The nationwide search is finally over for KPCW’s new president and general manager, and this new hire isn’t new at all.

Juliana Allely has been the director of finance with KPCW for the last 10 years and has lived in Park City for 18 years.

“A lot of people have asked me, ‘Oh, how long have you been in Park City?’ And when I say 18 years, they’re like, ‘Oh, well, where have you been?’” she said with a laugh. “You just didn’t know about me, which is good because that means the finances, everything’s running the way it should.”

Managing the NPR affiliate’s finances actually served as a useful step toward this leadership role, Allely explained, which she took over as interim after the departure of former president Renai Bodley.

“With finances at almost any organization, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s going on, whether it’s for profit, nonprofit, 10 million people, 10 people — if you know the money coming in and going out, you’ve got a good idea of what the company is all about,” she said. 

Allely’s skill lies in seeing a whole picture through these numbers, and most of her professional career has been as a certified public accountant.

After graduating from the State University of New York at Buffalo, she moved to New York City to work for an accounting firm, then to the Boston area for a job with Deloitte, a global audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management and tax services company.

She married her husband, also a certified public accountant, whose job with Rossignol skis would bring them west to Park City in 2005.

“We came out and visited in October of 2005 and just loved it, the community, the weather, the fresh air, the mountains, just so beautiful,” she remembers.

Transferring to the Deloitte office in Salt Lake City, Allely continued to work until taking a break to raise her two daughters, now a senior and freshman in Park City School District.

After about six years out of the traditional workforce, Allely saw an ad in The Park Record that KPCW was hiring a bookkeeper.

“My oldest was pretty self sufficient, my youngest was more or less, and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just interview.’ … I still really wasn’t dealing with grown-ups a whole lot,” she said with a smile. “A lot of kids shows in my life back then.”

She pulled out a flip phone and gave the office a call, and an interview and a few short days later, she got the job. It was the perfect trifecta for Allely, a longtime NPR lover and experienced nonprofit accountant, whose niche with Deloitte was nonprofit groups like universities, healthcare systems and schools.

Over the years, almost two decades now, Allely has seen plenty of growth in the area, both in the city and the radio station.

“As dramatic as it is, it still feels like a town, a community. It doesn’t feel like this big, giant strip mall after strip mall after strip mall metropolis,” she said. “The growth in the town has certainly helped us grow as well.”

Part of that growth involves finances, sure, but also a community-wide buy-in on the value of a public radio station like KPCW, she said.

“The station has been savvy with how to help the community understand what we’re doing here and why it’s important and why they should support it,” she said. “I mean, this really is everyone’s station.”

Now as the organization’s president and general manager, Allely will continue to spread that message both by supporting their news and programming teams and by participating more with fundraising efforts. 

But first, she’s developing an even more intimate understanding of how the radio functions, on all fronts, not just the finances. 

“For radio, especially with NPR, each hour has a clock, and knowing every minute down to the second, even what’s happening each minute. I don’t have a handle on that, (though) I have a rough idea because I’m a consumer,” she said.

More community outreach means more time in the public eye, she said, a definite change of pace from her previous role. 

Most importantly, nothing’s really changing with her at the helm, and she’s committed to maintaining their mission to serve Summit and Wasatch counties. 

“Having an educated, informed community is going to make a healthier, safer community for everybody,” she said. “If you are an engaged consumer of our product, whether you’re a reader or a listener, and whether it’s music or news, we’re just happy to hear back from you that you’re enjoying what we’re doing and that you support it.”

Her favorite on-air program right now is their Fresh Tracks Fridays, she said, which Christie Dilloway hosts from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every Friday.

“On Fridays, the top of the hour, we have a new song every hour,” she said. “It might be a song that’s been out there for a little while, but it’s definitely not been in our playlist. And so it’s fun to just hear something really new on Fridays.”

Visit kpcw.org for more information on their mission and programming, and don’t hesitate to say “Hi” to Allely around town.

“Everybody has been giving positive feedback when they heard this announcement, so I’m flattered and do appreciate that,” she said.