Alliance Link Magazine Summer 2025

With its needs for workforce de - velopment, the business community has a responsibility to step in and help, she said. Epperheimer is a small company but has decided to make an investment in future Alaskans. “We encourage other businesses in the trades to explore opportunities for partnering with schools to in - spire students to consider careers in the trades,” Arbelovsky said. “Initia - tives such as mentorship programs, apprenticeships, and work-based learning experiences can help raise awareness. Many students are un - aware of the rewarding, well-paying career paths available within their own communities — paths that can provide stability and the option to remain local.” Epperheimer has also partnered with Kenai Peninsula Economic De - velopment District, with Arbelovsky joining KPEDD’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy committee to help promote work - force development in the community.

update with computers and informa - tion technology, that seems main - ly in areas including applications on cellphones, and Arbelovsky finds many students lack knowledge of how to work with desktop computers and other systems commonly used in the workplace. All of this starts with business - es reaching out to schools and get - ting into classrooms to meet and talk with students. Epperheimer has also started visiting middle schools to make younger Alaskans aware of the opportunities they have and, hope - fully, to get them interested in the industrial trades. Private companies have stepped in to supplement what the schools are able to offer. “There are a lot of budget pres - sures on schools. Teachers and coun - selors are now limited on what they are able to do. They can’t be proac - tive anymore to do things like reach - ing out themselves to businesses and community members to come into the schools. This is because of a lack of resources,” Arbelovsky said.

The company now typically works through December and resumes work in late January and February. A warm winter helps in the application of coatings on metals, which is mostly done outdoors. But the longer work season is helping Epperheimer retain skilled workers and recruit new ones. The Kenai Peninsula School Dis - trict has long taught career prepa - ration and education including in - dustrial skills like welding in its schools but its schools, like those across Alaska, have been under bud - get stresses. Industrial skills courses are expensive to operate and many school districts have had to cut back on these to maintain core academic programs. Arbelovsky said she is surprised at how basic some of the skills-train - ing needs are for students she works with. Fundamental understandings of tools and how to work with them once were taught at home or in shop classes at school are often missing and must be learned. Surprisingly, while young people today are thought to be quick on the

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BUILDING ALASKA ONE OUNCE AT A TIME CONAM’s track record of successful projects has proven that resource development can be done responsibly while protecting Alaska’s fragile environment. Our firm understanding of Alaska’s unique challenges and commitment to HSSE and planning have translated into

Photo Courtesy Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District Epperheimer Inc. has helped provide hands-on training to Kenai Peninsula students interested in pursuing a career in supporting Alaskan industry.

through their friends and word of mouth. From that, we hired an addi - tional four seniors last year for a total of five seniors in 2024; we hired one senior who didn’t attend the training so we have a total of five seniors this year, and one of the seniors from last year returned from college to work with us again.” The program is helping Epper - heimer develop a pipeline of young Alaskans coming into the company’s workforce. The work is somewhat seasonal with a summer staff of 15 to 18 that typically drops to 12 and 13 in winter, but a recruiting and training program that brings five to eight new people a year is a big success for a small company. The seasonality is spreading out, too, because of warmer winters.

ment District (KPEDD) provided a conference room and shop space for the classroom portion of the training. At the completion of the intro - ductory course, students receive an AMPP certificate, an important cre - dential in a path to a good job. The immediate reward is a good summer job in industries vital to Alaska. “In the first year, four students took the training and one applied for a position. He still works for us. In the second year (this spring), we had six students take the class and four students applied and were hired,” Arbelovsky said. “In addition to the students who were able to actually attend the class between last year and this year, we had other seniors who had heard about our hiring opportunities

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find a rewarding career. “College isn’t for every young person, and we wanted to get the message out that there are a lot of opportunities to stay in Alaska and find a career in the trades,” she said. The program has now been ex - panded. “Soldotna High, Kenai and Nikiski were part of this from year one, and we just brought in Kenai Alternative High School for year two,” she said. The training, free for the students, is done over three days, including two days of hands-on learning and the third day in Epperheimer’s shop putting new skills into practice after being properly suited in protective gear. The Kenai Economic Develop -

satisfied mining clients across the state. We get dirty so you get the pay dirt.

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