Stoel Rives LLP, a U.S. law firm, is pleased to announce that it received a Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum, a leading organization for women in law dedicated exclusively to women from the Amlaw 100, Second Hundred and Fortune 1000 Corporate Law Departments. The certification process focused on whether women were significantly represented in top leadership positions and among the top-earning attorneys. Of more than 300 law firms solicited, Stoel Rives was one of only 50 nationwide to meet the certification requirements.

Pacific Alaska Lumber announces the opening of their new office in Anchorage.

The company recently opened a new location at the historic Alaska Railroad Depot in Anchorage to provide “boots on the ground” service to Alaskan customers. The office will be staffed by Rodney Larson, regional manager for Alaska. He will work closely with company president Vint Jones to serve the needs of the construction and oil field services industries throughout the state.

The Anchorage Economic and Development Corporation and the Municipality of Anchorage’s first citywide hackathon proved a success with more than a dozen coders participating in the weekend-long event and producing two apps that will be developed. The goal was to bring programmers from across the city together to create applications from government data and web tools that offer solutions to improve the community.

Anchorage, AK – Anchorage Healthy Smile Center dentist, Dr. Terry Preece, invites everyone to an open house from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, June 28, at 12501 Old Seward Highway, Suite C. Tour the new state-of-the-art office. Soft drinks and appetizers will be provided, and a drawing will be held for a chance to win prizes.

Dr. Preece has been in practice for more than 32 years and provides comprehensive, full care dentistry. For additional information and photos of the new office, visit Anchorage Healthy Smile Center website

If you were unable to make the June 21 RDC Annual Meeting, you can see what you missed online:

RDC's Annual Meeting video

The topic was "Developing Hydrocarbons in an Anti-hydrocarbon Age: Risks & Opportunities."

This and all RDC meetings are video recorded and placed on the RDC website for future reference.

Presentations from previous RDC events can viewed online:

Videos of previous RDC events

More than 4,000 University of Alaska employees have transitioned to a new web-based time entry system that is faster, safer and easier to manage than paper time sheets. The new online interface allows employees and their supervisors to access the system from almost anywhere with a secure Internet connection. The change is expected to save more than nine tons of paper annually, as well as eliminating printing costs and the need to physically store paper.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Alaska State Director Jim Nordlund today announced the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Small Business Development Center has been awarded a USDA-RD Rural Business Enterprise Grant to support small business; job creation opportunities and training workers in Native Alaskan communities.

ASRC Energy Services recently celebrated two significant safety milestones for the groups who work at Milne Point.

Milne Point Operations and Maintenance, and Field Managed Projects, combined, have gone nearly three years without a lost time or recordable incident (July 27, 2012). This equates to more than 631,700 man-hours of work performed without an injury needing medical treatment and requires each person in each group, from mechanical, roads and pads, electrical, and corrosion, to perform as one team.

Anchorage, Alaska – The Aleut Corporation, one of the 12 regional Alaska Native corporations, acquired Analytica Group of Colorado on June 15, 2012.

Established in 1984, Analytica Group is a state certified water testing laboratory with offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla and Thornton, Colo. Their public water system compliance monitoring program has helped countless water utilities in Alaska and Colorado fulfill complex industrial compliance requirements. Analytica has played a vital role in providing clients with precise, defensible baseline data.

Fairbanks, AK: Lithia Automotive Group announces the acquisition of Aurora Buick GMC of Fairbanks. The dealership will consolidate with Lithia-owned Chevrolet of Fairbanks to become Chevrolet Buick GMC of Fairbanks.

The acquisition of Aurora GMC Buick comes just as major remodeling of Chevrolet of Fairbanks commences. Construction will include major interior and exterior changes to allow the two dealerships, parts and service to consolidate in the Chevrolet of Fairbanks location at 3300 South Cushman Street.

Fairbanks, Alaska – An economic impact report has been released detailing the significant contributions by Interior-based Native organizations to the local and state economies. These organizations number over 70 and are both for-profit and nonprofit, including tribes.
Based on 2010 data, the report was produced by Doyon, Limited; Tanana Chiefs Conference; Denakkanaaga; Fairbanks Native Association and Interior Regional Housing Authority.

The Alaska Support Industry Alliance would like to get your feedback on its Alaska Oil, Gas & Mining Directory. Please take a moment to complete a short survey. (Click on the link to start).

Alliance survey

The University of Alaska Board of Regents approved multiple construction and maintenance projects throughout the state during a two-day meeting that wrapped up recently in Anchorage.

Approved projects include schematic design of the engineering buildings in Anchorage and Fairbanks, as well as the UAA Mat-Su Valley Center for Arts and Learning. Formal approval of the Main Apartment Complex (MAC) housing renewal at UAA was granted and the UAA campus master plan amended to include the engineering parking garage. Also approved were schematics of phase 2 for electrical upgrades at UAF.

SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines ranked highest in airline customer satisfaction among traditional network carriers for the fifth consecutive year by J.D. Power and Associates in its 2012 North America Airline Satisfaction Study. The airline also ranked highest J.D. Power and Associates' annual segment rankings in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Nomination forms available in five categories

ANCHORAGE - Until June 22, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce will be accepting nominations for the 55th annual Gold Pan Awards. The Gold Pan Awards, one of Anchorage's longest-standing business honors, are given to individuals, organizations and businesses for their commitment to business and entrepreneurial excellence, as well as community service.

This year, nominations are being accepted for the following categories:

• Distinguished Community Service by an Individual, Small Business or Organization (under 30 employees)

June 6, 2012 - (Washington, D.C.) The U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation that would ratify the Salmon Lake Land Ownership and Consolidation Agreement (Senate Bill S.292). The bill will now be sent to the President, who is expected to sign it.

Sports ClipsANCHORAGE, AK -- Sport Clips Haircuts has opened its first location in the State of Alaska at 8920 Old Seward Highway, adding to the more than 890 Sport Clips across the country.

“What’s better than being in a relaxing environment, where sports are on TV everywhere you look, with well-trained stylists and no need for an appointment when it’s time for a haircut?” said Colleen Peterson, owner of the new Sport Clips.

Sport Clips will offer clients:

BBB Says: Investigate Before Investing

Anchorage, Alaska – Investors, be wary: Don’t put stock in brokers and agents with too-good-to-be-true promises, advises Better Business Bureau. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority —FINRA—shares the common psychological tactics used by investment frauds:

The "Phantom Riches" Tactic: Sellers dangle the prospect of wealth and high-returns. "These gas wells are guaranteed to produce $6,800 a month in income."

Engineering News-Record ranked ASRC Energy Services, Inc. as one of the Top 20 petroleum contractors in the nation and in the upper 20 percent of contractors overall.

Based on gross revenues, ASRC Energy Services saw a 40 percent improvement in their position from last year due to an increase in new contracts for 2011. ENR also ranked AES as a top 500 design contractor for 2012.

ASRC Energy Services, Inc. is an Alaskan-owned oil and gas services provider with multiple divisions and subsidiaries that provide a full range of services for producers in the petroleum sector.

Anchorage – Yakutia Airlines announced that final approval has been received from the U.S. and Russian governments to operate passenger and cargo service between the Eastern Russia city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Anchorage.

Scheduled service will begin July 12 and will run weekly through September 13, utilizing Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The flight time is approximately 4.5 hours.

Tickets are available now through most global distribution systems, the AirRussia/U.S. sales network, and Yakutia Airlines' representative in the U.S., InterPacific Aviation and Marketing.