Welcome to the first Messenger of 2019. We are excited to kick off the new year and look forward to keeping you up to date on our Corporation’s happenings. Throughout the year, we will profile Board members, employees and subsidiaries, and discuss Shareholder benefits and new tools and features available to Shareholders. We will also share highlights from past events and keep you in the loop on what is coming up.

We want to hear from you!

That is why we are conducting the 2019 Shareholder Survey. Your participation is anonymous, and answers will be kept confidential. Your responses help our Corporation improve our communication with Shareholders, identify programs that Shareholders may not fully understand and gauge how you think we are doing.

You can participate in the survey online by clicking the link below. Completed surveys must be received by April 30, 2019.

Meet the Board: Chairman Bobby Evans

The Board of Directors are thankful for your continued support. Without you, we could not be one of the best village corporations in the state. We would like you all to get to know the Directors’ stories, starting with Chairman Evans.

The great thing about our Board of Directors is they are Shareholders who step up to take on the responsibility of representing us all and make the important decisions that will determine the future of Sitnasuak Native Corporation.

Sitnasuak Chairman of the Board Bobby Evans is, as he says, "really just a regular Shareholder like you." Bobby spent his career as a corrections officer and was never involved in politics. But just as he was leaving state service in 2009, he recognized that our Native corporation needed some help, so he ran for the Board. He’s been on the Board ever since. Under his leadership as Chairman, Sitnasuak has experienced remarkable growth, advancing to #23 on Alaska Business Monthly's list of Top 49 companies and paying record-high dividends two years in a row, among other notable accomplishments.

“I came from a loving home where you had to work for what you got.”
-Bobby Evans, Sitnasuak Chairman of the Board of Directors

He grew up in Nome with his siblings in a one-bedroom house smaller than most modern companies’ conference rooms. No sewer or running water. The family had a honey bucket in the corner of the house like everyone at that time. They lived right next door to Bobby’s grandparents. Bobby’s mother grew up in Shishmaref and only went through the eighth grade, then helped raise her siblings.

Bobby's parents met in Anchorage in 1966 and moved back to Nome in 1968 for work and school. Bobby's father found work as custodian at the elementary school, a job he performed faithfully until his retirement. That stable career allowed the Evans couple to send young Bobby to a small Christian school in Unalakleet. But the school required a tuition, so Bobby had to help pay for his schooling by cleaning classrooms on weekends and after school.

It was here that Bobby met kids from all over Alaska, students at the school from Barrow/Utqiagvik to Bristol Bay and everywhere in between. For three years, he stayed in the dormitory and got to know and understand living in Rural Alaska and the challenges it has for everyone. During his senior year, he lived with the Erickson family in Unalakleet. These friendships and relationships have grown into lifelong friends and family.

Bobby with his grandfather Teddy Sockpick

“I came from a loving home where you had to work for what you got,” he says. “I tried college but it wasn't for me. But it was for two of my siblings. One now is a CFO at the hospital, another is a CEO of a company in Anchorage. My three other siblings have long work histories and longevity with their respected employers. I spent 21 years in state service and retired as a sergeant in corrections. I now own and operate two small businesses in Nome. My children are all either graduating high school and planning to go to college or already are in college. One is pursuing a master’s.”

Bobby’s family story is one of advancement and hard work, generation after generation. His family has gone from a custodian and his wife raising their children in a one-room home with a honey bucket to those children and their children becoming CEO, Chairman of the Board, graduate student, and more.

“Our parents taught us early that, with hard work and dedication, you can accomplish great things,” he tells us.

And this is the perspective Bobby Evans brings to Sitnasuak as our Chairman of the Board, the perspective of a Shareholder who comes from humble beginnings and knows that it takes hard work and good decisions to be successful. Looking back to 1971, when Sitnasuak started with an ANCSA allotment, to now, being #23 on the ABM Top 49ers list, it is clear Sitnasuak has made good decisions that resulted in growth and a strong foundation for the future.

Bobby’s vision is to help our management team and Board make good decisions that will ensure our village corporation is not only getting stronger generation after generation, but also providing more and better benefits to us all – generation after generation. And by doing so, Sitnasuak is helping families like his live better.

Bobby has lived in Nome for over 40 years and continues to raise his children here with his loving wife. He loves Nome and its community and the people of the Bering Straits Region.

“I feel fortunate to be a Sitnasuak Shareholder and to have the chance to serve my people.”
- Bobby Evans, Sitnasuak Chairman of the Board of Directors

While we look forward to bringing you content this year, we also are curious about what you want to know about SNC. If you have an idea for a story or have feedback on a previous Messenger, please send it to communications@snc.org.

Quyaana!