A telecom manager and concert musician is the new President and CEO of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce. The organization’s board hired Kathleen McArdle, who helped establish Verizon’s Alaska presence as manager of sales operations. Since moving to Alaska from Arizona nearly ten years ago, McArdle has served on the boards of Anchorage Opera and the Anchorage Community Concert Band, where she performs on tenor saxophone. McArdle studied psychology at Texas Tech University and Our Lady of the Lake University, earning a master’s degree and practicing as a licensed counselor. She then obtained an MBA degree from Grand Canyon University.

The board of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) found a successor to longtime President and CEO Bill Popp close at hand. The organization’s vice president, Jenna Wright, can keep the job, a few weeks after she was named to the position on an interim basis. Wright holds bachelor’s degrees in marketing and finance from UAA, as well as a master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in business intelligence and data analytics. She applied her background in the private sector and in government, most recently as deputy director of the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles and Director of Business Operations at Microcom.

The Alaska Native Village Corporation Association (ANVCA) hired Curtis J. McQueen as Executive Director. McQueen used to serve on the association’s board when he was CEO of Eklutna, Incorporated; he served in that position from 2005 to 2019, during the start of ANVCA in 2010. McQueen is Tlingit from the Eagle-Killer Whale Clan, a citizen of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, a shareholder of Sealaska, and an adopted member of the Native Village of Eklutna. He is also a current board member of the Rasmuson Foundation, Alaska’s largest philanthropic foundation.

An executive of one Alaska Native regional corporation is taking over leadership of a village corporation in a different region. Aleknagik Natives Limited (ANL) selected Miriam Aarons as its President and CEO. In her new role, Aarons oversees all facets of ANL’s business operations, ensuring strategic alignment and advancing a collaborative and growth-oriented corporate culture. Aarons, an enrolled tribal member of the Native Village of Unalakleet, was previously vice president of corporate communications for Bering Straits Native Corporation, where she started working in 2012. However, she spent her early childhood in the Dillingham area. Aarons earned a bachelor’s degree in political science with a concentration in international relations from Columbia University.

Ahtna, Incorporated has a new Vice President of Information Technology (IT). Brian Robbins joined the team to oversee IT needs for the Alaska Native corporation for the Copper River region and its entire family of companies. Robbins is an accomplished IT professional with a proven track record in the industry. He began his career in IT in the military. He earned a Bachelor of Applied Science degree with double majors in business administration and cyber security. With a diverse background in multiple technology and leadership roles, Robbins brings a wealth of expertise to his new position.

The Alaska Native corporation for the Interior region, Doyon, Limited, is giving broader oversight of its information technology (IT) business lines to Tom Mercer, expanding his role as President and General Manager of Arctic IT to include leadership of designDATA as well. Whereas Arctic IT specializes in implementing and managing Microsoft cloud solutions in Alaska from its home base in Anchorage, designDATA is a Maryland-based managed-IT firm serving the Washington, DC area that was acquired by Doyon Government Group. Mercer joined the Doyon family of companies as the president and GM for Arctic IT in 2022. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from North Dakota State University and a master’s degree in management of technology from the University of Minnesota. He holds four patents for his work in commercializing multiple digital products.

The seven radio stations in Alaska owned by Oregon-based broadcaster Alpha Media have a new Market Manager. Nikki Hilton took over for longtime manager Scott Smith, who announced his retirement last January. Hilton most recently served as senior vice president of sales in Spokane, Washington for rival broadcaster iHeartMedia. In her new position, Hilton oversees six stations in Anchorage: 750 AM KFQD, 590 AM KHAR, KWHL 106.5, KOOL 97.3 (KEAG), “The Mix” 103.1 (KMXS), and “KBear” 104.1 (KBRJ), offering formats that include news/talk, sports, rock, adult hits, adult contemporary, and new country, respectively. The group also includes the classic country station 100.9 KAYO in Wasilla. Hilton is an award-winning media expert with more than twenty-eight years of broadcasting experience in the United States and Canada.

Thompson & Co. (T&C) Public Relations promoted Bri Kelly to Vice President, adding her to an executive team responsible for leading the development of the agency and its integrated services. In her new role, Kelly manages agency clients and builds on national media outreach opportunities while working seamlessly with T&C’s sister agency Blueprint Alaska, providing project management on integrated communication campaigns and strategic communications work for resource clients, such as Donlin Gold. Kelly has provided strategic communications counsel to clients in Alaska’s travel and leisure industries for more than twelve years. Since she joined T&C, Kelly modernized the press credential and communication process for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and led media relations for the race for more than seven years. She’s also assisted journalists on behalf of the Alaska Travel Industry Association and coordinated national broadcast productions. Behind the scenes, she’s a crisis communications responder, certified by the Public Relations Society of America.

James Sauceda assumed duties as the Chief of the Engineering, Construction, and Operations Division for the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)–Alaska District in June. In his new position, Sauceda leads a team of more than 200 personnel, and he serves as the district’s dam and levee safety officer. Sauceda earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from UAA and is a registered professional engineer in Alaska. He has more than thirty years of federal experience with USACE and the US Department of State. In 2014, he was selected as the Alaska Federal Executive Association’s Federal Employee of the Year.

Design Alaska, a Fairbanks-based multidisciplinary architecture and engineering firm, promoted Cutter Degerlund to become its Civil Engineering Department Leader. Degerlund graduated from UAF with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He is a licensed professional civil engineer with fourteen years of experience designing civil infrastructure in Alaska. The company says Degerlund’s expertise in surveying, site design, utilities, transportation systems, and other civil infrastructure will be invaluable to the team.

First National Bank Alaska (FNBA) named Suzanne Whittle as a Senior Vice President and the Director of Compliance and Branch Operations Support Director. In her new role, Whittle oversees FNBA’s Compliance Department, including the bank’s Fair Lending and Quality Assurance, Bank Secrecy Act Compliance, and Branch Operations Compliance sections. Whittle brings more than forty-two years of banking experience. She also served as president and in various other board roles for Kids’ Corps, Inc., a Head Start agency.

The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida) promoted Christina Lee to the position of Reentry & Recovery Operations Manager. Lee has been working since January 2021 as the Reentry & Recovery coordinator. In her new role, Lee manages the tribe’s three non-congregate shelters, which provide sober and supportive housing to people released from incarceration or returning from treatment. Lee’s Tlingit name is Sheét and she is from the Deisheetaan clan. She holds a Chemical Dependency Counselor I certification from Alaska Commission for Behavioral Health Certification.