The province has hired a consultant to work specifically with helping Indigenous businesses across B.C. to export products.
That consultant is Daphane Nelson, who is based on the Community Futures Development Corporation for Central Interior First Nation, on the Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc reserve. She was introduced during a news conference at the Tk’emlups Moccasin Square Gardens.
Nelson works under the provincial Export Navigator Program, which she says allows entrepreneurs to find markets for not just products but services as well.
“It takes you through different stages. Beginning on the ground with awareness… To all the way down the road with exporting,” Nelson says. “As far as the clientele, I’ve been talking to people in artisans as well as agriculture, and tourism.”
Nelson started in the job in June and says she’s worked with more than half a dozen Indigenous entrepreneurs since then to help them export their products.
One of those is Green Future Industries, owned by Steven Teed who is a councillor with the Adams Lake Indian Band near Chase.
Teed says his businesses specializes in industrial hemp, and says it an environmentally sustainable option for everyday products.
“In Canada we have a great opportunity with industrial hemp… getting these products to the larger populations and getting industrial hemp into the mainstream,” he says. “As a small Indigenous business owner, it’s very exciting to see this kind of program and funding go to helping us get to the next level.”
The Tk’emlúps chief says she believes many band members will seek out a new resource to take their products to new markets.
Rosanne Casimir also commented on the new province-wide Indigenous business consultant being based on TteS land.
“I believe it’s the different resources that are within the area. We’ve got All Nations Trust Company. We also have Community Futures; they provide worldwide services in regards to any kind of business opportunities, to help individuals access different streams.”
B.C. Jobs Minister Bruce Ralston says the program was created in 2015 and has had steady growth, with now nine consultants province-wide.
“Getting all your ducks in a row to export is a challenge for small business, if you think about it without having done it before. So this program eases you into it, assesses your readiness to do that, helps you put together a plan and as you take steps forward it helps you execute that plan successfully,” Ralston says.
“Businesses that export are generally more successful than businesses that don’t. You’re not reliant on a global market or a regional market. You have an ability to sustain yourself better through the ups and downs of the economy.”
Ralston says the export program has helped more than 300 businesses in B.C. in the past four years.