"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - CNI Releases Year-End Financials

STILWELL, OKLAHOMA - Cherokee Nation Industries reported a record year of sales in the recent release of its 2006 financial statement. Sales topped $99 million, with much of the growth coming from CNI’s new construction division. Operating income totaled nearly $600,000 despite write-offs for obsolete inventory.

“We are on the right track,” said Bryan Collins, acting CEO of CNI. “Our manufacturing, telecommunications, staffing services and construction management divisions were all strong contributors to CNI’s record sales. The construction group was added this past year and is off to a strong start. The future looks good.”

The Stilwell-based company also reported record employment numbers, adding 109 new employees between 2005 and 2006 at the company’s Tahlequah and Stilwell facilities. Total employment in those areas now totals 262.

“It is important for us to create quality jobs as our company grows,” said David Ballew, chairman of CNI’s Board of Directors. “Profitability is one measure of our success, and creating jobs in northeastern Oklahoma is another.”

Ballew emphasized that CNI’s core business remains successful, while addressing the one-time adjustments resulting from investments in energy technology companies that caused an overall loss for the year.

“While we believe CNI could receive significant value in the future for the investments, the board and management team, in cooperation with our external auditors, have chosen to present a conservative financial statement and reduce the value of these investments to zero,” Ballew said. “We believe these adjustments go hand-in-hand with several changes we have made in the past year, including strengthening internal controls, strengthening the process around evaluating new business opportunities, and repositioning the management team. We have also shifted the focus back to the expansion of CNI’s core businesses.”

CNI’s recent performance in core industries indicates a strong upward trend for the company. CNI’s manufacturing division has been awarded several multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts since the end of the last fiscal year. Cherokee Nation Construction Management, CNI’s construction division, recently completed the new multi-million dollar multi-purpose center at Sequoyah Schools in Tahlequah and is overseeing construction of the Cherokee Nation’s new health care clinics in Muskogee, Nowata, and Sallisaw.

“Because of the growth in aerospace and defense manufacturing and distribution we have been investing in our employees, equipment and facilities,” Collins said.

“I believe that CNI is poised for some of the largest growth since its inception in 1969 and its employees should take great pride in being a part of this organization,” Ballew said. “In January of 2007, CNI generated more operating income than we did for the entire previous fiscal year. We have also improved our net equity in the company by approximately $2 million since the end of the audit period.”

CNI and its affiliated companies are wholly-owned by the Cherokee Nation. CNI was incorporated in 1969 to serve as the economic and workforce development arm for the Cherokee Nation. The company has more than 30 years contracting and distribution experience in the aerospace, defense and telecommunication industries. For more information on Cherokee Nation Industries, visit the CNICND web site.