RDC elects new leadership

RDC announced newly elected Board member and officers for 2012-2013 at its 37th Annual Meeting Luncheon at the Dena’ina Convention Center in Anchorage June 21.

Phil Cochrane, Vice President of External Affairs at BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc., was elected President while Len Horst, Senior Vice President and Commercial Loan Manager at Northrim Bank, was elected Senior Vice President. Ralph Samuels, Vice President of Government and Community Relations at Holland America Line, was elected Vice President.

Eric Fjelstad, an attorney at Perkins Coie, was re-elected Treasurer and Lorna Shaw, External Affairs Manager at Sumitomo Metal Mining Pogo LLC, was elected Secretary.

Cochrane is an accomplished professional communicator with diverse experience in leadership, crisis communications and issues management. He leads a team of dedicated individuals responsible for managing BP’s external relationships, government relations, public affairs, media relations, community giving and corporate reputation in Alaska. He also led BP’s external response in the state of Florida during the Deep Water Horizon accident in 2010.

Before moving to Alaska, Cochrane served in BP leadership roles in Los Angeles and in Calgary. He joined the company in 2001 and has served on the RDC Board since 2006.

Cochrane’s experience includes work in both the natural gas pipeline industry as well as various political and policy roles within the Canadian federal government. A trained broadcast journalist, Cochrane is a graduate of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Newly elected to the RDC Executive Committee were Ella Ede, Statoil and Bill Jeffress, SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc., both of Anchorage. New incoming board members were John Barnes, Hilcorp Alaska, LLC, Anchorage; Jason Bergerson, North Slope Borough, Anchorage; Rick Boyles, Teamsters Local 959, Fairbanks; Matt Gill, Tesoro Alaska Company, Anchorage; Karen Matthias, Consultant, Anchorage, and Glenn Reed, Pacific Seafood Processors Association, Seattle.

Phil Cochrane

Above are members of the 2012-13 RDC statewide Board of Directors who attended the 37th Annual Meeting at the Dena’ina Convention Center in Anchorage June 21. Pictured in the front row are Secretary Lorna Shaw, Treasurer Eric Fjelstad, Senior Vice President Len Horst, Past President Tom Maloney, and Executive Director Rick Rogers. At middle, nearly 1,000 people attended the Annual Meeting Luncheon, which featured John Hofmeister, Chief Executive of Citizens for Affordable Energy. A video of his keynote address is available at akrdc.org and a feature story on his remarks will appear in the August Resource Review. At bottom is Tom Maloney receiving recognition from Len Horst for his long-time service to RDC, including two consecutive terms as President.

 

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