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ABORIGINAL ALBERTA

The Edmonton Sun n Thursday, June 21, 2012

Getting organized for success

NAABA offers entrepreneurial advocacy
NAABA is to encourage the full members to take advantage of the many opportunities presented for entrepreneurs to grow and prosper in the globally competitive environment of the oil sands. NAABA also provides support and training opportunities to its members when necessary to ensure that the Aboriginal entrepreneurs have the tools needed for success. While the full members of NAABA are Aboriginal companies, there are also a number of associate members who participate in the organization. These companies are non-Aboriginal businesses or businesses outside of the Wood Buffalo region who have made a commitment to support Aboriginal business growth. NAABA hosts four large events per year to give the full and associate members The oil sands region has been called the Land of Opportunity, and for good reason. With so many business opportunities available in the resource sector and in many other support areas, an amazing range of Aboriginal entrepreneurs have stepped up to take advantage. Realizing early on that there is strength in numbers, these entrepreneurs came together in 1993 to form the Northeastern Alberta Aboriginal Business Association (NAABA). NAABA is a nonprofit organization that functions as a type of Chamber of Commerce for Aboriginal businesses and provides a collective voice for these entrepreneurs. NAABAs full members are at least 51% Aboriginal owned and controlled businesses located in the Wood Buffalo region. The role of the opportunity to network, meet the industry players and learn about what oil sands projects are coming up along with the workforce required. This ensures that the Aboriginal entrepreneurs are always informed about upcoming opportunities to grow their businesses, while associate members have a direct source of local businesses to help them with their contracts. NAABA also works to lobby the industry players to ensure that the business opportunities created in the resource sector be provided to the local indigenous business community before being tendered out. It is NAABAs belief that using local resources benefits all the parties involved. Fo r m o re i n f o r mat i o n please visit the NAABA website at www.naaba.ca.

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Albertas oil sands area represents opportunity for Aboriginal businesses, and the non-profit Northeastern Alberta Aboriginal Business Association helps provide a collective voice for Aboriginal entrepreneurs.

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cbe.ab.ca

Additional cultural events

All across Canada, French Canadians express their cultural pride and rich heritage through colourful parades and lively parties on June 24 marking Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. These festivities combine the ancient rites of the summer solstice a period of light and hope with the traditional celebration in honour of the Patron Saint of French Canadians, who was officially proclaimed as such by His Holiness Pope Pius X in 1908. On Nov. 13, 2002, the Government of Canada, by Royal Proclamation, designated June 27 of each year as Canadian Multiculturalism Day. Canadian Multiculturalism Day is an opportunity to celebrate our diversity and our commitment to democracy, equality and mutual respect and to appreciate the contributions of the various multicultural groups and communities to Canadian society.

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Northeastern Alberta Aboriginal Business Association (NAABA) is a proud supporter of Aboriginal Business.
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