April 1, 2020
Dear UIC Shareholders,
As many of you know, the state of Alaska, along with the rest of the country, is facing a public health crisis in its fight against the coronavirus, COVID-19. With all of the uncertainty and concerns created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UIC Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to postpone our annual shareholder meeting, originally scheduled for June 6th in Utqiagvik. Postponing the meeting was not a decision taken lightly, but ultimately, to us there is nothing more important than the life, health and safety of our shareholders, employees, their families, and our community. They must always come first. These considerations are especially important due to the remote nature of our community, the higher “at risk” status of our respected Elders, and the numerous ongoing local, state and federal governmental restrictions surrounding COVID-19. By continuing to carefully monitor and assess the risk and potential impact of COVID-19 on our shareholders, employees and our community, we hope to be able to announce very soon a rescheduled date for our annual meeting.
In preparation for the rescheduled meeting, we will still be sending out later this month our Annual Report and the 2019 Audited Financial Statements. In the meantime, we want to assure you that the company had a great year in 2019, and we look forward to reporting on all of our progress at the rescheduled meeting. We also hope to be able to hold additional information meetings should the current COVID-19 situation change and allow them to be scheduled. In the meantime, UIC will continue to update all of our shareholders on any additional impacts to the corporation and any planned events through our regular communication channels, including local newspapers, local radio and TV broadcasts, postings, postal mailings, and the UIC Corporate website (http://www.uicalaska.com).
UIC will also continue to closely follow guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other local and national health organizations regarding our ongoing operations. In an effort to slow the progress of the virus and spread out the timeline over which sick patients arrive at healthcare facilities, government officials across the globe have suggested that people should engage in social distancing. In following those recommendations, and in addition to postponing and rescheduling our meetings, UIC has closed its offices to the public, including walk-in visitors. At this point in time, we are not ceasing other operations at our offices, but to help promote social distancing, UIC is encouraging employees to telework where possible, avoid face-to-face meetings and conversations, or where required, maintain a distance of 6 feet apart.
If shareholders need to update their shareholder record information or have a question regarding any other shareholder services, please contact the UIC Stock Department at stock@uicalaska.com or leave a message at (907) 852-4460.
Once again, I want to sincerely thank each of you, our shareholders, for your support and for helping each other and the corporation during these difficult times. This is certainly a challenging time for us all, but I believe that with knowledge, determination, and perseverance, we can all get through this together. Thank you again for being an important part of this effort.
Qaunaklaaglutin,
Delbert J. Rexford
President/CEO