ENTERPRISE
The Hamlet of Enterprise has a new senior administrative officer (SAO).
Terry Testart is the new senior administrative officer with the Hamlet of Enterprise. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo
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Terry Testart began his new job on Jan. 7 and was officially introduced to hamlet council at a meeting that evening.
"I like small towns and this is certainly small," he said of his decision to work in Enterprise, which has a population of about 100.
Testart noted he has occasionally driven through Enterprise since the mid-1970s.
"I'm very familiar with the region," he said. "I've always kind of liked the countryside around here."
Testart also said he likes working for municipalities.
Most recently, he worked for a year as chief executive officer with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, which was the first time he had worked for a First Nation.
"So it just seemed attractive to get back into municipal work," he said of the job opening in Enterprise.
Testart is excited about the chance to help the community grow.
"I do think there's opportunity for Enterprise, especially where they're located and being on the highway," he said. "I do know the North well enough to know the economic opportunities coming up in Enterprise and I'd like to be part of that."
In all, Testart has spent about 23 years in the field of municipal governance, both working for various communities and for the GNWT.
His first job as SAO was in Tuktoyaktuk in 1975, and he has also worked in Behchoko and for a short time as an interim SAO in Inuvik.
"I worked for MACA for quite a few years," he added, referring to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. "I was the superintendent of the North Slave region."
Testart said he was not attracted to municipal management before he started working in Tuktoyaktuk in his 20s.
"When I was a youngster, it was a job," he recalled. "I came up north and I worked for the DEW Line and there was an opening in Tuktoyaktuk and I applied for it and got it, and that was the start of it."
Testart, who is from the town of Rosemere north of Montreal, came to the NWT some years before starting to work as an SAO.
"I was young and it was adventurous," he recalled, adding it was a new and unique experience.
As station chief of a small station on the DEW (Distance Early Warning) Line, he said he learned skills in management and finances.
When he started working in municipal government, he found it to be an interesting job.
"I like the aspect of dealing with the public, developing communities and developing community capacity," he said.
Testart also serves on fire departments, and is especially interested in fire protection and public safety.
"I've been in fire service for more than 20 years," he said, noting he has served as fire chief in a couple of the communities where he has lived.
In Enterprise, he will also be serving on the fire department.
On Jan. 21, Testart will be holding a strategy meeting with hamlet council to learn its plans and objectives. "I'm brand new so I have to find out from council what their strategies are."
