Mary Leith (President)
City of Delta Junction Mayor
PO Box 322
Delta Junction, AK 99737
907.895.4434 home phone
momld@wildak.net
Term expires 2012
 Mary Leith (President) is a lifelong resident of the Delta area with a passion for books and youth. She holds a Master's in Library Science from the University of British Columbia, and has worked at Delta School Library for 30 years. She is the current mayor of Delta Junction and was an early supporter of the DCAC who encouraged the City's support for the facility's construction. Having been raised in an IBEW household and having a sibling who has worked in the trades, she is especially interested in providing area youth with training and education for career opportunities beyond a traditional college pathway. Her daughter and son both live in the Fairbanks area, both attending college.
Randy Cheap (Vice President/Secretary)
Alaska Works Partnership
208 Barnette Street
Fairbanks, AK 99701
907.457.2597/93 phone
rcheap@alaskaworks.org
Website
Term expires 2013
Randy Cheap comes from a background of 30 years with the Painter's union before he accepted a position as the Fairbanks manager for Alaska Works Partnership. He is the coordinator for the annual Pipeline Training Academy held in Fairbanks and actively involved in building and promoting career pathways that bring together K-12, the university, industry and the Trades. He provides oversight for the construction academies conducted in Delta. He has been in Fairbanks since 1974, coming here to work on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and staying to raise a family. He's been married for 30 years and has two sons and a daughter all living in Fairbanks.
Jon Dufendach (Treasurer)
CampWater Industries, President
PO Box 309
Delta Junction, AK 99737
907.895.4309 phone
jondufendach@gmail.com
Term expires 2014
 Delta business owner Jon Dufendach (treasurer) (far right) visits with Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development Click Bishop (left) and Operating Engineer instructor Ken Assyd during the 2011 Heavy Equipment Operator Academy. Dufendach founded Delta Industrial Services, Inc. after a lengthy career in the oil industry. From pipe welding to wastewater treatment system design, heavy equipment operation and supplies and parts, his business serves clients all around the world. He's committed to Alaska, believes in Delta's future and wants area youth to be competitive for the jobs that are emerging in the region. He knows first-hand Delta is a happening place, and he recently started CampWater Industries to produce water filtration systems.
Fred Schlutt
Vice Provost for Extension & Outreach
Cooperative Extension Service Director
University of Alaska
PO Box 756180
Fairbanks, AK 99775
907.474.7246 phone; 907.474.6971 fax
fred.schlutt@alaska.edu
Website
Term expires 2012
Fred Schlutt is the director of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service. A 32-year Extension veteran from Maine, Wyoming and Texas, Schlutt was hired to lead the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service Previously, he worked five years for the University Maine Cooperative Extension. He started his new job as CES director and vice provost for Extension and Outreach in May of 2009. He directs all Extension activities in Alaska.
Eric Stewart
President, Copper Current Inc. DBA, Copper Current Electric
P.O. Box 1670
Delta Junction, Alaska 99737
907.460.0062 phone
ccelectric@wildak.net
Website
Term expires 2014
Eric Stewart was appointed to the board in July 2010. Stewart came to Alaska in 1992 as a hiking guide in the Denali National Park area. He has always enjoyed sharing with others his passion for exploration of the outdoors. In 2001, he moved to Delta Junction and started his business, Copper Current Electric, which has grown to support many major government projects throughout the Interior. Stewart firmly believes that investing in local talent is best for the community and the state overall. All of his employees are residents of Delta Junction. He holds a Master Electrical Administrator's License and is an alumnus of Boise State University. He and his family live in on a small hobby farm, where they grow giant pumpkins and enjoy the outdoors.
Duncan Ware
Delta/Greely School District Superintendent
PO Box 547,
Delta Junction, AK 99737
907.895.4658 phone; 907.895.4246 fax
dware@dgsd.k12.ak.us
Website
Term expires 2013
Duncan Ware was appointed Delta/Greely School District superintendent in July and joined the partners' board. Ware began his career with the District in 2009 as the itinerant principal serving New Horizon High School, Gerstle River School, and the Delta Cyber School. He, his wife, Stefanie, and seven of their nine children moved to Alaska from Memphis, Tennessee, where he served as assistant principal at a K-8 1,600-student, magnate school. He also served six years as the principal of a national blue ribbon elementary school, and at the University of Memphis he coordinated a clinical model preparation program for middle school teachers in science and mathematics. Ware has completed the coursework for his doctorate in instruction and curriculum leadership with a concentration in education administration. He plans on graduating this December. Ware is very excited about the opportunities that this partnership provides for the students of the school district. He believes that the future demands of our economy locally, nationally, and internationally are only going to be satisfied by focusing efforts on preparing young people in a K-16 system of partnerships which utilizes all of the opportunities for training and growth that working together promotes.
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Above: Board member Eric Stewart left foreground listens as Partners for Progress in Delta President Mary Leith welcomes attendees for the Partners' annual Industry Roundtable.
Below: Board member Duncan Ware (far right) took the May 2011 Private Pilot Ground School class offered in Delta through UAF CTC.
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