Want to relocate to Manatuska (Anchorage, Kenai: real estate, military, maintenance)

[Quadmonkey]

I have spent quite some time researching Alaska, and I have determined that the Wasilla/Palmer area is where I want to go once I get the funds to relocate. I have been checking real estate sites, job sites, classifieds out of the newspaper, basically everything.
My big problem lies with employment. All I need is enough income to let me live in a studio or 1BR Apartment and survive. My work history is here.

Now at a Parts Plus autoparts store, previously at the following.

Ford/Yamaha/Suzuki dealership Parts Manager
Primarily Ford, but also did Yamaha and Suzuki powersports.

Maintenance guy for a Molybdenum mine, maintained the shovels and drills for the mine. Hella long hours that ruined my marriage, 70-80 hours/week.

Correctional Officer at Nevada's Maximum, Ely State Prison. Worked there for 3+ years, and quit when I decided to move to Las Vegas, and after a couple trips to Vegas I changed my mind. Too friggin hot, WAY too much traffic, WAY too expensive, and WAY too many people.


Prior to all of this I spent six+ years in the Navy running the power plant on a submarine. The first two years were all training, but from then on, it was all operating and maintaining the nuclear power plant as a Machinist's Mate.

So, in searching for jobs, the DOC's website turned up negative, since I guess they are not hiring trainee's. So here come my questions...

Where are the power plants in the valley and what are they called?
What brand of auto parts stores are there up there (ie Napa, Carquest, whatever?)
Where are the Maximum Security prisons in the state, and how in the heck do I get my foot in the door for them.

As soon as I get my bills payed off, I am gone from here. I want to start somewhere new. This area seems like just the place to do it.

Laterz

[Quadmonkey]

Sorry, I spelled it wrong in my newbness...
Matanuska.

[Rance]

Bud, in Seward has a link for the max security prison. Seems they are crying for help right now. You might glance through some of the previous threads. Have you looked here?

Alaska Job Center Network

And we have all the brand name auto parts stores throughout the state. Chugach Electric has a power plant across the inlet from the Kenai Peninsula I know. I'm not sure about the valley.

[mal_flisk]

Currently, Chugach Electric and Matanuska Electric have most of the plants in the valley. I wouldn't be limited by that area, though. Homer Electric and Copper Valley Electric are all looking for plant operators and maintenance personnel. Matter of fact, I believe Copper Valley is looking for operators in Valdez and Glennallen. Might also want to check in with the Four Dam Pool power association.

[Quadmonkey]

Thanks for the help guys, I did find the website for Spring Creek Correctional Center, but not any openings. Weird since every prison I have ever looked at needed people. If anyone can give me an idea if they are hiring, and how one goes about applying, please let me know.
I managed to find phone numbers and addresses for the parts houses in the area as well. Carquest, Napa, and Checker/Schucks seem to be the main ones. No Parts Plus stores though, which is where I am at now. I already knew about the Ford and Yamaha dealerships in the area, since that was my first thought. I would love to be back at a Yamaha dealership to get all my ATV parts for cheaper. Luckily right now, the kid I trained at the old Yamaha store is still there in parts, so anytime I need something, I just give him a call and have him bill it out to himself, then pay him the cash...
I read another post on here about getting firearms there, very good info there, thanks much. I think only about 3 of my guns could make it through Canada, and I really don't want to take the ferry all the way there, so I would probably just ship those, along with my quads, and just fly there.
Fly up, spend a week or so finding work and/or housing, then get everything shipped up here. The quads would be the easiest to crate up, since I could just get a couple of the old crates that Yamaha ships the new quads in, that the dealership just tosses, and stuff them back in there.

The one thing I haven't researched is the power plants. From the sounds of it there are quite a few around, which I guess makes sense. I doubt there are any nuclear plants anywhere there, but that doesn't really matter, a lot of them run on the same principle as nuclear, just a different heat source. I really don't think I would want to go back to nuclear anyway, too many people watching over your shoulder with what you are doing. I don't work like that, leave me alone, let me do my job, and it will be done right.
Anyway, enough of my babbling, thanks for the help! I will keep ya posted on what I find, in case anyone else looking for the same things comes up.
Laterz!

