he Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) created twelve regional corporations charged with the dual mission of generating profit and providing support to their regions and people. Over the last fifty years, all twelve of the regional corporations have made exceptional strides in meeting those missions: growing to have statewide, national, and international business operations and issuing billions of dollars in dividends and investing millions in education, cultural preservation, training and workforce programs, and regional development. Here are highlights from the ANCSA regional corporations from 2022 and 2023.

The Chugach Alaska Corporation region includes more than 5,000 miles of coastline in Southcentral, spanning from Nanwalek at its western point to Icy Bay in the east. In 2022 Chugach made significant investments in its 2,900 shareholders, including approximately $14.6 million in dividends and elder distributions and more than $9 million in wages paid to shareholders employed by the regional corporation, which the company states is a “testament to our commitment to fostering the next generation of leaders of the corporation.”

Chugach was able to make such investments through generating approximately $775 million in revenue, which according to the company was an expected downward trend from the year previous as a result of closing out the last of its carbon credit offset sales in 2022. Still, it was a profitable year for Chugach, which reports $19.6 million in operating profit for 2022 despite the “lingering effects of the pandemic and economic headwinds.”

Chugach is optimistic for the future, stating, “A fortress of a balance sheet and diversification of operations provide a solid foundation on which we stand at the shore of a wide sea of growth opportunities. In 2022 and 2023, the corporation appointed several new leaders—including President Josie Hickel, Interim CEO Angie Astle, and Chief Operating Officer Peter Andersen— to help us chart a course that will capitalize on these opportunities and set Chugach on a path to success.”

One such opportunity is Chugach Naswik, a commercial, multi-purpose, short-term housing facility in Valdez developed by Chugach, Chenega Corporation, and The Tatitlek Corporation that broke ground in May. In July, Chugach—in partnership with the Native Village of Eyak and the Eyak Corporation—also broke ground on an oil spill response facility at Shepard Point. Related to this mission of care for the region’s environment, Chugach, Chenega, and The Tatitlek Corporation, operating in partnership as TCC, renewed a contract with Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to conduct oil spill prevention and response services protecting Prince William Sound.

The Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) region encompasses 23,000 square miles that span most of the Seward Peninsula and the coastal lands of eastern Norton Sound. BSNC currently has 8,128 shareholders, whom the company is highlighting in its “Village Life Stories,” a project meant to encourage the corporation’s people to share their experiences. BSNC has also been working on the “Mazzaq Tigittuaq” video series, which is bringing the region’s people and culture to life in captivating short films.

Also to the benefit of its shareholders, in FY2023 BSNC issued a record high dividend payout of $10.25 per share, for a total of approximately $6.5 million. The company also disbursed a special elder’s dividend of $1,500 per qualifying elder (amounting to $1.7 million) and $631,500 in scholarships.

The regional corporation continues its focus on shareholder hire and reports that 46 percent of its corporate employees are Alaska Native shareholders or descendants of BSNC, and 50 percent of the executive leadership team are BSNC shareholders. “Additionally we again have another remarkable group of young shareholders and descendants participating in our summer internship program,” the company states. “We are proud to invest in the next generation, providing them with the skills and knowledge necessary for their future success.”

The company’s activities are supported through record revenues of $661 million in FY2023, the first year that BSNC exceeded $600 million in revenue and a 26 percent growth over the year prior (net of CARES Act funds). Net income for FY2023 came in at $25 million, which the company primarily attributes to “the profitability of BSNC’s contracts with the federal government.”

“Doyon, Limited is proud of our 2023 successes from our companies,” the corporation states, which include the Kantishna Roadhouse receiving the Adventure Green Alaska certification from the Alaska Travel Industry Association; developing the Na’-Nuk Investment Fund 2 (in partnership with McKinley Alaska Private Investment) that will focus on supporting companies working to power, feed, connect, heal, and protect the planet; the Doyon/Aramark joint venture receiving a Superior rating for their 2022 operating season from the National Park Service; and the acquisition of Fairweather, which will support Doyon’s existing North Slope operations related to oilfield support, weather, logistics, and medical services.

The Koniag region includes Kodiak Island, surrounding waters, and coastal lands to the west across Shelikof Strait, and Koniag holds title in that region to 143,000 acres of surface estate and approximately 990,000 acres of subsurface estate. The regional corporation has approximately 4,400 shareholders, to whom it distributed $25.1 million in shareholder benefits in FY2023, including providing fifty-one families with assistance for funeral and burial costs; offering a $1,200 elder benefit to those aged 62 and older; and awarding more than $50,000 to children from age 3 to high school to attend academic events, play sports, and delve into their culture. To date, the Koniag Education Foundation (formed in 1993) has provided more than $6 million in scholarships and grants to Alutiiq students.

