Sustainable Small Business Development Acho Dene Koe First Nation

/in /by

Details

 

Project Title:  Community Environmental Service Company

 

Location:  Ft. Liard, Northwest Territories, Canada

 

Date:  January 2001 to August 2005

 

Management Team Lead:  Alan R. Scheibner, Vice-President, Business Development, Alpine Environmental Services Ltd. (Alpine)

 

Abstract

 

In 2001 Alpine was approached by  ADK Holdings Ltd., an Acho Dene Koe First Nation corporation, to assist in providing subcontract environmental consulting services to their newly established environmental  company Nahendeh Land & Environment LLP (Nahendeh). Alpine was also to assist in the management, development and implementation of environmental services. The business agreement also incorporated administration and training responsibilities. Alpine was to assist Nahendeh in providing technical and field services to exploration, development and producing petroleum and mining companies within the lands of the Acho Dene Koe First Nation. This initial relationship was in place until Alpine was sold to the employees in 2005 whereas a new relationship was implemented to 2008.

 

 

Introduction

Alpine through the cooperation and support of its senior management team developed a business model with Nahendeh that incorporated annual business plans and administration of the company through Alpine’s administration group.  Alan Scheibner as VP of Business Development from 2001 to 2005 undertook the responsibilities of developing marketing and training programs as well as assisting Nahendeh and other ADK companies in developing business opportunities.  Utilizing the potential resources of the community in developing a sustainable business model, Alpine developed a 5 year environmental training workshop and field program having key objectives of developing employment opportunities and a potential for developing long term community based environmental service business opportunities (capacity building).  Training programs were joint funded by industry and Acho Dene Koe government training grants.

Development of Services

Alpine assisted ADK in the development of a five year business plan that took into strong consideration the resources of the local community and potential regional clients. The five year plan identified key service opportunities and the related training programs for local people to provide these services. Determining the number of trainees was based on an assessment of the capability of Nahendeh to support a sustainable employment opportunity.  Potential trainees for these training programs demonstrated both an interest in the environmental employment field and  technical and field skills in completing environmental related job functions.

Quarterly business meetings were undertaken by Alpine, ADK and the Acho Dene Koe band chief and council to review business activities. Alpine provided administration support including business development and all aspects of accounting. Alan Scheibner provided advisory support to the Nahendeh manager and assisted with business development and administration file systems.

Implementation of Training Programs

The success of a training program was the result of using hands-on workshop training and related real project job sharing work experience.  Alpine developed a workshop program with a strong emphasis on direct participation and limited classroom text book teaching.

The business plan identified a business opportunity to provide support services to environmental consulting companies. A key Alpine training focus was to develop the trainee as a support technician or field operator to provide field support services such as logistics or environmental technical duties assisting with environmental field sampling, monitoring and inspection services.  To support this program Alpine with industry support provided Nahendeh with portable equipment cases containing soil, water and vegetation sampling equipment.

Development of Field Support Environmental Technicians

Alpine developed a training concept whereas trainees who have completed a workshop and related field training are provided an environmental technician field support certification of recognition upon successful completion of the training. A Level I Environmental Support Technician designation is given to those people who have experience in the completion of the 5 workshop sessions and related field training. This designation was an internal Alpine definition but recognized by industry that a level of regional training had been completed.

Five, two to four day workshop sessions were developed to provide introduction base line technical and sampling capabilities in the area of soil, water, vegetation, landuse and wildlife knowledge.  These technical sessions provide the trainee a basic understanding of such topics as soil to help them understand and complete the various technical duties associated with the completion of field soil sampling duties.

The technical sessions are as follows:

  1. Classification of soil, understanding soil site conditions, soil sampling and handling practices.
  2. Understanding surface and groundwater, water sampling and water contamination.
  3. Classification and sampling of vegetation and re-vegetation procedures for reclamation.
  4. Identification of wildlife, wildlife habitat and related project interactions within a regional environment.
  5. Completion of project environmental monitoring and inspection duties.

Conclusion

Nahendeh and the business relationship with Alpine resulted in a successful business venture.  The success of this venture was in part the result of Nahendeh providing to industry a competitive service and an ongoing implementation of programs that supported community benefits. Another reason for the success was the commitment of Alpine to provide management, administration and training support services.  The challenge to the success of the business was limited local resources and changing local management teams as a result of elected changes with the chief and council members.  The sustainability challenges will continue to exist due to the remote area, a small local population and the economics that impact industry projects. The field training approach was very successful as the trainees greatly increased their learning capacity outside the classroom. The challenge was the local social and economic changes that impacted the sustainability for ongoing employment.

