Work Zones Are a Sign to Slow Down by Rindi White

Legislative Update by AGC Legislative Affairs Committee and AGC Lobbyist Dianne Blumer

An Unparalleled Set of Circumstances by Jamey Bradbury

Safety Stand Down

Women in Construction

Kuchar Construction by David A. James

Alaska Directional, LLC by Kevin Klott

GPS Alaska by Jamey Bradbury

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP by Heather A. Resz

Park Access by Amy Newman

Construction Trends

President’s Message by Sarah Lefebvre

Executive Director’s Message by Alicia Amberg

New Members

Calendar of Events

2022 Agency Day and Spring Board Membership Meeting

Community Clean-up Day

Financial Services & Contractors by Don Clary

AGC Scholarship Testimonials

Contractors & the Law by Jedidiah K. Blake II and Sydney M. Sullivan

Occupational Health by Celeste Barrett

In Memoriam: Don Young, Dennis Nottingham, Marie Wilson, and Jay Miley

Human Resources Update by Darci Ahlin-Stieren

Member News

Advertisers Index

Jenith Ziegler
ChemTrack Alaska Inc.

David Haynes
First National Bank Alaska

Pearl-Grace Pantaleone
Cornerstone General Contractors

Sarah Lefebvre
Exclusive Paving

Alicia Amberg
Associated General Contractors of Alaska

Christine A. White
R&M Consultants, Inc.

Heather Sottosanti
Big State Mechanical, LLC

Rindi White
Editor

Monica Sterchi-Lowman
Art Director

Fulvia Lowe
Art Production

James K Brown
Graphic Designer

BUSINESS STAFF
Charles Bell
VP Sales & Marketing
907-257-2909 cbell@akbizmag.com

Janis J. Plume
Senior Account Manager
907-257-2917 janis@akbizmag.com

Christine Merki
Senior Account Manager
907-257-2911 cmerki@akbizmag.com

The Alaska Contractor is published by Alaska Business Publishing Co. Inc. for the Associated General Contractors of Alaska. Contents of the magazine are not necessarily endorsed by AGC of Alaska or Alaska Business Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Copyright 2022 by the Associated General Contractors of Alaska. For information about articles in this edition or for permission to reproduce any portion of it, contact Alaska Business Publishing Co.

ach Associated General Contractors, or AGC, of Alaska president becomes deeply involved on a nearly daily basis with the key tenets of AGC’s core mission: Advocate, Educate, and Promote. As I have worked with Alicia, staff, committees, and members on old issues, new projects, and unfolding events, I have begun to think about our efforts in two key ways—are we being reactive or proactive? This has been followed up by thoughts about what we should be in each instance and why.

As an organization, AGC has to be both reactive and proactive, as both roles define the services that AGC provides to you. Our association devotes significant ongoing resources to strategic efforts that work toward improving the industry, our markets, the business environment, and our future. Many times those efforts have to happen concurrently while reacting to immediate issues affecting those same areas.

e hear the adage all the time: change is the only constant. In these dynamic times, never has that been more true. While some may resist change, we find it often offers opportunity for reflection and growth.

hen it comes to landing prestigious internships during college, there are typically more students vying for spots than positions available. But that situation was turned on its head during a speed interviewing event in March. The event was a collaboration between the Construction Leadership Council and the Education, Training and Workforce Development Committee, a committee of the Associated General Contractors of Alaska, or AGC. All students seeking the high-paying, professional-skill-building opportunities with members of the Associated General Contractors of Alaska were hired for the summer.

Even University of Alaska Anchorage Construction Management student Eli Mortensen—a freshman—landed a position.

t’s a message that bears repeating—again and again: Slow down in work zones. Stay focused. Speed kills. And the majority of people killed in work zone crashes are motorists and their passengers.

According to the most recent data available from workzonesafety.org, 857 people were killed in 774 fatal work zone crashes in 2020. Of that number, 117 were people working in the construction zone.

“National Work Zone Awareness Week was established with roadway workers in mind, but the statistics make it abundantly clear that everyone is at risk in work zones,” American Traffic Safety Services Association, or ATSSA, President and CEO Stacy Tetschner says. “The goal of this week is for motorists to slow when approaching and passing through roadway work zones so everyone makes it home safely.”

e all know the joke. There are two seasons in Alaska: winter and roadwork. As soon as the snow melts, Alaskans hit the highways and invariably find themselves halted by flaggers, waiting their turn at roads undergoing construction, repairs, and upgrades. Most of us patiently idle our engines until instructed to proceed, then smile and wave at the person directing traffic as we pass through.

