One of Alaska's most prominent Native-owned media companies, Anchorage-based Koahnic Broadcast Corp., has tightened and trimmed its corporate structure, said Cassandra Shumate, the corporation's general manager of marketing and development.
Three senior managers will oversee the programming, marketing and operations departments, ultimately reporting to KBC president and chief executive Jaclyn Sallee, Shumate said.
"It really is a reorganization," she said. "It's a way of integrating all the responsibilities into one department."
Once consolidated, the executive offices will relocate into the Alaska Public Radio Network building on 9th Avenue in Anchorage. Shumate said the corporation was founded in that building, which still houses the corporation's subsidiaries: radio station KNBA-FM and the KBC Training Center.
Shumate noted that the corporate offices were also originally located in the same building, but moved down the street in the late 1990s when the internship and training efforts were at their highest points. The corporation currently is in the process of renewing funding for both programs.
The reorganization arose from an effort to consolidate costs within the company, Shumate said.
"We're looking at a budget deficit in some programs and are trying to figure out where to go from there," she said.
Susan Braine will serve as the general manager of Cultural Program Development, which leads the development and management of local and national cultural programming. That includes managing the company's current syndicated broadcasts -- National Native News, Native America Calling, and Earthsongs -- as well as research and development of new programming.
Will Peterson, now the general manager of Engineering and Station operations, is responsible for all of the station's operations and engineering. He will also serve as a liaison to the other Native-owned or operated public radio stations in Alaska.
Shumate will assume the responsibility for all of the corporation's fundraising and marketing efforts.
Koahnic employees 25 people, including three interns, and has more then 100 volunteers each year, both on-air and behind the scenes. The corporation also runs an intensive media training program that prepares Alaska Natives for careers in media.
As of press date, no decisions had been made regarding employee lay-offs, Shumate said.