Hydrocarbon Drilling Project – Blood Indian Reserve

/in /by

Overview

Project type: Oil and gas exploration and production
Location: Blood Indian Reserve – southern Alberta, Canada
Date: July, 1993 to Sept., 1995
Land base: 55,000 acres (22,200 hectares)
Capital expenditure: $ 3,000,000 Cdn
Timeline: 24 months
Director/ executive: Tom MacKay, P.Eng

Summary

In July, 1993, Tom MacKay, President of Chancellor Energy Resources Inc. negotiated a hydrocarbon exploration program with the Chief and Council of the Blood Indian Tribe. The program involved exploration for oil and gas by Chancellor, a Canadian resource development company, on tribal lands. Exploration was undertaken within the constraints of cultural sensitivity on tribal traditional lands and employment of tribal members.  A substantial gas field was discovered and developed. A large oil field was discovered. Revenue from these discoveries was re-invested within the Blood Reserve to improve standards of living and to enhance traditional tribal cultural practices.

Introduction

Alberta, a province located in western Canada, has been an important producer of oil and gas for over one hundred years. Historically several billion barrels of oil and trillion feet of natural gas has been produced from thousands of wells in the province. Currently, the province produces several million barrels of oil per day and is a significant source of hydrocarbon production in North America.

However, historically very little oil and natural gas production has occurred on First Nations (Indian) tribal lands, notwithstanding that such lands are extensive and widely dispersed throughout Alberta. Oil and gas companies have shown reluctance to operate on tribal lands (reserves) because of economic barriers and a lack of understanding of tribal cultural issues.

Project

Chancellor Energy Resources Inc, led by Tom MacKay as president, decided in 1993 to approach the leaders of the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta to conduct oil and gas exploration on the Blood Reserve. After conferring with the tribe’s chief and council and several of the tribe’s elders, an agreement was reached. The size of the agreement, covering 55,000 acres of the Blood Reserve, was significant to that date within Alberta. The agreement called for Chancellor to undertake a capital expenditure commitment of well drilling and other exploration activity. As well, Chancellor undertook to recognize and protect unique historical and cultural aspects of the reserve lands, including teepee rings, old encampments, and grounds sacred to tribal clans.

Over the following two years, regular consultations were held with tribal leaders as drilling commenced. Members of the tribe were employed by Chancellor in drill site security, well site preparation, fencing, and trucking operations. As well, a tribal member was employed in Chancellor’s head office as a technical assistant under a training program.

Chancellor discovered a new natural gas field on the Blood Reserve within six months of the start of the drilling program. A major pipeline was built on the reserve to provide access to gas markets. Approximately a year later, Chancellor made a new oil discovery, which eventually resulted in over fifty oil wells being drilled on the Blood Reserve.

During the program, Tom MacKay and some of Chancellor’s personnel met regularly with Blood Tribe elders to ensure that Chancellor’s drilling and production activities were in harmony with tribal cultural sensitivities. Field work was only undertaken if there was certainty that such work would not negatively impact issues relating to sacred grounds and historical sites.

In addition to capital expenditures relating to its agreement with the Blood Tribe, Chancellor provided funds to the tribe to assist in the construction of facilities used to hold traditional cultural events. As well, funds were given to allow the repatriation of tribal historical artifacts, taken a century ago, from museums in Canada and elsewhere.

In 1995, Tom MacKay was inducted as a lifetime member into the Kainai Honorary Chieftain Society of the Blood Tribe. Membership is limited to forty individuals and includes the current and a former Prime Minister of Canada, Prince Charles of England and formerly Pope John Paul II. MacKay’s involvement with the Blood Tribe continues today in the area of scholarship awards to young tribal members, as well as advice on issues involving continued oil and gas development on the reserve.

Conclusion

The consultative relationship between Chancellor Energy and the Blood Tribe resulted in economic success benefitting both entities, while enhancing cultural affairs within the Blood Tribe. This approach represents a model which can be used in future relationships between resource companies and traditional land owners.

Teachers Housing Project

/in /by

Details

Project Title: Teachers Housing Program
Location: Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea
Date: January 2011 – Current
Cost: 2 million USD
Time Line: 24-months
Project Manager: Zach Jones

Abstract

In January of 2011, in partnership with the Governor of Eastern Highlands – Malcolm Smith and LNG Energy of Calgary, Alberta a program was developed to address the growing issue of teacher retention in the remote areas of the Province. Research and consultation was done at the community level, and in conjunction with Local Level Government, District and Provincial Education departments, a project brief was developed and agreed upon by local stakeholders. Drawings and detailed material list were drawn up as well as a complex implementation strategy to build 40 houses over 2 years across the province.

