In the villages of Stebbins and St. Michael, something is happening. Houses are being built. Roads and subdivisions stretch across the tundra. Repairs to long-damaged infrastructure are taking place everywhere. Other communities are taking notice. Something looks different. It is the look of self-reliance.

People here are no strangers to self-reliance. They descend from a lineage of people who thrived in some of the harshest conditions on earth. Today, a subsistence lifestyle is still necessary for survival in Western Alaska. But so is an income.

Tapraq Rock provides industry, employment, and community self-sufficiency while offering the services of a local licensed contractor, capable of completing almost any type of project, and understands the challenges and culture of Western Alaska.

Our Story

Tapraq Rock is a locally-owned and operated general contractor based in Stebbins, AK. Born from a vision of the late Morris Coffey of Stebbins, Tapraq Rock was formed through a partnership between Stebbins Native Corporation’s Stebbins Rock Products, which owns perhaps the best armor stone source in Western Alaska, and Advanced Blasting Services of Wasilla Alaska. Rejecting the standard model that places the bulk of both profits and wages in the pockets of non-local companies, this partnership ensures local training, employment, and industry.

Tapraq Rock’s mission is twofold: 

Our main purpose is to bring economic opportunity to villages in Western Alaska where opportunities for employment and development have been limited. As a Native-owned company, profits result in dividends to shareholders, wages are paid to community members, and the bulk of contract funds remain in the communities where projects take place.

Building projects prioritize local builds over prefab buildings for better floor plans and insulation, and construction wages paid to skilled local craftsmen, instead of prefab construction crews outside the region.

Our strict local hire policy ensures that our supervisors and employees are hired and trained in the villages where we work, with a goal of steady long-term employment.

Our secondary purpose is to be located, staffed, and equipped locally so that we are poised to immediately respond to community needs. This has proved vital during the Merbok storm, during which we not only restored school property to usable condition in less time than it would take an outside contractor to arrive and performed repair and cleanup across the community and private residences, but also donated loads of needed supplies to be distributed among those most impacted by the storm.

Tapraq Rock is an investment in community.