Staff

Brian Holst
bholst@jedc.org - (907) 523-2333
Brian Holst joined the Juneau Economic Development Council in February 2008 as Executive Director. Brian has worked in community and economic development for the past twenty years. His experience includes working with diverse groups in challenging economic climates in the developing world, with extensive experience in Latin America and Eastern Europe. He served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in small business development and has worked as an international consultant, small business owner, and has led large-scale relief and development efforts. Program areas he has managed include micro-finance, small business assistance, community development, environmental initiatives, infrastructure development, housing, and conflict prevention/mitigation. Brian is a graduate of Juneau-Douglas High School.

Margaret O’Neal, Director of Operations, Director of Southeast Alaska Revolving Loan Fund
moneal@jedc.org - (907) 523-2326
Margaret O'Neal has lived in Alaska since 1983, first in Juneau, where she was the senior operations officer for Alaska Federal Savings. After two years she moved to Anchorage where she worked for several banks, the FDIC and Bank of America. During that time she learned to appreciate that good businesses can fall upon hard times. In over ten years as a commercial loan officer working in the special credits area, Margaret worked to help turn around hundreds of businesses in urban and rural areas.

Margaret launched her own consulting firm, Financial Solutions, Inc. in 1996 to provide turnaround consulting to small business owners, especially those with financing problems. She also provided consulting to financial institutions including Wells Fargo Bank, First Interstate Bank, Northrim Bank and the FDIC. Margaret provided lending expertise to Alaska's first business and industrial development company, Alaska Growth Capital while it was in its organization and early operations phase, and performed the underwriting for the first deals it put on its books.

Margaret moved to Alaska from the Bay Area in 1983 to work for Alaska Federal Savings & Loan Association. After 15 years in Anchorage, she joined JEDC in 1999 as the Director of the Southeast Alaska Revolving Loan Fund. JEDC finance and administrative roles were added in 2007.

Margaret is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, where she majored in English Literature and Political Science. She has two sons, Alex and Kevin.

Eva Bornstein, Program Officer
ebornstein@jedc.org - (907) 523-2339
Eva Varadi Bornstein is a 22 year resident of Juneau. Prior to joining JEDC in September 2008, she taught Business Finance at the University of Alaska Southeast School of Management. Her background also includes work in corporate strategic planning for a Fortune 500 multinational and banking management for a local savings and loan. Eva holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in Chemistry from Yale University and a BA in Chemistry from Bryn Mawr College. She is currently a member of the Juneau Commission on Sustainability, a member of the High School Science Fair organizing committee and a proud parent of a Juneau Jumper.

Jessy Post, Program Assistant
jpost@jedc.org - (907) 523-2335
Jessy was born and raised in Juneau, Alaska and joined JEDC in April 2012.  Seeking more sun and a warmer climate, she graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2010 with a BFA in Visual Communication and minor in Advertising and spent a semester studying at London Metropolitan University.

She has experience working in tourism and the communication field. In college, she was a production artist for her school newspaper and a graphic designer for the Juneau Empire. In her spare time, she works as freelance designer.

When she isn’t working, she likes to paint, play and coach soccer, snowboard, hike and be outdoors. She also likes to dream up her next travel adventure. She has backpacked through South America and traveled parts of Central America, Europe and the Middle East and hopes to improve on her Spanish.

Aaron Ferguson, Program Officer
aferguson@jedc.org - (907) 523-2324
Aaron Ferguson joined the Juneau Economic Development Council in October 2012. His previous experience includes project management, process improvement, and strategic planning for various nonprofit organizations and government agencies.  Aaron holds two degrees from the University of Washington: a Master of Public Administration degree from the Evans School of Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography with a concentration in International Development. A recent transplant to Juneau, Aaron has lived and worked in Seattle, Portland, Atlanta, New Zealand, and China.

