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This is a rags to riches, humble beginnings story of how the American Dream was achieved for Justin Burgess and Brian Evans of 3SG Inc. What began with two guys and a great idea grew into a business that was viable enough to be purchased by a successful Alaska Native village corporation.
Six years ago, their business was being run from a rented 10-foot by 10-foot file closet without bathroom facilities. Now, Afognak Native Corp. owns it.
Afognak Native Corp., Alutiiq Center in Anchorage, located on Arctic between 36th and Tudor, is a new five-story building with Class A office space and state-of-the-art telecommunications technology. It opened in July 2006. The building houses a beautiful 1,200-square-foot museum, depicting the 9,000-year history of the Alutiiq people in the Kodiak Archipelago and Afognak Island.
Burgess, president, and Evans, director of marketing and sales, believed they had a sustainable and marketable business plan: provide computer network security and information technology (IT) management to small and mid-sized businesses with "three simple goals"--3SG-in mind: Value, Relationship and Inheritability.
3SG is committed to bringing their clients value for their investment, said Evans. Who can afford to be without firewalls and technical support these days with trojans in many an e-mail? 3SG provides computer monitoring 24/7. The company does not manufacture excess billing charges, add extravagant margin, or push solutions that an organization does not need or cannot easily inherit, said Evans.
3SG is dedicated to building a superior relationship with their clients, he added. This is necessary for going beyond their clients' expectations and reaching its goals. It opens communication and allows 3SG and its clients to work together, achieving the desired results.
And what is meant by inheritability? 3SG understands there may come a time when a client may wish to end a relationship with 3SG. Building lasting relationships with their clients is, of course, of utmost importance, but they do not attempt to box clients in so they have no other choice but to maintain a relationship with 3SG. The services 3SG provide last for the long-term.
Specifically, 3SG provides managed services that includes spam filtering; hardware and software sales; IT support; and professional services. That's a tall order to fill with a growing company. How does a corporation with six employees manage all of that, continue to grow its business and keep up with all of the administration duties as well?
Since 2002, the Alaska-based Afognak Native Corp. has been one of 3SG's now more than 100 clients throughout Alaska and the Lower 48. With a happy client-customer relationship already established, it soon became clear the two companies with compatible philosophies could fuse and that it would be beneficial to both. Afognak already provides IT management services to its federal customers. Through the purchase of 3SG for an undisclosed amount in June 2007, Afognak could rapidly enter into the commercial market. Had the acquisition not occurred, it would have cost Afognak twice as much as the cost of the acquisition to expand into that arena.
BUYING POWER
The purchase allows 3SG to concentrate on expanding and growing its customer base while having administration concerns and challenges handled by Afognak's existing management.
"It will bring employment opportunities to Afognak shareholders," said Dean Clowers, senior VP of operations for Afognak Native Corp. "The goal is to keep 3SG focused on business in Alaska. There are numerous opportunities for us in Kodiak, Fairbanks and other in-state markets." Afognak has 700 shareholders.
Some of the many companies Afognak Native Corp. owns are: Alutiiq LLC; Alutiiq International Solutions; Alutiiq-Mele; Alutiiq Professional Services; Alutiiq Management Services; Alutiiq Security & Technology; Alutiiq Manufacturing Contractors; Alutiiq Global Solutions and, of course, 3SG Inc.
Afognak and its subsidiaries, the Afognak family of companies, employ approximately 4,400 people in 48 states and four countries with operations in security and law enforcement; operations and maintenance services; logistics support services; IT and technical support services; engineering and information solutions; and construction and youth training services, "all working together seamlessly because we share the same goals," said Clowers.
RANK AND FILE
Currently, there are 91 Alaska Natives/ American Indians employed by Afognak and their family of companies.
As of today, the total number of employees for all Afognak companies nationwide is 4,542--34 percent of which are women (1,587). Within Alaska, Afognak employs 168 people, 45 percent of which are women (77), stated Sarah Lukin, director of external relations, Afognak Native Corp. and Alutiiiq LLC.
How is Afognak supporting educating Natives for technical fields such as 3SG?
Afognak Native Corp. offers two scholarship programs to support its shareholders' post-secondary education goals. Afognak's scholarship programs fund everything from doctorate degrees to those interested in taking a class to brush up on their job skills.
For many years, Afognak has offered internship opportunities to shareholders considering a career in the IT field. Karl McLaughlin was one of Afognak's first interns. He began his career with Afognak more than 14 years ago and later became a network technician. He climbed the ranks of the company as he finished his formal education, paid for through scholarships. McLaughlin graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Alaska and later earned additional IT-related certifications. Today, McLaughlin is the senior vice president of information technology at Afognak and oversees its IT Department. McLaughlin was also the one at Afognak to establish the customer relationship with 3SG in 2002, utilizing their network security services.
Another shareholder, Fred Berestoff, earned a college degree and then began working at Afognak, providing IT support in its Albuquerque, N.M., project office. After gaining valuable work experience, he transferred to Afognak's headquarters office on Kodiak Island where he remains, working as the systems administrator, managing all IT services and working closely with their Anchorage office.
"Afognak has contributed $1 million into various Native social and cultural programs in 2006 alone. We are confident that 3SG will bring added value to the company and increase the benefits we are able to provide to our shareholders," said Lukin.
3SG is "cutting edge." And that means, according to Clowers, "they keep up with and stay ahead of technology and constantly focus on research. Afognak provides functions for 3SG, such as accounting and human resources, freeing them up to do their research and build their customer base.
"The consolidated revenues for Afognak in 2006 was $537.9 million and approximately 10 percent of that is in the IT arena," stated Clowers. "We have a sold background in IT and although we actively pursue business worldwide, as an Alaska Native Corp., we are always looking for opportunities to expand within Alaska. 3SG is a perfect fit and we're excited to have them join our team."
Evans said, "In any business plan, you need to identify an exit strategy. Ours was to be acquired by a larger company. We had several offers on the table, but Afognak offered us the ability to stay in Alaska, grow our business in Alaska, and work with other Alaskans. We couldn't have planned it better."
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