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Adds lending and community development capabilities to Anchorage–based investment firm ANCHORAGE, Alaska — McKinley Management, LLC (McKinley) has acquired Alaska Growth Capital BIDCO, Inc. (Alaska Growth Capital or AGC) from Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC).

“Alaska Growth Capital is a natural fit with McKinley’s investment business,” said McKinley Chief Executive Officer Rob Gillam. “With this acquisition, we’re excited to add a company with a talented team, a long history of supporting Alaska businesses, and a commitment to supporting community development throughout Alaska.

Alaska Growth Capital adds valuable capabilities to our financial platform, which enhances our ability to positively impact Alaska’s economy.” In support of this important transaction, McKinley has partnered with Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC), a leading Alaska Native Regional Corporation.

BBNC will be a shareholder of AGC, as well as provide leadership on the board of directors and partnership on economic and shareholder initiatives throughout the Bristol Bay region. AGC will continue to be a leading Native Community Development Financial Institution (Native CDFI), focusing its impact and efforts on serving underserved communities. Current McKinley employee Logan Birch has been named president of the company which will be renamed McKinley Alaska Growth Capital.

Birch served as president of AGC from 2017–2019 and on AGC’s board of directors from 2012–2020. These experiences provide him an in–depth understanding of the business, opportunities for growth, and a close connection to the AGC team. “I am so excited for the AGC team to join McKinley as we seek to build on this amazing platform and grow our statewide impact by supporting businesses that are facing difficulties obtaining credit from traditional sources,” Birch said.

“We’re excited to grow AGC’s existing SBA, USDA, and CDFI products and to develop new sources of debt capital that will help our state grow.” ASRC President and CEO Rex A Rock, Sr., said, “We at ASRC are pleased that the work Alaska Growth Capital does to support underserved communities will continue under McKinley and BBNC’s new ownership.

Our shared commitment to strengthening underserved communities was a cornerstone of the acquisition process.” www.mckinleymgmt.com

McKinley Alaska Growth Capital will be co–located in McKinley’s offices at the JL Tower at 3800 Centerpoint Dr. in Anchorage. All AGC employees are being retained as a part of this transition and McKinley is posting three new jobs today for McKinley Alaska Growth Capital in recognition of the growth opportunities in this important new line of business.

McKinley Alaska Growth Capital will be the fourth line of business at McKinley, along with McKinley Capital Management, McKinley Alaska Private Investment, and McKinley Research Group (formerly McDowell Group). About Alaska Growth Capital Alaska Growth Capital BIDCO, Inc.

(Alaska Growth Capital or AGC) is an innovative alternative lending company based in Anchorage, Alaska, and doing business throughout the northwestern United States. AGC was founded in 1997 as Alaska’s first Business and Industrial Development Corporation (BIDCO), created to promote economic development and job creation by providing loans, investments, and management assistance to businesses.

Today, AGC is the state’s leading provider of business loans utilizing programs offered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), providing financing up to, and in some cases exceeding, $10 million. AGC is a resource for companies that are finding traditional lenders slow to act or unable to provide financing terms that meet their needs.

Alaska Growth Capital is an 11–time SBA Community Lender of the Year and a certified Native Community Development Financial Institution (Native CDFI). AGC has successfully deployed $100 million of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) and provides professional servicing of all assets in its portfolio. AGC is a major lender to the rural and low–income regions in Alaska that are often under–served by the traditional banking system, including many Alaska Native Corporations. Since AGC opened its doors in 1997, it has provided over $600 million in capital to its customers, helping them to create and maintain tens of thousands of jobs.

AGC employs a talented team of professionals dedicated to their customers’ success, with a passion for making their communities stronger. As a registered BIDCO, AGC is regulated by the Alaska Division of Banking and Securities which provides the necessary licensing, regulation, and enforcement that enables AGC to satisfy eligibility requirements for the various programs it participates in.

About McKinley Management, LLC McKinley Management, LLC is a privately held, global investment and research firm based in Anchorage, Alaska, with offices in Juneau and Chicago. Its four business units McKinley Capital Management, McKinley Alaska Private Investment, McKinley Research Group and McKinley Alaska Growth Capital work together to provide clients seamless services umbrellaed under one company. More information can be found at mckinleymgmt.com

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Media contact:
Jennifer Thompson, Thompson & Co. Public Relations
jennifer@thompsonpr.com, 907–242–1152

Alaska Growth Capital BIDCO, Inc. (AGC), a Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), is proud to announce it received a $30 million allocation of federal New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to invest in catalytic businesses and community projects across the state of Alaska.