[mal_flisk]

PM me if you need some phone numbers for the Copper Valley and Golden Valley Electric Associations.

[rotorhead]

Believe it or not, the biggest power plant for the Anchorage/Valley area is all gas turbine powered. Not a working steam turbine at all last I saw, which admittedly was a couple years ago. They had at least one combined-cycle setup but the steam half was inop though they were still running the gas turbine primary. Up till just a couple years ago they had a super-sweet deal for natural gas at bargain basement prices, negotiated decades ago when all the Cook Inlet gas was stranded and useless. Its gotten a lot pricier nowadays, and theres much more competition for the gas now. The main plant is at a place called Beluga, and (again) believe it or not its off the road system completely. No road access at all, only by sea or by air. Heres a photo.

[stonetwig]

You might try usajob site that is where the gov post most of there openings
there are several power plants operated by the AF civilian run. you have more experience than me,so you might fare better than I did my experience is in emisions monitoring of said power plants mostly in the southern papermills.
your experience would land you a good job in Ketchican they have or used to have a thriving papermill and timber operation. come to think of it maybe I should look there as well

[Quadmonkey]

Once again, thanks for the info. I found the location of the Beluga power plant, that might be an option. Good idea on the usa jobs site, I had forgotten how many military power stations are civilian ran, as well as DOE run. Ketchican is a little too far South, and from what I hear they get nearly as much precip as Seattle. I also read in another thread that the Dept of Corrections was difficult to get into, which makes me consider that route even more. Decent starting pay, benefits, and 20 years to retirement. I am getting to the age where that is really starting to weigh on my mind. So now I need to start doing some more digging/snooping around looking into things.

[BudinAk]

Originally Posted by Quadmonkey

I have spent quite some time researching Alaska, and I have determined that the Wasilla/Palmer area is where I want to go once I get the funds to relocate. I have been checking real estate sites, job sites, classifieds out of the newspaper, basically everything.
My big problem lies with employment. All I need is enough income to let me live in a studio or 1BR Apartment and survive. My work history is here.

Now at a Parts Plus autoparts store, previously at the following.

Ford/Yamaha/Suzuki dealership Parts Manager
Primarily Ford, but also did Yamaha and Suzuki powersports.

Maintenance guy for a Molybdenum mine, maintained the shovels and drills for the mine. Hella long hours that ruined my marriage, 70-80 hours/week.

Correctional Officer at Nevada's Maximum, Ely State Prison. Worked there for 3+ years, and quit when I decided to move to Las Vegas, and after a couple trips to Vegas I changed my mind. Too friggin hot, WAY too much traffic, WAY too expensive, and WAY too many people.


Prior to all of this I spent six+ years in the Navy running the power plant on a submarine. The first two years were all training, but from then on, it was all operating and maintaining the nuclear power plant as a Machinist's Mate.

So, in searching for jobs, the DOC's website turned up negative, since I guess they are not hiring trainee's. So here come my questions...

Where are the power plants in the valley and what are they called?
What brand of auto parts stores are there up there (ie Napa, Carquest, whatever?)
Where are the Maximum Security prisons in the state, and how in the heck do I get my foot in the door for them.

As soon as I get my bills payed off, I am gone from here. I want to start somewhere new. This area seems like just the place to do it.

Laterz

Spring Creek Correctional is a max-security prison in Seward, but there are other state prisons in Anchorage, and Palmer, as well. And, they are going to build a new one at Pt McKenzie...(maybe 30 miles from Wasilla) I see new-hires ALL THE TIME coming through here for new recruit training (Spring Creek is like boot camp for them), so I know there are openings. Starting pay here is $17/hr. You might try here:
http://www.correct.state.ak.us/corre...o_recruitment/

Bud