Iqaluit (Sep 20/04) - James Karetak sits behind the wheel of his aging van on his way to the site of what will be the first job for his small construction company.

"This is my working van," he says, and then chuckles.

James Karetak is starting his own construction company, Karetak & Son. His first contract is the old Hudson's Bay Company store in Apex, where he will help with the building's renovations. - Brent Reaney/NNSL photo

Saws, tool box, extension cords -- and everything else needed to complete a home renovation job -- are strewn around the area where a back seat once was. Within a few weeks, the paper work will be done, and Karetak & Son Construction will be open for business. And with more tools scheduled to arrive on the next sea lift, Karetak is looking for a pick-up truck to better store his materials.

None of his three sons are involved with the new venture, but Karetak hopes 11-year-old Uukkualuk may one day join him.

"Ever since he's grown up, he's worked with tools," he says.

Karetak has worked for construction companies and done odd jobs for people in both Arviat and his current home of Iqaluit "off and on" for 30 years.

When asked what else he's done, Karetak came up with a better question.

"What else haven't I done?" he says, noting jobs operating a submarine or military aircraft as two of only a few areas he has no experience in. His varied experience and knowledge of the community have helped him get work in the past.

"Sometimes people just come up to me and ask me if I'm available to do this and that," he says.

He's planning to hire a few employees for the Apex job, but he is keeping the company small, which is something he sees as an advantage over larger operations.

"My jobs would be more of what the big companies don't want to do," he says.

After beginning his formal education as a tradesman with three years at a vocational school in Churchill, Man., in 1967, he went on to spend a year at Algonquin College in Ottawa in 1970.

The 51-year-old Karetak finished his classroom learning in Iqaluit this past June.

Having narrowly missing his red ticket, which would qualify him as a journeyman, he says he plans to try for the certification again this spring.