The 1997 49ers - review and commentary.

• Position: Alaskan-owned/Alaska-based businesses

Very simply stated, Alaska has prospered by developing and marketing natural resources. Whether oil and gas, mining, seafood or timber, the extraction and use of these resources is the backbone of Alaska's economy. And spin-offs from resource development have generated a very respectable group of industries in our state. Our 1997 49er list shows this most emphatically.

It goes without saying however, that many of the 49ers' primary activities involve resource development and marketing. Notwithstanding this fact, imagining an Alaskan economy without natural resource development would probably leave tourism as the only viable industry. And we all love, respect and depend on it's vitality.

Maybe those in the current Washington D.C. administration would like to make tourism Alaska's exclusive industry. Maybe all they want Alaska for is to use it as a showcase of America's wonderland of unsullied pristine beauty. Sometimes it's difficult to tell.

Whatever the Outsiders' agenda, this year's 49ers section clearly shows Alaska's continued need for growth in natural resource development, and the tremendous spin-off industries we all depend on.

The big winners this year were the transportation, construction and industrial service industries on our list. When the list is broken down by industry category, these are the three that demonstrate the largest overall increase over 1996. In fact, the increase in just these three industries alone more than accounts for the total rise in dollar revenues for the 49 largest Alaskan-owned, Alaska-based businesses highlighted in this magazine.

A straightforward explanation for this situation would be an oversimplification. Part of the increase is due to companies that have never before responded to our request for 49er information, particularly in the construction field.

However, by probing a little deeper, we can also see that a modestly robust economy overall in Alaska is behind a lot of the gain in these three categories. For example, the increasing activity in Alaska's oil patch almost certainly contributes to higher numbers in the industrial services category. And, too, that same activity will impact both construction and transportation favorably.

All of these are tied together even more deeply than just described. Increases in construction outside the oil patch will almost always provide for increases in transportation simply because of the vast distances materials must be moved in Alaska to accomplish any...