Entrepreneur makes it his business to give back

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While many people in northern Alberta are hoping to cash in on the booming oil and gas industry, Jerry Cunningham is building his business around another of the province's natural resources.

Cunningham is the owner of Cunningham Outfitting Ltd., which operates on the East Prairie Metis settlement offering guided hunts to clientele.

Starting an outfitting business was sort of a natural choice for Cunningham, who said he has been hunting as long as he can remember. And the same goes for the people he employs as guides.

"I think Metis people, Native people, you know, hunting is our lives, so to speak. So it's something that just comes natural," he said.

The company is very much a family business. The guides include Cunningham's father, Gerald, his brother, Jerrod, and his cousin, Bruce.

"And then my mother is one of the cooks," he said. "She usually hires a couple other people to help cook and clean and do all the other stuff, so that's kind of her department. I just oversee everything and make sure everyone's doing their job."

Cunningham Outfitting's on-site hunting lodge offers clients all the modern amenities, including satellite television and Internet access, and can accommodate up to 10 hunters at a time.

Clients come to Cunningham Outfitting to hunt a variety of animals, but the biggest draw, and the reason the majority of the company's American clients come to East Prairie, is to hunt whitetail deer.

"Spring bear is definitely big ... moose and elk are definitely of interest, but the whitetail deer is pretty much everything for us," Cunningham said.

He started the business as a way to boost the economy of East Prairie.

"That was one of the biggest things, that it would be right on the settlement," he said. "So settlement members that can't leave or that don't want to leave can work right on the settlement and be home."

Cunningham Outfitting employs between eight and a dozen people at any given time, but these employees aren't the only community members who benefit from the company's operations.

"Settlement members have their own land, and so, for me to access their land, I give them kind of an access fee ... so that helps out people as well ... They get paid for clients I have on their land," Cunningham said.

"I've got people calling me already [saying] 'Are you going to put a stand in my land this year?', looking forward to getting that income ... because in my community there's not a lot of economic development out there. And I know, in a lot of Aboriginal communities throughout Canada, there isn't."

Cunningham also ensures the Elders of East Prairie share in his company's good fortunes. He's created a game return policy under which the meat from any animal his clients harvest from the community stays in the community.

"I'll take it into the butcher shop and have it cut up and made into steaks and hamburger and whatever else that's needed to be done and it goes out to the Elders of the community."

That policy helped win Elders over to the idea of having an outfitting business in East Prairie, Cunningham explained, helping to overcome their concerns about outsiders coming to hunt on Metis land.

Getting the business up and running hasn't been without its challenges. Before he could get a provincial license to operate, Cunningham first had to spend one year working under another outfitter. The next challenge came when he had to convince the settlement's councillors that this was a good industry in which to get involved.

Then came trying to find the right employees.

"When we first started, we went through a lot of people, because we start at four o'clock in the morning," he said.

Another challenge was, and continues to be, attracting clients.

"There's thousands of outfitters in Canada, and trying to sell your place is definitely one of the biggest concerns you have every day."

One of the ways Cunningham has been working to get the word out about his business is through sportsman shows. Cunnngham Outfitting has a booking agent that travels across the United States attending these shows on its behalf. But a surprising amount of business also comes in through word of mouth.

"Word of mouth is the biggest thing that you could ever imagine," Cunningham said. "I've got guys calling me from Pittsburgh, saying, 'Ya, we heard about you through so and so,' and I'm like 'Oh my God, that's cool.' ... So it's amazing how it works."

The company has been in business for three years, and last year was the busiest by far.

"Last year was definitely our break-out year," Cunningham said. "We had 32 clients that came and hunted with Cunningham Outfitting."

Part of that growth comes from the amount of repeat business the company gets. The fact that Cunningham Outfitting operates on a Metis settlement is one of the reasons clients keep coming back year after year, Cunningham said.

"Because we're on a Metis settlement, you don't have pressure on the deer," he said. "Nobody can just come on the settlement and hunt."

When asked what the most rewarding thing is about running his outfitting business, Cunningham doesn't hesitate before answering. It's seeing a satisfied customer.

"So when the client shoots a deer that's the biggest that he's ever shot in his life, that look in his face, well, it's priceless. That's the biggest thing for me, is just making people happy. Providing a service that makes them happy."

With three years under his belt, Cunningham is looking at opportunities for expansion and has begun talks with other Metis settlements about opening up outfitting operations within their communities. The people of those communities would realize the same economic development opportunities that Cunningham Outfitters has brought to East Prairie, Cunningham said.

Cunningham said he's in the business for the long haul.

"I can guarantee that Cunningham Outfitting will be around for a very long time," he said.

For more information about Cunningham Outfitting, visit thecompany Web site at www.cunninghamoutfitting.com.