world were able to taste Potlatch...

Correction. (Health Care).(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2003... The April 2003 issue of Alaska Business Monthly featured an article on "The Medicare Dilemma." A key contributor to this article, Dr. Bruce Kiessling, was repeatedly represented as having an affiliation with Health South. This was inaccurate....

UAS offers online MBAs. (Education).(University of Alaska Southeast )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... In an effort to meet the unique business needs of Alaskans, the University of Alaska Southeast is offering a Web-based master's degree in business administration. The MBA program is not new to UAS, but what is new is the delivery method. ...

Coal-bed-methane gas development for Mat-Su. (Oil & Gas).(Matanuska-Susitna Borough )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Several hundred new jobs could be created in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough if Denver, Colo.-based Evergreen Resources Inc. can economically develop shallow-bed natural gas in its Pioneer Unit. Located just northwest of Anchorage in the...

Cook Inlet producers are under pressure: exploration for natural gas and oil continues in Cook Inlet as current reserves dwindle.
May 1, 2003... Recent studies suggest the known natural gas reserves in the Cook Inlet region will be all but gone within 10 years, at best. This is the stuff that heats most homes and businesses throughout Southcentral Alaska. A fertilizer plant in Kenai...

CH2M Hill. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... CH2M Hill was named by Fortune magazine as one of America's top employers in 2002. Among the more than 1,000 firms nationwide that were considered, CH2M Hill was the only engineering firm to make the list. The publication's annual ranking...

Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. (Right Moves).(Lynn Tompkins gets Challenge of the North Award)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Lynn Tompkins, director of food services for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, has been presented with the Challenge of the North Award by the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau. Tompkins was honored for his role in...

Boys & Girls Club of Alaska. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Noelle Hardt was named senior director of community outreach and development for the Boys & Girls Club of Alaska. Since 1998, Hardt has been with Boys & Girls Clubs of Southcentral Alaska in the position of director of grants and government...

Odom Co. (Right Moves).(National Beer Wholesalers Association names Joel Kadarauch to board)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The National Beer Wholesalers Association named Joel Kadarauch, general manager of Odom Co. Alaska, as a member of its board of directors for 2003. Odom was founded in 1937 and is a family owned and operated wholesaler business, distributing...

Alaska Pacific Bank. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Alaska Pacific Bank named John Robertson as its new senior vice president and chief lending officer. Robertson joins the bank as a member of its senior management team. His expertise in credit and relationship management adds to the bank's...

First National Bank Alaska. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... First National Bank Alaska appointed Debra Wilson to senior vice president at its annual awards ceremony recently. Wilson, a lifelong Alaskan who joined First National in 1982, was also promoted from senior auditor to manager of the bank's...

Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Cynthia M. Cooper joined law firm Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP as an associate in the Anchorage office. Before joining the firm, Cooper was with the criminal division of the Alaska Attorney General's Office for nearly 20 years, first as an...

ASEA. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Alaska State Employee Association/AFSCME Local 52 state executive board selected Jim Duncan to fill the position of business manager. Duncan will perform the duties of executive director for the ASEA/AFSCME Local 52, which represents...

Bradley/Reid Communications. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Amy L. Davis was promoted to account coordinator at Bradley/Reid Communications. Davis has more than three years of agency experience. She was born and raised in Alaska and holds a degree from Eastern Kentucky University.

Craig Taylor Equipment Co. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Craig Taylor Equipment Co. promoted Clay Netzley to the position of vice president and general parts manager. Netzley, who has been with the company for 23 years, will oversee the entire parts operations for CTE's four locations: Anchorage,...

DenaliTEK Inc. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Kyle Orr recently joined DenaliTEK Inc. Orr will be responsible for computer network administration services for small-business clients in Anchorage. He also brings expertise in computer network analysis, planning and deployment, and is a...

3M Alaska. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Robin Richardson recently joined 3M Alaska in its corporate initiative to create market-driven solutions for the global oil and gas industry. Richardson will be responsible for identifying and selling 3M products and services in Alaska's oil...

Anchorage Chamber of Commerce. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Stacy Schubert is the new president of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce. Schubert, formerly communications director and program development coordinator for the chamber, was selected at the chamber's board of directors meeting recently. As...

Associated General Contractors of Alaska. (Right Moves).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Phil Anderson of Fairbanks has been elected president of the Associated General Contractors of Alaska at the association's recent annual meeting. Anderson, of Exclusive Landscaping and Paving, will serve for the next calendar year. AGC is a...

Few companies offer health benefits in Alaska: medical plan carriers have come and gone; only a handful remain.
May 1, 2003... A good benefits package is as import ant a tool to recruit and retain employees as is good pay. But premiums and health care costs have soared in Alaska as in the rest of the nation, and medical plan carriers have pulled out of this state to...

Title wave! Used bookstore owners were named the Small Businesspersons of the Year by the Alaska Small Business Administration. (Celebrating Small-Business Month).(Title Wave Books )
May 1, 2003... When they started Title Wave Books in 1991, owners Julie Drake and Steve Lloyd knew they didn't want the typical dark, stuffy atmosphere usually found in bookstores. They wanted to build a place where everyone felt welcome-young or old, preppy...

