Greetings shareholders,
As we welcome the new year, we remain laser-focused on shareholders, safety and profits. We were blessed in 2021 to continue our multi-year trend of financial success, which in turn created shareholder value in the form of wages, benefits and dividend distributions. I look forward to sharing specifics on One Team, One Ahtna’s achievements in the Annual Report to Shareholders which will come out in April.
Ahtna Global LLC (AGL) was awarded a 5-year Multiple Award Construction Contract (MACC) on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) for $150M. This is great news and will provide new job opportunities in the Anchorage area for our shareholders. The scope of work includes facility upgrades, utility work, airfield pavement, roads, roofs and other assorted repair and alteration projects. Various trades will be required, such as carpentry, hazardous materials abatement/removal, demolition, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, concrete masonry, welding, and paving and design. Shareholders can check the Ahtna website for the latest job openings and reach out to our Shareholder Enrichment staff for more information on opportunities related to this work and other projects.
We recently visited our $3M Winnapaug Pond Dredging project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New England District in Westerly, Rhode Island. The project consisted of two dredge barges pumping sand out of the pond to the beach. The pond is used by the locals to raise clams and is an important bird nesting area. This project was the first award to our Ahtna – J.F. Brennan JV, and we were able to meet with J.F. Brennan’s leadership while there.
Ahtna employees give back to their communities throughout the year by volunteering their time and making donations to local charities. These efforts ramp up during the holiday season, and I am proud to be able to share two recent stories of caring with you.
Foster children in the Copper River area had a little merrier Christmas this year because of a combined effort of giving. For the fourth year in a row, Ahtna worked with the Copper River Native Association (CRNA) to sponsor a Children’s Angel Tree for 35 foster children. Arrangements were made with Sparks General Store – a small local business in Glennallen with a variety of goods and gifts – to accept donations from Ahtna employees. Foster parents were able to bring the children to Sparks to pick out their own Christmas present. The foster parents got to see the children’s joy, CRNA was able to bring some unexpected happiness to local children, Sparks had extra business during a time that has been tough on small businesses, and our Ahtna employees had a beautiful opportunity to share with others during the holiday season.
Thousands of miles away, Ahtna Environmental, Inc. employees in Hawaii shared some true Aloha with a family facing difficult circumstances. Ahtna performs operations and maintenance work at the Inouye Regional Center (IRC) in Honolulu, Hawaii for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). IRC Project Manager John Halbach’s wife runs a small fleet of cars that she rents on the Turo car-share app. When they contacted a last-minute renter to coordinate a pick-up time, they had no idea the sequence of events that would be set into motion. As they were speaking the renter Sean shared, “Not that this really matters, but I am dying of cancer and have less than 3 months to live. This vacation is a ‘last hoorah’ so my family can have some really great memories before I die.” John was completely taken aback and said, “I am so sorry to hear that,” and asked what they would be doing during their visit. Sean stated that they had a group of 14 family members and with such a large group and the COVID restrictions, it was going to be nearly impossible for them to experience any of the events that Hawaii has to offer. During their discussion, John also learned that Sean was a police officer, volunteered countless hours in the community, and was a mentor for at-risk youth.
The following morning John met with his leadership team and told them the story and said that he and his wife wanted to do something nice for the family. It became apparent that “something nice” could turn into something outstanding. John’s team came to his office a short time later to tell him that they had made all the arrangements to have a true, traditional Hawaiian luau delivered right to the landscaped grass at the home Sean’s family was staying at. Sean’s wife Holly was brought to tears when John called her to coordinate the surprise. She couldn’t believe that a group of people that she had never met would go to such lengths to celebrate her husband and family.
On December 3rd, the entire IRC team arrived at the home where Sean’s family was staying to begin setting up. When the family came out, they were welcomed by traditional Hawaiian music and a spread of amazing food. Honolulu PD showed up later in the evening with lights and sirens going on 22 cars for a “Code 3 Drive by Salute.” Officers exited their vehicles and proceeded to present Sean and his family with leis and gifts. After the officers departed, everyone went back to the table to enjoy more music, hula dancers, and the grand finale…Samoan fire knife dancers. At the conclusion of the event, John gathered everyone together to express his sincerest gratitude to all who helped pull it together, including those who had so generously donated money to cover all the expenses.
I hope these stories warm your heart as much as they did mine. May we all find gratitude, hope, and ways to give back this year.
Thank you,
Tom Maloney, Chief Executive Officer
Ahtna Netiye’