CEO of Alaska Aerospace Corp. floats idea of privatization in discussing future

The president and CEO of Alaska Aerospace Corp. said Wednesday that the state-owned corporation would like to become a private company.

Craig Campbell told the Senate Finance Committee he does not believe shutting down the corporation and the Kodiak Launch Complex that it owns and operates would be a good decision, given the investment that's been made and the future opportunities. He also said if the state put the facility up for sale, as some have suggested, it would probably be disappointed in the response.

The privatization concept has been discussed with Gov. Bill Walker's chief of staff over the last week or so, Campbell said. Privatization would allow Alaska Aerospace "to create value that sometime in the future would return the value the state expected in the first place," he said.

There has been no private sector interest in buying the corporation and the launch complex, but there's more to discuss regarding the idea of privatization, Campbell said.

Alaska Aerospace Chairman Pat Gamble said it's important for the corporation to get through the next few years.

"We either make it or we don't," he said. But he said the corporation sees real potential.

The state created Alaska Aerospace in 1991 to develop an aerospace sector for Alaska's economy.