Introduction

Aging government infrastructure is a common reality across Papua New Guinea. In most areas and especially the more remote districts, maintenance to existing and or construction of additional infrastructure has not been carried out in almost 20 years. Many roads that access government services are either in poor condition or non existent, making travel and routine maintenance and staffing of health, education or other government services very difficult if not impossible. Therefore a large portion of existing teachers and health professional housing, clinics, schools and other facilities are in disrepair and in some cases uninhabitable. As a result, many professionals once educated in the city are reluctant to return to the remote areas of the province to teach or provide much needed health services due to the poor accommodation situation that they face. This housing scheme sought to address teacher retention in the remote areas by providing adequate accommodation with clean drinking water and solar power in an attempt to draw teachers back to remote schools and provide them with a similar level of accommodation which they might find in an urban environment. It addressed three key areas:

1 – Secure potable water source located, storage facility constructed, and water piped to each house

2 – Provide a standard of housing equal or better than might be sourced in an urban environment

3 –  Equip houses with solar lighting  to ensure productive use of nighttime hours for marking, lesson planning and leisure activities.

Project Design

The  process of developing the design brief took approximate 3 months. School sites around the province were visited and the types of houses currently in use were surveyed and documented. Consultation was carried out with local school board members and teachers to understand better the type and size of house best suited for the locations. Extensive time was spent with the Local Level, District and Provincial Eduction departments in order to satisfy their requirements for housing and to coordinate the project with other education capital projects which were underway at the time. As a result of the huge housing deficit across the province, site selection was based on strict criteria which targeted school sites that had a record of consistent reporting and good fiscal financial management and who were in need of additional housing. In some cases, schools were paying for teaching positions, but were unable to bring those teachers to the school due to the lack of available housing. In these cases, priority was given. Houses were designed with 3 bedrooms, a shower room, combined kitchen/living/dining with in a 60sqm footprint. An outside covered area with a wood burning stove for cooking was also provided as well as a separate, modern (non-septic) toilet house.

Houses were designed in consultation with a local carpentry training center using locally understood materials, techniques and methods, with the idea being that local apprentices would receive on the job training while working with the contractor to construct the houses as the need for on the job training for carpentry students was put forth as a major issue. The contractor who was awarded the project contract had been trained at the school 20 years prior and agreed to take on apprentices during the construction phase. We saw this an an added net benefit to the overall project outcomes where we were able to not only provide housing, but also carryout valuable training in the process.

Implementation

The geography of the Eastern Highlands is incredibly complex and current road conditions reflect the harsh realities of negotiating its rugged terrain. Moving materials and manpower around to the different sites was alone, one of the biggest hurdles of the project. Once the project was awarded to the contractor, he was supported by an advance on the contract payments to purchase a 6M long 4wd flat-deck truck in hopes that his would assist in keeping the project on schedule, this turned out to be a wise decision. Security was also a huge issue, both for the valuable materials and for workmen going to and from site, but by integrating implementation decisions with local stakeholders and communities,  hiring local trucks and labor when possible, much of the liability was shifted to the local level, therefore securing safe passage for project materials and personnel to date. It was decided that as much of the construction as possible should be ‘modularized’, in this case meaning that as much of the material as possible was pre-cut to length, windows and doors were pre-assembled, roofing and exterior siding was delivered to site ready for assembly with no cutting necessary. This greatly reduced the amount of material wastage,  time spent on site to construct the buildings and drastically improved the quality of the over-all build.

Conclusion

This was the first time in many years that the Eastern Highlands Province, and one could argue the country had seen a building program of its kind to address housing in the rural areas. By all accounts it was an incredibly successful program which will have a huge impact on teacher retention and ultimately on learning outcomes for students. The new houses will ensure that teachers are less likely to be absent from the school due to housing related issues and therefore will spend more hours in the classroom and will be available for students when needed. Clean potable water piped into each house ensures that teachers do not spend long hours securing water for drinking and washing activities. It also ensures a safe drinking source which has decreased the number of sick days for teachers as a result of water borne illnesses. The solar lighting gives them opportunity to plan lessons for the following day and to charge devices like mobile phones and have access to radio and television.