Linking up in Big Lake

MAT-SU -- Big Lake might bill itself as Alaska's year-round playground, but one new business chose Big Lake Road because it offers a place for light-industrial manufacturing and may soon be a statewide distribution hub for chain-link fencing, water-well drilling and pipe supplies.

Last November, TMCAlaska started running a chain-link fence weaving machine -- the first in Alaska -- and has plans to supply its product to fence builders statewide.

Twenty-six-year-old Jason Chew has been looking for a place in Alaska to raise his young family and start TMCAlaska since the spring of 2000. TMCAlaska settled in Big Lake for easy access to Alaska's highways, Chew said, and because it felt like a great place for he and his wife, Jaime, to raise their two children. Chew's father Lloyd is the founder of sister company TMC Sales in Washington state.

Last summer, the younger Chew introduced the identical Washington-made chain link to Alaskan fence contractors. Chew said he's not sure how big the Alaska market for chain link is, but he's making inroads.

"I got a fair look at [the market]," he said. "We did what we expected and then a little bit more."

As president of TMCAlaska, the younger Chew hit the ground running when he came to Alaska. He's been working on wholesale markets for water-well supplies and fencing supplies simultaneously. His custom truck and trailer combination is capable of hauling 90,000 pounds spread over its nine axles. So far Chew is doing most of the driving himself. He said he logged about 45,000 miles in the hauling truck last year, and another 45,000 in a diesel pickup.

"I would rather run myself as thin as I can than sit back and watch payroll go out," Chew said.

The hauling rig has been turning heads on Alaska's highways, and the 16,000-square-foot warehouse sparked speculation around Big Lake. Chew insists that the company is small and taking on a considerable risk for its size. For now, TMCAlaska has just three employees. Jaime is secretary-treasurer, Chew handles product representation and they've hired Bob Reid, a local fence builder, to operate the chain-link weaving machine.

The machine pulls galvanized steel wire from two spools into guides, where the wires are bent by steel rods and linked together. The fencing comes off the back of the machine like a steel blanket, and is then rolled. The machine is capable of either crimping or barbing the top and bottom ends of the fencing. Because the wire is galvanized before bending, the chain link is smoother to the touch than some competing products that go through dip tanks after being bent into shape and spooled, Chew said.

Being galvanized before weaving is a double-edged sword for the product, however. It presents both a marketing plus and a hurdle for Chew. Fence builders like the product because it's smooth and easy to work with, but some contract specifications require that chain link fence be galvanized after weaving.

"Even in the Lower 48, we had to go out and convince people," Chew said. "We had to work to get it written into the specs."

TMCAlaska was recently accepted into the Made In Alaska program, which Chew believes will help the product's momentum. He said during the last half-dozen years, the identical Washington product has been accepted by the industry and his father's company now operates five weaving machines in Woodenville, Wash.

"It does the same thing," Chew said. "It keeps bad people out or good people in."

Tony Levra, the owner of Wasilla Fence Company, said he purchased chain link from Chew last summer. Levra said the product is easy to work with and he believes it is comparable to chain link that is galvanized after weaving.

"Years ago they used to say it would be a problem, but from what I've seen it's just not true," Levra said. "What they're saying, is that during the bending process it's going to crack, and then rust will get in, but I haven't seen any evidence of [cracking]."

Levra agreed the product is easier to handle because it's smooth, but what he liked most was the potential of a steady fence supply nearby.

"The big thing is going

to be the availability," Levra said.

Chain link might seem ubiquitous to the casual observer, but Levra said Alaskan fence builders have to place orders about two weeks in advance to ensure they are supplied.

Chew said he will rely on fence contractors like Levra to help him gain more acceptance of the product in Alaska.

"I'll get in. It's going to take me time," he said. "I'm not looking at this in the short term."