Native corporations' overseas subsidaries bring dollars back to Alaska: they have operations around the globe. but their roots are still in the Great Land.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: Alaska Native Business News

Tracking Alaska corporations these days requires a good book, something along the lines of a Fodor's or Frommer's travel guide.

That's because Alaska Native re gional corporations are setting up shop around the world from Eastern Siberia to New Zealand, Midway Atoll to Europe.

"Some are doing fairly significant business overseas in seeking new markets and customers," says Greg Wolf, executive director of World Trade Center Alaska. "The capabilities of these companies and others in Alaska are really world-class."

Doing business overseas is more complicated than sticking to U.S. markets because of language barriers, different business customs and different currencies, Wolf says. The Alaska firms, which were created under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, say they're up to the challenge.

Arctic Slope Regional Corp. subsidiary ASRC Energy Services has been successfully working in the burgeoning oil patch in Sakhalin, Russia, for several years. Chief Executive Officer Mike Stophlet acknowledges the challenge of working in foreign countries with often-volatile political and business climates, but says "you have to weather the storm and know that if you're prone to panic, you shouldn't be in the game."

Many of the Native corporations' subsidiaries are working through government contracts in fields such as military base operations, engineering, environmental services, oil field services and telecommunications. Some of the contracts are potentially worth billions of dollars, such as the one Chugach Alaska Corp., working in partnership with Bechtel Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp., won in 2002 for missile defense support services on Kwajalein Atoll.

ASRC, NANA Regional Corp. and The Aleut Corp. also export their technical skills and expertise. Wolf calls these "quiet exports." He estimates their value at hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Barney Uhart, chief executive officer of Chugach Alaska, agrees with Wolf's estimate. Of the Anchorage-based corporation's 2003 projected revenues of $470 million, $70 million will come from overseas subsidiaries, he says.

"These are Alaska-based corporations, so the good news is the money flows back to Alaska," Wolf adds.

Alaska exports of more tangible commodities totaled $2.52 billion in 2002, according to Gov. Frank Murkowski's office. Seafood made up more than half of Alaska's exports, at $1.3 billion. Forest product exports totaled $129 million in 2002, of which Sealaska Timber Corp. accounted for $70 million.

Incorporated in 1979, the subsidiary of Juneau-based Sealaska Corp. sells hemlock, cedar and spruce logs to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Canada. In 2002, Sealaska Timber exported logs to the People's Republic of China for the first time. It harvests about 100...