Flaggers are the front line for safety whenever vehicles need to be slowed, stopped, and released. Traffic control is vital to make way for roadwork, closures, special events such as fun runs and bicycle races, or any other disruptions requiring drivers to pay extra attention to their surroundings. Companies like Wasilla-based Northern Dame Construction provide trained crews of flaggers and traffic control supervisors. Whether it’s a long-planned repaving job, an emergency call-out like the 2018 earthquake, or anything in between, Northern Dame is outfitted and ready to go.

s always, it was a real roller coaster for the last few days of the legislative session. At the time this article was written, we don’t know precisely how it all turned out and what actions the Governor took, if any. Here’s what we do know: in early May, the Senate received the operating budget from the House (HB281) and proceeded to incorporate their version of the Capital Budget and the Supplemental Budget into that bill, passing one of the largest budgets of all time back over to the House. The pressure on the House members was intense for several days, with some members who campaigned on paying a full Permanent Dividend Fund, or PFD, pushing to concur with the Senate’s version and others who knew paying a PFD coupled with a $1,300 energy relief payment for a total of $5,500 was not sustainable and could bring vast and looming impacts. It was stunning to watch the state’s fiscal status move from nearly a billion-dollar surplus to more than a billion-dollar deficit in less than an hour on the Senate floor.

Fortunately, the House did not concur, and a conference committee was appointed. In mid-May, the committee reached an agreement keeping in line with much of the Senate’s proposals and the Legislature settled on a combined energy relief/PFD payout at $3,200 per Alaskan resident. At the time this article was written, the budget was transmitted to the Governor, who is expected to sign it with some minor adjustments.

Photo courtesy of Maria Kuchar.

aunching a new construction project can be daunting. A designer needs to offer a blueprint that meets the client’s needs, and then the project owner needs to find a builder that can make the design a reality. The future owner can end up acting as a go-between and may not always be sure what to do.

This is where Anchorage-based Kuchar Construction comes in. “We do design-build, or design-assist, where we’re working directly with a client from inception with a design team,” co-owner Mike Kuchar says. “Sometimes we’re part of that three-legged stool, other times the design team falls under our umbrella.”

Photo courtesy of ROTAK Helicopter Services.

he dark images of the sunken wreck Endurance in the banner of the Endurance22 website entices visitors like a popular drama series. And no doubt, the entire story—from Ernest Shackleton and crew abandoning the Endurance after the sea ice overwhelmed the ship to the multiple searches for the lost wreckage—possesses a Hollywood-caliber storyline.

In March of this year, the story finally found its happy ending when a team of sixty-four world-leading marine archaeologists, engineers, technicians, and sea-ice scientists boarded a South African icebreaker to find the one thing that didn’t survive Shackleton’s 1915 expedition.

he 2022 Agency Day and Spring Board Membership Meeting in Fairbanks was a celebratory return to in-person networking events for Associated General Contractors of Alaska, or AGC of Alaska, members. The biggest session saw more than seventy-five members in attendance and each session attracted more than twenty attendees, AGC of Alaska staff reported. More than eighty AGC members attended the Thursday evening Spring Kick-Off Party at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum.

The agenda included updates from Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Bryce Ward, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, the University of Alaska Facilities department, Eielson Air Force Base, City of Fairbanks Mayor Jim Matherly, and Alaska Railroad Corporation President and CEO Bill O’Leary.

Alaska Directional machinery works in Atigun Pass to help bring high-speed internet access north. The Palmer-based company has installed more than 500 miles of fiber-optic cable in the last five years.

On the Line

Palmer-based Alaska Directional sets records by prioritizing people

By Kevin Klott

here’s a race happening in Alaska to upgrade its internet capabilities and Alaska Directional, LLC is working fast and efficiently to be the leader.

During the past five years, the Palmer-based company has laid more than 500 miles of fiber-optic cable throughout the Last Frontier. David Tucker, a general foreman at Alaska Directional, says 288 of those miles occurred in a single year.

“We pride ourselves on taking on the Herculean tasks and accomplishing them on—or ahead of—schedule,” says Tucker. “In the Alaska construction season, efficiency is absolutely critical. Efficiency allows us to utilize the weather and changing seasons to our advantage to bring projects to completion.”

Photo courtesy of Granite Construction Inc.

ention the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and most people think about the arrival and departure of passenger planes. But the Anchorage airport is a major hub for cargo that requires its own infrastructure to make loading and unloading freight happen smoothly. This summer major upgrades to airport facilities will improve access for travelers and improve the efficiency of cargo traffic for several companies.

hat’s the theme of the 2022 Construction Safety Week, held the first week of May each year and participated in by companies across the nation. Safety Week is promoted by the Associated General Contractors of Alaska Safety Committee and ENSTAR Natural Gas Company.

