Alaska Native Regional Corporation Review: Reaching for the future where 'opportunity abounds'.

• Author: Strieker, Julie
• Position: Alaska Native

Fiscal year 2017 marked another year of growth for Alaska's Native Regional Corporations, which brought in billions of dollars to the state and employ tens of thousands of Alaskans.

The corporations were created under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), which sought to answer aboriginal land claims and allow the construction of the trans-Alaska pipeline to proceed. Under ANCSA, Alaska's Native peoples were given title to 44 million acres of land and $963 million. Twelve regional corporations and more than 200 village corporations were formed and tasked with dual mandates: create economic opportunities through for-profit enterprises and support shareholders through educational opportunities, scholarships, elder benefits, and social and cultural programs.

Today, their reach both extends around the globe and focuses on business opportunities that directly benefit shareholders within their respective regions. Some have even set up funds to invest in local businesses.

Presented here are some highlights from fiscal year (as determined by each corporation) 2017.

Ahtna, Inc.

Glennallen-based Ahtna, Inc. recorded another successful year in 2017. Its revenues reached $238 million, a 9 percent increase compared to 2016, and its $7 million in net income is the highest in the corporation's forty-five-year history. It is owned by more than 2,000 shareholders, the majority of whom are Ahtna Athabascan.

Ahtna's subsidiaries are grouped into four industry segments: government and technical contract services, construction and pipeline services, resource development, and real estate. Government service contracts form the bulk of Ahtna's revenue, 82 percent. The corporation also provides services to commercial customers. Its 2017 revenue increased due to the continuation of existing contracts and additional contract rewards primarily in its government and technical sector.

Ahtna continues to look for ways to diversify its portfolio, with the aim that no one sector comprises more than 50 percent of its business.

One of Ahtna's biggest local projects was the Tolsona No. 1 natural gas exploration well that it drilled near Glennallen in an effort to diversify its business activities and provide a local energy source. That effort was unsuccessful, however, and Ahtna has discontinued exploration activities.

The organization's 1.77 million acres of land remains its greatest resource. Ahtna plans to develop those lands for tourism and recreation, mineral extraction, oil and gas development, timber, land trusts, and carbon sequestration. A forest carbon offset program would continue over the course of a century and provide job opportunities for generations.

Ahtna acquired AAA Valley Gravel in 2016, which is strategically located to support transportation projects in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.

In FY2017, Ahtna reported spending $12.8 million on shareholder benefits, including $1.5 million in dividends, $8.7 million in wages and benefits, and $2.2 million for charitable contributions, burial assistance, cultural camps, and scholarships.

Ahtna is also exploring the possibility of opening a year-round result outside Denali National Park.

Aleut Corporation

While 2016 was a good year for The Aleut Corporation, 2017 was even better. Total revenue reached $211.8 million, the highest in its history and 53 percent more than its 2015 results. The corporation, with a land base on the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands and headquartered in Anchorage, reports a net income of $11.1 million. Every Aleut Corporation was profitable in 2017, the first time since 2011.

In a letter to its shareholders, CEO Matthew Fagnani says the board of directors and management met two years previously to focus on how to rebuild its subsidiaries so their management teams would be more profitable. Their focus was on increasing subsidiary operating income by improving gross margin at the project level; streamlining administrative services; and increasing business development.

Subsidiaries operate in several business lines: government operations, maintenance contracting, civil construction, real estate, fuel sales, gravel sales, and mechanical contracting. Contract revenues provide the largest share of revenue, with Aleut Management Services at the forefront. In FY2017, Aleut Management Services reported contract revenue of $113.6 million, about 31 percent of the corporation total.

The Aleut Corporation has nearly 4,000 shareholders. The corporation made $1,163 million in donations to charitable and not-for-profit entities that benefit shareholders and descendants, including $900,000 to The Aleut Foundation. In FY2017, the Aleut Foundation awarded 198 scholarships totaling $667,417. The foundation also provides career development opportunities, internships, and leadership opportunities.

The Aleut Corporation distributed more than $2.5 million in dividends and elder benefits in FY2017.

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) is one of the state's most successful businesses. The corporation, with a land base on Alaska's North Slope and corporate offices in Utqiagvik and Anchorage, reports total revenue of $2.6 billion in FY2017.

Nearly half of ASRC's revenue comes from government services, with petroleum refining and marketing accounting for another quarter. Energy support services, industrial services, construction, and resource development make up the rest of its diverse portfolio. In late 2017, the corporation marked another milestone by surpassing $1 billion in dividend payments to shareholders since the corporation was formed in 1972. ASRC has more than 12,000 Inupiat shareholders.

In 2017, ASRC won a long-fought victory when the coastal plain of the Arctic National...