CESO steers clients towards success

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As a manager of the band-owned Standoff Restaurant on the Blood Nation reserve in southern Alberta three years ago, Patsy Rabbit was getting fed up with her job.

"I was getting so frustrated because the band was always saying that I wasn't making enough money for them," she said. "One day I thought, I'd like to be on my own."

Problem was, even after working for the restaurant for 20 years, Rabbit had no idea how to run a business of her own.

And then she heard about CESO. The non-profit non-government agency, which used to stand for the Canadian Executive Service Organization and now just goes by the acronym (pronounced KES-so), is in the business of helping people like Rabbit.

Through CESO's Aboriginal services division, she was matched up with Bill Jackson, a volunteer, who had expertise in business matters. He helped her draw up a proposal to take over the restaurant.

Jackson laid out what she would need to make a go of it on her own and explained to her the money and expertise she would need.

"He made me understand I have to take risks," said Rabbit recently after a busy lunch hour. "But he didn't pressure me."

She bought the equipment and inventory from the band, using her entire savings, and now pays the band rent on the building.

And she says she's happier now because she has control, has created one more

full-time position and is even making a modest profit.

"I'll never be a millionaire here," she says with a laugh. "But now I can do what I want. Before I always had to answer to (the band)."

Rabbit's story is just one of many stories that make up CESO.

Modelled after a successful group in the U.S., CESO was founded in 1967. It's a non-profit group that matches volunteers with years of expertise in their fields to business or organizations that need professional advice.

Since its beginning, CESO has completed about 27,000 assignments in more than 57 countries.

It has 3,600 volunteers, representing more than 150 industries, such as manufacturing, oil and gas, construction and financial institutions, mining, food and restaurants, clothing, agriculture and communications. CESO offers consultants, functional experts, mentors and trainers and can assist bands in the running of their own councils and governments.

The Aboriginal Services division has been serving Native clients for 24 years. About 75 per cent of its funding comes from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.

The division's emphasis is on giving Natives the tools they need to run their own businesses and social organizations, CESO president Daniel Haggerty said during a recent visit to Vancouver.

"The knowledge and expertise is not just being transferred (to Native communities), it's being melded with their own," he said.

CESO also acts as an advocate for self-sufficiency among Natives. The organization submitted a report to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

One recent change for Aboriginal Services is asking Native clients to contribute to the costs of their individual projects, if they are able.

"When groups contribute to the cost of a project, they feel they have the right of greater input and can question the services more freely," says Vancouver's Susan Tatoosh, one of the Aboriginal board members.

CESO will offer services to any enterprise Native groups see as beneficial to their people, says Haggerty. That would include helping them start up a gambling casino, despite possible negative repercussions.

"I'd try to suspend my own personal belief about gambling," said Haggerty. "It's as close to altruism as you can get."

Aboriginal Services projects include assisting the Fisher River First Nation Healing Centre in Manitoba develop their 1993-94 operating budget; consulting on renovations, and advising on federal funding, to restore Wolf Lake Band Council's historic chapel in Quebec, helping to develop tourism and a grocery store and gas station for the Ditidagt Nation Visitors Centre at Port Alberni, B.C.

Meanwhile, restaurateur Rabbit says she will return to them when she moves to a larger location, possibly next year. And she would recommend CESO for Natives wanting to start a new venture.

"I'd like to see more people get their own businesses."

CESO Aboriginal Services, which has its head office in Montreal and operations centre in Toronto, as well as eight regional offices across Canada, can be reached at Suite 2000, 415 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ont. M5B 2E7, (416)-596-2376.