The company states, “It has never been clearer that our youth are our future,” and to that end the corporation sponsored a culture camp (making it free to Koniag shareholders and descendants) at Dig Afognak, an annual cultural camp developed to regain and carry forward aspects of Alutiiq culture on land previously used for archaeological research.

Koniag’s investment in its shareholders was funded by the “strongest financial year in the history of Koniag.” The corporation reports gross revenue of $836 million for FY2023 with $90 million in pretax earnings. It states, “We are proud to put our resources to work, increasing opportunities for our youth, honoring our Elders, partnering with nonprofits, and investing in our companies… As a ‘forever’ corporation, Koniag must remain future-focused. This means that we focus on driving financial growth so that we can support benefits to our shareholders and descendants for generations to come.”

Sealaska is owned by more than 25,000 Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian shareholders and represents a region that spans the Alaska Panhandle. It recorded 2022 gross revenues of approximately $410 million, and according to the corporation, “Revenue from ongoing business operations is steadily climbing. Our focus on ocean health is working—achieving our vision to improve the place we all live in and doing so profitably, so we can continue to generate a sustainable source of shareholder benefits going forward.”

One such benefit is education, and Sealaska has announced it’s awarding $1.1 million in scholarships to 462 students for the 2023/2024 academic year. “Every scholarship represents an inspired learner. We are proud to support them and proud of all their current and future accomplishments,” says Sealaska CEO Anthony Mallott.

This year Sealaska also invested heavily in language preservation, with the goal of increasing proficiency of advanced learners of the region’s three Indigenous languages. The board approved a one-time increase of $250,000 for language programming, bringing the yearly total contribution to $750,000.

The Aleut Corporation (TAC) represents a region comprising the Aleutian Islands that stretches more than 1,000 miles into the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The corporation reports 2022 gross revenues of $270 million, an increase of more than $40 million from the year previous.

This year the company is embarking on a familiar adventure in a new place, holding its 51st Annual Meeting of Shareholders for the first time outside of Alaska in Bellevue, Washington in October.

In addition to shareholders who reside outside of its region, TAC has multiple subsidiaries that offer quality services inside and outside of Alaska. For example, this year Aleut Flood Management secured two contracts to support the US Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District for land- and marine-based construction projects. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity awards include a scope of work ranging from modifications and reinforcement of existing dams, levees, and locks to construction, remodeling, or demolition of existing land structures.

Aleut Building Company secured a contract the US Army Corps of Engineers to serve the US Army Garrison Alaska that includes multi-disciplinary maintenance and repair services for a range of USAG-Alaska facilities at locations such as Fort Wainwright, Fort Greely, Donnelly Training Area, Yukon Training Area, Black Rapids Training Site, and Seward Military Resort.

And Aleut Construction was selected for a contract by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs with task order work, including new construction, offsite design-build construction, offsite construction, demolition, repair, alteration, and renovations of buildings, systems, and infrastructure.

Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) has title to 27.5 million acres of land in western Alaska surrounding Bristol Bay. The corporation notes that “the abundant resources of the Bristol Bay region have sustained us for millennia. BBNC ensure that our lands provide for the people who live and work here today—and will continue to do so for future generations.” Through leveraging these lands and providing industrial, government, and construction service—in addition to working in the seafood and tourism industries—BBNC was able to generate gross revenues of $2.8 billion in 2022.

BBNC has opposed the Pebble Mine since 2009, and in 2023 the corporation is celebrating several obstacles in the mine’s path that likely will prevent its development, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Final Determination issued in January that prohibits the discharge of dredged or fill material. Additionally, in December the Pedro Bay Corporation (the village corporation for Pedro Bay, located on the shores of Iliamna Lake) finalized conservation easement transactions with the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust, and these transactions will interfere with Pebble’s preferred transportation corridor. “While there have been many voices raised in opposition to Pebble over the years, from the start, it has been the Bristol Bay stakeholders—our elders, tribes, community leaders, youth, and so many others—who ultimately determined this outcome. This is a victory for all of you,” stated BBNC President and CEO Jason Metrokin in the company’s “Bay Report” newsletter.

Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) represents a region that surrounds Cook Inlet, and within that area CIRI holds title to 529,500 acres of surface estate and 1.6 million acres of subsurface estate.

