Dear fellow shareholders,

What a wild start to the winter season it has been here in southcentral Alaska! With the snow arriving in force and Anchorage setting a new record by logging 100 inches of snow by January, we have seen many of our construction projects brought to an early halt. The Palmer Airport and Department of Transportation Guardrail projects are now scheduled to be completed in early 2024, and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. deferred two Mainline Dig projects near the Glennallen Response Base to February due to high water levels. The silver lining is that we now have time to prepare and secure top talent before other construction projects around the state pick up.

As usual, the month of September and beginning of October were extremely busy for our operations team. This year’s Government Fiscal Year-End was another good year of wins, which lays a strong foundation of hard backlog for 2024. We’re projecting an increase in hard backlog for our environmental and construction operations, as well as growth in the service industry for security and facilities.

In January, we received the positive news that President Biden signed into law a short-term funding extension bill that will keep the federal government running into early March. There is still risk of a government shutdown in March though, and we have seen in the past the lasting effects on our operations from things like stop work orders, delays in contract awards, and negative impacts on our ability to plan future work. The true impact on all contractors goes well beyond the time the government is shutdown as we can assume there to be a multiplier of 5 or 6. For example, if the government is shut down for a month, the impact on our operations can be estimated at 6 months. We have learned a lot from our past experiences with shutdowns and are taking the initiative to communicate the next steps to our employees and subcontractors so they can plan accordingly.

We are excited to announce that Ahtna Netiye’ has made Engineering News Record (ENR) magazine’s list of “2023 Top 200 Environmental Firms” in the nation. The demand for environmental consulting services is on the rise globally, and we are proud to be recognized as a leader in the field. Thank you to our staff for helping us to achieve this honor three years running and showing their commitment to the Ahtna value of respect for the environment.

Over an 8-year period, Ahtna has earned $342 million in revenue and around $92 million in gross profit in environmental work. Going forward, we will be targeting opportunities that will continue to grow our environmental work in new geographic areas throughout the United States. Our recent Mentor Protégé Agreement with Arcadis, another leader in the field, is just one example of our efforts to expand in this area where we have historically seen higher margins.

Late last summer, I attended the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Dock Project ribbon-cutting event in Ketchikan with AN Chairman Jason Hart and ADH President Tim Finnigan. Ahtna Infrastructure & Technologies was recognized a number of times during the ceremony for their exemplary work on the project. The new dock facility will be used to support the NOAA Ship Fairweather, a hydrographic survey vessel, and other visiting NOAA and Coast Guard vessels.

Leaders from Ahtna and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. renewed the longstanding Friendship Agreement between the two organizations. The relationship dates back to July 1974, when Ahtna and Alyeska entered into an Omnibus Agreement that gives each reciprocal benefits and creates special opportunities. In addition to the signing, Ahtna board members and the leadership teams discussed the agreement, current matters, and upcoming projects.

Last fall I was fortunate to attend a Chief Executive Leadership Conference in Nashville that brought together 400+ CEOs from across the country. The event highlighted a variety of topics, from succeeding in a high inflation environment to utilizing revolutionary technological advances such as artificial intelligence. Something I learned that absolutely resonated with me was the importance of key performance indicators, such as CEO facetime with leadership, employees, customers, and influencers. I’m looking forward to spending more quality time with key decision-makers in our company and seeing what growth opportunities may result.

Thank you,

Roy Tansy Jr., Chief Executive Officer
Ahtna Netiye’, LLC