AS&G named manufacturer of year

Following the example of a brewery, a cookie company and the Alaska Mint, Anchorage Sand & Gravel has won the annual Made in Alaska Manufacturer of the Year award. Savvy tourists look for the Made in Alaska polar bear logo in local stores to avoid the fake Alaska souvenirs that are manufactured by the ton in China, but fewer members of the public are likely to purchase bags of cement or lengths of reinforced steel. Not everyone appreciates that AS&G's products have been holding Alaska together since 1938.

AS&G got its start along the banks of Ship Creek in the years before World War II. After the war the company expanded its operations to include the first ready-mix plant in the Territory of Alaska and also started manufacturing concrete and other related products for the construction industry. AS&G now manufactures concrete, asphalt, concrete block and sacked concrete mixes at its facility in south Anchorage.

Sand and gravel mined in Palmer

The company's sand and gravel is mined in Palmer and transported to Anchorage by railroad, where it is crushed, screened and washed in Klatt Pit. Two divisions of AS&G, Precast Concrete in Anchorage and Fairbanks Precast & Rebar, provide products such as precast concrete panels for buildings and underground utility boxes. Diamond Fabricators, another AS&G division, receives reinforcing steel from various suppliers around the United States and then cuts and shapes it to meet the requirements of each project.

Bill Noll, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, presented the 2005 Manufacturer of the Year award to representatives of AS&G Feb. 22. AS&G is the 15th company to receive the award.