Competition aids guitar dream

Stephen Helgeson works guitars with the casual intensity of a long-time craftsman. He built his first guitar in 1998, after years of working wood as a hobby and before that as a shipwright.

Now, Helgeson will build something a little different, but no less intricate. He’s currently at work on a business plan to make the transition from hobby to career, and hopes to one day open the doors on Tongass Guitars, an envisioned manufacturer of high-end acoustic guitars made from sustainably harvested local wood.

“Basically, this got started for a couple reasons,” he said. “Sitka spruce is one of the major woods that’s used for soundboards for stringed instruments. It’s about a passion for woodworking and specifically musical instruments.”

The idea has drawn the attention of outside parties, specifically the Haa Aani Community Development Fund and the Nature Conservancy. The two entities started a business plan competition for sustainable businesses in Southeast called the Path to Prosperity. The first round drew 59 entries. Twelve entries – Helgeson’s among them – were selected to attend the second round, a two-day business-experts boot camp held in Juneau Oct. 11, 12 and 13.

The second round features ideas from guitars to rhubarb sherbet.

First prize, to be announced in January 2014, is one of two $40,000 payments to develop the business even further.

The boot camp was an invaluable learning experience, Helgeson said.

“I would say I’m always surprised and pleased to find so many intelligent and energetic people in Alaska,” he said. The boot camp helped “increase entrepreneurial know-how. It’s not just about whether or not my particular proposal will provide jobs. It’s also about a positive economic and social benefit to the community as a whole.”

As envisioned, Tongass Guitars would provide as many as 10 jobs and produce as many as 60 guitars a year, each made from about three or four board feet of Tongass-grown Sitka spruce, Helgeson said. That would put Tongass Guitars in competition not with Fender or Epiphone – the guitar equivalents of Chevrolet or Ford – but among smaller, more obscure brands.

“We would be looking at the upper end of the middle of the market,” he said.

Tongass’s emphasis is on sustainability, and details may change before the first steel string is ever plucked, Helgeson added.

“You don’t need a huge volume of wood,” Helgeson said. “That’s one of the things that’s attractive. Most of the value is added through labor.”

Those hoping to own a first-run Tongass acoustic should start saving now. Each guitar could cost between $2,000 and $3,000, Helgeson said.

However, even if Tongass Guitars doesn’t win, Helgeson said he still plans to pursue his dream.

“I think it’s doable, but I don’t know what that formula is going to be,” he said.