AIDEA approves involvement in 2 loans

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority board has approved participating in two loans to Wasilla Center Development, the state lending agency said.

In the first loan, originated by First National Bank Alaska, AIDEA will fund $978,750 of the $1.0875 million total. The money is for long-term financing of a new 9,000-square-foot office and retail building at 609 S. Knik Goose Bay Road in Wasilla.

For the other loan, also by First National, AIDEA will fund $1.08 million of the $1.2 million total. This money is for long-term financing of a new 14,436-square-foot office and retail building at 619 S. Knik Goose Bay Road in Wasilla.

State, employees union have tentative pact

The state said it has reached a tentative labor agreement with Public Employees Local 71 on behalf of the union's labor, trades and crafts unit. The agreement, covering July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2012, now goes to union members for ratification.

The state said the provisions include:

• A lump-sum payment ranging from $903 to $2,066, depending on the wage grade of the employee; seasonal and part-time workers would get half the amount.

• A new wage schedule similar to the one used for most state workers, effective July 1.

• A 2.5 percent pay increase, effective July 1, 2011.

• Health benefits increasing to $1,088 per member per month.

Bob Johnson, business manager and secretary-treasurer of Public Employees Local 71, hopes to have a vote of the 1,750 members in that unit completed by early May. Legislators must fund any deal.

Graphics firm takes 7 awards for designs

Mad Dog Graphx won seven honors recently from the American Graphic Design & Advertising Awards and the winning designs will be published later this year in "AGDA 26," a showcase for the best graphic design and advertising in the United States.

Mad Dog Graphx won the Best of Category award for a series of coffee cups designed for West Coast Paper. In addition, Mad Dog was recognized for logo designs it created for the Alaska Primary Care Association and Bowhead Holding Co., for annual reports it produced for Food Bank of Alaska and The Alaska Community Foundation, and for a direct-mail promotion for Alaska Stock Images. The design firm was also honored for its pro bono work with Food Bank of Alaska.

Knik gets Corps contract for Akutan harbor

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it has awarded a $31.9 million contract to Knik Construction Co. Inc. of Anchorage to build a boat harbor at Akutan in the Aleutians.

The project involves constructing two rock breakwaters totaling about 1,500 feet in length and dredging 960,000 cubic yards of material to create an entrance channel and mooring basin, the Corps said. The project should be done by September 2012, the agency said.

Akutan, 35 miles east of Unalaska, is a top commercial fishing port. The project is being paid for with $28.6 million of federal stimulus funding and $3.27 from the Aleutians East Borough, the Corps said.

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