The idea has been kicked around for years, but Maver Carey, chief executive of the Kuskokwim Corp., which represents 10 villages along the Kuskokwim River, decided to make it happen.

"We're all sitting in our offices, fighting the same battles," Carey said Thursday. Many of the small village corporations are spinning their wheels and the profitable ones can help them out, she said.

"We are going to be building our relationships with each other," she said.

The new association will be called the Alaska Native Village CEO Association, Carey said.

The state's Native village corporations range from some of the biggest businesses in the state to tiny companies that make little or no money for their shareholders. One goal of the new group is for the bigger companies to help mentor the smaller ones.

Part of the reason for the mixed record is that when Congress created Alaska Native corporations in 1971 and seeded each with land and cash, many lacked another ingredient needed to succeed: people experienced in running a business.

Depending on who you ask, there are anywhere between 100 and 200 village corporations in Alaska, from the village of Saxman in Southeast to Barrow on the North Slope.

Facing financial and organizational hardships, many village corporations merged with each other -- or the larger regional Native corporations -- after Congress amended the act in 1976 to allow them to do so.

A few village corporations have become high-profile companies by embracing the business world through real estate, government contracting or other investments.

In 2006, eight village corporations generated at least $45 million in revenue, according to the Alaska Business Monthly magazine's new list of the largest Alaska-based, Alaskan-owned companies. Three of them -- Chenega Corp., Afognak Native Corp. and Barrow's Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp. -- each generated more than $250 million in revenue last year, according to the magazine.

Carey said the new association will help link up the successful companies with the struggling ones.

"Here's all these little village corporations, barely surviving ... (let's) help them become profitable and provide dividends back to their shareholders," she said.

Money isn't the only common ground for the village corporations, Carey and other village corporation executives said. Many of them are also troubled by land conflicts, such as trespassing on their privately owned land by hunters and others.

ORGANIZATION CHALLENGES

With more than 100 village corporations, ensuring adequate representation for everyone will be a challenge.

Holding meetings will also be difficult. "The smaller ones might not be able to afford to travel," said Wendy Svarny-Hawthorne, chief executive officer of the Ounalashka Corp., the village corporation for Unalaska.

"I foresee teleconferencing, a lot," she said. Communicating via phone might be awkward, but it's better than not meeting at all, she said.

The new association is modeled on the ANCSA Regional Corporation Presidents and CEOs, which includes executives from the 13 regional Native corporations who meet regularly around the state.

That group, headed by Sheri Buretta, chairwoman of Anchorage-based Chugach Alaska Corp., has worked on land, government and resource development issues over the last few years.

"Politically, we've been able to combine our resources to raise awareness ... and articulate common interests," Buretta said.

She said the village corporations will get a lot of good ideas from each other when they join up. "It's a wonderful opportunity to get them working collectively ... and comparing notes."

Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.

THE ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGE CEO ASSOCIATION will hold an organizational meeting 9 a.m,-5 p.m. Nov. 30 at the Coast International Inn in Anchorage.