Inuvialuit company wins two contracts

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The Department of National Defense is proving to be a lucrative ally to a Native-owned company in the north.

The Inuvialuit Development Corporation recently won two separate contracts wiht the DND, one to fly helicopters and the other to guard fighter jets.

IDC won a $350,000 contrct to provide helicopter services to the DNS's North Warning System in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the northestern N.W.T., company president David Connelly announced in February.

And on March 3, the company announced it had secured a second contract, valued at $170,000 to provide security and facility maintenance to the DND's CF-18 Forward Operating Locations at Inuvik Airport.

Oil and gas exploration and the defense departgment are the main economic drivers i the Western Arctic, Connelly said. With no oil and gas exploration this year, and a drop in the need for service along the unmaned North Warning System, it was time to explore new ventures.

IDC had been offering a fixed-wing service to commuities and business in the North for some time, Connelly said. Expanding into new regions like rotary-wing flight was the next logical step.

The benefits of the CF-18 contract, which was awarded by the DND through Frontec Logistics Corporation of Edmonton, will be widely felt throughout the community, IDC chairman Eddie Dillon said. IDC was able to underbid the second lowest contract by 12 per cent.

"The benefits and potential future opportunities that the contract will bring to the community are what made this contract so attractive."