“We decided to buy Web Weavers because we wanted a good home for their team members, or clients, and for Melvin the Frog,” said Sundog's Joe Law.

Melvin is the mascot for Web Weavers, a company that was built over the last 10 years by Ginger Stock-McKenzie. She has received recognition by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Associated Students of Business as business leader of the year and has completed the Leadership Anchorage program offered through the Alaska Humanities Forum and the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.

Law would not release the exact purchase price but said that both companies now combined have a potential of earning $1 million yearly in the next few years.

Both companies have about 400 clients each, Law said.

The two companies have competed over the last decade, in many cases over the same clients.

“We now have about 100 clients that we mutually competed for,” Law said.

While he describes the merger as making Sundog the largest Web-based media company in Alaska, Web work is not all the group does.

“We do everything up to printing,” Law said. “That includes logos, ads and design. We leave the printing up to PIP.”

Sundog specializes in helping small- to medium-sized businesses, but has large clients from Illinois to Idaho.

“About 90 percent of our clients are right here in Alaska,” Law said.

The merger came about when Stock-McKenzie called Law and asked if he would be interested in purchasing her business. She wanted to find a home for her clients and her staff.

Law agreed, mainly because the two firms have similar goals and philosophies - and he and his wife, Cathy, had targeted growth of the business as one of their goals for 2008.

The deal between the two companies was negotiated by Dick Stock, Ginger's father, and Jason Evans of Financial Inc., who is a friend of Sundog Media.

Citing health issues as the motivation for selling Web Weavers, Stock-McKenzie will stay with the company for three months during the transition.

Law, who recently added on to his home to facilitate and expand the business, is enthusiastic about the merger.

“ I am really excited about this team,” Law said. “Together we possess a lot of different skills. This will benefit our clients with more options.”