Doris Coy, Owner: Northern Dame Construction.

• Author: Slaten, Russ
• Position: View from the Top

Originally from Idaho, Doris Coy has lived in Alaska since 1982. She always wanted to come to Alaska because of her passion to hunt and fish. Her husband A was in construction, and she had worked A for construction companies as an expediter for parts. She conducted equipment counts and load counts on a mine project in Colorado and, at one point, worked as an office manager for a construction company. Going to school in Oregon, Idaho, and Colorado, she learned to accept each new place as she moved around.

STARTING THE BUSINESS: Northern Dame Construction has been in business since 1992. I was working as a flagger and expediter on a construction job up North near Fairbanks, and I thought I could start my own company. It turned out to be quite the challenge, and so I worked as hard as I could with little capital and learned all the ropes.

EXPANDING REACH: We travel all over the state of Alaska doing work for different contractors, more so than other contractors, and we will take on small projects that similar companies may not. Typically, we handle traffic control during weigh station maintenance across Alaska's highway system and with projects on the North Slope. Due to changes in the woman-owned business regulations in Alaska, some traffic control contracts were taken over by the companies that hired us, so we have incorporated other types of jobs. We cover traffic control for electrical companies during wire crossings and for geotechnical engineers and consultants, usually before a project goes out to bid. We have helped...