(Anchorage, Alaska) – The Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) Board of Directors has declared a dividend of $3.25 per share to be issued in December. The average BSNC shareholder who owns 100 shares of stock will receive $325. The total distribution will be approximately $2,058,225 to BSNC’s shareholders of record.
There are many benefits that come with being a BSNC shareholder or descendant, including eligibility to receive scholarships from the Bering Straits Foundation and hire preference for qualified shareholders, descendants and shareholder spouses. In addition to these benefits, BSNC provides bereavement benefits to families to assist after the death of an original BSNC shareholder or lineal descendant of an original BSNC shareholder. In fiscal year 2015, BSNC distributed more than $2,565,000 in direct economic benefits to shareholders and descendants.
“BSNC is committed to providing meaningful benefits to its shareholders and descendants,” said BSNC Board Chairman Henry Ivanoff. “We hope that the 2015 dividend distribution helps shareholders offset costs during the holiday season.”
BSNC believes that education is the key to building strong and stable Alaska Native communities and proudly provides substantial support to support the Bering Straits Foundation. For the 2014/2015 academic year, the Bering Straits Foundation awarded a total of $234,643 in educational funding to BSNC shareholders and their descendants. Since its inception in 1994, BSF has provided more than $2 million to the Alaska Native shareholder beneficiaries of BSNC to participate in post-secondary education.