Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (July 07/99) - A huge crowd was on hand at the Rankin Inlet baseball diamond recently for a chance to win a number of fabulous prizes as part of the gala celebration marking the 20th anniversary of M&T Enterprises Ltd.

The company's two decades of business in the transportation industry is a true Northern success story, as a determined pair of co-owners built a thriving community business, now boasting 35 local employees, from what could only be described as modest beginnings.

A family affair, Peter Tatty, co-owner and president, and Angelina Mercer, co-owner and secretary/treasurer, arrived in Rankin from Coral Harbour in the late 1950s.

Company director Ray Mercer came from Newfoundland in 1963 and office manager Melinda Tatty from Ontario in 1973. Peter and Angelina arrived as children, Ray with the Hudson Bay Co. and Melinda as a teacher.

Ray Mercer gives a hearty chuckle as he remembers M&T's early days in business more than two decades ago.

"Our first annual gross income wouldn't come near the average wage of a management position in any company today," says Mercer. "In those days, we operated out in a snow bank with winter temperatures hovering around 55 to 60 below."

Mercer says Rankin developing as a transportation hub for the Kivalliq Region has seen it grow substantially in 20 years and M&T was fortunate enough to grow with the community.

"We've gone from the old DC3s and hand-bombing everything to modern jets where mostly all the freight is fork-lifted. It's just a different way of looking after the travelling public and the freight that comes in and out of the community."

With Nunavut now a reality and a new government in place, M&T management hopes the tourism and mining industries will be given a chance to flourish. Mercer says Kivalliq has the potential to be a transportation hub for all of Nunavut, providing there's a cheap transportation system in place.

"Being in the transportation industry, to see governments looking at transportation as a very important link is exciting for us."

Melinda Tatty says M&T only employed three people when it first started in 1979 and the whole purpose behind the celebration was to give some thing back to the community which helped it grow so much as a company in the past two decades.

"Without the support of the community, we wouldn't be where we are today," says Tatty. "The community provides us with all of our labour, has supported us on a number of political issues and played a big part in the success of our company."

Tatty says everyone at the gathering seemed to enjoy themselves and a lot of people the company does business with provided the majority of the prizes.

"The celebration really was a reflection of how the business has grown, a real teamwork effort across the community. This is a 100 per cent Inuit-owned company, between Peter and Angelina, and 75 per cent of our staff are Inuit. And, of the other 25 per cent, many have Inuit family.

"We're proud of our accomplishments and, hopefully, we'll continue to grow with our community for the next 20 years."