When Anchorage, Alaska-based Evergreen Films agreed to enter a strategic partnership with NANA Development Corp. in September 2010, the independent film production studio saw a strong financial supporter. As the business arm of NANA Regional Corp., one of Alaska’s 13 Regional Native Corporations, NANA represents more than 12,000 Iñupiat shareholders from northwest Alaska and employs more than 9,000 people around the world in industries including mining, oil and gas, engineering and construction, facilities management and logistics. NANA’s global reach, deep talent pool and Alaskan roots would help Evergreen develop a promising new industry in Anchorage.

But Evergreen also saw something else. Among the holdings of the Alaska investment company was WHPacific, a multidisciplinary firm with a quality reputation in engineering, land development, water resources and transportation. The firm also had expertise in surveying and laser scanning. For Evergreen, which had already invested more than $10 million in Alaska to develop a high-tech 3D production and post-production studio, this was an attractive prospect. “Some very innovative people at Evergreen saw an opportunity right off the bat,” says Clay Wygant, project manager of scanning services for WHPacific. “From then on, it’s just been a matter of matching what we know we can do with what they’re trying to achieve.”