Zach Wilkinson, Technology Transfer Manager
zwilkinson@jedc.org - (907) 523-2329
Zach Wilkinson joined JEDC in September 2010 as a Technology Associate for the SpringBoard program. Previously he spent six years in management with Wells Fargo Financial, which took him from New Mexico to Guam and eventually to Juneau in 2007. Originally from Corrales, New Mexico, Zach has Bachelor of Arts degrees in Business Administration and Agricultural Business from Eastern New Mexico University. His work experience ranges from finance to agriculture in both small businesses and large corporations. In his spare time, Zach enjoys snowboarding, fishing, hiking, biking, diving, writing and cooking.

Greg Amorese, Technology Associate
gamorese@jedc.org - 303-579-0169
Greg Amorese joined Springboard in July, 2011. Greg has more than 20 years of experience in business development and world-wide sales and marketing for industrial and business-to-business technical products. His technical expertise is very broad encompassing many areas of electronics, renewable energy, applied physics, and measurement systems. Most of his career has been with the test and measurement operations of Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies. Recently, he has been active in business development for small businesses and IP licensing projects. Greg holds a BSEE degree from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Dan Hubert, Technology Associate
dhubert@jedc.org - (907) 523-2300
Dan began consulting for JEDC in March 2011. He is an Attorney and Electrical Engineer. Since 1998, he has been the proprietor of a firm that provides intellectual property legal services to corporations, individuals, and other law firms across the world. Dan's work has encompassed a variety of technologies from software, circuitry, and magnetic storage devices to downhole well logging equipment, semiconductor manufacturing processes and more. With a strong foundation in aviation, Dan is engaged as a commercial Air Taxi pilot, serving as pilot-in-command of a variety of different sea, land, and amphibious aircraft types.

Mary Hakala, STEM Education Coordinator
mhakala@gospringboard.org - (907) 523-2336
Mary Hakala, a 50-year resident of Juneau and a Juneau Douglas High School graduate, is the K-12 education coordinator for SpringBoard. She has had several roles with state government, including special assistant to the commissioner of the Department of Education and a staffer for the Alaska State Legislature. She is founder of Alaska Kids Count!, a statewide advocacy network for K-12 school improvements, and the Juneau Community Charter Schools. Hakala has a B.A. in American Civilization from Williams College. She, her husband and family have had a commercial fishing business since 1990.

Robert Vieth, STEM Education Specialist
rvieth@jedc.org - (907) 523-2342
Bob Vieth moved to Juneau from Connecticut in January 2010. He spent the first 25 years of his career at the University of Connecticut, first as a research biochemist, moving on to applied biochemical engineering, and then pursuing a graduate degree in Gifted and Talented Science Education. After leaving the University, Bob worked as a Science Education Specialist for a nonprofit firm and also ran his own consulting business specializing in science curriculum development and teacher professional training. Bob is a strong advocate for science and engineering education starting with children at the kindergarten level and continuing on through adulthood. His many interests include hiking, fishing, cooking, and racquetball.

Rebecca Parks, STEM Education Specialist
rparks@jedc.org - (907) 523-2334
Rebecca joined the Juneau Economic Development in February 2007. She brings four years of classroom experience teaching middle-school science at an inner-city public school and has also worked in a variety of nonprofit organizations. She has an MA in Secondary Science Education and BA in Environmental Science from Columbia University. She has a passion for community involvement in education that creates real-world opportunities for students to engage in learning. Rebecca plays both soccer and ice hockey and is an avid FIRST Lego League enthusiast.

Jenny Harris, Administrative Assistant and Accountant
jharris@jedc.org - (907) 523-2322
Jenny Harris joined the Juneau Economic Development Council in February 2008 as Office Assistant/Accounting. Jenny has over ten years' experience with city and state government. Her experience includes personnel, payroll, and human services in both the public and private sectors. Jenny has three children. Her daughters Hayley and Casey are 14 years and eight months old respectively. Jenny's son Brandon is seven. Husband Wes is assistant manager at the new Schuck's Auto Parts store in Juneau. They enjoy fishing (she came in 4th place in the 2006 Salmon Derby!), camping, and spending time with family and friends. Jenny is a graduate of Juneau-Douglas High School.