Around the North

A group of Highway 11 communities received FedNor funding for a new area marketing strategy. FedNor Minister Tony Clement delivered $134,250 for a tourism and economic opportunities initiative in the Central Almaguin region.

The Bharti School of Engineering at Sudbury 's Laurentian University is establishing a research chair in open-pit mining and Iamgold Gold is assisting with a donation of $1.25 million.

Having a headframe on the local horizon is beneficial to the regional economy.

The Passport to Unity multicultural festival will expand in Sault Ste. Marie thanks to provincial funding. The Sault Community Career Centre , which has hosted the festival since 2006, received $75,000 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation .

Sault College has received $1 million from the province to help build an enclosed link that will connect the school’s student health and wellness centre with other buildings on campus.

Penguin Automated Systems Inc. has received a grant from FedNor that will allow it to develop prototype robots designed to inspect and map wastewater pipes. The Sudbury -area company received $400,000 through the federal funding agency.

Dereck Whitmell has been appointed the new chair of the board of directors of the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre. Whitmell has served with the board for eight years and moves from the role of secretary to assume his new position.

Public hearings as part of the inquiry into the collapse of the Algo Centre Mall roof in Elliot Lake are expected to start the week of March 4.

Citing volatile market conditions and cost challenges, Vale announced today that it plans to move to a single-furnace operation at its Copper Cliff smelter in Sudbury.

Thunder Bay International Airport posted a new record for passenger volume in 2012. The airport reports 761,300 passengers passed through the terminal last year, a 5.8 per cent increase over the previous year.