Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Arviat (Jun 21/00) - Although not immediately obvious to those unfamiliar with the history of Arviat, Bob Leonard's mark is all over the hamlet.

The work of the local contractor and owner of Leonard and Associates is at the arena, community hall complex, hamlet office, fire hall, and most of the housing units in the community.

Leonard has called Arviat home since arriving to work as an apprentice carpenter with the Department of Public Works in 1973.

Known as Eskimo Point in those days, the community was driven by the fur industry, and telephones and TVs were luxuries you left behind in the south.

After leaving DPW in 1974, Leonard became a partner in Sali Homes in 1976 before finally starting his own company in 1978.

"Because of our commitment to local labour, we've had phenomenal support from the hamlet council and people in the community in general," says Leonard, with just a hint of pride over his accomplishments evident in his voice.

"We've always hired almost entirely local for everything, with the exception of very specialized work like sprinkler installation."

Leonard and Associates has just been awarded the regional tender put out by the Nunavut Housing Corp., to build six new housing units (three duplexes) in Arviat.

The tender further illustrates the amount of respect Leonard's company has gained in the community for almost three decades.

Leonard says Arviat has been successful in managing its own projects because of the skill of its workforce.

"We can do it so effectively in this community because there's been a company in town for so long, we have the skills built up required for this type of work.

"The work habits here among the labour force are comparable with the rest of the country. It's quite amazing, actually. I can't be everywhere at the same time running a company like this.

"I can honestly say every time I've shown up at a job site, the workers are there giving it their all. That speaks volumes on how much they value local employment."