With this allocation, provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund, Alaska Growth Capital will focus its investment in areas of high poverty and remoteness; advancing increased commercial services to off-the-road communities and minority-owned businesses serving Alaska Natives.

Alaska is the largest state in the union with over 570,000 square miles of land. With roughly 700,000 residents, Alaska also has the lowest population density of any state. Over 85% of Alaska’s communities are not connected by road and are only accessible by air or water. The sheer size of Alaska paired with its low population and limited infrastructure has resulted in extremely high costs of living and doing business. Alaska’s rural and low-income communities need to be reinvigorated through investment and brought up to the basic standard of living that many in the continental U.S. enjoy. AGC is excited to work with mission-aligned businesses and projects seeking to build a strong, vibrant Alaska for all.

“Alaska Growth Capital’s goal is to create economic opportunity that is rooted in community,” said Taka Tsukada, President and CEO of Alaska Growth Capital. “This award will allow us to foster critical projects that will catalyze economic growth today and into the future for our state.”

Founded in 1997, Alaska Growth Capital, based in Anchorage, is an industry leader in innovative financing, particularly in its service of Non-Metropolitan areas of Alaska and Alaska Native communities. Created to fill the financing gap between conventional banks and venture capital, Alaska Growth Capital has deployed over $600 million in capital to its customers, including $90 million of NMTC capital and $10 million of CDFI Fund and Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) funds, since its inception.

Alaska Growth Capital is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), an Alaska Native corporation, owned by and representing the business interests of 13,000 Iñupiat shareholders. Established by Congress in the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), today, ASRC is the largest locally owned and operated business in Alaska with 13,000 employees and annual revenue of over $3 billion.

Greetings,

2019 was quite the year for Alaska Growth Capital (AGC) as we worked across Alaska and beyond to grow economic opportunity, rooted in community. Please see the three infographics accompanying this note for some of the impressive statistics about our impact last year. Here are a few more highlights I’d like to share:

-We received the 2018 Alaska Community Lender of the Year award from the Small Business Administration (SBA) for the 9^th time. We are honored to again be recognized as an innovative and community-focused small business lender. 

-We were awarded $650,000 through the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund’s Native American CDFI Assistance Program to support loans in Native communities in Alaska.

-We submitted a competitive application to the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program, hoping to once again bring these federal tax credits to Alaska to benefit large infrastructure projects in rural and Native communities. We also participated in important federal advocacy around the NMTC program, hoping to increase the tax credits allocated to Native organizations like ours that do work in indigenous communities.

-We said farewell to our former President & CEO Logan Birch, who transferred to fellow ASRC subsidiary, ASRC Energy Services, in summer 2019.  Upon his departure, I transitioned from my previous position as Senior Vice President of Lending to President & CEO. We also said goodbye to loan officer Hilary Upicksoun, who accepted a new opportunity with fellow ASRC subsidiary, Petro Star Inc. 

-In 2019 we welcomed three new staff members – Julie Woodworth, Cody Beech, and Penny Gage. We also welcomed an intern, Brendon Doyle, who is an ASRC Shareholder pursuing an economics and finance undergraduate degree at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Two of our staff – Jennifer Snodgrass and Penny Gage – received the Alaska Journal of Commerce’s “Top Forty Under 40” award in 2019.

-Our North Slope Marketplace business plan competition for ASRC Shareholders, founded in 2009, underwent significant changes in 2019, including revision of the application process, creation of a cohort model with a three-day intensive businesses training on the North Slope (rather than flying in Semi-Finalists to do a training in Anchorage), and incorporation of a mentor program. We also initiated new partnerships to support the program in 2019 with the Arctic Education Foundation, three fellow ASRC subsidiaries, and the Minority Business Development Association.

I join the entire team at AGC in having gratitude for what was accomplished in 2019. We hope to build on this work in the coming year to help grow Alaska’s economy and support small businesses. 

Here’s to a productive and impactful 2020!

Taka Tsukada
President & CEO, Alaska Growth Capital

Alaska Growth Capital is excited to announce a partnership with the Anchorage Community Land Trust to provide a business development training program called Set Up Shop. This program is made available to ASRC shareholders like you, who are interested in doing business in or around the Anchorage neighborhoods of Mountainview, Fairview or Spenard.

Set Up Shop is a 12 week program that provides comprehensive training for new or growing business owners. The class covers marketing, finances, operations, real estate and more! After the class, alumni will have access to continued support, business assistance and even be eligible to apply for microloans.

