Jamie Ginn, Project Administrator, Ahtna Environmental, Inc.

It is no secret that 2020 was a difficult year for the country, Alaska, our community, and of course Ahtna. In response, the Ahtna subsidiary companies managed by Tim Finnigan and Tim Gould have been working hard to keep our employees, their families, and the communities that we work in safe. Ahtna Engineering Services (AES) employee Matt White and Ahtna Environmental, Inc. (AEI) employee Kathy Streveler developed a COVID-19 protocol and program to help maintain employee safety while traveling for work. AEI shareholder employee Jamie Ginn has been helping to implement the program.

The current protocol requires all staff who are travelling to a community that is off the road system to track COVID symptoms and temperatures daily on a program called Discovery Health MD. Any employee who is traveling off the road system also must take a PCR (nasal swab) test and have negative results in hand before their flight.

According to AES President Tim Gould, “The program allows us to ensure all staff traveling for field work are tracking their own symptoms related to COVID infection. The goal is to minimize potential spreading of COVID-19 as a result of our field work and avoid disruption to our projects.”

The program is stringent and meets and exceeds any local or State mandates. It does take time to get tested, take temperatures, and track results; but Ahtna takes safety seriously and continues to make it a priority. Though the program has taken some extra effort, it has been a worthwhile endeavor that we are extremely proud of, and we truly appreciate all of our employees’ compliance and dedication to safety.