One of the South Slave’s most prominent firms says it is now majority Indigenous-owned.
Rowe’s Group of Companies celebrates half a century in business this year. The company states brothers Jack and Mike Rowe, lifelong northerners, founded Rowe’s Construction in Hay River in 1975.
Rowe’s operates in fields like construction, housing, energy and hospitality.
Last week, the company issued a press release declaring that Rowe’s was “proud to announce they are now majority Indigenous-owned.”
“This milestone marks an exciting new chapter in the company’s journey, strengthening its ties to the communities it services,” the press release stated.
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Behind the scenes, chief executive officer Jack Rowe said, that announcement was based on two recent changes.
He said one of the company’s major shareholders, Trudie Walsh, spent 2024 working with a federal government review committee to formalize her identity as Métis, while another shareholder, Owen Rowe, transferred his portion of the ownership to his daughter Sydney Sapp, who is Indigenous.
As a result, the CEO said, Walsh and Sapp together hold 70 percent of the company’s shares.
He believes that will help the company in government procurement processes, giving the example of federal contracting, where “if there is an Indigenous corporation, then they will provide some preferences on different projects.”
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“We feel that will give us access to additional opportunities in the North,” he said.
Immediate focuses for the company are expanding its partnership with Nogha Enterprises, with which it has operated highway maintenance contracts based in Fort Simpson, and developing Forward Mining, a construction firm aimed at the mining sector of which Rowe’s owns more than 65 percent.
“That gives us access to a lot of the opportunity. We do a lot of work with the federal government through Forward,” said Rowe.
The press release added a Rowe’s “brand refresh” is coming in the months ahead.
