Solid growth on the slope.

• Author: Patkotak, Elise
• Position: Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp.

Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp., the Barrow village corporation, is economically larger than eight of Alaska's 13 regional corporations.

Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp. is the fifth-largest Native corporation in the state, with nearly $100 million in revenues in 1995. Incorporated in 1973, UIC represents 2,063 shareholders, most of whom reside in Barrow. Its name derives from the traditional name for the Barrow area and means "place to hunt snowy owls."

After almost a decade of uneven growth characterized by earnings that tended to rise and fall dramatically from one year to the next, UIC's 1995 pre-tax earnings were twice as high as in any previous year in its history. Net profits after taxes in 1995 were $2.75 million. Total revenues for UIC and its subsidiaries grew by more than $20 million over the past three years to total $97.5 million in 1995.

UIC's size and performance makes the company the 11th largest among Alaskan-owned, Alaska-based businesses on Alaska Business Monthly's list of "Alaska's 1996 49ers," released in October. Among ANCSA-created Alaska Native corporations, UIC ranks as the fifth-largest overall and the second-largest among village corporations.

In his message to shareholders in the 1995 annual report, UIC President Max Ahgeak attributes the progress UIC has made in improving its performance to the "Board of Directors' commitment to maintaining stability, nurturing additional areas of responsible growth and controlling overhead."

Ahgeak goes on to state, "Your Board of Directors also takes to heart its responsibility to maintain our culture and traditions and the values inherent in them." Among the more visible ways in which this commitment was shown, besides extensive use of the Inupiaq language in all its publications, was the establishment of the UIC Foundation and the Barrow Environmental Observatory.

According to a report by UIC Foundation Administrator Tasha Campbell, the Foundation has awarded more than $22,000 in scholarships to shareholders over the past year. Additionally, in response to shareholders' concerns, the program was expanded to fund both full- and part-time students. Funding part-time students makes it one of the more unique scholarship programs in the state.

With the establishment of the Barrow Environmental Observatory UIC acknowledged the long history of scientific research in Barrow. UIC now owns and operates the former Naval Arctic Research Lab located a few miles down the beach from Barrow. The facility...