Corporate mentoring assists Aboriginal entrepreneurs

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The number of successful Aboriginal businesses in Canada is on the rise, thanks in part to established companies taking an interest in their success and lending a helping hand.

The trend toward corporate mentoring for Aboriginal businesses was the topic of a report released in June by the Conference Board of Canada.

The Ties That Bind: Corporate Mentoring with Aboriginal Firms examines the growth of corporate-Aboriginal partnerships, highlighting successful corporate mentoring initiatives aimed at increasing opportunities for Aboriginal business development.

According to the report, more than 20,000 North American Indians, Metis and Inuit in Canada have their own businesses. A recent survey by Statistics Canada reported that, of the 1,000 Aboriginal business owners surveyed, more than half said inadequate access to capital was one of the factors hampering their growth. They also indicated a need to improve their management skills, productivity and employee training, as well as become more innovative and expand their markets.

Many of the areas identified as needing improvement are being addressed through corporate mentoring initiatives.

The report highlights the work done by a dozen companies - Syncrude Canada, Placer Dome, Toronto Dominion Bank, PCL, the Alberta Energy Company, Diavik Diamond Mines, Weldwood of Canada, SaskEnergy, Cameco, Weyerhauser, Manitoba Hydro and the Royal Bank - in assisting Aboriginal companies. This assistance takes many forms, from providing financial investments to co-ordinating joint ventures between newly formed Aboriginal companies and established non-Aboriginal firms, to providing Aboriginal companies with business, financial and technical expertise needed to allow them to become suppliers.

Such corporate mentoring initiatives benefit both the Aboriginal firms and communities and the corporations themselves. Aboriginal businesses involved in corporate mentoring realize increased opportunities for business growth and expansion, their communities benefit from the increase in employment opportunities and economic development, and the corporations benefit from having quality goods and services available from local suppliers, increased market access, and improved relations with First Nations communities.