What specific skills or areas are you focusing on in your Shareholder Professional Development Plan (SPDP)?
Right now, my focus is on completing my bachelor’s degree in occupational safety and health while maintaining current certifications and working toward providing corporate-level safety training to the subsidiaries enterprise-wide.
How does this program align with your career goals?
The biggest advantage to being part of this program is the resources made available, as well as a check-and-balance system incorporated to ensure that all goals and objectives are being achieved as projected. This program aims to ensure that all shareholders are given the opportunity to realize their full potential within the corporation. The system is designed to check in with shareholders and supervisors on a quarterly basis to ensure they are tracking and have the resources they need to achieve their goals.
What types of training or courses are you taking?
8-hr HAZWOPER refresher, AHERA Building Inspector, Learn to Return “emergency medical training in remote locations” First Aid, CPR, AED training, legal aspects of safety & health, and construction safety. My biggest short-term goal, aside from graduating with my bachelor’s degree in spring 2025, is to obtain my Certified Safety Professional (CSP) certification.
Who have been your mentors or trainers, and how have they impacted your learning experience?
My key mentors are Corporate SHEP Director Drew Laughlin and ACPPC HSE Manager Andy Postishek. While working for ACPPC as an Alyeska subcontractor, I was an HSE Specialist. Under Andy’s direction, I acquired a great deal of field experience along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, mastering my craft as an HSE field specialist. During the off season I had the pleasure of working with Corporate SHEP as a SHE Program Specialist, gaining knowledge of the Ahtna SHEP Program at a corporate level, enterprise wide. Working with these gentlemen has significantly accelerated my career development. They have offered their 20-plus years of diverse work experience to help me create short- and long-term goals for my SPDP. I’m truly grateful for their dedication and willingness to play an active role in my development as a safety professional. As of April 2023, I am now the Corporate Safety Manager for Ahtna, Incorporated.
In what ways do you feel more prepared for future roles within the company?
Being part of the SPDP really makes the process feel like a group effort; like you are part of a team dedicated to helping realize your professional aspirations within Ahtna. If you are doing your part, and proving yourself as an asset to the company, the rest is smooth sailing.
What is your ultimate career goal?
My ultimate career goal, when the time comes, is to take over as the Corporate SHEP Director for Ahtna, Incorporated and mentor those who choose to follow in my footsteps. At some point, I also intend to take on a role in executive leadership, but the sky truly is the limit!
About the Shareholder Professional Development Plan
Ahtna’s Shareholder Professional Development Program helps Shareholder Employees with career growth. Each year, Shareholder Employees create a Development Plan to outline their career goals, and the steps needed to achieve them. Shareholders are encouraged to contact Shareholder Employee Career PATH Supervisor Ve’dra Bechtol at (907) 868-8204 or vbechtol@ahtna.net to learn more about the SPDP.