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HAY RIVER - Doug Bryshun is general manager and one of the owners of Diggerz Powersports in Hay River.

The core of the business is any recreational/sporting activity that's driven by a motor, such as snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and boats.

Doug Bryshun, the general manager and one of the owners of Hay River's Diggerz Powersports, enjoys providing fun recreational activities to Northerners. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Bryshun said he became involved in the business because he personally enjoys power sports.

"I've been an enthusiast for years," he said.

He and his partners founded Diggerz Powersports in early 2006 by purchasing and renaming an existing business.

The business is also owned by his wife, Tanda Bryshun, and Remi Payeur, who runs the service department.

Before founding Diggerz Powersports, Bryshun worked in community economic development in Fort Providence, where he lived for 11 years, and as a consultant with Crosscurrent Environmental Services in Hay River, where he has lived since 2001.

He sold his interest in Crosscurrent to become involved in Diggerz Powersports.

"Any time you can do a job that's fun, it's a lifelong dream," he said. "It's why I do it."

The 43-year-old is originally from Saskatchewan, where he was raised on a farm and later earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan.

"Growing up, we always had snowmobiles," he recalled, adding the machines broke down a lot more than they do today.

"I was always upgrading. You become experienced just by being an owner."

Bryshun explained the name Diggerz Powersports comes from a term he and his friends used when organizing snowmobile rides.

"We'd call each other up and say, 'Do you want to go for a dig?'" he said, explaining dig referred to the trench a snowmobile creates in the snow.

Bryshun said the fall is a busy time for his business.

"It's a great time," he said. "It's probably one of the busiest times of the year."

On the day he was interviewed by News/North, he had already sold two snowmobiles and one boat.

Sales of snowmobiles are the heaviest from December through February each year.

"It's part of Northern culture," Bryshun said of power sports. "It's a way of life."