Following Bob Kean’s retirement, Maria Bourne has been promoted to President of Denali Universal Services (DUS). Over the past five years as senior vice president of operations and chief financial officer, Bourne has been responsible for DUS’ financial management. Her responsibilities included supervising operational execution, assisting in company growth, facilitating development, and supervising internal management. Along with her bachelor’s in accounting from UAA, Bourne is a CPA and has spent more than a decade in senior financial management positions. Prior to DUS, she worked at KPMG, where her work focused on auditing, advisory, and valuation services.

Fidelity Title Agency of Alaska has hired Bob Manwaring as Client Relationship Manager. Manwaring was most recently business development director for Taylored Restoration. His previous positions include more than three years as CEO of the Alaska Association of Realtors, four years as business development officer for Stewart Title of Alaska, and fourteen years as customer relations liaison with Alaska Multiple Listing Service.

Northern Air Cargo appointed Robbie Graham as its new HR Director. Graham comes to NAC with sixteen years of HR experience at BP. Her professional career includes work in Indiana, Illinois, and Alaska, supporting a variety of industries including retail and North Slope operations. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a master’s in human resources and industrial relations and possesses a bachelor’s in psychology and speech communication.

Northrim Bank announced four new officers hired in Anchorage. Bond Stewart, VP–Loan Officer, Commercial Real Estate; Kyle Hernandez, Assistant Branch Manager, Float Team; Amanda Maly, Consumer Leader; and Jodie Stone, Assistant Branch Manager, West Anchorage Branch.

Stewart comes to Northrim Bank with thirty-two years of commercial and real estate lending experience throughout Alaska. He holds a bachelor’s in business management from UAA and is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School. A lifelong Alaskan, Stewart has been a member of Rotary, Chamber, and the Small Business Development Center.

Hernandez joins Northrim with nine years of experience in the financial services sector, five of which have been as a manager. He also has fourteen years of experience in retail sales. Hernandez has volunteered in many community events, including with the food bank and financial education events.

Maly comes to Northrim with fifteen years of experience in banking, more than ten of those being in consumer and indirect lending. A lifelong Alaskan, Maly has been part of the Get Real Financial Fair in past years.

Stone joins Northrim with twenty-two years of banking and leadership experience, working in retail banking and back office branch support. She has participated in the annual Heart Walk and Relay for Life events.

Mike Fink has been promoted to Audit Partner and Christine Krysinski has been promoted to Audit Managing Director in KPMG’s Anchorage office. Fink and Krysinski are now responsible for audit quality and leading engagement teams in project execution. They both continue to act as role models who foster the firm’s culture by living the firm’s values, including serving clients with excellence and demonstrating a commitment to the developing the careers of KPMG professionals.

Fink joined KPMG in 2018 and has sixteen years of public and private accounting experience. He provides audit services to both public and non-public companies, including telecommunications and Alaska Native corporations, and has extensive experience helping companies adopt new accounting standards. He is a graduate of UAF and lives in Anchorage with his wife and daughter.

Krysinski joined KPMG in 2010. She provides audit and accounting advisory services to a variety of clients, including not-for-profit organizations, state and local governments, fisheries-related companies, oil and gas, and Alaska Native corporations. She serves as the treasurer of the board of directors for Girls Scouts of Alaska and resides in Chugiak with her husband and two daughters.

UAF Chancellor Dan White appointed UAF School of Management faculty member Peggy Keiper to serve as Interim Athletic Director for the Alaska Nanooks.

Keiper is an associate professor and director of the sport and recreation business program in the UAF School of Management. She has a doctorate in sport administration from the University of New Mexico. Prior to joining UAF faculty in 2017, she worked for nearly a decade in the sports industry, including sports tourism and the NBA’s minor league system, and as a college women’s basketball coach. She was national sales manager for the West Michigan Sports Commission, where she led the commission’s effort to generate economic spending to the Greater Grand Rapids Area and won bids to host six NCAA National Championships with Grand Valley State University and Calvin College.

Catherine Briner accepted an employment offer from Furie Operating Alaska as Office Manager. Briner’s responsibilities include overseeing accounts payable/receivable and payroll. Briner brings with her more than forty years of experience in finance and accounting with twenty-one years at iHeartMedia previously as finance lead/business manager.

Hunter Van Wyhe has also joined Furie as Operations Engineer. In this role, Van Wyhe is working on engineering and geologic assignments supporting Furie’s Kitchen Lights Unit asset in the Cook Inlet. Prior to joining Furie, Van Wyhe worked on oil and gas projects around the state, including Nenana Basin and North Slope exploration as field engineer for Fairweather. Van Wyhe is originally from Fairbanks and earned his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

Tlingit & Haida welcomes Cheryl Demmert Fairbanks as the newly appointed Associate Justice for Tribal Court. As an associate justice, Fairbanks serves on Tlingit & Haida’s Supreme Court and hears all appeals of Trial Court or subordinate Court decisions. Fairbanks is Tlingit-Tsimshian and was born in Ketchikan. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Fort Lewis College in 1969 and her juris doctorate in 1987 from the University of New Mexico.

Fairbanks currently works in the area of Indian law as an attorney and Tribal Court of Appeals justice and serves as the senior policy advisor for the University of New Mexico, Native American Budget and Policy Institute.

Sean Hickel recently assumed the role of President at Roger Hickel Contracting (RHC). In this role, Hickel is involved in estimating, project management, business development, and the overall financial management of the company. Hickel joined RHC in 2010 working as an estimator and project manager. He has been in the construction industry his entire life and has had various roles in the field. He is a board member of the Association of General Contractors of Alaska. Hickel received a bachelor’s in business from Montana State University and is a lifelong Alaskan.

Littler has added Gregory S. Fisher as a Shareholder in its Anchorage office. Fisher was previously a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine. Fisher defends companies in complex litigation involving a wide range of labor and employment matters before federal, state, and appellate courts, as well as administrative agencies. In addition to his litigation practice, Fisher counsels on compliance with regulations impacting the workplace and provides guidance on developing workplace policies and compliance programs. He also provides workplace trainings required by federal and state agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Fisher received his juris doctorate from University of Washington School of Law and his bachelor’s from State University of New York at Binghamton, Harpur College.