Aleut Grows in the Birthplace of Winds

A Larger Footprint

In addition to pursuing new opportunities through in-house collaborations, the corporation has added brokerage to its real estate subsidiary for the first time. Also, through its newest acquisition, Aleut Energy, the company is entering the retail space with three different lines of business: Alaska EcoWater, Renewable Energy Systems of Alaska, and Arctic Home Living.

The three Fairbanks-based “mom and pop companies” are a “greenfield” for Aleut, representing an opportunity to increase the corporation’s footprint and diversify its customer base.

“We’re very excited to introduce some soft goods that complement Arctic Home Living’s current strategy,” says Aleut COO Mandy Hawes. “We’re looking to grow the brand, and we have a great base to grow from. The team there has done a really great job already, connecting with customers and delivering a high level of customer service.

“We have a big dream of serving more communities with our water practice, as well, [through Alaska EcoWater] by looking outside Fairbanks to expand across the state,” she adds.

The move toward more diversification is a move toward greater stability. This fall, as a federal government shutdown threatened to stall work on many projects across Alaska and the Lower 48, Aleut felt little impact, despite its reliance on federal projects.

“I think that’s an important component of our growth to date,” Hawes remarks. “[We’re] making sure that actions we take today actually do shape what the company will look like in three to five years. In terms of diversification, the question we’re asking every day is, ‘Is this the right fit?’”

She adds that, while finding the right fit and growing new revenue streams is important to the corporation, “what’s more important is that that revenue growth trickles down to our EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization]. We’re focused on metrics like our EBITDA percentage and on making sure that every dollar we bring in translates to dividends to our shareholders.”

All ANCs are for-profit entities that, like nonprofits, have a mandate to invest in their people and communities.

Renewal on Adak Island

Through the corporation’s fuel and hospitality subsidiary Aleut Ventures, some of the more high profile and exciting developments are taking place—starting with the revitalization of Alaska’s southernmost city, once the most populous in the Aleut region.

In 2004, Aleut received more than 47,000 acres of land on Adak Island thanks to a land transfer agreement with the US government. Since then, the corporation has undertaken a major revitalization effort of the former US Navy base there by cleaning contaminated land, dedicating federal grants to rebuilding local piers, and capitalizing on Adak’s advantageous position halfway between North America and Asia.

Aleut’s development of Adak has involved major infrastructure investments, including partnerships with both Pacific H2 and SpinLaunch—two long-term projects the corporation hopes will be economic drivers for the island.

Through establishing Alaska’s first green ammonia production facility in collaboration with Pacific H2, Aleut hopes to deliver the chemical to the Asian market and beyond. Within three to five years, Pacific H2 expects to start construction on wind turbines that will occupy a portion of the 3,000 acres the company has leased from Adak. The turbines will generate electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is then blended with nitrogen from the air to create ammonia for fertilizer, industrial processes, or even fuel.

Meanwhile, Adak is entering the space economy with California-based SpinLaunch, a satellite launch company that uses kinetic energy to accelerate satellites into orbit. Once again, Adak’s geography and location proved to be deciding factors for this partnership. The island’s location offers access to favorable launch trajectories; its remoteness minimizes disruption to existing air and maritime traffic; and its strong winds, water, and geothermal resources provide opportunities for renewable energy integration.

During World War II, Adak was home to a US Army Air Corps airfield; by the ’90s, the facility was closed. A return of the military to Adak, in Vergen’s mind, would be a major indicator of the community’s progress.

“In the next five to ten years, we would love to see the Navy come back, whether that’s in temporary duty deployments or having a small, permanent force based in Adak,” he says. “That would definitely be a measure of success.”

East of Adak, near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, the community of Cold Bay offers exciting geographical and infrastructure opportunities too. Home to large runways that were originally built by the military, Cold Bay could function as a refueling hub for air cargo coming in and out of the United States, alleviating some of the traffic at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, the fourth busiest air cargo hub in the world. Already, Aleut is in talks with Anchorage airport officials about using Cold Bay’s runways as a landing location for diverted aircraft.

The legacy air infrastructure, long used for occasional emergencies, could become a deliberate destination for transcontinental carriers, an opportunity Aleut is eager to develop.

Worth the Effort

Just because Adak is no longer a thriving military base doesn’t mean it’s a ghost town; nearly 200 people still reside there, mostly employed in seafood processing. But that may change in the future as Aleut makes efforts to draw visitors to the region. While the remoteness of the Aleutians can pose a challenge when it comes to attracting visitors, the effort to make the trip, says Hawes, is worth it.

“The Aleutians are incredibly stunning terrain, rivaling Scotland and Ireland in their beauty,” says Hawes. “We see a ton more potential for tourism along the entire chain, but specifically in Adak. We’d like to see the small, exploration-style cruise ships that have a small footprint here, enjoying the untapped potential of the region, learning about the traditional Unangax̂ culture.”

This year, Aleut Ventures launched “Venturing Beyond,” a new blog dedicated to highlighting “the stories, culture, and adventures that make Adak truly extraordinary.”

Especially as Southeast communities have begun to consider capping the number of cruise ships that can access popular destinations like Juneau, Sitka, and Haines, Aleut sees the Aleutians as a prime destination for tourists, hunters, history buffs, and those interested in Unangax̂ culture.

The Adak Island Inn, operated by Aleut Ventures, serves as a home base for visitors to access the island’s trails and beaches. Meanwhile, the island’s World War II relics and historic cultural sites offer a glimpse into the area’s past. Aleut offers a variety of land use permits for hunting, available for purchase by non-Adak residents and free to Aleut shareholders.

