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IQALUIT
Several months after Nunasi Corp. set out to find a new CEO, the Iqaluit-based development corporation's board of directors has hired Inuktitut businessman Archie Angnakak -- an insider with Nunavut's three birthright organizations -- for the top job.

Archie Angnakak has been hired as CEO of Nunasi Corp. The position was previously vacant and its duties were largely assumed by Nunasi president and chief operating officer Tim Zehr. - photo courtesy Franco Buscemi, Nunasi Corp.

Angnakak will assume the position May 1, based out of Nunasi's Iqaluit head office.

"We are pleased to have him onboard," stated Wilfred Wilcox, Nunasi chairperson. "Archie's personal qualities combined with his extensive experience from the private, public and non-profit sectors will contribute to the strengthening of Nunasi Corporation."

Angnakak is said to already have a good working relationship with Nunasi president and chief operating officer Tim Zehr, which bodes well for the team that will lead the development corporation's several business portfolios.

"I'm definitely looking forward to working with my counterpart Tim Zehr, the president and COO," Angnakak told News/North. "Especially me and Tim putting stuff together for the Nunasi board."

Currently, Nunasi holds ownership in more than 50 different companies, all involved in various private and government projects across the North, across multiple sectors.

Wholly-owned by beneficiaries of Nunavut, the development corporation's investment strategy and portfolio is guided by its board of nine people, including representatives from all three regional Inuit associations, regional development corporations, and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

The appointment of Angnakak, who is very familiar with the key players of Nunavut's birthright organizations, is in line with Nunasi's current strategic direction to strengthen its partnerships and alliances with other development corporations and businesses within Nunavut.

The focus on elevating activity in Nunavut is not necessarily a new strategy for Nunasi, Zehr told News/North.

"It's not that our interests are any greater today than they were before -- our highest interest has always been in Nunvavut," Zehr said.

Zehr has been with Nunasi since 2008, about the time the corporation's last CEO, Fred Hunt, retired.

Hunt was involved with Nunasi for well over 20 years and has been working for the company in an advisory role.

The CEO position has been vacant since 2010.

Bracing for the extensive travel the role may require, Angnakak is spending the days before his start in May as Nunasi CEO by vacationing with his wife Patricia, who is executive assistant to Kugluktuk MLA Peter Taptuna, the minister responsible for the Nunavut Development Corporation.

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