New tribal administrator joins PIA staff

Bobbi Scherrer began her work as the Petersburg Indian Association's (PIA) tribal administrator late last month.

Scherrer is returning home to Petersburg after working for Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) in Juneau for the last three years. Her background is in healthcare where she's worked for 16 years managing revenue cycles for hospitals. In addition to her financial background, Scherrer said she also has experience in human resources.

She said the transition from SEARHC to PIA has been a smooth one.

"Being part of a tribal organization with SEARHC was a very positive experience, and moving over to here into tribal government was a natural flow for me," Scherrer said.

As tribal administrator, Scherrer said she will wear many hats for the organization.

"We are a big organization but we're small in our resources to manage it," she said. "People might compare it to saying I hold the hat of the CEO, the CFO and human resources officer."

She said that the current team at PIA is a strong one and that she looks forward to keeping the momentum going with current grant programs, partnerships with Petersburg Borough and possibly some new cultural and heritage programs for tribal members.

Scherrer said she's happy to be back in Petersburg where she grew up and where she and her husband raised their kids.

"There's always been a draw for us here," she said.