AK-WA Connection 2009: Cold weather expertise pays off for some

One way businesses in the Alaska-Washington trade cope with uncertainty in the economy is by specializing in goods and services that stand up to the harsh demands of the Arctic winter.

Contractors like Price Gregory Services Inc. capitalize on decades of expertise in infrastructure engineering and construction in Alaska, while innovators such as Arctic Foundations create and install products to meet the unique requirements of Arctic construction.

“The most important thing is to be established in the state and have the background and enthusiasm to operate here on a year-round basis,” said Buz Jackovich, owner of Jackovich Industrial and Construction Supply Inc. in Fairbanks.

Price Gregory performs engineering procurement construction projects for clients in Alaska, Canada and the Lower 48. The company’s history dates back 86 years to oil pipeline construction’s earlier days before World War II.

Arctic Foundations Inc. is an innovator in foundation construction and technology for frozen soils and frozen barriers. The company analyzes, designs and manufactures heat removal and ground freezing systems that enhance the engineering characteristics of soil and rock. Strengthening soils, controlling water, and immobilizing water-borne hazardous contaminants are benefits of its patented processes, which are used by many commercial builders in the Alaska and Canadian Arctic.

Jackovich said the level of knowledge of the products his firm sells is what keeps his customers coming back.

“A lot of companies (put) their products in the freezer at 50 below and bring them out into room temperatures to actually test them,” he said. “We actually stand outside in those temperatures and test the products. That’s where we get the expertise to see what works. In Fairbanks we get 55-60 below (zero Fahrenheit temperatures). We test our products at those temperatures. We go out and test it to see if it bends or breaks or if the grease won’t stir or pour. If it doesn’t work, we go back to the manufacturers and tell them that it won’t work.”

The cold weather testing grew out of Jackovich’s early efforts to meet his customers’ needs 40 years ago during the oil boom. Many of the oilfield contractors that rushed to the North Slope in 1969 after the discovery of the Prudhoe Bay oil field had little or no experience operating in arctic conditions.

Jackovich had the right background for the work. He grew up in his father’s gold mines in Yukon Territory, “watching them try to keep equipment going for as long as possible.”

“(The miners) could only work for part of the year because of the cold,” he recalled.

During their first months in business, Jackovich and his Uncle Joe had customers clamoring for increasingly durable products that could operate in the severe cold of the Arctic. To meet that demand, they performed more and more cold weather tests on the products they sold, sending some back to the manufacturer and certifying others for immediate use.

This extra customer care has paid off handsomely over the years for Jackovich’s firm. In addition to a brisk trade in Alaska, the supplier also gets numerous orders from former customers who have moved on to assignments in Saudi Arabia or Russia.

“People know that we have products that work,” Jackovich added.

—Rose Ragsdale