The state corporation that provides affordable long-term loans to promising Alaska businesses announced on Thursday the appointment of a new executive director.
John Springsteen is scheduled to move into the director's office at the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) in mid-March. Since February 2014 he has served as the corporation's infrastructure development officer.
Before joining AIDEA last year, Springsteen, 45, was the national director of the economic consulting practice of audit, tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton LLP in Houston, Texas.
Springsteen will help oversee AIDEA's asset portfolio of eight projects: road and port facilities at the Red Dog Mine near Kotzebue; an ore terminal in Skagway; the Ketchikan shipyard; a Federal Express maintenance facility at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport; the Snettisham hydroelectric project near Juneau; the Camp Denali Readiness Center on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage; and two infrastructure projects at the Mustang field on the North Slope. AIDEA's loan portfolio includes more than 250 loans with an outstanding portfolio balance of more than $370 million.
The board selected Springsteen from a slate of 28 applicants in a recruitment process that began in mid-December, said Karsten Rodvik, AIDEA's external affairs officer.
"The position of AIDEA executive director is a very challenging and demanding position and we believe John is up to the task," Rodvik said. "We have a lot on our plate with project development from Ketchikan to the North Slope and many places in between."
Springsteen will succeed Ted Leonard, who has served as executive director since May 2008. Leonard worked for 27 years in the public sector and six years in the private sector in Alaska.
"Ted led AIDEA through a dynamic period of growth and expanded responsibilities," Rodvik said. "He worked very hard and put in many long days during his tenure, and now I think he's looking forward to spending more time with his family."