The president and CEO of Goldbelt Inc. is retiring at the end of the year.
Bob Loiselle made his announcement during a board of directors meeting June 17. He joined the Juneau-based Native corporation in January 2012 and will finish out his three-year contract obligation.
“At this point, my wife and I have decided that we want to have more free time to be able to go out and do other things. I’m at retirement age, if you will, and with the requirements of this position, it’s time for me to move on and hand the baton to the next CEO,” Loiselle says.
At age 66, Loiselle has had extensive experience with Native corporations in Alaska. He previously lived in Juneau for 16 years working in several positions for Klukwan Inc., including CEO. Loiselle also led Sitka’s Shee Atika Inc. for 10 years, and was general manager of Orca International Management, an Eyak Corp. subsidiary.
Of his two and half years with Goldbelt so far, Loiselle says he’s most proud of helping to move forward a Goldbelt Ancestral Trust. Shareholders voted in favor of establishing one at a June 7 annual meeting. Loiselle says it’ll be made of three subtrusts.
“There’s a distribution trust which ultimately will pay cash distributions and then we have a scholarship subtrust which will provide scholarships and then finally, there’s a burial benefit or funeral benefit, which will provide death benefits for deceased shareholders and their families,” Loiselle says.
Goldbelt is in the process of buying a FedEx distribution center in Dickinson, N.D. Profits from that will go into the Ancestral Trust.
Locally, Goldbelt owns the Mount Roberts Tramway, Goldbelt Security Services, the Goldbelt Hotel and the downtown docking facility Seadrome Marina. It also has 10 active government contracting subsidiaries. The corporation has about 3,500 shareholders, a third living in Juneau.
Goldbelt’s board has formed a three-person CEO search committee. Loiselle says he’s sure there will be a long list of candidates for the job.
Loiselle plans to sell his Juneau home and move to Roy, Wash., near Tacoma.
