Message to Shareholders
Dear Shareholders,
It has been a busy summer here at Doyon, just as I’m sure it was busy for many of you. Thankfully, we were blessed with a better salmon fishing season than the past several years.
We’ve had a lot going on with our businesses, but I have also been able to participate in events that have given me the opportunity to see many of you. It was good to connect with many of our Elders and youth in June at the Denakkanaaga conference held in Hughes. The community did a great job of hosting us. It was worthwhile to listen to the concerns of the Elders and youth, particularly with the current state of Alaska’s budget. In addition, the 16th annual Morris Thompson Memorial Golf Classic was held in June. Our staff put on a great tournament and we raised a lot of money for Doyon Foundation’s Morris Thompson Competitive Scholarship Fund.
Doyon’s business environment remains similar to what we reported in June. The oil field environment in Alaska is still weak, but we are in a better place than many other oil field companies in the state. We recognize that the employment opportunities for our employees, and in particular our shareholder employees, have not been at the level of the past few years and that impacts many families throughout our region. Thankfully, because of our strong reputation and the good work of our employees, we have been able to retain a significant amount of work.
In June, we announced our partnership with Cook Inlet Regional, Inc. (CIRI) in our exploration efforts in the Nenana basin. We’re thrilled to have CIRI as a partner.
Our oil field services companies, Doyon Drilling, Doyon Remote Facilities & Services and Doyon Universal Services, were busy maintaining the drill site and camp to drill a third well, Toghotthele #1, to explore for oil and gas in the Nenana Basin. Many of our shareholders working on the project said they appreciated being able to work in the Interior and to be around trees, unlike working on the North Slope.
Drilling in Nenana concluded a few weeks ago. At this time, we are not free to share more detailed information about the results of the well. Since CIRI became our partner, we are not able to share information as freely as when we were the 100 percent owner of the project. This practice is common in oil and gas exploration, especially when there are multiple investors.
One important item I want to encourage you to participate in is this year’s local, state and national election process. Doyon, in collaboration with Tanana Chiefs Conference, Fairbanks Native Association, Interior Regional Housing Association and other community volunteers, is once again very involved with Get Out the Native Vote (GOTNV) efforts. If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to register to vote and to participate in your state’s primary election and the general election on November 8. The Interior GOTNV group recently participated in Denakkanaaga and World Eskimo-Indian Olympics, and launched their summer slam series with a picnic and free-throw contest. GOTNV will sponsor a summer baseball tournament this month and a concert in September, participate in the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in October, and host a candidate forum in November. Please check out the GOTNV article in this newsletter for further details.
Thank you for your continued support of Doyon, our family of companies and employees. I wish you much success in your subsistence efforts the remainder of the summer and fast-approaching fall season.
Sincerely,
Aaron M. Schutt
President and CEO