Junior Achievement Alaska Business Monthly Hall of Fame laureates: Robert and Barbara Halcro: living their dream, helping others.

• Author: Bohi, Heidi
• Position: JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT SPECIAL SECTION

To honor the contributions Robert and Barbara Halcro have made to the Alaska business community, and to countless nonprofits and civic organizations statewide, it would take more than a hall of fame--a warehouse might be a good start, and an airplane hangar wouldn't be out of the question.

In their 52 years of business as owners of Avis Alaska, one of Alaska's largest car-leasing businesses, the Halcros have taken a tiny car-leasing business that launched with two employees and have grown it into a family owned and operated empire that comprises more than 100 staff and a fleet that multiplied from the original 25 cars to more than 1,700 vehicles.

OPERATIONS STATEWIDE

From Anchorage headquarters near the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, their son, Andrew, now runs the statewide company, and as president and CEO also oversees operations in Fairbanks, Kenai, Kodiak, Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg, Skagway and Whittier.

A primary reason for the company's success, Halcro says, is his parents' visionary thinking and unwavering commitment to people--to their employees and clients, to organizations that benefit all Alaskans, and to the next generation of business leaders.

"I'm incredibly proud of my parents because they came to Alaska at a time when the economy was a fraction of what it is today," Halcro says, looking back on more than five decades of a roller coaster marketplace. "They had a vision--they saw that this was a state that would grow and prosper and they were committed to running and growing a family business through some difficult economic times by hiring good committed people who shared their vision," he says.

Just as his parents have always been futuristic about business matters, his mother Barbara explains, so have they been focused on investing in the next generation so that Alaska can continue to support a healthy business environment and economy.

Through cash contributions, in-kind donations and classroom instruction, one way Avis has given back to the community is by supporting Junior Achievement (JA) of Alaska since the '90s, Barbara says. They continue to see the value in contributing to helping children understand and appreciate the importance of business.

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BOOST FOR BUSINESS

"Children have to be shown that business is good," she says. "Business is often looked down on in the schools--profit is a bad word and businesses are often perceived as impersonal corporate giants. It's important for...