Message to NANA Shareholders from Board Chair and President and CEO

Dear shareholder,

News regarding COVID-19 continues to evolve at a rapid pace. NANA is adapting hour-by-hour and remaining flexible as our response adjusts and changes. Our main priority is the health and safety of our people – shareholders, employees and customers. As a corporation, we are following the guidance of federal and state officials, as well as implementing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Our Anchorage office is currently closed to the public. NANA employees still have access to it, though many are working from home, ensuring operations remain supported. Kotzebue headquarters and our village offices are open with limited, in-person services to shareholders.

As previously announced, NANA’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders will occur but with significant changes to our typical agenda. No NANA representatives will travel to Kivalina for the meeting, but through cooperative planning, the election of directors will continue as planned and on schedule to preserve the integrity of our voting process.

These measures are in place to protect our people and communities to the best of our ability. More information can be found on this webpage, which we recently launched to update stakeholders on our COVID-19 response.

NANA’s approach to this pandemic must also seek to minimize impacts to our operations and protect NANA financially.

Natural resources project teams are helping to implement the direct guidance of our partners, and each of our subsidiaries is closely communicating with their customers, reviewing individual contract agreements, OSHA requirements and other rules that apply to their specific business and creating a path forward that works for their company, team and clients. Subsidiary leadership is working hard to protect our employees while weighing the effects of canceled contracts and significantly scaled-back services.

Because of the uncertainty that accompanies this global pandemic, NANA must budget conservatively and plan responsibly – not knowing what the future days, weeks and months have in store. That said, the majority of our shareholder services remain intact. NANA’s shareholder relations coordinators and shareholder records department are taking calls, emails and faxes, and we will continue to provide burial and medical assistance during times of hardship.

We are working in collaboration and regularly communicating with Maniilaq Association, the Northwest Arctic Borough and the school district – together as NWALT (Northwest Arctic Leadership Team) – to increase our collective understanding of response plans and coordinate where appropriate.

NANA’s leadership is meeting daily to evaluate current news and prepare for next steps. We are in this together, throughout our region and across the world, and we will focus on the principles that bind us as a people – the real people. That which makes us who we are cannot be taken from us, even as we practice our values with a little more distance between us.

We will communicate with you on our efforts in the days ahead and invite you to do the same. Our hope is that you and your loved ones stay safe, healthy and informed.

Taikuu,
Linda Lee, Board Chair
Wayne Westlake, President and CEO