Chugach Alaska shareholders return former CEO Kompkoff to board and reelect two directors

Chugach Alaska Corporation shareholders elected former CEO and board member Gabriel Kompkoff to the board and reelected directors Violet Yeaton and Connie Hedrick on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the corporation's 53rd Annual Meeting at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. All three will serve terms expiring at the 2029 Annual Meeting.

The vote ends the board service of Matthew McDaniel, whom Chugach's biography lists as vice chairman and a board member since 2005, with roots in Cordova. In the corporation's election results release, posted Wednesday, Board Chairman Sheri Buretta said McDaniel "has been a remarkable Board member for Chugach for the past 21 years" and "has always put shareholders first."

The release does not say whether McDaniel sought reelection. It gives no vote totals and names no other candidates. Detailed results are posted only on the MyChugach shareholder portal, according to the release.

Chugach releases identify Kompkoff as CEO in November 2016 and again in February 2019. They do not say when his tenure as CEO ended. Chugach named its current CEO, Jonathan Dalrymple, on Nov. 20, 2023.

The corporation's leadership page, as read Wednesday, listed eight directors. It did not yet include Kompkoff and named no vice chairman. Buretta has chaired the board since 1998. Yeaton, the board's treasurer, has served since 2005. Hedrick joined in 2023. Both have roots in Port Graham.

The meeting honored Donald "Donnie" Wallace Jr. as Elder of the Year, Nanci Robart, president of the Native Village of Tatitlek IRA Council, as Shareholder of the Year, and Lily Schablein as Youth of the Year.

Chugach says it is owned by nearly 3,000 Alaska Native shareholders. Shareholders approved open enrollment at last year's annual meeting. Applications opened in March for first-generation lineal descendants of original shareholders, capped at 100,000 shares, and for Chugach Natives who missed the 1971 enrollment, capped at 10,000. Approved applicants will receive 50 shares in 2027. Original shareholders who are at least 65 by Jan. 1, 2037, will automatically receive 50 non-voting shares that year. All three new share classes are life-estate shares that cannot be inherited or gifted.