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Dear Fellow Shareholders,
I am asking you to please direct your votes to me on the Goldbelt Proxy.
I am Raven/Frog and son of "the late" James Goenett Jr. My mother is Andrea Cesar and was born in 1964 in Juneau, Alaska. I am a graduate of Juneau-Douglas High School and have spent over twenty years working in the tourism industry and currently owner/operator of Alaska’s Finest Tours & Cruises, Alaska Train Depot, Alaska Lifeline Services and Alaska Systems Professionals. I have always been a visionary with drive, commitment, dedication and possess an entrepreneurial spirit. My twenty years of travel and tourism background, one of Goldbelt’s main strong holds will be beneficial and bring vision and added dimension to the corporation and help expand an opportunity for growth.
My interests in my Native people has always been close to my heart and I feel the time has come to be more actively involved which is why I am seeking your support for my board election to Goldbelt. As a board member, I will work determinedly on behalf of the Native economic interests not only for Goldbelt shareholders but all ANCSA corporations.
I carry the vision in my heart of our past elders who believed that ANCSA should provide more than just a dividend. This is why I am a staunch supporter of job creation and economic development through tourism. While working with America West Airlines I visited Hawaii often and was pleased that no matter where I went a Hawaiian was seen in all facets of tourism. Their culture was show cased everywhere and their pride was unmatched. Unlike the Hawaiians we were blessed with ANCSA and we need to take advantage of this opportunity. Alaska will always be a top world-wide tourist destination and we need to capitalize on this fact. We as ANCSA corporations need to promote sustainable economic development through a collective process and develop more jobs and economic opportunities for Alaska Natives while diversifying in other fields. As a board member I will push Goldbelt to work jointly with our regional corporation and village corporations on projects to increase tourism opportunities throughout our region. Certainly dividends are important but jobs and economic opportunity should be first and foremost in our minds as the probability of providing for your family is likely if you can obtain meaningful employment.
I will work to respond to concerns facing not only our urban areas but our villages as well. I will strive to encourage all of our corporations to meet together collectively to enhance, develop, and address all of our concerns/interests including the current economic trends that impact us all. We need to talk, listen, problem solve, plan and support. We need each other to capitalize on the strength, wisdom and experience of our elders and to recruit our young developing leaders to work together, strengthen our heritage, our survival, and our success.
We should make every effort to locate our talented shareholders from all ANCSA corporations for increased shareholder involvement in the corporations as well as non-profits to strengthen that sense of commitment, pride and unity. We need each other to build on our successes and strengthen the future with our upcoming talented leaders.
To other young developing leaders who have talent, knowledge and expertise, this is a special calling for you to come forward and become involved in our corporations. We need your help to provide a continuing vision and new direction and help build a future for generations to come. If we do not come together, the hard work and efforts of those members before us will be lost. We will lose their history, their commitment, their vision, and their experiences that have brought us to where we are today. We need to capitalize on their successes, their history and their determination.
There are endless opportunities right here in Alaska. We as developing leaders need to catch the vision and turn this opportunity into success for our corporations. We need to embark on a collectively unified venture that will bring about necessary change and help our Native communities and local economies thrive.
Again, please assist me in my efforts by directing your vote to me on the Goldbelt Proxy. If elected I look foward to working with the Goldbelt Board and management while maintaining my values, experience and visions.
If you have questions please feel free to contact me via phone or email.
Thank you,
Email: Ben@GoenettforGoldbelt.com
