In Klawock, Tlingit tradition is apparent in the community that still relies on fishing as both a form of industry and fun. And the technology center has given Native Alaskans both small business opportunities and a boost to the local community in terms of morale and pride.

More Than Just A Job

Michael Brown, Production Supervisor of the THTI Klawock office, was hired in October 2005 and progressed through several stages of the process before being promoted to Supervisor. Like many other Native Alaskans, he relishes the idea of tradition and technology in the same location. While Michael works in the high tech office during the week, he is often seen hunting and fishing in this temperate climate--that some would call cold--with average temperatures of 37 degrees in January, and in July just 58 degrees, with a yearly average precipitation of 120 inches.

"About 30 to 40 percent of what I live on is from what I fish and hunt," he says. He catches and smokes his own wild salmon, and he recalled a story of fishing close to the Gulf of Alaska. "I was pulling a Halibut skate that I had set earlier in the day. I was about half way done pulling the skate up when a humpback whale surfaced about 150 feet from my boat (a 16 foot skiff). It spooked me and I almost let go of the skate that I was pulling up. A very cool sight."

Though Michael is a success story of his own, the pride in his voice when he talks about THTI in Klawock isn't just about his own accomplishments, but those of his fellow workers too. For many of the workers the facility provides something more than just a job; also a chance for self determination. The jobs at THTI require (and teach) the widest range of technology skills on the island. In fact, many of their workers move on to other areas of Alaska or the lower 48 states after acquiring these skills and working for THTI for a time.

That's okay, according to Michael. "For some of our workers these are their first jobs ever. We are always willing to give someone the chance they need to move to better jobs." One such person was a young man who recently saved enough money working with THTI to go into the Marine Captain's course to become a licensed pilot, and who has aspirations to one day become a commercial jet pilot.

Success for One Means Success for Everyone

Another exceptional worker, a young woman named Trish Woods-Ellison, had previously only been able to land service jobs in her small community. Trish had the intelligence and ability to do more, she just needed the opportunity--and she got it.

"I was living in Kotzebue [AK] just above the Arctic Circle," Trish says. "I came back to Klawock, and came in to THTI several times a week to see when they were going to be hiring again, and started work about two weeks after I got home."

From the beginning it was clear Trish would be a rising star at the facility. She received in-house training and has learned every aspect of the process. That, she says, is one of the most rewarding parts of her experience so far. "Knowing that you finish a project, and knowing I was capable of working through all of our production steps and that I was given the opportunity to."