arlier this spring, two of Anchorage’s general contractors—Knik Construction and Mass Excavation, Inc., also known as Mass X—were honored for their outstanding work at the March 24 to 26 Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America Construction Association Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Knik Construction received a 2026 The Baldwin Group Build America Merit Award for its Chefornak Airport rehabilitation project. The project was a semi-finalist in the $20–$100 million Highway and Transportation category and was one of fourteen Merit Award winners at what The Baldwin Group calls the “Oscars of the construction industry.”

Mass X was recognized with a 2026 Construction Safety Excellence Award, coming in third place nationally in the Highway and Transportation Division, Under 450,000 Work Hours division.

The Chefornak Airport rehabilitation project involved resurfacing the gravel runway, taxiway, and access road. Dan Hall, president of Knik Construction and former AGC of Alaska board president, was at The Baldwin Group Build America Awards breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Orlando hotel on March 25 to accept the award in person.

“Our team overcame logistical, environmental, and operational hurdles through innovation, safety, and community collaboration, setting a benchmark for remote Alaska construction and exemplifying AGC excellence,” Hall says. “We are proud to have that dedication recognized on a national stage.”

According to a Knik Construction news release, Fox Air pilots share that the old runway was “rough” and “riddled” with heaves and potholes—a serious risk to aircraft. The new Chefornak runway is smooth with no more safety concerns that pilots have to navigate.

The remote nature of the project meant a lot of work had to happen before the work could officially begin. Materials were barged more than 2,700 nautical miles before being transported on a 5.3-mile ice road, which was built solely for the Chefornak project. To create the ice road, teams worked in subfreezing temperatures, blizzards, and white-outs, all while also drilling and blasting nearby at Cheeching Mountain, shattering solid rock into “shotrock” which was loaded into trucks and hauled to a stockpile at the airport.

Fifty-six holes were drilled in the ice road to allow water to be added and frozen, strengthening the road to support the 215-ton haul. The team maintained a perfect safety record over 55,666 man-hours and completed the winter portion in forty-eight days. In the summer, a rock crusher plant was barged to the site, and the crew crushed the shotrock into gravel for use at the airport.

Dora Hughes, the health, safety, and security manager at Knik Construction, says preconstruction on the federally funded project began in October 2023, when crews established camps and staging areas. She says she’s very happy that the team earned national recognition for the project.

“It is very rewarding, and I think it is amazing that, in this very small community in Alaska, this project is recognized as one of the best projects that was going on in the nation,” Hughes says. “I know that it brings a lot of pride back to our team… It wasn’t really an easy feat; it was down to the very last day in the winter haul. We were very fortunate that we had a cold winter that year, because Mother Nature does her own thing. They did an awesome job.”

Hughes isn’t the only one full of pride for Knik Construction’s national win; the whole team feels it.

“The guys are pretty stoked and excited. We haven’t seen [the award] yet, but I think once we are able to see it, it will feel a lot more rewarding,” she says.

She says the Knik Construction crew contained skilled experts from McGrath and Bethel who were familiar with harsh winters and working with ice in the Kuskokwim area.

Hughes notes that the Chefornak crew was also selected as a winner in the annual AGC Safety Committee Safety Stand-Down photo contest. Getting out to train her crew wasn’t always easy, she notes.

“When I was trying to go out and get some additional training done with the guys, my plane just kept cancelling because of the ice fog, so I think after three attempts, I finally got there,” Hughes says. “I know that we have had to use at least [Microsoft] Teams, where everyone was huddled around [a screen.]”

But the team’s commitment to safety paid off.

“Everybody was really safe, and the execution of the work was seamless,” she says. “I know from the project completion pictures afterwards, the final stabilization with the natural grass, you can’t even tell that we were there.”

Hughes says she always has thought Knik Construction has done exemplary work, so it is exciting to see her team’s efforts acknowledged on a nationwide scale.

AGC of Alaska President Carrie Jokiel and Immediate Past President Saigen Harris join Dan Hall onstage for a photo after he accepted the Knik Construction Build America Merit Award. Hall, third from left, is a past AGC of Alaska president and is currently an Alaska representative on the National AGC Board of Governors. Robby Capps, far right, is also a past AGC of Alaska president and is a life member of the AGC of America National Board of Governors.

Dan Hall, president of Knik Construction, holds the award Knik Construction received at The Baldwin Group Build America Awards breakfast on March 25 in Orlando, Florida. The merit awards were distributed at the AGC of America Construction Association Convention.

At center, Mass Excavation President Justin Shields holds the award his company received at the AGC of America Construction Safety Excellence breakfast March 27. Beside him is Mass Excavation Vice President Luke Blomfield.

Knik Construction isn’t the only company that came home from Florida carrying awards. Justin Shields, president of Mass X, walked across the stage of the Windermere Ballroom at the Orlando Hyatt Regency to accept a third-place award for Highway and Transportation Projects Under 450,000 Work Hours category at the March 26 Construction Safety Excellence Awards breakfast.

Shields says it’s an honor to be recognized on a national level. Mass X won the AGC of Alaska ConocoPhillips Alaska Excellence Safety Highway Division award in November. Winning locally was a requirement to apply for the National Safety Award. Mass X had to submit a sixty-page application and was named a finalist out of 160 applications nationally. After being selected as a finalist, both Shields and Mass X Vice President Luke Blomfield attended the national AGC conference in Orlando to present their case and, ultimately, accept the award.

“We were notified that we were one of the three finalists,” Shields says. “Then the next step is to go to the national AGC convention and present to a panel of five board members. The panel included members from Google, the Smithsonian, as well as the National AGC president… You basically have to get up there and do a five-minute presentation followed up by a fifteen-minute Q&A session.”

Shields says Mass X is excited to have taken home the third-place award but will be shooting for first place at the AGC National Convention Safety Awards in 2027.

“Mass X is excited to be compared to and competing against some pretty extensive companies from the United States,” Shields says. “We are really proud of [our award]. It just really speaks volumes to what we are doing with our safety program and our people within our company, just their dedication to safety and taking us to that next level. We are extremely proud of our team and the company’s commitment to safety.”