Supporting Aboriginal Business Now and into the Future

Encana has found a kindred business spirit in the Aseniwuche Development Corporation (ADC), based in the northwestern Alberta town of Grande Cache.

An open-door communication policy and relationship-building are operational cornerstones of both the natural gas producer and the ADC, a community-owned corporation of the Aseniwuche Winewak Nation of Canada (AWN). These calling cards of the latter were earned through a nontreaty nation's determination to turn sudden change into prosperity.

"We knew going into business that we had to get done what we said we were going to get done - we knew we had to act with integrity," says David MacPhee, band president and CEO of ADC, established in 1998 and the region's largest Aboriginal employer.

That philosophy has, literally, welded ADC and Encana into a win-win business relationship.

Encana is the biggest customer of ADC's welding division, one of several business interests which also include mining, forestry and tourism.

Housed in a 24,000-square-foot shop, the welding division fabricates and installs a wide range of products for the local energy sector. It's now ADC's busiest, most profitable department, graduating from small beginnings in 2007 in a shop less than 1,000-square-feet.

By taking on welding contracts, the venture brings dollars into the community; it also provides practical, hands-on training and field work for apprentices enrolled in its 20-week Introduction to Welding program. Craig Cropley, a journeyman welder, was hired by ADC specifically to oversee the training.

MacPhee credits support from Encana as the initial spark in this robust growth. In the project's fledgling days, Greg Fisher, a Contract Construction Coordinator based in Encana's Grande Cache office, consulted with Cropley regarding high-demand products and pre-qualifications for preferred contractor status.

"We needed hands-on work for the students and Encana responded in kind with 100 sets of platforms and stairs fabricated for them in the first year. Without the support of Encana, and the business opportunities it gave us, the welding program never would have happened," says MacPhee.

This business relationship amounted to a double win - for ADC in expanding its scope of services and the Aboriginal labour pool; and for Encana, able to procure fabrication services locally and now tapping ADC mechanics to service fleet vehicles.

Encana helped coordinate an event at Calgary's Marriott Hotel for the AWN to showcase to energy industry reps a new, cutting-edge online portal for surface land disposition requests. The project is the latest venture for the ADC and the AWN, the band's governance body established in 1994.

"There has always been a strong business case for Encana to be involved with ADC and AWN; we have attained cost savings, received high-quality work and it allows us to invest in local communities in which we operate, which is a core value of our business," says Brock Kaluznick, Encana's Group Lead of Aboriginal Relations.

"We have an innovative partnership with ADC and it has become a supplier of choice."

A supplier of choice, it should be noted, that started more than a decade ago with a $50,000 budget now grown to $8 million for ADC and $2 million for AWN.

In 1989, the biggest regional employer of Aboriginals was Susa Creek School, with less than half a dozen workers. By 2008, between ADC and AWN, more than 100 people were employed throughout the year - approximately 60 full-time and more than 90 percent Aboriginal.

"By any business standard, that's pretty phenomenal growth," says Rachelle McDonald, AWN Executive Director.

The Aseniwuche Winewak, a Cree term for Rocky Mountain People, lived traditionally until as recently as 1969 when Grande Cache was incorporated. Prior to then, elders lived in teepees and wickiups and subsisted as hunter-gatherers.

"The biggest success for our community is having a unified voice to raise our profile with industry and government," says McDonald, who spent a weekend in 1998 quickly incorporating ADC after an energy company in the region, impressed by the band's open-door consultation process, offered it pipeline clearing and right-of-way work.

"We always tell companies there's a strong case to do business with us as we will be here for a long time."

Economic success such as that achieved by the Aseniwuche Winewak hinges largely on educating the next generation of Aboriginal business leaders.

Through the joint efforts of Encana, the Ch'nook Aboriginal Business Education program and Northern Lights College, a number of these budding entrepreneurs recently gathered at the college's Dawson Creek campus. There they heard first-hand testimonial of a unique pathway to the world of commerce and management.

Offered through the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, Ch'nook offers scholarships and networking support to Aboriginal students enrolled full-time in post-secondary business programs throughout B.C. The session at Northern Lights, the first ever regional high school pilot project for Ch'nook, proved so successful that the initiative plans to hold seven more next year.

"It's true for Encana and it's true for us - the value in building a program is through people on the ground, knowing the people in the communities and the teachers and educators across the province," says Dr. John Claxton, Ch'nook Academic Director.

"The high school piece is a very critical part in building Aboriginal participation in full-time business studies."

Ch'nook not only allows for study close to home; it helps bring the expertise of graduates back into their communities. The initiative has produced 50 alumni from Fort Nelson to Victoria since the 2006 launch of its Advanced Management Program, of which Encana is a leading funding partner. Last May, 25 post-secondary business programs signed the Ch'nook Business Education Accord.

"The idea is to support Aboriginal students who are interested in obtaining business education training anywhere in B.C. In addition to receiving financial support, we provide a full support network which they, in turn, enrich by being ambassadors of the program to high school students," says Joanne Pearson, Ch'nook Regional Director.

One of these is Laura Cuffley of the Metis Nation, a post-grad scholar now the coordinator of the Ch'nook Cousins networking initiative with high schools.

"A lot of these kids want to take home what they have learned and give back to their communities," she says.

Encana has sponsored the entry into Ch'nook of five Aboriginal students from northeastern B.C. communities where it operates.

The company has also been involved at a grassroots level with Jeff Beale, Aboriginal Relations Advisor, coordinating a series of workshops last year at high schools in Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Chetwynd and Fort Nelson.

This industry support is crucial amidst provincial education cutbacks, says Kristina van de Walle, Recruitment Manager, Northern Lights College, one of Ch'nook's academic partners.

"Without corporate sponsors like Encana, these programs just couldn't happen,"

says Kristina van de Walle

"Many First Nations leaders are excited about this opportunity for their youth, as they need the next generation to take on their heritage and their governance."

In tandem with its support of Ch'nook, Encana is offering Aboriginal Entrance awards of $1,000 each for up to six students entering Northern Lights College in September 2010.

"We only have one other donor who offers entrance awards specific to Aboriginal students, so these new awards from Encana fill a real need in lowering the barriers to education and making our programs more accessible to worthy students," says Donna Kane, Executive Director, Northern Lights College Foundation.

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