Sealaska, an Alaska Native corporation that has faced large losses for the last two years, expects to become profitable this year. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 created 12 (and later 13) native corporations, instead of following the reservation model used elsewhere in the United States. Sealaska, with 16,500 Native shareholders, is the largest private land-owner in southeast Alaska. Slowing Asian economies have diminished demand for Sealaska timber, however, and the corporation’s heavy investments in high-tech industries have not fared well in the face of a weak economy. Sealaska’s cost-cutting measures include closing a plastics molding plant and an electronics plant, both in Washington state, while maintaining an investment in a plant in Mexico.
