busi n e s sB2 Saturday, February 15, 2014 The Saskatoon StarPhoenix • thestarphoenix.com

The STarPhoenix

Affinity Credit Union and Meridian Development Corp. were the joint recipi-ents of two Heritage Awards from the municipal heritage advisory committee and the City of Saskatoon.

They received awards in the Adaptive Reuse and Sen-sitive Addition categories for re-purposing the former Wilson School and First Na-tions University of Canada building in City Park into of-fice space for use by Affinity as its corporate campus.

“As a local credit union, we are committed to heri-tage conservation and have a strong commitment to being good stewards of the city’s heritage resources,” said Af-finity CEO Mark Lane in a news release.

“Throughout the construc-tion process, it was impor-tant for us to work alongside Meridian and other contrac-tors to maintain the look of the original building and to ensure it would be pleasing to the local community.”

“Our partner Affinity shared the same philosophy of retaining our built heri-tage and ensuring that this

building is something the neighbourhood could be proud of,” added Karl Miller, president of Meridian. “The adaptive reuse of the build-ing is one of the most unique repurposing we have seen in the country.”

The 69,000-square-foot building offers an open-concept working space and, in keeping with the credit union’s environmental strategy, incorporates many green building features.

Student entrepreneur champion

University of Saskatch-ewan student Anastasia Szalasznyj, owner of Winter Girl Boots & Accessories, has been named Saskatchewan’s 2014 Student Entrepreneur provincial champion.

The award was given as part of the Student Entre-preneur National Competi-tion.

Winter Girl Boots & Ac-cessories offers customers stylish boots designed with winter in mind; boots of vegan-leather that are lined with deeply embedded grips.

Szalasznyj will showcase her business and personal accomplishments as an en-

trepreneur at the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition — Western Canada in Cal-gary on Feb. 28, where she will compete for the title of

regional champion.Szalasznyj will compete

against three other Student Entrepreneur provincial champions from Western

Canada for the regional title and the chance to move on to the 2014 Enactus Canada Na-tional Exposition in Calgary taking place April 28-30. The national champion will receive a $10,000 cash prize and take home the John Dobson Cup.

Best Diversity Employer

For the fifth successive year, Cameco Corp. has been selected by the Globe and Mail as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2014.

The annual competition recognizes Canadian em-ployers that have exception-al workplace diversity and

inclusiveness programs. Se-lection to the list was based on information submitted for the 2014 Canada’s Top 100 Employers competition.

The recognition follows Cameco’s recent listings as one of Canada’s Top 100 Em-ployers and Saskatchewan’s Top Employers.

“This award recognizes our long-standing track re-cord in aboriginal and Metis employment,” said Tim Git-zel, Cameco president and CEO, in a news release. “We are proud to be Canada’s leading industrial employer of aboriginal people and of the proactive approach we take to support career growth in this sector of our workforce.”

Meridian, Affinity given

Heritage Awards

RICHARDMARJAN/The StarPhoenixaffinity Credit Union and Meridian Development Corp. received heritage awards for the repurposing the former Wilson

School and First nations University of Canada building in City Park.

anastasia Szalasznyj

anDreW MayeDa anD ari alTSTeDTer

BlooMBeRg

TORONTO — Canada is considering loan guar-antees for aboriginals that would make it more feasible for them to take equity stakes in resource projects, documents show.

“There is merit to the concept of aboriginal-eq-uity ownership in major resource opportunities, and the use of govern-ment loan guarantees is a feasible option to promote these arrange-ments,” said a briefing note prepared by officials at the Aboriginal Affairs ministry before a Sept. 23 meeting with the First Nations Financial Man-agement Board.

The plan is part of a broader push by Canada to bolster support for en-ergy infrastructure such as Enbridge Inc.’s North-ern Gateway pipeline. Bonds issued by aborigi-nal groups and backed by Canada may be attractive to investors because they would carry the security of a AAA rating while of-fering a higher yield than typical government debt.

The proposed debt would entice buyers if the Canadian govern-ment provides “explicit support” and there’s a “meaningful” spread over other securities, said Jonathan Lemco, senior sovereign-debt analyst at Vanguard Group Inc. mu-tual fund company.

When Newfoundland and Labrador’s power authority sold $5 billion in bonds last year with a federal guarantee, those notes yielded 50 to 55 basis points more than Government of Canada bonds.

The government cre-ated the First Nations Financial Management Board in 2005 to support economic development in aboriginal communities.

The board would pro-vide “financial certifi-cation” to aboriginal groups interested in rais-ing debt to buy equity in a resource project, ac-cording to a Sept. 18 letter to the government by the board’s executive chair-man, Harold Calla.

The finance author-ity would issue the debt, which would carry Cana-da’s top credit rating and yield about four per cent, he said.

ResouRces

Loan guarantees for aboriginals considered

Aaron wants to thank his customers and his co-workersat HOFFMANN KOOL INSURANCE for their support.

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JARVIS REIN, CFAVice President, Finance

Everett J. Kearley, P.Eng., Chairman of The MillenniumIII Group of Companies, is pleased to announce theappointment of Mr. Jarvis Rein, CFA, to the positionof Vice President, Finance. Mr. Rein specialized infinance while obtaining his Bachelor of Commerce(with Great Distinction) from the University ofSaskatchewan, and in 2012 earned his CharteredFinancial Analyst designation. He has been involvedin real estate acquisitions, mortgage financing, andthe development of financial models for syndication atMillennium III since 2003.

The Millennium III Group of Companies has beensyndicating commercial real estate through limitedpartnership structures for over 30 years. Based inSaskatoon, with offices in Alberta, Millennium IIIcurrently maintains a portfolio of over $300 million ininvestment property throughout Western Canada onbehalf of over 1,300 investors.

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