Regents nominee Joey Crum said his truck driving school is not 'subsidized,' but it has collected $2.5 million in four years

Joey Crum, appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to the University of Alaska Board of Regents, told legislators his business was not “subsidized” by the state.

But he did not make it clear that his business is a state contractor that has collected about $2.5 million in state money over the last four years.

Crum is the brother of Adam Crum, former health and social services director who has been appointed by Dunleavy as revenue commissioner. The Crums are longtime political supporters of Dunleavy.

Joey Crum heads Northern Industrial Training, which offers instruction in welding, truck driving and a few other vocations. UAA provides training in welding and recently began offering truck driving, but Crum said that is not a conflict because the schools have different approaches and “we attract different students.”

On his financial disclosure report, Crum said he earned between $100,000 and $200,000 as president of NIT. He also reported an income of between $20,000 and $50,000 from his 20 percent interest in the Crum-family-owned 5 Anchors LLC, the business that owns Northern Industrial Training.

“My business only exists because of its ability to attract top-tier faculty and staff, and to provide quality graduates the industry wants to hire,” Crum told the House Education Committee in March.

“NIT doesn’t have a line item in the state budget. We are not subsidized,” he said.

But his choice of words is deceptive. His company relies heavily on state grants.

Crum’s father started Northern Industrial Training in 2003 as a truck-driving school in Palmer.

So far this fiscal year, NIT has received nearly $300,000 in state grants, mostly through the Department of Labor, according to the state online checkbook.

His business got about $525,000 from the state in fiscal year 2022, about $1 million in fiscal year 2021, about $670,000 in fiscal year 2020 and about $50,000 in fiscal year 2019, according to reports posted by the state.