An Alaska company has bought Aztech Electric Inc., of Spokane Valley, and plans to continue operating the electrical contracting concern under its longtime name here, says Todd Booth, Aztech Electric's new manager.

The acquisition, which was effective Jan. 1, will provide a strong foothold in the Pacific Northwest for MTNT Ltd., which is based in the south-central Alaskan village of McGrath, says Booth, an eight-year employee of MTNT.

Booth, who had worked for Aztech Electric from 1987 to 2004, helped arrange the acquisition. The terms of the transaction weren't disclosed.

"Aztech Electric will continue to operate as a stand-alone company and has retained all personnel," Booth says.

The company has 11 employees and operates out of a 17,000-square-foot-office building and two warehouses totaling 22,000 square feet of space located on 3 acres of land at 5402 E. Broadway.

Booth says Andrew Dahlman, co-founder and former owner and president of Aztech Electric, will remain with the company through a five-year transition period.

Aztech Electric's revenue has been on the rise recently, largely due to its strengths in utility, transportation, and federal government projects, Booth says. The 45-year-old company's established management experience in its five-state service area and its backlog of work made it an attractive target for MTNT to acquire, he says.

MTNT has various subsidiaries throughout the U.S. and overseas and is looking to supplement them with Aztech Electric's expertise and capabilities, Booth says. The parent company's subsidiaries primarily handle electrical jobs ranging from operating a power plant in Alaska to infrastructure work in Afghanistan.

MTNT is one of more than 200 for-profit Alaska Native corporations created by Congress in 1971 as part of a settlement of land-ownership disputes between the U.S., state governments, and native residents.

Through its subsidiaries, the corporation seeks to improve its shareholders' standard of living by providing employment, dividend income, land for homesteading, and educational scholarships, MTNT's website says.

The corporation's name stands for McGrath, Takotna, Nikolai, and Telida, the villages in which its native, primarily Athabascan residents are shareholders. All of the villages are in the Takotna River drainage west of Denali National Park, in the remote Alaskan interior.