Around the North

Sault Ste. Marie CAO Joe Fratesi has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his years of service to the city. Fratesi has overseen the day-to-day operations of the city for 17 years.

The Sudbury & District Home Builders’ Association (SDHBA) has honoured six of its members for their contributions to the association. The Hall of Fame Award went to Faye Gartley of @homeEnergy.

Aquatech Dewatering plans to open branches in Timmins and Thunder Bay in the spring of 2013, which will complement its existing Sudbury location.

A Sault Ste. Marie company has launched an online application that helps manage waiting lists for parents seeking childcare.

Flakeboard Company in Sault Ste. Marie has pledged $32,500 towards Sault College ’s capital campaign. Funds from the campaign go towards student scholarships and bursaries and campus enhancements.

Lake Shore Gold Corp . announced Dec. 11 that has completed the first stage of its Timmins mill expansion. The mill's new capacity of 2,500 tonnes per day represents a 25 per cent increase from the previous capacity.

Thunder Bay has been selected as the host city for the 2014 Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative Annual General Meeting and Conference. The city is expecting 250 delegates from cities around the Great Lakes in June, 2014.

Windigo Catering Limited Partnership will accepting an award at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in March.

Vale has contributed $125,000 to the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH) at Laurentian University towards the establishment of a research chair.

Seven months after one of its employees was killed following the collapse of a shopping mall roof, Collège Boréal opened a new Employment Options Emploi centre in downtown Elliot Lake .