In April, CIRI President and Chief Executive Officer Margie Brown announced to the CIRI Board and staff several changes to CIRI's management structure that she sees as an opportunity to reposition the company to move forward with its next stage of financial growth.

Sophie Minich, CIRI's chief financial officer, is being promoted to senior vice president, business development. She will head up a business development unit focusing on the company's primary mission of new investment.

CIRI's current general counsel, Keith Sanders, is being promoted to senior vice president, land and legal affairs. Sanders will continue to manage the company's legal matters while taking on the responsibility of overseeing the company's newly-formed government contracting division and its ANCSA land and natural resource department.

According to Brown, CIRI will begin recruiting for a new chief financial officer and general counsel in the near future. She also announced that the company will not be filling the chief operating officer position, which was vacated last month by Mark Kroloff, who resigned to take on a similar position at Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.

"Instead of filling the chief operating officer position, I am realigning some duties within the company and have asked two of our executives, in whom I have great confidence, to take on additional responsibilities at CIRI," said Brown.

"I have learned as a director, and now as the company's president, we have great people working for CIRI. It is my objective to help shape our organizational structure in a way that helps CIRI reach the goals outlined in our new five-year plan and that helps our employees reach their maximum potential in these positions," adds Brown.