The AGC Safety Committee and ENSTAR held a “Safety Stand Down” photo contest to encourage AGC member companies to review and become familiar with ways to prevent falls in construction and to review fall prevention with employees and audit their work areas for potential hazards. Companies that participate and submit a photo entered a competition for the photo contest.

ay brings community cleanups across Anchorage, including to the Schoon Street offices of Associated General Contractors of Alaska, or AGC, and its neighboring businesses. On May 17, staff from AGC, Alaska Ironworkers Local 751, and Fairweather, LLC teamed up to clean up King and Schoon streets between Dimond Boulevard and 76th Avenue.

The event was capped off with a barbecue provided by the participating companies.

t’s not unusual for Michael Williams to answer his phone at 2 a.m. Especially in the summer, at the height of Alaska’s construction season, he fields calls from his clients regardless of the day or time—and he’s happy to do it.

“We’re going to properly support the people that are out there having to work 24 hours a day, building the roads and infrastructure that Alaska needs,” says Williams, vice president for GPS Alaska, the state’s leader in providing precision positioning equipment, Global Navigation Satellite Systems, or GNSS, lasers, optical instruments, surveying, and machine control products. “That’s just part of this business—we’re going to make sure that we’re the absolute best at supporting our customers.”

ate increases to combat inflation are the hot topic these days among individuals in the housing market and small business owners. Following the pandemic, the Federal Reserve made plans to raise interest rates several times throughout this year and, in fact, the first of these rate increases went into effect in March and April.

These were the first increases since 2018 and were met with mixed emotions due to the length of time between rate increases and the number of rate decreases we have seen over the last few years. These rate increases are being done methodically to slow the economy, which will inevitably curb inflation, which is the end goal.

everal long-planned projects within Denali National Park were slated to begin construction this summer—until last September’s Pretty Rocks landslide literally blocked those plans and closed Denali Park Road at Mile 43.

Plans to replace the Ghiglione Bridge and perform road repairs near Polychrome Pass have been postponed. The landslide also affected bridge repair and mitigation work performed last summer at Mile 52, although a Herculean effort by Wasilla-based contractor Tutka, LLC and heavy coordination with park officials enabled the project to be completed on time.

ince the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the construction industry has been in flux. Mandatory health and safety protocols, supply chain delays slowing down delivery of materials, and other problems combined to impact and delay projects nationwide. While the United States recovers from the pandemic, rising inflation has led to materials and fuel prices skyrocketing, which have further affected the construction industry.

With rising materials and fuel costs and continued uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and the economy, it is important that contractors are aware of legal concepts that may help recover costs incurred due to overruns, changed work, and/or delays. In addition to recovery under a force majeure clause/theory, quantum meruit and cumulative impact claims are two other potential sources of recovery. While both causes of action are applicable only in exceptional circumstances, they should be considered by contractors during and after construction when trying to recover losses suffered on a project.

he’s lots of fun at parties, Anne Marie Tavella says, laughing, before sharing her best dinner party conversation killer: a story about a construction contract dispute she litigated involving air entrainment in concrete.

Tavella is the lead construction attorney in the Anchorage office of Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP. Her practice primarily focuses on construction litigation, general commercial litigation, and government contracts law and counseling.

espite making up half of the entire US workforce, women only make up 11 percent of the construction industry workforce. National Association of Women in Construction, or NAWIC, hopes to change that through education. And one way it educates women and people in the construction industry about the benefits of construction industry careers is through Women in Construction Week, which was held March 6-12.

n Alaska we have two seasons: winter and construction. Both make it more difficult to get around the state, so now seems a good time to remind drivers, both commercial and non-commercial, that we all share the road.

Remember: big trucks loaded with cargo can’t stop on a dime. Don’t cut them off, give them room for turns, and pay attention when driving behind them. If you can’t see their rearview mirrors, they can’t see you.

very year around this time we are celebrating the high school and college graduates in our lives. We’re attending ceremonies, going to parties, and sending well wishes. In fact, as I write this, I am preparing for my youngest to graduate high school.

This year’s graduates have had an unprecedented experience. For most of them, a majority of the last four years was spent in a virtual classroom setting. Their lives were essentially placed in a bubble. Our world, although feeling more “normal” than it has in a while, is still experiencing resounding effects from the last few years.