The state's top homegrown companies.

• Position: Alaska's 1999 Top 49ers

Not just any company can be a Top 49er. The businesses featured on the pages to follow are those that stand out above their peers as the most successful for-profit, Alaskan-owned and -operated companies, based on 1998 gross revenues.

Because ranking is based on revenues, we see companies move up several notches, or fall of the Top 49er list completely.

For example, Bristol Bay Native Corp. jumped from the 34th position in 1998 to the 13th this year. Another mover is Neeser Construction Inc., which took 48th place in 1998 and placed 34th this year.

Sadly, one former Top 49er in the hard-hit timber industry chose not to participate after scaling back operations and dropped from the list. Such are the ebbs and flows of businesses in resource-based Alaska.

This year we also have four new-comers: Ahtna Inc., which ranked 26th with 1998 gross revenues of $36.4 million; Kenai Chrysler Center, which ranked 42nd with 1998 revenues of $21.6 million; Unit Company, which placed 48th with 1998 revenues of $16.1 million; and McKinley Capital Management Inc., which placed 49th with 1998 revenues of $13.6 million.

We're always delighted to see companies that have done extremely well over the year. Ahtna Inc. increased revenues by 82 percent in 1998, when compared to 1997 totals - from $6.5 million to $36.4 million. The Aleut Corp., also a Native corporation, increased revenues from $41 million in 1997 to $73 million in 1998, an increase of more than 44 percent. Bristol Bay Native Corp. increased revenues by nearly 42 percent, from $45 million in 1997 to $77 million in 1998.

By far, Native corporations claim the most wealth when broken down by industry. Last year 13 of the 49 qualifiers were Native corporations, with combined revenues totaling nearly $1.7 billion. This year 12 Native corporations are on the listing, with combined total revenues for 1998 of more than $1.9 billion. Four placed in the top 10 positions on the listing: Arctic Slope Regional Corp. Cook Inlet Region Inc., Sealaska Corp. and Chugach Alaska Corp.

Arctic Slope Regional Corp., in fact, topped the 49ers listing with 1998 revenues of $887.5 million. It has been in the number one position for five consecutive years and is getting closer to its goal of being a $1 billion company by the year 2000. VECO Corp., which has ranked second on the list for the past four years, had gross 1998 revenues of $316 million...