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Ouzinkie, Alaska. Until a popular radio commercial made it famous a couple of years ago, Ouzinkie was relatively unheard of, even inside Alaska. With a population under 250, nobody expects the village, located on Spruce Island northeast of Kodiak, to be a hotbed of business activity. But, at Ouzinkie Native Corp. (ONC), generating a consistent profit for its shareholders is the most important priority.
The corporation got its start in the early 1970s, when a provision of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act conveyed to Ouzinkie 115,000 acres of prime timber-producing real estate on Kodiak, Spruce and Afognak islands. Additionally, Ouzinkie received $2.04 million under the Act from 1973 to 1982. Today, ONC has 339 shareholders, with 30 percent living in Ouzinkie, 20 percent residing in Anchorage, 15 percent in Kodiak and the remainder residing across Alaska and Outside.
Growth over the years has been good to the corporation. As of Dec. 31, 1992, corporate assets totaled $37.5 million, shareholder equity totaled $34 million, and 1992 total revenues were $6.8 million. Operations from 1973 to 1992 have resulted in cumulative net income per shareholder of $128,000, with cumulative...