With the 2007 Canada Winter Games now two years away and counting, the host society has announced Northwestel as the Games' first northern corporate partner to sign on as a major sponsor of the Games.

Northwestel will provide essential communications services required to stage the 2007 Games, including local service and equipment, video and teleconferencing services, Internet and web hosting services.

The company's total contribution is valued at more than $360,000.

'Our thanks to Northwestel, which broke the barrier between planning to get sponsors and seeing sponsorship,' said Piers McDonald, president of the Games host society, in an interview after a news conference Thursday. 'It's shown real leadership. We're very appreciative of the assistance they've provided and will continue to provide.'

Of course, it might help that Northwestel President and CEO Paul Flaherty is also the vice-president of sponsorship for the 2007 Games. Flaherty said Northwestel has a long history of supporting the Arctic Winter Games, and the company sees the Canada Games as an even greater opportunity.

'Northwestel has seen these Games as being an amazing opportunity to highlight the North and showcase what we have to the rest of Canada,' said Flaherty. 'We're really looking forward to this.'

Both Flaherty and McDonald hope that Northwestel coming on board will start a sort of domino affect with other potential major sponsors. They expect to announce a few more sponsors within the next two weeks. McDonald said the host society certainly needs both national and local sponsors to 'step up the plate and provide assistance.

'We're obviously setting very ambitious targets when it comes to fundraising,' he stated.

With two years to the day (Thursday) until the Games begin, the host society also unveiled a Pan-Northern logo, which recognizes a partnership between the three northern territories.

The logo consists of three northern lights, three stars, three dogs running with a musher as a team and the words 'Whitehorse 2007,' encompassing the Canada Games Council ring and maple leaf. The logo also included the slogan 'Inspiring Dreams & Building Champions.'

A snow carving of the logo is currently on display outside of the Elijah Smith Building in downtown Whitehorse

The official launching of the Games' public website www. 2007canadagames.ca ñ� was also a highlight Thursday.

McDonald recalled he and Whitehorse Mayor Ernie Bourassa's tour of the Bathurst-Campbellton Canada Winter Games in 2003, after Whitehorse was awarded the Games.

'It seems like yesterday,' he smiled.

'I know that the intensity of planning is going to increase. It's going to be a lot of fun, but there's going to be a lot of work ahead.'

McDonald said while the majority of the planning phase has been completed, completion of the intricate details still needs to be take place.

'One of the things I've been very impressed with is the leadership Piers has shown,' praised Flaherty. 'He's really forced all of us to think outside the box. We're going places we've never gone before as far as the Games.'

Flaherty added that the Whitehorse host society is currently developing a one-of-a-kind marketing campaign Denny Kobayashi, who also works for the Yukon's department of tourism, will head up the marketing division of the Games.

McDonald said while he's sure there will be many late nights and long road trips in order to get to the finish line, he and others involved with the Whitehorse bid have been buoyed by all the support they've received, especially from unexpected places.

The Canada Winter Games will be held in Whitehorse from Feb. 24-March 10, 2007. It's estimated that 2,700 athletes, plus hundreds of coaches and officials, will participate in the Games, with over 4,500 volunteers supporting the 22 sporting events that take place over the two-week period.

The budget for the Games is $18-million.

Compare that to the Arctic Winter Games, which feature about 2,000 athletes, 3,000 volunteers and 19 sports over six days, on a budget of $4-million.

In fact, the 2007 Games will feature more athletes and more sports than the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver (2,500 athletes and 14 sports), although the Vancouver Olympics will boast about 22,000 volunteers and has a budget of $1.2-billion.

The 2007 Games will be the first held north of the 60th parallel and will mark the 40th anniversary of the Canada Games, which were first held in 1967 and alternate every two years between summer and winter events.