Mayor Berkowitz Brings New Finance Leadership to Municipality

CFO and Deputy CFO will focus on revenue diversification and analysis of SAP project

Mayor's Office

8/6/2015

ANCHORAGE – Mayor Ethan Berkowitz announced today he is bringing on a new team to lead the Municipality’s finance and IT team. Robert Harris will be the Chief Fiscal Officer (CFO) and Alden Thern will be the Deputy CFO.

“Robert and Alden bring a deep background in financial and project management that will help guide the Municipality through several financial challenges in the coming years, including tight state budgets, declining municipal revenue sharing, and the long-overdue and over-budget SAP program,” said Mayor Berkowitz. “With falling revenue sharing we need to watch every dollar of Anchorage taxpayer’s money and look for innovative ways to make our financial future secure.”

Harris’s experience includes economic development, financial analysis, project and engineering management, and operations management. He most recently served as an engineering manager at CH2M Hill. He has an MBA and an MS from the University of Washington and undergraduate degrees in economics and engineering from MIT. He has served on the boards of Camp Fire Alaska, the Anchorage Youth Symphony, and presently serves on the Investment Committee and Board of CIRI.

Thern brings 15 years of experience at the Anchorage School District, most recently as the Executive Director of Contract Administration and the Director of Student Nutrition. He has worked in all areas of finance, labor relations, contract negotiations, human resources, and benefits. He has also served on multiple IT system implementations, focusing on process improvement and cost efficiencies. He is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in Business and an emphasis in Finance and International Management.

As Deputy CFO for the Municipality, Thern will assume primary responsibility for the SAP/Kronos software update within the Municipality.

For more information, contact Myer Hutchinson at (907) 343-7133.

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