Choggiung Makes a Striking 49er Debut: A new CEO and a significant acquisition lead to positive momentum.

• Position: TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION

This year is the debut of Top 49er Choggiung Limited, the ANCSA village corporation for Dillingham. The corporation reported 2018 revenue of more than $95 million, propelling it to number thirty-five in the rankings. The last two years for Choggiung have been full of positive changes, including the addition of a new CEO, a significant acquisition, and positive movement throughout its business holdings.

Positioning for Growth

Cameron Poindexter joined Choggiung in July of 2017 as the company's president and CEO. He's a Choggiung shareholder who was born and raised in Homer and Anchor Point, where his parents owned a small business, "so I gained interest in business just from the very start, working and living in an entrepreneurial family," he says. Poindexter's upbringing led to his decision to study business, and he earned his undergraduate degree in business management from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and MBA from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

After college Poindexter interned with a Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) subsidiary based in San Antonio, Texas, before moving back to Alaska and working at First National Bank Alaska, where he had the opportunity tto interact with D.H. Cuddy and manage the bank's Bethel Branch. From there he transitioned to a position at BBNC working with that corporation's chief operating officer to assist with oversight of its operating subsidiary companies.

During his employment at both BBNC and First National Bank Alaska, Poindexter served as a Choggiung board member; however, he resigned from the board when he took on a new position at BBNC to start up the Bristol Bay Development Fund, as he felt there may be a conflict of interest or a perception of one. But when the CEO position opened up at Choggiung, its board chair contacted Poindexter, asking him to apply. He was ultimately selected for the role. "I knew through my interview process that the board of directors was interested in growing. One of the first directives from the board was to make sure [Choggiung] was prepared and structured for growth."

The Acquisition

While Poindexter and the board were in the midst of focusing on growth opportunities, BBNC approached them with an incredible opportunity to invest in the Bristol Alliance of Companies, a group of ten companies that provide construction, environmental, and professional services. Poindexter explains, "It ended up actually being a competition between multiple villages in Bristol...