Scott Rhode

Alaska

Editor and Staff Writer at Alaska Business Monthly

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Articles

Legislative Session Ends with Bills for Insurance, Payday Loans, and Big Game Hunting

1 month ago | akbizmag.com | Scott Rhode

by | May 21, 2025 | Architecture, Government, Insurance, News The first regular session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature adjourned on its 120th day in Juneau. In the end, lawmakers finished an operating budget for the fiscal year that begins in July and overrode the governor’s veto of an education funding bill. The House and Senate also enacted new rules for alcohol retailers, backed the Alaska Railroad Corporation’s financing of a cruise ship terminal in Seward, and passed other bills...
Forewarned Is Forearmed: Market Research to Stay Competitive

2 months ago | akbizmag.com | Scott Rhode

by | Apr 28, 2025 | Magazine, Professional Services Queues for car washes in the Anchorage area are longer than they need to be. From that observation, other questions arise. How many more car washes would satisfy demand? Where should those car washes be? What price should they charge? “We have spent a lot of time and effort, even in the Lower 48, figuring out the best way to analyze markets,” says Tamara Davis, CFO of Wild Pines Ventures. The family-owned company brought the Tommy’s Express...
Pressing Concerns: Behind the Covers of Periodical Printing

2 months ago | akbizmag.com | Scott Rhode

by | Apr 7, 2025 | Magazine, Manufacturing, Media & Arts This magazine debuted in January 1985 with 56 pages held together by staples. Apart from the cover, only a couple of pages had color graphics. Full-color photos arrived that April, and the October issue swelled to 84 pages, all for $3 (closer to $9 today, adjusted for inflation). After the statewide economic crash that year, the cover price retreated to $2.50. The first issue longer than 100 pages was published in October 1989. A glossy...
Anchorage’s Aspirations: Project 80s, Then and Now

Feb 3, 2025 | akbizmag.com | Scott Rhode

by | Feb 3, 2025 | Architecture, Magazine Pizza toppings. Jay Leno reportedly compared the crazy-quilt pattern of the Atwood Concert Hall’s freshly installed carpet to Italian food in 1988 when he performed the venue’s inaugural show. Four decades later, the carpet is still there, a little worse for wear but holding up respectably. The Atwood is the largest and most elegant of the three auditoriums in the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (PAC). The city-owned structure is open to the...
Candlemaker Opens Studio for DIY Experiences

Nov 26, 2024 | akbizmag.com | Scott Rhode

Opening the studio coincides with Get Scent’s 4th anniversary celebration. Mainot found himself with spare time during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, so he taught himself to blend fragrances and make candles. When interviewed for This Alaska Business three years ago, Mainot was still working in his mother’s house in the Spenard neighborhood, but he was breaking even financially.
RMG Real Estate Emphasizes Professionalism as Independent Brokerage

Nov 15, 2024 | akbizmag.com | Scott Rhode

Under the leadership of CEO Annie Bjerkestrand, RMG Real Estate is retooling under a model Moore calls “full agent support.”“It’s a giant, heavy lift to be able to get a brokerage off the ground,” Moore says. State law in Alaska requires real estate agents to be paid through a brokerage, and the broker is responsible for compliance management. RMG has done well with Keller Williams, moving 450 to 500 units per year, worth about $150 million of annual production.
Nonresident Hire Rises Amid Workforce Shortage

Nov 14, 2024 | akbizmag.com | Scott Rhode

by | Nov 14, 2024 | Featured, Government, News King Tech students learn how to nail roofing material. The rate of nonresidents working in Alaska rose to an all-time high of 22.5 percent in 2023, according to preliminary figures from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD). At the annual conference of the Resource Development Council, state labor economist Dan Robinson previewed the data to illustrate the struggle to fill a steadily growing number of jobs. Hiring from...
Drone Dock Simplifies Cordova Telecom Tower Maintenance; Other Uses Forthcoming

Nov 8, 2024 | akbizmag.com | Scott Rhode

by | Nov 8, 2024 | Construction, Engineering, Featured, News, Telecom & Tech This test flight in Cordova required a pilot to be near the docking station, but a recent waiver from the FAA lets the drone fly (within a permitted radius) even if the pilot is out of town. Upon landing, the clamshell lid closes while the aircraft recharges. Eye contact is essential for most drone aircraft operations. Starting this year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been cautiously granting waivers...
Authority Questioned: AIDEA Defends Its Win/Loss Record

Oct 28, 2024 | akbizmag.com | Scott Rhode

by | Oct 28, 2024 | Government, Magazine Built by the state in the ’80s, ownership of the Ketchikan Shipyard transferred to AIDEA in 1997. Operated by Vigor Alaska, the shipyard launched the new state ferry M/V Hubbard in 2023 and completed the first US Coast Guard maintenance contract since 2011. Scribbles marred the faces of officials most Alaskans wouldn’t recognize. On flyers that arrived in mailboxes this spring, Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) board members...
Pikka’s Promise Becoming Reality

Oct 14, 2024 | akbizmag.com | Scott Rhode

Downtown Adelaide, Australia was visible in the background of the video message Kevin Gallagher recorded for the August conference of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA). “Alaska’s geology is great,” said the managing director and CEO of Australian energy company Santos. “We love your rocks, and as a driller (a retired driller), I love the challenge of producing from them.”Gallagher started in the oil business on North Sea rigs off the shore of his native Scotland.