Ouzinkie Native Corporation.

• Author: Berger, Michael
• Position: Company Profile

Ouzinkie, Alaska. Until a popular radio commercial made it famous a couple of years ago, Ouzinkie was relatively unheard of, even inside Alaska. With a population under 250, nobody expects the village, located on Spruce Island northeast of Kodiak, to be a hotbed of business activity. But, at Ouzinkie Native Corp. (ONC), generating a consistent profit for its shareholders is the most important priority.

The corporation got its start in the early 1970s, when a provision of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act conveyed to Ouzinkie 115,000 acres of prime timber-producing real estate on Kodiak, Spruce and Afognak islands. Additionally, Ouzinkie received $2.04 million under the Act from 1973 to 1982. Today, ONC has 339 shareholders, with 30 percent living in Ouzinkie, 20 percent residing in Anchorage, 15 percent in Kodiak and the remainder residing across Alaska and Outside.

Growth over the years has been good to the corporation. As of Dec. 31, 1992, corporate assets totaled $37.5 million, shareholder equity totaled $34 million, and 1992 total revenues were $6.8 million. Operations from 1973 to 1992 have resulted in cumulative net income per shareholder of $128,000, with cumulative dividends per shareholder of $34,000 and 1992 equity per shareholder of approximately $100,000. Comparing these results to other Alaskan Native corporations, ONC ranks at the top in terms of financial performance per shareholder.

According to Mark Huber, Ouzinkie chief executive officer, the company was in a development stage for the first five years. But, in 1977, 54,000 acres of timber on Afognak was assigned to a Native joint venture. Koncor Forest Products Co., a coalition of the Alaska Native villages of Ouzinkie, Natives of Kodiak Inc., Yak-Tat-Kwan Inc. and the Chenega Corp., is responsible for managing and harvesting timber held by the corporation. For 1992, Ouzinkie's share of the joint venture was over $4.5 million.

"The Koncor venture provides us with a means to build cash reserves over the remaining 10 to 15 years of our resource development," says Huber. "After converting our resources to cash, it will be the successful diversification of the corporation that will determine our future areas of influence."

ONC president William Anderson says Koncor's success will launch Ouzinkie's future endeavors. "Combining our assets with other Native corporations provides strength for developing new business opportunities. It also promotes unity among different...