NCC re-invents itself as “NIG”

Get ready to learn a new acronym: “NIG,” short for Nunavut Investment Group, of which the Nunavut Construction (1999) Corp. is one of three new companies.

By NUNATSIAQ NEWS

IQALUIT — Nunavut’s largest construction company, the Nunavut Contruction Corporation, has reinvented itself.

The newly-named Nunavut Construction (1999) Corp. is now one of three subsidiaries owned100 per cent by a new parent company called Nunavut Investment Group (NIG).

NCC’s ownership and board of directors haven’t changed, just its name and its position within a new group of beneficiary-owned companies.

NIG is equally owned by each of Nunavut’s four Inuit birthright corporations: the Nunasi Corporation, the Qikiqtaaluk Corporation, the Sakku Corporation and the Kitikmeot Corporation.

NCC will continue to construct houses and office buildings, but a separate subsidiary, NCC Properties Ltd., will own and manage the $130 million worth of property that NCC has built for the government of Nunavut.

Under an agreement between Nunavut Tunngavik and the federal government, NCC was to build, own, and then lease back its offices and staff houses to the government of Nunavut.

Another subsidiary, NCC Development Ltd., will search out and find financing for new contracts and business ventures. Each subsidiary, along with the parent company, will reports to the same board of directors.

NCC’s board approved the restructuring last year. The new structure took effect Jan. 1.

NCC was created in 1997 to build houses and offices for Nunavut government staff. Now that this multi-million dollar project is almost complete, NCC is now on the hunt for new business opportunities

Tagak Curley, who is president of NIG in addition to being president of the newly-restructured NCC, says the new structure gives the company more flexibility in financing projects.

“We have a much stronger leverage ability now, because we have strong assets,” Curley said.

NCC Development Ltd. can turn to the new holding company, NIG, to help finance new business ventures.

While it’s up to the shareholders to decide how much to invest in a new project, Curley said the set-up could reduce the company’s reliance on banks and other lenders.

The new structure should also help ensure that subsidiaries only enter into “viable” business projects, Curley said. If not, the venture would likely be turned down by NIG’s board of directors.

“Any new venture has to be viable. There are many projects that don’t succeed when they go through the director stage,” Curley said. Each subsidiary is also expected find contracts that make enough profit to cover its own operating costs.

Just what projects the new development arm will pursue is still “hypothetical,” Curley said.

“We don’t know what’s in the air in this part of the world, it’s very competitive,” Curley said, adding the company will have to look outside of Nunavut for business opportunities one day.

Last December Curley called upon the Nunavut government to consider forming partnerships with private companies to build social housing. But he said his company is not banking on social housing projects right now.

Other major public-private partnerships, such as regional hospitals, have already been promised to Nunavut’s regional birthright development corporations, Curley said.

However, Curley said his company is now looking at possible business opportunities, but he declined to describe them.

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