The Hunter 2018 Volume, Issue January / February | Page 9

NANA
NANA Announces Sale of
Four Anchorage Hotels
N
ANA has announced the sale
of four Anchorage hotels that
it had an ownership interest in,
effective Nov. 7, 2017. This sale will allow
NANA to concentrate further on Alaska’s
resource development industries, including
the Red Dog Mine, and it's strong federal
and commercial group opportunities.
NANA (60 percent owner) and Sodexo
(40 percent owner) sold the jointly-
owned Courtyard, Midtown Springhill
Suites, and Residence Inn, as well as
the University Lake Springhill Suites,
which was owned 100 percent by NANA.
NANA Management Services, LLC
(NMS) has managed and operated the
properties since the hotels opened.
“The NANA board of directors set a goal
to increase profitability at NANA,” said
President and CEO Wayne Westlake. “Part
of that strategy, as I shared at NANA’s 2016
Annual Meeting, is to sell certain assets
when the time is right. This was the right
time and the right deal for NANA,” he added.
NANA and its partner opened the
Courtyard, Midtown Springhill Suites,
and Residence Inn in the late 1990s. In the
mid-2000s NANA opened the University
Lakes Springhill Suites to complement
the existing properties in its portfolio.
NANA worked closely with the new
owners, JL Properties, to ensure that
hotel staff was transferred to the new
management company. In addition, job
search and placement assistance within
the NANA family of companies was
offered to shareholder employees if they
preferred to remain with NANA.
NANA shareholders will continue to
receive discounts at the Anchorage hotels.
Learn more and find Anchorage
hotel discount instructions at
nanatkut.com/shareholder-rates. 
Iñupiaraaqta!
-Let’s speak Iñupiatun!
Speak Iñupiaq phrases
Qanniksuq – It’s snowing
Qaŋa tai! – Longtime no see
Uqsruq – Seal oil
The “Iñupiaraata” app was a project of the Iñupiaq Language Commission and supported
by NANA and Maniilaq Association. The Iñupiaq Language Commission is responsible for
guiding Iñupiaq language revitalization initiatives in the region. “Iñupiaraaqta!” means
“Let’s Speak Iñupiatun!”
Want to hear these words and more?
Download the app Iñupiaraaqta from the
iTunes App Store on your iPhone or iPad, or on
your android device at the Google Play store.
Meet Your Writers
The Hunter was established in the early
years of NANA as a way to communicate
with shareholders. Ever since, shareholders
have been a valuable part of the team that
works to publish this important tool. In this
series, we will introduce you to some of the
shareholders who work on “The Hunter.”
N
arvauġauraq Hilda Woods-Haas was
born and raised in Shungnak. Her
parents are the late Wesley Woods
and Josephine Woods, who will be 89 in April.
Iñupiaq is Hilda’s first language. She
learned English in school. At home, she
said, “We’d watch movies and talk back to
the screen in Iñupiaq. If we were startled,
we’d yell, ‘Aachikkaaŋ!’” (I’m scared.)
Hilda left home, at 14, to go to high school
in Nome. She spent summers back home,
at camp. After high school, she earned
an associate degree in business from
Haskell Indian Junior College in Lawrence,
Kansas. She went on to study business
administration at George Washington
University in Washington, D.C. Her studies
were interrupted so she could work full-
time for U.S. Senator Mike Gravel (who
represented Alaska from 1969-1980).
Hilda started working at NANA in 1981.
Over the years, her role has changed.
Currently, she works in communications,
reviewing Iñupiaq translations and
conducting Elder interviews in Iñupiaq,
and in external and government affairs,
working with the Regional Elders Council
and Iñupiaq Language Commission.
It’s Hilda’s voice you hear announcing
the floor numbers in Iñupiaq in NANA’s
elevators in Anchorage, public service
announcements on KOTZ in the region, and
other multi-media for the Corporation. 
Board Corner
The meeting was called to order at 9 a.m. in
Kotzebue on January 9, 2018.
ACTIONS
• Approved Lori Henry as Senior Vice
President, Chief Administrative
Officer of NANA Regional
Corporation, Inc. and NANA
Development Corporation.
• Approved endorsing Elizabeth
Cravalho, VP of government and
external affairs, for the vacant Inuit
Circumpolar Legacy Member Seat
of the Arctic Economic Council.
• Approved the audited financial