Alaska Business Monthly's 2014 Top 49ers: trending now.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: #Top49ers Going Viral

In 140 characters or less--Alaska Business Monthly's Top 49ers have outdone themselves again. These Alaska businesses have met two important criteria to make Alaska Business Monthly's Top 49ers list: they are at least 51 percent Alaskan-owned and they make a lot of money. The Top 49ers may trend in October, but they're working year-round. Businesses that are owned and operated by Alaskans naturally provide jobs and an economic boon here, which is why Alaska Business Monthly honors them year after year and will continue doing so as long as there are businesses to honor. Alaska Business Monthly's Top 49ers are certainly going viral, spreading to economies not only in the Lower 48 but throughout the world--and bringing the benefits back home.

The 2014 Top 49ers reported a collective total of $16.08 billion in gross revenues in 2013. They employ 25,951 people in Alaska and 73,556 worldwide through US and international operations. Overall gross revenue reported was higher than last years $16.07 billion. The number of Alaska employees has increased by 1.5 percent, and worldwide employee count has gone up by 11.8 percent. All in all, Alaska's top companies continue moving forward.

Alaska Native Corporations

And leading the march forward is Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC): it isn't exactly trending this year as much as it has been trending for two decades, placing as the number one Top 49er for the twentieth year in 2014. Led by President and CEO Rex Rock Sr., this Alaska Native Corporation reported gross revenues of more than $2.5 billion, contributing 15 percent to the total gross revenues reported by the collective Top 49er body of companies. Revenue for the company is slightly down from last year's $2.6 billion, but ASRC remains a leader of Alaskan-owned companies.

ASRC is joined this year by eighteen Alaska Native Corporations, including the eleven other Alaska-based regional corporations and seven village corporations. Total revenue for the group is $11.8 billion. These organizations provide approximately seventeen thousand jobs to Alaskans and more than sixty thousand jobs worldwide. In accordance with the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, these economic drivers continue to meet their twofold mission of preserving Native Alaskan culture and providing economic opportunity for their Alaska Native shareholders. They have become an integral part of the Anchorage and Alaska economy, and are now even the subject of a University of...