Business notebook: Alaska seafood firm boasts local ties

The Cape Farmers Market opened Thursday, and vendors of all types showed up to sell their wares.

Among them was Trevor Tripp from Wild Alaska Salmon and Seafood.

Though the fish, as the name suggests, is caught in Alaska, the company has local ties and a focus on sustainability one might expect from a farmers market vendor.

Owner Tony Wood is from Carbondale, Illinois, and maintains a home in Southern Illinois. He spends much of his time, however, in King Salmon, Alaska, in a town with no roads in or out.

"If you don't get there by boat or plane, you're not getting there," Tripp said.

Frozen food from Wild Alaska Salmon and Seafood Co. are shown Thursday at the Cape Girardeau Farmers Market.Laura Simon

Wood has built a home for himself in King Salmon and bunk-style cabins for the seasonal workers.

"We call it Tony Town," Tripp said.

There, the fishers of Wild Alaska Salmon and Seafood spend the fishing season -- from late May to early August -- catching 180,000 pounds of salmon in a matter of weeks.

"We catch 90 percent of our fish in a 10-day period," Tripp said. "We did 90,000 pounds in three days last year. It's insanity when it happens."

Once the fish is caught, the processing begins. All fish sold by Wild Alaska is caught, processed, packaged, packed in cold storage and shipped by the company, which employs 23 workers for the season. The fish then is sold at farmers markets, co-ops and independent grocers in the Lower 48 states.

"Tony's one of the only independent fishermen that doesn't sell to corporate, and catches and processes his own fish," Tripp said. "So we're able to sustain quality a lot better than, say, the big canneries that do 28 million pounds a year."

With the fishing season approaching, Tripp will be returning to Alaska soon. He is the processing manager at Wild Alaska Salmon and Seafood and soon will have a lot of work ahead of him.

The company will have other fishmongers in his place until August, selling the rest of the stock from last season's haul. They're mostly carrying sockeye salmon, as it's the most common species they catch.

By early August, their stock will be replenished, and all five salmon types, including their most limited and popular, king salmon, will be available.

"The Cape Farmers Market was really successful for us last season," Josh Hermes, operations manager at Wild Alaska, said. "Our product brings a uniqueness to the markets we're at, because you can't get salmon like this locally."

Domestic-violence software made locally

Digital production company Element 74 has developed a web based software platform that allows state domestic-violence coalitions to more efficiently manage their organizations and measure outcomes.

The "Coalition Manager" program collects mission-critical data and allows coalitions to use the information to manage members, conduct trainings and generate reports for grant applications.

The program was developed in 2012 for The Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, but Element 74 since has contracted and deployed the software to eight additional states.

Cape Girardeau-based Element 74 specializes in website and custom software development, video production and social media consulting.

Dreyer's center opens in Scott City

Regional distribution of Dreyer's products will be carried out in Nestle's new facility on 3180 Nash Road in Scott City.

According to commercial broker Tom Kelsey, who handles the real estate transaction, the facility will be responsible for the regional distribution and logistics for the company's entire line of ice cream, pizza and snack-food products.

The location was selected for its centrality and its proximity to Interstate 55.

Some Sears, Kmart stores will close

Sears Holdings has announced it will close 68 Kmart stores and 10 Sears stores this summer.

According to a news release from Sears Holdings, all of the Sears stores and most of the Kmart stores will close in late July; two Kmart stores will close in mid-September.

The company has released the specific locations targeted for closure; the Kmart and Sears stores in Cape Girardeau are not included on the list.

Business licenses

Psychic Reading, 1372 N. Kingshighway, is a business owned by Sophia Marks that will offer card, palm and crystal readings. The anticipated opening date is May 1.

bbrown@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630