Arctic Cup

Arpin International Group is proud to be one of the major sponsors of this hockey event in St. Pete, Russia. The intent, of course, is to bring unity on the future treatment, and division, of the Arctic Lands, and make sure they are preserved as a valuable asset.

Here's the story in today's Herald on our sponsorship and on two of our employees who are there playing and networking on behalf of the Arpin Group:

Mover’s ‘hockey diplomacy’

Execs play charity game in bid for Russian clients

By Darren Garnick / The Working Stiff
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 -

"When teenage buddies Bob Sullivan and Mark Dearborn sweated out their summers lugging furniture for a moving company, they couldn’t have imagined it would lead to their own personal “Miracle.”

More than 25 years later, the former Chelmsford High School hockey teammates find themselves in St. Petersburg, Russia, this week to explore business prospects as vice presidents for the Arpin International Group, a global relocation firm serving corporate, government and military clients.

Sullivan and Dearborn are lacing up their skates for the inaugural Arctic Cup, a tournament between the eight nations with real estate near the North Pole: Canada, Denmark (which rules Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the U.S.A.


Organized to promote environmental conservation issues, the Dec. 8-11 competition is comprised of retired hockey pros, business leaders, entertainers and politicians — similar to the composition of an American Pro-Am charity golf tournament.

“In Russia, they call it ‘hockey diplomacy’ when business leaders bond on the ice. It’s very similar to how CEOs connect on the golf course here,” says Dearborn, who oversees Arpin’s customer care department out of its Tyngsboro office.

You can forgive Dearborn, who played two years of pro hockey in France and Austria in the 1990s, for giddily thinking about the famous “Miracle on Ice” USA Hockey team that upset Russia. He and his co-worker will be teammates with 1980 Olympic hero (and former Boston Bruin) Dave Christian.

“I’ve seen the Kurt Russell movie at least 15 times. I assure you that Bob and I will be quoting from it all the time,” Dearborn says.

Sullivan — who’s been in charge of opening Arpin’s offices in London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Frankfurt — hopes the Arctic Cup paves the way for a future Moscow branch. But his mind is temporarily on the puck, too.

“I’m an out-of-shape father of three working a desk job and on Friday, I’ll be playing for the USA against the Russians. The hockey part is totally surreal, but I’m also extremely proud to be involved with the cause,” Sullivan says.

Headquartered in East Greenwich, R.I., Arpin International Group is a major corporate sponsor of the Arctic Cup. Co-owner Peter Arpin, who hosts a weekly AM radio show about renewable energy, says the tournament is a natural fit with his goal to become “the greenest moving company in the world.”

Selected Arpin moving trucks are now testing solar panels that allow vehicles to use the heaters or air conditioners without running the engine, he says, adding that he hopes to eventually retrofit their entire domestic fleet of 800-1,000, which includes contractors."

This event is the true "business side of green': Bringing together countries, companies and leaders to raise money, awareness and find ways of doing the right kinds of business around the world.

We are proud to be a part of this historic event.

We hope you will follow this on Facebook and spread the word.