Tribal Councils Investment Group maximizes mainstream opportunities

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Gone are the days when the best way to protect resources was to put them in a safe place and save them in case of an emergency.

These days, people want to make their equity work for them. To do that, they have to use their imagination and take a few risks, or call Tribal Councils Investment Group of Manitoba, one of this year's four winners of CANDO's Economic Developer Recognition Awards.

Tribal Councils doesn't feel it's taking risks; rather, it's pooling investment potential to give shareholders access to projects that were once beyond their individual reach.

Alan McLeod, company vice-president, explains they look for strategic investments-low risk, but high return. "What my economics professor would call a pipe dream," he adds.

The company represents seven tribal councils, 55 bands and more than 92,000 shareholders over a wide geographical area. With their first investment, the Arctic Beverages group of companies, they've expanded the market territory for the Pepsi company.

"We've been able to expand the market to the Alberta border, the Quebec border and the top of the map," McLeod said.

This year they were named the Canadian Bottler of the Year and were first runner-up for the North American Bottler of the Year.

The Arctic Beverages experience is just one example of how, if they work together, nothing is beyond the little guys' grasp.

McLeod describes "the company's ability to pool relatively small amounts from a large number of investors to maintain a critical mass of capital for future investments" as "real success story."

Tribal Councils Investment Group has been operating under this philosophy since 1990. Its head office is located on Opaskwayak Cree Nation (The Pas), and its head operating office is in Winnipeg.

McLeod has been involved with the company for seven years and he gives credit to the visionaries and leaders who created it. The organization "came out of the vision of seven tribal councils to get involved in projects that were beyond the capacity of their individual bands," he says.

This level of involvement has continued, with the CEO of each of the tribal councils sitting on the company's board of directors. McLeod feels one secret of the company's success is its independence.

"Here in Manitoba," he says, "we seem to be able to keep politics outside of business decisions. Our motto around here is 'No deal is better than a bad deal'."

McLeod describes board chairman Philip Dorion as the "primary visionary" behind the organization. He also mentions the business expertise that has been part of the company since its inception. For instance, Marvin E. Tiller, company president and CEO, brings to the table a "mainstream business world background and experience." Tiller is a former president of the Northwest Company and has been a senior executive with multinational companies.

Although they look for high return investments and have already been able to pay out a considerable sum to their investors, Tribal Councils Investment is not just concerned with immediate gain. Harold Harper, board vice-chairman, says, "The reason we're doing this is not for you and your children, but for your children's children." Their end goal is to create a sizable and sustainable economic pool that will guarantee self-sufficiency for years to come.

Tribal Councils' advertising states it believes in "taking Aboriginal ownership to new levels with each new investment, providing a secure financial future for Aboriginal investors and people."

While it believes in grass roots developments, in the power that comes from partnerships, Tribal Councils Investment also thinks big, and its goal is to invest in projects that offer a good return on communities' investments.

The Arctic Beverages account is an example of their ability to do this.

Originally, the group raised the money for 50 per cent ownership of the Pepsi franchise; then they found themselves looking at the possibility of buying 100 per cent. They raised the additionalfunds, and this success led to other opportunities.

"When we first started, we had to convince everyone of our credibility. Now the offers come to us," says McLeod. He adds the company looks at more than 100 potential investment opportunities a year.

"A dozen of them get us excited, and we may invest in two or three." This policy seems to be working, as Tribal Councils Investment has been named one of the top 100 companies (from 8,000) in Manitoba for two years in a row.

This was the first year that Tribal Councils Investment received a nomination for CANDO's Economic Developer Recognition Award. "It is a fabulous opportunity and honor to be recognized by peers as a leading-edge company," McLeod said.

The award also increased the visibility of their already vibrant organization. Asked whether he thinks they'll be nominated again, McLeod said he wouldn't be surprised, and that being nominated again would also be an honor and an opportunity. "We're a young company, have already shown what we can do; we'll be around for years to come."

McLeod wasn't able to attend the CANDO conference in Halifax himself, as he was in the middle of two important deals at the time. "Business has to come first," he says, adding that now everyone is vying for the honour of hanging Alan Syliboy's art work in his office.