Okanese First Nation man semi-finalist in Indigenous entrepreneurship competition | 24CA News
A person from Okanese First Nation is a semi-finalist on this 12 months’s Pow Wow Pitch Competition, the place Indigenous entrepreneurs throughout Canada are given the chance to win money based mostly on their business pitches.
Clinton Elliott is proprietor of Patience Plus Contracting based mostly out in Balcarres the place he does renovations and building. If he wins the competitors, he hopes to broaden his business.
Photo courtesy: Clinton Elliott
“We want to go ahead and build houses on the reserves (and) train the local or teach to go out and (make) a good product,” stated Elliott. “For any reserve that is willing to take us on … (winning the competition) would benefit us by helping us to buy the tools we need that we’re currently borrowing in order to complete these projects.”
Elliott’s small business presently consists of two full time workers and two summer time college students. His aim is focusing his business on home-building to assist deal with the difficulty of housing on-reserves, one home at a time.
“I’ve shown that not only with my business, but my employees (and) what I’m able to give back to my community,” stated Elliott. “I want to teach, and I want to pass on my knowledge.”
According to the Pow Wow Pitch web site, the competitors acknowledges that Indigenous entrepreneurship is the trail to self-sufficiency.
“Entrepreneurship is a big part of Indigenous heritage. We used to call it trade. We are just reawakening to entrepreneurship,” acknowledged Sunshine Tenasco, Pow Wow Pitch Founder. ” I hope that Pow Wow Pitch helps to provide that reward to another person. I like seeing entrepreneurs succeed.”
The public have the chance to decide on their favorite Indigenous entrepreneur by voting on the Pow Wow Pitch web site.
The Pow Wow Pitch Competition will announce this 12 months’s finalists in October for an opportunity to win the grand prize of $25,000.
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