[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 14868-14869]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO BARNEY UHART

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 20, 2012

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
great American and a great Alaskan. Barney Uhart, a devoted father and 
President Emeritus of Chugach Alaska Corporation, passed away on 
Saturday, September 8th after a lengthy battle with cancer.
  Barney's career with Chugach Alaska Corporation began in 1993, and in 
2000, he became President and CEO. During his tenure, the company grew 
phenomenally, rising in revenue from $19 million in 1993 to over $1 
billion in 2009. He was not only a charismatic leader and hard worker, 
but a close friend to many who worked with him over the years. His hard 
work and total commitment helped provide real, tangible, and ongoing 
benefits to the Native Shareholders of Chugach as he strove tirelessly 
to help fulfill the promises of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 
Act. His contributions to making the SBA 8(a) program a resounding 
success, not only for Chugach, but for all Alaska Natives, Native 
Hawaiians, and Native American Tribes, are truly outstanding, and we 
are all grateful to him for his achievements.
  On July 6, 2012, Barney announced his retirement from Chugach to 
focus on his health and spend time with his family. The Board of 
Directors of Chugach Alaska Corporation appointed Barney ``President 
Emeritus'' in honor of his 19 years of service, dedication, and 
leadership.
  Barney's career with Chugach began when he joined Chugach Development 
Corporation (CDC) as Operations Manager. With a background in 
Engineering and Business Administration, his project experience in 
managing Base Operation Services (BOS) contracts in extremely remote 
locations began 33 years ago when he went to work on his first BOS 
contract in 1979 on Wake Island.
  Barney told of his Wake Island initiation by saying, ``I was living 
in Hawaii and one day I was helping a friend deliver office furniture 
to a place called Kentron International. I had no idea what they did, 
but it sounded like an exotic and exciting place to work where you 
would get to travel. The next day I put together a resume and slid it 
under the door. Then I had an interview, and after about 45 minutes, I 
thought the interview was over and I got up to leave when the manager 
said, `When can you leave?' The following Tuesday I was on a plane to 
Wake Island in the mid- Pacific and I still didn't know what Kentron 
International did.'' Clearly, Barney never shied away from a new 
opportunity.
  Born in Fresno, California in 1952, Barney moved to Hawaii in 1970 
after high school and his father's passing. During this time, the 
Vietnam War was still raging. Barney's brother had already done two 
tours in Vietnam, and he expected to be drafted at any time. 
Regardless, he enrolled in the University of Hawaii and played 
baseball. Barney then worked general construction until he decided it 
wasn't the area he wanted to pursue, and instead seized opportunity by 
the hand when he went to Wake on his first federal contract job.
  In 1985 Barney spent a winter in Greenland on the Defense Early 
Warning (DEW) Line and was then offered a job as Superintendent of 
Administration for the DEW line, but declined because he didn't want to 
spend another year in the Arctic. As a result, he left to work for his 
first SBA 8(a) company in Hampton, Virginia where he helped grow the 
company in revenue from $200,000 to $6 million a year.
  In early 1988, Barney was offered a job with an SBA 8(a) company in 
Louisville, Kentucky, and was promoted to Vice-President of Operations. 
He moved into the Company's new offices in Panama City, Florida. Later, 
he received a call from Mike Brown (Chugach's President and CEO from 
1992 to 1999) who was working at that time for PMC, a subsidiary of 
Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.
  Mr. Brown received Barney's name from someone who worked with him at 
Wake Island

[[Page 14869]]

years before. Based on that recommendation, Mike wanted Barney to 
become the BOS contract Project Manager at Amchitka Island, on the 
Aleutian Chain. Not wanting to move to Amchitka Island, Barney declined 
the offer and went back to Florida. Five months later, Mr. Brown called 
him again and offered him a job as Manager of Special Projects in 
Anchorage.
  Years later, Barney recalled with a laugh, ``This time the position 
was in Anchorage, so I accepted, and one of the first jobs as Manager 
of Special Projects in Anchorage was to go out to Amchitka Island and 
evaluate the contract. So he kinda suckered me in with that one.''
  While at PMC, the team he worked with received a Coast Guard 
contract, the Wake Island contract, and the contract to run Midway 
Island. By then he was Vice-President of Operations for PMC, when Mr. 
Brown, who had gone to work for Chugach, along with Dusty Kaser 
(Chugach's President and CEO from mid to late 1999), recruited him 
again. His early work with Chugach Development Corporation (CDC) took 
him to Valdez for six months, and then to King Salmon for a year, and 
then to Adak, Alaska.
  Barney recently recalled, ``During that time, the Chugach management 
team started marketing the Wake Island contract and we took it away 
from PMC in 1996. So you can see that Wake has been in my blood for a 
while, then we received a contract for the Army Housing and Maintenance 
at Fort Richardson/Fort Wainwright in 1995.''
  By 1996, Barney became the Ops Manager for CDC and would often travel 
to the contract locations and oversee the start-ups. When he left to 
oversee the start-up of Wake for CAC, he returned full circle to the 
site from where he started 16 years earlier.
  Barney later explained, ``By then I had become the BOS Ops Manager 
for CAC working for Dusty Kaser and the team started getting more and 
more contracts. Then I was promoted to Vice-President of Ops for CAC, 
and when I came back from starting up MacDill in late 1999, I was 
offered the job as president of CAC.'' In May 2000, the Board of 
Directors of Chugach promoted Barney to the position of President/CEO 
and he served as both until 2009 when the position was split to select 
a qualified Chugach shareholder to lead as CEO.
  Mr. Speaker, Chugach has become a shining example of an Alaskan 
Native Corporation that has succeeded and thrived, and one that has 
provided tremendous benefits to its Native Shareholders and employees. 
Barney deserves his full share of credit for this success.
  There can be no clearer expression of the excellence that Barney, and 
Chugach, have achieved over the years, than the words of Barney 
himself. And so Mr. Speaker, I close with an additional quote from 
Barney Uhart, a leader, a friend, and a champion of doing the right 
thing, and of doing things right. He will be deeply missed and his 
memory will stay with us forever.
  ``How have we gotten to where we are today? The reason is simple--the 
people. All the people associated with Chugach are responsible for this 
success. From the wisdom and direction of the Board of Directors; the 
patience of the shareholders; the vision and perseverance of 
management; and the dedication and drive of all the employees, this is 
what has allowed us to succeed.''
  Mr. Speaker, May God bless and hold Barney Uhart and may He bless his 
family.

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