Senior Citizens of Kodiak 

Senior Citizens of Kodiak, Inc. (SCOK) recently celebrated their 40th anniversary and recognition of achieving their third national accreditation through the National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC)/National Council on Aging (NCOA).

     SCOK became the first senior center in Alaska to become nationally accredited in 2003 and repeated that achievement in 2008.  The agency was one of the first 100 senior centers out of 15,000 across the country to become nationally accredited.

     " The self-assessment process that is the preface for being nationally accredited takes staff, Board of Directors and community members and has them divide up into 9 different committees which are formed around the nine different standards which are examined in great detail during the self-assessment process," said Pat Branson, SCOK Executive Director for 25 years.  "Those standards all have to be met with at least a minimum score.  You cannot score high in one and low in another. Those standards represent an agency's body of work and include planning & purpose; community connections; governance; administration & human resources; program development & implementation; evaluation; fiscal and asset responsibility; records & report; and facility and operations.  As one board member said of the self-assessment manual that was submitted for review, "this is an encyclopedia of our agency.'"

     Those nine committees met throughout six months and reviewed and updated agency policies and documents.  Required documents were submitted to the NISC Coordinator and then on site and off-site reviewers were chosen to review the more than 300 page manual. 

     "We had everything that was needed and the NISC coordinator indicated our self-assessment manual was one of the best she had seen," noted Branson. "There are about 25 NISC peer reviewers and a drawing had to be held to see who won to come to Kodiak to do the on-site review.  Christine Beatty from Madison, Wisconsin won that drawing and in early September came to town to complete the review.  She met with committee members, staff and Board and then at the exit interview told us we had passed accreditation for a third time."

     Branson stated the accreditation is good for five years.  "This achievement demonstrates to our funders, locally, statewide as well as privately and to our participants that our agency is accountable in every way with meeting these nine different set standards. We are proud of all the work and community support we received on this achievement. "

LS Construction, LLC, is owned and operated by Luke Smith, who founded the company in 1999.  LS Construction operates as a general contractor with residential endorsements, specializing in all vertical residential and light commercial construction.  LS Construction offers a full range of services, from small remodels to complete renovations and new construction, including custom energy efficient homes, custom kitchens, "specialty" acrylic solid surface countertops, custom bathrooms, shower surrounds, roofing, additions, siding and window installation, concrete foundations and slabs, and more.

Smith got his start in construction at a young age, learning from family members who worked in the industry, and has been working full time in construction since graduating from high school.  Smith now has a team, ranging from two to four people depending on workload, that collaborates with customers to design and implement each project.  Smith focuses on getting to know each customer and developing trust and long-term relationships by employing an honest, straightforward and trustworthy approach. 

LS Construction is located at 1815 Mill Bay Road in Kodiak, and can be reached by e-mail at lsconstruction@gci.net or by phone at:  907-486-2746.