CIRI shareholders are indeed fortunate because as shareholders you collectively have the power in your selection of directors to decide whether CIRI will continue its prudent course of balancing future investment needs with dividend distributions.
As I have stated recently, I take great pride in the extraordinary accomplishments that CIRI has realized over the last eight years. The unprecedented cash distributions to our shareholders have been undertaken in a thoughtful manner without harming the long-term interests of your company.

It’s instructive to discuss how the CIRI Board of Directors arrived at its decision to make the recent special dividend of $87.75 per share, for a total distribution of more than $55 million. In my view, it is not responsible simply to pick a number out of the air. Had a decision been made about a distribution prior to the Board planning session in March, that is what would have occurred.

Instead, the CIRI Board of Directors and management have taken important steps to plan for your company’s next five years, focusing on how we can put CIRI’s strengths to best use. We spent an intensive two days in early March at our Westin Kierland property in a strategic planning session, and I am pleased to report to you that all Board members and executive management staff attended the meeting. All who attended focused their full attention on the issues before us, and I am pleased with the effort each person put into the retreat.

In light of the decisions and direction taken by the Board at the planning session, your management reviewed CIRI’s cash position. We determined, given the Board’s decisions, that CIRI did indeed have excess capital of $55 million that was not needed for currently planned or reasonably anticipated investments, and we recommended to the Board of Directors that we distribute that amount.

We’ve stated before that if excess capital exists, it will be distributed. And in just over eight years, that’s exactly what we have done. More than $630 million has been paid out to shareholders, nearly $100,467 per 100 shares, since 1996. No other Native regional corporation has a record that even comes close to this, and, in fact, CIRI didn’t come close to it in its earlier history. During the 21 years prior to 1996, a total of $171 million was distributed or about $27,258 per 100 shares.
There is a compelling reason why state law does not allow for shareholders to determine dividend distributions.

Shareholders don’t have the details about company obligations, such as debt retirement and other endeavors. Nor do shareholders have specific information about potential future investments with high-quality partners. That is why companies strive to have experienced and trained managers and qualified directors. Your Board does recognize the needs our shareholders have for dividends. At the same time, it is imprudent to pay out dividends simply because a minority of the Board pushes for a large special dividend by picking numbers that they hope will make them politically popular, even though there is no rational basis except political expediency.

It is the job of management and the Board to create an environment that optimizes the possibility of finding business partners with integrity and stability. It’s also the job of management and the Board to prove to potential partners that we can offer the same qualities of integrity and stability.
CIRI shareholders face a choice every year when it comes to electing directors who can bring these qualities to the boardroom. And every shareholder has a decision to make: Should we focus on personal politics or should we focus on a stable, well-managed future?

I’d like to quote Koniag Region leader Hank Eaton, who fought long and hard for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act back in the late 1960s. Hank realized that while we can always look backward and second-guess ourselves, what’s really important is how we live today. He said: “Yesterday is a canceled check. Today is the cash in hand, and tomorrow is a promissory note.” At CIRI, even after our recent cash distributions to shareholders, we have cash in hand that is being held for future investments. As we look to the future and make determinations about what investments will give your company the best long-term results, we are fortunate that we have capital available to provide us with great opportunity for the future. And when you come right down to it, that is an enviable position in which to be.