As one of the biggest LNG projects ever built in North America, the AK LNG Project is preparing early for the goods and services it will need.
Yesterday, Project representatives met with 146 local business owners during an information session at the Cannery Lodge. Project Manager Kim Fox said the Kenai session follows similar events in Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Fox: “We are bringing to each of our sessions we have subject matter experts and basically project leadership that are responsible for different parts of the project.
From florists and fast food restaurants to environmental specialists and engineers, local businesses wanted to know how to get in on the $45-65 billion development. The Project will eventually build man camps alongside the plant itself, which will require snow removal, cleaners, caterers, medics, drivers, pilots, consultants, office workers, and the list goes on…
New roads will need to be built in Nikiski and port improvements will be made.
Area representatives have long noted the importance of local hire in any potential gasline. Representative Kurt Olson says the Peninsula workforce needs to be training now…
Rep. Olson (R-Soldotna): “Our biggest problem is having a skilled work force so we can worry about local hire, at this point in time a number of our skilled employees are now working in North Dakota along with their employers, and we need to get primed, we need programs like what we have at Kenai Peninsula College, we need bulkhead programs to gear up welders, and we need to get people into skilled positions and have them available at the time the gas line begins construction.”
Project representatives said there will be plenty of jobs to go around; their concern is finding enough workers. Project Manager Steve Butt said they’ve already been studying similar projects which have been completed…
Butt: “Nobody’s ever built a project of the scope that we’re talking about. So you can’t go find somebody who’s done this in Alaska. Nobody has built a 17-18 million metric ton LNG plant or an 800 mile pipeline in the last 40 years, under NEPA, or a gas treatment plant. And nobody, I guarantee you, has done all three, so you gotta’ go create this capability within the contracting communities. You just couldn’t go out and say, ‘Who’s done something like this?’ There is nobody.”
Subcontractors will take care of most of the work through a competitive bid process yet to be established. Businesses can register their interest via a list on the AK LNG website by clicking here.