Klukwan expands.

• Position: Klukwan Inc. buys Rainier Investment Management

Klukwan Expands. Participating in a team of investors, the Juneau-based Native village corporation Klukwan Inc. purchased Rainier Investment Management, a subsidiary of Seattle-based Security Pacific Bancorporation Northwest. The spring 1991 acquisition by Klukwan, in partnership with RIM's management group, gives Rainier Investment Management the status of a minority-owned business, which makes the firm eligible to manage certain federally mandated investment funds.

Federal regulations require a portion of public retirement funds - from Alaska teachers, government employees and large companies with direct federal contracts - to be set aside for investment by a minority-owned investment management company. This set-aside investment money amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars, according to Ralph Strong, Klukwan's president and chief executive. He adds that although the rule has existed for some time, few minority-owned companies can...