Baffin business community loses a leader

Hal Timar is leaving the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce after seven years as the organization’s executive director. (FILE PHOTO)

The Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce will soon be looking for a new executive director.

That’s because Hal Timar, the chamber’s long-time top staffer, announced this week that he’ll be leaving his position – and the territory.

Timar’s decision to leave comes only a week after the chamber wrapped up its third – and most successful – edition of the Northern Lights business and cultural showcase in Ottawa, which attracted a record-number of participants this year.

“We’re really proud of Northern Lights – that’s something we developed from scratch,” Timar said. “But the last seven years have really been the highlight of my professional career.”

A native of Toronto, Timar first came to Nunavut in 1997, when he managed Iqaluit’s Frobisher Inn and the Padlei Co-op hotel in Arviat.

When Timar came to the chamber, the organization was only volunteer-run. Today, the chamber staffs four and counts almost 200 member businesses.

“We’ve grown a lot and I think we’ve become a good voice for business,” Timar said. “And that’s really the engine that drives the territory.”

Timar leaves Iqaluit for a position at the Montreal-based Plugin Construction, where he’s already made sure his new employer will allow him to participate in future Nunavut trade shows.

“I’m hoping business will keep me coming back through the territory,” he said.