STATE FOCUS | ALASKA
At approximately 665,000 square miles, Alaska is the largest state in the US, dwarfing its nearest competitor in terms of area, Texas, which stands at 268,600 square miles.
like UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) battery strings, computer room air handlers (CRAHs) and coolant distribution units (CDUs). Huge data centre projects have been proposed
for Alaska’s North Slope region. The Stak Energy North Slope Campus is a $500m hyperscale project that would occupy an entire square mile on the Arctic North Slope that could rely on 3GW of self- generated power from local natural gas reserves. The Department of the Air Force initiated a Request for Lease Proposal to develop AI data centres across roughly 4,700 acres of under utilised land at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Eielson Air Force Base and Clear Space Force Station. Furthermore, as part of the Mat-Su Valley
Proposal, the state evaluated transferring a 30-square-mile parcel of land in Houston, Alaska, to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), with potential future use cases including data centre corridors. “The North Slope has a lot of stranded natural gas that could possibly produce the energy you need for large-scale data centres, and there are clearly good options for cooling,” Berry explains. Aviation is another sector with high growth
prospects. Over the past ten years, many air freight projects have been proposed, with some having moved into the construction phase. FedEx is investing nearly $200m to build a major new Domestic Operations Center at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) using a 22- acre site adjacent to its existing facility to separate domestic and international cargo handling and, thereby, speed up processing and cut delays during peak shipping times.
“Anchorage and Fairbanks have advantages
as places for cargo planes to refuel, particularly if they are coming from Asia, and being able to refuel could mean they can carry more cargo,” says Berry. “There is also more interest in logistics and storage, so investors are looking at creating places to sort or break up cargo and be more efficient about where that cargo is sent.”
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Military bases also play a big role in supporting people who live in the state. Those bases, which purchase coal to provide heat and so provide a key market for one of the state’s mined resources, are set to grow. A near-term $2bn federal investment is planned for Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson in Anchorage as part of the proposed ‘Fightertown Recapitalization’ military programme. “It is hard to imagine another industry generating the economic rents that the oil and gas industry does,” says Watson. “The state cannot fund itself on mining and tourism. Hard rock mineral mines do not generate the same kind of profits as oil and gas. We currently have six large metal mines, so there may be some room for growth there, and there is some room to capitalise on tourism and growth in air cargo, and perhaps data centres, as we have lots of space and energy assets.”
Uplift for the crane and hoist sector Alaska’s overhead crane and hoist industry is a small market built around mission-critical lifting. Though not large by national standards, it serves an unusually valuable and demanding installed base. Cranes, monorails, hoists and below- the-hook equipment support oil production, mines, ports, shipyards, military facilities, utilities, warehouses and maintenance shops – all operations in which lifting equipment downtime can halt production, strand a remote crew or delay an expensive capital project. For suppliers, success in this market is less about selling large numbers of standard cranes and more about keeping critical equipment safe and available. Inspection, preventive maintenance, emergency repair, load testing, parts supply, modernisation and operator training are, therefore, the industry’s most dependable sources of revenue. New crane installations remain important, but they are comparatively episodic and closely tied to major energy, mining, infrastructure and defence projects.
An Alaska crane company’s most valuable asset is often not its product catalogue but its ability to reach a customer, diagnose a fault and return equipment to service. This model is strengthened by the state’s geography – a contractor that already has technicians, tools and commonly required parts positioned in Anchorage, Fairbanks or Deadhorse can respond more quickly and at lower mobilisation cost than an outside supplier. Washington Crane & Hoist maintains an Anchorage operation and its local operation is backed by American Equipment. Alaska Overhead is a locally owned specialist established in 2020 that offers overhead and mobile-crane inspections, repairs, rigging equipment, below-the-hook devices, aerial work platforms, forklifts, automotive lifts and fall-protection equipment. CraneTech lists Anchorage among its service locations and advertises round-the-clock inspection, repair and parts support for all major crane brands. Arctic Lifting Solutions is another key provider of inspections, load testing, dielectric testing, training, parts and equipment services to customers in rural Alaska as well as the road system. Harrington Hoists also has a presence, primarily through affiliated Alaskan industrial equipment and service companies Industrial Hoists and Rotating Services. Looking to the future, the industry should
benefit from the combination of new oil production, mine activity, port development, military construction and a large installed base of industrial equipment. The state’s forecast growth in oil and gas, mining, construction and transportation is especially favourable for suppliers whose revenue follows industrial activity rather than consumer spending. The strongest companies are unlikely to be those offering the lowest initial equipment price. They will be those that can place competent technicians where they are needed, and which carry the right parts, document compliance, engineer equipment for the unique conditions in Alaska, and support customers throughout the asset life cycle. The principal constraint could be execution. Skilled workers are scarce, travel is expensive, energy costs are volatile and the project pipeline remains exposed to commodity prices, federal policy and permitting issues. Those same barriers, however, protect suppliers
that already have an established base of local technicians, customer relationships and remote- service capability. In many ways, Alaska is a difficult crane and hoist market to crack, but once a company is established it can build a highly defensible market position. The local industry is relatively small, operationally unforgiving and strategically important to nearly every industry on which the state’s economy depends. For those companies that have put down their
roots in the state, the future presents a wealth of opportunities for incremental growth. For them, Alaska’s state motto – North to the Future – could not be more appropriate.
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