The Alaska Club

In 1986, as Alaska faced a steep decline in oil prices, real estate professional Andrew Eker and former bank president Tom Behan, along with a group of investors, made a contrarian bet. They purchased the former Alaska Teamsters' recreation center in Anchorage, establishing the first Alaska Club. The timing was challenging, with oil prices plunging just days after the sale, but the founders persevered through the difficult early years. By the mid-1990s, the company began a rapid expansion, primarily through acquiring other fitness centers. This growth strategy transformed The Alaska Club from a single location into the state's largest fitness provider. In 2007, after two decades of local ownership, the founders and their investors sold the company to Lincolnshire Management, a New York-based private equity firm. This marked a new chapter for the club, with co-founder Andrew Eker retiring but remaining on the board, and Robert Brewster stepping up from vice president to president. The ownership changed hands again in 2014 when San Francisco-based private equity firm Partnership Capital Growth (PCG) acquired the company, continuing its operation under private equity backing. Today, under the leadership of CEO Robert Brewster, The Alaska Club operates multiple locations across the state, a testament to its founders' initial vision and its ability to navigate significant economic shifts and ownership changes.