Established: 1998

Location: P.O. Box 1378, Sterling, AK 99672

Telephone: 907-262-1676

Web site: www.miacpress.com

Major focus of services: MIAC, which stands for Materials, Inspection and Consulting, provides industrial coatings and other supplies for buried or steel pipes. The firm also sells sand-blasting abrasives, foam spray insulation and polyurea coatings.

Anderson later added a partner, Jonathan Thorpe, who was an accountant at Unocal's Kenai office. Now Thorpe handles MIAC's accounting and procurement while Anderson pursues sales, technology and business development.

In May MIAC hired more employees, and today the company employs four full-time and two part-time workers.

MIAC chiefly supplies the oil and marine industries, but also sells paint and coatings for ship repair at Nikiski. The company also has distributed its products on Kodiak Island and in Homer. This summer MIAC plans to distribute products in Seward.This month MIAC planned to open a warehouse in Anchorage and hire a full-time sales executive.

Top accomplishment of the company: "Probably our No. 1 accomplishment is to grow in whatever direction our clients want," Anderson said. "We are in a niche market. We have highly technical products that few others offer."

Major player: Marty Anderson, president, MIAC Inc.

Anderson worked 16 years in the petrochemical industry, first logging eight years as a welder then another eight years as an inspector. He next worked as director of marketing at ASCG Inc., then as vice president of Polar Supply in Anchorage. He also worked in business development at Udelhoven Oilfield System Services Inc. and as assessment coordinator under contract through ARCO. He is a certified National Association of Corrosion Engineers corrosion technologist.

-- Nancy Pounds