Going on 30: Neeser Construction Inc. This design/build company is making its mark in the state.

• Author: McCorkle, Vern C.
• Position: Special Section: Building Alaska

"Your success begins with Neeser," a line gently asserts atop a recent information sheet about the company. And a quick glance at the record tends to underscore the validity of the statement.

While Anchorage-based Neeser Construction Inc. is no overnight success, the fact that the company, renown for its outstanding design/build capabilities, is a success of exceptional proportions, simply can not be refuted.

Almost 30 years ago (it was in 1974 that Gerald "Jerry" Neeser brought his family and new company to Alaska from California), Neeser began formulating the management and client service philosophy that he follows to this day. Neeser insists that his desire to totally satisfy his customer-owners and the dedication of a long-term, core employee base, are two of the things that have made NCI what it is today: one of the most in-demand and successful Alaska-based construction companies.

If one needed proof of NCI's competence in construction, scoping the Anchorage skyline would furnish proof positive. In the very recent past, the company has constructed no fewer than seven major projects that stand as monolithic evidence of NCI superiority: The Alaska Public Health Laboratory & Medical Examiners Facility in Anchorage, the Joint Army-Air Force Exchange Shopping Center on Elmendorf Air Force Base, the new Anchorage Fire House Station No. 1, the University of Alaska Anchorage parking garage, the new Anchorage Jail, the Alaska Regional Hospital expansion and the Anchorage Native Primary Care Center. A superlative record of accomplishment most astute observers would agree.

But it was not always so, Neeser says, recalling some of his early jobs in Alaska, nearly 30 years ago. He began in the Bush, literally. With more than 25 remote Alaska site locations to the company schedule of completed projects, Neeser began honing his record of logistics capabilities and fast-track execution for which NCI is legendary. In a land of temperature and weather extremes, notoriously short building seasons, permafrost and poor soil conditions, hazardous terrain and challenging working conditions, NCI has excelled, even led the field. Examples of such challenges would include:

Stevens Village School-Required the construction of an ice road on the frozen Yukon River to move equipment and materials 36 miles to Stevens Village;

Chalkyitsik School-Called for building a 3,100-foot ice extension for an existing runway to airlift 988,114 pounds of material and equipment...