|
PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: People and supplies for remote sites Chiulista Camp Services has established a business that benefits everyone working and living in the remoter part of Alaska Alan Bailey Petroleum Directory Contributing Writer
A specialty service that adds value for customers while also enabling people to find meaningful employment seems a sure-fire path to business success. So it’s not surprising to see how Chiulista Camp Services Inc., a subsidiary of Calista Corp., has flourished since the company first started its catering services for the Donlin Creek gold exploration project back in 1995.
Chiulista Camp Services excels in the logistics of arranging high-quality catering and temporary workers in the more remote parts of Alaska. And, in providing these services, the company brings employment to villagers in rural areas.
“It’s one of life’s minor victories,” George Gardner, president of Chiulista Camp Services, told Petroleum News, as he explained how his company’s operations have benefited both clients and employees. Catering By contracting with Chiulista Camp Services for catering services, a company can eliminate the headache of providing good meals to workers at a remote site, Gardner said. Chiulista Camp Services organizes the logistics of moving food supplies to the site and provides cooks and housekeepers.
“You don’t have to worry about it and you get a better product, better food for your employees,” Gardner said.
This service has proven so valuable that Chiulista Camp Services now operates statewide and has recently expanded into catering for fish processing plants. The company feeds about 125 people in Petersburg during the fish processing season, as well as operating similar services in Cordova, Naknek and Nome, and for the Donlin Creek and Nixon Fork gold projects, as well as on the North Slope, Gardner said. Logistics Gardner said that getting the food to remote locations presents the biggest challenge for the catering services.
“I think the biggest challenge is logistics — making sure that the supplies get out to them, so they’re able to perform wherever they are,” Gardner said. The trick is knowing the fastest and the most cost-effective way of getting things to the site, he said.
Chiulista Camp Services’ extensive knowledge of freighting arrangements in and to Alaska coupled with the company’s years of experience in moving freight around Alaska enable the company to overcome the logistical problems. Most food moves by airfreight, although barges with refrigeration units can ship supplies around the coast.
The company’s experience in logistics has enabled it to help customers in a variety of industries move general materials and supplies to remote locations.
“We also provide expediting services, because with the different projects we know all the suppliers here in town that can provide products for construction or for mining or for oil production,” Gardner said. Temporary workers In parallel with its catering and logistics services, Chiulista Camp Services supplies temporary workers for projects in remote sites.
“One thing we’ve been fairly successful with is providing temporary laborers for some special projects,” Gardner said. “Nearly all the people we provide are either shareholders of Calista Corporation or (other) Alaska Natives.”
The company provides a variety of qualified people, including heavy equipment operators, mechanics and survey personnel. The company also supplies other construction-related and general laborers.
“For the most part these are personnel who have proven themselves to us on a very remote site project — (shown) that they can do what needs to be done,” Gardner said.
So, by contracting through Chiulista Camp Services, a customer can be sure of finding reliable workers. In addition, many of the people who Chiulista Camp Services supplies come from rural villages, so that they are fully used to dealing with the issues of living and working in the remoter parts of the state.
And, given travel cost and times around Alaska, it’s particularly important to hire the right person to work in a remote situation.
“If you send employees out to a project and they don’t work out, then getting them back and replacing them with someone else is an expensive proposition,” Gardner said. A win-win situation As well as benefiting customers, the jobs arranged through Chiulista Camp Services have proved a major boon for the villagers of rural Alaska. The jobs bring money into the villages and the work arrangements blend well with the subsistence lifestyle. It’s a real win-win situation for all concerned.
“It’s an ideal situation for both us and the employee. Anyone able to work some of the longer hours that are required at rural sites or up on the slope can provide meaningful income to their households and their villages,” Gardner said.
And with the typical two weeks on, two weeks off work schedule, people find ample time for their traditional activities.
“In the summer if they take an additional two weeks off, all of a sudden they have a six-week span in which they can do their subsistence hunting and fishing,” Gardner said.
The arrangements can also enable customers to find permanent employees.
“By providing a temporary worker that can do the job, our client there can see if they might be a good fit for them on a permanent basis,” Gardner said. “If they hire that employee, that’s absolutely fine with us.” Future expansion With eight years of business development behind it, Chiulista Camp Services continues to seek ways to expand. In addition to its recent foray into supporting fish processing centers, the company is looking at joint venture partners for construction and heavy equipment operations. The company is also applying for 8(a) certification.
“We’re looking to some stronger joint venture partners to provide additional services, pretty much geared towards remote Alaska,” Gardner said. “We want to retain our strength in remote and rural Alaska and build on it.”
And the company’s niche suite of services that support remote operations seems a continuing formula for success.
Editor’s note: Alan Bailey owns Badger Productions in Anchorage, Alaska.
| 