Acoustic addition: Mike McCormick and Katy Spangler created Whistling Swan productions to bring live acoustic music to Alaska. (Celebrating Small-Business Month).
May 1, 2003... Mike McCormick, in khaki pants, T-shirt and sneakers, half walks and half dances up to the microphone at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. The audience recognizes the 6-foot bearded man with glasses; they whistle and burst into...

Mobile photography studio captures kids and sports: anchorage sports entrepreneur lets customer demand lead his business. (Celebrating Small-Business Month).(Sports Section youth sports photography company)
May 1, 2003... Cindy and John Hitchcock spent 15 years working in construction, but all it took was one baseball season for them to realize their professional passion. Since 1996, John and his wife, Cindy, have owned and operated Anchorage's The Cage....

May calendar of events.(Calendar)
May 1, 2003... ANCHOR POINT 9-10 Calcutta Auction and King Salmon Tournament Boats entered are auctioned on Friday and the fishing tournament is on Saturday. Cash prizes. Call 235-2600 or visit www.xyz.net/~apcoc/. ANCHORAGE 1-7 Stomp ...

Statewide walkers help Alaska charities: the 2003 Visitor Industry Charity Walk will be held May 9. (This Month).(Calendar)
May 1, 2003... For the past three years, an annual event has helped nonprofit charities fund a wide variety of services, from giving help to caretakers of Alzheimer's patients to supporting shelters for battered women. The great part is, those who help raise...

The modern office: need new furniture for your office? Select types that are good for the body as well as pleasing to the eye.
May 1, 2003... Alaska should prepare for a new Viking invasion in office design, according to Marc Giampaoli, manager of Scan Home in Anchorage. Scandinavian secret weapons are motion, light and color, aimed to improve the productivity of employees...

2003 tourism forecast: what impact will the war have on our tourism industry? Only time will tell.
May 1, 2003... In 2003, for the first time in decades, Alaska's tourism industry may see a downturn. There's pessimism--but there's some optimism as well. The common thread: a lot depends on how world affairs unfold, and what effects these events have on...

A world of wireless: when selecting a cell phone package for your office, review contracts to be sure you are getting the options you need.
May 1, 2003... Wireless communication has made connecting employees to clients, vendors and other employees easier than ever. However, with all the convenience comes more decisions as to plan type, size, equipment and other options. If you make the wrong...

Trade: a look to the future; global warming may open up new trade routes in the arctic.
May 1, 2003... The question of whether global warming is an event triggered by freeway-driving SUVs or whether it's merely evidence of evolving global weather cycles is a long way from being conclusively answered. Yet while climate scientists work...

The port of anchorage: Q&A with Bill Sheffield. .(Interview)
May 1, 2003... Bill Sheffield has devoted the last five decades to developing the resources and infrastructure of the state of Alaska. As a business leader, he transformed a single Anchorage hotel into Sheffield Enterprises, a network of 16 hotels, which, in...

Looking out for business. .(Advertisement)
May 1, 2003... A report from the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce - The Voice of Alaska Business Do you consider 15 minutes a substantial portion of your day? Unless you're in the coffee business and 15-minute coffee breaks are of utmost importance to...

Fueling fairbanks: the University of Alaska Fairbanks has received research money to help explore energy alternatives.
May 1, 2003... A dozen energy-related research projects have received more than 2 million in federal funding under a cooperative agreement between the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory....

Eating Alaska; treat guests to the ultimate Alaska experience: food!(dining on Alaska grown food)
May 1, 2003... OK, so summer is just around the corner. Guests from Outside are coming soon, and you know they'll want you to provide that "Alaska Experience:" A trip to Mount McKinley (hope for that one clear day so they can actually see the mountain top), a...

A healthy choice: there are benefits in providing a health promotion program at your workplace.
May 1, 2003... As a business owner, you carefully monitor overhead such as wages, insurance, supplies, and maintaining and replacing equipment. These expenses take a bite out of your profits. However, many business owners overlook one potentially costly area:...

Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.: this agency's goal is to promote a merit philosophy when hiring workers for construction jobs. (Special Section: Building Alaska).
May 1, 2003... Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. is a national construction trade association dedicated to advancing the free enterprise system. The largest merit construction trade association in the world, ABC has grown to more than 23,000 members...

Creekside town center: a new vision for Muldoon. (Special Section: Building Alaska).
May 1, 2003... Developers Mark Pfeffer and Jerry Neeser took an old trailer park and are turning it into a mixed-use development center that will greatly enhance the Muldoon community. Say you were shopping for a home and you had a growing family....

Going on 30: Neeser Construction Inc. This design/build company is making its mark in the state. (Special Section: Building Alaska).
May 1, 2003... "Your success begins with Neeser," a line gently asserts atop a recent information sheet about the company. And a quick glance at the record tends to underscore the validity of the statement. While Anchorage-based Neeser Construction Inc....

2003 Construction roundup: from Southeast to Fairbanks, construction projects abound in the state. (Special Section: Building Alaska).
May 1, 2003... With warm weather and the summer construction season already ramping up to full force, Alaska communities around the state are poised for new roads and schools, airport improvements and commercial growth. Alaska ended last year on a...

May Alaska trends.(Illustration)
May 1, 2003... MAY ALASKA TRENDS Units GENERAL Personal Income--Alaska Millions of $ Personal Income--United States Billions of $ (SAAR)...