Creating opportunities for others motivates businessman

Achievement Page 4

David Gabriel Tuccaro is up to his elbows in business ventures, enjoying prosperity and success. Planning, staying committed through the difficulties, reading, taking courses to keep current, and hiring "the right people" are the reasons his dreams come true, he says.

Tuccaro imparts his business philosophy to his several companies: "to create opportunities for Aboriginal people at every level of employment." In other words, his vision goes beyond mere commercial acquisition, ensuring that others get chances too. It's hard to think of a better reason for his selection as this year's winner of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Business and Commerce.

"It's real good to be recognized by your own people - it's kind of humbling. It's going to get me into places I haven't been before." That could mean collaborating with a well-known business reporter on a book that Tuccaro is considering writing.

Tuccaro, a 40-year-old member of Mikisew Cree First Nation, lives in Fort Chipewyan, Alta. He owns and controls the firm, Tuccaaro Inc., which finances interests such as property rentals and commercial development. His companies include Aboriginal Global Investments (money market investment); Aboriginal Technical Services (environmental engineering and laboratory services); Tuc's Contracting (water and vacuum truck services); and Neegan Development Corporation Ltd. (heavy equipment earth moving).

He's also got a stake in a computer training company; in addition, an "all star team" of management professionals is in the development stage. He's also looking at trade apprenticeships in the manufacture of specialized furniture and fittings.

Fervently independent, Tuccaro stresses that having his own business puts him in charge of his destiny. He sees the rising number of Aboriginal people earning diplomas and degrees as a sure sign that others aspire to the same success.

"Those people [young and educated] are not going to permit anybody to treat them as second-class citizens," Tuccaro points out. "I think the level of education is rising, but not fast enough among Natives. I think leadership (chiefs and councils) needs to establish education as the number one priority, even before social issues or housing."

Tuccaro grew up in Fort Chipewyan, went to school there except for one year at a residential school, and then attended Grandin College in Fort Smith, N.W.T., where he graduated from high school in 1976. He admits he was never a great student, working only hard enough to attain the 65 per cent average he needed to play collegiate sports. Grade 12 was "good enough" back then to get a job, he says.

Tuccaro's winning nature shone, though, in wrestling, basketball and hockey.

"The competition was what drove me," he says, adding he earned a gold medal in the Arctic Winter Games in Grade 12.

He's involved in the Alberta Chamber of Resources, a board that assists Alberta and Northwest Territories Native people to develop natural resources such as forestry, mining, oil and gas. The organization aims to make sure that Native communities get information about potential projects in time to make presentations and bids on projects. Tuccaro was the first Aboriginal person to sit as director of the organization.

The goal of Tuccaro's companies is to achieve 80 per cent Aboriginal employment, "to create opportunities for Aboriginal people at every level of education and every level of employment," he says. For example, heavy equipment operators and mechanical apprentices might have less than Grade 8 education, while financial officers or engineers need a college diploma or university degree.

Just now, Tuccaro adds, he is putting together a national Aboriginal business association, and expects to be hiring a director in about three months. He foresees the organization's members getting involved in bulk purchases as one way of saving on the cost of doing business.

Tuccaro started out in the oil patch after Grde 12. He's also owned and driven a cab, and worked in construction. But he always aimed to be his own boss and says he has taken management and refresher courses just about every year since leaving high school.

Tuccaro stresses that he backs not only the education and training initiatives that ensure his own staff is fully qualified, but encourages other Aboriginal people to become entrepreneurs. Another part of his philosophy dictates that commercial success will not come at the expense of the environment, as a highly skilled and informed Aboriginal workforce increasingly will be planners in resource development. He won't compromise workplace safety either.

These days he's also active in volunteer committee work. Tuccaro says he wants to make sure government and industry are getting timely, accurate information about Aboriginal people, since critical business and resource development decisions hinge on what they know.

"We have to start saying we can do it ourselves, or someone else will still be looking after us," he says. "I left my community because there wasn't enough opportunity for me there. I had to compete in the Canadian marketplace."

Tuccaro said the future of his people is always uppermost in his mind, and that is why he takes his message of self-determination to regional high schools.

"Don't listen to those who say you won't succeed." Tuccaro tells students to "apply drive and commitment and don't give up." He says they should visualize where they want to be in five years and then keep after it.

"A lot of times people quit one day before they [would reach] success," Tuccaro says.

Success wouldn't mean much if he couldn't relax sometimes and spend time with his family. He fishes, plays golf and goes on holiday two or three times a year, confident in the abilities of his associates to keep business on track.