“With a 26 percent poverty rate in Indian country and unemployment rates as high as 80 percent, the need for economic development in native communities is pretty self-evident.” ~ Chairman Nick J. Rahall II (D-WV), U.S. Committee on Natural Resources, Hearing on “Diversifying Native Economies,” September 19, 2007.

First Alaskans Magazine
February 9, 2008 ~ Native corporation keeps fisherman afloat.
...thanks to steady dividends and scholarships from his Alaska Native corporation, the grandfather and former commercial fisherman had the money to turn his love of the water into a sport-fishing business... Full Story »

Kodiak Daily Mirror
December 11, 2007 ~ Afognak Native corp. defends profits.
...Afognak Native Corp. and its family of companies is a burgeoning enterprise generating millions of dollars under a nationwide umbrella of companies, resulting in large payouts to shareholders and benefits that are having a widening social and cultural impact in Alaska and Kodiak.... Full Story »

Indian Country Today
December 7, 2007 ~ Fair contracting, Indian self-reliance both possible.
...Not all tribes are equally positioned to benefit from gaming compacts. Perhaps only about 30 gaming tribes generate significant income from their gaming operations; the rest of Indian country, more than 500 recognized communities, enjoys only modest gaming revenue. Tribes located near large urban populations benefit most, while geographically isolated... Full Story »
This article is reprinted with permission from Indian Country Today, and is available at www.indiancountrytoday.com.

Anchorage Daily News
December 4, 2007 ~ Successful Native corporations benefit every Alaskan.
...Just as Alaska has changed over the last 35 years, ANCSA has also evolved. Thirty years after its passage, Congress recognized ANCSA required additional impetus and modified SBA regulations to assure that American Indians, Hawaiian and Alaskan Natives had access to the 8(a) Program, a federal initiative designed to give America's most under-represented groups a hand up in government contracting -- a rare federal economic program that actually works. This was our missing link to the modern economy... Full Story »

Indian Country Today
July 20, 2007 ~ Stand United for 8(a)
...Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act gives socially and economically disadvantaged firms a chance to grow and perform on federal government contracts. Tribal participation in the 8(a) program is one of the most important non-gaming economic development tools available to our federally recognized governments and corporations. In fact, 8(a) government contracting is one of our best hopes in Indian country in terms of revenue and job creation across the country... Full Story »

Roll Call
June 13, 2007 ~ Native American Contractors Association supports 8(a).
...Our ancestors made enormous sacrifices for opportunities such as the 8(a) program. They endured decades of broken treaties and the seizure of millions of acres of oil-rich native homeland. They kept their word so that future generations of Native Americans could succeed and level the economic playing field... Full Story »

Roll Call
June 4, 2007 ~ A Program that’s working for American Indians.
[The] 8(a) program, is one of the most successful business development programs in decades. It is creating for the first time a business pathway that represents our best hope to non-gaming economic development and a pathway to economic self-sufficiency for Indian country.... Full Story »

Media Relations
Sarah L. Lukin,
Director of External Relations
Afognak Native Corporation and Alutiiq, LLC
3909 Arctic Blvd., Suite 400
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
907-222-9500 Phone
907-317-4791 Cell
907-222-9501 Fax
slukin@alutiiq.com