AIC: 'we move the earth.'.

• Author: Meyring, Justin
• Position: 2007 Alaska's Top 49ers: Economic Pipelines to the Future - Company overview

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"Our company has a reputation for taking an impossible idea and making it an accomplished fact."

It's a bold statement taken from Alaska Interstate Construction's Web site, but considering the evidence, it's one they can back up. "We pride ourselves on 'no task too small, no job too big,'" says David Gonzalez of AIC.

Founded in 1987, the Anchorage-based construction conglomerate is now owner or co-owner of construction subsidiaries performing tasks around the world most construction firms would shy away from.

The original founder of AIC, John Ellsworth, is no longer with the company, but Dave Thomas, who started with the company at the age of 18, is now its president. Ellsworth started AIC after EnSearch left the state in the mid-1980s when oil prices collapsed.

AIC's original operations were focused on the North Slope of Alaska. But over the years, while keeping its North Slope ties strong, it has grown and expanded into construction efforts now including mining and public works.

2006 SEES GREAT GROWTH

Saying that 2006 was a very good year for AIC would be an understatement. AIC posted $120 million in revenue in 2006, bettering its returns from any previous year. Thomas credits the increase to better organizational practices. "We basically took the company and better defined it into business units." Divisions that include private works, public works, and a new Cook Inlet division have enabled AIC to streamline, which was good for business.

AIC's continuing health, safety and environmental efforts are paying dividends, as it was recognized in 2006 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for their Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) practices.

Also in 2006, AIC opened one of its many subsidiaries, Alaska Aggregate Products. Thomas notes Alaska Aggregate as "a big accomplishment. We're providing building materials and resources to the Anchorage area and Cook Inlet area. As part of our overall strategy we opened our Cook Inlet division and part of that was opening Alaska Aggregate Products. We have our own gravel resources, redi-mix concrete and asphalt supply in the Anchorage area."

ALASKAN PROJECTS

One of AIC's fortes is civil infrastructure construction. "We move the earth," says Gonzalez. From gravel roads and pads to ice roads in the Arctic, AIC provides valuable support to construction projects utilizing the largest fleet of heavy equipment in Alaska.

With the capacity to install all portions of...