Upon the promotion of Art Dahlin to Vice President of Commercial for Saltchuk’s major shipping arm TOTE, there’s a new boss at TOTE Maritime Alaska. Corey Nichols is appointed Vice President and Alaska General Manager, responsible for operations, customer engagement, safety, and community relations throughout the state. Nichols earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and an MBA from American Public University. He was previously an operations manager for Amazon in California and most recently held leadership roles with Walmart in Alaska and Hawai’i.

Having served as a master brewer, COO, and vice president of production, Jaime Jurado was promoted to General Manager of Alaska Pacific Beverage Company, the production facility for Northern Hospitality Group brands 49th State Brewing, Arctic Roots Cider, and Frontier Alaska Soda. In more than forty years of brewing and distilling, Jurado authored numerous technical papers and book chapters and holds a patent pending for an innovative extraction technique. He is also a past president of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas.

Michael R. Koy, a former mineral economist with BP in Anchorage, returns to Alaska as the CFO for the HEX family of companies. He reports directly to President and CEO John Hendrix while overseeing the finances of HEX Cook Inlet, Furie Operating Alaska, Cornucopia, and Corsair. Koy most recently served as CFO for DJR Energy and Vesta Energy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a master’s degree in mineral economics from the Colorado School of Mines.

Matanuska Electric Association gained a new CFO with the new year. Kim Henkel is the successor for Matt Reisterer, who transitioned to a new part-time role as Senior Advisor to the CEO. Henkel joined the Palmer-based power utility in 2018 and held leadership positions such as senior manager of strategic implementation and energy supply manager. Henkel previously worked with ENSTAR Natural Gas Company and First National Bank Alaska. A certified public accountant, Henkel earned bachelor’s degrees in accounting and finance from UAA and holds an MBA with a concentration in business intelligence and data analytics.

Mt. McKinley Bank shored up its leadership with promotions and a key addition to its management team.

Kristie Dickerson is promoted to Senior Vice President and Mortgage and Construction Loan Manager. Dickerson joined Mt. McKinley Bank eighteen years ago as a consumer loan originator and now oversees the mortgage, construction, and loan servicing departments.

Lisa Smeltzer becomes Assistant Vice President and Loan Servicing Manager. Since joining the bank in 2020, Smeltzer has played an essential role in loan servicing, and she is a graduate of Mt. McKinley Bank’s Leadership Development Program.

Evan Wilken is now Assistant Vice President and Mortgage Lending Officer. Wilken began his career with Mt. McKinley Bank in 2022 as a credit analyst in the Commercial Loan Department. Wilken holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, and he enjoys coaching sports.

Mt. McKinley Bank also welcomes back Annie Scott as Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager. Scott originally served at Mt. McKinley Bank from 2002 to 2011 in roles such as relationship banker and bank secrecy act specialist. She stepped away to run Spruce Tree Montessori School.

To support business lending services that Credit Union 1 launched in 2025, the co-op created a new leadership role. The first person hired as Vice President of Business Services is Danicia Shiryayev, responsible for unifying CU1’s business deposit and lending functions while overseeing the business lending and account services departments. Shiryayev studied business administration and management at UAS and serves on the boards of the Alaska Chamber and Junior Achievement of Alaska. In October, she began a term as board chair of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.

Eagle River-based MBA Consulting Engineers brings aboard Beau Counts as a Senior Electrical Engineer. Counts is a US Army veteran and a graduate of Montana State University. He is a licensed professional engineer and a registered communications distribution designer, certified with expertise in data infrastructure. The new position prepares Counts to step up as chief electrical engineer when Edward W. Carlson retires from the firm in a few years.

Cathodic Protection Specialist, or CP4, is the highest certification level awarded by the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (formerly known as NACE), and Eric Jones of Coffman Engineers has earned it. “Eric is the go-to for challenging jobs,” says Cynthia Cacy, principal and manager of Coffman’s Corrosion Control Engineering team in Anchorage. “His positive attitude, hours of hard work, and extensive travel throughout Alaska during his eleven years at Coffman are greatly appreciated.”

The nonprofit contracted by the Municipality of Anchorage to operate the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (better known as the PAC) has a new boss. With the departure of Codie Costello, who served as President and COO for seven years, the organization selected Kathy Cronen to be in charge on an interim basis. She also takes on Costello’s duties as General Manager of Broadway Alaska, the partnership with Nederlander that suspended its season a year ago. A patron of the arts, Cronen has served on many nonprofit boards, including the Anchorage Opera.