Aaron Schutt and Doyon, Limited: rural-raised native leader with Alaska's future in mind.

• Author: Slaten, Russ
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Alaska Native Business - Interview

"We're a very rural state. Other than the Anchorage area, the rest of the state is rural, and it has so many unique perspectives in all parts of Alaska. Large or small, the communities are all in special places and are special to the people that live there. I understand that because that's the way I grew up," says Doyon, Limited President and CEO Aaron Schutt. "I have an awful lot of respect for people that choose to reside in our rural communities."

Schutt grew up in the small Alaska community of Tok, nearly two hundred miles southeast of Fairbanks and at the junction of the Alaska Highway and the Richardson Highway. Schutt holds a JD from Stanford Law School, a master's in civil engineering from Stanford University, and a bachelor's in civil engineering from Washington State University. After completing his degrees in the Lower 48, he returned to live in Anchorage and practiced law from 2000 to 2006. He says his rural upbringing armed him with everything he needed to succeed Outside.

"I call Tok God's country," Schutt says. "There are so many things in rural Alaska that you can't replicate anywhere else. Growing up there led to many opportunities for hunting and fishing and being in the outdoors."

Schutt says the connection to the land helped build a bond to his people and the Alaska Native way of life. He became president and CEO of Doyon in 2011 with much support from those around him.

Young Native Leader

"[Schutt] is everything the ancestors and the elders have asked for all of our lives growing up," says Orie Williams, current Doyon Board Chairman and president and CEO at the time Schutt joined the company. "The goal was always to get the young people engaged, get them educated, and hopefully they would come back and work for our tribal and ANCSA [Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act] corporations and bring that knowledge and education with them. He epitomizes that."

Schutt has been with Doyon since 2006, starting as the company's chief operating officer, overseeing Doyon's subsidiary operations in Alaska and across the Lower 48. Norm Phillips Jr. took over as president and CEO as Williams retired and moved over to the Doyon Board of Directors. After Phillips retired from the company, Schutt took over as president and CEO. Williams recruited Schutt for his leadership potential, and he says Schutt has lived up to the expectation.

"I've had the privilege and honor to watch [Schutt] grow and mature and build a fantastic team around him...