GC of Alaska member companies Turnagain Marine and Alaska Railroad are part of a partnership that will receive $45.7 million from the Environmental Protection Agency through its Clean Ports Program; the funds will provide shore power for the new cruise port in Seward that Turnagain is building on behalf of the city of Seward, The Seward Company, Royal Caribbean Group, and the Alaska Railroad.
The shore power project will transform the Port of Seward into a green port by allowing cruise vessels to connect with electrical power from the city’s grid instead of using diesel generators while docked.
The upgrades include extending the electric transmission line to the port, adding switchgear, and integrating a Battery Energy Storage System, or BESS, to enhance energy management. This investment is a significant step in Seward’s ongoing efforts to balance economic growth with sustainability and to address climate change by reducing mobile source emissions associated with port operations.
“This will be the most advanced shore power system to ever be installed in Alaska,” says Turnagain Marine President Jason Davis. “For a community this size, the system will constantly analyze and store power, saving energy and money for the City of Seward, all while making it a better place to visit and live.”
The new cruise port is scheduled to open in May 2026, with completion of the integrated power system anticipated shortly afterward.
alling it an important “haul-iday,” Associated General Contractors, or AGC, of Alaska member Lynden in October announced it would deliver the Capitol Christmas Tree, selected from the Tongass National Forest in Southeast, to the West Lawn of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
This is the second time in ten years Lynden Transport was selected for the job. The two drivers who made the trip, John Schank and Fred Austin, are both from the Lynden Fairbanks Service Center. Schank was tapped to transport the national tree in 2015, as well.
“It was my honor to carry the tree across the country in 2015, and I’m grateful to get another opportunity in 2024,” Schank said in October when Lynden announced it had been selected for the trip. “I stopped along the way for community events and met a lot of kids who thought I was Santa taking the Christmas tree to the US Capitol. I’ll never forget it.”
Lynden sister company Alaska Marine Lines moved the tree on its Southeast Alaska barge service to Seattle, and Lynden took it from there on a national truck tour with many stops between Seattle and Washington, DC.
“GHEMM Company has been a longstanding company that people believe and trusted in our community, both in Fairbanks and across the state,” said Emily Drygas, University of Alaska Foundation senior director of principal gifts, in a short video shown at the luncheon. “I was at UAF for about fifteen years of my career, and during the first ten years I had the opportunity to meet GHEMM; they were a loyal scholarship supporter to the university and they directly supported civil engineer students at UAF.”
Drygas says working with Nordale on fundraising efforts was a pleasure.
“Meg is a champion. She is a dream of a fund-raiser. She makes things happen, she is a connector, she cares, and she rolls up her sleeves and works alongside you as a team to achieve a common goal,” Drygas said.
Part of that common goal was developing an endowment with the University of Alaska, focused on boosting construction industry training and providing essential support to fill gaps in the state’s construction workforce. Nordale was instrumental in bringing the details together and getting it passed by the AGC board. AGC also contributed $200,000 toward the endowment. That money is part of nearly $900,000 invested to support the initiative, including $400,000 in university funds contributed by UAA President Pat Pitney.
Nordale says she was driven to invest in the university—the university delivers on the investment.
“It was just sort of a natural affinity that we need to promote the university, we need to support the university because the university supports us in so many ways,” she said in the video. “My company has benefited from individuals who have had the courage to make an investment in my company, in my state, and in my community. I feel like we have an obligation to give back.”
