Ahtna and Michelle Anderson: one team, One Ahtna focusing in on Alaska.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Alaska Native Business - Company overview - Cover story

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In the Spring 2016 "Ahtna Kanas," a quarterly publication by Ahtna, Incorporated, the company spotlighted subsidiary Ahtna Facility Services, Inc. (AFSI). AFSI was established in 2006 and provides janitorial, facilities operations, and security guard services. AFSI won a contract to provide janitorial services on JBER (Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson). The spotlight says, "Ahtna shareholder-owners Arthur Stevens, assistant project manager, and Valerie See, day supervisor, are part of a team that leads the janitors and floor technicians, all of whom had to pass thorough background checks and flight-line training to gain access to the military installation."

Ahtna Netiye' CEO Tom Maloney says, "The first thing we like to stress is we're Alaska-based. We're an Alaska Native Corporation, we're based in Glennallen, we have a lot of operations around the state. Our business was up 40 percent in the state of Alaska in 2015, and Alaska revenues are continuing to grow significantly in 2016."

Ahtna, Inc.'s President Michelle Anderson adds: "That was a board decision--that was a strategic decision to focus in on Alaska." She continues, "Government contracting came in during the 90s and that was the place to be, and we've proven were successful at that, but our shareholders aren't moving to where we have those contracts; they want to be here at home."

AFSI has more than 150 employees around the United States and headquarters in both Alaska and California, allowing them to service a variety of markets; however, securing a contract such as the one on JBER is an opportunity for jobs for Ahtna shareholders here in Alaska, where they want to be.

Focus on Development

Anderson herself is an Ahtna shareholder and was the youngest person to serve on Ahtna's board, running and being selected in her first year of college. "I think it was and has always been Ahtna's way to try and bring our younger people, our young potential leaders, into leadership training," she says. In Anderson's case, it certainly paid off.

She grew up in Glennallen, completing all of her pre-college education in the Copper River School District. After getting her diploma she attended UAA and received an undergraduate degree in Political Science y and then went on to UAF, getting a master's in Rural Development. "My work background is a mix of state and federal opportunities that prepared me for the position that I'm in today," Anderson says. She volunteered for the Tony Knowles campaign and then secured a position in the Alaska State Community Service Commission when Knowles was elected governor. During Knowles's second term she moved into a position with the Denali Commission, "which just blew the doors off my education on infrastructure development and the need for government coordination for making these projects happen," Anderson says. Between the two positions she traveled widely across the state. "It developed my...