The 13 regional native corporations.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: Alaska

All of the regional Native corporations are turning profits, most by diversifying and many of those by investing in Outside interests.

Kristina Prentice is facing a bright future. The 27-year-old is attending the University of Alaska Anchorage part-time to become a paralegal, while she works as an intern in that profession for NANA Development Corp. NANA is paying for her education, and in a way, Prentice, a NANA shareholder, is working for herself.

"I wouldn't have had this opportunity if I wasn't a shareholder," she says. "It's like working for my people."

Prentice is just one example of how the 13 Alaska Native regional corporations are working to improve the lives of Alaska Natives. The corporations spend millions of dollars on education and vocational training for shareholders, as well as mentoring programs and internships in corporate subsidiaries to train future leaders. In addition, the corporations are committed to perpetuating their traditional cultures and providing social services for shareholders. And they're making profits as well.

Overall, 1998 was a year of phenomenal growth for the corporations, which earned more than $1.7 billion in total revenue and paid more than $53 million in dividends.

Created by Congress in 1971 to settle aboriginal land claims that were threatening to derail the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, 12 Alaska Native regional corporations divided 44 million acres of land and nearly $1 billion to seed their business operations. The 13th Regional Corp., which does not have a land base, was established for Alaska Natives residing outside the state and is based in Seattle.

NANA Regional Corp.

Kotzebue-based NANA Regional Corp. still follows a traditional path, picking and using the right tools to suit the region's special needs. But today, those tools are likely to be high-tech and the finished products are worth millions. In 1998, NANA earned net profits of $5.3 million on $65.4 million in revenue, up from $60.3 million in revenue in 1997. It paid $3.2 million in shareholder dividends and reaped dividends of its own through a renewed commitment to shareholder training programs.

"We have many people doing things now that they wouldn't have dreamt of doing a few years ago," says Robin Kornfield, director of marketing for NANA.

"We have a tremendous amount of talent," Kornfield says. "The idea is to take these people who have shown initiative and to help them move forward. As far as I'm concerned, it's our shareholders who need those opportunities, because they own the company."

NANA has a lease agreement with Cominco to work the giant Red Dog Mine, the world's second largest zinc prospect. It also owns three hotels in Anchorage and one in Kotzebue, as well as oil field service companies and construction...