Commercial and government work fuel economy.

MILITARY PROJECTS PROSPEROUS
The increase in military spending in the Interior can be attributed to development of a Stryker brigade in the U.S. Army Alaska, with most of those quick-response soldiers based at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. A number of Army housing projects, linked with that change in troop designation and its resulting increase in soldiers in Alaska, contribute to the military construction budget increase, according to Greg Smith, chief of the military program and project management branch for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Alaska.

Neeser Construction, based in Anchorage, is working on several Stryker related construction projects at Fort Wainwright this year, employing up to 90 people at a time, according to project superintendent Bill Williams. One project consists of building 30 houses, each with about 2,500 square feet of living space, to be used for non-commissioned officer housing.

“They’re real nice units–very well built with a nice design … as far as military housing goes, they’re right at the top. I would be happy to live in them,” Williams said.

The two-story homes are part of a new subdivision being built on Fort Wainwright, part of the post’s efforts to expand and accommodate the new Stryker brigade. In addition, Neeser is working on three other construction contracts at Fort Wainwright, part of the firm’s first work in the Fairbanks area, Williams said.

Those military construction contracts include construction of a 100,000-plus-square-foot palletprocessing building, part of the Stryker brigade’s infrastructure, allowing rapid deployment of the specialized equipment.

Neeser also is working to construct a headquarters building and also a large barracks project at Fort Wainwright. The four contracts total more than $50 million in work for Neeser at the Interior Alaska military post, Williams said.