Penn-co honoured with Inuit sculpture celebrating northern partnership – SteinbachOnline.com

Last week, Penn-co Construction welcomed members of the community to a special event where they were presented with a meaningful gift from a partner. 

Arctic Fresh Projects (AFP), a Nunavut-based organization committed to sustainable infrastructure and Indigenous community growth, unveiled a sculpture created by an Inuit Master Carver Bart Hanna as a gesture of gratitude. The sculpture commemorates the successful collaboration between AFP and Penn-co on a variety of northern initiatives, including housing and water treatment projects. 

Penn-co’s President Dan Reimer was deeply moved by the gesture and grateful for the collaboration. 

“Thank you for the gift,” he said. “It’s a valued partnership that is working and it’s working because we’re both working at it. We are working together in Nunavut on all of our projects.” 

Reimer extended his appreciation to everyone who has supported the partnership. 

“Mostly though, what I want to say is thank you. Thank you to Rhoda, the owner of Arctic Fresh. The gift that we are about to see. Thank you to Mr. Hanna for the effort that you put into making this, I honestly cannot even begin to imagine the effort that you put in.” 

Penn-co President Dan Reimer

AFP CEO Rhoda Recinos shared in the gratitude and highlighted the mutual respect between the two organizations. 

“I’m grateful to have teamed up with Penn-co. A partnership that has blossomed into a thriving, supportive community over the years,” she said. “Though I may be quiet, I’m fully invested in our shared success. I’m grateful for the tireless efforts and dedication of my husband Merlyn, and Evan (Schellenberg). Dan, I’d like to express my heartfelt appreciation for your vital role in Arctic Fresh Projects, which has been instrumental in driving us forward.” 

Merlyn Recinos, Vice President of Northern Operations at AFP, spoke passionately about the vision that sparked this collaboration. He explained that building homes locally, by Inuit workers, was once just a dream but has now become a reality thanks to the support from Penn-co. 

“Arctic Fresh Projects, with help from Penn-co, we’re about to sign a contract to do 26 in Igloolik. 26 homes being built by Inuit in the community. We’re still going to need a lot of help from Penn-co in a lot of different capacities, but it creates jobs, it creates capacity, and it creates that hope that now we are going to have 20-30 apprentice in our community that kids can look up to and say ‘Hey, they are carpenters. I want to be an engineer. I want to be an architect. I want to design it’ and that’s how we develop our communities.”  

He added that this is just the beginning of what the partnership can achieve. 

“I want to say thank you from us, our Arctic Fresh Group, but also deeply from myself and my family. Because it has allowed me to do what I always wanted and is needed. And it fills my heart when we see these projects and what true partnership can be.” 

Merlyn Recinos, Vice President of Northern Operations at AFP and CEO Rhoda Recinos.

The sculpture presented to Penn-co was created by artist Bart Hanna, who made the journey from his home in Igloolik, Nunavut to personally unveil the piece in Manitoba. 

“My work took about seven months to make, and working on it all winter, but I didn’t think I would be here talking to you and I’m happy.” 

The sculpture is a depiction of a sea goddess from Inuit mythology, made from materials sourced by Hanna himself. 

“The stone, we have to get it from Arctic Bay which is two days by skidoo and take it to Igloolik. That’s the best stone I know I could play with in the braids and everything. It’s nice to work with, because it’s not soft but it’s not hard either, so it’s very good.”  

Master Carver Bart Hanna.

Hanna added that the sculpture’s drum, purchased in Montreal, features several sea animals for a meaningful reason. 

“She (the sea goddess) is very important that she provides marine animals, and we were very into marine animals because we were eating them and that’s why I put the animals around the drum.” 

The sculpture now sits in the Penn-co office in Steinbach as a powerful symbol of collaboration, cultural respect, and shared commitment to community-driven development.