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Breaking Boundaries
A celebration of Alaska-grown, top-earning companies
By Tracy Barbour
Some of Alaska’s most ambitious start-ups are now among the topearning companies in the state. The following are examples of top-producing entities that originated in Alaska and have expanded beyond its borders to serve a broad base of customers.
Alaska USA
Alaska USA Federal Credit Union is one of the longest-standing home-grown entities in Alaska. It was established on December 6, 1948, when fifteen civil service personnel gathered in Anchorage’s Alaska Air Depot pooled their savings—and their conviction in one another—to form a member-owned credit union. “This decision was made in order to provide financial services to the personnel who had been recently transferred to Alaska,” says Senior Vice President of Corporate Relations Dan McCue. “Members began extending credit to one another while volunteering their time to operate the credit union.”
Today, Alaska USA still builds upon the strength of its members. Now in its seventieth year of business, it continues to bring the not-for-profit, financial service cooperative model to families and businesses in Alaska, Arizona, California, and Washington through seventy-four branches serving roughly 670,000 members, according to McCue. The credit union operates thirty-one branches in Alaska, eight in Arizona, seven in California, and twenty-eight in Washington. It has 1,264 employees in Alaska, 275 in Arizona, 67 in California, and 241 in Washington.
As a not-for-profit entity, Alaska USA doesn’t look at revenue as a sustainable operating indicator. McCue says: “Our membership has steadily grown over our seventy-year history... The individual and commercial loan portfolio has also drastically increased, reaching well over $6 billion this year. And the largest indicator of sustainability and positive business practices is our value transfer to members based on higher rates on deposits, decreased loan rates, and decreased fees compared to those of competing banking institutions. In 2018 we provided a $198 per member benefit.”
Alaska USA also supports a variety of charitable organizations and nonprofit entities such as the Armed Services YMCA, The Financial Reality Foundation, and Special Olympics Alaska. Through corporate giving and community support programs, Alaska USA contributed nearly $750,000 to nonprofit organizations in more than fifty distinct communities in 2018. And its employees in each of the communities in which it operates volunteered more than 1,500 hours in support of various organizations last year. “A healthy business economy starts with a healthy community,” McCue says.
Carlile Transportation Systems
Carlile Transportation Systems has experienced tremendous growth and expansion beyond Alaska due to its unwavering commitment to safety, reliability, and service, according to Tom Hendrix, vice president of oil and gas for Carlile.
Anchorage is home to Carlile’s main terminal and corporate headquarters with additional terminals located in Prudhoe Bay, Fairbanks, Seward, Kenai, and Kodiak. Outside Alaska Carlile operates terminals in Houston, Texas; Lakeville, Minnesota; Tacoma, Washington; and Edmonton, Alberta. Today, the company has approximately 320 employees in Alaska and 120 outside the state.
While Alaska is immense geographically, its business community is small, making trusted relationships critical, says Hendrix. He adds: “Being removed from the rest of the country, Alaskans have a well-known cando attitude, and they band together when facing challenges. In the Alaska trucking industry, even the toughest of competitors are often friends when facing tough times or providing support to communities.” Founded in 1980 by brothers Harry and John McDonald, Carlile has evolved significantly over the years. “Because intrastate trucking was regulated at the time, the brothers purchased an operating authority which allowed Carlile to take advantage of fixed rate tariffs,” Hendrix explains. “In 1984, however, the industry was deregulated, and Carlile was challenged to continue establishing itself by competing with numerous startups in a highly competitive market. Nearly forty years later, Carlile is one of Alaska’s largest trucking and logistics providers.”
However, the company’s mission to provide safe, reliable, and quality trucking and logistics services remains the same. The scope, services, and reach of Carlile’s operations has increased substantially as the company has grown with Alaska’s key industries and overall economy. Initially the company served the agricultural sector, transporting milk, fertilizers, and even barley. Later, Carlile landed a contract to move urea (used to melt ice) from Nikiski to airports in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Cordova, and other communities. Less-than-load (LTL) services began as well between Anchorage and Fairbanks, with freight sometimes peddled directly out of transport vans.
In 2013, Carlile was acquired by Saltchuk, a privately-held company based in Seattle. Saltchuk owns a number of transportation companies, including TOTE Maritime, Foss Maritime, Northern Air Cargo, Delta Western, Cook Inlet Tug & Barge, Cook Inlet Energy, and Northern
Energy Solutions. “The Saltchuk acquisition of Carlile provided new capital to improve operations and modernize the company’s fleet of vehicles and equipment, allowing for reduced repair and maintenance costs and improved operating efficiency,” Hendrix says.
Carlile’s success is also inextricably connected to its commitment to its customers and employees as well as the communities it serves. The company contributes substantially to various nonprofit organizations and community causes, including the Boys & Girls Club, American Heart Association, Food Bank of Alaska, Special Olympics, Challenge Alaska, Mountain View Elementary, Catholic Social Services, and Covenant House.
Hendrix advises new and struggling business owners to focus on their vision and values—and work hard. He adds: “Developing and following a solid business plan that can adapt to changing markets and industries will allow you to realize new opportunities. Plan your work and work your plan.”