These are the building blocks to getting your new business idea off the ground!

We are happy to announce the retirement of our Vice President of Credit Administration. After 40 years in the Financial Services Industry, Sandi Brown joins the elite club of retirement. In her 9 years of service with AGC, Sandi has done an exceptional job of maintaining the quality of AGC’s loan portfolio through her detailed credit risk management. We wish you the very best and appreciate the work you accomplished with AGC.

In 2018, AGC welcomed Mike Rzeszut to the team to work alongside Sandi to ensure a smooth transition.

The North Slope Marketplace (“NSM”) is a business plan competition open to Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Shareholders residing on the North Slope and provides winners with vital grants funds of up to $25,000 and technical training. Awarded funds go towards the creation or growth of locally owned and operated small businesses and provide much needed capital to individuals that may not otherwise have options. The mission of the North Slope Marketplace is to provide financial and technical resources that support and encourage adaptive, entrepreneurial activity for sustainable North Slope communities.

To date, the NSM has funded and supported 47 shareholder businesses and provided countless trainings to new and existing entrepreneurs. In 2017, AGC assumed sole sponsorship and administration of the NSM, reaffirming the company’s commitment to shareholders and to sustainable North Slope communities. In 2017, AGC awarded NSM awards to five shareholder owned businesses on the North Slope. The 2017 NSM awardees are excellent examples of shareholders utilizing the resources made available to them and taking a chance at success through entrepreneurship.

Arnold Arey, of Utqiagvik was awarded $11,013 for his business, Arey’s Northern Outfit & Cargo, LLC. that provides safe reliable cargo delivery to residents and businesses across the North Slope. Arnold delivers a necessary community service, transporting vital gear like vehicles, snow machines, ATVs and cargo to local residents. He was originally awarded $12,000 in 2014 to open his business. He reapplied this year for the remaining $13,000 available, Mr. Arey’s second award was used to replace equipment. Mr. Arey is an exemplary shareholder that has managed a successful business, employing three locals to meet the needs of North Slope residents, while also making time for a subsistence lifestyle.

Tariek Oviuk is a prime example of a shareholders drive to succeed. Mr. Oviuk’s award is representative of the NSM’s belief in an individual’s power to change. As an individual with a criminal background, Mr. Oviuk was unable to access traditional and even nontraditional sources of financing. Because of Tariek’s involvement in the community, as a whaling captain and dance group leader, the NSM committee granted him a partial award of $10,000, allowing him to order inventory and buy necessary equipment to open his store, learn the ins and outs of his new business and apply for additional funding based on a strong business track record in the future. From this award, Point Hope welcomed a new store, AK2K Store, solely owned and operated by Tariek Oviuk.

Price and Bobby Itta purchased Alaska Fur Cache in August of 2016, with financing from Alaska Growth Capital. While Alaska Fur Cache operated for over 30 years in Anchorage, in September 2017 the Itta’s relocated the business to Utqiagvik returning an age old traditional industry (i.e. fur trading and manufacturing) back to the Slope, making them eligible for NSM funding. The NSM approved a partial award to cover expenses related to relocating and buying furs from hunters and trappers on the North Slope. The Itta’s award was a special exception, as the NSM is geared towards new businesses or businesses that do not have access to capital. However, the NSM committee saw great value in the Itta’s work and approved funds for relocating the business; believing it would stimulate broad based economic activity across the region.

Robert and Pauline Bowers returned home to the village of Nuiqsut in 2016 and immediately saw a need for an additional store in the community. They both had experience managing stores, with both of their parents owning separate stores in Nuiqsut during their youth. The Bowers applied and were approved $25,000 to purchase and build a small structure to house their new store. They sell convenience items out of their home and are looking to complete the buildout of the new store structure in the summer of 2018. The Bowers have big plans for their store, the NSM committee is eager to support the Bowers progress and the community economic development of Nuiqsut.

Brian Gordon, with the help of Petrostar, applied for a NSM award to start Chief Gordon’s Pizzeria in Anaktuvuk Pass. As a community leader and Anaktuvuk Pass’ Fire Chief for a number of years, the NSM committee has confidence in Mr. Gordon’s character. Mr. Gordon’s previous pizzeria management experience and new business plan make the NSM committee confident in his ability to succeed as an entrepreneur. He was awarded the full $25,000 in December of 2017 and is scheduled to open his business in the summer 2018. Mr. Gordon will have the closest pizza place within 300 miles of Anaktuvuk Pass and one of the only operational restaurants in the community.