Birch bark texture.

Ahtna Kanas Summer 2019

Focusing on growth and shareholder hire

Greetings shareholders,

Tom Maloney
CEO’s Message

It was wonderful to see such a tremendous turnout at this year’s Annual Meeting. I enjoyed getting to visit with many of you. As I shared during my presentation, Ahtna continues to grow and part of our strategy over the past year has been to evaluate teaming and acquisition opportunities that allow us to expand and diversify our services, while pursuing contracts we wouldn’t qualify for on our own.

Ahtna Solutions was recently accepted into the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) “All Small” Mentor/Protégé program. Ahtna Solutions will be partnering with Merrick & Co. under a Joint Venture (JV) to pursue 8(a) opportunities. Merrick and Co. is an engineering, architecture, surveying, and geospatial firm based out of Denver, Colorado. We are currently working with them on LiDAR* projects in the lower 48. Shareholder Rodney Lengele is serving as a Remote Sensing Specialist and we are recruiting shareholders for technician positions which you can learn about on page 23. The new JV will propel Ahtna Solutions off the ground.

Ahtna Solutions has also entered into a strategic partnership with Kentech to pursue opportunities on the North Slope of Alaska. Kentech brings an extensive global experience and best practice driven commissioning solutions. This coupled with our construction, logistical knowledge, local relationships and experience will make for a good partnership.

Ahtna Government Services Corporation (AGSC) received approval from the SBA for an All Small Mentor/Protégé’ program with Great Lakes Environmental & Infrastructure (GLEI). The JV will be pursuing work with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), primarily for levee repair contracts in California and across the country.

Ahtna now has two JVs with CDM Smith, a global engineering and construction firm, and is looking at moving forward with a third. The partnership has proven to be profitable for Ahtna and the JV was recently awarded a $95 million 5-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Multiple Award Task Order Contracting (MATOC) from the Omaha Army Corps for rapid infrastructure response services and a $249 million Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) 5-year Design-Build, Multiple Award Construction Contract for the Navy.

Another part of our strategy in 2019 is our focus on growth with existing customers, higher margin work and the creation of new 8(a) companies. I’m pleased to announce that Eric McLaurin has joined the Ahtna Netiye’ team as the new Vice President of Business Development and will be helping with these priorities. Eric will be responsible for identifying strategic business opportunities and fostering strong industry relationships.

Eric McLaurin,Vice President of Business Development, Ahtna Netiye’

Eric has a military background and brings over 28 years of Federal business development experience across engineering, construction, base operations and support, facility management, environmental, disaster recovery and information technology programs. He has directed business units of varying sizes with staff located throughout the U.S. and at international sites. Eric holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Southern University of Baton Rouge and is a Professional Engineer and Registered Environmental Manager.

Eric has extensive experience in the government contracting space and is highly skilled in business development strategy aimed at driving sales and revenue growth. He is a valued addition to our Ahtna Netiye’ leadership team and will help to further strengthen our client and partner relationships. Eric is based out of San Antonio, Texas where many of our customers are located.

All this expansion has created a need for additional office space. We have finalized a lease for a new office location in the Renton area of Seattle that we hope to establish as a regional hub. We have also moved some of our subsidiary staff in Anchorage to the DOWL building next door to free up new offices. Our Anchorage-based staff has grown by 63 percent since 2015. This is a good problem to have as we are continuing to see growth in the Alaska office. We also closed on a warehouse property in Anchorage and have begun moving equipment to the site. The property features a 1.84-acre lot with an office building, warehouse and large metal shed for additional storage.

With all this growth the most important message I have is that we want to hire shareholders. Michelle talks in her letter about our Shareholder Enrichment department and their top priority will be making sure shareholders are job ready and prepared to take advantage of employment opportunities that become available.

Thank you,
Tom Maloney, Chief Executive Officer
Ahtna, Netiye’

*LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure distances to the Earth. The data gathered is used to generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics. Airplanes and helicopters are commonly used to collect the data and allow scientists and mapping professionals to examine both natural and man-made environments.