The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) is signed into law by President Richard Nixon. Shortly after, Chugach Natives. Inc. is established by original founders Cecil Barnes, Walter Meganack, John Borodkin, Vincent Kvasnikoff and Mary Gordaoff.
Chugach purchases the Orca cannery and Morpac Cannery, forms Chugach Alaska Fisheries Inc.
Food & Drug Administration recalls canned salmon due to botulism, leading to financial losses in the seafood industry.
Chugach and the federal government reach a just land settlement with the CNI land agreement. The original 1971 agreement left Chugach with primarily mountaintops and glaciers.
Chugach begins investing in timber within the region.
Chugach Natives, Inc. is renamed Chugach Alaska Corporation.
Chugach completes first timber sale, declares first shareholder dividend in January 1988.
Chugach purchases Uganik Cannery on Kodiak Island, completes sawmill in Seward for timber harvesting.
The largest oil spill in North America devastates the subsistence lifestyle and fishing and timber industries. The effects are still felt today.
Chugach files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after impact of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.
Chugach was one of the first Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) to set its sights on the federal government contracting business, after securing the right to bid on contracts through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 8(a) program. The 8(a) Program was the missing link in the ANCSA, and a mechanism to develop and grow Alaska Native owned businesses. It empowered Chugach to recover from bankruptcy.
Chugach holds first annual Nuuciq Spirit Camp at the historic village of Nuchek, located on Hinchinbrook Island in the Prince William Sound. The camp was designed to teach the next generation cultural and subsistence values impacted by the oil spill.
Chugach pays off bankruptcy, issues first shareholder dividend since bankruptcy.
Chugach issues first Elder dividend.
Board of Directors adopts new organizational structure and diversification strategy to expand the business to commercial operations and investments.
Chugach reaches $1.0 billion in revenue from federal government contracting operations, and employs approximately 5,000 people worldwide, many of whom are veterans.
Section 811 legislation and scrutiny over the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Program causes revenue declines.
Chugach purchases Hawai’i Native owned mechanical contracting company Heide & Cook, the first acquisition under the commercial pillar of Chugach’s diversification strategy.
Chugach invests funds to establish the Chugach Heritage Foundation endowment dedicated to former President/CEO Barney Uhart, who was instrumental in growing Chugach’s government contracting business.
Chugach acquires two additional companies — All American Oilfield and Rex Electric and Technologies — under commercial pillar of diversification strategy.
Chugach establishes Chugach Investment Holdings to complete third pillar of diversification strategy.
Chugach sells coal rights within Bering River Coal Field, which were then retired by a conservation agency. At the same time, Chugach strikes an agreement to begin a historic carbon offset project with Chugach region.
Chugach’s board committed funding to bring the Chugach Heritage Foundation endowment up to $30 million dollars to perpetuate educational scholarships and support cultural heritage for future generations.
The 2019 Chugach Lands Study Act passage opens the door for a potential land exchange opportunity. The Act requires the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service to conduct a study to identify the effects that federal land acquisitions have had on Chugach’s ability to develop its lands, and to identify accessible and economically viable Federal land for a possible land exchange with the corporation.
Chugach’s Board of Directors establish goal to create Intergenerational Prosperity for the Chugach people and future generations, based on our values of respect, responsibility, resilience and reciprocity.
Chugach’s Board of Directors fulfills its commitment to contribute $30 million towards the Chugach Heritage Foundation Endowment. The Endowment funds educational scholarships and Nuuciq Spirit Camp to perpetuate cultural opportunities for future generations.
Nuuciq Spirit Camp celebrates 25 years of uniting youth and Elders from throughout the Chugach region to connect and rediscover the history and culture of their ancestors.
Despite the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and struggling economy, Chugach led with its core behaviors by focusin on protecting its people, shareholders and communities, while also preserving the stability of the corporation. Because of this, the company also reached the highest operating profit in its five-decade history.
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) reaches five decades of providing economic, cultural, educational, and social benefits that Alaska Native corporations provide to their shareholders, descendants, and all of Alaska. Learn more at the ANCSA Regional Association website.
On June 23, 2022, Chugach Alaska Corporation celebrated its 50th Anniversary!
