Native corporation partnerships: creating unity, adding value.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: NATIVE BUSINESS

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Business math isn't the same as the arithmetic you learned in elementary school.

In school, one plus one is always two. In business, if you take one healthy, competitive business and put it with a second healthy, competitive business, the whole is often greater than the sum of the parts. At least that's the goal. Don't try that in math class.

In Alaska, business affiliations come in a variety of configurations: partnerships, joint ventures, mergers, subcontracting, but they all boil down to two, or more, companies working together for a common goal. The benefits include reduced risk, expansion of knowledge about a particular industry, access to each others' core competencies, increased revenue potential and more opportunities for Alaska workers.

AIR AMBULANCE VENTURE

One such partnership is the melding of two of Alaska's top air ambulance services in fall 2008. LifeGuard Alaska, owned by Providence Health and Services Alaska (PHSA), and Aeromed International, owned by the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. (YKHC), joined to become LifeMed Alaska.

"When the shareholders formed LifeMed, they took advantage of economies of scale, "says Scott Kirby interim CEO of LifeMed Alaska. "Instead of competing against one another the partnership brought two companies together that shared similar experience and practices, resulting in a stronger service to Alaska.

The company uses a fleet of fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, Learjets and ground ambulances to help deliver critical care to ill or injured people over the state of Alaska. It has bases in Anchorage, Bethel, Soldotna, Fairbanks, Wasilla and Klawock.

LifeMed Alaska is a stand-alone corporation, funded equally by PHSA and YKHC. Based in Bethel, YKHC is a Tribal Organization authorized by each of the 58 federally recognized Tribal councils in its service area to negotiate with the Federal Indian Health Service to provide health care services under Title III of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, according to its website. LifeMed is governed by a six-member executive board, three from each of the parent entities.

MUTUAL BENEFITS

There are hundreds of partnerships between Alaska Native corporations or their subsidiaries and other businesses, and they bring benefits to both sides. Bering Straits Regional Corp. is working with Neeser Construction to build a new hospital in Nome. Ahtna Inc. teamed up with Raven Gold Alaska to search for minerals. Doyon...