“If a helicopter company gets a call, it means they can’t use anything else,” says Ely Woods, general manager of ROTAK Helicopter Services, based out of Anchorage. “We can fit into smaller sites and we have vertical takeoff and landing capabilities—airplanes can’t go where helicopters can.”
Without the proper gear, tools, and equipment specifically tailored to meet the demands of working here, Alaskans would struggle, and so too would some of the state’s most important industries.
Unless a general contractor is doing what is known as “speculation work” in which the builder constructs the house before it has a buyer—also sometimes referred to as tract homes—the work and challenges presented when building a home in the Fairbanks-area can be daunting.
The pandemic forced businesses to come up with innovative solutions to keep customers coming through their doors—if not literally, then figuratively—even when they couldn’t belly up to the bar for a drink or enjoy a weekend brunch with friends.
In the wake of celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2019, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority has stepped in to provide $1.5 million in grants to organizations responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Last Frontier.
While everyone is eager to get back to normal (or close to what normal used to look like), Alaska’s organizations are making the most of the opportunities they have now, helping people travel far and wide—digitally, at least.