CIRI may experience significant change in the coming months as I prepare to move on and a new president and CEO takes the reins of the company. Change is often threatening and uncomfortable to people, but also holds the potential for positive outcomes.
As I wind down my 32 years with this company, I feel many emotions all at once, but I have a real sense of confidence about the state of the corporation as I depart. There is a significant amount of cash on hand for future investments, virtually no debt and a relatively small staff with a great deal of skill and experience. What this means is that the corporation is on a very solid foundation.

CIRI’s strong foundation gives the corporation the opportunity to continue fulfilling our mission: to promote the economic and social well-being and Alaska Native heritage of our shareholders, now and into the future, through prudent stewardship of the company’s resources, while furthering self-sufficiency among CIRI shareholders and their families.
If CIRI’s new president and CEO builds on the strong foundation in place and focuses on CIRI’s values, the shareholders will be well served. It’s worth repeating exactly what these values are: ethical conduct, integrity, respect for shareholders and descendants, corporate citizenship, cultural heritage and employee and board excellence.

What type of person will the new leader be? It is the Board’s decision to select whomever they feel is the most qualified, but I have high hopes they will choose a shareholder candidate with a long-term view. If the Board chooses a candidate simply as a placeholder with a short-term view, that individual will find it difficult to lead CIRI into the best direction for the future. And if the person in that key leadership position is only a short-term placeholder, he or she will not have the Board solidly behind him or her, and the vision will fade before it can become reality.

CIRI’s future success cannot be measured only in profits and dividends to you, but in the reputation that CIRI has built nationwide, as well as in the social service programs that have been built up through our non-profit entities such as Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Southcentral Foundation, The CIRI Foundation and Cook Inlet Housing Authority. In order to continue to build on those successes, the next CEO must have a long-term perspective with you as shareholders as his or her number one priority.
Reflecting back on my role as CEO, I certainly didn’t do everything right, but I was not afraid to make a decision to move ahead. I always remembered a quote I read early in my career written by President Theodore Roosevelt: “It’s far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat.” As your CEO over the past eight years, I have tried to use that standard, and it has led to great successes with small failures along the way.

Overall, your corporation has done well. Unfortunately, over the past couple of years some members of the Board of Directors have, for political expedience, focused on the failures and have even expressed contempt for the successes. They have created doubt that this management team could succeed on future investments, therefore creating a self-fulfilling prophecy for the doubters. If some members of the Board believe that only their way will work and if there is not a strong majority supporting a management team going forward, there will be a continued erosion in the future success of your corporation.

CIRI may experience significant change in the coming months as I prepare to move on and a new president and CEO takes the reins of the company. Change is often threatening and uncomfortable to people, but also holds the potential for positive outcomes.
As I wind down my 32 years with this company, I feel many emotions all at once, but I have a real sense of confidence about the state of the corporation as I depart. There is a significant amount of cash on hand for future investments, virtually no debt and a relatively small staff with a great deal of skill and experience. What this means is that the corporation is on a very solid foundation.

CIRI’s strong foundation gives the corporation the opportunity to continue fulfilling our mission: to promote the economic and social well-being and Alaska Native heritage of our shareholders, now and into the future, through prudent stewardship of the company’s resources, while furthering self-sufficiency among CIRI shareholders and their families.

If CIRI’s new president and CEO builds on the strong foundation in place and focuses on CIRI’s values, the shareholders will be well served. It’s worth repeating exactly what these values are: ethical conduct, integrity, respect for shareholders and descendants, corporate citizenship, cultural heritage and employee and board excellence.

What type of person will the new leader be? It is the Board’s decision to select whomever they feel is the most qualified, but I have high hopes they will choose a shareholder candidate with a long-term view. If the Board chooses a candidate simply as a placeholder with a short-term view, that individual will find it difficult to lead CIRI into the best direction for the future. And if the person in that key leadership position is only a short-term placeholder, he or she will not have the Board solidly behind him or her, and the vision will fade before it can become reality.

CIRI’s future success cannot be measured only in profits and dividends to you, but in the reputation that CIRI has built nationwide, as well as in the social service programs that have been built up through our non-profit entities such as Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Southcentral Foundation, The CIRI Foundation and Cook Inlet Housing Authority. In order to continue to build on those successes, the next CEO must have a long-term perspective with you as shareholders as his or her number one priority.

Reflecting back on my role as CEO, I certainly didn’t do everything right, but I was not afraid to make a decision to move ahead. I always remembered a quote I read early in my career written by President Theodore Roosevelt: “It’s far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat.” As your CEO over the past eight years, I have tried to use that standard, and it has led to great successes with small failures along the way.

Overall, your corporation has done well. Unfortunately, over the past couple of years some members of the Board of Directors have, for political expedience, focused on the failures and have even expressed contempt for the successes. They have created doubt that this management team could succeed on future investments, therefore creating a self-fulfilling prophecy for the doubters. If some members of the Board believe that only their way will work and if there is not a strong majority supporting a management team going forward, there will be a continued erosion in the future success of your corporation.