Established: 1991

Location: 4630 Old Airport Road, Fairbanks, Alaska, 99706

Telephone: 907-474-9663

Focus of service: The Great Alaska Bowl Company makes Alaska solid wood, personalized laser-engraved products.

The products are a way to display images and may be used for employee awards and incentive programs, for both corporate and personal gifts.

Products include a spruce bowl, a birch logo bowl, a memory photo bowl, bird feeders, customized coasters, cutting boards, birch mugs, Alaska animal bowls, seasonal art bowls and winter sports bowls.

Some of the artwork designs were created by Alaska artists exclusively for the company.

History of company: Lewis Bratcher, the company founder and owner, came to Alaska after graduating from the University of Tennessee in 1969.

He came to Anchorage and started in the concrete products and building supply industry. He moved to Fairbanks in 1973 and in April of 1974 opened a cabinet/countertop shop with partner Don Rosen.

With the decline of the construction industry in 1988, Bratcher founded the Great Alaskan Bowl Company, which produced the first of many solid birch wood bowls in 1991. The business has grown along with the increase in tourism and gift-related fields.

The company also offers other Alaska made items in its retail shop. In addition, there is a viewing area where guests may observe the manufacturing process.

Major accomplishments: The purchase of a laser that works on concave surfaces is a major accomplishment, Bratcher said. The laser allows the company to expand into laser-engraving of logos and photos on bowls for gifts and promotional products.

The laser addition has helped the business to expand locally, nationally and internationally.

Notable clients include the upcoming Alyeska Resort U.S. Alpine Championships and the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel employee awards.

Company growth will come, Bratcher said, from the laser process of removing background in photos, and, through several software steps, of producing solid birch wood photobowls.

This month Bratcher and staff will attend a wedding and portrait photo convention in Las Vegas to expose company products to more than 7,000 photographers.

Major players: In addition to Bratcher, the management team includes Joe Kennedy, director of operations; Kati Falk, director of marketing; Sharon Stephens, store supervisor; Pam Pearson, store manager; John Debbaut, lead bowl cutter and Garret Flood, laser production.

Employment ranges from six to 19 people in the peak summer season.

- Pat King