CIRI is owned by more than 9,000 shareholders of Athabascan, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Iñupiat, Yup’ik, Alutiiq/Sugpiaq, and Aleut/Unangax̂ descent, and the corporation says this diversity of one of its greatest strengths. In the June/July 2023 edition of CIRI’s newsletter “Raven’s Circle,” outgoing CIRI Board Chair Roy Huhndorf relayed this story: “In 1975, a fellow regional corporation president came up to me and said, ‘I feel sorry for you, Roy.’ I asked him why, and he said, ‘CIRI will be the first regional corporation to fail, mark my words, because you don’t have a homogenous Alaska Native culture.’ As it turns out, what he described as our weakness ended up being our strength. In those early years, our shareholders came from a multitude of geographies and walks of life, including those who had been sent away from home by the federal government for ‘re-acculturation’ in far-away boarding schools. In those schools, loneliness and cultural deprivation instilled a resolve to survive and a commitment to find a better way for their own children. When ANCSA passed in 1971, those very people provided the knowledge that would make the company work.”

It continues to work today. CIRI reports that in 2022 it earned gross revenues of $539 million, and its innovative Fire Island Wind project is celebrating ten years of providing renewable, reliable power to more than 7,000 homes in Southcentral.

Ahtna currently holds title to approximately 1.6 million acres of land (of 1.76 million entitled through ANCSA), the majority of which is in the Copper River region, an Ohio-sized area in the southcentral interior of Alaska. Ahtna reports 2022 gross revenues of approximately $325 million, and in the spring of 2023 the company issued a shareholder distribution of $5.60 per share to its more than 2,000 shareholders. In addition to the shareholder distribution, Ahtna also continued its tradition of distributing $1,500 to every eligible elder (age 62 and older) in 2023, which it has done since 2009.

Also in 2023, Ahtna was one of four ANCSA corporations that received brownfields funding from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Ahtna is targeting lands in the Copper River Valley region for Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments and is also planning to use its $2 million grant for a reuse and revitalization plan, as well as conducting community engagement activities.

This year Ahtna Netiye’, the corporation’s business holding company, welcomed a new CEO. Roy Tansy, Jr. is succeeding Tom Maloney, who retired after eight years of service. Tansy is an Ahtna shareholder from the village of Cantwell and is a member of the Caribou (Udzisyu) clan. His professional background includes more than twenty years of executive-level experience in operations, business development, strategic planning, and corporate leadership. Tansy most recently served as Ahtna Netiye’s chief operating officer.

Calista Corporation’s region is tucked between the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers in western Alaska and is the traditional home of Yup’ik, Cup’ik, and Athabascan people. Calista’s land entitlement is 6.5 million acres, most of which is split estate, with Calista owning the subsurface rights and village corporations owning the surface estate; however, 264,000 acres of Calista is fee estate land, where Calista owns the surface and subsurface rights. Calista operates on behalf of nearly 36,000 shareholders and has more than thirty subsidiaries operating in a variety of industries around the world.

In January Calista and Delta Constructors finalized an agreement to work together to expand employment opportunities for Alaska Native corporation shareholders throughout Alaska. The agreement streamlines communication and aligns the organizations to better inform, encourage, and support the delivery of skill-building opportunities.

Initiatives and partnerships such as these, as well as years of building a diversified portfolio of quality services, led to the corporation reporting 2022 gross revenue of $789 million.

For example, earlier this year Calista subsidiary Brice, Inc. was awarded a $53 million contract from the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities for the St. Mary’s Airport Improvements Project. Work includes runway resurfacing, drainage improvements, and new electric lighting systems on the runway, taxiway, and aprons; it began in June and is slated for completion in two years.

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) has approximately 13,000 Iñupiat shareholders in the villages of Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright, Atqasuk, Utqiaġvik, Nuiqsut, Kaktovik, and Anaktuvuk Pass. ASRC owns title to almost 5 million acres on the North Slope, “which contain a high potential for oil, gas, coal, and base metal sulfides,” the company states. “As a steward of the land, the corporation continuously strives to balance management of cultural resources with management of natural resources.”

In March, ASRC joined with Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope and North Slope Borough to issue a statement supporting the development of ConocoPhillips Alaska’s Willow project within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), saying: “The Willow Project represents a new opportunity to ensure our indigenous, Alaska Native communities’ 10,000 years of history has a viable future. Willow is set to provide a generational investment in our people and communities, expected to generate $1.25 billion for the North Slope Borough and $2.5 billion to the NPR-A Impact Mitigation Grant Program—funding that will provide basic services like education, fire protection, law enforcement, subsistence wildlife research, and more. The project will employ hundreds of Alaskans directly and will generate thousands of construction jobs.”

ASRC’s six lines of business (government contracting, petroleum refining and marketing, energy support, industrial services, lands and natural resources, and construction) generated 2022 revenues of $4.8 billion, a record for the pacesetting corporation.