News

PND Engineers, Inc., in Anchorage announces three new hires in recent months. Tanner Stephens, a graduate from UAA with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering joined in March. Addison Yang, a graduate from UAF with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering who is currently working toward completing his master’s degree remotely joined this summer. Obadiah (“Obi”) Dawson, EIT also graduated from UAA with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 2020, and began working for PND this summer.

To read the full press release on these new hires, click the link below.

Engineering Ministries International, a Non-Profit (NGO) Christian Architectural/Engineering/Construction Management ministry with offices in 11 countries around the world will be hosting an informal presentation of the ministries work and mission vision to the Alaska A/E community, Tuesday July 28^th.  EMI has been serving the poor and underdeveloped countries for over 40 years and has completed hundreds of projects around the world.

EMI will be represented at the meeting by three of their senior management staff members who will be here to assess future project in Alaska.  These projects are anticipated to initially involve water and wastewater treatment in rural Alaskan villages but has the potential to grow in scope over the next several years.

Come see what this unique ministry is all about and to learn how you could become involved!  Out of respect for each other and our community, all local directives related to the COVID pandemic will be adhered to. If you would be interested in attending remotely through a medium such as Zoom please let us know when you RSVP.  We will try to make a remote meeting available and will let you know by email or phone.

Date: July 28, 2020

Time: 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm (presentation starts at 6:00pm)

Location: 1231 Gambell St. / office of Nvision Architecture, Inc.

Light Refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP by Monday July 27^th at (907) 349-1425 or admin@nvisionarch.com

R&M Consultants, Inc. (R&M) has promoted three employees into management roles. John Daley, PE has taken the role of Group Manager of Waterfront Engineering, as former Group Manager Kim Nielsen, PE retires. Tim Grier, PE has become Vice President of Engineering, and Lance DeBernardi, PE is now Group Manager of Surface Transportation.

To read the full press release from R&M, click here.

Eli Ward, EIT recently joined R&M Consultants, INC (R&M) as Staff Engineer in the firm’s Construction Services Department. In this role, Eli will support ongoing construction administration projects throughout Alaska.

To read more about Eli’s background, and the full press release from R&M, click here.

 

Summer is here! Although it may not seem like the summer of our pasts (no graduation celebrations, no big events for Memorial Day), the weather is warmer and sunny (at least today it is!). I hope you’ve all been able to get out and enjoy some of the nice weather to help make things feel a bit like normal in these still trying and exhausting times.

The legislature wrapped up their Second Regular Session on May 20, 2020. But I use “wrapped up” loosely, as many things were postponed due to the difficulties of trying to meet and conduct sessions remotely, including many of the bills we were tracking. Unless these bills are specifically called to be addressed in a special session, these bills will die this year. However, we’re planning on bringing them all back to life next year and picking up where we left off with advocacy for these issues.

Before ending session, the legislature ratified the Governor’s plan for nearly $1.5B in federal coronavirus aid funds. More than $560M in municipal aid will be distributed to cities and boroughs to help offset the costs of this pandemic. But our state was having budget concerns even before the pandemic – what happens now? How do we move forward when we are now facing not only existing budget concerns but also a pandemic? How do we address education, healthcare, and infrastructure when these institutions were already in a financial crisis before the coronavirus and now face even deeper budget issues? I don’t have the answers, yet. But I do know that as an organization, APDC will continue to invest in our state, its people, and its infrastructure. Together, we’ll continue to advocate for the design community to ensure Alaska prospers. Now get out and enjoy the beauties of this wonderful state over the summer and I’ll see you all in the fall!

Erica Jensen,

APDC President