Corporate celebrates its 10th year.

• Author: Campbell, Melissa
• Position: 2002 Corporate 100 - Brief Article

The following pages list 100 of Alaska's most notable companies. Some are among the biggest and the most profitable organizations operating in the state; others have found their little niche in the business world. But all are the best examples that show the world that Alaska is a competitor in the global market.

For 10 years, Alaska Business Monthly has published the Corporate 100. They are companies that create jobs, pay taxes and support communities through donations and by encouraging employees to volunteer for service.

Many of these organizations have been constant residents of the Corporate 100 over the years. Others have grown to become a part of the list.

The Corporate 100 continues to be a reflection of Alaska business. Much has changed since the 1990s, a time when many of the state's industries were struggling to recover from the economic downturn of the late 1980s. Our first list (see page 32) showed this by the lack companies under the heading of construction, and that of finance, insurance and real estate. The companies under those two headings this year have tripled in number.

The state's economy survived on seafood and timber in the '90s. Representatives of those industries dominated our list under the "Manufacturing" heading then. This year has nothing of either industry.

In the last decade, Alaska business has become more diversified, adding to its collective portfolio. Where oil, timber and fish once dominated, the state's economy has spread out to include technology, retail and a host of support services.

"How we did business 10 years ago looks nothing like how we do business today," said Deborah Sedwick, commissioner of the state Department of Community and Economic Development. "We've focused on how to compete and how to do business differently. And the more we can diversify, the better off we'll be."

Sedwick credits much of that diversification to Alaska Native corporations. For the past decade, Native regional and village corporations have shown tremendous success in many different industries, she said, with combined revenues that soared from the millions of dollars 10 years ago to billions of dollars today. That, Sedwick said, helps all Alaskans.

"The regional corporations are an incredible economic engine for Alaska," she said. "They hold diverse portfolios, doing business all over the world. They have Alaska, especially rural Alaska, in their hearts, and that is critical to Alaska's future."

Other industries in...