Alaska Pacific Environmental acquires several Waste Management operations

Alaska Pacific Environmental Services Anchorage LLC has entered into an agreement to acquire the Anchorage, Kenai, Kodiak and Matanuska Valley operations of Waste Management Alaska Inc., a subsidiary of Houston-headquartered Waste Management Inc.

Alaska Pacific Environmental is a locally owned company providing refuse collection and recycling to customers throughout Anchorage. The company is led by Jon Rubini and Leonard Hyde, owners of JL Properties Inc.

Alaska Pacific Environmental and Waste Management Alaska have entered into confidentiality agreements and will be in a position to share more details in the months ahead.

Grant to fund maritime training

The Marine Exchange of Alaska received $188,000 from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development Dec. 20 to recruit and train Alaskans to work in the maritime industry, according to Paul Fuhs, president of the nonprofit maritime organization.

Fuhs said his Marine Exchange of Alaska will use the funding to support its new outreach program and to hire the program's director, Harold Holten, a retired recruiter for the Seafarers International Union in Alaska.

Through the new program, Holten will recruit former fisherman and students to become licensed maritime workers, Fuhs said. He added that Holten will also work with the Alaska Vocational Technical Center in Seward to upgrade its training programs to meet the U.S. Coast Guard's licensing requirements for maritime workers, enabling Alaskans to stay in state for training.

Fuhs said the state labor department grant is enough to get the new program going and he hopes to secure future funding for the program through a multi-year agreement with the department.

Northrim offers gift card program for businesses

Northrim Bank recently began offering a program to allow businesses to sell gift cards to their customers.

The Flex Cache gift cards are being billed as an alternative to selling paper gift certificates. Businesses must order a minimum of 500 cards, which can include the company name or logo.

Gift cards have grown in popularity over recent years. Research shows that 64 percent of adults have purchased or used a gift card in the last year, according to a Northrim release. More than half of consumers who use cards spend more than the initial value.

The program also provides for online tracking of card sales and redemptions.

Selling gift cards improves cash flow - as businesses receive payment when the card is sold - and is a new way to reach new customers, according the Northrim's Web site.

A one-time set-up fee of $50 applies.

The Flex Cache program is offered through Paymentech, a merchant services company owned primarily by J.P. Morgan Chase.

Pegasus receives FAA certification

The Anchorage Flight Standards District Office of the Federal Aviation Administration recently certified Pegasus Aircraft Maintenance LLC to perform line maintenance on aircraft.

It is one of only two companies in Anchorage providing such services at the airport, FAA officials said. The certificate allows Pegasus to repair airframes and engines.

As a certified repair station, Pegasus will provide service to air carriers that use Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport as a stopover point, including changing tires, brakes, and oil, as well as refilling oxygen bottles and other maintenance activities.

- Around the State articles by the Journal of Commerce