Alaska's Big Twelve: An update on ANCSA regional corporations.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

By Vanessa Orr

June 2022 was a big month for golden anniversaries. All twelve Alaska Native regional corporations marked their 50th birthdays, six months after they celebrated the anniversary of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act that authorized them. The past half-century has seen all twelve--and a few village corporations--grow into the largest Alaskan-owned companies, mostly outpacing the revenue of the richest Lower 48 tribe (the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minnesota, though it splits earnings among less than 800 members). Heading into the next half century, the corporations are exploring new ways to increase revenue, fill top positions, and ensure that they protect their lands, their shareholders, and their descendants.

AHTNA

In 2021, Ahtna continued a multi-year trend of financial success.

Ahtna's revenues and profits reached the second-highest total in its history, eclipsed only by 2020. In the first half of 2022, Ahtna exceeded budgeted earnings while keeping expenses down. Ahtna, representing the Copper River region, remains focused on increasing shareholder hire and corporate equity in its collaboration with other major companies. Ahtna Marine & Construction Company (AMCC) entered into a mentor-protege joint venture with a marine construction company and is now executing environmental dredging and dam construction projects for the US Army Corps of Engineers. Last year, as a tribute to the late Ahtna elder and subsistence rights leader Katie John, AMCC unveiled a new dredging vessel bearing her name, which enables the company to bid for jobs beyond the US Coast Guard's offshore demarcation line. While Ahtna enabled its employees to work from home at the onset of the pandemic, it is currently taking a cautious and measured approach to having employees return to its offices.

ARCTIC SLOPE REGIONAL CORPORATION (ASRC)

Approaching $4 billion in annual revenues, ASRC has established itself as the largest Alaskan-owned and operated company and was ranked 131st on Forbes annual list of America's largest private companies at the end of 2021. ASRC distributed $87.5 million in dividends, or $60 per share, and achieved record revenues and its second highest adjusted earnings, up $34 million from 2020. COVID-19 imposed a suspension of acquisitive growth during 2020 and 2021 and limited support for growth capital expenditures, yet ASRC invested $115.3 million in capital projects and smaller strategic acquisitions. These acquisitions and capital investments now represent approximately 55 percent of ASRC's consolidated adjusted earnings and are a large component of its dividends. ASRC plans to pursue additional acquisitive growth in 2022 and has a sizeable contract backlog, and early indicators are showing a strong 2022.

BERING STRAITS NATIVE CORPORATION (BSNC)

In fiscal year 2022 (FY2022), BSNC achieved a record-high half a billion dollars in revenue and record-high shareholder dividends: $6 million, including a $1,500 bonus for elders. In an impressive turnaround from the Nome-based corporation's difficult early years, 2022 was the 18th year BSNC accomplished positive financial results. Construction continues to be one of BSNC's fastest...