GCI
GCI is the epitome of a born-and raised Alaska company, according to Paul Landes, senior vice president and general manager of GCI consumer services. The company’s co-founder, Ron Duncan, moved to Alaska in the 1970s and lived in the basement of the Santa Claus House in North Pole. Back then he had to wait as long as ten minutes just to get a dial tone to make a phone call—and a long distance call cost $1 per minute. “In 1979, Duncan partnered with Bob Walp—who had previously worked for NASA and was literally a rocket scientist—to form GCI, which was launched from a small Bootleggers Cove apartment with the idea of bringing competition to Alaska’s long-distance market,” Landes says. “In the forty years since, GCI has continued growing and expanding throughout the state, staying at the forefront of the technological curve and adding television, internet, and mobile service.”
Much has changed in GCI’s forty-year history. The business has grown from having 2 employees to approximately 2,000 full-time employees, most of them living and working in Alaska. Currently, the company delivers service to more than 240 communities. And for fiscal year 2018, its total revenue was $875,290,000.
In March 2018, GCI became part of Liberty Ventures Group, which is based out of Colorado. Though its ownership may have changed, GCI’s senior management remains intact and it remains an Alaska-operated company, Landes says. “Our senior leadership team remains the same and all of the company’s leaders continue to live in Alaska,” he says. “Decisions about investment and product offerings are still made in Alaska.”
He adds, “While GCI has been fortunate to weather the state’s economic uncertainty over the past few years, the transaction put us in an even better position to compete, innovate, and serve our customers.”
GCI’s success is, in large part, due to its commitment to invest, innovate, and serve all Alaskans. The company has a track record of going where its competitors are either unwilling, or unable, to go, Landes says. He explains: “Take our TERRA network as an example. GCI invested $300 million to build a rural network stretching 3,300 miles to deliver reliable connectivity to 45,000 Alaskans in eighty-four rural communities… More than 80 percent of Alaskans have access to 1 GIG internet speeds. That’s well ahead of most places in the Lower 48.”
This past June GCI announced a massive initiative to deliver 5G in Anchorage by the end of next year, which would make Anchorage among the first cities in the world to be covered by 5G service. “We are not only among the industry leaders in Alaska, but in the world,” Landes says.
The company is also heavily committed to the communities it serves. Over the past five years, GCI donated more than $10 million in cash, products, scholarships, and grants to Alaska organizations. In addition, GCI gives its employees sixteen hours of paid time off to volunteer at a nonprofit of their choice. “In 2018, we even set a new record, with more than 660 employees contributing nearly 8,200 volunteer hours,” he says.
Northrim Bank
When Northrim Bank opened its doors in December of 1990, it was an opportune time. The Alaska recession of the late 1980s was subsiding, and the bank’s founders believed there was a need for a strong, local financial institution that focused on customer service. “Northrim was able to grow quickly as a result of this focus on the customer,” says Chairman, President, and CEO Joe Schierhorn, who is also a charter employee.
Northrim’s focus has been the same since day one. What originated as a small bank located in a trailer is now a statewide institution with sixteen branches and $1.5 billion in assets. In 2018, Northrim BanCorp’s annual revenue was $93.4 million. The growth of Northrim Bank, according to Schierhorn, can be attributed to the dedication of its employees and their focus on customer service. “Northrim’s mission is to be Alaska’s most trusted financial institution, with a vision to be Alaska’s premier bank and employer of choice,” he says.
A publicly-traded company since its inception, Northrim Bank has made strategic acquisitions that helped fuel its steady expansion. In 1998, Northrim was a founding investor in Residential Mortgage. In 1999, it acquired eight Bank of America branches in Anchorage, Eagle River, and Wasilla, growing from142 to 235 employees. In 2007, Northrimadded Alaska First Bank and Trust, which had two branches located in Anchorage. In 2014, Northrim acquired Alaska PacificBank, which was headquartered inJuneau and had five branches located in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Sitka. And in 2014, Northrim obtained the remaining portion of Residential Mortgage, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the bank.
Currently, Northrim operates sixteenAlaska branch locations in Anchorage,Eagle River, Wasilla, Soldotna, Fairbanks,Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan. OutsideAlaska, Northrim has one divisionand one affiliate with locations inWashington: Northrim Funding Servicesand Pacific Portfolio Consulting. Thebank can also provide mortgage loansin Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada,Washington, and Wisconsin through itsResidential Mortgage arm.
Today, the bank has 423 employeesin Alaska and 7 in Washington, includingthose of Residential Mortgage. People,Schierhorn says, are Northrim’s greateststrength. “Our vision to be Alaska’spremier bank and employer of choicereminds us that we can provide benefitsto our employees that will bring the bestand brightest and make them want tostay with Northrim as they grow.”
Northrim is actively engagedin each community in which itoperates. The bank supports localprograms that provide services forlow-income individuals and families;provides community and economicdevelopment; and promotes highereducation. Northrim supportsorganizations that include University ofAlaska, NeighborWorks Alaska, JuniorAchievement of Alaska, the Food Bankof Alaska, local chambers of commerce,and local economic developmentcouncils. It is also a sponsor of theIditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Schierhorn’s sage advice to businessowners: It’s important to have astrong relationship with their banker.This will help the business ownernavigate any rough waters and helpprovide solutions to issues that arisethroughout the life of a business.
