First Nations leaders from across the province are converging on the Civic Centre to compare notes and make contacts in a conference organizers describe as "match making for business."
Aboriginal Business Match 2012 (ABM 2012) is taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, and has drawn more than 300 delegates from 117 First Nations and Tribal Councils.
Booths representing 79 representing businesses - from wind power to tourism to engineering services to site preparation - are filling one hall at the Civic Centre while upstairs delegates are taking in workshops on such topics as agriculture, forestry, energy and mining and technology.
But perhaps the most important aspect are the thousands of face-to-face meetings that have scheduled during the event - as many as 4,600 will have been held by the time all is said and done.
To aid the get-togethers, the delegates have developed detailed e-profiles to help them select appointments with each other based on matching business interests.
Lheidli T'enneh First Nation Chief Dominic Frederick was there yesterday and was impressed with the number of people and businesses the event has drawn.
"I think it's a good thing," Frederick said. "There are a lot of companies here that we don't know and they probably don't know about us."
In a partnership with Kamloops-based Roga Contracting Ltd., the Lheidli T'enneh have owned and operated a logging company, LTN Contracting Ltd., since the late-1990s when it secured access to 50,000 cubic metres of timber and Canfor as the main customer.
That total has since been increased to 245,000 cubic metres and Frederick said it's now a $1 million business in terms of revenue. The wood was pre-sold to Canfor before the economic downturn, Frederick noted.
"It's a business, we don't run it as a charitable organization," Frederick said.
