Investing in Alaska communities: helping entrepreneurs promotes economic development.

• Author: Slaten, Russ
• Position: ALASKA NATIVE CORPORATIONS

The Alaska Native population stood at 138,312 people in Alaska, according to 2010 US Census data. Alaska's total population was 710,231, making the Alaska Native demographic equal to 19.4 percent of the state's total population. Among all US cities with a population of one-hundred thousand or more in 2010, the greatest proportion of American Indians and Alaska Natives was in Anchorage, according to the US Census Bureau. In rural Alaska that proportion increases, and in most regions of the state, Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) have programs to support the community and its growth.

North Slope Marketplace

The highly successful Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), headquartered in Barrow, has tripled its shareholder base since its formation from 3,700 original enrollees to nearly 11,000 today.

One way for ASRC to boost the economy in the region, especially for its shareholders, is the North Slope Marketplace. Alaska Growth Capital Project Manager Elizabeth Rexford says a small boost of start-up capital helps to create meaningful jobs and remove development obstacles tied to lack of access to commercial capital.

"ASRC's mission is to actively manage our businesses, our lands and resources, our investments, and our relationships to enhance Inupiaq cultural and economic freedom--with continuity, responsibility, and integrity," Rexford says. "The North Slope Marketplace program is an extension of these values, in that our shareholders who are working to create jobs and start their own small businesses have access to a business grant program and loan programs as needed."

Founded in 2009, ASRC shareholders compete in the North Slope Marketplace to promote local economic development. Shareholders compete as entrepreneurs for seed money to start a business or further develop an existing one. Shareholders are awarded grants worth up to $25,000 each. ASRC sponsors the competition, and Alaska Growth Capital, an ASRC wholly owned subsidiary, manages North Slope Marketplace.

Recent Winners

Tommi Lynn Ahmaogak won an award worth $25,000 in 2013 to start a restaurant in her community, the village of Wainwright on Alaska's north coast. Ahmaogak is converting her general store, Tom and Jerry's, into a late-night eatery open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

"I was only going to start off small by just making pizzas, but with the [North Slope] Marketplace I'm able to start up the whole thing," Ahmaogak says.

Ahmaogak used the grant to cover business insurance...