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People on the Move: Private-Sector Shuffle

Key players in the state and local technology industry are often moving. Here are a few who have accepted new positions.

Kiefer Consulting has hired three new people to build out its team.

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Maryann Hazel


Melanie Dutt is the new director of sales for Kiefer, coming from a stint working for a New Zealand telecommunications company. She lived in New Zealand for five years. Dutt has also sold hardware and professional services to California state government with NWN and Cisco.

Alem Tafete is an associate consultant for Kiefer. Tafete graduated from Sac State with a degree in Management Information Systems and served as the vice president of the MIS Association.

Tafete is experienced in Java, C# and VB programming. He has been a student assistant with the California Department of Technology.

Harir Abdullah is also an associate consultant, with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Sac State. Abdullah focused her studies on Web applications built with HTML and MySQL. She has experience in IT support and SharePoint 365 migration for FI$Cal.

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Jill Smith - Jill Lauren Photogr


Veeam has a new territory manager for Northern California. Kyle Sweetland was a senior inside sales rep when he joined Veeam in 2016. He is now presiding over state, local and education transactions. Sweetland has 10 years of sales experience with companies such as Hewlett Packard, CDW and VMware.

Sacramento State has hired an executive director for its new Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center. Katherine Cota will begin July 16, coming from an award-winning student entrepreneurship program at the University of Northern Iowa.

The Dale and Katy Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will focus on building strong business and technology relationships between Sac State and the region. Cota has an extensive background in building entrepreneurial centers, student incubation programs and workforce pipelines.