Alaska Business Sweeps Awards for Magazine Feature Writing, Wins for Best Cover and Headlines

“A Garage Away from Home” from October 2025 looks into the rise of spare garages, arranged in a condo-like fashion, in Anchorage’s real estate market. Developers are catering to Alaskans with too many toys (jet skis, boats, campers, et cetera) to neatly store at home as well as to entrepreneurs who need shop space. “Interesting dive into a niche real estate market that’s meeting the needs of gear-loving Alaskans,” Burke wrote.

In “Pressing Concerns: Behind the Covers of Periodical Printing,” also from April 2025, Rhode observes the business of printing and how, despite industry-wide contraction, several local publications continue to serve the needs of Alaska businesses and organizations. “Interesting, comprehensive look at the Alaska-based printing industry over time and how it’s adapting to changes brought on by technology, innovation, cost, and scale,” Burke wrote. The navel-gazing article was part of the year-long 40th anniversary celebration of Alaska Business Publishing Company.

Connecting data points and infusing stories with first-person relevance helped Rhode’s writing rise to the top, but why not have a little fun along the way? Rhode regularly crafts the headlines that appear in Alaska Business, both in print and online, and enjoys a witty turn of phrase. He’s behind zippy titles such as “For Whom the Zoom Booms: Producers of virtual events ride post-pandemic wave” from May 2025 and “Broadband, Narrowly Speaking: Internet with a capital ‘I'” from November 2025. “Pressing Concerns,” the April 2025 story mentioned above, is another classic Rhode headline, and part of the package that won 1st place in the Alaska Press Club awards. “Blasting Impact: Effective email for public outreach,” from July 2025, and “Addressed for Success: Marking village homes and businesses on a map,” from May 2025 are also headlines for which Rhode received recognition.

“This is the right mix of cheeky and specific; draws you in but stays on topic,” wrote category judge Margaret Littman.

Envisioning the Future, Celebrating the Past

In 2025, the Alaska Business team observed the company’s 40th anniversary with several retrospective pieces. The October issue, which won 1st place for cover design, is a nod to a 1983 poster in which artist Sharon Schumacher created an illustrated map of what Cook Inlet might look like in 2035. In creating the October 2025 edition, Sterchi-Lowman commissioned artist Kristin Link teamed up to re-envision a map forty years further into the future. By 2075, Cordova is “Silicon Valley North,” and a Coney Island-style boardwalk straddles the shore of Lake Iliamna, along with a massive Mount Spurr geothermal plant and a “Hobo Jim McGrath Amphitheater” honoring Alaska’s favorite balladeer.

“We endeavored to maintain the map’s humor while ramping up the optimism for Alaska’s vast potential, matching our publication’s mission to support responsible development,” wrote Managing Editor Tasha Anderson in the description of the October cover. Link’s art was so beloved that the issue includes a fold-out version of the map.

Design inspired by the ‘80s was also behind the April 2025 cover created by Alaska Business web designer Patricia Morales. The magazine resembles a Trapper Keeper, the ubiquitous binder invented by Mead Paper Company of Ohio in the late ‘70s. By the ‘80s, the binder with a Velcro closure had really taken off, with a variety of era-defining designs. Morales reenvisioned the binder with the neon aesthetic also characteristic of the ‘80s.

“Purples and pastels broke away from the earth tones of the prior decade, and new desktop computers came loaded with grid elements that became design signatures of their own. In honor of this magazine’s 40th anniversary, the design of the annual Corporate 100 list flashes back to the flashdance era,” is how the Alaska Business team described it. Any guesses which editor added that touch of wordplay?

The awards for work in 2025 build upon the wins Alaska Business earned from the Alaska Press Club for Cover Design and Magazine Feature Writing in 2024.