Nunavut Individuals and OmniTRAX Canada Launch New
Company
ARVIAT, Nunavut, Aug. 2,
2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nunavut Connections, a newly-formed majority Inuit
company with shareholders from the Kivalliq and Baffin regions – in partnership
with OmniTRAX Canada – has been formed to pursue new business opportunities in
Nunavut.
"We have assembled a great team of business people and are extremely excited
about the employment and economic potential of our business plans with OmniTRAX
Canada," said Elizabeth Copland, a resident of
Arviat, Nunavut, who is president and chairperson
of Nunavut Connections.
Nunavut Connections' initial business venture is to provide the stevedoring
services at the Port of Churchill, loading
vessels and coordinating the movement of fuel and freight from the port to
destinations in Nunavut. This start-up phase of
the business will employ 12 people. Nunavut Connections is actively pursuing
other supply chain opportunities throughout Nunavut.
In addition to Copland, Nunavut Connections brings together a broad base of
shareholders from across the Baffin and Kivalliq regions.
"We believe this is the opportune time for us to partner with a
well-established company such as OmniTRAX Canada," said Simon Merkosak of Pond
Inlet, a shareholder in the venture. "Nunavut needs these type of ventures to benefit not
only the people of Nunavut but also our young
Nunavut government."
"Nunavut Connections shows OmniTRAX Canada's commitment to Nunavut," said Brad Chase,
president of OmniTRAX Canada. "We are pursuing new business opportunities at the
Port of Churchill and economic development in the
North that support Canada's Northern
Strategy."
A vessel at the Port of Churchill – loaded by
employees of Nunavut Connections – moved north on July
28 with 3,000 tons of general cargo destined for various communities in
the Kivalliq. For more, including photos, see www.nunavutconnections.ca.
OmniTRAX Canada operations include the Port of Churchill, which is Manitoba's gateway to Nunavut, and North
America's only deepwater Arctic port; the Churchill Marine Tank Farm; the
Hudson Bay Railway, which delivers goods to businesses and communities in Manitoba along 1,017 km of track; the Carlton Trail
Railway, based in Saskatchewan; and the Kettle
Falls International Railway connecting British
Columbia to the United States.
SOURCE Nunavut Connections