BIOGRAPHIES OF ALASKA DELEGATION
Commissioner Susan K. Bell, Department of Commerce
Susan Bell was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community and
Economic Development in July 2010 by Governor Sean Parnell.
Ms. Bell serves as vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Alaska Industrial Development and
Export Authority (AIDEA) and the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA), as state co-chair of the
federal Denali Commission, and as a member of the Alaska Railroad Board of Directors.
She has held numerous senior-level business management and marketing positions in Alaska;
she understands the challenges faced by communities and small businesses in this state. In her
recent role as a Special Assistant to the Governor, she contributed to several initiatives that
strengthened Alaska's economy and communities, including enhanced business financing,
increased marketing funding for Alaska's industries, and tax relief.
As a principal for the research and consulting firm McDowell Group, Ms. Bell managed a wide
array of economic and community development projects. She has worked closely with Alaska
community leaders and residents, ANCSA corporations, nonprofit organizations, tribal entities,
and state and federal agencies. As a Vice President for Goldbelt, Incorporated, Ms. Bell had
responsibility for marketing and management of nearly a dozen separate business ventures.
Born in Nome and raised in Fairbanks, Bell has been a Southeast Alaska resident since 1987.
She is a shareholder of Bering Straits Native Corporation and Sitnasuak Native Corporation.
Bell received a bachelor's degree from the University of Alaska. She volunteers for Big Brothers
Big Sisters and enjoys spending time outdoors.
Steven Hatter, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Transportation
Steven Hatter currently serves as the Deputy Commissioner of Aviation for the Alaska
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF), managing the state’s rural and
international airports.
Since retiring from the United States Air Force in August 2006, and before coming on board with
the State of Alaska government in January 2011, Mr. Hatter continued to serve the Department
of Defense in Alaska within the Alaskan Command as a consultant and project manager on a
variety of large scale military training and exercise related initiatives.
Mr. Hatter retired from active duty in the rank of Colonel after 26 years of distinguished service.
As a fighter pilot, he flew the F-4E Phantom, the F-4G Wild Weasel, and the F-15E Strike Eagle.
Over his career, Colonel Hatter served in various key command positions at the Pentagon. He
most recently served as the Director of Training and Exercises (J7) and Director of Operations
(J3) at the Alaskan Command/Joint Task Force-Alaska. Colonel Hatter is a combat veteran of
Desert Storm, Operation Southern Watch, and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Mr. Hatter earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Vanderbilt
University in 1980. He also holds a Master of Science degree in International Relations from
Troy State University earned in 1990, a Master of Arts degree in National Security Policy earned
from the United States Naval War College in 2000, and a Master of Science degree in Project
Management from the University of Alaska Anchorage earned in May 2010.
Colonel Hatter’s military awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal,
the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal
(5), the Air Medal, and numerous additional campaign and service recognition medals. He is a
member of the Air Force Association, the Naval War College Foundation, and the Project
Management Institute.
Andrew Halcro, President of Anchorage Chamber of Commerce
In January 2013, Andrew Halcro joined the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Alaska’s largest
non-profit business organization with nearly 1,100 members representing roughly 54,000
employees. Mr. Halcro has held senior management positions in his family’s statewide small
business, Avis Alaska. Mr. Halcro previously served in the Alaska legislature from 1998 to 2002
and ran as an independent candidate for Governor in 2006. He was a columnist for The
Anchorage Daily News and also hosted a talk radio program. He studied at Willamette
University and has participated in professional development programs at Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Business School. He has given public
presentations on topics such as Alaska’s natural gas pipeline plans to Alaska state
government tax and spending policies. Mr. Halcro’s responsibilities include community
relations, state and local legislative issues, Anchorage Chamber office management and board
relations. He is also the liaison for the Executive and Finance Committees, Legislative
Committee, Anchorage Business Committee and the Anchorage ATHENA Society.
Julie Saupe, President of Visit Anchorage
With a 20-year career in promoting tourism in Alaska, Julie Saupe reached the industry’s
leadership ranks as president of Visit Anchorage in May 2007. Ms. Saupe first joined the
organization in 2002 as Director of Community, Member and Visitor Relations.
She began her career as Director of Tourism at the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau
in 1989. She then worked in various roles at the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce and
Alaska Visitors Association. In 1999, she became Executive Director of the Mat-Su Convention
and Visitors Bureau.
In 2011, Visit Anchorage reported more than $97 million in conventions booked, 658 events
held in the city’s two convention centers, and more than 1.1 million visits to Anchorage.net. Ms.
Saupe also named the filming of “The Frozen Ground,” an action thriller set in Alaska and
starring Nicholas Cage, eight arrivals of the ms Amsterdam at the Port of Anchorage, and the
opening of new domestic and international flights among Visit Anchorage’s successes.
Ms. Saupe led the team from Visit Anchorage who recently organized a dinner for 400 travel
industry representatives at Icelandair’s Mid-Atlantic Conference in February 2013 at the Hilton
Nordica Hotel in Reykjavik.
Ms. Saupe studied at the University of Puget Sound.
Rick Rogers, Executive Director, Resource Development Council
Rick Rogers in Executive Director of the Resource Development Council (RDC), a statewide
business association representing Alaska’s oil and gas, mining, forest products, tourism and
fisheries industries. RDC’s membership includes Alaska Native Corporations, local
communities, organized labor, and industry support firms. RDC’s purpose is to encourage a
strong, diversified private sector in Alaska and expand the state’s economic base through the
responsible development of its natural resources.
Mr. Rogers previously served as Forest Resource Program Manager at the Alaska Division of
Forestry in the Department of Natural Resources. He was responsible for timber sales, forest
practices, and cooperative forestry programs.
He also served 12 years as Vice President Lands, Resources, and Tourism at Chugach Alaska
Corporation, where he was responsible for the management and appropriate development of
lands and natural resources. At Chugach, he had oversight of timber sales, oil and gas leasing,
material sales, mineral exploration, and land leasing.
From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Rogers was the Senior Forester at the University of Alaska Land
Management Office. He also worked as a development specialist for the Alaska Energy
Authority, and a tribal forester for the Metlakatla Indian Community.
Upon earning his Bachelor of Science degree in forestry from the University of Illinois, Mr.
Rogers was drawn west to work in Idaho and Utah before settling in Alaska in 1981. He began
in one of the most remote logging camps in Alaska by preparing timber sales and overseeing
harvest operations at Icy Bay on Alaska’s gulf coast.
Mr. Rogers is a former President of the RDC Board of Directors and past director of both the
Alaska Forest Association and Alaska Mineral and Energy Resource Education Fund.