Trickle-down Effect

The renewal these projects bring to Adak will, Vergen hopes, be part of the solution to the outmigration that the entire region—like many small, rural Alaska communities—has seen recently. Four years ago, 25 percent of Aleut’s shareholder base lived in the region; more recently, that number is down to about 20 percent.

“Outmigration is not a simple problem to address. It’s a combination of economic opportunity and jobs. It’s the ability to have healthcare and education for kids. It’s the ability to have health, commerce, and a subsistence lifestyle. Another one of our big challenges is the cost of fuel and energy,” he says.

Most Aleutian communities, he adds, are powered by diesel fuel, which must be shipped in; fuel can cost a local from $6 to more than $10 per gallon.

A pilot geothermal program could potentially help alleviate energy costs in the Aleutians. While a pilot project in a remote area like Adak is daunting for many companies, Vergen envisions geothermal as an affordable, scalable solution that would make use of a readily available natural resource: more than eighty volcanoes where the Pacific Plate subducts under the Aleutian Islands.

Even as Aleut pursues new development for Adak and other communities in the Aleutians, the corporation hasn’t lost sight of what’s most important to the people who live in that region.

“When we look at the Aleutian Chain and all of the possibilities there,” says Hawes, “we recognize that fishing will always be at the heart of the Unangax̂ people and their story—and we also recognize that [fishing] can be a challenging industry. Making sure we can maintain the way of life in the region is really important to us; at the same time, we want to diversify the industries to grow those communities.”

Deepening the Bench

Vergen is the first to point out that he didn’t create a more solid foundation and record-setting growth for Aleut alone. To level the corporation up, one of his first orders of business as president was to expand his leadership team.

Doing so meant once again going against the grain when it came to ANC norms: Vergen didn’t seek out experts who’d spent years working at one of Alaska’s twelve Alaska Native regional corporations.

“If [I’d gotten] folks from ANCs, I was just going to replicate what they’d done before. I didn’t want to do that,” he explains. “I went out and found people in industry that had the same mindset and approach that I did and the same cultural approach, who had success in what they did.”

Vergen established Aleut’s legal department—the corporation had been outsourcing its legal work—and its communications team, hiring Kate Gilling, with whom he’d previously worked, as vice president of communications and marketing. Without a team focused on grant writing, Aleut was missing out on access to potential federal funding. Vergen added grants, regional affairs, and public policy teams to the company’s roster.

“Establishing that structure of fulfillment for our future and then finding the right leaders who are willing to be transparent and accountable and rigorous has been key,” he says.

A New Name and Look

A new era called for a new identity. Its old acronym, TAC, was vague and tended to bury “The Aleut Corporation” in alphabetized lists. In 2024, the corporation unveiled a new logo and brand. Taking a cue from other ANCs known by instantly recognizable, single-word names—Sealaska, Koniag, Ahtna—The Aleut Corporation became, simply, Aleut.

“We wanted to be able to honor our culture and our history and our past but still have a way to step forward and be able to communicate to people that we are thinking differently, we’re acting differently, we’re planning differently, and we’re going to be more progressive than we have before,” Vergen explains.

Led by Gilling, Aleut’s communications team redesigned the company logo, streamlining the original image created by John Larsen in 1990 while retaining references to symbolic elements—a bentwood visor, a mountain, and an arrowhead—meaningful to the region’s Unangax̂ culture. An updated brand color palette reflects the Aleutian Islands’ coastline, storms, and seasons.

While the new brand remains rooted in history, it’s another signal, Vergen says, that Aleut has a new vision: “We want to absolutely declare that we are no longer the same corporation we used to be.”

In Service of the Mission

“Being transparent, accountable, and rigorous was the catalyst,” Vergen says. “Not only did we tackle those operational issues and pursue business development opportunities, but that started to extend into, ‘How can we make an impact on the mission? How can we increase dividends? How can we work on regional issues around food security and healthcare and education?’”

Stability means more capacity to focus on the wellbeing of shareholders. One way that has happened is through Aleut’s new settlement trust, passed via resolution last year. The trust—something Aleut’s fellow ANCs already have—allows the corporation to pay a 10 percent tax up front on money it puts into the trust; distributions and benefits from the trust can then be paid tax-free to Aleut shareholders.

“Last year we paid our largest tax-free dividend for the very first time,” Vergen says. “That’s significant, real impact [on our shareholders], due to the corporation’s success.”

Aleut has also broadened the scope of the college and vocational scholarships available to shareholders. With Aleut Marketplace, it provides a “small-business bootcamp” where entrepreneurs develop and refine a business plan, with assistance. In partnership with Alaska Growth Capital, four entrepreneurs in each bootcamp cohort are selected to receive grants to start their businesses. The boost isn’t just about launching new businesses; it helps fill needs in Aleutian communities by supporting locals to develop the services and resources their hometowns need.

Setting Records

Aleut has a new story to tell about how it’s growing, how it’s changed, and where it’s headed—and it tells that story regularly at shareholder meetings and visits to the region. Since Vergen stepped into his role, that story has included unparalleled success.

Two years into his tenure as president, Aleut had achieved the unthinkable: Once the “last and smallest” of all twelve ANCs, the corporation moved into tenth place, earning gross revenues of $270 million in 2022, an increase of more than $40 million from the year previous. The same year, the corporation cracked the top 20 in Alaska Business’ annual Top 49ers ranking by revenue.

In 2023, the corporation set a revenue record; in 2024, it set another—and 2025 is looking like another banner year for Aleut.

“We were told by our bankers that was the biggest turnaround they’d ever seen from an ANC, from where we were when I got here to breaking even within that next full twelve-month period,” says Vergen. “The ‘bigger brain’ effect is working, and it’s producing results that are exceptional. That, in turn, is allowing us to do more to fulfill our mission for our shareholders.”