The Aleut Corp.

• Author: STRICKER, JULIE
• Position: Plans to develop Aleutian Islands, Alaska - Statistical Data Included

This Alaska Native regional corporation is turning an old military base on an isolated island into a home for its shareholders.

Sweeping for 1,500 miles across the North Pacific Ocean, the Aleutian Islands are prime territory when it comes to fisheries, international trade, military significance and scientific interest.

The problem: that prime territory is a long way from everywhere else. Its remoteness has proved a tough sell in the business world, but The Aleut Corp. believes it has found a way to bring the world closer to the islands. It is acquiring the former Navy base on Adak, a lush, windswept island at the junction of the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, 1,000 miles from Anchorage.

Aleut Corp. told its shareholders: "The acquisition of Adak Island and the development efforts have been an enormous undertaking and is a project that has never been attempted or performed by any other corporation in Alaska."

The Aleut Corp. is one of 13 Alaska Native regional corporations established under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to settle aboriginal land claims. Under ANCSA, it received $19.5 million and took title to lands stretching from Port Moller on the Alaska Peninsula, north to the Pribilof Islands and west to Atka Island, as well as village and burial sites out to Attu.

The Aleut Corp. has more than 3,000 shareholders, many of whom live in Anchorage and the Pacific Northwest instead of their traditional villages in the Aleutians.

Aleut culture is based on fishing, and for its first 20 years, Aleut Corp. focused on its fisheries assets, but netted far more red ink than profits.

Shareholders grumbled, not only because of The Aleut Corp.'s business woes, but also because the Anchorage-headquartered corporation was unable to create business opportunities in the villages. Villagers felt removed from corporate leadership.

"A majority of people here in Anchorage are here because of educational and economic opportunities," says President Vincent Tutiakoff. Many would like to return to their villages, but the job opportunities are slim.

In the mid-1990s, Aleut Corp. moved into government service contracts through its subsidiary Space Mark Inc. Profits soared as SMI successfully procured federal contracts under the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program, which allows minority-owned businesses to sole-source contracts. One of those contracts was as caretaker of the Navy base at Adak, a former Aleut village. At the same...