Sportsvision Inc.

• Author: Martin, Ingrid
• Position: Alaskan company provides unique visual aid for golf training - Special Section: Small Business

A Trilogy Of Small-Business Tales Cast In Alaska's Interior

For every small-business success story, there are at least as many with unhappy endings. Recent Fairbanks casualties include a diaper service and a peanut shop. Also, a birch-bowl manufacturing operation has given up after two years.

But a wide variety of small entrepreneurial startups are building customer bases broader than local markets. They are increasing sales and expanding operations. Among those successfully tapping new customers are Ken Ulz's Kobuk Fuel and Feed, securing sales to Norway; Earl Romans' Alaska Battery Enterprises, exploring Soviet connections; Arctic-gear manufacturer Apocalypse Design, dealing with Outside distributors; and Shishmaref Tannery, shipping furs to Asia.

Also tapping markets beyond Alaska's borders are three other enterprises each less than a decade old. Selling products they've developed and now are promoting through a variety of distribution channels, these companies - SportsVision, Human Endeavors, and Interior Alaska Fish Processors - are ascending the growth curve through persistence and ingenuity.

Here are their tales.

During instruction, golfers are often told to keep their eye on the ball, something that's easier said than done. Local ophthalmologist Sam McConkey hopes his recent invention, the newly patented Headlok, can help.

"Keep your eye on the ball. That's what everybody tells you," McConkey says. "But nobody can tell you when you're doing it. This does."

Less than three years after McConkey began development of his product, it is for sale in a number of pro shops and sports stores in Alaska and Outside. McConkey's company, SportsVision Inc., also has been able to tap the international market and boasts connections in Japan that could make his product a household word among golfers throughout that country.

Headlok is a "self-training aid for control of head movement," according to a product pamphlet. It consists of three pairs of color-coded, self-adhesive plastic tabs that are pressed onto a golfer's glasses or sunglasses. By placing the tabs on the lenses, the golfer sets up an optical system in which the ball appears to "jump" whenever the head moves, disturbing the direct focus through the colored tabs.

Additional applications for McConkey's invention include bowling, croquet and other sports requiring precise focus. McConkey has approached local military officials about using a version of his product for weapons training. As...