Alaska Rubber and Jackovich Industrial: acquisitioning the future for Alaska and the Northwest.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Pacific Northwest--Alaska Connection - Company overview

When it comes to natural resource development in Alaska such as oil and gas, minerals, and logging, big machines and rigs get all the attention. But the big rigs would not get much headway without the proper fittings, pipes, hoses, lubrication, and local ,knowledge of conditions that are key to successful operations.

In the past year, two major suppliers of these products have undergone significant growth and strengthened the supply lines between Alaska and the Northwest United States. They are Colorado-based Motion Flow Control Products, Inc. (MFCP) and Anchorage-based Alaska Rubber.

The two companies are following divergent growth strategies, but aiming for the same trajectory of success in Alaska and beyond.

"We definitely think that the entire industry based in Alaska is positioned for growth," says Mike Robinson, marketing manager at MFCP. "There [are] a lot of attractive markets we participate in, in Alaska and the Lower 48."

Anchorage-based Alaska Rubber Group acquired five locations in Washington state in October 2013, doubling the size of the company, which is employee-owned. The acquisitions made sense because of how inter-connected the Alaska and Pacific Northwest markets are, says Chief Operations Officer Mike Mortensen.

"Because of the proximity of Alaska and Washington and the close relationship, we've always had customers in both Washington and Alaska," Mortensen says.

Healthy Competition

The moves bring MFCP and Alaska Rubber into direct competition with each other in some areas, but Robinson and Mortensen each note their company has its own individual strengths that will stand out in the industrial fittings marketplace.

"They're definitely a dominant player," Robinson says of Alaska Rubber. "We feel there's a significant opportunity for us to capitalize on our supply base; that having inventory in the Lower 48 to supply Alaska will be a huge benefit."

Mortensen notes that the natural resources industry is growing in both Alaska and in the Lower 48.

"With the relaxation of some of the oil structures, we are seeing a tremendous amount of growth, not only in the North Slope oil fields, but in the Kenai oil fields as well," he says. Alaska Rubber recently opened a big rigging shop in Anchorage with eight employees to serve the oil and gas industry.

In addition to its stores in Fairbanks, Wasilla, and Anchorage, Alaska Rubber Group now also owns Pacific Rubber, Inc. in Seattle; TIMCO, Inc. at the Port of Tacoma; North Sound Hose...